Black Metal

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    Crest of Darkness – Evil Messiah (2015)

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    Hailing from Norway, Crest of Darkness delivers us with their latest offering: “Evil Messiah” a 20-minute EP filled with the band’s signature old-school(ish) Black/Death Metal. Featuring 3 normal songs and a cover of Alice Cooper’s “Sick Things”, this release is quite entertaining and a good follow up to their 2013 release “In the Presence of Death”.

    Opening with the super catchy “Evil Messiah”, the band grabs your attention with a certain retro sound that is not very common these days. The main driver of this track is the crunchy guitar riffs that make it well suited for headbanging to it. Things get Thrashier with the intense “Armageddon”, a song that reminds us to old-school Thrash from the Bay area but with harsher vocals.

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    Uhriristi – Haudankylmä (2015)

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    Arriving from Finland via France’s Mortis Humanae label, today we have Uhriristi and their punishing anti-religion Black Metal. Delivering great quality Black Metal with light use of atmospheric elements, this band perfectly fits in the intersection of bands like Dimmu Borgir/Alghazanth and Horna/Satanic Warmaster. The perfect balance of keyboards/synths and blistering riffs/drums is what makes this band be more than your average BM outfit.

    Misleading the listener with the soft intro, “Kaivo” quickly explodes into a pummeling riffing onslaught that has a certain Horna-esque vibe to it. The band’s vocalist Rutto has some well suited pipes for this type of music. The band instantly reminded us of the older days of Dimmu Borgir/Old Man’s Child as “Routahauta” and “Haudankylmä” made their appearance. The band’s sound is quite compact and they have a certain old-school vibe that keeps their music fresh in terms of the current trends in Atmospheric/Melodic Black Metal.

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    Old Witch – Come Mourning Come (2014)

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    Finally reaching a wider audience, today we have Old Witch and their chilling debut full-length “Come Mourning Come”, re-released on Sun & Moon Records. With 36 minutes of aural savagery, this American band manages to release a highly dissonant and punishing release that will appeal to all fans of the intersection between Black/ Doom Metal / Noise / Drone.

    The album opens with the throbbing “Funeral Rain” and its thick droning sounds and hellish atmospheric keyboards. Like something straight out of the movie “Event Horizon”, this song sets a very sinister mood for the rest of the album. The band spares no expense and creates a truly bizarre and sickening atmosphere with “This Land Has Been Cursed” and “God ov Wolves”, expertly continuing their decadent musical spew through nearly the first half of this release.

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    Blaze of Sorrow – Fulgida Reminiscenza (2014)

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    Limited to 500 copies world-wide “Fulgida Reminiscenza” is a very emotional EP from one of the best bands of Sun & Moon Records: Blaze of Sorrow. In this five-track EP the band delivers more of a Neo-Folk/Neo-Classical release, but equally depressive and engaging as their 2012 breakout release “Echi”.

    Opening with the sound of waves as a backdrop in “Fulgida Reminiscenza”, the mood is set quite hypnotically with a very slow tempo and intoxicating acoustic guitars. Keeping up the Empyrium-esque vibe, “Transcendenza” slowly progresses from lush piano sections into some BM riffs that create a very unique wall of sound. The band’s ability to craft songs that slowly transform and keep the mellow tempo even when the heavy riffing is being used is Blaze of Sorrow’s best asset.

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    An Autumn for Crippled Children – The Long Goodbye (2015)

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    Greatly anticipated for 2015, An Autumn for Crippled Children’s fifth full-length release delivers in all possible levels and takes the band’s sound even further into the depths of depressive Post-Black Metal / Blackgaze. In “The Long Goodbye” the band hones in their skills to produce nine of the bleakest tracks they have ever written clocking in at 41 minutes of pure emotional rawness.

    The opening track, “The Long Goodbye” starts off with a hectic level of intensity with Shoegazy dreamy guitars and brilliant harsh vocals. The overall tone is quite melancholic, making this track a perfect mood setting piece for what is to come. On “Converging towards the Light” we jump into a bigger atmospheric vibe with very dramatic ambiance perfectly capped by the punishing vocals of Mchl. As “A New Form of Stillness” rolls by, we get a certain Synth-pop vibe going with a very interesting melodic passage.

