· ILKIM OULANEM-IBLISBILIM
Never let it be said that women have no place in black metal.
Anybody still subscribing to that narrow and antiquated mindset clearly has had no exposure to the bitterly cold blackened storm of spite that is Ilkim Oulanem.
Hailing from Turkey Ilkim Oulanem is the sole representative for one woman black metal projects in that country, formerly acting as bassist/vocalist for the band Messershmit.
While Turkey itself does have a relatively healthy thriving black metal community particularly around Ankara the outfits are predominantly complete bands or dominated by men folk but without doubt this one woman army can match it with any of them and stacked up against many of the worldwide one man black metal entities Ilkim Oulanems work leaves a lot of them to pale into insignificance.
· This EP 'Iblisbilim' is the second from the Turkish creation following the 2008 release 'The Alarm' and a split with US black metal warriors Demonic Halocaust (sadly no longer active though chief protagonist my good friend Damien Necromencer has a new outfit) and to me it is a strong commanding piece of work on pretty much all levels aside from not being long enough, with only three tracks and an intro composing it.
The intro itself is 'Arinma', a mere forty second spam of ambient type sounds, spooky orchestral vibes and the like, constructing atmosphere with a hint of regal overture to it before things really come aggressively to life with the storming 'Boslugan Les Ruhlari'.
I have a lot of time, admiration and passion for all three of the songs which are to follow the prelude 'Arinma' but if I had to select an absolute favourite of them it would be this next track.
'Boslugan Les Ruhlari' gets underway with a massively irresistible riff that stampedes mercilessly atop an insistent clatter of percussion, loaded with a clever infectious hook that instantaneously sucks attention in.
Aggressive, fast and bristling with a true black metal hostility that so many of the one man acts with their dreary monotones lack these days the first real track of 'Iblisbilim' is a thoroughly engaging composition.
Not long into the crunchy powerful charge instigated by the monster riff and the procession of drum assaults and the vocals emerge and if I hadn’t already told you or you weren’t aware beforehand that this was all the work of one woman you certainly wouldn’t guess it.
Classically black and delivered as abrasively as any notable man in the scene they are neither a high pitched shriek nor a cavernous bubble but fall somewhere neatly between, veering at times from a rampant urgent sandpaper snarl to caustic growls.
Spoken words, whisper tones and interesting utterances segue in and out while drums pummel along, tremolo spreads fingers of frostbite through the motoring rhythm and whilst a couple of tempo shifts crop up mostly the whole thing is a speedy remorseless being just over three minutes long.
· The fierce growling vocals lunge into play simultaneously with an invading crescendo of instrumentation on ensuing track 'Iblisbilim', the song bearing the name of the EP.
Icy tremolo arrangements wash in waves of cold intensity through which an underlay of bass is consistently fed and the voice remains as malicious as ever in conjunction with the swarming virulence.
On one minute the guitar eases back its fury to fall into a hypnotic trail shaded with melodies that are both beautiful and antagonistic at the same time creating a nice sound to the instrument, flecks of high end tone curling around the ragged vocal scowl.
·
The title track is an epic composition with plenty going on as it reverts to the faster raw blare and then changes tact again to bring in cleaner clearer vocals that are layered with intermittent harsh backing all heaving over the relentless percussive clamour and the main guitar pattern.
In a further twist 'Iblisbilim' finishes at the far end of the spectrum to how it began with Ilkim Oulanem peeling everything away but gentle strings, leaving the song to wander out on acoustic melody set only to a backdrop of windy gusting ambience, a rare (in fact, the only) moment of quiescence residing within the albums obsidian depths.
There's none of these more passive elements existing in the last song on the EP.
Again vocals and music collide together as 'Asil Varolus' detonates in a frenzy of glacial guitar and battering drums, moving at a rapid tempo.
Here the bass is more obvious than it has been over the whole course of the release, effervescent, sinister and omnipresent and whilst not always prime focus is always somewhere in evidence in broad muscled coils.
Black metal that is both majestic and savage sums up this final number fairly succinctly with great moments allowing everything to shine through when required; rather melancholy guitar shapes temporarily peeking through stygian clouds before being enveloped by darkness once again.
I have one complaint about 'Iblisbilim' and one complaint only and that would be my comparatively stock standard gripe about demos and EPs.
It is too short and I would have loved to have more songs.
A full album from Ilkim Oulanem is something I ardently hope eventuates sooner rather than later though I know another split with a Colombian band is next up in the pipeline.
Black metal a mans domain only? Don't bet your house on it, Ilkim Oulanem serves it up far better than hordes of the one man BM shows I've encountered and a damn sight more than a lot of bands too.
· Track Listing
1. Arinma
2. Boslugun Les Ruhlari
3. Iblisbilim
4. Asil Varolus
· Ilkim Oulanem-all guitars, bass, drums, keyboards, vocals
Written by Jamie Goforth
©2009 BlackMetalJim