Black Metal

  • Hexvessel - Polar Veil (2023)

    cover

    From the mind of Mat McNerney, aka Kvohst, Hexvessel has been a very unique and engaging band throughout their multiple stylistic changes. From the dark and eerie occult folk/doom/rock days of “Dawnbearer“ and “No Holier Temple”, to the more psychedelic rock edge of “When We Are Death”, “All Tree”, and “Kindred”. The band has always had a very mysterious and eerie core that now fully unravels alongside piercing Black Metal riffs and creepy atmospherics. With only a handful of bands being able to drastically transition into (or from) Black Metal, “Polar Veil” showcases a very powerful aural experience that shows the band morphing into yet another version of themselves and unleashing one of the best releases of 2023.

    Opening with “The Tundra is Awake”, we get vicious and raw Black Metal riffs, for a moment you will be taken aback as this is not where the band seemed to be going on their last release. However, after McNerney’s signature vocals come into the mix, that whole ‘Hexvessel vibe’ is immediately felt as it brilliantly blends together. This release is heavy and yet quite atmospheric, as pieces like “Older Than The Gods” seem to be pulling one way with the guitars and yet the lush vocal arrangements pull a different way, creating a very intoxicating and yet perplexingly harmonious sound.

  • Marduk - Memento Mori (2023)

    cover

    Unleashing their first full-length release in nearly 5 years, today we have legendary Marduk and the piercing “Memento Mori”. Consistency has been one of the band’s greatest strengths as they pummel through ten tracks and over 40 minutes of punishing Black Metal music. With a straight-forward and yet quite violent approach to the genre, the band certainly delivers on all expectations as this release is filled with excellent tracks with the band’s signature DNA.

    The band obliterates the listener with their signature short burst of devastation from the opener, “Memento Mori”. This piercing track has the Marduk signature violent drumming and aggressive riffing complementing Mortuus’ pummeling bass guitar line and snarls. Focusing on crafting piercing riffs, Morgan delivers that magical mixture of old-school BM style with a mixture of more modern and incisive elements, as we can hear on songs like “Heart of the Funeral”, “Blood of the Funeral” and on the chilling “Shovel Beats Scepter”.

  • Welmoed - Ask & Embla (2023)

    cover

    Crafting a truly unique and powerful mixture between heaviness and dreaminines, today we have Dutch project Welmoed and their debut release “Ask & Embla”. Featuring five tracks and over 33 minutes of Atmospheric Post-Black/Shoegaze Metal/Rock music, this release creates a very engaging and fragile atmosphere thanks to ethereal keyboards and dramatic vocal arrangements.

    The album sets a very hypnotic pace with the shoegaze-y opener “Naga'' and its dramatic tempo changes alongside crafty instrumentation. While the opener is pretty good, one starts thinking that this will be just another one of those Post-Black Metal releases as the intense tremolo picking sets in. This impression continues as “Ask & Embla” continues the release, until a magical change happens as angelic female vocals are introduced and the whole vibe instantly changes.

  • Akercoke - Decades of Devil Worship (2023)

    cover

    Unleashing their characteristic levels of insane brutality, today we have UK’s Akercoke with their live offering “Decades of Devil Worship”. Like a bag of cement to the face, this release perfectly captures the band’s vicious and relentless musical onslaughts, delivering 64 minutes of some of their more hellish songs. If you never experienced the band live, this album gets you right in front of the action, making you want to start breaking things and moshing incessantly.

    After the eerie “Conjuration” intro, the band fully discharges their punishing aggression with “Hell”, “Nadja”, and “Marguerite & Gretchen”. While the band’s sound is piercing, their technicality and execution is brilliant, making sounds sound very crisp and direct, as “Zuleika” and “Il giardino di Monte Oliveto Maggiore” demonstrate.

  • Urbain - A Soul Purged (2023)

    cover

    We sometimes wonder how the guys over at Hypnotic Dirge Records have such a similar music taste to us. From highly melancholic, to extremely experimental releases, this label has landed another winner with Urbain’s release “A Soul Purged”. Hailing from Texas, this band feels like a mixture of Vesperian Sorrow, Limbonic Art, with some splashes of Dimmu Borgir. With nine brilliant and high-octane tracks, this release is one of our early candidates for album of the year for 2023.

