Yep, so I’m not going to talk about Snorre and guitarist/bassist General Gribbsphiiser recently making news after taking a stroll in the frozen wasteland of Norway and ‘getting lost’. Good publicity. That’s all.

Let’s talk about the music, that’s what you’re here for, right? Overall, it’s some stellar Black Metal in the vein of Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, and even some Thorns influences. Add to that guest spots by Hoest (Taake) and Silenoz (Dimmu Borgir), you know… lending star power to the proceedings.

Right away, there’s “Ritual Dogs” dumping an ice bucket over your head with some of the coldest riffs conceived in the icy cauldron of Norwegian Black Metal. It’s an unrelenting riptide that catches you and drags you out into the ocean of brutality. “Wildkatze” keeps it mid-paced but no less vicious in delivery. There’s so much reverb on General Gribbsphiiser’s vocals that he sounds like he’s singing in an ice crevasse, and it’s absolutely sublime. I love Black Metal, that is, this raw, immense creature that eclipses the sun, turning the world black.

“Huldergeist” grabs you by the throat with a prime Old Man’s Child/ Dimmu Borgir influences and some absolutely unnerving shrieking vocals. If you put yourself between The Pagan Prosperity and Stormblast, you’ll be in the right ballpark. The end has some killer female vocals to boot.

“Hexen Herjer” is a grimy, pitch-black heart beating with pure evil. The mid-paced track is one of my favorites from Hulder’s Ritual. At the 4:44 mark, the whole track dissolves into an evil white noise, the drums acting like a deranged clock ticking towards Doomsday.

“Warlok” is another mid-paced steamroller of a track. There’s a pervasive, serpentine riff that lives in the background. The female vocals show up briefly before being absorbed into the fray. This song doesn’t rush itself; it’s methodical and precise, pacing beats you senseless.

“Rathkings” blasts forth with Gorgoroth-level intensity. The vocals are like the death cry of a Dragur. The music sweeps you up in the arms of steel and palpable darkness. These guys are on fire here, and I’m already looking forward to album number five (no rush).

To say I’m enamored with Slagmaur is an understatement; I love this album. It kicks back to those halcyon days of early brutality and raw extremity. With a killer album cover with cute as fuck sheep on it and Snorre Ruch with his awe-inspiring production… it all goes towards this unholy release being unleashed. Considering that their last full-length came out in 2017, I guess the time was right for a new album.

At the end of the day, Slagmaur have returned after a nine-year hiatus from wherever they were to release a fiery Black Metal album: mission accomplished. If you love Old Man’s Child, Dimmu Borgir, and Emperor, then you already know I’m going to recommend this to you. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

Good or bad, this is no departure from the previous (or a Pale Haunt Departure if I may). For me, it’s great. As I previously mentioned, Novembers Doom is one of my favorite bands. I will admit the first single, the title track, “Major Arcana,” does employ some vocal stylings I haven’t heard much before, particularly in the chorus with Paul Kuhr showing off his higher register in his screaming, which also balance his deep, soulful croons. Other than that, it’s a heavy riff, along with Paul’s unmistakable, yet well enunciated and distinguishable growls.

I supposed it’s no mistake to place another single, “Ravenous” directly after the title track. Ya gotta hook ‘em early. A long, deep growl begins it with an almost bright main riff. Paul uses his intelligible, deep growls throughout. This is about as close to the “death” part of their death/doom as there’s not a clean vocal to be found. The production is clean, so unfortunately, it’s not death metal of the dirty, nasty, trench warfare death metal, which will disappoint some.

It’s about time I dig into one of the cuts, “XXII,” that you will not have heard before the release. It’s the closer on Major Arcana and is certainly a summary of the work the band put in during the previous tracks. It is certainly much shorter than the average song length as that usually barrels past the six-minute mark. The verses are growled, the chorus is clean, and those higher pitched screams return in the chorus. The final two minutes bring forth some singing, which is also in a higher register than usual for Novembers Doom, a solo, and of course, a final chorus.

After finishing the album, I certainly have some trivial complaints or issues. Firstly, it’s 51 minutes and consists of nine tracks. That’s not bad, but most of the songs do follow the same formula of growled verses and clean choruses. Every song is excellent, but maybe taking off one wouldn’t have been such a bad idea. The production, if it hadn’t been clear, is also clean and bright. Sometimes I just want my doom to sound kind of dirty and nasty. Aside from those few notes, I am not exactly disappointed, but I did want more experimentation. However, Novembers Doom knows the style at which they excel, and they prove it again here. Overall, I can’t see any unhappiness with any of the current fanbase, and perhaps Major Arcana will garner new ones. I don’t buy as much music as I used to, but the special edition bundle of this one will be in my collection.

Gràb occupy this space in these dystopian times. Kremess is their second full-length following Zeitlang, released in 2021. They play a lush, warm style of Black Metal that grips your attention from the get go.

That get go comes in the form of “Waidler”. It begins in grand form with some pounding drums and some chanting then it just explodes to a mid-paced crusher. The guitars have venom in their fangs. “Kremess” is the slow burning title track, until the 5:16 mark where it blasts further into this foray into dark, beautiful vistas of carnage and death. This comes with a Dimmu Borgir flourish in some spots and Enslaved/Borknagar in others. The way the tracks are arranged allows them to flow into each other like the river Styx.

Gràb is the work of Grànt – vocals & Bavarian poetry, Gnàst – guitars, bass, synthesizer, songwriting. There’s also guest musicians: Markus Stock – additional synths & choirs on several tracks, dulcimer on ‘Leere’, Thomas Helm – choirs on ‘Im Hexnhoiz’, ‘Deifeszeig’, Victor Bullok – guitar solo on ‘Dà letzte Winter’, Florian ‘Morean’ Magnus Maier – undertone vocals on ‘Waidler’, Komalé Akakpo – composed & played most dulcimer parts on several tracks, Peter Honsalek – composed & played viola on ‘Im Hexnhoiz’, Johanna Rehm – flute on ‘Vom Grab im Moos’.

The fantastic production recording by Markus Stock at Klangschmiede Studio E, Mellrichstadt (DE). Mix & Mastering by Markus Stock at Klangschmiede Studio E, Mellrichstadt (DE) with killer artwork by Benjamin König (Sperber Illustrationen),layout by Dan Capp.

There are moments where it feels like you’re soaring over destroyed vistas “Kerkermoasta” is a good example of this feeling, riding on some Lord Belial riffing while the song rolls along. There’s some killer keyboards that add to the air of menace the song creates, add a touch more of Dimmu Borgir-esque keys and when the fastest part comes rising through the speakers and it hits like a thunderstorm.

“Im Hexnhoiz (A Weihraz-Gschicht, Kapitel Oans)” is a beautiful track, slowly moving and powerful, Gràb sounds phenomenal on this track and “Vom Gråb im Moos (A Weihraz-Gschicht, Kapitel Zwoa)” continues with that slow but deadly attack with a massive wall of lush riffs and earthshaking drums. It picks up speed around the 4:44 mark and finally the blasts are discharged.

I love the way Gràb know how to keep you wanting more and  “Deifeszeig” is the razor-sharp answer to those prayers. Hitting an Immortal sized groove at the center of the track.  “Waldeinsamkeit” brings an instrumental respite that is as moving as it is beautifully heartbreaking and at 2:16 it’s a small light in this dark trip.

“Dà letzte Winter” is the 11:47 king of the show. It’s slow and precise, winnowing it’s path of destruction in a frostbitten Watain manner. It’s a magnificent song that tugs at your heart as it fades off on some light keyboards.

With Kremess, Gràb are on fire. Not the red fire of fury but a cool blue fire that burns in the heart of us all. There are influences of those aforementioned bands, and with all those guest musicians I mentioned earlier, this is a savage Black Metal assault that knows how to be gentle at the same time. Get out and Gràb it!

It was a perfect way to be introduced to the debut from Whispering Void, a collective of some of Norway’s most talented musicians; drawing from Gorgoroth, Wardruna and Enslaved and the mastermind behind all of it is guitarist extraordinaire Ronny Stavestrand, who may be familiar from his time in a certain ex-Gorgoroth vocalists project called Trelldom.

Kristian “Gaahl” Espedal has been making some killer Dark Ambient Black Metal with his many artistic pathways and this Whispering Void album is just another one for 2024. Lindy-Fay Hella from Wardruna was brought along and her beautiful and seductive vocals are all over At the Sound of the Heart,  especially in opening track “Vinden vier” where she is like the cold kiss of death. A soaring, unchained angel of darkness riding on the waves of fear and emptiness coming from the speakers.

At the Sound of the Heart is a mournful album, there’s moments where I experienced complete sorrow and then an uplifting note would ring out and jerk the melancholy from my mind. “Vi finnes” starts with a bouncing drum pattern while melancholic sound waves swirl like thousands of black blossoms. This is a fantastic album, it’s heart is laid bare and is still beating when “Whispering Void” comes on. There’s Kristian’s gripping, sorrowful vocals, the build up to the cresting waves of the mid-track mark; all these elements blend and texture over each other not for dominance but for release.

