Black Metal

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    Laburinthos – Augoeides (2012)

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    Delivering a very unique and melancholic release, today we have Avantgarde Music’s latest signing Laburinthos and their debut release “Augoeides”. Featuring five very unique sounding tracks, this band crafts a blend of Gothic Rock with some excellent Dark Wave influences that they eloquently call Labyrinthine BlueWave. With very emotive vocals and a depressive aura, this band reminds us to the likes of The 3rd and the Mortal, Yearning and those types of band’s from the late 90’s.

    Opening with the very dramatic “The Great Brothel of Mankind”, the mood is set quite well with such a rich and complex piece. The lush keyboards greatly adorn the well-paced bass guitar and the guitar work. The vocals are very theatrical and fit the music quite well. With even more powerful keyboards, “Crucified Among My Loves” delivers a very interesting tempo changing track. This song reminded us of the initial use of keyboards in Death/Doom Metal from the early 90’s by the Dutch bands, like The Gathering, Etherial Winds, etc.

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    Situs Magus – Le Grand Oeuvre (2012)

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    Outputting a combination of hateful and weird Black Metal similar to Deathspell Omega and Xasthur with some hints of older Blut Aus Nord, Situs Magus delivers their first chapter with the name of “Le Grande Oeuvre”. Intended as a one piece release, this album is split into five movements that showcase the band’s ability to create wicked atmospheres and delivers gut-wrenching screams accompanied by twisted riffing.

    Hailing from France, this new band has a very well consolidated sound for being the new kids on the block. Immediately after the intro, the band’s power is felt by the very dense “Oeuvre au Noir”. Crafting a very depraved and thick atmosphere the band delivers a very grim Black Metal feeling underneath all the atmospheric events. The riffing is quite traditional and the singing is as good as you can expect it, but the pacing of the track is what makes Situs Magus quite interesting.

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    Manii – Kollaps (2012)

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    Featuring the original members of Manes, today we have Manii and their crushing ‘slow’ Black Metal that brings us back to the early days of Scandinavian Black Metal but will a depressive/suicidal edge that makes the songs slow and punishing at the same time. Manes is one of those clear examples that shows that too much experimentation and weird shit going on in one release takes things a bit too far and alienates people. With Manii this two man band goes back to the basics with raw screams, piercing riffs and well-crafted drumming.

    Thankfully for the older fans of Manes, there is still some hints remaining here and there, but the new band’s focus is more on the atmospheric side of thing. Crafting thick and memorable atmospheres is a craft that seems to escape many of the newer bands but on “Kollaps” this is never the issue. Opening with the martial “Skoddeheim”, the band really sets a very slow and painful tempo, reminding us in times to Shining (Sweden) and Bethlehem. The atmospheric elements are bone-chilling and the overall pace of the track makes the vocals sound even more depraved and powerful.

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    Spectral Lore – Sentinel (2012)

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    All the way from Greece, today we have the one-man beast Spectral Lore unleashing a relentless Black Metal release titled “Sentinel”. In this album, Ayloss, the man behind the band, delivers six crushing tracks with brutal Black Metal escapades filled with eerie ambient elements that create a very dense and cavernous feeling around the excellent music. Clocking in around 75 minutes of music, this album is a true gem since every second is perfectly used towards the band’s creative vision instead of wasted in mind-numbing repetition like most Ambient/Atmospheric Black Metals bands.

    Blasting things wide open with the brutal “All Devouring Earth”, the ‘band’ delivers pummeling riffs and intense drumming that will blow you away. As time progresses, the ambient/atmospheric side of things kicks in and allows the song to fully sink it while the inhuman vocals work their magic. Just around the corner “The Dejection of Arjuna” is waiting to slowly creep under your skin will more brutality and perfectly paced tremolo-picking magic.

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    Nocturnal Depression – Suicidal Thoughts (2011)

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    Filled with hate and self-destructive emotions, today we have Nocturnal Depression’s “Suicidal Thoughts” release. This release constitutes of a re-recording and re-arranging of their 2004 demo. Clocking in at 35 minutes, these four tracks deliver painful blows of nihilistic Black Metal that will surely please any fans of the genre due to their rawness and their slow tempo, reminding us a bit of Dodsferd and similar bands.

    After the mysterious intro track, “When Darkness Covers My Soul” delivers the first blow with painful screams and a very well-paced tempo that keeps the song very direct and engaging without blowing up into a full on blast-beat competition. This is one of the things we like the most about Depressive/Suicidal Black Metal bands, even though we think the message is retarded, the music is pretty solid sometimes. There simple combination of the riffing, the rhythmical drumming and the keyboard hints makes this track very catchy indeed.

