Striborg — Black Desolate Winter / Depressive Hibernation

Black Desolate Winter / Depressive Hibernation is the next chapter in Displeased records reissuing of old  albums by Striborg -the prolific and often avant garde touched one man Black Metal project from Tasmania. These two albums  come from 2005 and were originally released Asgard Musik and make up near on an hour & twenty minutes of suffocating grimness.

First-up we have Black Desolate Winter from May 05- which is made up of two wavering, sinister and ghostly Striborg synth tracks that bookend the 30 minute title track. The title track is a punishing and murky ride that goes from mid-pace blacked and jagged metal to stretched out doomy/ cold reverb heavy fogs of guitar tone, with the odd fold of black psychedelic synth tone and dammed music box vibe hovering here and there. And towards the end some nice bizarre drum machine rhythms are thrown in too. It’s certainly not the most ‘out there’ or avant grade  Striborg track, but it’s grimly rewarding and varied in it’s pace. The synth tracks work nicely to usher you in and out of the title track.

Lastly we have Depressive Hibernation album from February 2005, which is made up for the most part of  more speedy, spiteful & shorter tracks. But there’s still  the slower more black and stretched out moments here and there littered through out the tracks. The often grimly effected  vocals, painful and cold guitar tone, and primal drums blurring and mixing together into a cold, violent and barren sound soup. Again the album as a whole doesn’t really show too many of Striborg more avant garde or darkly quirky edger’s- but as a whole it’s highly effective in its monochrome, violent and hopeless tone.

Certainly a worthy  and rewarding reissue to add to the growing Striborg discography, but don’t expect things to get too out there or strange.