I went blindly into the promo for this release, as I have been in an ‘atmospheric black metal’ mood of late. But then I dug into the project more and was even more excited as it’s a multinational trio comprised of Jacob Buczarski of Mare Cognitum on drums, an Argentine dude named Dany Tee on […]

35 years. Existence and longevity come from quality and excellence. Releasing album after album with diabolical precision has been the Rotting Christ ethic throughout their career, since 1988 when they were a Grindcore band and then transitioning to Black Metal in the early 90s with 1993’s Thy Mighty Contract, they have forged and put together […]

I don’t know if Ihsahn’s new album qualifies for one of my most anticipated of 2024 because I received the (streaming-only) promo slightly before it came out. It still hit me out of nowhere. I will confess to being a fan, but his solo works haven’t done much for me on the last few records. […]

I kinda dug, These Nameless Worlds, the debut EP from this atmospheric/melodic black metal duo from Sweden. Despite the light-less moniker, it was a cosmic-themed, uplifting, bright take on the genre with some very pleasant melodies in the vein of Ghostbath, Vinland, Numeron, and Vallendusk. Well here is the full-length debut on the very fitting […]

I grabbed the prom for this Swiss one-man project as the moniker, album title and French song titles screamed Antiq Records-styled medieval, epic, and atmospheric black metal (i.e Passéisme, Veheménce). And I wasn’t too far off. The brainchild of one Marc Dalton (also of the solid melodic black metal band Tyrmfar, who released a fine […]

In the end, how do you want to be remembered? Will you be remembered at all? The ultimate weight of our own legacy hangs like a formless specter, bearing down on us with every waking moment, growing heavier and more gnarled with every step towards this life’s inevitable conclusion. And that’s kind of a bitch, […]

I didn’t discover this French one-man (Ardraos) melodic black metal project until the third album in 2019, Hic Regnant Borbonii Manes. However, I really enjoyed it (honestly, I’m not sure how it didn’t end up on my 2019 year-end list) and I have been eagerly awaiting its follow-up. The mix of completely over-the-top, busy, shredding, […]

I usually check out almost all of the Purity Through Fire promos we get, as I usually know what I am getting; frosty or raw, or some sort of decent to excellent quality old school or second-wave inspired black metal, usually from Germany or Scandinavia. The likes of Eisenkult, Kryptamok, Mavorim, Noidva, and such have […]

It still amazes me, even 2 years later, 3 Russian death metal dudes (all three are in the HM2 worshipping Wombripper) delivered one of 2021’s best black metal records in Eminence.  And it still stands up there with label mates Véhémence as Antiq Records’ very best releases and bands. Well, the follow-up is finally here, […]

Anyone who’s paid any attention to the world of metal music in the last two years probably needs no introduction to Blackbraid at this point which, in and of itself, is pretty astounding. In fact, we’re not even a full two years removed from Sgah’gahsowáh (AKA Jon Krieger) unleashing the one-man project’s first two blistering […]

Fathomage is a one-man, Australian, self-confessed Orthodox Christian who goes by the name of ‘Akul’. But don’t let the orthodox Christian thing put you off, as his music isn’t preachy ‘white metal’ at all but rather a Summoning (he has dabbled in Tolkien themes for prior album Minas Morgul – The Nazgûl Awaken) inspired take […]

Indonesia Vallendusk is one of my favorite atmospheric black metal bands, so when I heard that Numeron was from also Indonesia, played the same style of black metal, AND have a concept album based on Norse mythology, I had to check it out. And while not quite as good as Vallendusk, they are still really […]

Carathis is a one-man project helmed by one, Erech Leleth, who also serves in Grandeur as well as Ancient Mastery, Narzissus, and Golden Blood. He’s been pretty prolific since 2021 with a hand full of splits and EPs and Personal Records has taken two of his latest EPs, The Amethyst Fortress and The Moonstone Temple, […]

It’s been 9 years since the Australian one-man project (aka D.) Woods of Desolation dropped As The Stars, one of 2014’s more critically acclaimed black metal albums that leaned hard into the Ghostbath, Vallendusk, Alcest, Spectral Lore, Mare Cognitum, Deafheaven style of atmospheric/post-black metal. Well, again assisted by Drudkh’s Vlad on drums and keyboards, D. was […]

A late 2022 release that I got my hands on even later in 2022, Lunar Mercia is a post/atmospheric black metal band from Birmingham in the UK, and resides in the same dark, dreamy, melodic, jangly space as Ghost Bath, Wolves in the Throne Room, Woods of Desolation, Harakari for the Sky, Alcest and such. […]

Germany’s Pagan/Black Metal act, Firtan return with their third full-length album – Marter.  I am new to the sounds of Firtan and the Pagan/Black Metal influences are something I am starting to enjoy, the more I hear bands playing this style of music. This review is for the 8 song album, but the physical copy […]

I heard a couple of great Summoning inspired bands back in 2021; Norway’s Urdôl Ur and their debut, Seven Portals To The Arcane Realms and  Withered Land‘s The Endless Journey. But nothing so far in 2022. Enter Hungary’s duo WitcheR, Lélekharang (‘Soul Bell’) which is unfortunately not based on the Andrzej Sapkowski books or Henry Cavil […]

With a name like Lightlorn ( ‘having no light’ or ‘bereft of light’) you’d think the debut EP from these Gothenburg atmospheric/post black metallers would be a truly grim, depressive affair. However, the 4 lengthy songs that comprise this EP are actually some of the most delightfully uplifting, melodic black metal I’ve heard in a […]

In 2020 I reviewed Seattle’s atmospheric black metal band- Izthmi’s impressive debut The Arrows of Our Ways. The band had only released a prior demo and I had never heard of them before and was blown away by the debut album. Album #2 Leaving This World, Leaving It All Behind sees the band progressing in […]

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I blindly hit ‘play’ on Bexadde, on Germany’s FDA Records after getting the CD in the mail along with the new Slaughterday. With that moniker, I was maybe expecting some fuzzed-out stoner doom? But I certainly not modern atmospheric/post-black metal, not exactly what FDA Records is known for. […]

Can someone in the Norfolk (UK) area please go and check on NRE? Seriously, from what I’m hearing on his sixth and final album under his And Now The Owls Are Smiling moniker, he must have undergone some drastically emotional shit since 2021s Dirges, a despondent but still atmospheric and at times melodic black metal […]

Heading into 2022, I had no idea that this was going to wind up being my most heavily anticipated album of the year. Granted, I’d have to have been some kind of all-seeing mage or wizard or whatever, because, until the first day of this year, nobody knew Blackbraid even existed (ok, before someone writes […]

I’ve been a big fan of Maine’s Falls of Rauros for a while now with the band’s last 2 efforts, 2017s Vigilance Perennial and 2019s Patterns in Mythology making my year-end lists, with the former being in my top three for 2017. So it kind of pains me to say that that trend might end […]

Germany’s Vorga burst into the scene about 6 years ago and released an EP, but Striving Toward Oblivion is their debut full length album and showcases a trailblazing style of black metal. Opening this 8 song 45 minute album is “Starless Sky” and what an opening ripper of a lead off song. Massive blasting equipped with […]

Here’s a band and album specifically for those that want older/early Deafheaven back and thought the new album, Infinite Granite was ….not good (but that’s a whole other discussion…). And yes count me in that number. Møl (‘Moth’) is a Danish post-black/shoegaze band that finds itself on Nuclear Blast after a debut album, Jord back […]