ALBUM REVIEW: Olde Outlier – From Shallow Lives To Shallow Graves

A new entity emerges from the ashes of Australia’s Innsmouth, Olde Outlier continue this eldritch legacy of underground blackened death metal magick. Their debut album is out via Iron Bonehead Productions on December 19th.

Malicious vocals snarl atop bass-heavy riffing and cutting drums, the no-time-wasted beginning of this record packing a punch of obscure and otherworldly evil. One of the first things to really strike me is how good the production is, it has that raw and yet clean feeling that bands had in the 90s and early 2000s before trying to become “raw” by means of vapid “un-mixing”. No, this is real. From the cleverly intricate bass lines to the meandering malevolence of the guitar riffs through to the ritualistic and ever-moving drum work; this is instrumentally as solid as it gets. Thankfully the vocal delivery is well balanced in its delivery to complement these majestic songs rather than jut out annoyingly and ruin everything. Of course this is everybody’s first impression of Olde Outlier so to start with such strength and a bewitching sound, not to mention the utterly phenomenal cover artwork, ensures the underground hordes will stick it out and explore these charnel passages. Fans of Greek and Italian black metal from Rotting Christ, Necromantia and Varathron through to Mortuary Drape and even Swiss titans Samael or Germany’s Bethlehem will certainly find something for them here. Although this doesn’t feel like some 90s worship album, though its influences may harken back to the bands I mentioned, there is new ground trodden here which honours rather than stagnates this period.

As someone who much prefers my black metal firmly rooted in the metal half of the term; there is so much for me to unpack that satisfies me. From the grisly melodic and oft-thrashy guitars to the diverse drumming (complete with massive snare hits) and even the mystified vocals which evoke the raspy archaic howls of the past. There is an undeniably hypnotic effect to this record and yet one that still feels riff-packed and engaging rather than some droning bore. It has that fist-pounding feeling that I want from a metal LP, regardless of its subgenre. Furthermore it has spirit, of its own, in buckets. Each musician feels like they really fulfil their role to its fullest and yet complements the rest. This isn’t some opportunity to show off, but it is a really well crafted album with huge attention to detail and that must be commended. Sometimes a more unique vision takes time to get and I expect the more I hear this, the more I will discover within it. But even first impressions and listens mark me as a fan because I am gripped from start to finish.

Running for only 35 minutes, this could be seen as a short record, but to me it is simply one which has had the fat cut off. Across these four songs there is development, dynamics and a wide range of mood that are exciting and eerie at all times. Rather than bore us with sombre drudging ’til it grows tiresome, Olde Outlier always move, sneakily, into darkened territories yet unexplored. There are these tribal moments of primitive expression that always keep us grounded and then they wander off once again into the strange passages of their own creation. I cannot say I have heard an album that sounds quite like this one and yet it has familiarities with all those I cherish most from the volatile heydays of black and death metal, those days before the two were entirely separated by category-obsessed and uncreative dullards. In modern times we have had bands like Malokarpatan, Necromante and Gargoyle who take these black, death, thrash, doom and heavy metal elements all in their stride to come up with something actually engaging and potent. Olde Outlier feels like another rare entity to do so… and do so well!

The phrase atmospheric black metal has been utterly spoiled by banal musical endeavours by hipsters who forget the black and the metal along the way. However in this context the atmosphere is magnificent, a catacomb-dwelling affair where the festering smell of flesh and bone fills the nose while pounding hooves on cobbled streets percussively hypnotise you. The genius riffing and warm mixing will have you under its spell for certain and once again prove black metal is always atmospheric, except when it’s atmospheric “black metal”. A supreme first effort from Olde Outlier.