Blood & Vomit

Literalism is apparently Nattefrost's aim with his debut solo effort, Blood & Vomit: the minute-long intro to "The Art of Spiritual Purification" is literally the stomach-churning sound of the Carpathian Forest frontman vomiting. Childish, yes, and vile, indubitably — especially when the track "Nattefrost Takes a Piss" is nothing but the sound of the man unbuckling his belt and urinating into a toilet. And why is this refreshing? He's exhibiting something that most of Norway's black metal brethren don't dare publicly exhibit: a sense of humor — Nattefrost is simply, to use a bit of Brit slang, taking the piss out of the genre. The slogan on the back of Blood & Vomit reads "True primitive narrow-minded black metal," and adheres itself to that politically incorrect ideal; Nattefrost, who dubs himself "Satan's Terrorist," backs up his misogynist and pro-Beelzebub rasps with a blur of gritty and contemptuous black metal, all horde-of-locusts, near-ambient guitars and blastbeating drums, although "The Gate of Nanna" is a fascinatingly doomy slog through molten tar, and album-closer "Still Reaching for Hell" is a strange, artsy noise collage punctuated with ticking clocks, ominous rumbles, and a trumpet-led marching band (!). While Blood & Vomit won't alter the course of music history even one iota — to its credit, it doesn't even try — it's still an enjoyable listen for purveyors of antisocial Scandinavian metal. The only thing it doesn't include is an elbow jutting out of the CD case to nudge you in the ribs.