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    Orden Ogan - Final Days (2021)

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    Delivering their traditional high-octane Power Metal, today we have Germany’s Orden Ogan and their seventh full-length release “Final Days”. Featuring 50-minutes of superbly catchy and expertly crafted music, the band delivers one of their most epic and lively releases to date. Highly recommended for fans of bands like Stratovarius, Blind Guardian and Powerwolf, this is one of the highlights of the genre in 2021.

    Opening with the catchiness of “Heart of the Android”, the band quickly sets a very engaging and epic atmosphere. With Niels Löffler switching to guitars and the addition of guitarist Patrick Sperling, the band sound is more dynamic and delivers a good amount of brilliant guitar leads and catchy passages, as we can hear on songs like “In the Dawn of the AI” and “Inferno”. As one would expect, the band’s epic vocal arrangements are a centerpiece of their sound and perfectly exploited in epic songs like “Let the Fire Rain”.

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    Sulpur - Embracing Hatred and Beckoning Darkness (2021)

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    Unleashing one hell of a crushing debut release, today we have Sulpur and their debut release “Embracing Hatred and Beckoning Darkness”. Delivering over 43 minutes of pummeling old-school Black Metal, this outfit perfectly captures the aggression and rawness of the 90’s with five blistering compositions. If you like old Immortal, Marduk, Horna, and Satanic Warmaster, this is one release you can’t miss.

    Opening with the mysterious intro/title track, the band sets a very dark and sinister mood as waves of punishing riffs and harsh screams quickly take over the sonic landscape. The band’s vicious style is perfectly delivered by the intense guitar work alongside some crafty tempo changes, reminding us of Immortal’s “Pure Holocaust” days. On tracks like “Blessed By Foul Magick”, the listener is abused by its sheer brutality, perfectly balanced between highly melodic passages.

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    Sarkrista - Sworn of Profound Heresy (2021)

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    There is nothing like well executed Black Metal to lighten up our days. Luckily for us, Germany’s Sarkrista delivers some of the most piercing traditional BM that we have heard in quite a while. With “Sworn to Profound Heresy” the band unleashes their third full-length release and definitely one of their best. Featuring nearly 50 minutes of music, the band’s brand of raw and in-your-face BM is a force to be reckoned with, as it reminds us of Horna, Sargeist and similar outfits.

    After a regal intro piece, the band’s ravaging ferocity quickly delivers its first blow with the album title track. Abusing blistering guitars and pummeling drumming, the band unleashes their fury as tracks like “Lair of Cursed Remains” and “Ablazing Ritual Torches” lay waste to the listener’s ear drums. We particularly enjoy the subtle and minimal atmospheric elements thrown into the mix alongside crafty tempo changes.

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    Valosta Varjoon - Das Flammenmeer (2021)

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    There is something just magical about listening to that blistering metallic distortion of old-school Raw Black Metal. Luckily for us, today we have Germany’s Valosta Varjoon and their latest full-length release “Das Flammenmeer”. Spewing 52-minutes of pummeling music, this release perfectly captures the genre’s rawness and delivers seven swift blows filled with brutality and craftiness.

    After the atmospheric opening of the album’s title track, the band goes to work with a savage dose of piercing guitars and infernal shrieks of pain. Simple, raw and yet effective and brutal is the band’s motto as tracks like “Abschaum”, “Ruinen”, and “Gspusi” bring back the old-school vibe of the early days of Satyricon, Immortal, with a splash of Satanic Warmaster and Horna.

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    SOM - Awake (2021)

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    Featuring members of bands like Constants, Junius, and Caspian, today we have the dreamy SOM and their highly intoxicating EP “Awake”. With two original songs and three remixes, this release is a teaser of what is to come from this unique outfit. Filled with tons of ethereal and highly atmospheric elements, the band’s sound is quite mellow and yet expansive and highly exploratory, creating a very cinematic listening experience.

    Opening with the sweeping “Awake // Sedate”, we are quickly immersed in the band’s very dreamy sound thanks to its dramatic guitars and mellow vocals. There is certain warmth and dreaminess that is quite hard to describe, but is immediately felt when listening to this track. In a more dramatic fashion, “Youth // Decay'' delivers shoegazey emotions with a good dose of dream pop infused in the mix. We particularly love how the song slowly progresses, providing a truly energizing emotional rollercoaster ride.

