Damnatus is a one-man Italian black metal band and this is his debut EP.
This debut release offers us 36 minutes of raw black metal in the depressive style, full of woe and lonesome sorrow. There’s a barbed edge to the delivery though, making for songs that play depressive black metal with a bit of bite to the attack. Continue reading “Damnatus – Io Odio la Vita (Review)”
Crowhurst are from the US, and are an extremely prolific band with lots of noise/experimental/etc. releases. Their self titled album from 2015 was especially of interest, as it was essentially a pure black metal album, and a very good one at that.
Fast forward a year, and they have now released II. This continues the black metal theme started by their previously mentioned album, only this time with a wider scope and with industrial/sludge aspects, as well as contributions from members Continue reading “Crowhurst – II (Review)”
This is the third album from this one-man US atmospheric post-black metal band.
Last year’s Entropy was a jaw-dropping release that was chock-full of atmospheric blackened goodness. It was a highly accomplished album and Elusion continues the theme.
Like Entropy, this is very atmospheric and richly textured music. It has elements of psychedelic, progressive and depressive Black Metal, as well as aspects of doom and post-metal. This all manifests in well-realised songs that follow Continue reading “Echoes of the Moon – Elusion (Review)”
As the name suggests, this is the third album from this Austrian post-black metal band.
Harakiri for the Sky blend resplendent, expansive post-rock/metal with a blackened intensity. The resulting 75 minutes of music on III: Trauma is heavily atmospheric, with a darkened core that screams out in forlorn misery and pain.
There’s an element of the depressive black metal style on this album, but whereas Continue reading “Harakiri for the Sky – III: Trauma (Review)”
This is the second album from this one-man US atmospheric Post-Black Metal band.
This has a rich, warm sound, making it clear very early on that Entropy is all about the emotive content and taking the listener on a journey.
High-pitched near-static screams are employed to provide a focal point for the colourful music. I favour this brand of ultra-shrieked screams for this kind of extremely atmospheric Black Metal, so was not disappointed to hear them when they first appeared. Deep growls also appear here and there; these are unexpected but work well alongside the mellifluous music.
These songs have a good grasp of mood and feeling, effortlessly played out across long tracks and glorious soundscapes. This can be essentially seen as one 72 minute piece of music broken up into smaller slices, but however you look at it it’s an extremely effective work.
Featuring elements of psychedelic, progressive and depressive Black Metal, this is very atmospheric and richly textured. Resplendent melodies, extended guitar solos and understated synths all enhance the flavour of the emotive riffs and Entropy is an album to be savoured and enjoyed in its entirety.
I’m very impressed by this, and it’s criminal that this will effectively get no real exposure other than a few lucky people that stumble upon it; it really is that good.
Krigsgrav are a Black Metal band from the US and this is their fourth album.
This is long and expansive Black Metal with a melodic edge. It’s vibrant and exploratory without losing focus and across these lengthy tracks the band take the time to unfold their vision of what Black Metal should look, feel and sound like in 2016.
If you take the depressive core of a band like Forgotten Tomb and add some Post-Black Metal influences, then you’ll be in the right area of where Krigsgrav lurk. Elements of depressive and melodic Black Metal round this out, as well as some aspects of funeral Doom.
With a decent recording the band’s compositions take on a dark life of their own. All of the instruments sound clear and precise, and I always like an album that you can hear the bass on, especially when it makes a valid and noticeable contribution to the music.
Additional instrumentation appears here and there, adding extra tools to the band’s repertoire and deepening the depths of sound that they create.
The vocals are notably impressive; ragged screams that sound like the singer is ripping his throat out are enhanced by the occasional deeper growl and some powerful cleans.
The songs describe harrowing tales of misery and hopelessness, set against a backdrop of just enough light and possibility so as to make the dark atmospheres all the worse. The mixture of lighter sections and heavier, blackened distortion work well and the build/release Post-Metal mechanic is used effectively in a Post-Black Metal environment.
Waves of Degradation is an impressive listen and has more than enough content to compel you to visit it again and again.
Recommended.
Old Forest are a Black Metal band from the UK and this is their third album.
This album features four long songs and a fair amount of variety across the 48 minute playing time. The band play Atmospheric Black Metal that has a contemporary feel with nods towards the Pagan, Folk, Gothic, Depressive and Progressive sub-genres of Black Metal.
These additional influences make their presence felt during the tracks and manifest in different ways, from exploratory sections, to enhancing cleans, to Folk instrumentation, subtle synths, and more.
