Review Summary: A glimpse into the future of black metal.
Don't let the crisp production and precise mixing fool you; this is raw raging gut punching pain spewing evil seething black metal at its finest. All the most recognizeable conventions of the genre, from lightning fast picking to incessant blast beating are present and extremely well executed, but it's Black Drop's eloquent and balanced usage of post-metal daydreaming meanders and a meticulous focus on the subtleties of their intricate instrumentation that provide a fresh perspective. Insert an industrial undercurrent and you've got a recipe for the best kind of disaster.
The song structures at large, and the methods used to progress from one section or sound into another (and sometimes back and forth again) are surprisingly simple, which allows all the fine tunings within riffs, the gradual evolution of the drum patterns, and the placement and impact of the bass and the vocals to be what you're naturalling paying attention to, all while delivering an astonishing emotional hurricane wrapped up in mastering that will make BM elitists cringe, but sound like heaven to fans of the more post/progressive direction the genre has taken more often than not as of late.
The songs are long, yet pass in what seems like only a few moments. There are just enough pauses in the wall of sound the band is usually laying into you with for you to catch your breath, and more than enough ear pummeling riffage to make you squeeze your eyes shut as you listen. Starting with the title track and its more evenly spaced sound, the album then alternates beautifully between an almost too familiar black metal rage, and a comfortable and solemn post metal back-build, balancing out again with the ingeniously addictive rhythms of The Frost and The Moon. This leads seemlesly into the album's powerhouse, 19th November; a track that serves as a microcosom of the very best aspects of Black Drop's compelling vision. You'll feel like you're in a calming, slow motion plunge before tearing through a whirlwind of painful memories and hated enemies.
This is a glimpse into the future of black metal. There will always be a place for the low-fi tin can shriek filled pain-gasms of old, but just as time marches ever on, so does the evolution of music, and Injecting pain stands as a yet unrocognized paragon of what much of black metal will inevitably become.
