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Annorkoth - Annorkoth
Very unorthodox but effective one-man SDBM from Russia. I am reminded of Vinterriket, Skepticism, and Summoning. Not necessarily in style, but in feel and approach. Much like those bands, Annorkoth achieves a unique vibe through unconventional production. A mysterious and unearthly vibe where the instruments seem to exist on different plains, giving the songs layers within themselves, dynamics within dynamics. It’s certainly an odd mix, but I’d assume it’s intentional and it definitely works. The vocals and drums are buried faintly in the mix, while the keyboards, cymbals, and guitars are mastered so high they make the speakers pop like a campfire. The keyboard might play the most prominent role of all the instruments. I wouldn’t be surprised if the songs were built around them. The harshest thing I can say is that the drum programming leaves a little to be desired. And on the off chance that main man B.M. is playing real drums, he sounds a lot like a badly programmed drum machine. But the atmosphere saves the album. It’s damn hard to deny the somber, mournful elegance of “The Mysteries of Winter Forest,” the suicidal Waltz of “The Last Chance to Escape,” the total Burzum worship of the aptly titled “Shades of Misanthropy,” the gentle blasting of “Autumnal Remembrance,” or the beautiful clean guitar passage of instrumental “Dawn.” He even wrote a song about me (“An Insignificant Life”). There are moments of mind-wandering boredom, but they’re few and far between. At his best, B.M. invokes feelings of dejected misery through moments of epic majesty. Proving there is more than one way to cut a wrist.
Annorkoth: Annorkoth
"The Consecration Album for Annorkoth"
Celebrating two years of creation ?? You mightn’t necessarily say that, especially when the band only released one album or a promo, finally, started their career. And yet, Annorkoth, this Russian one – man – band from the darkest and darkest forests of Moscow can celebrate its two years of creation with dignity: with more than twenty varied productions such as many splits with very good bands (Adabroc, The Descent Of The Sun, Neglected Skies…), demos, albums as well as Eps, the Russian has chained releases and productions with a hellish pace, it almost catches up with Earthenwomb.
All this music in such a short time could impress by the fact that the music could be sloppy, rough, or it is not the case, quite the contrary. BM, as he calls himself, mainly offers us a sound of very good quality, one of his main qualities is actually the fact that he manages to vary with each album his style, making it more original, more catchy each time, it goes without any problem to Post-Rock "schoegaze" to Black Metal Depressive or Ambient or dark and dismal piano.
Beginning with self-production, his latest offerings now appear under one of the biggest Russian labels of the moment: Depressive Illusions Records.
And it was therefore at the start of 2012 that he released his first eponymous album, finally concretizing these two years of hard work.
The covers are all essentially black metal, with dark forests and freezing worlds, Annorkoth is in the mold, trees, mountains, cold. That of this album is more different even if it still represents the endless woods of the Russian virgin forests, the photograph was taken in autumn and shows with the mixture of the bright colors of the leaves, the dark undergrowths and the blue sky where s amass clouds so the whole universe and the atmosphere of the decline of days that will be found throughout the album, a bit like in "Wind of Death" or "The Eternal Coldness" except that in these last two, the context was much more focused on the phenomena of extreme cold typical of winter biting with the blizzard or other extreme weather. In "Annorkoth", we are more entitled to a feeling of loneliness, of coldness, certainly, but from the beginning, it is the arrival of the great cold (demonstrated at the end of "A Moment of Indifference" or sound effects of thunderstorms and winds are heard).
Annorkoth stands out very easily from the world of Black Metal, considered a style apart and quite difficult to master since it imposes itself by offering music recognizable from the first note, drawing its inspiration only from the murmur of trees and the universe.
This very special sound, often identifiable by very close guitar lines (which can sometimes give a little linear impressions), a very rhythmic tempo, and obviously a song much more present than in the old productions, it is an integral part of the album and is terribly effective, very dark, imbued with limitless darkness, sometimes like a cry of distress, but also bleakly melancholy.
The use of keyboards, if I can say so, crystal clear sounds in the background of music, makes the music even more ambient, a bit like the Australians of Neglected Skies, making it hover, making the atmosphere even heavier. These bring from time to time a little melody in this world of sadness, as in "Lost andForgotten", the most fabulous and catchy being surely those of "Dawn", the decline, the transition from day to night, from late summer to early fall.
