Treading a different path to many of the bands playing their part in Norway’s Black Metal scene, Bergen’s Vulture Industries (known previously as Dead Rose Garden) have produced their own particular, peculiar brand of Avant-garde/Progressive/post-Black Metal since 2003. 

Changing their line-up as well as their name, the band recorded two demos and an EP, eventually releasing their first full-length, The Dystopia Journals (Dark Essence Records), in 2007. Following it up with The Malefactor’s Bloody Register (Dark Essence Records) in 2010, and The Tower (Season of Mist) in 2013, the band are now set to release their fourth album, Stranger Times (Season of Mist), and exciting times look to lie ahead.

A darkly gothic, and occasionally quirky slice of “Dark Metal Cabaret”, Stranger Times, like their other releases, has been influenced by the likes of The Cult, Faith No More, and, as it may possibly have been noted by one or two others in the past, Arcturus. Once again, vocalist Bjørnar Nilsen’s powerful voice steals the show. Using throaty whispers and gentle crooning, King Diamond falsettos and strident Danzig hollers, Nilsen’s vocals reflect the mood of each song perfectly.

Album highlight ‘Strangers’ is probably the best example of this. Like a ghostly silhouetted figure creeping its way through an empty carnival, Autumn leaves swirling across the ground as a cold wind blows through skeletal tree branches, this seven minutes of bleak, haunting melancholia sounds like Dog Fashion Disco listening to Leprous on depressants. The eerie, bluesy swagger of Cult-esque ‘As The World Burns’ worms its way into you forever after only a couple of listens, a heartbeat accompanies the gentle ‘My Body, My Blood’, before segueing into the more sinister ‘Gentle Touch of a Killer’, while ‘The Beacon’, opener ‘Tales of Woe’, and closer ‘Midnight Draws Near’ showcase Nilsen’s formidable talents in many different ways.

And lest they be forgotten, guitarists Øyvind Madsen and Eivind Huse, Tor Helge Gjengedal (drums), and Kyrre Teigen (bass) all excel themselves here, each playing an integral role in creating the unusual gothic vaudeville atmosphere of this eclectic and highly distinctive band.

8.0/10

GARY ALCOCK