You see, Ghostbound is indeed a wholly unique and wonderfully creative entity with gorgeously rendered, delicate, post rock and shoegaze, and indie/prog rock elements seeping from every note and pore, but it’s not really a sound I would put fully under the ‘metal’ umbrella. It might have one little piggy dipped into the metal pond with some atmospheric black metal  sparsely scattered around the heartfelt, acoustic ebbs and flows, but certainly not an album I’d really throw on and listen to on a whim.

The thing is, in the right setting or mood, it could be perfect. It’s perfect back ground music if your were to attend a post funeral visitation or somber  stately dinner with Opeth’s Micheal Akerfeldt, Jackie Perez Gratz (Amber Asylum and Grayceon), Morrisey  and Nick Cave. The thick New York, art house ambiance of  “The Wildest of….” “Earthen Ground”, “(I Will) Keep my Dreams Inside”,or more uplifting “Tidings”  and alluring “Night Time Drowning” waft with despondent, but jangly, cello tinged, artful prose, fronted by Head’s clean, distinct vocals.

But it’s the band’s everso slight black metal dustings that recall Alcest or Amesoeurs where my ears perk up and you can see what Ghostbound could fully explore. Grandiose opener “The Gallavanter” and Ulver-ish  throb of “Root and Wall” show a elegant, velvety  black metal canters with Head’s vocal’s smoothly layering the proceedings. But that’s only two tracks on a 10 track album, I just wish there were more of it, as it really is a agreeable,  svelte, unique sound.

Most purist corpse paint clad black metal fans or neck bearded, traditional post rock metal fans will scoff at this project, especially the vocals. But this clearly, labor of love project wasn’t designed for either, but for a more vulnerable, open minded and perceptive music lover, which I am not, hence my slight apathy, despite my respect for the vision and creativity on display. That said, if I ever found myself at a high society metal gathering surrounded by fume cigarettes, medallion suits vests and Remy Martin, this would be the perfect sound track.

Sharing the same jagged, punky, jangly take on black metal, rife with heroic, folky Romanic/Hellenic  melodies and gruff vocals, Nova’s grasp on gripping, epic. Morioconne-ian  and cantankerously catchy riffs is melded with Macabre Omen‘s rousing warmongering and  Furia’s (Poland’s one) swaggering, bluesy, confidence and saunter. The end result is one of 2018s best black metal albums and one of my favorite albums of the year. (Though technically it was released in 2017 on  the unwieldy  limited A5 sized format, it’s getting a re-release on regular digipack/jewel case in 2018).

Things get right to the riffs with opener “Guerra per il firmamento” which teases a folky/medieval musical triste, but explodes with a tremelo punk fury about a minute in. “Crolla l’empireo” starts with a punky swagger then settles into a nice mid paced trot before my favorite track, “Pietra della corona di Lucifero” enters the fray. It even introduces a little highland pipes to the game before delivering one of 2018s most epic black metal riffs.

Some of the beauty of the riffs is the simplicity , especially the dancing, steady bass which backs everything with a simple, effective, punk driven twang and throb. The vocals, are  not typical black metal shrieks or rasps, but a more throaty, authoritative, distant shout, but it fits the riffs perfectly. hell. as a guy that really doesn’t care for instrumentals, the rambunctious “Ad Apollo” kept my attention, though being under 3 minutes probably helped.

A few adventurous sprinkles keep things interesting such as aforementioned pipes, the brief clean chants in “Universo  campo di sterminio” (reminding of “Ave vittoria” from the bands debut, Il Ritorno), in  or intense blast beats  of “Contro il drago e il toro”, but my only minor grip is closing track “Terra dei morti” is actually a bit of a let down, even with the hidden track tacked on the end. But that does not stop  Soli contro il mondo from being one of my very favorite releases so far of 2018 and one of my favorite newly discovered bands of the last few years.

Kommandant‘s sound can be described as a sort of martial style black metal.  The cover art is immediately telling; a striking red/black/white scheme depicting a chiseled, statuesque male, hammer raised at the apex before a powerful strike.  The image begs one to make connections to European military and political propaganda art and, inevitably, the dubious philosophies that fueled their campaigns of violence.  Based on a March 2015 interview with www.deathmetal.org, the band does not endorse any such extreme philosophies but merely consider their sound and image as being a reflection of the world at large.  As metal fans we know there is no shortage of global suffering and inhumanity from which to cull and inspire the type of aural sickness and bombardment heard on The Architects of Extermination.  If you always wished that martial-industrial mainstay Arditi would put together a black metal band then welcome to a new world order where this album exists for you.  Note I’ve not mentioned the term “war metal” nor does their sound warrant the added use of “industrial” to describe.  This is not black metal with programmed tympani drums and cheapo keyboard orchestral stabs blaring over a low-fi recording sample of some mustachioed political leader extolling their convictions.  The “martial” reference is specifically fitting as suggested by their whole package.

