This is the fifth album from Austrian solo black metal band Rauhnåcht.
My last encounter with Rauhnåcht was 11 years ago (!) on Urzeitgeist, so I’m long overdue a visit to these pagan black metal lands. Across 41 minutes of material, Zwischenwelten reveals an artist that has apparently only continued to refine and improve his art over time. Continue reading “Rauhnåcht – Zwischenwelten (Review)”
Wormwood are a Swedish black metal band and this is their fourth album.
It’s great to have some new Wormwood material out in the wild. 2021’s Arkivet was a notable album, so The Star is one I have been anticipating. Across 47 minutes Wormwood prove that Arkivet was no fluke. Continue reading “Wormwood – The Star (Review)”
This is the ninth album from Norwegian Black Metallers Kampfar.
It’s been a while since I last caught up with what Kampfar were doing, (2015’s Profan). Their brand of pagan black metal is always entertaining, so when Til Klovers Takt appeared I was eager to check it out. Continue reading “Kampfar – Til Klovers Takt (Review)”
This is the debut album from Hilning, a solo black metal act from Sweden.
Brought to us by a member of Afgrund and Besvärjelsen, Råtijinn contains 48 minutes of frosted black metal ferocity. Hilning’s music merges the old-school cold and dark approach with epic folk-tinged melodies. Continue reading “Hilning – Råtijinn (Review)”
Skogen are a Swedish black metal band and this is their fifth album.
Skogen play a mix of black metal and folk, producing an atmospheric and charismatic take on the style. Continue reading “Skogen – Skuggorna Kallar (Review)”
This is the seventh album from Norwegian Black Metallers Kampfar.
Kampfar play Black Metal with speed and melody, drawing the listener in and then slicing at them with hidden blades.
Serrated screams and powerful cleans are both used to great effect on this release. The screams provide the focal point as they are meant to, while the cleans add an emotive enhancement to the songs that works really well.
Kampfar incorporate influences from both Melodic and Pagan Black Metal into their sound, as well as Progressive Black Metal elements akin to, (but not as pronounced as), a band like Enslaved. This results in songs that have a characterful epic feeling to them in addition to the razor sharp edge of Blackened aggression that they foster so well.
The songs are well-written and played, with lots to keep the interest of the listener. Some of the guitar melodies are particularly compelling and taken holistically there’s a grand amount of atmosphere contained on this release.
Highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 