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)”
Moanaa are a Polish post-metal band, and this is their second album.
Passage is the follow up to 2014’s stellar Descent, which has become one of my favourite releases of the style in a while. A combination of post-metal, sludge and progressive metal, all wrapped up with glorious atmospherics and heavy guitars; the album was a slow-burner that just got better and better the more I listened to it.
Now it’s time for their second album, so how have they done on Passage? Continue reading “Moanaa – Passage (Review)”
This is the latest EP from Norwegian black metal band Tortorum.
This EP is on the longer side for such things, giving us 30 minutes of dark, occult black metal.
The songs are largely, (but not completely), slow-to-mid-paced, building on the band’s ability to create malevolent atmosphere and grim mood. Even when blast beats do appear though, the sense of atmosphere is retained. Continue reading “Tortorum – Rotten. Dead. Forgotten. (Review)”
This is the third album from one-man death metal act Fetal Autopsy.
One-man death metal is a lot less common than one-man black metal is. This is a not a comment that really has any relevance to this review, I suppose, but there we are.
Okay, so Fetal Autopsy has 50 minutes of stocky, muscular death metal. Underground, brutal death metal is usually Continue reading “Fetal Autopsy – Backwoods Bloodshed (Review)”
Fetters are an industrial metal band and this is their debut release.
This is death industrial that firmly slants towards the industrial end of the spectrum. The music never lets up in its quest to spread utter darkness across the land. Continue reading “Fetters – Sicken (Review)”
This is the debut demo from Hegemony, a blackened death metal band from the US.
This is ugly, ugly stuff. Raw black metal is mixed with bestial, underground death metal to create the kind of twisted, chaotic mindfuck that would make Revenge proud.
The delivery and performance on Continue reading “Hegemony – Demo MMXVI (Review)”
The Eternalist by Agatus is a very distinctive album. In today’s over-saturated musical climate, that description alone should hopefully be enough to pique your interest. It’s a very more-ish album too; once you’ve devoured its contents once, you want to do so again. The songs are positively infectious, and the way it switches from black metal to classic rock to heavy metal without skipping a beat…well, it’s a joyous thing to hear.
So without further preamble, let’s dive into this interview and find out why Agatus are such an individual creation…
The band was formed in Athens, Greece during the early 90s and we made our first introduction to the scene with our demo A Night of the Dark Ages (1993) a release well received and leading to the recording of our debut album ‘The Dawn of Martyrdom (1996) that was recorded the in 1994, the same year the band moved to Australia. Continue reading “Interview with Agatus”
V.I.T.R.I.O.L. by Pénitence Onirique is 47 minutes of scathing black metal, forged from darkness and unleashed with the precision assault of a targeted viral plague. Emotive melodies and blackened riffs create an atmosphere of lethal moods, making it an album that’s easy to like for black metal affectionados.
Bellovesos (B) & Diviciacos (D) conspired to answer a few questions as to the nature of the band…
P.O is a duo consisting of Bellovesos behind all instruments and composition and Diviciacos for lyrics and vocals. The idea is to create an atmospheric and complex music with lyrics that gives way to a relatively individual interpretation according to what the listener feels. Continue reading “Interview with Pénitence Onirique”
Kurokuma are a UK sludge/doom band and this is their debut EP.
It’s time for Kurokuma to bring the heavy. These three songs are oppressively weighty, consisting of sludgy doom metal with enough intensity to crush a bus.
It’s good that the band know how to add nuance though, as this just makes their music more in-depth and increases its longevity. To this end, elements of psychedelic drone appear here and there, meaning that not only can Kurokuma floor you with their heaviness, but they can also entrance with moody atmosphere. Continue reading “Kurokuma – Advorsus (Review)”
This is the fourth album from this one-man US black metal band.
Over the years Mare Cognitum’s output has proven to be of exceptionally high quality, with 2014’s Phobos Monolith being a particular highlight.
Luminiferous Aether provides us with more of the progressively-edged atmospheric black metal that we’ve come to know and love from the outfit, all lavishly arranged, produced and delivered across over 50 minutes of Continue reading “Mare Cognitum – Luminiferous Aether (Review)”
