Blut Aus Nord – Memoria Vetusta II – Dialogue With the Stars (2009) [Candlelight] // Grade: B+

For some reason My Pal the Crook only asks me to review Black Metal albums. Sure I listen to black metal like most meathead hipsters, but I’m not tuned into the Black Metal genre as much as some.

I am however familiar with the French Black Metal band Blut Aus Nord. Let’s face it, being from Norway is a cop out when it comes to authenticity. There are plenty of shitty places to live in the world and as we’ve seen before, even Texas can spawn some pretty fucking brutal Black Metal. I’ve heard France is a wonderful country to live in, but obviously there’s darkness to be found even in the land of art and baguettes.

Blut Aus Nord’s previous albums engaged heavily in the black metal equation; either atmospheric or brutally flat and overblown intensities. Their first album Ultima Thulee was definitely in the atmospheric cataloger. Similar to Filosophem by Burzum. Memoria Vetusta I: Fathers of the Icy Age was more of a predecessor to Dialogue… engaging in the dark brutal roots of Black Metal. The most recent release prior to Dialogue… was Odinist, which in many ways pushed the norm in the Black Metal world and gained them a strong following.

Dialogue With the Stars seems to have built off of each album’s successful traits and plows through with melodic, icy and violent precision. Moments of the album are beautiful and harmonious like the first and last songs, but tracks like “The Alcove of Angels (Vipassana)” bring you back to Norway with some brutal blast beats and blood-curling vocals.

My iPod has been dying a slow death as of late and I’m stuck with 4 albums at work. This is one of them and I’ve listened to it at least 20 times this week. It doesn’t get old. The last two tracks seem to fade off into the future. Let’s just hope Blue Aus Nord’s next project can keep the momentum!

- Prolly