Eriaminell - Enraged

Perhaps someone out there might recall the highly unproductive Italian outfit of Pope John Paul II enthusiasts called Ghoulvault, who in the late '90s released their sole output, a mCD called Wojtyla Masturbation. It's fairly standard (read: neither bad nor terribly impressive) '90s black metal given a somewhat industrial feel by a prominent drum machine. One track had some limited electronic elements added, and most notably, the last few minutes of the CD consisted of whispered anti-religious rhetoric and encouragements for the listener to kill themselves--all in heavily accented English--making it some sort of early blasphemous ASMR. It's the kind of thing a distro might politely label as "weird black metal" on a mailorder list to the great dismay of Oxiplegatz and early Nastrond fans everywhere.

I never wondered what became of Ghoulvault, but the two brothers from the band resurfaced in Eriaminell a few years later. I didn't seek this out or know anything about the band, as it was just among a mass purchase of several clearance titles at a mailorder. But I saw this in the booklet and knew I had to blog about it:

This struck me as so amusingly odd. Again, this is printed directly on the back cover of the booklet--it's not from a press sheet, ad, or hype sticker. Aside from that Rick Bizzaro gas mask guy, who's at the very bottom of the list, I can't think of any other person involved with Nocturnus that I would NOT want to give a noncommittal-yet-polite endorsement to a musical project than Mr. Mowery. On the other hand, if Jeff Estes gave a band a glowing review, I'd be inclined to seek it out immediately. Also keep in mind I don't think Nocturnus even existed at this point, as it was a couple years after Ethereal Tomb, so it would have been one of the lowest points of scene credibility for anyone besides the foursome from the original 1987 demo. It feels particularly weird because at first it reads very informally, like positive comments they gleaned from a casual e-mail, but the last line makes it sound like the band actively asked him to shill for them. 

 

The vocals are indeed a highlight, as they are distorted and appropriately inhuman sounding. Good job on the vocals Lugdush! The music is extremely cacophonous--it's black/death with an extremely artificial-sounding, hyperactive drum machine which gives it a very industrialized feel, and the whole thing is laden with synths and lead guitarwork which just frantically shreds over everything, often with no regard for the underlying music. It can get very disjointed, often to a point where it sounds oddly progressive. 

 

I'm curious how calculated the sound was, and whether they were ultimately aiming more for chaotic or for weird. The drum machine dictates the majority of the band's sound, but it's light-hitting and lower in the mix, so it's not percussive and punishing enough to work effectively as industrial metal. Similarly, the artificial drums and constant guitar noodling rob the music of a lot of power, sabotaging any potential they might have had as a more brutal black/death band. The music isn't bad enough to be amusing, but neither is it good enough to be compelling, and it ends up just being a mild metal oddity.