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    Ordo Cultum Serpentis - Derej Najash (2021)

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    Delivering a 26 minute slab of crushing music, today we have International entity Ordo Cultum Serpentis and their debut EP “Derej Najash”. Featuring two tracks of 13 minutes each, the band’s sound is as close as we can imagine the depths of hell to sound like. Mixing a great deal of ambient elements with chugging slow riffs and creepy vocals, this release is perfect for a dark somber night.

    Opening with “Chapter 1”, the album starts with a ritualistic vibe of eerie chants and sounds and slowly descends into madness with superbly slow distorted guitars and desolate atmospherics. As the track evolves, there are fierce fast-paced passages with hellish shrieks and a very cavernous vibe. The second piece, “Chapter 2”, continues with the ritualistic atmospherics and sparse drumming, slowly building into savagely punishing simple riffs and more disturbing vocal arrangements.

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    Hån - Breathing the Void (2021)

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    Crafty and melodic Black Metal releases are on the rise with bands like Uada and Mgła, Switzerland is throwing their hat in the ring with Hån and their latest release “Breathing the Void”. Featuring over 46 minutes of blistering music, this release perfectly balances raw aggression with melody and a top-notch production. Highly recommended for fans of this modern approach to a timeless genre.

    After an ominous intro, the album title track delivers waves of crushing guitars and intense drumming. The band does a solid job in crafting intelligent tracks that are marked by catchiness and aggression. Similar to bands like Misþyrming, the melody infused by the twin-guitar attack into songs like “Olethrus”, “Enter An Eternal World”, and “Goatman”, serves as the perfect contrast to the harsh vocals and the tempo changes.

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    Omination - NGR (2021)

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    Hailing from Tunisia, today we have a very unique and aurally abusive outfit: Omination. Dropping their third full-length release, “NRG”, this band delivers one hell of an expansive sound that incorporates elements of traditional Funeral Death/Doom Metal with some more cinematic and experimental endeavors.

    Unleashing an eerie and ritualistic aural assault with “Crossing the Burned Wasteland”, the band sets a very punishing and intriguing atmosphere. This oppressive atmosphere is further explored with the monolithic onslaughts of “Apocalyptic Ignis Fatuus”, a very powerful track featuring hellish atmospheric elements and potent distorted guitars. The band’s drums, which seem to be programmed, at times give the music a certain industrial edge that classes at times with their atmospheric context, but at the same time creates a very unique and aurally confusing experience, like on “Last Trisagion”.

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    Everdawn - Cleopatra (2021)

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    Hailing from the USA, today we have Everdawn and their lush Symphonic Metal sound. In “Cleopatra”, the band delivers eleven tracks and over 48 minutes of majestic music that could be comparable to any of the European heavy hitters for the genre. Featuring Mike LePond (Symphony X) on its ranks, this band is a new blank slate spawning from Midnight Eternal. Filled with crafty ideas and dramatic arrangements, this release is of high quality and great entertainment value.

    Opening with the heavy hitting “Ghost Shadow Requiem”, the band sets a very regal and engaging atmosphere thanks to the lush keyboards and intricate guitar work. Vocalist Alina Gavrilenko does a great job delivering remarkable vocal melodies from the opener, and as the band unleashes unparalleled catchiness and craftiness in pieces like “Stranded in Bangalore”, “Cleopatra”, and the mysterious “Your Majesty Sadness”.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Wolvencrown - A Shadow of What Once Was (2021)

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    Seems to us that there are almost more Black Metal bands than actual musicians these days, as we get more and more promos of this genre each day. Luckily for us, bands like Wolvencrown keep the flame of the genre alive by unleashing crafty releases that while not revolutionary, they deliver solid aggression with good doses of melody and atmosphere to keep things interesting.

    As a three song EP, “A Shadow of What Once Was” opens with a very cavernous atmosphere crafted by punishing guitars and ritualistic drumming. The album title track is split into two songs, perfectly capturing the band’s old-school vibe and unleashes creepy atmospherics alongside sinister and aggressive onslaughts. In particular the dynamic and immersing second part of the title track and its dramatic arrangements.

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