Germany’s black metal band, Firtan return with their fifth full-length album Helios. I reviewed their third album, Marter, in 2022 and raved about the band and record. The newest member of the band is Lukas Massinger, who joined on guitar last year. The biggest step forward for Firtan, on this release, is the band moving […]
This is sort of a big deal for me. I’m getting to review the new album from USBM stalwarts Wolves in the Throne Room called Estuary. I’ve reviewed some heavy-duty emotional albums recently from Enterré Vivant, Green Carnation, and Mother of Graves, and those have done a pretty good job of pulling the old heartstrings […]
“Change is inevitable, and the disruption it causes often brings both inconvenience and opportunity.” – Robert Scoble I looked for all sorts of quotes about change when preparing to write this review. From Benjamin Disraeli to Heraclitus, but eventually settled on tech guru Robert Scoble, as the addition of inconvenience and opportunity seemed pretty apt […]
I love some triumphant, medieval melodic black metal; Véhémence, Ascète, Hanternoz, Moisson Livide, Passéisme, Abduction, Atronos, Grylle, Sühnopfer, etc. And it’s usually on France’s Antiq Records, or sometimes Germany’s Purity Through Fire. So how about a new French project from members of the above bands that’s on Antiq Records? Hardiesse (‘boldness, bravery’) is a duo […]
Enterré Vivant came under my radar with the release of 悪罪 (Akuzaï) last year, and I covered it in these hallowed pages. Hopefully at least one of you went out and bought it because it is a fantastic record that drips emotion. Kurogoku doesn’t pull any punches in that department; they take what is left […]
Despite being their third album, 2024’s Death Devil Magick was my first introduction to these robed and corpse-painted German deities, and I was fairly impressed. It was a bit of an outlier on AOP Records’ mostly more shoegazy and atmospheric black metal stable, being a more traditional black metal style. And on album number 4, […]
Canadian Black Metal can take many forms (notably the band Blasphemy), but the other day I picked up this promo for a band called Endspace, and I have to say this is an Industrial Black Metal horror show. First Contact is the name of the album, and this creepy bastard is making my Sci-fi horror […]
So there are concept albums, and then there are concept series. You may think that Mindvile is just starting out, but these guys are setting their sights on an ambitious project called ‘Stories No Tongue Should Tell’. Old Continent is set to be the first chapter in the saga, a five album saga to be […]
Out of all Black Metal bands that come to my city, I’ve seen Dark Funeral the most. They never disappoint, and are totally consistent each time they play here. They’re one of the best live experiences I’ve ever had. So now there’s a live album called A Beast to Praise and of course it’s good. […]
I can add Poland’s Terrestrial Hospice to the list of bands I’ve never heard of that have more than one album under their bullet belts. It’s nothing new. I thought I was well-versed in Black Metal bands… until I started doing reviews which quickly taught me that I don’t know jack shit. Terrestrial Hospice have […]
As I sit down to write this review, it is currently 108° in my backyard, 94° in the house (with the swamp cooler on 73°, mind you; it’s a dry heat). Fortunately, I don’t live in Arizona, where the maniacs in Sunscorched are from. I have visited there twice, and both times in the summer, […]
I’ve never heard of Colorado’s Bestia Arcana until now, and what I’ve got here is a re-release of an album I didn’t hear when it came out in 2017 via Dark Descent Records. Holókauston was the follow-up2008’s008s To Anabainon ek tes Abyssu (which I’ve also never heard, but intend to remedy that soon). Holókauston makes […]
Back in 2022, I covered Ad Finem Omnia and their blistering debut No Peace-No Dawn. I climbed mountains to shout about how good it was, and it remains one of my favorite Black Metal albums of that particular year. Four long years later, Ad Finem Omnia have returned from their Chilean tomb to unleash a […]
Now, this. This is what I’m fucking talking about! First of all, any Black Metal album I cover from here on out is going to be measured against this crushing slab of Finnish ice-cold Black Metal. Goddammit, this is possibly AOTY material, and that’s just a cold, hard fact. I don’t even know where to […]
Well. My gasts have been flabbered recently by this til now pretty dormant band called Seven Chains. Their debut Seven Chains came out in 2016, followed by Thus She Speaks, the Spiraling Maranatha (2020)… and then crickets. Now here we are in 2026 with Swollen, In Flux, and it’s my first exposure to their weird […]
Certainly, any band that has been around for decades (let alone over three of them) can most likely be broken up and examined by “eras” of their existence. Over that amount of time, artists are likely to go through stylistic changes and experimentation, paving their way through their art to find their voice and express […]
This is not a fun album. Nirriti don’t want you to have fun while you’re listening to their debut album Dhrupad Anutpada (ধপদ অন$ৎপ&দ): Apophatic Ragas Of Non- Origination. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to like it. It’s ugly, it’s abrasive, and that was after the first spin. Many hours later… Song […]
Solo French artist Antoine Scholtès has been productive with his Inherits the Void projects with an EP and 3 albums since 2021, and the 4th album, The Silent Abscission, was released earlier this summer. On album number 4, he is again joined by some session players, who are pretty well known; drummer Nico Muller (ex-Otargos, ex- […]
It’s safe to say that, for the most part, Swedish Black Metal sounds nothing like Norwegian Black Metal. Marduk sounds nothing like Satyricon, nor does Satyricon sound like Dark Funeral. Flykt are from Sweden, Stockholm to be precise, formed back in 2016 apparently. It’s also safe to say I’ve never heard them before… until now. […]
Mork has been spreading their disease since 2007. That’s a pretty long time in dog years to be sure, but those years have sharpened their sound to a razor-sharp edge, and with Monolitt, their follow-up to 2024s Syv, they are bringing more ferocity to the table and some absolutely deadly riffs to boot. For those […]
Norway’s Trelldom is back with another mind-boggling release, filled with cosmic horrors and coiled malevolence. Gaahl (Gaahls Wyrd, ex –Gorgoroth) has this Black Metal Midas touch that ensures anything he releases is going to be at least amazing. …By the Word… is a bit of a slower-paced album than 2024’s…By the Shadows… (which I covered […]
I have generally enjoyed anything that German vocalist/ instrumentalist Baptist has been involved with; Mavorim, Eisekult, and this, Atronos, an outlet for more medieval, melodic black metal, founded by guitarist Henker (also in the above two bands as well as Drudensang). But after three good albums, including 2022’s Erwachen, I didn’t see this coming, as […]
The Formula for a raw Black Metal album: take some stomach bile, mix it up with some menstrual blood and a pinch of salt, and pour it on the band members’ heads in some sort of blasphemous ritual. Featuring members of Finnish Black Metal royalty (True Black Dawn, and …And Oceans, to name two). Accelerated […]
I have no idea how I have not crossed paths with Scotland’s Cnoc An Tursa (“Hill of the Standing Stone”) up until now. I know they haven’t been super prolific, with only 2 albums since 2013, but lawd, we have covered them here on their debut The Giants of Auld, and heck, we even interviewed […]
From the Dictionary: The meaning of HUBRIS is exaggerated pride or self-confidence: arrogance. How does that translate into scalding Black Metal from Buffalo, NY? I’ll get to that shortly. Hubris isn’t going to rewrite the Black Metal blueprint anytime soon, but that’s just fine. Acts of Sedition is a satisfying album, a meat and potatoes […]