Worm Shepherd – In the Wake ov Sòl (Review)

Worm Shepherd - In the Wake ov SòlWorm Shepherd are a blackened deathcore band and this is their debut album.

Blackened melodies expand with fiery grace and keyboards swell with malevolent doom, only to be cruelly cast aside by cold, merciless slams when the moment is right. Worm Shepherd play a form of blackened deathcore that combines Continue reading “Worm Shepherd – In the Wake ov Sòl (Review)”

Klamm – Misanthropocene (Review)

Klamm - MisanthropoceneThis is the third album from black metal band Klamm.

Misanthropocene is an interesting and engaging album that offers the listener a modern and layered interpretation of black metal. The style is rooted in the atmospheric one, but also takes in elements of the melodic, avant-garde, and post-black Continue reading “Klamm – Misanthropocene (Review)”

Noctule – Wretched Abyss (Review)

Noctule - Wretched AbyssNoctule is a one-woman black metal band from the UK, and this is her debut album.

Brought to us by the singer/guitarist of Svalbard, Wretched Abyss is a 42-minute Skyrim-themed album that takes some of the darker and melodic elements you can hear in Svalbard’s sound, and wraps them around a blackened core. Continue reading “Noctule – Wretched Abyss (Review)”

Mental Cruelty – A Hill to Die Upon (Review)

Mental Cruelty - A Hill to Die UponThis is the third album from German deathcore band Mental Cruelty.

This is the follow up to 2019’s Inferis, although A Hill to Die Upon is a different beast to its predecessor. Although the foundations are the same, they’ve been built upon and reshaped into a far darker, more blackened Continue reading “Mental Cruelty – A Hill to Die Upon (Review)”

Saille – V (Review)

Saille - VThis is the fifth album from Belgian black metallers Saille.

Following on from 2014’s Eldritch and 2017’s Gnosis, Saille now return with V, which contains 46 minutes of new material. Saille are not the same band we have met in the past, however. The 2021 incarnation of Saille is Continue reading “Saille – V (Review)”

Forsmán – Dönsum i Logans Ljóma (Review)

Forsman - Dönsum i Logans LjómaThis is the debut EP from Icelandic black metallers Forsmán.

Forsmán play melodic black metal that’s potent and cold. There are four tracks here with a total duration of 25 minutes, and it makes for a quality first foray into the world. Continue reading “Forsmán – Dönsum i Logans Ljóma (Review)”

Udånde – Life of a Purist (Review)

Udånde - Life of a PuristThis is the debut album from Udånde, a solo black metal band based in Slovakia, augmented by as session vocalist and drummer.

Now here’s an album to thoroughly scratch that modern black metal itch. Life of a Purist is atmospheric and melodic, without being entirely beholden to either Continue reading “Udånde – Life of a Purist (Review)”

Aara – Triade I: Eos (Review)

Aara - Triade I EosThis is the third album from Swiss black metallers Aara.

The melodic and atmospheric forms of black metal collide and collude on Triade I: Eos to produce 45 minutes of concept-themed music. Continue reading “Aara – Triade I: Eos (Review)”

Mare Cognitum – Solar Paroxysm (Review)

Mare Cognitum - Solar ParoxysmThis is the fifth album from one-man black metal band Mare Cognitum.

The artist behind Mare Cognitum is one of the absolute best in the genre when it comes to atmospheric black metal. I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing Phobos MonolithLuminiferous Aether, and last year’s colossal Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine – Split with Spectral Lore, and his stellar Continue reading “Mare Cognitum – Solar Paroxysm (Review)”

Aversed – Impermanent (Review)

Aversed - ImpermanentThis is the debut album from US metal band Aversed.

Containing 57 minutes of material, the album’s style is one that takes melodic death metal as a base, and then builds on this with elements of progressive metal, melodic black metal, melodic thrash metal, and orchestral power metal. The end result is Continue reading “Aversed – Impermanent (Review)”