Wolfshade
When Above
Wraith Productions
Admittedly, France isn’t the first country that you think of as a mecca (heh) for grim, boundary-pushing black metal, but Deathspell Omega and Glorior Belli have already given the lie to that notion, so Wolfshade doesn’t have to deal with even a fraction of the crap and preconceptions they would have a few years ago. And like those two aforementioned countrymen, Wolfshade do quite well for themselves in fashioning their own take on the limited black metal template, thank you very much. (Without sounding anything like either? Zounds!)
Basically the solo project of the inscrutable Kadhaas, Wolfshade dives blindly into the self-abnegating, self-loathing depression at the core of black metal’s seething id. The rage is there, but it’s turned inward and blunted by panic and desperation. There are some similarities to Xasthur’s appropriation of Gothic and shoegazing tropes, but Wolfshade is much more baroque in execution. Kadhaas, a sure craftsman, is unafraid to let moments of tarnished beauty peer through the curtains of distortion and red smoke. There are some similarities to Bethlehem, latterday Burzum, Fields of the Nephilim, and the Projekt roster. Plus, I need to point out that the vocal delivery is top-shelf. Usually favoring a wholly unnerving shriek with a very individual diction, it works. The tools of the trade herein are quicksilver lead guitar runs, brooding synths, lots of distortion, crawling tempos, and avant arrangements. Have at you, then…
Wraith Productions: http://www.wraithproductions.net
