Black Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Hexvessel - Nocturne (2025)

    cover

    Keeping things weird and unique as always, Mat McNerney is back with the current era of Hexvessel that has them playing a very frosty and powerful blend of Atmospheric Black Metal with some of the band’s earlier Dark Folk elements. In “Nocturne” the band shapeshifts a bit more, taking the BM elements of “Polar Veil”, and blending some harrowing bleak soundscapes with chilling vocals and a few guest appearances to keep things dreamy and weird.

    With a mood setting opener and the chilling keyboards of “Sapphire Zephyrs”, the band sets a very desolate backdrop that masterfully is reinvigorated with piercing Black Metal-styled guitars and harsh screams. The transition to “Inward Landscapes” shifts the momentum to more atmospheric territories alongside Mat’s eerie clean vocals. One of our favorite tracks has to be the moody “A Dark Graceful Wilderness”, which gives us some “Dawnbearer” and “When We Are Death” vibes.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Sargeist - Flame Within Flame (2025)

    cover

    Unleashing a clinical onslaught of uncompromising Finnish Black Metal, today we have Sargeist with “Flame Within Flame”. As the band’s first full-length release in nearly eight years, and featuring Shatraug back on vocals, this album is fierce and punishing, just what we all expect from this congregation of masterful Black Metal musicians, which also feature Spellgoth handling bass guitar and backing vocals, and new drummer Nur-i-siyah.

    Regardless of the line-up changes, Shatraug and VSJ keep the band’s style intact with their furious riffing onslaughts. Pummeling away with their signature style, “An Eternal Dream Beyond the Accursed Protent”, “Flame within Flame” and “The Chant of Rotting Tongues" perfectly transition between fast paced sections to more hypnotic and melodic passages that keep things eerie and highly atmospheric. With a timeless Black Metal style, this release masterfully mixes the gritty and raw with a polished production and crisp instrumentation.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Austere - The Stillness of Dissolution (2025)

    cover

    This Aussie two-man band went away for over ten years and returned recently in 2021 and has dropped an album a year since 2023, making it one of the most productive in the scene. For the uninitiated, Austere was one of the originators of the Depressing Black Metal style back in the 2000’s and they continue to spew their bleakness with “The Stillness of Dissolution”. Evolving more into Atmospheric Black Metal territories, this release is engaging, catchy and yet very desolate in punishing, just what the doctor ordered for a cloudy and rainy day.

    Opening with “Dissolved Exile”, the band showcases their technical chops with a very melodic and crafty piece filled with engaging guitar leads, melodic passages, and crafty drumming alongside a good dose of harsh vocals. One of the signature styles from all of Tim Yatras’ bands is the dramatic clean vocals, that gracefully add that extra level of bleakness to the very well composed and expertly layered core music. Immediately inciting the listening to headbang alongside the catchiness of the guitar work, “Rusted Veins” is one of the album’s stand-out tracks, just completely intoxicating.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    …And Oceans - The Regeneration Itinerary (2025)

    cover

    As one of the main bands that got us into Symphonic Black Metal back in the late 90’s, …And Oceans has been around for a while, and even after their hiatus they continue to push the genre and deliver high-octane music. Featuring ten tracks and over 46 minutes of music, the band brings back some of their Industrial/Electronic elements into the fold, while keeping the intensity level at 11.

    Opening with “Inertiae”, here we get some of the Havoc Unit side of the band with some cybergoth passages, amongst the usual fare of dramatic symphonic elements and hefty harshness. Coming back down to relentless melody and engaging atmospherics, “Förnyelse i Tre Akter”, “Chromium Lungs, Bronze Optics”, and “The Form and the Formless”, showcase the band in its most polished and vicious way. It is quite impressive that while keeping their core sound from their old days intact, the band still sounds fresh and exciting.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Drouth - The Teeth of Time (2025)

    cover

    Unleashing a cavernous and quite engaging Doomy Black Metal release, today we have Portland’s Drouth and their third full-length release “The Teeth of Time”. Featuring a fierce mixture of crafty melodic interludes and blistering aural onslaught, this album delivers five tracks and over 40 minutes of intense music. With a very piercing and yet balanced sound, the band’s songwriting is quite polished and intense.

    Opening with the piercing “Hurl Your Thunderbolt Even Unto Death”, we get a twin guitar onslaught that unleashes harsh screams and deep growls. The song is both crafty and heavy, setting a very hectic pace for the release. This sinister atmosphere continues in the commanding “False Grail” with Doom and Crust elements thrown into the mix as the song progresses. Far from linear, the band also oozes melancholy when needed with the album title track providing crafty duality, and sustained intensity through this piece.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Ghost Bath - Rose Thorn Necklace (2025)

    cover

    Fully going back to their roots, Ghost Bath unleashes another masterclass in melancholy and devastation. The band’s Depressive/Post Black Metal sound made a more prominent comeback in their previous release, “Self Loather”, and now they elevate it with the highly melancholic “Rose Thorn Necklace”. Featuring nine tracks and around 36 minutes of music, this album is very engaging, crushing, and yet walks a very fine line between sorrowful and intense.

