I’m usually a little leery of bands that use the Kult, ‘K’ in their band moniker or album title. However, I also trust almost anything FDA Records puts out, so here we are.

Nekrodeus hails from Austria and Ruaß (Austrian for ‘Soot’, but also a slang term for ‘rabble’ or ‘scum’) is their third album since forming in 2013, their first on FDA Records, but they are a completely new band to me. But I’m pretty impressed with what I’m hearing on Ruaß.

Though certainly mostly loosely falling under the Teutonic Black metal banner at its cold, frosty, tremelo picking heart, there is a heavier, distinct punk sneer buried within that makes it a little more. I mean, just go to the third track “Frost” or fourth track, the standout “To Bite the Hand That Holds the Leash”…. or tumbling “Körperstrafe”. Yeah, that sounds like an earlier, more vicious version of Kverlertak. Dark Throne fans might enjoy some of this as well, though this is a little nastier. I keep coming up with the term ‘Skate Black Punk metal’ in my head.

But I’m digging the fuck out of it over some of their slightly more black/ death metal tracks like opener “Abgrundmensch I”, “Trümmerjugend”, “The Seeds of Your Own Destruction”.  All fine black metal ( though still punkier) salvos to be sure, but the other tracks with the other influences just have a little more oomph, grime, and sneer to them.

The very slight death metal part of the black/death vibe is the occasionally used deeper death bellows from vocalist Stefan Rindler, who also has a more deathcore/mealcore screeh that traditional back metal rasp (and the odd gang chant) and a guitar tone that is razor sharp and also has a little inherent punkiness to it- and that tone really gets under your skin for slower tracks like “Abgrundmensch II” “Astraldepression” and moody closer ‘Sternenleichen”.

Another win  for the always reliable FDA Records and one thst just a little out of thier usial comfort zone.

[Visit the band's website]

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