The music here in is rigid, urgent, under cover of night like a formation of fighter planes on a secret mission flying low between dense clouds and dense fog.  All pilots accepting this may be a one way trip, but retaining a fervent sense of duty.  All of the instruments seemed to be mixed evenly with the vocals a fair bit separated and widely spread like the trailing sound waves left by the fighter planes.  The vocals are essentially death metal like lows rather similar to those of Morpheus Descends.  Tom drums are frequently emphasized to accentuate the martial style.  Very noticeable is the muffled, room heavy production.  So pronounced and enshrouding that the music seems distant and quiet.  I’m a fan of interesting and highly atmospheric production sound but I warn that here it forces the listener to put some work in to hear distinctly what’s going on.  If I’ve compelled you to give Kommandant a listen for the first time then choose “And Nation Shall Rise Against Nation”.  It has stood out to me on each listen through of the record.  The main riff digs a front line trench into your psyche, and the drums blast forward triumphantly.  Likely a real killer live.

Having spent a few weeks with this record I’m regretting not having payed attention before.  Admittedly, I am a terrible sucker for bands that combine black metal music with lower death metal vocals so I may be biased, as their style and military imagery is an easy appeal for me.  Regardless, I feel Kommandant offer a unique enough bend on black metal that they may march their way into your cd racks or last gigabyte of space on your phone.  They have few brethren of which to compete for metal heads with a particular scratch to itch in between the records of perhaps, Triumph Genus, Endstille, and NKVD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGoPbZc07zo

The one aspect to this album that stands out the most is the vocals. Kyuho (who handled all vocals and instruments on the album) has a range that is hard to come by. Equal parts vomit inducing shrieks, majestic Sleipnir riding power metal vocals, and straight up singing that betrays a lot of standards with the fact that he can literally carry a note. Not in the “Oh, it sounds good for metal” way but it’s literally harmonious. It’s literally melodic. Those type of cleans are not as a common as the rest of his multifaceted styles but they are there and they service in the album completely. They propel the music to the realm of coherence that if done incompetently could have caused this album to be a complete mess of styles. Another aspect to this album that revealed itself to me after repeated listens is the completeness of the songs. It doesn’t necessarily flow as an album but that is neither here nor there. These songs have a life of their own; a metaphor for the cycles of life in the form of song. It’s as if each song is birthed, lives a life, and dies in the complete confines of itself. The trials and tribulations and mundanity of existence being conveyed through the vociferous nature of black metal and it’s many faces. This is done six times over and each song can certainly be thought of as “stand out”.It’s really hard to pick the songs apart and describe them with words. Each one is such a beast on it’s own and it’s a very frenzied affair once you get into the thick of it. Actually, it’s that way from the start.

No true words could describe these songs and sound….coherently. This album wears many faces and each face is trying to say the same thing. It’s very confusing but rewarding at the same time. I’d say if I were to choose one for you, the reader, to check out in hopes that you will heed this review, I would say “The Lily and the Rose”. It’s a great track that really encapsulates the album’s strengths and minute weaknesses. It goes from classical/opera flourishes to black metal and back again. Every song on the album is longer than 6 minutes so it can get a little trying when listening but I think the diversity of the styles Madmans Esprit conveys is more than enough to hold your attention. “Blood, Cum, and Shit” is another track to check out. Although the title screams “ridiculous”, it’s very much the antithesis of that. There are some jazzy keyboards in the beginning that I didn’t pick up the first time I listened to the album and it gives it a very off vibe but not in a negative way. Once you hear it, I think you will pick up on it. Also, I did notice that the songs are sung in two different languages. Some in Korean, some in English. Even though I don’t care about lyrics (necessarily), I always enjoy when there is multilingual aspects to the vocals. I think it’s because there tends to be inflection differences between languages and it really lends to the rhythm of the song.

I would certainly like to write more but words wouldn’t do this album justice. So I will end with this very typical but useful tool: Madmans Esprit sounds like if Solefald and Cobalt were really into having sex with each other while Cradle of Filth, Dio, Sigh, Hammerfall, Blut Aus Nord, and Deathspell Omega all played a game of Risk in the room adjacent to them. Really though, check out this album. It’ll be interesting to hear where Madmans Esprit goes from here because this album is a really great introduction. Also, there’s an ep/demo out before this that contains a cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody”. I was able to watch a live rendition of the song and it’s every bit as batshit crazy as you would expect.