Strange Old Brew by Carpathian Forest (CD, 2002, World War III (American..sealed

Detailed item info

Album Features
UPC: 693607125223
Artist: Carpathian Forest
Format: CD
Release Year: 2002
Record Label: World War III (American Music Corp)
Genre: Black Metal, Heavy Metal

Track Listing
1. Intro - Damnation Chant
2. Bloodcleansing
3. Mask of the Slave
4. Martyr / Sacrificulum
5. Thanatology
6. The Suicide Song
7. House of the Whipcord
8. Cloak of Midnight
9. Return of the Freezing Winds
10. Theme From Nekromantik
11. The Good Old Enema Treatment
12. He's Turning Blue - (bonus track)

Details
Playing Time: 40 min.
Distributor: IDN Distribution
Recording Type: Studio
Recording Mode: Stereo
SPAR Code: n/a

Album Notes
Strange Old Brew couldn't be a more appropriate title for this bizarre hodgepodge of Scandinavian necro-weirdness. The first six tracks of Carpathian Forest's third full-length platter show a more traditional, rock-influenced take on the ugly Norwegian caterwauling of corpsepainted longhairs; "Mask of the Slave," "Thanatology," and"The Suicide Song" prove that even the frostiest of black metal can (almost) swing, in an endearingly messy way, simple riffs and basic arrangements mixing quite well with the tortured vocal croaks, violent S&M imagery, and horde-of-bees guitar sound that are more characteristic of the genre. But the second half of the record is another story, "House of the Whipcord" boasting whispered vocals accompanied by haunting piano (!) and saxophone (!) mewlings. "Cloak of Midnight" is a painfully slow, dirge-like slog through molten tar; "Return of the Freezing Winds" is pure, mid-tempo Celtic Frost worship (and possibly the album's best cut); "Theme From Nekromantikk" is a left-field, completely out of place piano-and-strings instrumental, and "He's Turning Blue," with its chanted chorus and sloppy power chords, is simply blackened Norwegian punk rock. The poker-faced posturing of main Carpathian collaborators R. Nattefrost and J. Nordavind and the cheap black-and-white cover art may point toward a typically harsh, vile black metal outing (shades of early Darkthrone), but Strange Old Brew's surprisingly filth-free production values and the band's kooky, obnoxious, and unrestrained songwriting make for an oddly enjoyable listen -- quite a compliment for an outfit that would most likely describe itself as "totally cult." ~ John Serba

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