### Ghamorean: Terra ruina

#### 31/01/11 || Habakuk

While pure black metal is still not to my liking, recently I’ve gotten more and more into the black/XY genres recently, obviously black/death being a forerunner thanks to bands like Angel Corpse and spin-off Kerasphorus, Infernal War, but also Behemoth or Hate. Intrigued and expecting something similar due to the description, I decided to grab this here album off the “review this or I’ll kill you” pile set up by Lord K on a regular basis. The result was not complete success, unfortunately. But first things first.

This Swedish three-piece wrote comparatively long songs for “Terra Ruina”, and the overall sound leans more towards the black than the dead end of the spectrum. A scratching, trebly guitartone, typical vocals and the occasional carpets of drumming underneath, be it in the form of double bass or blasting. “Occasional” because speedwise, they keep things at rather unspectacular levels: Many slower, intricately twisted sections that remind me a bit of Dodheimsgard’s “Supervillain Outcast” for lack of better reference, meet black metal harmonies/blasting and a few more driving, drum-propelled riffs. And while all these are pretty decent for what they are (I still sometimes think the blasting shit sounds like the CD has stopped…), my problem is that this stuff doesn’t exactly manage to engage me from start to finish.

Some songs (“Underneath grey heavens”) have good dynamics going for them, but mostly my mind’s attention is diverted to something else while listening to the more elaborate grooves, while my body alone is left to find a suitable reaction to the aural input, which is mostly some sort of spongy headnodding or foot-tapping – a better reaction than many black metal related albums elicit – until I find myself in the middle of a buzzing blast-wasteland again and get really bored.

Simply put: I sense a lack of vicious death metal, speed sections grabbing me by the throat or even atmospheric parts lulling me in. I’ll take it all, but unusual grooves alone do not make this my thing. Then again, maybe more blackened listeners will enjoy this more than I do.

- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: Discouraged Records
- Website: www.ghamorean.com
- Band
- Andreas Båtsman: vocals, bass
- Samuel Persson: guitars, bass
- David Ekevärn: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Towards Pandemonium
- 02. Underneath grey heavens
- 03. Flagrum
- 04. In Man, a plague
- 05. Calvary & Martyrdom
- 06. Worship my icon
- 07. Iblis
- 08. Universal miscreant