Band: Striborg

Title: Journey Of A Misanthrope

Label: Displeased Records

Distribution: Displeased Records

Release date: February 2008

Review: DVD

Journey Of A Misanthrope has been announced as the ‘first real Black Metal DVD', but that's, of course, too much honour, because this has been done before… But for me it is a ‘real' one, that's for sure. The DVD contains eight Striborg -hymns, you know, an extremely cold, grim and misanthropic approach of underground Doom / Black Metal. Musically, this is just superb, from beginning to the end, yet visually it is rather apart. Striborg 's passion with trees isn't new - the discography, by the way, is called treeography - but all songs are visualised with, especially, black-white images from trees. Trees at night, trees covered with snow, trees surrounded by, indeed, other trees etc. Also the moon, snow and, from time to time, a corpse-painted face (and even some individual jam session?), is part of this musical-visual experience. And of course, beautiful Tasmanian landscapes with… trees! But it does not bother me. I rather have this than those stupid acted would-be video clips that poison man's creativity and (misanthropic) fantasy!!! Besides seven blackish tracks, the DVD also includes a psychedelic clip of Homosapiens Devoid , an Aghast -alike Dark Ambient sound wave, a so-called ‘Forest gallery' with pictures of Sin Nanna and, believe it or not, forests and individual trees (or Sin Nanna amongst the trees), and the treeography, the discography through Displeased . Only recommendable to (sick-minded ?) freaks of Funeral Doom, Suicidal / Misanthropic Black Metal and haunting Industrial / Ambient. Oh yes, I must be sick-minded, because I do appreciate this effort a lot!!!

Within this review section: see also the review of Striborg 's newest full length album, Solitude (superior stuff, as usual!).

--/100

Ivan Tibos.