The Ruins of Beverast - Blood Vaults - The Blazing Gospel of Heinrich Kramer
Some consider The Ruins of Beverast to be one of the best kept secrets in Black Metal right now. Though former Nagelfar (the German one, not to be confused with the Swedish Naglfar) member Alexander von Meilenwald has been writing and recording music under the name of The Ruins of Beverast since 2003, the band has remained something of a cult phenomenon. Though he has produced three critically acclaimed full-length LPs prior to this one (the split releases and compilations were less well received), widespread recognition has been on the elusive side. Considering how good Blood Vaults is, I doubt that this will remain the case for very long. This is quite possibly the heaviest Black Metal I’ve heard since the last time Tom Warrior/Gabriel/Fischer released something. It’s borderline Doom/Death in sound and production, giving the music a warmer and fuller treatment that greatly adds to the grim and malevolent air that hangs over Blood Vaults like a thick fog. That dark atmosphere is heightened by the use of copious amounts of acoustic guitar, clean and occasionally effects-laden vocals, and even some tribal drumming. Seriously, this is some sick and brutal stuff. When I want to listen to something dark, brutal and heavy, this is the kind of music that I want to hear. The whole package seems to indicate that this is a concept album, but a quick reading of the lyrics doesn’t really tell me what the story is beyond some disjointed parts that loosely fit together thematically. It doesn’t help that a fair sized chunk of the lyrics are in Latin, a language of which I have only a limited amount of knowledge. Concept album or not, it is one of the best releases this year. I don’t give perfect scores very often, but from my perspective Blood Vaults earned every point of it by delivering a record full of dark and punishing Metal that has both melody and brutality. It’s a delicate balancing act to pull off, but I felt that The Ruins of Beverast was able to do it.
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