Countess
Ancient Lies and Battle Cries
2014 Barbarian Wrath
Countess has been around for a long time now (since the start of the second wave of black metal in the early 1990s in fact) and have released a lot of albums, yet they've never managed to get much in the line of critical acclaim. Perhaps they've never wanted it, and have preferred to remain an underground band. That's something I respect. It means their integrity has never been challenged, and they've always done as they've wanted, making music their way without concern for what others may think. They must be doing something right, considering they've still been going for so long, and have had a long relationship with Nazgul's Eyrie/Barbarian Wrath. On to the album now.... Headman Orlok's voice is just as recognizable as ever with his trademarked "croaking raven" sound, and the lyrics he sings are very understandable. The songs still have the the same qualities we've come to expect. Some are depressing mini-epics, others are fast movers. All have that lo-fi recording and tuning that Countess fanatics have come to expect. In other words, they have their own instantly recognizable sound and style, and they're sticking to it, ignoring any and all trends. When everyone was throwing in massive amounts of keyboards, Countess didn't. When everyone was going for a post-black metal industrial sound, Countess didn't. When everyone thought adding some thrash metal was the way to go... you guessed it... Countess didn't. What you get with "Ancient Lies and Battle Cries" is more or less the same as other albums released by Countess. Black metal strongly influenced by the old heavy metal masters you'd expect (do I really need to list them?), and also by lesser known cultish bands you might not expect. Manilla Road come to mind almost immediately. If I had to sum up Countess in one word, I'd go with "consistent." Being consistent is a good thing. It means you know what your fans want, and you're more than happy to give it to them. As for the detractors,
they can suck it!
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