Forever Plagued Records are releasing another Orcultus recording, at the very same moment of the Endless Hate & Misanthropy re-release (which was reviewed in 2014 – check the site somewhere, sometime). This sweet Swedish outfit and the label did choose for a cassette edition once again, instead of fully mastered CD-stuff, in order to express their adoration for the underground. Yeah, whatever… I do not dislike tape-stuff at all; I grew up within the scene when CD’s, digital releases, even email didn’t exist yet, so I do carry a certain ‘warmth’ for the roots. But let’s be true: the quality of tape, on long-term, and the minimal recording are passé, all right.
Anyway, Black Rust comes in an edition of 200 copies only, and there are seven tracks on it. It brings nothing but purity and essential depth, lacking of, no sorry, spitting on any form of trendy nonsense. Early Satyricon, Bathory, Horna, Darkthrone, Mayhem or Judas Iscariot will remind the (attentive) listener to this stuff; I assure you!
In general, the whole is as simplistic and primal as my early morning’s droppings: it stinks, but it’s so grandiose to experience. No sorry once again for this forced description. The point I want to make is this one: I like the smell of this decomposition, and so will you. There is nothing, yet truly nothing that renews or sounds original at all, but WTF; if this stuff was created and released twenty five years ago, it would have been considered ‘inspirational’, ‘influential’, ‘magisterial’. Nowadays, I’d like to limit it to ‘magisterial’, yet why not referring to inspiration or influential opportunities?... Seriously, this mixture of blaspheme eruptions and morbid oppression is something that exceeds the average level for being so great in both song writing and execution. And on top of it, the rough-edged sound just strengthens this nastiness. Though, that might be the one and only problem, but possibly it has to do with my specific copy only (damn you, label, for sending me nothing but a digital copy ;-) ) (oops, did I add a smiley?)… Anyway, the roughness fits, evidently, to the melodic yet, at the same time, grim and malignant material. It is such a great experience to notice such fine melodious structures and harshness at the same time, such evil attitude and well-balanced performance at the same time, such simplicity and ingenious complexity at the same time…