There’s an overtone of Ulver that sort of permeates it’s way through these seven gateways to the pit of the soul the title track bringing this serpentine riff ringing out like a beacon bell on a calm black sea.

The production is stellar, bringing more of an organic 70s feeling, it’s a welcome feeling indeed and “Lauvvind” is a perfect example of 70s Prog Rock, it’s a sound that Enslaved is no stranger to especially on their more psychedelic albums like Mardraum (Beyond the Within), Below the Lights and Ruun, to name three.

“We are Here” comes rising on beautiful cello work and a spare guitar with some violin to add background gravitas, and keeping it all together is some tight drumming, at the songs midsection it erupts into some sort of Black Metal Jazz beast.

The lineup of Ronny Stavestrand – guitars, Lindy-Fay Hella – vocals, Kristian Eivind Espedal – vocals and Iver Sandøy – drums & percussion, bass, guitar, keyboards. The delivery is bolstered by the guest musicians Ole André Farstad – guzheng, Indian slide guitar on ‘Vinden Vier’,’Lauvvind’, Matias Monsen – cello on ‘Whispering Void’, ‘At the Sound of the Heart’, ‘We Are Here’, Silje Solberg – Hardanger fiddle on ‘Vi finnes’, ‘The Vines’.

So you take all that and add the cosmic production from being Recording by Iver Sandøy at Solslottet Studio, Bergen (NO); Additional recording by Ronny Stavestrand at Home Studio, Bergen (NO), Mix by Iver Sandøy at Solslottet Studio, Bergen (NO) and finally Mastering by Iver Sandøy at Solslottet Studio, Bergen (NO). It makes for an amazing work of art and closer “Flower” is a gorgeously bleak and haunting way to close At the Sound of the Heart.

This could almost be considered a DSBM album, it shares characteristics with Ghaals Wyrd, and other projects that he has been a part of since departing Gorgoroth years ago. This is a triumphant album, it swells with a pitch black heartbeat that is unmistakable to deny. Don’t sleep on this one constant reader.

If you haven’t heard of Trelldom, it’s ok; neither have I, but that all changed today when I selected this album in my music and just let it play. Black Metal Jazz is how I might describe it, if I were so bold, and maybe I am bold enough to go there.

…By the Shadows… is first and foremost a Black Metal album, but it’s also a complex album and that’s before the bad as fuck Saxophones kick in. Ghaal, who’s going by his given name Kristian Eivind Espedal has assembled a group of highly qualified individuals to get the point across. A line-up to die for: Kristian Eivind Espedal – vocals, Kenneth Kapstad – drums, Stian Kårstad – guitars, bass, electronics and Kjetil Møster – saxophones, clarinet, electronics… yes you saw that right… SAXOPHONE! For some reason, Black Metal bands love the Saxophone, and we are better listeners for it.

…By the Shadows… begins with the lurching “The Voice of What Whispers” some crazy drums and ethereal vocals. This track is bloody mad! The drums are what you notice first, but it’s what happens next is like Shining and Teitanblood spewed forth this disgusting blob and the offspring is Trelldom.

Mind you this is my first exposure to them, and I haven’t gone back and listened to the rest of their albums so I’m going in hard on this one. Back to the song really quick though because this is where the Black Metal Jazz kicks in. It’s like a clinic on how to fucking do it. The drums are like a blackend heartbeat, hypnotic and possessive.

I can’t think of him as Ghaal on …By the Shadows…  this sounds like something totally unexpected (for me anyway). It’s Kristian Eivind Espedal shedding the skin of Gorgoroth and embracing the darkness that is blacker than black. This is evident with “Exit Existence” a DSBM crawling beast. It’s almost like a avant garde horror movie set to music, twisting riffs that pop out of nowhere and strike at your brain with lethal razors, slashing away viciously. Very morose…

This effect is heightened 1,000 fold on “Return the Distance” a raw, brutal barrage of Jazz and Black Metal, a dip into the boiling oil of existence. But it’s the second half of the album where things just become unhinged, there’s the absolute dive into DSBM on “Between the World” all clean vocals to boot. There’s no harsh vocals on … By the Shadows… at all, which is just fine because dude’s got a great and powerful voice.

That voice shines on “I Drink Out of My Head” a catchy as hell, bounding song. My favorite song on the album, as well. The main melody is fucking hypnotic and the shit going on within the band itself is astonishing. So many moments that coalesces into that main riff. There’s blasting in there; which is used sparingly on …By the Shadows… a frothing beast right before the morose “Hiding Invisible” with haunting shrieks and screaming while the music rolls over you like a Black Metal steamroller, it’s a perfect lead-in to “…By the Shadows…” the song. Which is fucking killer, by the way. It hits with lethal intensity, intentionally boring holes in your festering bubble of protection and making you realize you don’t matter in the grand scheme. There’s some of those harsh vocals that I had forgotten about, but heard them today and while being harsh, they’re still melodic and hard hitting.

…By the Shadows… is an avant-garde Black Metal Jazz adventure into the likes of Dødheimsgard or Happy Days, with Shining thrown in for maximum DSBM listening pleasure. A black void that leads to the very core of human emotions, raw and slit open to the viscera. Pick this up and get violent.

Like Winterfylleth, Arð (‘native land’) is focused on pre -Viking English history. While Take Up My Bones told the tale of  Lindisfarne’s Saint Cuthbert and his relics, Reed continues to take his musical historical expertise (His Philosophy PhD was titled “National Identity in Northern and Eastern European Heavy Metal”) with Untouched By Fire, telling the sagas of Warrior King Oswald of Northumbria.

And these tales are delivered with an austere regal, monastic form of doom metal, bolstered by Reed’s keyboard experience (as well as vocals, rhythm guitars, bass guitar, and organ/piano here). He’s joined by guitarist Dan Capp from Wolcensmen on lead guitar, acoustic guitar, and backing vocals, and Callum Cox (Atavist) on drums. Some other players help out on Cello and other medieval instruments to complete the recording’s solemn, anglo-saxon tones.

Musically, there are obvious nods to the holy trinity of British doom (Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and Anathema) and Solstice with long, rending songs, delicate strings, organs, piano, and somber, plodding, knee-wilting riffs and melodies. But where Arð truly shines is the monastic choral vocals that imbue the likes of early Pantheist, some of Germany’s Enid (i.e. “Exemption” from Gradwanderer), and a slightly less baritone Árstíðir Lífsins. There is no growling, screaming, or crooning, the vocals are delivered entirely in this monkish, choral chant that’s like being in Canterbury Cathedral in 700AD. And at times it’s breathtaking.

The heavy, forlorn, Church-like atmosphere permeates the entire album, with long songs from 5-9 minutes and one sort of sung interlude clocking in at just over 3 minutes. The album is one of those ‘headphone’ albums that requires you to listen to the whole affair at once and be bathed in the swathes of absolutely gorgeous keyboards and vocals while you sip on mead in the old ruins of a church.

From opener “Cursed to Nothing but Patience” to closer “Casket of Dust”, the album is absolutely mesmerizing. If the opening chants and piano/strings of “Name Bestowed” don’t give you goosebumps, you are dead inside. Now, the riffs, while appropriately doomy and mopey, aren’t the focus here, while they are serviceable, they never truly peak or payoff in any of te songs, but it’s really about the vocals, pianos, and strings here. Case and point; the main riffs from “Hefenfelth” are certainly there, but the organs and vocals make it. The layered riffs and despondent harmonies from “He Saw Nine Winters” and closer ‘Casket of Dust” are a little more impactful and emotive, but still……. those vocals…just sooo good. I haven’t been as impacted by clean vocals since Lunar Mercia .in early 2023

If you, like me were disappointed by My Dying Bride’s A Mortal Binding, then let Untouched by Fire be your English doom ringer and bask in its gorgeous monastic warmth.

Well thankfully, we don’t have a long wait for them to follow up The Liberation, as Ayam (Sanskrit for ‘This One’) is here a mere 3 years later and delivers on more of what The Liberation did with epic, progressive melodic death metal of the highest order.

With a new bassist and drummer from The Liberation, as well as a few guest musicians, (notably Frederic Ruckert who delivers a full-on backdrop of keyboards and pianos as opposed to a fill-in here or there as he did on The Liberation), Ayam is the next logical step from The Liberation. It has the same ambitious, lush, melo-death/prog-metal vistas and dual hues.  Andy Schmidt has the same gruff bellow and clean croons, and there are lots of dreamy intrinsic moments that blend seamlessly with harsher, sterner moments of exquisitely rendered melodic death metal.

