STIELAS STORHETT — Expulsè (review)

STIELAS STORHETT — Expulsè album cover Album · 2011 · Atmospheric Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Time Signature
Angel of death...

Genre: avant-garde melodic black metal

A Russian one-man band with a Norwegian-sounding name, and whose only member looks like Jason Newstead and has a name more fit for an R'n'B artists than a black metal artist... "this is gonna be interesting" you think.

And interesting it is. Very interesting. Stielas Storhett's second album "Expulse" is a collection of original avant-garde black metal tunes - avant-garde, yes, but weird, no - which are very well put together, and very expressive. The core sound obviously is black metal, and there are plenty of conventional black metal elements, such as blastbeats, tremolo-picking, cold production, and harsh vocals, to keep the black metal fan happy. But Stielas Storhett move beyond the confinements of black metal (incorrect metaphor, I know, since black metal has really developed in all sorts of directions, so one cannot really talk about that genre being confining anymore), and, for one, it has incredibly melodic passages... even for melodic black metal. First off, there are a lot of melodic and even appealing guitar leads on the album, and some of the riffs also have inherent melodic natures, but the most interesting thing, I think, is the use of very soft and mellow, still dark, sections with guitar leads that are even bluesy at times and midnight saxophone figures as well.

This does not mean that "Expulse" is a softie-album. As I said there are plenty of blastbeats, and it is also rich in heavy riffage, and a sample of a woman screaming in pain opens up the album on a very disturbing and unsettling note.

Overall, "Expulse" is an expressive album, rich in texture and full of different moods, changes, sections and passages. It should appeal to fans of avant-garde black metal and experimental extreme music.
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Time Signature wrote:
more than 2 years ago
True... I definitely think that the cover does not in any way reflect the music. There seems, however, to be a link between the cover and the screaming woman that appear a couple of times on the album.
Wilytank wrote:
more than 2 years ago
The logo's font and the fact that it's red doesn't help either.
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
LOL :-)
Time Signature wrote:
more than 2 years ago
It looks like she's peed her pants laughing.
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Or on the cover of a porn flick :-)
Wilytank wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I still think the artwork looks like it belongs on a goregrind album.

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