Review: The Black Disorder “The Acceptance of Humiliation” [Iron, Blood and Death Corporation]

One of the reasons that black metal is one of my favorite metal genres is because of how dynamic it can be. While you can have a band that uses the same basic style, you’re still able to do so many things with it and go at it from many different angles. You may be able to pick up on specific influences, but there are still plenty of bands I find all the time that seem to make their spin on the sound fresh- while there still are plenty of bands that kind of just seem to be uninspired clones, I still find myself being impressed constantly. The band we’re talking about today is a black metal band from Poland, called The Black Disorder, with their new album, The Acceptance of Humiliation. So let’s get right into it.

So for starters, the intro kicks things off by setting an ominous tone with atmospheric riffs and some raspy, almost whispery sounding vocals, with some vaguely ritualistic sounding spoken word, before transitioning almost flawlessly into a very aggressive, blasting track. However, the first thing I noticed happened to be the drumming- I may not be the best at describing the patterns or beats of drums, but it isn’t really just a one note blast fest throughout, there’s a lot of variation and there’s something kind of catchy about the rhythm of the drummer. The riffs throughout the track sound very diabolical, and seem to alternate between a much more aggressive and heavy sound, that has kind of a cruel and scathing feeling to them, and and of course some really icy sounding riffs, in an oppressive cycle of bloodshed and punishment- in a way that seems very befitting of the song title, “Damnation Repeats Itself”. I’d compare it to either- standing in a blizzard only to have a scalding hot bucket of water being thrown on you to warm you up, or standing in the fires of hell and having ice cold water thrown onto you- whichever metaphor would best fit the description. And I would probably say that for the most part, the rest of the album kind of has that same general style, but I think there’s still more that’s worth mentioning in the album. It really reminds me of some of the more recent outputs by Marduk, or maybe Dark Funeral more than anything- closer to a modern death metal sounding production, while also being a lot more aggressive and blasting, which I know isn’t every black metaller’s cup of tea, especially if they’re picky about production, but I like it regardless. Although it is maybe a little bit more accessible, it still doesn’t really pull its punches.

Then the vocals have this raspy, snarly quality to them, and I would almost say that something about them reminds me of Attila Csihar. Sometimes you might have the commanding, dictator-like shouts sparsely used in some of the tracks, as well as clean vocals briefly being used in “Ludici Cleri Lucidi Human”. Then the bass typically stays under the radar, but when I can make it out, it seems to add an extra layer of brutality-I get the impression that if the riffs are the blades on the side of the chariot riding through the battlefield, the bass would be the dismembered limbs being trampled by the wheels, if that analogy makes sense.

The solos in the album mostly seem to add to the atmosphere more than anything, kind of lying in the background of the tracks, adding sort of a hellish feeling to the sound. I would say that the imagery I get the most from the album has to be of legions of orcs marching and battling on a battlefield, perhaps in a cold, misty valley dotted by patches of snow, flinging molten rock at their opponents and what not- particularly the title track, with a main riff that diabolically ascends and descends- in a way reminding me slightly of the night on bald mountain theme funnily enough. But one little thing I noticed in that track as well was how they sometimes incorporate some interesting sounding breaks in the music- like the vaguely droning, industrial sounding spoken word interval that builds back up into the carnage of the rest of the music. That and they occasionally sneak in some other interesting noisy, electronic, almost somewhat industrial elements into the background of the music, one song for example using industrial drill sound effects, and it all just adds a little bit of an extra feeling of dread on top of the brutal, blasting tempo, giving it all the more of a layered, and I think this is the level of nuance that I really appreciate about the music. Although the bulk of the sound is fairly straightforward in execution, I think it’s those little sprinkles that kind of make the experience a little bit more interesting. The riffs themselves are anything but boring, they’re played very well, and really quite memorable in parts, I really like the little nice touches of subtlety- those little things that add a little bit of a dissonant and off beat quality to the sound stand out more to me, and just sound interesting to me.

I’ve already mentioned a few of the highlights of the album for me, but I think I’ll take time to expand on that a little bit here. “Katatonik Vortex” is one that kind of stood out for me. That one especially has sort of a hypnotic, icy quality to the main riff in the track, it’s kind of like being hypnotized and lured into a blizzard by a seductress only to be violently mauled by a gang of brutes in a way- or like actually being lured into a “Katatonik Vortex”. The main riff actually reminds me more of Darkthrone this time around, and the ominous melody towards the end provides a calm yet foreboding atmosphere, like being in the eye of a storm, and it also has some more of that subtle electronic stuff in the background that I like. “The Bloodiest God” is also another one of the more brutal tracks on the album thanks to the bass in that song especially, then “The Acceptance of Humiliation” and “Damnation Repeats Itself” I’ve already mentioned. “The Plague – The Swarm” has some really chaotic, yet catchy riffs in it, and some really interesting sonic effects to boot. Then the last track, “And Then We Die” I really like, which probably seems to epitomize these electronic, industrial effects the most I think, and it’s probably one of the most “off-kilter” sounding tracks on the album.

So overall I would say that is some really solid black metal. It is pretty straightforward in production and execution, reminds me of Marduk and Dark Funeral more than your typical Polish black metal, but the layered and nuanced aspects of the music keeps it even more interesting to me. So overall I’d have to give it probably an 8/10. You’d definitely enjoy it if you like a little bit of an aggressive, relatively straightforward, yet somewhat accessible style of black metal- it’s probably a gem that you can show your friends who are maybe into more of the bigger names of death metal or black metal, but can’t really get over the production hurdle of more of the raw black metal or war metal bands. Of course, the CD can be found on their label’s Bandcamp page, Iron Blood and Death Corporation. Until then, I hope your day is of the trvest of kvlt days, and cheers!