Look no further than the first track, “Am Abgrund” for this perfect balance of tidal ebbs and flows with a gorgeous, patient, atmospheric build, explosive string /brass components, svelte croons, and dramatic swells over an enthralling 11 minutes. An ambitious start indeed.  “Tormento” follows that up with a more direct if still engaging dose of more heavy, churning riffage before “Driftwood” brings things back to a more dreamy, introspective mood.

And it’s the band’s devotion to these Opeth-ian hues of light and dark where they are absolute masters. Even when taking slight left turns into more dissonant realms like 12-minute standout  “Abide The Storm”, it’s still rife with majestic, cinematic arrangements,  sugary clean hooks, and even a flugelhorn, that keep things so multilayered, it can be a bit dizzying but also super rewarding. There is sooo much going on in every song. Ayam is for sure, not a quick or easy listen.

But as the nights draw longer, the leaves turn and the sunsets blaze with foreboding beauty before storms roll into the evenings, tracks like “Longhope”, snarling “From the Embers” or wondrous closer the “The Brook’ are the perfect soundscape to throw on some headphones, sit and take everything in and appreciate brilliant music from brilliant musicians.

I dig Chelsea Wolfe and that King Woman album from last year was not talked about enough, but the truth is that it’s music for a specific mood. What typically comes to mind for me is walking in the woods by myself hoping not to get attacked by ferals. Or hoping for it, depending on my level of bravery for the day… and the sexiness of said ferals. I digress.

This is all to say that there’s a lot of breathing room for the instrumentals, copious amounts of quieter moments, and ethereal, soulful female vocals. It’s like the soundtrack to a folk horror movie. While the opening track, “Sirens,” is mostly just laying the foundation for what lies ahead, isn’t that what an intro is supposed to do?

The following 8-minute track, “Lowly Weep,” is of a similar atmosphere of the intro, which airy female vocals and a violin leading the way. It is raining heavily as I write this, so the track hits perfectly. There’s some guitar and triumphant, almost marching drums here as well, but the vocals are the clear star. We finally get what can be described as doom with some fuzzy guitars, bass, and symbol crashes over halfway through.

When it comes to standouts, the uneasy doom backbone of “Love’s Sudden Death” hits the spot. The minimalist approach to the drums makes this deceptively heavy. In fact, the sparse use of drums on a lot of the album has that impact. There’s a repeatable hook here, too in the chorus.

Along with the previously mentioned track, the closer “Fear Not, My King,” is another standout and employs some of the same tricks to an almost hypnotic degree. The interplay between the fuzzy guitars, ethereal vocals, minimalist drums, keys, and strings showcase Jayne’s compositional mastery without anything seeming forced or overwhelming. There’s space for all instruments, which also says something about the recording itself.

In short, this album is incredible and well worth your time. You’ll know based on references above if it’s for you. It’s 8 songs in 40 minutes, so it doesn’t overstay its welcome despite never really putting its foot on the gas, and I have a feeling it will appear on several year-end lists. If you’re into the dark(h)er side of what may or may not be considered metal, you won’t regret devoting your time to this. Even if you’re not, you may find a new favorite. I highly recommend The Buried Storm.

With a surprisingly large, prolific discography to their name, I’m surprised I had not come across the brain child of 鬼 before, as I generally dig this kind of black metal. This is that perfect blend of softer, uplifting, triumphant keyboards and atmospherics mixed with distant howls and shrieks’ (though they are rarely used, making this a 50% ish instrumental album) and layered melodic, melancholic guitars and of course the same blend in the themes and lyrics (“All is Lost”, “Cherish”, “All is Found”, etc) that deal with the central theme of ‘love’.

The well produced music is indeed beautiful and ghostly, and at times gorgeously despondent, with some utterly wilting moments of wonderous orchestral and depressive blackened symbiosis such as the opener “All is Lost” and “Autumn & Everly” which feature some stunning piano work amid the rending howls and screams. And later in the album, you get the the largely instrumental, personal favorite, “Funeral Pyre”, which has a sumptuous, soaring choral opening and transitions about 2 minutes and 6 minutes in that are just to die for  and the almost 10 minute title track, a rangy, patient, emotional roller coaster that ends with a lovely high note that leads into the simple, uplifting, elegant closing chapter, “All Is Found”.

That said, there is quite a bit of atmospheric/ambient filler such as “Reverie”, “Cherish” and emotive closer “All is Found” which while beautiful and have their place in the love and loss themed concept, but take up about 13 minutes of the albums 42 minute run time.  I would have preferred more of the mixed elements that have more of the somber black metal to complement the wondrous atmospherics.

Certainly not a release for the grizzled, frosty, face paint and spikes types. But for more open minded,  fans of the bands mentioned in the opening paragraph, this is a must have purchase, and worth it for some of the standout moments alone, regardless of some of the filler.

The band’s other albums Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays in 1999, Weiland in 2002 and The Turn of the Tides in 2014 I would not even place them in the category of metal.  The band really embracing a new age type of neo folk music, pretty much devoid of guitars and drums, except for a few smatterings here and there.  I would describe the music as extremely relaxing and meditative.  I do enjoy that type of music, but after those first 2 albums, well…I guess you could say this was their musical evolution.  When I did see the new release for Über den Sternen the first thing which drew me in was the mystical and fantastical album cover imagery.  I think I even used the word enthralling and although I am new to their music, was happy to see the band return more to their roots of their first 2 albums.  Über den Sternen brings back the distorted guitars, some of the black metal type vocals, mixed in with their folk influences and calmer and more serene new age influences.

8 songs in 52 minutes and 2 of those are instrumentals – I would rather have had only 1 instrumental and another regular song, however when music is this great, I tend to give the band a pass on such subjective matters.  “The Three Flames Sapphire”, at over 8 minutes, begins with some acoustic guitars and then the drums come in and then vocal folk laden crooning – I’m hooked, because of the catchiness and then other musical elements of a flute – oh yeah, lots of guest musicians on this with violins, violas and cellos.  The soundscape, is their most expansive since their first 2 albums.  The song meanders back to the acoustic work and vocal croons and electric guitar – YES, makes an appearance, and this is just a beautiful opening song.  I feel like I have been transported to a forest, with a babbling brook, some frogs jumping in the water, with the sun breaking through the dense forest to cast a light on the bark, as well as the various dirt trails and in the distance I can sorta make out a castle and it’s very calming.  The musical arrangement at the 7 minute mark with many of the various instruments gelling together and vocals make this an incredible opening and emotive song.

“A Lucid Tower Beckons on the Hills Afar” starts with acoustics, distortion, drums and some black metal vocal rasps-really tying this album to their first 2 monumental albums.  Then the folk crooning vocals come in as a chanting, aria sort, then mixed with more of the black metal rasps and this is so catchy-like ridiculous.  Schwadorf  and Thomas Helm’s vocal ranges are breathtaking.  “The Oaken Throne” starts softly and vocal crooning is drenched in atmosphere and very catchy.  The 5 minute mark has more epic vocal moments over the drums and acoustics and getting into a little doom/goth territory, in my opinion.  Guitars and drums get heavier towards the end of the song.

“The Wild Swans” is incredibly catchy with more black metal infused folk, mixed with those incredible crooning vocals and over the music once again has a goth feel.  Heavier guitars are ushered in and extraordinary melodies from all the instruments with the flute being emotively played.  This song reminds me of Sojourner, the atmospheric/symphonic black metal band, that I am a big fan of.  The title track is the longest song at ten and a half minutes with a strict folk black metal opening with the raspy vocals mixed with layered crooning and the instrumentation is very catchy as the vocal patterns closely follow the melodies.  This ending song is beautiful and well there you have it.

After going back n forth with Über den Sternen and Empyrium’s extraordinary debut A Wintersunset… I am torn with which one is better.  Their debut definitely had more metal, but this new one combines their metal aspects along with their other elements, which they’ve developed over the years.  Believe it or not I am leaning more towards Über den Sternen as their best – yes that’s right, their brand new album.  My main reason is how incredibly catchy and moving this album is.  Production is terrific and this is an album and genre Frank Rini should not like, but damn this album is outstanding in songwriting, musicianship, production, emotional connectiveness to the listener and one of the best albums for 2021.  This will be in my year end list, for sure and if any of these musical elements are of interest to you, just get the damn album now – it’s a magical listening experience.

Yep- it’s been 13 years since the divisive Gloria, which while a solid album, had the herculean task of following up a certifiable classic in the melodic death metal/ progressive metal realms is Back To Times of Splendor. With Gloria (and its new weird logo /font) adding some more industrial, robotic almost Rammstein elements along with the always popular loss of harsh vocals, the response was pretty negative, despite having some redeeming qualities.

Well, with The Liberation, fans will be ecstatic to hear the band has largely returned to the sound of Back to Times of Splendor, with just a minor hint of Gloria’s more clean, progressive aesthetic. The harsh vocals are back  (Oh Hi Opeth!….) as are the long rangy, unfurling, intoxicating, building songs, and the result is worth the wait, as The Liberation is simply fantastic.

