Trolls In The Mist - Hordes Of Angband

Self Released 2012

 

1.The Fall Of Gondolin 2.Hordes Of Angband 3.Dargor Torog

4.Gorgoroth 5.Saruman's Betrayal 6.Flight Of The Nazgul

7.Smeagol's Descent Into Madness And Despair

 

London based black metallers 'Trolls In The Mist' offer up their début e.p. 'Hordes Of Angband'. Intro track 'The Fall Of Gondolin' is a medieval piece of pipe music which actually sets quite a sinister tone for the following track 'Hordes Of Angband' which bursts to life furiously in a hail of sharp, yet melodic black metal. The guitars are suitably under produced but this fits the music perfectly, adding a really cold and bleak atmosphere to the melodies on offer. Vocally it's as you would expect, harsh screamed black metal vocals which sound like they have had very little done to them in the production stage which actually makes a change as you can really hear the anger and spite in every hate-filled sentence. 'Dargor Torog' follows on immediately with no let up in the pace, the drums blasting along in accompaniment to the furious guitar work at quite a pace. The band influences starting to show through here, Gorogorth is one point of comparison. There's are real sense of urgency with this track, the pace never allowed to drop for any noticeable period of time, the higher pace suiting the bands brand of harsh yet melodic black metal really well. 'Gorgoroth' is the next track which begins life relatively slowly, creating a sinister atmosphere whilst retaining the bands ever present sense of melody. Its not too long before the track then bursts into life, however, rather than repeating the tempos seen in the previous track, the pace is minimised to 'mid-paced' territory. However, this slower pace doesn’t last long either, bursting into a storm of malicious guitar work and drumming that pummels and really adds yet another brutal edge to the song. The dual guitar riffs really shine through in the slower sections and the catchy and melodic black metal riffing adds another dimension to the bands sound – its harsh black metal but it also extremely catchy and very well played and presented. T.I.T.M have got it dead on with the production, just been harsh enough to class it as raw black metal but also with enough punch that really brings the instruments to life allowing each one to compliment the other perfectly.

'Sarumans Betrayal' begins in almost militaristic fashion with guitars and drums introducing the track before the fast and harsh black metal opens up in a storm of demonic black metal. There's even a 'folky' edge to some of the guitar harmonies which doesn’t sound out of place at all, rather adds and enhances the melody on show and complements the black metal style rhythm guitars. Some of the guitar harmonies are also reminiscent on Swedish black metallers Mork Gryning and that’s never going to be a bad thing! 'Flight Of The Nazgul' continues on where the previous track left off, with some of the folk inspired riffing being brought into the track from the outset. Here the band are probably as brutal as they have sounded so far, the pace of the drums and guitars really being upped to a maximum and the production on the drums really punches through when this pace is used. Final track 'Smeagol's Descent Into Madness and Despair' is a beast of a song and a fitting way to end this début e.p. There's a frantic, almost deranged feel to this track, especially vocally, the screams are ear piercing. The riffing is very catchy indeed, a blaze of raw, yet melodic black metal, very Swedish sounding but also with hints of early Enslaved mixed in there. Its a good combination indeed. Its amazing how appearances can be deceptive, because upon receiving this promo CD I wasn’t really expecting too much from it, the cover emblazoned with what can only be described as a quite awful attempt at a black metal logo (get someone to design a new one lads!!!) but upon putting the CD into the player, I was surprised to say least. Its a very good début e.p which shows bucket loads of potential from this relatively young band. Harsh black metal that drips atmosphere and melody, T.I.T.M have produced a commendable début e.p that is definitely worth a listen. It will be interesting to see where the band go from here. Middle earth awaits!

 

7.5 out of 10

 

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