Blut Aus Nord’s Memoria Vetusta II is one of my favorite black metal albums of all time – an odyssey both terrifying and graceful, with masterful compositions that flow as much as they rage. So when I heard that Blut Aus Nord’s next releases would be an epic trilogy, I was naturally very excited to […]
Black metal is a curious beast; it can be a very conservative sub-genre and at the same time, one of the most diverse types of music to be composed. Bands like Enslaved, Dimmu Borgir and Deathspell Omega have shed most of their black metal roots in favor of something different. Whereas, Darkthrone, Dark Funeral and […]
Taake needs no introduction based upon the three hundred potential friends Last.fm has lined up for me based on Taake in common. Noregs Vaapen features appearances from Nocturno Culto, Attila Csihar, and Demonaz. I’ll leave it to your explorations to find their contributions, for exploring this album is a task well taken up. The album […]
Released the same time as the killer debut from label mates Obsiquiae, the third album from Maine’s Falls of Rauros was a bit overshadowed, which is a shame as it adds yet another quality album to the genre of woodsy, misty, organic black metal or ‘grey’ metal as I like to call it. The cover […]
Thanks largely in part to Liturgy, there’s been somewhat of a backlash to USBM — mostly the post-rock, shoegaze -influenced kind. I mean even former darling Krallice has fallen victim to some of the criticism of the genre with their largely unheralded and unlauded 3rd album. So, are the genre’s oft worshiped apex band now open to […]
I honestly don’t know where to start here. I have vague recollections of Ebonylake from the late ’90s due to them being British and residing on Cacophonous Records, but never actually heard their sole 1999 release, On the Even of the Grimly Inventive. So when I got this CD from new French label–this is only […]
Now this one is definitely interesting. As someone who tends much more towards the death/extreme end of metal, I signed up for this one having no idea what to expect. Based on what I have read, this band falls under the post-black/folk/shoegaze brand of metal. Being unfamiliar with this genre I have no comparisons off […]
So, after a long eight year recording silence following the release of Tara, Absu have now released two albums in three years. The second of a planned trilogy dealing with the abyss, Abzu is as blisteringly sharp and nasty as you would expect, if not more so. Few albums rip and shred as hard as […]
Though hailing from Bavaria, Germany it does not take a genius to figure out Imperious‘ influence; the band name, album named after a Roman general, and song titles like “Segestes’ Charge”, “The Battle Of The Teutoburg Forest” and “Three Legions March”. All it’s missing is a a quote or sample from the opening battle of […]
I really wanted to like the debut from this doom sludge act from Portland more, but despite a sickly hue and oozing pallor, I can’t bring myself to be as impressed as I am by other like minded acts (Cough, Thou, Highgate, Coffinworm). It starts out well enough with a throbbing patient lope and fuzzed, […]
Here’s some of that sweet hot fire I glimpsed while reviewing Highgate’s sophomore album Shrines to the Warhead. This collection of demo and live tracks compiles the band’s 2005 and 2006 demos along with an unreleased track and two live recordings. Normally this type of material dump is only interesting to established fans but Black […]
I really hope you readers appreciate what I do for this site, because I’m pretty sure that listening to Blut Aus Nord‘s latest effort and De Magia Veterum‘s latest album in close succession for review purposes, I’ve exposed myself to irreparable mental and psychological damage. Damage, that may require long term treatment and anti-psychotic drugs. […]
So we have a one man band called Ov Hollowness from Canada, on a label called Hypnotic Dirge Records, with long songs and titles like “Desolate”, “Winds Forlorn”, and “Drone”. I’ll give you one guess as to what style of music this is. Emocore. Just kidding. The best (in my opinion of course) of Hypnotic […]
Obsequiae, a duo black and bold Crafting melodies from cent’ries of old The mists of time unfurl and flicker past And echoed rasps begin their – Eh, enough of that. Writing a review in iambic pentameter is damn near impossible. These guys do a much better job with the medieval slant on their craft. Minneapolis’ […]
Despite all the attention that post-rock influenced black metal or East Coast and Pacific Northwest black metal gets, there’s a few nice little unsigned, independent, more obscure USBM bands lurking in the sunny depths of California. Notably Lake of Blood and this mysterious new act, Leucosis. With only six myspace-friends and three of them notably […]
I’m not entirely sure how to describe the second, self-released album from Italy’s Laetitia In Holocaust. I mean, if the moniker and the cover art–a group of giant insects gang banging the planet earth–doesn’t clue you in the level of weirdness contained on Rotten Light, I’m not sure I can help. Falling ever so generally […]
Everything about this band and release initially screams utter pretentiousness; the moniker, the EP title, the artwork, the song titles, the horn rimmed glasses and hipster looks and the limited vinyl only release — though a mp3 download code is included. None the less, contained withing this 16-minute little gem could be the start of […]
I love the idea that there’s such a thing as “traditional black metal”. I like the idea that tortuous tritone riffing, compulsive blast beating and hell-rasping-reports from various levels of Hell can now be wrapped in such a cuddly honorific as “traditional”. I mean, “traditional” is a word I associate with folk music, with things […]
Although the kvltest of the kvlt may gnash their teeth and tear their hair, black metal has truly spread its wings since its early days. Yet no matter the subgenre – symphonic, Viking, folk, progressive, post-black, depressive/suicidal, bestial, orthodox, blackgazer, and on and on – there are certain hallmarks of the genre that remain in […]
Medeia’s previous album, Cult, floored me with a blindside haymaker; the blend of melodic death metal and mainly Gothenburg-less metalcore really stuck out from the competition. The songwriting was tight, the riffs were tighter and the delivery was full of primal rage and enough technical finesse to make it all interesting. Three years later, the […]
Hellmouth is the music equivalent of their hometown Detroit: violent, grimy, pissed off and ugly. Their debut, Destroy Everything, Worship Nothing was a feral but ultimately forgetful crossover assault of black metal, thrash and punk, but on their follow up, Gravestone Skylines, with the same musical influences, the band has improved their sneering sonic violence, […]
Not to be confused with Sutter Cane (“Do you read Sutter Cane?”), Finnr’s Cane is a three-piece hailing from the frozen wastes of Canada (yeah, they have those there too), and if you’ve never heard of them yet, take note, because you’ll be uttering their name alongside other naturalistic black metal luminaries in years to […]
Adam Kalmbach has been a busy individual. Since I reviewed Old Ways, his third CD of impressive, one man black metal back in 2009, he has released 6 more albums under the Jute Gyte moniker, including a couple of atmospheric experimental albums. There obviously isn’t a lot to do in Springfield, Missouri (I can attest […]
The debut release from LA’s Exhausted Prayer was an ambitious, promising but convoluted affair of cross genre metal that melded black, ambient and progressive metal. And now the follow up is here and it looks like the band has mostly fulfilled the promise of Looks Down In the Gathering Shadow ― with improved song writing and more […]
The only thing here missing is the logo. Not that the dust had begun to settle on Wormwood―that will take many years―Marduk is back to keep themselves fresh in your mind. The band is cyclical. Many fans want bands to evolve, many do not. Marduk evolves by continually borrowing from their own past, birthing new […]