The Liberation sees lone remaining member from Splendor, Andy Schmidt (known as Vurtox back then), joined by a whole new band and it’s clear who the driving force was behind Disillusion’s finer moments. “In Waking Hours” is a gorgeous instrumental intro before the 12 minute “WE ARE BACK!” styled opener “Wintertide” delivers regal, rumbling passages and delicate, crystalline melodic death/prog moments of more urgent tenacity (yes, even blast beats!), which were clearly missing from Gloria, and signalling confidently that this is a reinvigorated Schmidt/Disillusion, but with an eye to the band’s classic debut.

First single/video “The Great Unknown” gives me a bit of a reunion era Gorefest vibe, with big beefy riffs and gruff shouts mixed in with supine clean moments and Schmidt’s alluring clean croons ending the song in austere fashion. “A Shimmer in the Darkest Sea” slows things down a bit with a patient ebb and pulse that repeats and lulls before the title track strides confidently in with a purposeful, grooving stomping rock riff and a great keyboard driven chorus, but it wanders a bit in it mid section before the chorus comes back to close out the track in dramatic fashion.”Time to Let Go” brings a somber hue to the proceedings, with an almost Finnish sense of melancholy, and a gorgeous cello led track ending and crescendo.

The album bookends with another 12 minute track, the slow burning “The Mountain”, where Schmidt channels his inner Pete Steele with some bass-y gothic croons.  The track takes a while to get going before a introspective trumpet led break gets the song going and it finally takes off about 9 minutes in and ends the album with something a little more impactful and memorable.

Reunions/comebacks can be hit or miss, especially after a long hiatus, and even more so if the band left on a bit of a dour note (Gloria). But that note is triumphantly and emphatically  erased with The Liberation, as Disillusion is one of the best reunions of recent memory. Lets just hope they stay on this more splendorous path and sound and don’t revert back to times of Gloria…

While Orange (2011) was an “anything goes” art/rock affair, Everchild revisits styles and ideas the group handled on Existence (2005). This album is atmospheric, dark, and much more wistful than its predecessor, yet the basic method of progressive rock is still in play. One can easily hear similarities to bands like Porcupine Tree, Opeth, and Riverside.   Searching for eternal childhood and yearning for the past, Everchild is a retrospective release that lingers and unfurls over many listens.  Youth, innocence and reflecting on oneself are enduring themes.

Everchild flows elegantly between songs with enough diversity to keep interest.  Horns can be heard (“The Only Young Ones Left” “Spiders” “Monster”) and piano/keys are littered throughout.  “Escape with the Sun” is a personal favorite with a bluesy guitar riff that leads the song. A standout track for sure. There are no hard hitters on the this album but “Codes” is sonically one of the heavier songs the band has delivered in years, whilst title track “Everchild” displays darker distorted guitars in its finale. Again, nothing really “metal” on this record but a more ominous feel has been embraced much like the ambience of Existence.

Each Dark Suns release has been a forward thinking venture and no album in their discography sounds the same.  However, the one aspect of the band that is always prominent and lets you know you’re definitely listening to Dark Suns is the vocal stylings of Mr. Niko Knappe .  Now purely focused on vocals (his former drum duties now taken by Dominique Ehlert), his voice has been strikingly diverse over their career and he is a grossly underrated singer in my opinion.  His delivery has ranged from doomy death metal to falsetto over the years and his control with soft cleans is amazing. Just check out “The Fountain Garden” and “Torn Wings” for examples of how suspended he sounds in the music.  Everchild effortlessly showcases how beautiful Nikos’ voice really is.  Closing track “Yes, Anastasia” is a reinterpretation of a Tori Amos song that I have not heard before but nevertheless, it’s a dramatic piano driven song with a progressive flare thrown in, and again, vocally it’s amazing.

The band financed the production of Everchild via crowdfunding and the end result is one of the best albums to come out of 2016.  Dark Suns truly is a progressive band and we can only imagine what their next release will sound like. Much like Opeth and Katatonia, Dark Suns is very comfortable in their evolution and arguably they may even be doing it better.

The multi-instrumentalist Kris Force and her spacey juggernaut, vapor trail institution Amber Asylum has over 20 years in the music world and stints on known labels such as Relapse, Neurot and Profound Lore for a reason.  Never once in the group’s career have they compromised their vision.  While the “band’s” line-up is often changing, the players are always the perfect set for the task at hand.  On the Asylum’s latest opus Sin Eater patience will be tested and rewarded, short attention spans will be crushed into a putty-like substance and only those with a mindset for intricate, deeply layered psychedelia will make it out through the other side alive.  This is not a track skipping album.  Sin Eater is a record that you listen to from the first note to the last…tripped out fans that can behind the work of Jarboe, Swans, Jesu, 27 and Subarachnoid Space should understand exactly what Force and company bring to the table.

Daunting, 11+ minute opening cut “Perfect Calm” refuses to rush its reveal of the music’s most precious of diamond sharp treasures.  Haunted house drones are eerie and brooding as keyboards and a supremely low-mixed cello makes its impact known.  The haunting ebb tide slowly cascades to shore with subtle strokes of the violin as cello and synthetic gleam cast light upon an atmosphere of ultimate foreboding darkness.  Chanted vocals whispered from the depths of a mausoleum provide additional instrumentation as opposed to acting as a lead verbal element.  This is music to get lost in the forest on while load on 7 grams of mushrooms.  The volume of the drone rises to a deliberate, gothic funeral procession where druid carry a coffin into the woods backed by a rising tide of violins, dirge-like percussion and small swells of instrumental texture.  When speaking of the climax, the crashing plunder is almost Neurosisian in scope but it’s much more downplayed and elegant than anything that the atmospheric thundermakers every tinker with.

“Beast Star” develops a plummeting, morphine-drip beat early on in the proceedings while the string mini-orchestra enriches the progressive atmosphere in sorrowful violins and abyssal cellos.  Force’s vocals are a more prominent feature this time around, crafting a genuinely gorgeously melody around the multi-tracked instruments, throbbing bass notes and overwhelming textures.  There are so many atmospheric nuances going for the ears to sink into at any one time that it’s sometimes quite difficult to decide on which to follow (hence the necessitation of multiple listens).  Dueling violins summon a harmonic effect that builds to a solo moment that sets up the entire band to come in with percussive bombast, dominant keyboards and even some guitar to round things out.  Keep in mind that the sound is so hallucinatory that I could very well be botching a descriptive element or two, so please don’t hang me at the gallows!  The pastoral flavors and field wandering ending remind me of Harvestman’s work only from a different psychedelic dominion.  “TOT” enters on the haunches of a disgustingly thick, sludgy bass line before the crystalline strings make their presence known.

The drumming in this piece is also booming (beginning as a battlefield drum march) and goes for more apocalyptic decimation than any of the previous cuts.  Kris’ voice is rife with passion, lush in depth and hitting every rise n’ fall with masterful, mountain-high dynamics.  If there was ever such a thing as a symphony or orchestra that played end of the world doom-metal, “TOT” may very well be the only living example of such.  This sucker really knows how to pile on the bombast and that bass tone alone gets props for maintaining such a swampy, lurching foundation.  Distortion is either applied to the guitar or the violin for a fucked-up, freaked-out atmosphere akin to psychedelic psycho 60s freaks High Tide and whenever the song launches into a full-speed, aggressive onslaught with pummeling drums and reckless tempos, I get even further flavors of 60s psyche accumulating in the juice of my mouth (watch the jokes, sickos!).  For my money this piece is unstoppable and the best thing I’ve heard from Amber Asylum to date; the kind of track where you grab a friend and say “Shut up and listen to this shit!”

A lengthy, autumnal drone kicks off “Harvester” which is one of the slowest building tracks on the record.  A good minute and a half passes before formless, wordless vocal chants glide gently against minimalist cellos and violins.  Call n’ response vocals echo and delay back and forth conjuring an ethereal incantation that takes shape over as little music possible; a leaden beat kicks in lockstep but never pushes things further than a deathbed pulse.  This one casts subdued, heavily-layered, arcane magic throughout but manages to pick up into a hearty gallop before the curtain draws to a close.  Thundering, cyclic drum patterns and buoyant bass thickness anchor the majority of the succinct “Paean” while the cellos, violins and mystical textures entrench the brain waves in a hypnotic jam that never strays far from its beaten path.  Spending nearly 6 shrieking minutes of broken keyboards, de-strung violins/cellos and an overall sheen of piercing noise, “Executioner” belligerently fights its instinct to become an outright song for quite a long period of time.  Even when the vocals come seeping in through the haze, the musicality stays unstructured and obtuse before a surging, ship-sinking plunder of grumbling bass, tidal instrumental layers and violent post-rock swallows the crew whole.  The title track caps the album off and it’s pure drone from fathoms deep, whether investing itself in bass-y, buzzing textures that hint at melody or bleeding eardrums with some of the record’s highest, most eardrum penetrating frequencies it finds a way to get into your head and stay there.

