GRAFVOLLUTH / SLAVECRUSHING TYRANT – Grafvolluth / Slavecrushing Tyrant

I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of this brilliant vinyl EP in the mail and I praise myself lucky for that, because this is some of the best pagan metal I have listened to in ages. The EP consists of two songs by Grafvolluth (US) and one by Slavecrushing Tyrant (Poland), and they all rule, but the ones by Grafvolluth are my favorite ones. The militaristic and strangely epic atmosphere conjured up by "We Carry the Hammer" and "Haljurunas" is mindblowing and fascinating, and those two compositions are simply so well-written and catchy that it is impossible not to get moved by them somehow. The musicianship is also excellent, and I really dig the war-like chants and clean vocals that are to be found in "We Carry the Hammer". "Harvest of the Iron Age" by Slavecrushing Tyrant is slower and slightly more morose and melancholic than the Grafvolluth songs, which works in its favor in that it serves as a nice contrast to the more up-tempo songs by the Grafvolluth. I must admit that I prefer Grafvolluth to Slavecrushing Tyrant, like I pointed out earlier on, but all in all we are dealing with a great piece of work here that all lovers of pagan and/or militaristic-sounding black metal should check out.  

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