Black Metal

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    Behexen – The Poisonous Path (2016)

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    Crawling out of the depths of Scandinavian hell, today we have Behexen and their long awaited release “The Poisonous Path”. Featuring over 55 minutes of ravaging Black Metal, the band continues to be at the top of their game when it comes to crafting brutally raw tracks. Not for the faint of heart, this is one of the premiere BM releases of 2016.

    Unleashing their hateful musical onslaught with opener “The Poisonous Path” and the intense “The Wand of Shadows”, the band creates a very oppressive atmosphere filled with crushing riffs and the demoralizing vocals of Hoath Torog. As the album progresses with songs like “Cave of the Dark Dreams” and “A Sword of Protean Fire”, we noticed that there are some atmospheric elements thrown into the mix to make the band’s music more intense and expansive.

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    Glorior Belli – Sundown (The Flock that Welcomes) (2016)

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    Hailing from France, today we have the return of Southern/Stoner Black Metal outfit Glorior Belli. In “Sundwon (The Flock that Welcomes)”, the band delivers eight tracks and around 48 minutes of very crafty and completely unique music. If you are a fan of the band already, this album further refines their very unique style and you will love it, if you are just curious, be ready for a very bizarre and different musical ride.

    Opening with a bang, “Lies-Strangled Skies” delivers a crushing mostly straightforward Black Metal onslaught with heavy guitars and hyper fast drums. Combining the very characteristic sound of French Black Metal with some funky melodic guitars, the band crafts a very powerful opening piece. The second track continues in the same vein, but slowly introduces some of the band’s more melodic and crafty passages near the end.

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    Sun Worship – Pale Dawn (2016)

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    Hailing from Germany, today we have promising Black Metal trio Sun Worship and their sophomore release “Pale Dawn”. Having influences from ranging from Cascadian Black Metal to old-school Norwegian Black Metal, this band has constantly delivered killer EP and split releases which showcase their raw potential. Hitting the listener like a bag of bricks, this is one of the most intense releases of 2016.

    Opening with the ravaging “Pale Dawn”, the wall of sound is instantly lifted with punishing riffs and hyper fast drumming. The band’s raw power is uncanny thanks to their piercing riffing and crushing tempo changes. While the first track has a certain USBM/Cascadian BM vibe, “Lichtenberg Features” quickly changes this with brilliant Immortal-esque riffs and melodic undertones, making it one of our favorite tracks in this release.

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    Depicting Abysm – Passage (2016)

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    Arriving via Naturmacht Productions, today we have Russian duo Depciting Abysm and their monolithic sophomore release “Passage”. Featuring over 47 minutes of melancholic Atmospheric/Depressive Black/Doom Metal, this release creates the perfect shroud of musical misery. For fans of bands like Forest of Shadows, Shape of Despair, Lifelover and similar outfits, this is one album that will sound very familiar.

    Opening with the 11-minute bleakness of “Shelter”, the band slowly introduces us to their sound with incisive riffs, solid harsh vocals and a very mellow tempo that just makes things even more magical. The atmospheric elements thrown into the mix greatly enhance the overall depressive experience the track delivers. On “Shadow” things continue on the Depressive Black Metal side of things with highly emotional vocals and a very powerful bass guitar line. This track reminds us a bit of outfits like Lifelover.

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    Znafelriff – Ruin (2015)

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    Allegedly formed in Svalbard, Norway (but since then relocated to Germany), today we have hyper-raw Black Metal outfit Znafelriff and their crushing 5-song EP titled “Ruin”. Crafting their sound to be as raw and DYI as possible, the band actually manages to create some very old-school sounding music that will infuse nightmares to the uninitiated.

    Opening with the old-school Satyricon-esque “Heisere Stille”, the band instantly creates a dark shroud of distortion and rawness around their sound. The recording quality is decent enough to be able to tell all the elements apart, but raw enough to sound trve kvlt. The same rawness is continued with the Immortal-esque “Ruin”, however, the sound quality seems to have become even more trve as we needed to raise the volume on our speakers to continue to enjoy this release.