The drums with the use of the doube-pedal, although little used is heard, but the sound seems rather confused with like a feeling of distance, and the song which arrives even further, from the depths of the darkest of abysses, yes, that's it, abysses, that's where the music of Annorkoth comes from.
Rather dark themes, again, as in "Shades of Misanthropy" or "An Insignificant Life", suicide, loneliness, depression and sadness are brought to the fore to bring out human malaise.
"Shades of Misanthropy" even presents a howl at around two and a half minutes, and in "The Last Chance toEscape", BM hovers its black song, making it even more morbid.
Original thing, in "Wolves Are Howling at the Moon" (not too many translation problems, wolves howl at the moon!), The intro accompanied by these howls precisely sets the mood for the full moon and still makes us more start in the middle of the title. The guitar riffs are rather worked there to make a production more melodious, the keyboards as in the previous titles sound like an organ, we are really in the atmosphere that Annorkoth imposes on us, impossible to get off.
This album is therefore that of consecration for Russian, more worked, more accomplished, more taker, more chilling. The music offered immerses us in a totally impressive special universe, BM perfectly manages to combine powerful and destructive Black Metal, melodies, deep melancholy, soaring and atmospheric atmospheres, like a journey to the beyond, through Russian taiga more terrifying and impenetrable than ever, through all the facets of the human being, despair and loneliness ...
To listen endlessly to loop, so that this journey never ends, Annorkoth has taken the path to success, a little more Russian one-man-band, but not just any, it's the one that goes quickly stand out with this style so unique to itself, lovers of good Black Metal will be as charmed as lovers of any other style, not to be missed.
"Annorkoth" is therefore one of the revelations of 2012, which moreover, with this beginning of the year, has used its good resolutions wisely.
Béon. 18/20
Black metal projects come and go and sometimes it is precisely the publications that have long since disappeared, that have appeared in the smallest numbers that are particularly popular in the underground. ANNORKOTH was one of these short-lived projects: Between 2010 and 2013 B.M. in his one-man band atmospheric black metal with post-rock and a touch of neoclassical, thus drawing the first blueprint of his later work with Skyforest. Before the Russian individual artist ANNORKOTH put an end to it, “The Last Days” was released as a third and last album, of which only 100 units were produced at the time and was now re-released via Northern Silence six years after the original release.
Anyone who is already familiar with the sound of Skyforest will find that the one on “The Last Days” is essentially already formed. The pompous keyboards are the center of attention at ANNORKOTH, whereas the guitar riffs and the shadowy screams are little more than a distant echo. The rhythm fraction is by no means lacking in rumbling drum rolls, double bass and blasting - and yet “The Last Days” is never characterized by brutality or ferocity.
The basic tone that links all the songs together, be it the extended, worn black metal numbers ("You're My Only Dream") or a piano piece like "Autumn Grace" inserted in between, is the peculiar, almost peaceful mood, which ANNORKOTH expresses in it. The blessing of this striking style also brings with it a curse: the fact that the tracks resemble each other so much takes away their uniqueness and results in an unfortunate monotonous record that lacks any ups and downs. The broad spectrum of emotions that should be addressed here from songs like "The Dark Descent", "Shattered Hope" and "Kindness" based on their fundamentally different titles is unfortunately only partially covered.
Regarding production, it is unfortunately also hard to ignore that ANNORKOTH was the forerunner of Skyforest and not vice versa. "The Last Days" sounds washed out, hollowed out and too keyboard-heavy, as is the case with so many inexperienced underground bands. If you then consider how often the mostly very simply knitted and already hardly modified tone sequences repeat in the course of the songs, it becomes clear that B.M. made the right choice with his decision to put ANNORKOTH on hold and start again with a new name.
The widespread thesis in the music industry that the third album is the decisive turning point for any band may have something superstitious about it - but in relation to "The Last Days" it hits the proverbial nail on the head. It was simply time for ANNORKOTH to say goodbye and B.M. to enable a fresh start. Those who are fundamentally impressed by the vision that the Russian solo musician already had in mind at the time should therefore rather turn to his later works. “The Last Days” can therefore only be recommended to the fans among the fans. On the other hand, if you already think Skyforest is too cheesy or half-baked, you don't even have to listen here.
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