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    Decline of the I – Rebellion (2015)

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    The French Metal musical renaissance continues with yet another uncompromising release that pushes the boundaries of Black Metal with “Rebellion” from one-man battalion Decline of the I. As a side project from A.K. from Vorkreist and Merrimack, this is one of the most sickening (in a good way) releases of 2015 so far. Filled with craziness and odd elements mixed together, we are treated to more than 45 minutes of intense music.

    Quickly establishing this will not be your typical release with the chaotic opener “Lower degree of God’s might”, the band is off to a great start with seemingly random elements perfectly stitched together. The riffing barrage continues with the demoralizing “Hexenface” dissonance adorned with mournful vocals. “Le rouge, le vide et le tordu” delivers some interesting tempo changes that feature some cool French audio samples during its melodic interludes.

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    Selvans – Clangores Plenilunio (2015)

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    Seemingly coming out of nowhere, today we have one of the most exciting Black Metal bands we have heard in quite a while: Selvans. Hailing from Italy, the band presents us with their crushing and refreshing EP “Clangores Plenilunio” which features around 30 minute of pure atmospheric destruction. The band’s combination of influences into their own unique Black Metal sound will definitely turns some heads and command full attention from listeners.

    As the opener “Lupercale” weaves from atmospheric passages to blistering blast beats and haunting screams, the band perfectly blends killer guitar leads with catchy rhythmical sections. This track showcases the band’s range to their full extent with some many influences present here, but yet their sound is quite distinctive and unique. Things turn Folky with the EP title track, allowing Selvans Haruspex to showcase his multiple talents handling all the Folk elements in this release.

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    Enslaved – In Times (2015)

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    Constantly evolving and maturing over the last 10 years, Enslaved returns with another mesmerizing release with “In Times”. Further developing their Progressive Black Metal sound, the band delivers 53 minutes of impeccable music that will strengthen the band’s legacy and please all Metal fans. If you think the bar was set too high with “RIITIIR”, it has not been obliterated by this new release.

    Opening with a blistering onslaught in the first minute of “Thurisaz Dreaming”, the band masterfully turns the tides around and delivers an elegant piece that perfectly blends aggressive passages with the band’s signature proggy/jazzy melodic passages. Arve Isdal and Ivar Bjørnson do a great job in combining different guitar styles to create intricate song structures for the tracks in this release. With almost everybody pitching in on vocals (Grutle, Ivar, and Herbrand Larsen), the mood majestically changes without always needing elaborate tempo changes like on “Building With Fire”.

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    Vyre – The Initial Frontier Pt. II (2014)

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    After blowing us away with the first part of “The Initial Frontier” back in 2013, this German band comes back with part 2 with great style. Delivering over 45 minutes of expertly crafted Symphonic/Avant-garde Black Metal, the band further develops their unique sound with more atmospheric elements and great riffing onslaughts.

    Opening with the superb “Naughtylus”, the band blasts away with some epic melodic riffs, crushing bursts of aggression and highly melancholic Cello passages. As the futuristic atmospheric keyboards and precise solos close the first track, the band quickly jumps into the intoxicating rhythms of “Diabolum Ex Machina”. This second song feature some quite interesting tempo changes and tribal-esque passages that make this song a magical listening experience.

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    Thulcandra – Ascension Lost (2015)

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    On the days we are feeling nostalgic about the good old times of Dissection and similar bands that created and innovated with melodic riffs and epic songwriting, we turn to Thulcandra and their first two full-length releases. Unleashing “Ascension Lost” in 2015, the band continues to develop their old-school sound and make it their own, greatly improving on all the previous ‘borrowing’ they did from Dissection.

    The album kicks off with the melancholic “The First Rebellion”, a fast-paced piece that is sonically pleasing and very technically proficient. The band’s proficient mixture of melodic riffs and old-school Black Metal is quite solid and songs like “Throne of Will” and “Deliverance in Sin and Death” are a testament to their abilities. Steffen Kummerer and Sebastian Ludwig are a highly skilled guitar duo that carries this release from start to finish with their intensity and creativity.

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