Album cover for As The Earth Fades Into Obscurity by Winter Deluge. Photo / Supplied
Little old New Zealand is not a stronghold for black metal - a more evil and scary version of speed, thrash and death metal - like the Nordic nations who helped pioneer the genre with bands such as Mayhem and Burzum.
But with a band like Auckland five-piece Winter Deluge
channelling their sonic pestilence there is no doubt we can hold our own.
These guys even have trademark black metal aliases, with founding members and brothers Nathan and Aaron Baylis known as Autumus and Arzryth respectively.
This long-awaited debut album - following an EP and a number of line-up changes since forming in 2005 - is mostly the sound of a band going at it hammer and tongs, with devious and deranged looks in their eyes, as bloodcurdling shrieks slice and dice your mind. Often it seems like a blistering swarm of noise, but instead of sounding like a blur, Winter Deluge bring each extreme part together with a surprising clarity.
Subtleties are hard to find within this frantic din, but are key here, especially on tracks such as Take A Sphere To Cleanse the Earth, which at almost eight minutes is relentless before a progressive metal flourish to end, and Triumph of the Fallen Folk has a mid-section where it pulls back slightly, toying with you, before lashing out again. Hunker down this winter and get some black metal into you.
