Downfall of Gaia are a German post-black metal band and this is their sixth album.
Following on from 2016’s Atrophy and 2019’s Ethic of Radical Finitude, Sillhouettes of Disgust brings us a new 45 minutes of Downfall of Gaia’s idiosyncratic mix of black metal, post-metal, sludge, blackgaze, and crust. Continue reading “Downfall of Gaia – Silhouettes of Disgust (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Indian one-man post-black metal band Lesath.
There Is a Profound Sense in Which We Are Isolated offers 43 minutes of post-black metal. It’s essentially a mix of atmospheric black metal, post-rock, and shoegaze. At least, as a rough description of the material here that suffices. Continue reading “Lesath – There Is a Profound Sense in Which We Are Isolated (Review)”
This is the debut album from one-man French black metal act Limbes.
We’ve encountered the artist behind Limbes before, on his split with Mütterlein, and also when the project was named Blurr Thrower. Écluse contains 39 minutes of new material, and although the songs are still on the longer side, (especially the 15-minute closer), overall they’re shorter and more concise than we’re used to from this artist. Continue reading “Limbes – Écluse (Review)”
Stygian Love is a one-man black metal band from Belgium and this is his second album.
Containing 44 minutes of material, Flowers Fade mixes together atmospheric, depressive, and post-black metal into a compelling vision of blackgaze darkness. Continue reading “Stygian Love – Flowers Fade (Review)”
Bizarrekult are a Norwegian post-black metal band and this is their second album.
Formed around a central artist who is Bizarrekult’s driving creative force, he’s joined by a range of other musicians, (including a member of the mighty Adliga), who round out the band nicely. The end result of their efforts is Den Tapte Krigen, a 42-minute slice of expressive modern black metal. Continue reading “Bizarrekult – Den Tapte Krigen (Review)”
This is the second album from French post-black metal band Jours Pâles.
Last year’s Éclosion came out of nowhere and hugely impressed me. I ended up enjoying it so much it appeared on my end of year list too. I wasn’t expecting another album so soon, but here we are with Tensions, which contains 61 minutes of new material. Continue reading “Jours Pâles – Tensions (Review)”
So here we are again. It’s December, and year end lists are flying around like shrapnel. Due to the inherent subjectivity of music it’s always interesting to see what people have made of the preceding year.
For me, I made a concerted effort to drag myself away from the depths of black metal’s always-enticing abyss to spend some more time with other genres and styles that I also love. I said something similar last year, but I feel this year I was more successful in achieving that end. Of course, I still love black metal, still listen to it constantly, and you’ll still find some great examples of the blackened arts in the list below.
2022 was a strong year for death metal for me, and I enjoyed more death metal bands in a deeper way than I have done for some time. In every year there are standout releases, but I felt this year the standard was raised throughout. Possibly I was simply more receptive to it. Either way, you’ll find more death metal-related acts, and in higher spots, in this selection than you’ll have seen in my lists for a while.
As with last year, grindcore was largely absent from my year, disappointingly, as was hardcore. Additionally, the sort of lengthy, ugly, abyssal doom that I love so much has been largely lacking too. It’s all probably out there somewhere, but I didn’t catch it.
The top two spots this year are both claimed by albums/bands/styles that I simply could not have predicted would be at the pinnacle of my list by the year’s end, (one of the bands I hadn’t even heard of in January). I hope you enjoy these excellent records even half as much as I do.
Lastly I just want to say a big thank you to any and all that might read this site. It’s only a small endeavour, and I do it purely for the love of all things METAL and to support bands that I enjoy in whatever minor way I can, but if this is you, a heartfelt thank you for enduring my scribblings.
On to it! Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2022”
This is the debut album from Hei’An, a progressive metal band from Slovenia.
Imago is a long album. With a duration of 69 minutes there’s a lot of material here, (86 minutes with the Slovenian versions of three of the tracks included). Thankfully Hei’An’s progressive metal is wide-ranging enough that it is up to the task of filling this time nicely. Continue reading “Hei’An – Imago (Review)”
Throwing Bricks are from the Netherlands and play post-metal/sludge. This is their second album.
The Burden contains 46 minutes of music that mixes together elements of sludge, hardcore, and black metal into a bleak post-metal cocktail. The band’s hybrid approach to their art is compelling, and The Burden offers fans of modern sludgy extremity a feast of scathing vocals and anguished riffs to explore. Continue reading “Throwing Bricks – The Burden (Review)”
This is the third album from Irish black metal act Eternal Helcaraxe.
On Drown in Ash Eternal Helcaraxe provide 47 minutes of music that’s dark and personal, dealing with intimate themes of depression and loss. As such, the music is a forlorn and melancholic form of black metal that drips with feeling and emotion. Continue reading “Eternal Helcaraxe – Drown in Ash (Review)”
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