Amber Asylum’s Sin Eater is 100% not for everybody but fans that have followed the band since their inception should find some of their finest work here.  As for newcomers looking for experimental malice, angular beauty or slow-motion psychedelia, Sin Eater will deliver everything you want and more.  Simply put, I can’t name a record that sounds like this and it makes for a great listen late at night with a fuckin’ killer set of headphones.

Arcturus continue to create music that is certainly not for everyone, they are very much a love ‘em or loathe ‘em band. To those that love ‘em, Arcturian will surely prove to be a provocative, challenging and ultimately rewarding listen. As with their previous albums there are multiple treasures to discover that only repeated listens will uncover. The familiar keyboard driven sound is very much in the foreground of the mix, this time around wonderfully enriched by violins throughout the album. The guitars, while intricate in their own right at times, primarily serve as support for the keys and synths, reinforcing Sverd’s visionary playing. Then there’s the drumming. We all know that Hellhammer is an extraordinary drummer, but I can honestly say his performance on Arcturian is possibly his most impressive and technical to date – no mean feat considering his gargantuan discography.

This brings me to the most distinctive part of Arcturus’ multi-faceted sound, the vocals. Many would argue that the band’s best work came during the Garm era. However, I would argue that ICS Vortex is the superior vocalist, and while La Masquerade Infernale and The Sham Mirrors should rightly be considered classics of the avant-garde/progressive metal genres, I think the addition of Vortex only upped the intensity and theatrical atmospherics. Not only is his range outstanding, but he is neither afraid to use it or experiment with it. The vocals on display here vary from operatic, with Vortex’s familiar inflections, to the downright deranged – moments almost harking back to the band’s black metal roots. Lyrically, the albums focus remains on the cryptic, surrealist and often witty themes present on previous releases.

It all knits together perfectly taking the listener on a strange and otherworldly voyage, my only problem is that the journey has to come to end, although it is a journey that I will certainly repeat many times in the foreseeable future. It’s another jewel in the crown for the Norwegians, I just hope they don’t fall through a wormhole and leave us hanging around another decade until the next.

Shelter is the much-anticipated Alcest album that completely does away with the black metal element of their sound. What we’re left with is a well-produced post-rock/shoegaze/bliss-pop that is at times reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine, Sigur Ros, and Smashing Pumpkins. It is what it is. A part of me enjoys this a lot, another part of me really misses the black metal counterpoint to their sound, and another part of me dismisses it as fluff.

But let’s back up a minute. Once upon a time, black metal was a scary underground movement of scary music for scary people – and that’s it. There was no legitimizing, and no half-hearted hipster scene-following. If you knew about it, you were either a part of it, or it kind of scared you and you stayed away from it. Eventually, the movement grew, and became even scarier with U.S. bands like Leviathan taking the music to the absolute pit of ugliness and Weakling turning black metal’s misanthropy toward the self, while French bands Antaeus, Blut Aus Nord, bands of Les Legions Noires and others churned out brutal, twisted abominations of sound. It was around the mid 2000s when recordings with the “blackgaze” sound first started to appear, not the least of which was Alcest’s own Le Secret. Although a minor aberration at first, this deviation caught hold and exploded within the scene.

The reason I mention this is because context is important when listening to Alcest’s music. I have no problem with what Alcest is doing. What I have a problem with is people not understanding the context of this music. Alcest’s music comes out of a scene with its roots deep in ugliness and evil. Understanding what black metal as a movement had to go through to get where it is now gives Alcest’s music the weight it needs to truly appreciate what’s being done here. Maybe I’m reading into it all too heavily, but I believe that Alcest, among others, represents the redemption of black metal.

Alcest’s story is that of so many people, myself included, that it’s impossible for me to take this album out of context of the narrative. It’s the story of emerging from whatever trials you might be dealing with – addictions, rage, broken relationships, whatever it might be – into a moment of peace that comes with maturity. It doesn’t ignore the past, and it doesn’t last for long, but it brings a sense of reconciliation with a new, broader framework.

This music is an honest and sincere attempt to create that bittersweet, yearning sense of momentary reconciliation, although unfortunately, the album has more than its share of missteps. Without the black metal arrangements to lend power to the music, the climax of “Voix Sereines” falls flat. “L’Eveil des Muses” never consummates its moody buildup. Neil Halstead’s (Slowdive) vocals on “Away” are distractingly weak.

It’s “Delivrance” that legitimizes this thing for me. When I first heard it, I thought to myself, I’m glad somebody is making music like this, because it pinpoints that particular feeling that I’ve felt so often in my life. Yes, it’s indulgent in its repetition, and the production is perhaps too crystalline, but it’s so honest and somehow true that I can’t help but let it be what it is. The context from which this album emerges and the sincerity of the emotions expressed justify it for me. And what’s more, my wife liked it. And there’s a time and a place for that too.

It’s okay. The darkness is real, but so is the light. And it’s good and right to move toward the light, even if imperfectly so – even if it’s a little bit cheesy.

Wetterkreuz (‘weathercross’) retains the same elemental theme as Galeere, replacing the maritime concept with a more frosty, craggy and mountainous visage, though the sound and scope is still the same, Germanic, epic and regal black metal. The songs are still long with the 5 tracks (plus one cover) ranging from 8-10 minutes, and there’s still segments (mainly the songs’ intros) that deliver some windswept atmospherics and moods before the real song comes crashing in.

And crash in they do, like waves crashing on a rocky shore or winds howling across as frozen tundra, and echoing in barren peaks, the riffs seethe and soar with equal parts bite and beauty. Most of the influences comes from the genres Scandinavian progenitors and legends like (early) Borknagar, Taake, Mork Gryning, Emperor, Immortal and such, but there is an air of innate militant,  German classical superiority that calls to mind Wagner — for example the epic horns in  “Auf Kargen Klippen”.

However, the band’s calling card is still the ability to mix slicing melodies with subtle atmospherics and brittle black metal and simply create riffs and moments, that for me define what black metal should ‘feel’ like. The tremolo picked assault is tangibly cold and bleak, but carry a harmonic, blistering beauty to them that’s intense and epic. Just listen to the opening salvo of personal favorite “Am Abgrund” (even with its short programmed experimental/beat section). Throw in some of the chord progression and transitions which are simply breathtaking and synths that are regal but understated, working in unison with the riffs rather than being an overbearing accompaniment and the end result is just a swathe of black metal majestics. Closer “Dei Den Sternen” displays a bit more moody control and stern German marching and pacing, but still manages an utterly knee wilting segment of melodic fury at 4:25.

The production is suitably dry but clean, with an adequate audible bottom end, letting the crisp guitars dominate the affair. The band also is kind enough to throw in a cover song to end the album, though its an odd choice in Sun of the Sleepless‘s “Thou, Whose Face Hath Felt the Winter’s Wind”—a more black metal project of Svarldork ,before his Noek, Autumnblaze, Empyrium, The Vision Bleak fame—and the track fits seamlessly with Eis‘s style and delivery rather than some of his later projects background/ambient musical style.

But the five previous songs make this album what is is , and that’s yet another absolutely top notch black metal album, that lacks some of Germany’s usual quirkiness and  Eis just deliver stirring, rousing riffs and a black metal album for the ages. Again.

We had been threatened with a lawsuit by some cheesy Alternative Rock outfit from Cologne named Geist. Obviously, the girls feared we would steal them their shoes off the feet or something if we had the same band name.

Being concentrated on making music and not on lawsuits, we decided to change the band’s name and invested into re-releasing our first two albums instead.

And three members leaving nearly one year ago… that’s something I’d not like to stress in public. Nothing to do with the renaming and stuff though. Professionally, I’d say it was… personal and musical differences causing that split. I haven’t been fond of the development the band took during the last few years, and it was about time to change that, even if it was rather late I’ve to admit.

Are there any issues with the former members wanting to keep the Geist name despite the legal issues from the other band?

Not at all, we lost all rights to use that band name to the Colognes back then. Our old members have started a new band by the way, using the material that had been written and recorded back then as the planned new Eïs album.

So in a live setting, who owns the rights to play Geist songs?

Actually everybody has the right to play our songs, you just have to pay a kind of fee for it – in Germany we have a pretty intransparent system of spreading royalties to the original artists of music played in the public, it’s, well… organized by an organization called GEMA. Means we actually never see a single penny for that, but anyhow… what you probably mean is who’ll perform the Geist songs we recorded together, Eis or the other band. Simple question: Eis , as I’ve written all the lyrics and all music for all but two songs since six years, so there’s no discussion about it.

