Do you see that grainy picture of a creepy looking forest on the cover of Tarm’s Nad Tulevad Kääpaist? Well somewhere in there is bound to be a dilapidated old farmhouse converted into a makeshift analog studio where these Estonians recorded this platter of Pagan black metal. I’m telling you, there seems to be a sizeable community of Eastern European black metal bands seeking inspiration from deep within these dark, dank, and dense forests.

Don’t ask me to rattle off a laundry list of the acts making up this esteemed community, as I’ll either (A) make up a list of names in a thinly veiled attempt at hiding the fact that I’ve not paid strict enough attention to the last several releases from bands of the region to remember relevant points of comparison; or (B) admit that Hungary’s Vorkuta is one of the bands that is in fact relevant as a point of comparison and also happen to be the only one of the aforementioned community of bands that I could think of as of this writing. Either way, you’ll not necessarily be any wiser for it. Besides, the three or four readers that are well versed in EESFBM (Eastern European Spooky Forest Black Metal) will call for me to be force fed Birch bark and then immolated at the center of a circle of stones lifted from the set of the Blair Witch Project.

So anyway, Nad Tulevad Kääpaist offers the listener a pretty good collection of raw, yet vaguely majestic and just shy of folk-inflected, pagan black metal within which one can hear a standard group of early era influences, such as Beherit, Mayhem, and to some extent Bathory. That all important, and generally indefinable, atmosphere of morbidity is expertly captured here and the songwriting is decent as well. Often mid-paced with speedy flourishes, though not relentlessly blast beaten, tracks like “Otsatu Haud” are fairly dynamic in that the basic BM melodies are broken up with cool little arrangement twists and percussive accents. “Ood Agooniale” takes a steady approach to the beat and delivers its goods with two primary riff styles – one slow and driving, the other airy and ominous. The bulk of the album is a little more straight-forward, but still generally satisfying. The croaking vocal style is well suited to music. Unfortunately, it is the occasional gurgled scream that, while well intentioned, reminds me of one thing and one thing only; Kermit the Frog. Sorry guys, just being honest. Even then it’s not awful, just a tad irksome.

In a nutshell, I enjoyed the album. It has definitely got a certain spirited buzz and a convincingly morose atmosphere, which in black metal is akin to locating the G-Spot; it ain’t easy. Now I just need to keep repeating “Tarm” under my breath, so that the next time I review one of Eastern Europe’s own, I’ll be able to reference it and Vorkuta. Ah fuck it, let the immolation begin. I’m ready. – Scott Alisoglu
www.myspace.com/tarmrawpaganblackmetal

[Visit the band's website]

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