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Raven Throne Biaskoncy snieh času / Niazhasnaje ep review


Raven Throne is an atmospheric black metal band from Northern Belarus. Formed in 2004, the band is still eternally influenced by the cold winter and mystical, unseen worlds. Biaskoncy snieh času / Niazhasnaje is a compilation of a single and two additional tracks. They are a phenomenal and intense band. Schooled well on the old school traits of Mayhem and Darkthrone with a bit of early Gorgoroth for good measure, with their own modern spin in a way that works wonderfully.


The intro  Viartannie starych viatroŭ starts us out with a slow dark guitar riff with pouring rain, setting the mood. My - vosieni vartaŭniki starts off with such a powerful riff, like your staring down at a portal to hell, looking down smiling before you leap. The vocals are strong, similar to that of Gaahl and Hat thrown together. Absolute perfection. Better than 95% of any recent bands in the black Imetal genre. There's some light synth that ads a nice layer to their incredible, theatrics sound almost.
Biaskoncy snieh času starts of with a  soft riff that builds and explodes into hell fire. Then it slows down with a barely distorted guitar to play a riff that is absolutely amazing. Reminiscent of the early Gorgoroth albums, the spirit of darkness is surely present in these dudes. Cascading guitar lines, painting the darkest, bleakest picture you can sonically.
I  begins with a dreary sound almost psychedelic vibe creating a unsettling atmosphere. Fog permeates over the altar for sacrifice, and it builds up speed nicely. Almost trance like. Then the vocals come and have the power of a razor to a throat. It slows down very quiet and sinister. Some almost Judas priest like riffs sometimes. Rather than try to rip your head off, it has intellect. These guys literally put you in a dark trance.
II ends the ep with some strange ambient guitar work that is phenomenal. It slowly starts to build, like you are astral projecting to a dark world full of nothingness. When it kicks in, there's a over vibe of dread, but you aren't going down without a fight. Amazing.
This ep is a phenomenal piece of atmospheric black metal. In a genre littered with copies and absolutely shit bands ahem dimmu borgir. These dudes are trve kvlt.

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