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    Sichelstein – Sichelstein (2012)

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    With an extremely unique sound, today we have Sichelstein and their self-titled EP. Presenting five tracks of very retro sounding music, this band manages to create a sick mixture of Shoegaze and Black Metal with Darkwave and Gothic Rock elements with very depressive vibe. Totally unexpected and raw, this release is one of the most interesting ones we have received from Valse Sinistre in the last few months.

    The opener builds up nicely with some very raw sounding guitars and some very new wave-ish keyboards, but it finally explodes with creepily distorted harsh vocals and some organs. “Das Leben” is the most Shoegaze-y track in thise release with a heavy dose of trippy guitars paired with more creepy keyboards and completely deranged vocals, a very interesting listening experience indeed.

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    Winterfylleth – The Threnody of Triumph (2012)

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    With the same power and intensity of bands like Primordial, today we have Winterfylleth and their highly anticipated third release “The Threnody of Triumph”. After re-releasing their debut masterpiece earlier this year, “The Ghost of Heritage”, through their current label Candlelight Records, the band is ready to return with yet another excellent release. Everybody that claims to play Black Metal with atmospheric elements should take a page of the Winterfylleth book since they manage to create very furious songs that suddenly change 180 degrees and blow you away with some brilliant atmospheric stuff, the best example is the opener track “A Thousand Winters”.

    Furiously blasting through tracks like “The Swart Raven”, “A Memorial”, and “The Glorious Plain”, the band will decimate your ears with their uniquely crafted wall of sound created by the distorted guitars and greatly complemented by the majestic drumming. This sound is greatly enhanced by the occasional keyboard hints here and there and it gets elevated through the excellent clean vocals the band throws around.

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    Catuvolcus – Gergovia (2012)

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    Perfectly mixing aggression and melody, today we have Canada’s Catuvolcus and their amazing latest release “Gergovia”. In this exciting album the band perfectly blends elements of Pagan/Folk Metal with Black Metal and delivers nine tracks of pure melodic chaos. After setting a Folky mood with “Elaver”, the band quickly gets down to business with the crushing “Par monts et par vaux”.

    Filled with extremely aggressive vocals and blasting guitar riffs, this release has no shortage of epic moments that are just too many to mention. The drumming keeps things running smoothly, but it’s the sense of melody the band has that keeps the songs being different and extremely good. A clear example of this is the very uplifting “Le colline de Chanturge” and its lush intro followed by waves of powerful riffs. Reminding us of bands like Mythotin and Himinbjorg, Catuvolcus is one of the most intense and skilled bands we have listened to in a while.

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    Darkest Grove – Coming of 2012 (2012)

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    Crushing and Hateful would be the perfect words to describe Darkest Grove’s sophomore release titled “Coming of 2012”. Conceptually dealing with the world of theories behind the supposed ‘changes’ coming in 2012, this release puts these interesting ideas in a very harsh and eerie Black Metal environment that pummels the message into your brain. This one-man band delivers in every single aspect producing nine tracks of killer US Black Metal that elevates Darkest Grove to the likes of Terratism and Nightbringer in terms of the ‘local’ US scene.

    Like a hard punch to the face, “Hatred Strives…” delivers powerful waves of hateful Black Metal riffs. The track is very straight-forward and in your face, creating a very direct and chaotic atmosphere, just perfect for these kinds of releases. As the track progresses it nicely changes into a more melodic and hypnotic pace. The tremolo-picking intensity is picked up in the killer tracks “Wallowing At The Face of Evil” and “Destiny”, creating a very sick twisted atmospheres that Darkest Grove seems to have knack for. 

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    An Autumn For Crippled Children – Only The Ocean Knows (2012)

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    The highly mysterious and anonymous Dutch outfit An Autumn For Crippled Children (AAFCC for short) returns with another dreamy journey into the depths of Post Black/Shoegaze music. “
    Only The Ocean Knows” delivers eight magical tracks of very aggressive and ethereal sounding music. This release is by far the band’s best effort to day, and you should definitely check it out.

    “Past Tense” delivers a very cool intro that made us believe the band was going to bust out an electro track, but it nicely shifts into fuzzy distorted guitars and very rhythmical drumming. The Post-Black influences are very evident and propel this song into atmospheric brilliance. Continuing the band’s atmospheric efforts, “Yes I Know… Love And Death… Always” delivers a bit of a change of pace with some excellent ‘melodic’ passages, but the majority of the time we have the guitars pounding away, keeping the album’s atmosphere flowing.

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