You re-released previous Geist albums Patina and Kainsmal under the new Eïs name, how come Galeere didn’t get a redo? Just because it’s more recent?

Due to various reasons. Galeere has been the first album we did on our label Prophecy Productions, it has been properly recorded at Studio E (a studio well-known in Germany, just like for example Grieghallen in Norway or Sunlight in Sweden) and it is also adorned by a professional layout and stuff. Both Patina and Kainsmal had been recorded and produced by ourselves, and I’ve never really been happy with what we were able to achieve back in 2004 or 2006, also concerning things like artwork and stuff. Both albums had been released on smaller labels (Solistitium Records and Cold Dimensions) and have never been wider spread actually. That’s why, when Prophecy decided to include them into their back catalogue, we took the opportunity to rework them properly, with new guitar tracks—featuring guitars being IN TUNE now [laughs]—and a mixing and mastering at Studio E. Also, both artworks have been overworked as well. The only way to find my inner peace with those releases.

So technically is Wetterkreuz the first Eïs album or the 4th Geist album? Or both?

Huh… both probably. To me, a band name is just a band name. It’s the fourth album we’ve recorded together (or at least Marlek and me), it’s the first album released under the Eïs banner, but it’s a fluent continuation of what we have done before.

All the above stuff aside, there’s no denying that Eïs and the new album are brilliant and certainly sound like Geist, despite the line-up shuffle and name change. Was that the intent all along, or did a name change present an option to change the sound up a bit?

Thanks for the nice words, first of all.

Well, we do have changed the sound a little bit, but more production-wise probably. As I’ve both written Galeere and Wetterkreuz on my own, and think that I do have a certain trademark style of composing and arranging songs, there’s no break between the two albums. Wetterkreuz is much harsher, more stormy and gloomy than Galeere, but that’s it basically. We haven’t been into updating the sound at all.

Galeere had a tangible maritime theme, is there an undercurrent or theme to Wetterkreuz? Ice related? My German isn’t so good.

Wetterkreuz translates to ‘weather cross’s — three bar crosses raised on mountains during the last few centuries, to protect people from bad weather and evil forces. You see, a pretty ancient, alpine, gloomy and superstitious thing after all. The album deals with all alpine related metaphors and (musical) pictures, like barren rocks, cliffs, abysses, snowladen landscapes and stuff like that, just like Galeere deals with maritime themes. All album tracks are related to that somehow and form an album together, but may stand individually for themselves as well.

Like I said, the album is amazing. How good does it feel to put everything behind you and release such a great album?

Thank you very much… the feeling is also amazing, I can tell you. We’ve invested so much time into Wetterkreuz and into rebuilding the band in such a short time span, and it’s good to see we’ve succeeded in that. So… definitely the right decision to split the band and follow our own vision.

Germany has some great if underrated black metal bands—such as Secrets of the Moon, The Ruins of Beverast, Todtgelichter, Fyrnask, Ave Maria, you guys, just to name a few—that never seem to get the acclaim or attention of their Scandinavian peers. Why is that? Does the German scene lack the ‘notoriety’ of the Swedish and Norwegian scenes?

Hard to say… German bands haven’t started with it, so it’s just understandable they never got the attention they may deserve, even if they might be just as good, musically.

Personally I can say that Norwegian (partly Swedish) bands have musically socialized me, that’s why I always cling to their music and am more fascinated by them than by an old German band like Martyrium or whatever. It’s the almost magical aura surrounding these guys… we had to write letters and look up in printed magazines to know anything about them back in the nineties, they just didn’t tour Germany every three weeks. That’s the big difference, even if these musicians laugh their asses off about what they did back then.

Apart from that, Germany is not the most successful country when it comes to musical originality and trendsetting. We mostly (badly) imitate US and English trends when it comes to pop music and surely Scandinavian stuff when it comes to black metal. Mostly, that is. We do have originators of thrash metal for example, like Sodom, Kreator or Destruction.

The bands you’ve mentioned have developed their own style over the years, and SotM for example are pretty successful with it compared to the other ones and us as well. That’s because they’re trying to make a living from it, which means you’ve to invest a serious amount of time and often enough feel like the filthiest whore around. Not our cup of tea to be honest. We’re all fully employed, studying or whatever, and run the band besides, that’s why we’ll never be able to tour and stuff and be that successful. So many Norwegian and Swedish bands from the early nineties have been unemployed and/or living on social wellfare these days, and basically had nothing to do than playing in bands. Germany, to a wide extent, gives a fuck about their artists, that’s why it’s so hard to get a serious amount of attention here. By the way, it’s the same in other countries, like Belgium for example. There’s a really cool band called Gorath splitting up for the same reasons.

On the whole, German black metal seems to be a little more quirky, off kilter and eclectic. To what to attribute this?

To me it’s not that unconventional of course. Everything can only be unconventional if you define what is conventional upfront, and that, again, is probably the Scandinavian black metal scene. My impression is that most of the die hard black metal fans and also bands in Germany have just stopped behaving naturally and also have quit thinking individually after “Panzerfaust”. Norwegians haven’t done so. Why should they. That’s why most metal bands love to tour in Germany — German metal fans are loyal to the bone and you’re surely their best buddy if you just state that you “liked the demo more than the current shit”. Well… actually… I’m not that different. Let’s just say we’re much more traditional and strange.

Do you take pride in the fact that all of Geist and Eïs ’s lyrics have been in German? Is English vs German a point of contention in the German black metal scene?

No dispute about that, no. We’ve just abolished the law that German bands have to write German lyrics a couple of months ago. [Laughs]

Seriously… I’m working as a teacher for German and naturally have a deep affinity for the German language. Much more than for English. My English may be good enough to answer interviews properly, but I’d never be able to write in the poetic language I need for lyrics. So, to me that’s a natural decision I’m not particularly proud of. I’d be proud if I could write lyrics in Hungarian or Vietnamese language. [Laughs]

Can you talk a little about the cover of Sun of the Sleepless’s “Thou, Whose Face Hath Felt the Winter’s Wind”?

Yeah… it’s a song not many people over there in the US will have stumbled over, I suppose. SotS is a project started by Schwadorf of Empyrium and The Vision Bleak during a foggy weekend somewhere in 1998 or 1999. He has released a mini-album called “Poems To The Wretches Hearts”, and the song we’ve covered is its opener. It features a poem written by John Keats as the song lyric, and just is such a moving, stormy piece of black metal… listen to it and you know what I mean. We had some time to record it as a bonus track at the studio, we had never rehearsed it or something. We arranged the song on a sheet within three minutes, played it, Schwadorf himself (who is Markus Stock, owner of Studio E, in person) added the bass guitar, and that was it. We’ve never before did something more spontaneous, but nevertheless we like the outcome very much.

So with a 3 year wait after Galeere, I’m guessing due to the legal issues, will there be a shorter wait on the next album?

I hope so. First ideas have come up already, and with a little luck, we’ll be recording again in about a year.

http://the-eis-reich.de/

”Music’s Like..” stuns from the get-go. It has this spine-crushing kind of depressive bleakness to it, as much as a certain hint of innocence, and that intelligent mash-up of the two polar opposite mind frames sure knows to move me in its complex but effective endeavor. ”Idiot Adult” dives even deeper into the abysses of downright ad misericordiam with ghostly background leads that are positively haunting, guiding the track into one sudden pit stop that erupts into a gripping and staggering accentuation of the drumming’s ferocity, adding just the right touch of oomph to aptly seal the deal and make this song an essential for fans of the desolate and grim spectrum of the post-rock scene. It truly leaves a mark on the psyche instead of breezing by with nary a trace of personality, and that’s one talent I don’t have trouble believing Arctic Plateau’s been proudly helming on past releases, judging by those first two pieces alone. The short ”Abuse” doesn’t particularly stand out, sounding like an expansion of the previous cut in the nature of its approach, but the all-consuming ”Catarctic Cartoons” is fantastically quenching my thirst for more debilitating darkness. It does possess the tools of the trade to strike deep down under and is arranged well enough to keep the interest on board all through it’s 3.55 minutes of deliciously eerie instrumentation. The absence of vocals doesn’t make it any less poignant.

The title-track sure has its own merit as well. The massively enjoyable build-up around the 3 minute mark leading into Gianluca’s well sustained and interestingly gritty growling (supported by very tempestuous drumming and the song’s memorably grey main lick) has a heavy-hitting impact and closes the track with notable skill, yet again proving that diverse and well thought-out songwriting sure is a forte around these parts. The superb ”Melancholy Is Not Only for Soldiers” has a contemplative depth that reminds me of Solstafir‘s recent works in a less than deniable way.”Loss and Love” goes into more of an accessible and radio-friendly format, and whilst its touch of Radiohead influence sure isn’t despicable, I can’t help but to think it stands apart from the straight-forward direction of the rest of the album. I can say the same about ”Big Fake Brother” that sails on those same waters with ease, but very much without enough strength of character. It’s not until ”Wrong” crawls in that I actually looked up and took notice; it has its fair amount of calculating, quality licks, and a mournful ambiance that absorbs the senses incredibly well, and ”Trensatte” is one kickass progressive and abstract instrumental number that scores points in both the chops and the originality departments with much feel and organic dedication on board.