It’s a hugely impressive demonstration of musical ability and songwriting skill; even only a couple of minutes into the first track Morwen, with its Doom-laden intro and understated-yet-powerful cleans, you know this is going to be a special release.
The songs have a lot of content, all contained in a modern Black Metal wrapping and serviced by a recording that’s meaty enough to do the material justice without loosing its Blackened lustre.
The emotive guitars do everything requested of them with ease, whether this is playing fast, slow, or even at a good rocking pace. The guitars serve as a bedrock for the other instruments to be built around, both the standard ones such as the drums and bass, and the non-standard ones that serve to add so much additional atmosphere to the tracks.
Vocals are as varied and interesting as the music; Blackened screams, Gothic cleans and lots in the middle.
Old Forest have produced a very gratifying release that manages to successfully combine old and new into a cohesive atmospheric package. Dagian is impressive, emotive and destined for a lot of positive feedback I would imagine.
For any fans of expressive Atmospheric Black Metal.
This is the third album from US Progressive Black Metal one-man group Terra Deep.
The music on this release is a complicated and sophisticated Progressive Metal feast that’s born out of the corrupted undergrowth of Black Metal’s fertile roots. Progressive and Post-Black Metal elements take control of proceedings quite early on, reinforced by a dark core of frozen steel.
Deep, unsettling growls, evil shrieks and powerful cleans all add a multitude of texture and feeling to music that successfully combines the cold malignance of Black Metal with the expansive, exploratory nature of Progressive music. This is further enhanced by elements of Doom/Depressive Black Metal that add a forlorn, lonesome sheen to some of the tracks. It all adds up to a multifaceted release full of quality music and songs that engage.
Richly textured tracks seem to bleed shades of pain and grim tidings, while still fostering a highly emotive side that connects with the listener in a visceral way. The songs are advanced exemplars of what can be done with a Black Metal base and a will to explore.
The production is solid and allows the music to hit the right balance between heaviness and nuance. It’s a good sound that satisfies and does justice to the differing parts and influences that make up Part of This World, Part of Another.
These five songs are impressively-realised affairs that speak of the experience and talent of the brains behind the outfit. He obviously has a coherent and well-rounded vision for Terra Deep and has the ability and skill to achieve it.
If you combine Opeth, Enslaved, Forgotten Tomb and Ihsahn then you’ll have a good idea of Terra Deep’s style.
There really is a lot here to offer the discerning Extreme Metal fan and I can’t really recommend this highly enough.
This is the début album from Italian Depressive Post-Black Metal band Eyelessight.
Eyelessight give us 72 minutes of music across 7 tracks. This is Depressive Black Metal mixed with Post-Black Metal intricacies that bring out the subtle side of misery and melancholy.
The album starts with a lonesome piano to set the scene. Once the first song proper starts, we begin with a bit of Post-Metal before slowly building with mournful Blackened melodies and Post-Black Metal riffs.
Depressive Post-Black Metal is a new one to me, but it makes sense, with the emotional fragility of both sub-genres working well together and feeding off each other to produce these long songs.
Intense, screamed vocals stop just short of tumbling completely into insanity and spend their time shrieking and howling into the aether. They work almost as an addendum to the instrumentality of the music. Additional female cleans add real power and presence to the track Consumami, making me wish they appeared on more of the songs. Male cleans appear on occasion too, also adding to the atmospheres.
This is the kind of album that works best when listened to holistically, letting the moods and atmospheres wash over you and getting carried away by the despair.
Have a listen and see if they scratch your Depressive itch.
Meuchelmord is a one-man Black Metal band from Germany and this is his latest release.
This is Depressive Black Metal that starts gently with a soft piano intro and quickly descends into the kind of despondent, oppressive music that Depressive Black Metal is all about.
Aspects of Shoegaze are present in the mix and the songs easily invoke feelings of sadness and nostalgia in the listener.
The vocals are mainly high-pitched screams that are just as serrated and barbed as you would expect, lashing out from the down-beat music like savage whips.
There’s a decent, fuzzy guitar sound that strikes just the right tone between being cold and emotive. The tracks are straightforward takes on the sub-genre and have enough dynamics and content to work.
Piano parts are artfully laced throughout the tracks just enough to add a further veneer of melancholy to things.
I favour this kind of music the slower and more miserable it sounds, and Apathie is no different.
Try this out for size.
Favourite Track: Jahr.
Wonderbox Metal 