What will you find here...

This blog is meant to post my detailed opinions and reviews about albums that catch my attention.
Keep in mind that I'm not an expert in music and I'm unaware of technical aspects.
Currently, I am listening to black metal, so here you will find a lot of content related to that genre, as well as sludge metal.
That doesn't mean that other genres will be excluded in the future, but for now, they will be the predominant ones.
Consider that I have delved quite a bit into the history of black metal; I have dedicated to documenting myself as best as I can,
reading fanzines, reviewing various documentaries, among other things, so some reviews I publish may have a bit of historical context or an opinion if it concerns someone controversial
(you and I know that the history of black metal is full of infamous events, but I don't want to focus on that either).
The point here is the music, especially that which is not well-known, so I invite you to join me on my journey.

• Name: Dronckaerdt - "Hoon van ontwaken"
• Year of realease: 2004
• Country of origin: Belgium
• Line up: Echtelion (all instruments and vocals)
• Status: Split-up
• Duration: 19:24 min
• 1."Ochtendglore": I really loved that ambiental intro, it evokes a quite cold and epic atmosphere. The guitars sound pretty interesingt and they're very dinamic. There were some ominuos chants somewhere in the song that were a really nice touch in my opinion. The voice was pretty good, tho I didn't find it characteristic. Quite underwhelming end, but is still a good song. I would rate it 8/10.
• 2."Dor land": I'm not a big fan of this song in particular. The riff at the beggining is similar to the previous song and in general, I would say is a flat song. The rythm doesn't flow much with the guitar, is not very cohesive. The ending is underwhelming, again (the song just fades into silence). I like how he screams "This is Dor land!". I would rate it 3/10.
• 3."Vlam van tranen": This song is pretty inusual if you ask me. The initial guitar riff quickly turns into amother riff you don't expect, so do the drums. I really like the fact that you don't expect the way the song unfolds. The song fades into slience again, but it's ok. I liked it. I would rate it 7/10.
• 4."De moderdood": I LOVED the beggining, I loved it. The guitar riff is more intense or interesting for the lack of a better word. Honestly, it was a solid song and it was the firt one I listened of Dronckaerdt. Loved it. I would rate it 10/10.
• 5."Puin en as": I like everything about this song. It was love at first sight with that guitar melody, I love the little interlude in between the song. Instant 10/10.
• 6."Avondkrijs": It's ok, but I don't find it a good choice to end the album. 6/10.
• General opinion: I'm a big fan of this album, it may not be the heaviest, but for me it's perfect even with some defects. There isn't a lot of information about Echtelion, recently (like literally as I write this) I found s bit more of information about him in Enclycopaedia Metallum. Apparently, his real name is Stephen Huysmans and previously was part of a band called "Astharot". If you look at the comments of the video I linked in the album cover, you'll see someone with the username "HateRedStephen" that answered all of the 9 comments with some details of the album, for example he says that he was 17 when he recorded it. I think that user is the actual Stephen Huysmans, since the name fits and if you look at the photo of him available in Encyclopaedia Metallum and his youtube channel, you will spot the same guitar and similar appearence. So, if it's true that he recorded the album when he was 17, let me tell you it's impressive. I enjoyed a lot, and I love that the style of the songs are pretty inusual for black metal in general in my opinion. I love how you can hear the bass and another aspect of it I liked were the lyrics (here's the website where I found them unstranslated: https://www.metallyrica.com/d/dronckaerdt.html). Also, I have this impression that this proyect was inspired in a way by Burzum first for the lyrics, and second, for the atmospheric factors. To conclude, I highly recommend this album and I listen to it constantly, it would be great if Stephen decides to realease something, he's great.