apanthropy

Black Funeral
Wallachian Voivode
Dark Adversary Productions
Released: 1/2024

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1 – Wallachian Voivode (Screams of the Impaled)
2 – Scholomance (The Dragon’s Elixir)
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It’s hard to believe that Black Funeral have been around for over three decades. Akhtya Nachttoter has kept the band alive in some capacity since 1993, having produced ten full-lengths in the three decades the group has been active. Wallachian Voivode stands as the band’s twentieth release and third EP overall.

Wallachian Voivode is a quick two song EP, clocking it at slightly over seventeen minutes. Most of the runtime is consumed by the opening title track, which breaks the eleven-minute mark in terms of length, with the remaining track occupying the other five minutes.

It wouldn’t be entirely untrue to consider this ‘raw’ black metal, in some sense, based mostly on the production properties, which is the first thing that really stands out on Wallachian Voivode. There is a grainy fog over the entire recording, with a slight reverb blanketed across the mix, giving a sonic template much like early 1990’s United States black metal. Nothing is particularly overpowering in terms of mix volume, the drums have a nice flat pop to them you generally get on older analog recordings, the guitars are balanced and clear, there’s a prominent focus on mids and lows rather than the usually unrestrained highs you get on many early black metal albums.

Opening with ‘Wallachian Voivode (Screams of the Impaled),’ Black Funeral spend nearly twelve minutes crafting an epic black metal piece fixated on Vlad III, or Vlad the Impaler, who served as Voivode of Wallachia on several occasions in the mid-1400s: also notorious for impaling his enemies on stakes.

Nachttoter, throughout the existence of Black Funeral, has always been able to masterfully craft a menacing sonic atmosphere, which is demonstrated early in the beginning segment of the track. Opening on almost a cinematic note, the listener is greeted with the sound of marching boots, howling wolves, and the sound of weapons being readied. The opening riff is a four-chord rhythm sequence accompanied by a beautiful overlapping continuous melody, this long, drawn out riff is the primary vessel of the track. The drums carrying the riff exist as a modified blast beat.

Nachttoter’s vocals, a grimy, forced rasp of sorts, enter the track. There are several melodic transitions and tempo changes scattered throughout the song, a church organ is introduced about six minutes in. At about the seven-minute mark, the song enters an ambient section, of some sort of machine noises accompanied by spoken word before Azgorh Drakenhof’s guitars begin building up again.

The middle segment of the song eventually resolves back into the intro riff, which carries the track to completion.

The second track of the EP, ‘Scholomance (The Dragon’s Elixir),’ is a much shorter cut, which begins with a church organ opening. A galloping blast beat enters atop Drakenhof’s single-note tremolo line. The song picks up in tempo as the riff and drums transition in a melodic, faster-pace phrase built around small minor chords. This track is significantly more direct as opposed to the title track, with only a few riffs present. ‘Scholomance (The Dragon’s Elixir)’ compliments the lead track well and serves a solid step-off from the mammoth song that proceeded it.

Pound for pound, this is a very solid EP for fans of analog and raw black metal that want some semblance of old-school US black metal in 2024. At seventeen minutes in length, there’s no reason to avoid giving it a spin. Black Funeral is a well-respected name in the underground for a reason, and the strength of the title track alone justifies the existence of this EP, a worthy demonstration of ancient-sounding, dungeon-bound black metal.

Label: Dark Adversary Productions
Band: Black Funeral

AJK