Black Metal

  • Courtsleet – Hope’s Apparition (2014)

    cover

    Arriving from Gavin Turner (ex- A Forest of Stars), today we have one-man Courtsleet and ‘their’ two-track debut EP: “Hope’s Apparition”. In this intense release we get a perfect combination of atmospheric Casacadian-like Black Metal with some Shoegazing thrown into the mix. For all fans of Austere, Wolves in the Throne Room, etc., this EP will blow you away.

    Opening with the 10-minute monolithic “What Was I When Your Journey Began?”, Courtsleet slowly builds up momentum with creepy atmospherics and very precise songwriting. The band’s sound is both raw and melodic, allowing the melodic elements to seep in through the savage Black Metal riffs, picture Wolves in the Throne Room meets An Autumn for Crippled Children.

  • The Negation – Paths of Obedience (2013)

    cover

    Arriving from French Black Metal horde The Negation, today we have their debut full-length release titled “Paths of Obedience”. Featuring a relentless Black Metal onslaught, this album provides more evidence of the resurgent French Black Metal scene that has produced bands like Glorior Belli, Merrimack, Vorkreist and countless others. Filled with intensity and atmospheric sickness, this release is one hell of a ride.

    Opening with the punishing “Red Wrath”, the band immediately jumps into war mode with bestial drumming, incisive riffing, and demoralizing vocals. Mixing high-octane drumming with relentless guitars, the band brings devastation to the table since the first minute. The release gets more and more punishing as tracks like “Erased”, “One Good”, and “Lost For Ever” steamroll through the listener.

  • Hail Spirit Noir – Oi Magoi (2014)

    cover

    Featuring 60% of the members of Transcending Bizarre?, Hail Spirit Noir delivers their sophomore release with “Oi Magoi”. Featuring a very intriguing and elegant mixture of Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Black Metal, and some magical Avant-garde elements, this release blooms for over 45 minutes of truly unique sonic landscapes.

    The release blasts opens with the psychedelically charged “Blood Guru”, a track that is quite well layered and allows all the band’s influences to immediately shine through. The elegant finish to this song oozes melodic brilliance and posture. It is quite interesting to hear elements from bands like Jess and the Ancient Ones and Jex Thoth thrown into tracks like “Demon for a Day” and “Satan is Time”, allowing Hail Spirit Noir to be one of the few bands that mixes Psychedelic Rock elements to create Avant-garde Black Metal.

  • Aenaon – Extance (2014)

    cover

    Delivering their most high-octane release to date, Aenaon returns with the punishing “Extance”. Hailing from Greece, this band has managed to push the boundaries of Black Metal with their previous efforts and this one is no different. Mixing Avant-garde/Jazzy elements into a well-structured Progressive Black Metal core, this release sees the band further refining their craft into near perfection through the 11 songs presented here.

    The band’s incisive riffing and commanding vocals are immediately felt with the intro “The First Art” blending into “Deathtrip Chronicle”. Excelling in creating killer guitar melodies, Aenaon has managed to further refine their sound since “Cendres et Sang”. The tempo changes and vocal arrangements are other factors that make the band’s music instantly be recognized. The Avant-garde weirdness we love form the band starts to shine with the upbeat “Grau Diva” and its intricate arrangements.

  • Hecate Enthroned – Virulent Rapture (2013)

    cover

    After a 9 year ‘hibernation’ period, Hecate Enthroned returns with one of the biggest surprises of 2013: “Virulent Rapture”. Always living under the stigma of a CoF clone band, this band was long discarded by us with some of their more ‘experimental’ releases over the years before dropping out of the map in 2004. When we got this promo, curiosity got the best of us and we decided to give it a spin… blowing us away since the first track.

    Opening in a bombastic manner with “Thrones of Shadow”, the band indeed still sounds a bit like CoF used to do back in the day, with the huge difference than Hecate Enthroned is now 10 times better than CoF. The growls and shrieks, courtesy of new vocalist Elliot Beaver, are top notch and nicely elevate the intensity level of the already well-crafted symphonic music. Never leaving the aggressive Death Metal elements aside, tracks like “Unchained” are equal parts brutality to melody. The drumming is quite massive and the overall melodic-yet-aggressive vibe is super in songs like “Abyssal March” and the brilliant “Plagued by Black Death”, one of our favorites of this release.

  • Strangeways - Rotting under the La La Bombs (2013)

    cover

    Always expecting the unexpected, today we have a very unconventional and rather unique release from Strangeways titled “Rotting under the La La Bombs”. Hailing from Israel, this duo produces one of the most dissonant and yet coherent releases we have reviewed in the last few months. With punishing Black Metal sections thrown into some Noise/samples experimentations, the band instantly establishes their uniqueness since the first minute of this release.

