BLACK SUN (Twilight Of The Gods) LP/CD
'Twilight Of The Gods' is definitely my favourite Bathory album, but except for the album title there is no further common ground between Tomas 'Quorthon' Forsberg and the Glasgow-based trio BLACK SUN. There is no nordic mythology, instead BLACK SUN confront the listener with the blackest depths of human existence on their sixth studio record, which has been released in 2010 by Future Noise Recordings in partnership with Head Of Crom Records. The album, which is driven by heavy emotional pressure, is like a boiling mass without any light incidence. In this regard, the band uses complex song structures and heavy-duty riffage, but the main weapon is the mutilated and tortured vocal assault of guitarist Kevin Hare and drummer Russell McEwan. They do everything to make it difficult for the listener to get access to 'Twilight Of The Gods', and they are well-aware of this fact.
Actually the album starts off quite harmlessly with 'Code Black', then all hell breaks loose and it turns out to be a psychotic nightmare. Thus it is not surprising that BLACK SUN invited another "madman", namely Oxbow front man Eugene Robinson and he delivers a menacing performance at two tracks. He knows very well how to impress and especially 'Baby Don't Cry' is extremely intense. Eugene Robinson turns his inside out and let you participate in his pain and agony. The eleven songs are hard to categorize, because BLACK SUN have carved out their own inconvenient heavy style. You can't avoid hearing influences from Neurosis or Amebix, but you might just as well hear a lot of noise rock and sludge.
However, they have managed to write a couple of powerful apocalyptic tunes as, for example, 'Transcending The Mire' where it's impossible to ignore the influences of mid-period Amebix. All of the eleven songs are simultaneously progressive and naturalistic, while the merciless dual vocal assault can become to an endurance test. It took me some time to get used to the vokills (in the truest sense of the word), until I realized that they are an integral part of BLACK SUN. Truth is I really do enjoy this monstrous album. As unnerving, bleak, and unpleasant as 'Twilight Of The Gods is, it is an amazing debut. I won't attempt to describe this album in much more detail just remember I warned you... This music is not for the weak of heart and you need some time to get into it.
(KK)