Band:	Gardsghastr
Album:	Slit Throat Requiem
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	April 26, 2019
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. Promethean Flame
02. Of Crimson Eyes
03. Slit Throat Requiem
04. Journey Through Stagnant Time And Misery
05. Beasts Of Horn And Wing
06. Diabolical Reverence
07. Unfurl The Profane Wisdom
08. Outro

As big a fan as I am of more left field, experimental black metal, sometimes it's nice to enjoy the bands who wrap an old school sound in a present day context. This year Gardsghastr are hitting the scene hard as one of them.

Though relatively new on the block, forming just last year, the parties involved in Gardsghastr should be familiar, and it wouldn't be too far off to call the band something of a supergroup. For starters, there's the talented and ever-evolving Alex Poole (Chaos Moon, Skáphe, many others) handling guitar, bass, and keyboard duty. The Blackburn brothers from Entheogen and Guðveiki are also present, handling additional guitar, bass, keyboard, and drum duty. Throw Swartadauþuz in as a third guitarist/bassist (who you may recall from this review), plus an individual known as Glömd on vocals, and you've got Gardsghastr. The sound conjured by these five maestros on their debut Slit Throat Requiem is high quality, if not entirely original, atmospheric black metal, soaked in keyboards for extra effect and harkening back to the glory days of Emperor, Ulver, Borknagar, and the like.

Despite its tracks sounding rather orthodox by black metal standards, there's still nonetheless a feeling with Slit Throat Requiem of the music being wholly relevant and wrapped in a contemporary cloak. Certainly not lacking in interesting moments, moments of frantic aggression that may appear at first a bit stale and redundant eventually give way to more spacious moments with midtempo riffs, atmospheric guitar lines, and a more free flowing drum approach (see the title track and "Diabolical Reverence" especially). Additionally, while quite raw and aggressive at points, somehow the production on Slit Throat Requiem still comes off as quite clean and crisp, allowing each part of the instrumentation to shine and not compromising the various layers of sound with its assertiveness.

Slit Throat Requiem represents the latest example of brand of black metal I've become increasingly fond of lately: that which takes an older, 90s era type sound and upgrades it with contemporary songwriting and production techniques, thus feeling both old school and new school almost simultaneously. More complex than a first listen may suggest, with this debut Gardsghastr demonstrate their ability to remain dynamic and hard hitting through compositional techniques both forward and more restrained. There's a feeling with this album that there's something in it for fans of black metal across all eras, and one would quite likely be wise to keep Gardsghastr on the radar for subsequent releases.

Hell of a way to start off a discography. You know where to go.