Published: Absolute Underground #51 April/May 2013
Bastard Sapling are black metal from Richmond, Virginia. Doesn't exactly seem like the place where frostbitten satan would find musicians. Makes me more think of colonial theme-parks or civil war re-enactments but hey, I don't judge. From what I can tell they have released two EPs and this is their first full length even though it only has four songs on it there's a little more than 40 minutes on here. There's also only 500 copies available so I'll only be working with a digital copy.
It all starts off with "Prophesy born from dismal terrain" it's a good start. Straight up black metal in my opinion. A pretty good first song with a solid tempo that gets your head moving. This is before the band starts to get really experimental. "Cold winds howled across the desolation" is a perfect name for how the next song sounds and how it feels. You definitely get the feeling of desolation. Lots of atmosphere and bleakness from start to end. Dare I say it's also got some tasty guitar riffing. This really has a mid-90's black metal feeling to it, kind of like early Ulver. Constant drumming keeps the pace while guitars meander in and out. The vocals are howled and growled over the soundscape. Right about the middle of "The apex of suffering" I started to get the Bathory tingles. That feeling where you think you're getting the exact ancient warrior feeling that the artist was trying to give you. Maybe that's just the brain damage talking, but that's the feeling I get with the last two songs. The album ends better than it starts. Slow, droning and atmospheric.
I've listened to this album dozens of times now and I really enjoy it. It's black metal in a way that hasn't been done a lot in the last 15 to 20 years. If you like the atmospheric sound layering of Ulver or maybe Hate Forest this is something you would be totally into. All the songs were full, and this might be a bad word for this genre of metal, and catchy. I'll continue listening to this, even if I just have it on in the background. I have no idea where to find and of their limited releases but the internet is wonderful that.
Michael F. Carnage
https://www.facebook.com/bastardsapling/info
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