It's been more than five years since the world was last plagued with the Black Thrash Attack of Aura Noir. 'The Merciless' is their third full-length and the first for newly founded label Tyrant Syndicate. It bears all the trademarks of classic Aura Noir - whipping drums, razorsharp jet-black riffs and the frightening vocal delivery of not one but two snarling hounds of armageddon - former members and multi-instrumentalists Aggressor and Apollyon. Completing the infernal trio is Blasphemer of Mayhem fame. 'The Merciless' is one of those albums that becomes more than "just another album" - once you've let it invade your deck you'll have a hard time letting it go. Metal never sounded quite so vicious, not even in 1985. The riffs are of the kind Sodom and Dark Angel could have written back then, had they actually given up their souls to the devil. You bet they wish they had...

Aura Noir (the name was suggested by a friend and is in true oldschool-fashion a case of bad grammar) started out as a solo-project of Aggressor in 1995, who at the time was also active in constellations such as Ved Buens Ende and Infernö. He felt the need of another artistical outlet, brimming with ideas as he was, and promptly recorded a couple of demos with the help of Apollyon, who would later join the band full-time. These demos were of a more avantgarde and experimental nature than what was to come and are much sought after objects in the underground today. They were perhaps little more than just the exorcism Aggressor needed for a certain type of demons before he could let inspiration of an even more devilish kind roam free, transforming Aura Noir into the penultimate Black Thrash Metal band.

'Dreams Like Deserts' was released later that same year and this mini-album featured Aggressor and Apollyon switching drums and guitar/bass/vocal duties between them on every other track. This was to become a tradition for the band, both live and on record. The black and white sleeve depicting the band at a local graveyard, wielding beer bottles and giving you the finger completed the oldschool imagery to such an extent you could have sworn you had been taken ten years back in time. Not to forget the music...

'Black Thrash Attack', the debut full-length followed a year later and a more apt title has never graced an album cover. Blasphemer from Mayhem joined the band as a member on guitars. This was the perfect symbiosis of all the bands' 80s idols; Sodom, Slayer, Dark Angel to name a few, and their own personal touch, creating a very distinct sound. This is one of those albums that spawned an entire genre with its title - Venom's 'Black Metal' is another.

Come '99 and 'Deep Tracts of Hell', the band had broadened their horizon with Voivod and Celtic Frost rattling in the deeps, making it even more volatile and ugly-sounding than their previous efforts. This was also the only release the band did as a duo, with Blasphemer concentrating solely on Mayhem at the time. 'Increased Damnation' a collection of the first mini-album and nine previously unreleased live tracks, demos and alternate versions was a stopgap between 'Deep Tracts of Hell' and 'The Merciless'.


Source : http://www.auranoir.com/