Bael – Bleeding For Him
Bael released this harsh and sinister four track EP in 2003. At only eleven minutes long it provides a bite size fix of some of the rawest, and in my opinion most superior, French Black Metal on offer. However, it isn’t just noise for the sake of it, as they incorporate some dark and depressing emotional atmosphere within the core.
‘L’offrande‘ tears open the ether with cruelty in a blitz of chainsaw guitars as the vocals display an Evil Dead style presence. Get the stereo cranked up loud for this, it’s insane and fucking chaotic. It’s over all too quickly though and I wanted it to continue for at least another six or seven minutes.
‘Raping the Gift Form Heaven‘ is another bloody stump of a song, in much the same vein as the opener, featuring cold aggression across the board. Pausing for breath during a short mid-song necro march, Bael waste no time pissing about and dive head first back into the pitch black vortex of hatred they’ve created.
Bringing some variety before the listener is ‘Le Regne Du Sang‘. which scythes mercilessly at your ears for the first sixty seconds. Then with a couple of deadite howls Bael unleash a riff laced with deep suffering and agony without loosing any rawness whatsoever.
I never thought I would hear depressive raw Black Metal and fucking love it. Finally ‘Ma Destruction‘ (no, that’s not a typing error) bursts upon you with a riff that will encourage despondency in even the most optimistic of people. Again there is not much more to say of a song that is only a hundred and fifty seconds long.
The production is coarse but clear and defines Bael’s excellent sound. The melding together of depressive and aggressive really flourishes here and is the only example of that I have encountered recently. Yet another superb EP to spoil, or soil, yourself with! This is Black Metal from the hip, played with spontaneity, naked aggression and emotion, just like the good old days! ‘Bleeding For Him‘ is as acidic and unsavoury as a mouthful of your own sick!
I admit I was more than a little sceptical when I got a request to review this Italian band. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a band that sounded more like some American gospel singers than satanic Black Metal! Thankfully after literally one second of listening my somewhat ridiculous assumptions were raped and pillaged [...]
I only recently discovered Rahu, who purvey original and very replayable Finish Black Metal of the highest calibre. This is a demo from 2008 that has since been released as part of a best of featuring this and their other demo on one CD. Although there are only three tracks delivering a mere seventeen minutes [...]
hehe, glad you liked it
.. this is fucking excellent raw black metal, I’ve listened to it several times and still love it.. French BM scene is the best one these days..