The Swedes from Black Birch are one of those bands. Fresh off the press in December 2022, they started to release a bunch of singles that – I guess – should serve as an investment into the future. Some sort of small-format Henry Metal. You know, the guy who released eight bad-quality LPs between 2017 and 2018, and since then, nada.
So, BB here decided to release one new track a month in 2023 with this here new EP – supposedly – as a go-between of sorts. A confusing strategy that’s ascerbated by the missing cover for the EP and a lopsided presence on socials with a whopping two labels involved who should know better.1
However, the brand of Extreme Metal Black Birch lobs at the audience is top-notch. A mix of brutally hot, sometimes crusty, Atmospheric and Doom Black Metal. A set of tracks that will rock you back on your haunches with its terrible fury that suddenly breaks into ambients and Post Black passages.
All of that vile savage rage rides in on Gina Wiklund‘s relentless and often anguished screams. This lands the EP with a truly depressive air that moves way beyond the usual doom flavors. Ulf Blomberg‘s scathingly ferocious riffs and the cruelly savage drumming provide the dreary backbone to that ever-present wrath on Black Birch‘s newest EP.
That’s Extreme Metal of the first order. And once Black Birch has sorted out the other shortcomings, they should be ready for that full-length album. The RMR review desk has already manned its lookout.
Label: Vita Detestabilis / Fiadh | Web: Facebook (band)
Release Date: 1 September 2023
- The Odd Footnote!
- Less ideology, more proficient music management, and focus would do the trick, folks. -Ed.-↩