Rudra are a blackened extreme metal band from Singapore. This is their eighth album.
Despite being around for a very long time at this point, and despite having first heard of them an almost equally long time ago, this is my first actual encounter with Rudra and their so-called Vedic metal. Continue reading “Rudra – Enemy of Duality (Review)”
This is the second album from Italian black metal band Earth and Pillars.
It starts off softly, leaving you unprepared for what lies within…
This is atmospheric black metal with long songs and epic ambition.
Mixing repetitive atmospheric mood-pieces with suffocating Continue reading “Earth and Pillars – Pillars I (Review)”
This is the debut album from Abduction, a black metal band from France.
Une Ombre Régit les Ombres consists of songs that are epic in length and vision, blasting out of the darkness with confidence, style and much aplomb. The music is a mix of progressive black/death metal, more skewed to the blackened side of things, if only due to the atmospheres evoked and the rasping screams of the main vocals. Continue reading “Abduction – Une Ombre Régit les Ombres (Review)”
Laster are a black metal band from the Netherlands and this is their second album.
We’ve met Laster before, both on their debut album De Verste Verte Is Hier and on their split with Wederganger. Both times they’ve impressed with their atmospheric black metal, and this continues with their newest release. Continue reading “Laster – Ons Vrije Fatum (Review)”
Drevorod are an atmospheric black metal band from Russia and this is their debut album.
This is atmospheric black metal with folk influences. It’s well-played and manages to balance the atmospheric/folk sides of the music well, so that the band have an obvious character to their music without it coming across as twee. Continue reading “Drevorod – I Swear to Return Here (Review)”
This is the debut album from Italian symphonic black/death metallers Vereor Nox.
In some ways this reminds me of The Forest Dreams of Black by Tine, which is one of my favourite examples of how to merge black and death metal with symphonic elements. Although Vereor Nox don’t sound like carbon copies of Tine, there’s enough superficial resemblance to make me instantly warm to the music on Noli Respicere. Continue reading “Vereor Nox – Noli Respicere (Review)”
Ashes of Nowhere are a post-black metal band from Italy and this is their debut album.
This is a release that combines a fair few different blackened styles into its 54 minute running time. Across the seven tracks one can hear raw, traditional black metal, atmospheric post-metal, melodic black metal, depressive shoegaze and a touch of the avant-garde.
Phew. Continue reading “Ashes of Nowhere – Emptiness (Review)”
Bearstorm are a progressive black metal band from the US and this is their latest EP.
Bearstorm play progressive black metal, but if you haven’t heard them before I can all but guarantee that they don’t sound as you’d expect them to.
Their previous album Americanus was an unusual record. A very good one, but a very individual one that was probably too much of an acquired taste for most. A shame, but their loss, (whoever they are), is our gain. Continue reading “Bearstorm – Biophobia (Review)”
This is the second album by UK black metallers The Infernal Sea.
This is sophisticated black metal that still manages to somehow sound filthy, ugly and grim. It’s a beguiling combination that sees the band combine atmosphere and ferocity in tantalising ways across this 42 minute release. Continue reading “The Infernal Sea – The Great Mortality (Review)”
This is the third album from Soulburn, a predominantly black metal band from the Netherlands.
Featuring ex-members of Asphyx, this is a solid slab of prime-time metal that effectively mixes black and death metal, (with some doom), into a tasty 47 minutes. Continue reading “Soulburn – Earthless Pagan Spirit (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 