    “Licking the Pussy of Mother Earth” immediately blows things wide open with excruciating Black Metal onslaughts filled with weird samples and tormentous vocals. The riffing is quite powerful and the combination of madness and devastation will immediately fuck with your head. The cool glitching sounds of “BloodRedArt” will surely confuse you on the first spin, but you will soon find out that is all part of the madness in this release. Other tracks feature weird atmospheric elements like on “Manifesto” that has a brilliant section of typing (yeah you read it right) and lush piano notes that is simply amazing.

  • Mord'A'Stigmata – Ansia (2013)

    cover

    After their impressive 2011 “Antimatter” we had huge expectations from Mord’A’Stigmata’s latest release “Ansia”. Delivering a half-baked cake, this album features an interesting direction the band is taking, but it fails to completely blow us away like the previous one. Mixing in some Post-Metal/Black Metal elements into their weird Avant-garde BM core, the band seems to have the right idea but missed the point a bit (hell, maybe WE are the ones missing the point).

    With “Inkaust” opening with furious strength, the song slowly transforms into a Post-Metal piece with a slow middle part and switches back again into BM mode. The band’s Post-Metal section is quite intesreting since it does not feel like straight Post-BM, but rather a hybrid of typical Neurosis-like Post-Metal with some BM riffing. Yeah, weird indeed but it feels rather odd, even after more than a few spins. Anyways, “Shattered Vertebrae of the Zodiac” comes back to a bit more familiar territories with the first few minutes being Black Metal with interesting Post-whatever percussions. The improvisational Post-Rock-ish interlude is quite interesting an unique, but it still didn’t really clicked with us.

  • Alghazanth – The Three-faced Pilgrim (2013)

    cover

    Arriving from the most powerful Symphonic/Melodic Black Metal band from Finland, today we have “The Three-faced Pilgrim”. Featuring six tracks of majestic BM filled with crushing guitars and eerie atmospheric elements, Alghazanth continues to improve upon their legacy with another masterful release. Bearing a few line-up adjustments, the band keeps their lush Symphonic/Melodic Black Metal in place with some of the most exciting songs we have heard in 2013.

    Opening with the devastating “In Your Midnight Orchard”, we have a raw BM with awesome atmospheric highlights. The band has been perfecting their craft for a few years now, and with this release they take it to a whole new level of brutality. Just picture Horna with keyboards and Alghazanth is what you get. The melodic riffing is another aspect of the band that shows their true craft when it comes to songs like “To The Pear of High” and “Promethean Permutation”, both filled with excellent melodic riffs that seamlessly change tempos between aggressive and hyper-blast mode.

  • Wolves in the Throne Room – BBC Session 2011 Anno Domini (2013)

    cover

    With the band currently in hibernation mode, Southern Lord gives us a very special vinyl release of Wolves in the Throne Room’s “BBC Session 2011 Anno Domini” recordings. Featuring two tracks of the band’s “Celestial Lineage” release, this release has enough fuel to keep hardcore fans of the band (and Cascadian Black Metal) going for a few months. With their uncompromising and very unique sound, WITTR delivers over 20 minutes of atmospheric brilliance in this LP.

    Kicking off with “Prayer of Transformation”, the first side of this release presents an astounding rendition of such a powerful track. Filled with brilliant melodic passages and a great climax, this was one of the best songs on “Celestial Lineage” and they nailed it perfectly in this release. Following with “Thuja Magus Imperium”, the band’s bleak landscapes ooze out of this release immediately with this chilling version of the track. Once again, every single nuisance is perfectly captured in this rendition of the track, showing WITTR’s flawless musical execution.

  • Siculicidium - Hosszú út az örökkévalóságba (2013)

    cover

    Four years have passed since Siculicidium’s debut full-length “Utolsó vágta az Univerzumban”, and after a series of EP’s in 2012, the band is back in full swing with “Hosszú út az örökkévalóságba”. Never being huge fans of this three-piece from Romania, we are quite surprised of the quality of raw and unconventional Black Metal found in this latest effort. Mixing some atmospheric elements, creepy passages, and an overall uncompromising attitude, this release is quite diverse and yet traditional sounding to keep the hordes of BM fans clamoring for more.

    Opening with the dreamy “Endless road” (we will use the English names of the songs to keep this review legible), the band sets a very bleak and melancholic atmospheric mood since the first few notes. The raw BM explosion beings with the punishing “The fragrance of decay”, a very visceral track featuring a typical old-school BM structure, very direct riffs, and rather traditional drums. Similar to bands like Midnight, “Lurker” has a ridiculous set of catchy riffs and drumming to give that filthy BM vibe that only a handful of bands can achieve. There is also a certain Punk-ish vibe to this track that makes it quite enjoyable.

Pages

Recent Image Galleries