Band: Striborg

Title: Solitude

Label: Displeased Records

Distribution: Displeased Records

Release date: February 2008

Review: CD

Those who think that Australia isn't but kangaroos, deserts and eucalyptus trees: think again! Tasmania , closer to Antarctica than the Equator, houses a project called Striborg , conceived by a certain Sin Nanna . This deep-darkened mind creates eerie atmospheres that stand far, far away from the sunny landscapes you might find in Australia , believe me! Since 1994, Sin Nanna exhales some ‘true' misanthropic spirit and that's why I do like (hate?) Striborg so much. Besides, my personal favourite styles are Funeral Doom and (most kinds of) Black Metal, and that's what Striborg , most of the time, stand for, in an unholy collaboration with darkness-driven industrialised Ambient. Solitude , which lasts for over seventy minutes (!), opens with Ektoplasmic Dreams , a haunting sound-scape that strongly reminds me to the superior waves of Aghast . Next track is the title track, combining rather primitive underground-oriented Black Metal with a slow tempo. This gloomy underground-orientation was / is rather (especially) common in Scandinavia, Germany and North America, so it is sort of a pleasure (what a contradiction) to enjoy this approach from the southern parts of our oh so beloved world. Yet this also means: an underground-oriented sound! Personally I am obsessed / possessed by this kind of production, yet if the sound of, let's say, Burzum , Judas Iscariot and Darkthrone is too grim yet, you better stop continuing. But I do love it, even though I think the drums aren't that suitable in this case. Never mind … All Metal songs go on in this vein, meaning: raw, grim, darkened and cold stuff with a certain funereal sphere, the latter caused by some creepy, atmospheric keyboards, like in Pernicious Paths Of Perception , the depressive, suicidal and / or misanthropic lyrics and the (mostly) doomy tempo. Like the opener of the album, a few tracks are eerie, oppressing, horrific and haunting sound-scapes in the vein of Aghast and that's just fine! Highly recommended to fans of Sort Vokter , Ildjarn , Lugubrum , Mütiilation , Burzum , Judas Iscariot , Xasthur etc. Oh yes, the splendid artwork is, as usual, based on trees. And look out for the upcoming DVD Journey Of A Misanthrope (also released through Displeased , by the way).

92/100

Ivan Tibos.