Album Review: Cvinger – Rites Ov Flesh
Reviewed by Sam Jones
It’s been a while since we checked some black metal out and today’s record is Slovenia’s Cvinger and Rites Of Flesh. Formed in 2012 the band have been consistently releasing music for a long while now, their first album coming out way back in 2014 and since then pursuing a consistent track record of releases. 2016 saw Embodied In Incense but after a seven year gap Cvinger returned with album three in the form of Doctrines By The Figure Of Črnobog; I firmly remember seeing that album art everywhere for it made significant waves upon release. Three years later Cvinger return with this fourth album now partnered with Void Wanderer Productions and slated for an August 20th release date. Knowing who these guys are now I was doubly interested to finally sink my teeth into some Slovenian black metal.
If Cvinger wanted to convey the pervading sense of doom and despair then their introductory piece does the job well and then some, dripping with ambience before the band explode with the first real track. It ultimately states this won’t be a record that shall hold your hand. When the band’s songwriting does get started it’s the kind that’s hellbent on snapping your neck but isn’t so dedicated to speed that they forget to slow down and really let their evil ooze with delicious fervour. As a newcomer to Cvinger I can immediately say the band employ vast swathes of bass into their performance, giving the razor-bladed riffs the impactful edge black metal often forgoes in lieu of piercing aesthetic. Though their performance is bristling with energy and there is always something happening in the moment, it feels remarkably grounded.
Speaking of speed these are some of the most furious blast beats I’ve encountered in a long while; when Cvinger want to play faster there is exceedingly little that is going to avert their course from tearing your eyes out. That is, unless, their songwriting suddenly sees them touch the ground again and the vocals act as a driving wedge between rampancy and conveying that more mature blackened soundscape. Cvinger are adept with annihilation by though the drums gather intensity like its birthright, I appreciate they don’t rise so high into the mix they drown everything else out. Blast beats are conveyed and acknowledged without the mix throwing them into conflict with riffs or vocals for example, likely due to the drums’ taut and rough-sounding skin which gives them the needed resonance to push through the great din Cvinger ceaselessly summon.
The track structure is interesting because throughout the record you have a plethora of regular-length songs front and back, but then they’re split apart by a huge nine-minute piece that’s far and away the band’s biggest work on album here. In a way one could view this behemoth as a real test as to whether you can endure everything else to come, whether you really dig Cvinger’s soundscape. But it also serves to split the record into two clear sections given Cvinger don’t employ any instrumental or ambient pieces to break the record up. The record may therefore be a nonstop piledriver with the sole purpose of cleaving your torso into numerous pieces, but this lengthy track fulfils the role now being noticeably longer than the rest, being grander and with more to offer.
The result of the production applied has been to create an impact more akin to a brick hurled into your face as opposed to cutting you open. If you listen to the vocals and riffs together you’ll notice how everything feels to be on the same level; there isn’t any wavering or lacklustre or overpowering force on the band’s part, everything has been slapped onto the same level and
then mixed in to give each component their purpose. This gives Cvinger’s sound something reminiscent to death metal where their aim is to subject you to wholly belligerent batterings except here there’s the evidently blackened twinge. It’s this blunt force impact that provides the majority of Cvinger’s entertainment since there are only so many reprieves they provide, otherwise it’s one track after another of Armageddon-inducing rage.
In conclusion, Rites Ov Flesh is the kind of record where you want to be blitzed over the head nonstop with power and devastation and won’t think a second to offer you mercy. With that said, Cvinger’s sound isn’t utterly unapologetic, it’s surprisingly grounded and you’ll be able to follow them from start to finish with little difficulty. They clearly didn’t want you to get lost in some heathen whirlwind for their production keeps slamming tracks right in your face and with little place to escape from them too. Cvinger’s style of black metal offers a nice change of aesthetic from the slicing, freezing style familiar to black metal. A worthwhile recommendation for sure.
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