CoC : Aurora Borealis - Northern Lights : Review

Aurora Borealis - _Northern Lights_
(Independent, 2001)
by: Adrian Bromley (9 out of 10)

If you are going to play black metal music and you live in the United States, you better be good at it -- none of this Cradle of Filth pansy screaming and cape wearing stuff. If you are into all that, you'd better find a new sound to hone your musical skills on, as that is just getting a tad tiresome. For those into metal music, you know black metal is a big deal for music lovers, and while in recent years it has become somewhat of a commercial commodity in this music business, the raw feel and coldness of it all is what keeps those fans true to the sounds and styles of it all. For fans picking up the latest disc _Northern Lights_ by Maryland act Aurora Borealis, their black hearts will warm up to this. Fast and furious, Aurora Borealis aim high and hard to make sure your time with them is well spent. No doubt fans of black metal will be in awe as they take in the sinister vocals, the monstrous drumming (listen to the fucking blasting drumbeats on "Sky Dweller" -- incredible!) and the raw guitar tone blasting from this disc. While some black metal fans (I guess the "true" ones?) say that there are very few black metal acts in North America keeping the spirit of black metal real and intense, I can think of numerous black metal acts that are doing fine jobs. You can add Aurora Borealis to the list of such notable acts as Noctuary, Acheron, Absu and Canada's Burning Moon. And while Aurora Borealis are black metal at heart, there is a definite death metal feel at times radiating throughout their music, most notably in the guitar work and some vocal arrangements. All of these ideas and sounds work for me, as Aurora Borealis has managed to keep things interesting from start to finish. Black metal is alive and well on the US East Coast. Feel the coldness as it delivers its crushing blow.

Contact: Ron Vento, P.O. Box 1327, Clinton, MD 20735-5327, USA

(article published 13/5/2001)