Bhleg are a Swedish black metal band and this is their third album.
Having enjoyed 2014’s Draumr Ást and 2018’s Solarmegin, I knew that I had to check out Ödhin when it appeared. If you’re unfamiliar with the band, Bhleg’s music is a form of black metal that’s full of atmosphere and folk influences. Continue reading
Obscurae are a black metal band from the US and this is their second album.
The style here is atmospheric black metal, with influence taken from the classic second wave era and enriched with traditional synth effects. Continue reading
Hexivoid is a one-man UK black metal band and this is his second album.
Hexivoid’s music is a mix of modern darkness and Burzum-esque atmosphere. It manages to balance an atmospheric delivery with one that also seethes with dissonance and feral aggression. Continue reading
This is the debut album from French post-black metal band Heaume Mortal, (featuring a member of Eibon and Cowards).
There are six tracks on this album spread out across a sprawling 58 minutes of material, (including a Burzum cover). This is music that’s dark and crushing, while also containing aspects of resplendence and writhing, textured colour. Continue reading
Nyss are a French ambient/atmospheric black metal band and this is their debut album.
Nyss play raw, underground black metal that’s inspired by the second wave, but then fleshed out by atmospheric and ambient influences. Continue reading
Eoront are a Russian black metal band and this is their second album.
Playing keyboard enriched atmospheric black metal with a deep mystical side, Eoront’s latest album contains over an hour of sprawling, epic music. Continue reading
This is the second album from Ande, an atmospheric black metal solo project from Belgium.
We have already encountered Ande’s 2015 debut Licht, and now it’s time to take a look at the follow up.
Longer by about 15 minutes than the first release, Het Gebeente is a more mature, confident and assured selection of dark hymns.
Starting off with a piano intro, the remaining five songs, (the sixth is different), mix the second wave of black metal with Continue reading
This is Ultha’s second album. They are a black metal band from Germany.
Now this is quite the find. Mixing elements of Burzum, Emperor, Wolves in the Throne Room and Lycus, Ultha mix old and new black metal with some crushing doom influences to produce 63 minutes of bleak melancholy and dark allure. Continue reading
Tarnkappe are from the Netherlands and this is their second album.
The band’s first release Tussen Hun En De Zon introduced us to the band’s take on classic black metal, with lashings of Burzum and Darkthrone influences lacing the old-school venom of the music. Continue reading
Moloch is a Ukrainian one-man Black Metal band. This is his latest album.
This is Old-School Black Metal that’s bookended by two Dark Ambient pieces, both of which are strangely effective.
The main feast is primitive, raw Black Metal that’s of the lo-fi persuasion and reminds of bands like Burzum and Xasthur. Elements of the Depressive Black Metal style rear their despondent heads on occasion, lending a painful edge to Moloch’s cold Black Metal.
These songs seem barely held together, but not because they are sloppily played or anything like that. The playing is in fact quite tight, but the style of Black Metal on Verwüstung has an inherently chaotic, tortured feel to it; it’s almost as if this has been created and released under extreme duress and some significant amount of pain.
The vocals howl, shriek and seemingly claw their way through the tracks with the sharpness of a sword. An impressive performance is given and I can only imagine the man was emotionally ruined near the end of the recording process. At least, it sounds that way.
Good variety and songwriting means that Verwüstung is an involving and engaging listen, with enough changes in speed and feeling to keep things interesting without becoming inconsistent.
With a recording that’s underground enough to be raw yet coherent enough to work well with the material, Verwüstung is a very satisfying album and a very strong listen.
Be sure to check this out.