    Opening with the release with the dramatic atmospherics of “Perception”, the mood is set very efficiently as the ravaging intensity of the guitar riffs is introduced alongside piercing shrieks and lush melodic passages. With an atmospheric transitioning track between each song, the band nicely changes the tempo and mood while preparing themselves to unleash aggressive onslaughts with a hearty balance of melody as we can hear in excellent songs like “Without Conscience” and “A Soul Purged”.

  • Fen - Monument to Absence (2023)

    cover

    Just when you think you have a band figured out, they pull a 180 degree turn and unleash a very unique and different release. In this case, Fen is the band in question and the release is “Monument to Absence”. Diverging a bit from their usual dreamy and mellow style into a more ravaging Atmospheric Black Metal style, this release unleashes nearly 70 minutes of high-octane music with a proggier and very aggressive music.

    Opening with a bang with “Scouring Ignorance”, the band quickly sets an intense pace with fierce riffing and blistering drumming. If you didn’t know this song was from Fen, you would think it is from a more ‘traditional’ Black Metal outfit. It is not until the more melodic passages are brought forth that you can hear the band’s DNA in this song. The album title track craftily brings the more desolate and melancholic passages the band is known for, creating a very immersive atmosphere.

  • Eternity - Mundicide (2023)

    cover

    Hailing from Norway, today we have Eternity and their latest outburst of brutality titled “Mundicide”. With tons of Black Metal bands coming out of this country, it is easy to have a few fly under the radar, and what a mistake has been in this case. The band creates a very punishing and cohesive older school BM style with some modern shine, making the 43 minutes of music in this release quite vicious and well crafted. If you are looking to add another stellar Norwegian BM outfit to your playlist, Eternity is the one you have been waiting for.

  • NONE - Inevitable (2023)

    cover

    It has been a long four years since mysterious entity NONE unleashed their last release “Damp Chill of Life”. With a very piercing and demoralizing sound, this North American outfit delivers some of the most nihilistic aural experiences you will ever encounter. With “Inevitable”, the band keeps the pain going with 56 minutes of soul crushing music. For any fan of Atmospheric Black Metal, this is exactly what dreams are made from.

    Opening with the somber “Never Came Home”, momentum is slowly built with clean guitars and atmospherics just before the wall of distortion sets it. The interplay of whispers as the harsh screams come in showcases the band’s brilliance when it comes to shift momentum and create devastating transition. Eerie pieces like “Alone, Where I Can See” and “A Reason to Be”, further push the band’s ability to deliver melancholy amongst aggressive onslaughts to completely new heights.

  • Immortal - War Against All (2023)

    cover

    Unleashing their traditional ravaging intensity, Immortal is back after five years with the blistering “War Against All”. Delivering nearly 40 minutes of head banging glory, this release is as great as you can expect from Demonaz and company. We have always been great fans of the band’s intense guitar driven approach and they never fail to disappoint as this one is filled to the brim with masterful riffing and crafty drumming.

    Opening with the album title track, we immediately get transported back to the simpler days of “Battles in the North”. As we transition into “Thunders of Darkness” and the superb catchiness of “Wargod”, the band’s old-school signature style perfectly blends with the crystal clear production values. We particularly enjoyed “Return to Cold” and “Nordlandihr” filled with epic head banging moments, and some excellent melodic passages.

  • Heretoir - Wastelands (2023)

    cover

    It has been a while since we had new music from Germany’s Heretoir and their dreamy post-Black Metal music, since 2017 to be exact. With the EP “Wastelands” the band unleashes three new songs and three live recordings, creating a solid mix of anticipation and insight into the band’s intense live performances. If you are a fan of the genre, or outfits like (older) Lantlos, Ghost Bath, and Alcest to some degree, you should not miss out on this excellent band and this solid release.

    Opening with the expansive “Anima”, perfectly layering mellow vocal arrangements and the band’s signature guitars. We particularly enjoy the tempo changes and overall atmospheric brilliance of the song, creating a very engaging and yet dynamic soundscape. Our favorite track in this EP has to be “At Dusk” and its dreamy vocals overlaid over atmospheric arrangements, certainly having a very Alcest-ish vibe to it from their “Shelter” days.

Pages

Recent Image Galleries