I’d be lying if I plainly stated that all shoegaze/post-rock acts know to blow my mind. It takes very refined mastery to ace this sub-genre and make a lasting impression, and it goes without saying that Arctic Plateau should get more attention. It’s being earned for damn certain on this album. I’ll gladly have more of this goodness at any time.

”Autre Temps” opens up with a fairly pleasant bunch of accoustic melodies with a nice Åkerfeldt touch to them, and a certain meditative mood is immediately brought forward in the same breath. Neige’s soft and ghostly vocal approach fits in this layout no doubt, being well framed-up by the instrumentation and on-key in this song as much as the rest, although it doesn’t hit the mark much in terms of expressiveness all through the disc. ”Là Où Naissent Les Couleurs Nouvelles” rapidly comes up with a handful of sharp licks that do take aback with the strength of their emotional grit, which leads the tune on a safely tight stride shifting between poetically somber verses and some solid and genuinely black metal-associated buildups, coupled with a sore n’ deliciously bleak end wrap-up that brings to mind band names in the vein of Katatonia, Daylight Dies, and Paradise Lost, to name only three. It’s one of them moments on this release that would’ve made it a must-own, weren’t they so rarely aiding its ability to grip and crush. Les Voyages de l’Âme‘ is much more linear and watered down in terms of notable nuances, and whilst its psychedelically hypnotic nature is definitely wrapping up the mind with sheer passion from both of these musicians, filler bits and pieces of the tableau could’ve been fleshed out more or trimmed from the track since it quickly begins to sound like it could stretch out for three eternities and a day when the pace variations skip out of the picture completely. ”Nous Sommes L’Émeraude” suffers from the same kind of problem to a perhaps slightly lesser degree.

The drumming sounds more lively and persistent, and there’s a strongly and positively desperate intensity in the riffage that definitely works quite well back to back with Winterhalter’s attack, but even so, this is hardly a monumentally essential highlight to speak of. ”Beings of Light” comes up with a touch of genuine originality with an upbeat hivernal gallop and entrancing background melodies that sure are inspiring and attention-absorbing. Still, ”Faiseurs de Mondes” is the one absolute must-hear out of those eight tunes, masterfully rushing all through it’s damned near 8 minutes-long duration with one seriously entertaining and frankly anarchic-sounding collection of pattern shifts that brilliantly drove my excitement up the wall, breaking out of the audibly pre-defined comfort zone of the first half of the record (which seemed to take a bit of a drastic turn with those two tracks raising the bar a peg). Nevertheless, both ”Haven” and the excessively lengthy ”Summer’s Glory” go straight back to the tame and honestly platonic take on alternative meets post-rock mind-wanderings. I can’t for the life of me find a trace of a hook or head-turning evolution in this final cut, which brings me to raise an eyebrow at the two very contrasting faces of this band’s sound.

Regardless of that mildly puzzling fact, and of some very hit and miss passages, this album is okay for what it is. It has its noticeably good traits, but sure doesn’t blow me away as much as it could’ve, had it been pushing out of the box ever so slightly more often.

Although there are flashes of the band’s prior heaviness throughout Orange, many listeners may find themselves debating if it should be considered ‘metal’ at all. True enough, Dark Suns is more of a haven for proggers, but when was that ever a bad thing? With the quirk-fuelled opener ‘Toy”, the first thing that jumps out are the rich vintage organs. The guitars are beefy, yet not quite distorted, and while the band’s penchant for time signature-bending and jazzy flourishes could have had me wondering if they knew what decade they were playing in, the music on Orange is consciously aware of what has happened in prog since the ‘good old days’. Similar to the art-laden eclecticism of Pain of Salvation, Dark Suns‘ music often switch between the laid back, and energetic sides of their palette.

Although Dark Suns are drawing upon plenty of vintage sounds- including Beatles-era psychedelia- Orange is made modern by a fresh batch of modern styles. Although the influence of metal is made clear in the dark atmosphere and crunchy guitar riffs, post-rock is the most modern trend on Orange. This is not to say that Dark Suns perform strictly ‘post-rock’ passages, but rather that the ambiance and attention to cinematic build-up is worked in with the rest of the sound. Jazz works in much the same way; weaving in and out through the use of freak-out saxophones and inventive chord smithing. In a sense, Dark Suns brings the classic prog sound to the present in much the same way that modern legends Porcupine Tree do; by taking the template and ornamenting it with more recent innovations. Although the music is instrumentally complex and challenging, the diversity and tongue-in-cheek energy makes for a consistently engaging experience. An impressive amalgam of prog rock styles, old and new.

Wanderlust – aptly titled, as the entire album seems to suggest a solitary trek through harsh yet beautiful conditions – is an open, airy take on the folky and despondent black metal we’ve enjoyed on albums like Agalloch’s Pale Folklore, Drudkh’s Autumn Aurora, Burzum’s Filosofem or even Opeth’s Orchid. Opening tracks like “The Healer” and “Snowfall” do a wonderful job of braiding and blending minimalist, chiming guitarwork with spare and jangly percussion. They create a mood that’s both gloomy and ethereal, and so when the tracks do crest into seething, more traditional black metal tremolo, it feels like a revelation rather than the same old frosty blistering attack.

Vocals also get a unique treatment. They’re kind of a cross between a low mutter and a sonorous chant, which gives them a reverential feel. They’re also largely buried in the mix, as on tracks like “A Winter for Shut-Ins.” This amplifies their unique, atmospheric quality, as if they’re echoing from within a solitary winter cabin engulfed in tall snowdrifts.  There are very few moments where the traditional black metal rasp are used – “The Hope for Spring,” with its doomy fuzz and frantic pace – and again, the restraint and rarity makes it feel well-earned and special, rather than just something we’ve come to expect from this snowy corner of the genre.

And as spare as the music seems to be, it’s actually quite a rich tapestry. Finnr’s Cane succeeds in pulling in the right instrument at the right time, from delicate spidery ambience, Hammond keys and deep rumbling cello appear on the gorgeous, largely instrumental “Glassice,” or the surprising, spooky prog-tootling keyboard halfway through “Eternal.” They’re subtle, well-chosen additions to a sound that’s already somewhat non-traditional, even as it treads the same desolate landscape as the other acts I’ve mentioned.

Wanderlust is a deeply solemn and haunting experience, yet it’s also full of life. Perhaps it’s the open, airy sound and the delicate way that the instruments coil and intertwine with each other – it just all feels very direct and honest and transparent. Handcrafted and personal, the way that you would appreciate a solidly carved piece of furniture or a rustic meal. Finnr’s Cane may hide their names behind The Bard, The Peasant and the Slave, but behind those monikers are some damn talented and passionate musicians.

Bottom line, if you’re a fan of Drudkh, Burzum, Agalloch or early Opeth, then this is a mandatory purchase.

One thing that jumped right out and slapped me in the face with Sjukdom (which means “disease” in English) was the horrible use and sound of the drum machine that is used throughout the album. It’s lifeless, cold, sterile and leaves a stain on the song that sounds like “demo” or “rehearsal tape” instead of a finished piece of work. It’s so noticeable I immediately went back to Konkurs to see if this was some mix up or change from what was on that album. I was surprised to hear that Konkurs used a drum machine almost exclusively as well – except that its sound, tone and the production doesn’t distract from the songs (obviously if it didn’t bother me to even notice they weren’t real drums, they were doing something right).

On a better note, the riffs are more aggressive on Sjukdom, almost thrashy at times, and they’re one of the elements on the album that has improved with better production. The approach should appeal to fans of Nachmystium, which is a good point of reference in general for this record. The vocals have a two-style delivery – the wail like an insane, lost banshee (I think this is the typical “suicidal black metal” approach to vocals, where to sound exasperated and certifiably crazy is the goal) and the spoken-word “deep introspection” style that fits the melancholy vibe – using their native Swedish.

If you could try to ignore the drum machine and focus on the music, it’s an enjoyable listen for fans of Shining, Nachmystium and Katatonia. I find when the band hunkers down into the mid-pace rhythm on this album, they’re performing at their strongest. Songs like “Expandera”, “Horans Hora” and “Nedvaknande” are great examples of plodding beats and riffs that could have been pulled from Katatonia‘s Tonight’s Decision – the latter of which being one of my favorite tracks from the album. If the band could get a session drummer for the album, or at least give the back bone of their material a more organic feel, it would surely match and strengthen their style. I guess when I weigh the pros and cons of this album, those improvements and setbacks ultimately leave more to be desired – much like my original assessment of previous album Konkurs – so there are definitely strong ideas. It’s not a bad album at all by any means, but one that might have me reaching for Shining or Bergraven first when I’m in the mood for this style of metal.