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    Lutece – From Glory towards Void (2016)

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    Hailing from France, today we have quite an impressive outfit under the moniker of Lutece. Unleashing their third full-length release titled “From Glory towards Void”, the band delivers over 51 minutes of clean and precise Black Metal filled with crushing melodies and imposing vocals paired with emotional atmospheric elements.

    Delivering a punishing opening blow with “Let the Carnyx Sound Again”, the band demonstrates their high-octane music with pummeling drums and intense riffing. Showing this was not a fluke, the brutal onslaught continues with the demoralizing “Melted Fles”. In this track we start noticing some very interesting atmospheric elements thrown into the mix, adding some additional complexity to the band’s music.

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    Howls of Ebb – Cursus Impasse: The Pandlomic Vows (2016)

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    Spewing more of their sickening Black/Death Metal, today we have Howls of Ebb and their sophomore release “Cursus Impasse: The Pandlomic Vows”. Written between 2013 and 2015, this release moves away from the longer (10+ minute) track from their previous EP and delivers their musical fury in shorter but equally sweet onslaughts. Filled with creepiness and a retro-vibe, this album shows the band’s knack for making truly punishing music.

    Opening with the psycho-sexual hypnotic bass guitar line of “The 6th Octopul'th Grin”, the band’s depraved sound is instantly gratifying. Things take a turn to the even more bizarre with the funkiness of “Cabals of Molder” and its very horror-like atmospherics. Continuing down the rabbit hole, “Maat Mons’ Fume” has more of that raw energy of Indonesian Black/Death Metal bands mixed in with some truly disturbing bass guitar sounds.

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    The Shiva Hypothesis – Promo 2015 (2015)

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    As one of the best releases to appear on our magical postal box, today we have The Shiva Hypothesis and their demoralizing 2015 3-song promo. Featuring an imposing sound similar to bands like Behemoth, Vesania and even Dimmu Borgir minus all the fluffy shit, this Dutch band delivers 20 minutes of brutal music that will rattle your speakers from start to end.

    Opening with the incisive riffing of “Caduceus”, The Shiva Hypothesis starts its journey pummeling the listener with devilish vocals provided mainly by MVS, and some killer drum patterns. As a package, this band is firing with all cylinders, allowing all elements to perfectly blend together crafting an oppressive atmosphere.

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    Ande – Licht (2015)

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    Steamrolling its way from Belgium, today we have one-man battalion Ande and his debut release “Licht”. Featuring over 22 minutes of music, this release features tons of great ideas and eerie atmospheric pieces. Opting to always have a sort of prelude before the main songs, this allows for the atmosphere to be perfectly established before moving into heavier and more ‘Metal’ things.

    After a solid intro, “Paniek” delivers heavy distorted guitars with a very raw and crushing sound. With the guitars leading the way, the vocals are quite fitting for the mid-tempo efforts presented in this track. Focusing more on how the guitars command attention, the band’s sound is quite clean and direct.

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    Rimfrost – Rimfrost (2016)

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    Arriving from Sweden, today we have Rimfrost and their thunderous Black Metal onslaughts. In their self-titled third full-length release, this trio delivers eight high-octane anthems that remind us of Immortal and similar outfits. Not for the weak of heart or the extremely super kvlt trve people, this intense release plays more on the side of brilliant melodic riffs and catchy songs that are memorable and engaging.

    Delivering a crushing opening blow with the brilliant “As the Silver Curtain Closes”, the band sets a very dynamic mood with tons of tempo changes and proficient riffing. The band’s vocalist and axe master Hravn Decmiester perfectly captures the Black Metal ‘firm’ shriek on melancholic tracks like “Saga North”. Said track also features some epic headbanging passages that will make your neck sore for days.

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