Clandestine Blaze – Fist Of The Northern Destroyer (2002)

May 13, 2022

Clandestine Blaze is the one man (I believe) black metal project of Mikko Aspa. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, then its probably a good thing. Mikko is linked to all sorts of unsavoury right wing garbage, and Clandestine Blaze is also linked to this kind of ideology. Its something I usually avoid and don’t tend to cover all that often, as it’s not something I agree with or like to shine a light on. This bloke however, is incredibly prolific, and is behind a fair number of projects that I have either already covered or do intend to cover in the future. So with the horse out of the barn door as it were, I decided to fire up a Clandestine Blaze record.

I’m not surprised to find that this is actually pretty fucking excellent. Its almost as like, going in, I know that I would never be in the same room as this guy, and that gives me an expecting that it must be shite because of the politics involved. But, of course, as I should have learned from some of my favourite artists (in the form of Burzum or Death In June), this isn’t always the case. This isn’t Skrewdriver, folks. This is genuinely interesting and well-crafted black metal.

Aspa’s riffs are mesmerising and fold over on themselves, becoming hypnotic hymns of wasp-like savagery. The vocals and drums are fitting to the atmosphere and the decent run time provides a stunning journey into the frozen unknown. I don’t think I will listen to any more Clandestine Blaze, as there are many other projects out there deserving attention, but this is a great black metal record. To say its not because I think its creator is a bootlicking swine would simply be a lie.