If you’re a regular reader of this site, you may notice we don’t cover black metal often. There’s a reason for that. I don’t see much reason to cover bands who are just rehashing what was done by Mayhem and Burzum 30 years ago. If I’m going to cover a black metal band they must A. Excite me. and B. Take more from the first wave than the second. Canada’s Occult Burial checks both boxes.
These masters of all thing hideous and obscure (See what I did there?) have returned with their second full length, Burning Eerie Lore. Its got everything that made their debut album, Hideous and Obscure, one of the highlights of 2016. There’s hard hitting thrash riffs and mysterious lyrics set to an evil, blackened atmosphere. The production has been cleaned up since then, but fear not you trve kvlt konnoisseurs! Burning Eerie Lore is no sugar coated walk through the part.
If you’ve never listened to Occult Burial, the best way I can describe them is is if Metal Blade era Slayer was German. I know that sounds bizarre, especially for a Canadian band, but hear me out. Remember how nearly all the German thrash bands began as black metal i.e. Sodom’s early years, Destruction on Sentence of Death (1984) and Infernal Overkill (1985), Kreator on Endless Pain (1985), etc.? Imagine that attitude collided with the riffs of Hell Awaits (1985). It’s no wonder cuts like “Bleeding Spectre (Queen of Doom)”, “Pyramide de têtes coupées”, and the title track remind me of if Schmier fronted Slayer.
Thrash isn’t the only style on display throughout Burning Eerie Lore. “Bastard Curse” is a punky d-beat charged speed metal banger. You can practically smell the alcohol on its breath. My choice cut is the Venom influenced “Skeletal Laughter (Ode to the Graves)” because duh. However, the most adventurous track on here happens to be the longest. Clocking in at a little over 6 minutes, “Highway Through Borderland” may warrant the coining of a new subgenre, blackened hard rock. The lead riff has a swagger reminiscent of late 70s and early 80s metal/hard rock.
Occult Burial have yet again proven why black metal’s first wave was the genre’s finest hour. Furthermore, they’ve done so without sounding like a cheap imitation of Venom or Bathory. My best advice is to pick up Burning Eerie Lore, crank it up loud, and let the ancient spirits within run free from your stereo.
7 out of 10
Label: Temple of Mystery Records
Genre: Black/Thrash Metal
For fans of: Hell Awaits era Slayer, Destruction, Hellripper