[avatar =”wolfie” size=”50″ align=”left” /]Being a huge fan of the black metal scene I jumped at the chance to have a peek at the debut album from the Norwegian band AHP, entitled Against Human Plague, a beautifully well-written album that combines dark ambient black metal with the band’s musical side, and a more depressive suicidal theme in of the lyrics with songs about self-sacrifice, pain and suffering.
One track on the album that stands out for me personally would be title track “Against Human Plague” which opens up as a fast and dark track mixed with dark lyrical themes clearly showing the depressive suicidal themes running through. As the track carries on there is more of a raw sound to the track in the rhythms and riffs, which give off an atmosphere of dark and bleakness. For me it is an excellently written track that keeps on giving and a track that is truly a masterpiece on the album.
Another song on the album entitled “Unleashed the Storms” is a catchy number complete with fast and heavy battery that creates the perfect environment for screeching powerful vocals. The track itself also incorporates a range of different rhythms to create a grim atmosphere, that suits the themes of the album flawlessly.
The fifth track on the album entitled “Homines in Igne Morti” is another dark and heavy outing, where the themes of depressive suicidal black metal come out thick in the lyrics. As the song progresses the battery in the track become less ambient themed and more heavy and hard-hitting which adds to an already dark theme.
The album itself also contains two incredibly played covers of Beherit entitled “Emotional Ecstasy” and even a war cover of “Satan’s Millennium”. They add ambient themes around Beherit, and a more raw sound to the war cover. The album also contains a number of instrumental tracks such as “Dungeon of Rotting Corpses” which have more of an ambient feel to them.
Against Human Plague is out now and can be streamed / purchased from Via Nocturna’s Bandcamp page.
