This is the debut album from Sermon of Flames, an Irish blackened death metal band.
This is an album that offers the listener twelve portraits of extremity and harsh soundscapes. It contains 39 minutes of horror, so if you can stomach the band’s violent darkness for that long, then this is for you. Continue reading “Sermon of Flames – I Have Seen the Light, and It Was Repulsive (Review)”
This is the debut album from Sol Kia, a Belgian experimental black metal band.
Zos Ethos features a member of Neptunian Maximalism, and contains 45 minutes of experimental psychedelic black metal. Continue reading “Sol Kia – Zos Ethos (Review)”
This is the third album from Swedish black metallers Wormwood.
This is Swedish melodic black metal that exists within a post-black metal framework, with the latter allowing the former a broader range than it usually benefits from. Wormwood’s music has an epic streak, an atmospheric proclivity, and a good grasp of emotion and depth. Arkivet is a mix of the classic and the contemporary, and the band have balanced these influences very well to produce an evocative and compelling album. Continue reading “Wormwood – Arkivet (Review)”
This is the debut album from US black metal band Feral Lord.
Recommended by the promo blurb for fans of bands such as Oranssi Pazuzu, Odraza, and Deathspell Omega, I couldn’t resist giving this a listen to see if it hooked me. Well it did, as you can probably tell by the fact I’m reviewing it. To the above list I’d also add parts of bands like Suffering Hour and Mourir as reference points for Purity of Corruption too. Continue reading “Feral Lord – Purity of Corruption (Review)”
Headshrinker are a death metal band from the US and this is their debut album.
Headshrinker play old-school death metal that incorporates in varying doses, crushing doom, dark black metal, and intricate technicality. Theirs is an atypical approach to death metal, yet one that still benefits from the raw visceral nature of the style. Imagine a cross between Tomb Mold and Ulthar on one hand, and Pyrrhon and Imperial Triumphant on the other, and you’ll be on the right lines for a decent idea of what this album’s 38 minutes hold. Continue reading “Headshrinker – Callous Indifference (Review)”
Windfaerer are a black metal band from the US. This is their fourth album.
I enjoyed Windfaerer’s second album from 2105 Tenebrosum, but it’s taken me until now to catch up to the band again, so I missed its follow up. I was determined not to miss Breaths of Elder Dawns when I saw it appear though, and I’m very glad that I didn’t. Continue reading “Windfaerer – Breaths of Elder Dawns (Review)”
This is the third album from Canadian black metallers Wormwitch.
Wolf Hex is the 34-minute follow up to 2019’s very well-received Heaven That Dwells Within, but it’s somewhat of a different record to its predecessor. Although obviously the same band, (but with a different lineup), Wolf Hex is rawer and less-polished, and owes more to the underground scenes; it sounds loose, organic, and unforced, and the songs benefit from this approach throughout the album. Continue reading “Wormwitch – Wolf Hex (Review)”
This is the debut album from Modern Rites, a Swiss/US black metal band.
Featuring members of Aara and Kuyashii, Monuments contains 37 minutes of modern blackened aggression that mainly exists in the melodic black metal sphere, but not exclusively. The music also borrows from the wellspring of 90s industrial music, (which can be especially felt in some of the melodies, structuring, and atmospheres), as well as some of the more brutal strains of modern black metal. Continue reading “Modern Rites – Monuments (Review)”
Remah are an international black metal band and this is their debut album.
Une Main adopts a modern approach to its black metal, one which adapts elements of the depressive, second wave, and atmospheric styles for its own nefarious use. Alongside this sit darkwave and psychedelic influences, both of which add extra depth to the band’s blackened repertoire. Continue reading “Remah – Une Main (Review)”
Oxygen Destroyer are a blackened death/thrash metal band from the US and this is their second album.
Oxygen Destroyer play combination of death, black, and thrash metal that’s brutal and deadly. Across 29 minutes of material the band ply their monster-themed trade, and do so with breathless enthusiasm. Continue reading “Oxygen Destroyer – Sinister Monstrosities Spawned by the Unfathomable Ignorance of Humankind (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 