“Helrunar set about erecting a memorial in their own honor. Sól are two conceptually linked albums of tremendous depth, combining contradictory attributes such as catchiness and complexity in the brace of icy black metal sounds. Pagan black metal has never been as oppressive and credible as it is on Sól.”

So the question of the day is are they correct? Oppressive? I can think of many examples. Credible? I think that is the key idea, more on that later. Sól is certainly oppressive in places, with monstrous heaviness and intricate, obtuse passages both contributing to an oppressive feeling. Yet the music is so much more. Helrunar is archaic, subconscious pagan memory. Nothing is forgotten. Nothing is ever forgotten, especially not Darkthrone, Satyricon, Ulver, Enslaved, and also tangentially a little Dissection and Bathory.

Before I get to much further, Helrunar’s fourth album is called Sól, and due to its length it is going to be released in two parts entitled Sól I – Der Dorn im Nebel and Sól II – Zweige der Erinnerung respectively. The two albums combined are around 100-minutes playing time. Skald Draugir says “Sól is going to be our darkest and most nihilistic, but also our most spiritual work to date…we will take new paths music-wise and lyrics-wise, while our roots are still very much black metal. Musically, we are putting an emphasis on atmosphere and an emotional arc of suspense on Sól, lending a certain epic broadness to the tracks.“

Musically, Der Dorn im Nebel establishes the concept of Sól with classical and direct pagan black metal, while the lyrics outline the individual’s struggle against and for himself. Part 1 of the two-piece concept album. With Zweige der Erinnerung the struggle of the individual reaches a new dimension, supported by more experimental and atmospheric more complex pagan black metal, the focus lies on the conflict of individual and society.  Part 2 of the two-piece concept album. It also comes in an oversized double album with massive booklet. The Art Book is a limited print edition of the album. A lot of additional artwork is included in it and the complete Sól text and both CDs are included in their entirety. The central symbolism of Sól is the sun, both in a destructive aspect as well as a life-giving element.

Now on to the music. As always, a well conceived carefully crafted piece of epic storytelling. Drummer Alsvartr has outdone himself on the musical compositions. There are long songs with plenty of punch and longer songs with a more introspective approach. There are extended fast breaks and slow passages where notes are allowed to decay. Alsvartr performs drums, bass guitar, additional lead and acoustic guitars, and wrote all instrumentation. Draugir is all voices and provided the context and the lyric poetry. Session player Discordius provided lead, rhythm, clean and acoustic guitars. Blastbeats make up a lot of the album, and furious tremolo picked guitars are plenty. Heavy crunch chugga chugga rhythm guitars are paired with repeated bass figures. There are tons of cleanly picked melodic leads which are clearly heard behind the fuzzed out melodic lines. Simple melodic themes are reconfigured throughout, adding to the denseness of the narrative by continually linking together the disparate strands. Skald Draugir”s vocals range from harsh to haunted, spoken to shouted, with deep resounding backing chants and sung notes. They are still making use of nature sounds. Guest musician Blutaar from Drautran provides vocals on  “Kollapsar” and “Aschevolk.” The drums have more punch to them, louder without overwhelming and Alsvartr puts heavy emphasis on rhythmic drive yet provides plenty of fills and occasional melodic phrasing, which is always cool coming from the drummer. The drums back way off to minimalist when necessary, allowing for such developments as well timed and well executed acoustic breaks and unaccompanied narration.

Lyrically is where the aforementioned credible really comes into play. While the instrumentation is by all measures credible, it is the monumentally challenging task that Draugir places before himself that needs to be measured as credible, and that is because he seeks no less than to render heathenry relevant to the modern world. The meaning of the name of the band is essentially speaking with Hel. To whisper with Hel means to awaken lost or suppressed memories from the human subconscious. These cultural memories are in our ancient stories. The wisdom hidden in pagan myths can uncover a deeper truth for modern people. People need these roots from myth to discover who they are. There is a great longing for cultural identity, original spirituality in these confused modern times, evidenced by the proliferation of folk-metal bands, as they try to find a way to rediscover old ways.

A quotation from the band should prove helpful. “Helrunar is an archaic breath of the misty world hidden behind all that is considered real by the people of a modern society marked by dull materialism. A breath filled with darkness, fear and coldness, but also with the wisdom and the passionate imagination of a remote past veiled by the mist. A breath silently whispering tales of what once came to pass, but will always come to pass again. A breath that becomes a song to counter oblivion as it brushes the branches. A breath that becomes a storm as the illusion fades away and the misty world awakens …”

So Helrunar have decided that all these pretender pagan and folk bands do not know the myths and folk traditions that they sing about. They learn the stories but not the lore, and the stories are rooted in the past and not applied to the present. This album is an attempt to revive mythical language and content that is otherwise often trampled and disfigured in pagan metal. Draugir says the worst is that many of the bands are not aware that they only parody what they actually glorify, maintain, revive, or want to preserve. “It is not about ideology. Nor do we believe to have a monopoly on the truth for us,” he says. Even worse are the many folk metal bands where the whole thing has more to do with fantasy films and computer games than myths. How they cope with myths is from within the modern worldview, and therefore much is lost in translation. “Often it is just pop music in Viking costume.” He throws out Enslaved, Primordial, and Drautran as walking the heathen path. I would add Helrunar.

So the narrative presented on Sól is a complex multi-threaded story involving, among other things, miners and mountains and it is written in a way that multiple layers can be deciphered. In principle, a disaster occurred, all things are connected with this traumatic experience. “An attempt by the processing, a search for the causes, a reflection on the reasons why a path to isolation, a slow awakening, a cure.” The disaster and the crisis in addition to their destructive effect also reveal a new perspective on the world and the self.  The first part is more about the struggle of the individual against and around themselves, and the second rather the individual in the fight against the community. As far as presentation, imagine a multi-character play with all parts performed by one actor. He wants to challenge the reader, encouraging them to place themselves with their thoughts, experiences, and emotions within the text.

He also wants you to understand that nature religions are not primitive, that is only when seen from our modern perspective. They are very complex.  A myth has validity for each member of society that it has produced, whether farmer, scholar, craftsman, chief or whatever. The one who tells the myth that is passed on and continues singing about it should know it but also understand its meaning and tell it accurately. It is rather a different, symbolic form of thinking. It’s about the content that is hidden in myths that make them suitable for modern people to access and to demonstrate that they have meaning, that they are useful and important.

So, we need to understand the myth as a symbol that is on some level just as true as science. In the mythical reality the material world and the spiritual are not separate, as the myth explains everything at once. Gods and spirits are always present, as a mythical people perceiving the existence of the world alone is proof enough that the gods exist. All things are animated, and everything has a purpose in the great whole. Rational thinking, however, is the primary way of perceiving the modern world. In a scientific worldview there is no room for gods. People have lost some useful aspects of cognition with the loss of mythical thinking. The view of the in-between, the relationships between things and opportunities we have lost. “Such a capacity for holistic thinking would be for people today absolutely crucial, considering the current state of the world,” says Draugir, “the aim is in large part to the experience, individually and collectively. It is important to guide in mind that telling the people above all is to understand his life better and to cope.”

After listening to this double album psychological drama in three acts, is the drama vivid in your minds? Pulling tracks out as standalone songs is possible for many but this is a fully realized album-long composition best devoured whole. Transitions from track to track were obviously mapped out and track order is significant. Favorite moments include “Rattenkönig” with its quiet intro and epic melodies, where intensity abounds. Another is “Sól” with great lead melodic lines and ample time for themes to develop, also “Aschevolk” with old style shrieks delivered with the fury of the winter wind, thanks to Drautran, paired up with venomous growls, and “Kollapsar”, highlighted by the ultra heavy rhythmic guitar, slow and ominous, and same initial theme echoed into your permanent memory.

Put January 7 on your calendar, this is one to wait in line for. Buy the double disc version.

All of the elements that made both Bergtatt and Kveldssanger so timeless and entrancing are expertly woven into Stemning. Twisty, folky, galloping and frantic black metal riffs. Meditative clean-chanted harmonies. Scraping, guttural troll-rasps and berserker screams and roars. Rumbling drums, like distant, fjord-echoed peals of thunder. And delicate acoustic interludes that flow by like crystal brooks in secret, sun-dappled glades.

There’s no need to detail Stemning track by track, as the album is a note-perfect example of authentic, mystical, nature-focused black metal from start to end. This was truly a pleasant and enthralling surprise from an unknown act, but given their labelmates Alcest, Tenhi, Negura Bunget (and their forthcoming splinter-act Dordeduh), I can’t say the quality here is entirely unexpected. Go and get lost in the woods with this one.

Highly, highly recommended.