''The Black Flux'' is the second studio album by Norwegian

avant-garde metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, and experimental) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde elements, including non-standard and unconventional soun ...

band

Virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...

. It was released on 10 November 2008 via

Season of Mist Season of Mist is an independent record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pag ...

Background

''The Black Flux'' was recorded between June 2007 and July 2008 at Amper Tone Studios in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. This is the band's only studio album that was released by the label

Track listing

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

reviewer Greg Prato stated: "Most times, this Oslo, Norway-based outfit sounds comparable to Voivod, but at other times sound like a distant musical disciple of the

Melvins Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...

(with far less distortion on the guitar and more discernible vocals). Either way, one thing's for certain. These chaps like to stretch a guitar part until your brain goes numb, as evidenced by the album's title track, which rambles on for nearly three minutes before the vocals finally kick in. Elsewhere, a tune like "Lost Peacocks" cuts to the chase quicker when it comes to the vocals, with a singing style (courtesy of Virus' singer/guitarist, Czral) that sounds patterned after the late/great

Ian Curtis Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the post-punk band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums ''Unknown P ...

from

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

Personnel

;Virus *

Czral Carl-Michael Eide (born 24 July 1974) is a Norwegian black metal musician, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist. He is also known under stage names Aggressor, Czral and Exhurtum. Biography Carl-Michael Eide has played in various black metal and a ...

— vocals, guitars * Plenum — bass * Einz — drums ;Additional personnel * Bård Ingebrigtsen —

baritone guitar The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Schec ...

, violin, piano,

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

, effects, production * B9 —

soundscape A soundscape is the acoustic environment as perceived by humans, in context. The term was originally coined by Michael Southworth, and popularised by R. Murray Schafer. There is a varied history of the use of soundscape depending on discipline, r ...

s, ambience (tracks 3, 5) ;Other staff * Tom Kvålsvoll — mastering * Sapfo Stavrides — photography *

Kvohst Kvohst (born Mathew Joseph McNerney in 1978) is a British singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer. Life and music career Kvohst was born and grew up in Wimbledon, London. He has lived in numerous places including Norway and The Netherlands ...

— lyrics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Flux 2008 albums Virus (Norwegian band) albums Season of Mist albums