CRAFT - WHITE NOISE AND BLACK METAL (2018)

Here on a white vinyl limited to 400 copies released on the label Season of Mist Underground Activists.

For 20 years Craft have existed or 24 if you take into account when they were known as Nocta. After a great debut Total Soul Rape (2000) the band then released two excellent albums.

Terror Propaganda (2002) on Selbstmord Services and Fuck The Universe (2005) on Shamaatae's (Arckanum) co-founded Carnal Records. After 6 years they released Void in 2011 on the same label. It's a good album but it cannot compete with their two previous records.

Craft literally fell into the void after Void. But in September of 2014 they did their first ever live performance at Debaser in Stockholm, Sweden.

After a couple of more gigs in 2015-2017 they later recorded and released this brilliant album called White Noise And Black Metal.

It's way too early for me to proclaim it to be the best Craft album thus far. Because the Terror Propaganda & Fuck The Universe albums are so fucking amazing and mandatory to own in a serious Black Metal collection but I really do like this new one. I can for sure say that this album is knocking on the door and will be considered for my top-9 albums of 2018.

The label on the record sleeve mentions Darkthrone and and me being a huge fan of everything by them thinks it’s an alright comparison. There's some hints of them on White Noise and Black Metal. But I would rather say that the Darkthrone influence is more present on the earlier Craft albums. It also says Goatwhore and yeah I can hear some connection there.

Then it mentions Watain whom the 38 year old me doesn't have enough experience or any interest for at all anymore (I have tried MANY times). Sure I know about them and I respect their success and the band. I will not get into any discussion about Watain here, that's a topic for some other post. Because this’s a post about Craft!

It could instead have mentioned any of the great bands that made a huge impact on the scene in the late 90's like Funeral Mist, Sorhin, Malign, Triumphator etc. rather then Watain that's just my opinion.

But those labels that mentions a bunch of great bands on the records are just plain dumb according to me at least. Have never bought an album because it mentions some band that I'm into in my entire life as far as I can remember. Maybe in the early to mid 90's when I was a lot younger and more impressionable.

Anyway I can’t recommend White Noise and Black Metal enough. After all that namedropping I still think that Craft is a very unique band in the Black Metal scene. Really an album to look out for in this amazing year of great records that 2018 has been.