Olhava are a Russian atmospheric/post-black metal band and this is their seventh album.
Olhava have built up an eviable body of work, including 2021’s Frozen Bloom, 2022’s Reborn and 2024’s Sacrifice. This brings us nicely to the 78-minute Memorial, a record that takes us on another gargantuan excursion into post-blackened waters. Continue reading “Olhava – Memorial (Review)”
This is the fourth album from US black metal band Fauna.
Containing members of Echtra and Eigenlicht, Fauna play Cascadian atmospheric black metal. Ochre & Ash is the unexpected follow up to 2012’s masterpiece Avifauna, so to say I have high expectations for the 70 minutes of Ochre & Ash is an understatement. Continue reading “Fauna – Ochre & Ash (Review)”
This is the debut album by international black metal band Vörnir.
Brought to us by current/ex-members of Chaos Moon, Dagger Lust, Häxanu, Krieg, Triumvir Foul, Osgraef, Ringarë, Skáphe, Wormlust, and many, many, many more, Vörnir is a new band with a wealth of experience. All of which made me very interested to check out the 38 minutes of material on Av Hädanfärd Krönt. Continue reading “Vörnir – Av Hädanfärd Krönt (Review)”
This is the third album from Swiss black metal solo band Paysage D’Hiver.
Die Berge contains a colossal 103 minutes of atmospheric/ambient black metal for the listener to feast upon greedily. The artist behind Paysage D’Hiver has created an album to fall deeply into, never to return. Continue reading “Paysage D’Hiver – Die Berge (Review)”
Etoile Filante are a French black metal band and this is their second album.
Mare Tranquillitas has a duration of 40 minutes and showcases Etoile Filante’s brand of ambient/atmospheric black metal. Continue reading “Etoile Filante – Mare Tranquillitatis (Review)”
Olhava are a Russian ambient/post-black metal band and this is their sixth album.
It’s always a pleasure to hear a new Olhava album. I thoroughly enjoyed both 2021’s Frozen Bloom and 2020’s Reborn, so am more than happy to be able to experience the immersive immensity of Sacrifice. Sacrifice offers a rich feast of atmospheric, ambient, and post-black metal/blackgaze. Continue reading “Olhava – Sacrifice (Review)”
Welcome to my annual attempt to make sense of the ridiculous amount of good metal albums out there, awaiting discovery by intrepid metal explorers.
2023’s best of list has been one of the more difficult ones to put together, placing-wise, which is one of the reasons that I’m posting it later than I usually do. Even more so than normal many of the slots are interchangeable, and I especially struggled with positions two-nine – if such a thing were possible, they all deserve to be higher! In the end I decided to stop overthinking it and go with my gut, but the usual caveat of these lists being very subjective and subject to change depending on mood, feelings, etc. is larger than normal here.
There are some notable acts missing form the below. Not because they’re not worthy of inclusion, but because there are only so many spaces to be had. In fact, I almost ended up limiting this list to 20, rather than the now-customary 30, as I found it really difficult to know who to include and who not to. In the end I went with the standard 30 so that I could promote a few extra bands, as they absolutely all deserve it.
As for the top position, I wasn’t expecting it to be filled by a band I’d never heard before, playing a style that I don’t listen to as much as I used to. However, I suppose after last year, I shouldn’t have been too surprised.
I do hope you enjoy this list and find some new music to obsess over. Like always, thanks for your support if you have ever visited this site before, and here’s to a great 2024 for as many of us as possible. Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2023”
This is the latest EP from Árstíðir Lífsins, an international, (Germany/Iceland), black metal band.
Following on from 2020’s epic Saga á tveim tungum II: Eigi fjǫll né firðir comes an equally epic EP. Despite containing only two songs, Hermalausaz is an album-length release at 43 minutes in duration, and packs a lot of content into its extended running time. Continue reading “Árstíðir Lífsins – Hermalausaz (Review)”
This is the second album from US black metal band Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze.
Brought to us by an ex-member of A God or an Other, The Fractal Ouroboros is an ambitious and bold work that’s utterly absorbing. Across an imposing 75 minutes Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze unleash music that is affecting like few others. Continue reading “Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze – The Fractal Ouroboros (Review)”
This is the fourth album from UK black metallers The Sun’s Journey Through the Night.
Despite enjoying The Sun’s Journey Through the Night at this year’s Reaper Festival 2023 over the summer, I’m late to actually checking out their most recent recorded work. This has now been rectified. Does Worldless live up to the promise of the band’s live show? Continue reading “The Sun’s Journey Through the Night – Worldless (Review)”
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