Wednesday, September 7, 2016

CD Review: BLOODRED Nemesis

BLOODRED
Nemesis
Independent
Bloodred is a Germany-based solo project, the brainchild of guitarist/bassist Ron Merz who had the idea of starting a musical project back in 2009. Releasing the two-song EP The Lost Ones in 2014, he recorded the debut album of his project in Mastersound Studio with producer Alexander Krull who has produced albums by Belphegor, Leaves’ Eyes. Atrocity and Obscura. While in the studio Merz hired Leaves’ Eyes/Atrocity percussionist Joris Nijenhuis to accompany him; the band bio accompanying this recording hints this was a smart move since his drumming adds new and interesting dimensions to Merz’s songwriting. It didn’t take long to see the point made when I began listening to Nemesis. A well-crafted smelting of black metal’s archaic, venerable chill and death metal’s careful exactitude that sounds unprocessed and up to date for the countless times bands have crossed the two genres over. The presence generated from the starting point reminded me of the opening sequence of 1982’s Conan The Barbarian for how it introduces violence and carnage to the movie’s central character at a young age. You could almost close your eyes and envision the rampant havoc and gore. As for similarities between bands, Immortal and Satyricon are two that spring to mind; on second thought you could add Borknagar to the list. The first three songs here are unblunted and penetrating, and then the keyboards accompanying The Hail Storm put across a healthier feel of bleak coldness, again the visuals presented are easy to imagine as this song progresses. And we still have another four tracks to travel through before Nemesis ends. We have the lead guitar harmonies in Collateral Murder, the thrash undertones of The Lost Ones, the unstoppable blast of Spirits Of The Dead and the shadowy, mournful guitars of Im Kalten Licht Der Ewigkeit make for an album that exhibits the greatest sentiments of extreme metal as a whole. Bloodred has been getting favorable press from zines around the world so check this release out. -Dave Wolff

Track list:
1. Fell Voices On The Wind (Instrumental)
2. Tragedien I Svenskehuset
3. Nemesis
4. The Hail-Storm
5. Collateral Murder
6. The Lost Ones
7. Spirits Of The Dead
8. Im Kalten Licht Der Ewigkeit

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