Record Label: Blood Black Productions | Year: 2008 | Genre: Melodic Black Metal
By Willard Shrapnelspear
Disclaimer: No animals or real forests were harmed in the making of this album’s front cover design.
Yeah, I just pulled that out of the air, so what? All I need is the music, baby.
Naetu may be an obscure black metal act from the kangaroo kingdom of Australia, but they shriek, shred, blast-beat, and solemnly solo like the lovable melodic black metal acts of Sweden and Norway. No, no, no, I’m not gonna make some unoriginal comparisons to Watain or Gorgoroth; they display the general traits of the kind of melodic black metal coming out of those countries (e.g., Dissection-style atmospheric riffing … oh shit, I just made comparisons didn’t I?), but that is not to say that they are completely imitating their influences chord for chord, or solo for solo.
The vocals, for one, do not sound like another one of those typical dudes trying to imitate Jon Nödtveidt’s trademark raspy barks or Dead’s droning chants. Give these blasphemous Australians some credit, man. They come from a country so isolated from the main black metal hubs of the extreme metal world, and yet they still managed to conceive such a high-quality record (by that I mean having no filler tracks) with surprisingly high-quality production as well. (more after the jump . . .)
These filthy creatures deserve a record deal with Moribund Records or Osmose Productions at the very least! On a random note, their logo is so curvy and sharp that it always reminds me of frontman Nefarious’s Wolverine-ish wrist “claws”.
Did You Just Say Something About My Claws?
Nope sir, no way in hell. All is good, sir. Going back on track, the album cover is quite an apt illustration of this record’s sound in general—scorching, misanthropic, and totally environmentally unfriendly; which happens to be everything you need to make a traditionally-structured black metal album work. From the creepily windy introduction of “Black Storms” to the mass shrieking-cum-growling orgy of the plainly titled “Outro”, it is evident that Naetu knows how to play on black metal clichés (the former) and manipulate some of them into something else creative as well (the latter).
If you are a fan of somberly melodic guitar solos like me, keep an ear out for the excellent instrumental soap opera, “Avenging The Fallen”. Other personal favorite tracks of mine on this record include “The Burning Lands”, “Misanthropic Nightmare”, “Virgins Blood”, and “Blood Fall”.
Naetu may not be doing anything innovative or otherworldly like what the aliens Deathspell Omega, Nachtmystium, Blut Aus Nord and gang are doing, but they sure know how to make fans of traditionally-structured melodic black metal happy. Oh yes, I’ve kept you guys waiting long enough—the band’s name is taken from a moon prison in the fictional universe of the Stargate TV series.
P.S.: For an interview I conducted with the band, check out this link.
RATING:
1 – Sore Throat | 2 – No Voice | 3 – Shredded Uvula | 4 – RIPPED-UP LARYNGES | 5 – Throat Cancer
EDITOR’S NOTE: You can find Naetu on Facebook here., where there’s info about how to order CDs. The album is also available for download on Amazon mp3 and iTunes. Now, here’s the title track, “The Burning Lands”, followed by a few more band photos:
[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/02-The-Burning-Lands.mp3|titles=Naetu – The Burning Lands]
This is relevant to my interests.
Thank you for the lol on my first morning back home.
I am very proud of myself:
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/307199_10150466901427345_510082344_10261081_1431020732_n.jpg
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/297561_10150466905462345_510082344_10261086_77184976_n.jpg
Nice! For someone surrounded by some very scary looking dudes, you have a very calm, Zen-like expression on your face.