    Opening with the dreamy atmospheric opener, “Grotesque Display”, the band sets a bleak mood that is masterfully continued with the piercing album title track. The harrowing screams perfectly flank intense tremolo picking alongside a very lively modern Post-Black Metal vibe, similar to Harakiri For The Sky and such bands. In “Well, I Tried Drowning”, the melancholy starts to ooze as the tempo slowly increases, flanked by crafty guitar leads and harsh growls. The atmospherics in this track give “Moonlover” vibes and we are all for it.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Behemoth - The Shit Ov God (2025)

    cover

    Arriving like a freight train without any breaks, today we have Behemoth and their latest opus “The Shit Ov God”. Nergal and company never shy from controversy and unleash the most powerful music they can, and with this release, the band unleashes nearly 40 minutes of their most potent and yet highly polished songs. For a band that has been around for 34 years, these guys sound like no one else, without any signs of slowing down or just doing more of the same.

    Opening with the fierce “The Shadow Elite”, the band unleashes mystery and chaos at the same time with hellish atmospherics that lead to pummeling riffing onslaughts by Nergal and Seth. The drumming is massive, as it is always expected from Inferno, ripping through tracks like “Sowing Salt”, and the eerily atmospheric album title track. With a more ravaging Black Metal edge, “Lvciferaeon” is a crafty track that changes the tempo of the release a bit, while still unleashing the aggression and magick that the band always delivers.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Solfatare - Asservis par l'espoir (2025)

    cover

    Unleashing a savage debut full length release, today we have Belgium’s Solfatare with “Asservis par l'espoir”. Featuring six tracks and over 40 minutes of crushing Black Metal, this release showcases that there are still bands pushing the limits of the genre and crafting releases that do not sound exactly like most. With a ferocious take on the genre and the musicianship to back this up, this release is as intense and fierce as they come.

    Starting with the blistering “Des monarques anhédoniques” we get that crispy Mgła-esque guitar driven style, but with some sinister twists, creating a very haunting experience. The harsh vocals masterfully add that extra level of desperation and aural abuse that songs like “D'hommes et d'isoptères” and “Du deuil affairé” need to be pushed over the edge. There is a certain intoxicating nature to the sneaky melodic undertones of the guitar work that makes them more effective.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Karg - Marodeur (2025)

    cover

    V. Wahntraum (aka J.J) has been on a roll as of recently, not only with his exploits in Harakiri for the Sky, but also with this upcoming crushing Karg release titled “Marodeur”. With eight tracks and over 54 minutes of piercing music, this Post-Black Metal release is full of visceral rawness. Masterfully crafting highly melancholic music, this release is both punishing and demoralizing, creating a very bleak and yet lush atmosphere.

    Opening with the enigmatic “ Schnee ist das Blut der Geister”, which also features guest vocals from Perchta and solemn piano elements from Michael Eder, the band sets a very emotional mood. There are certain similarities to Harakiri for the Sky, due to the vocals and some of the guitar melodies, however, this band takes it further into darker and bleaker territories with more solemn and direct songs like “Findling”, “Yūgen”, and our favorite “Annapurna” and its very dramatic atmospherics and cathartic moments.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Ahamkara - The Harrow of the Lost (2025)

    cover

    Hailing from the UK, today we have Atmospheric Black Metal outfit Ahamkara, with their sophomore release “The Harrow of the Lost”. With a more than 10 year gap between releases, this outfit nicely delivers four tracks and over 42 minutes of music that blends elements from outfits like Saor, Fen, Fellwarden, and Panopticon. Creating a very organic and effective sound, this band masterfully crafts immersive atmospheres that will capture the listener’s attention.

    Creating a very mellow and intoxicatingly bleak atmosphere, “The Circle of Remembrance” opens this release with a slow burning approach that quickly is flanked by piercing riffs and harrowing harsh vocals. Austin Lunn of Panopticon fame handles the drums in this release, keeping things tight and very versatile as each track changes moods. The band’s atmospherics are subtle and never overbearing, thanks to Alexandra Blenkarn-Durning keyboards and effects, like on “Our Scars Shall Abide In The Thaw”, a very elegant track that blends in fierceness with Alcest-like dreaminess.

Pages

Recent Image Galleries