Craft are a Swedish black metal band and this is their fifth album.
Although the album title might suggest a combination of blistering black metal and heartless noise assaults, it’s actually 42 minutes of the former rather than the latter. Of course, this is no bad thing. Continue reading
This is the fourth album from Moonreich, a French black metal band.
Fugue is a broad-ranging and multifaceted journey into black metal waters, with the band revealing themselves to be quite expressive and creative across the album’s 54 minutes. Continue reading
Gaerea are a Portuguese black metal band and this is their debut album.
On Unsettling Whispers Gaerea have crafted 42 minutes of black metal that’s distinctly non-standard and in many ways is quite…unsettling. Continue reading
Agrona are a UK black metal band and this is their debut album.
Containing 47 minutes of black metal that effectively combines both scathing brutality and grim atmosphere, this as a well-rounded and well-written album that demonstrates a talented and passionate band who are clearly doing what they love. Continue reading
This is the fourth album from US black metallers Wolvhammer.
This is the much-awaited follow-up to 2014’s Clawing into Black Sun, which was one of my favourite releases of that year. To say I’ve been looking forward to this album is an understatement. Continue reading
Ails are a US black metal band and this is their debut album.
Featuring two members of the mighty Ludicra, Ails have produced 41 minutes of melodic depth and blackened substance. Continue reading
This is the second album from French black metallers Abduction.
I liked Une Ombre Régit les Ombres a lot, so now that the band have returned with album number two, it’s time to get reacquainted with their characterful brand of black metal. Continue reading
Møl are a post-black metal band from Denmark and this is their debut album.
This is 42 minutes of atmospheric and emotive blackgaze. Taking a base of sharp, modern black metal and incorporating into it an obvious love of shoegaze’s ethereal intensity, Jord is a double-edged sword, promising both salvation and damnation. Continue reading
This is a split between two Austrian black metal bands – The Negative Bias and Golden Dawn.
The release starts with The Temple of Cruel Empathy by The Negative Bias. This is a 12-minute foray into the atmospheric black metal cosmos. Continue reading
This is the second album from Australia’s Atra Vetosus, a melodic/atmospheric black metal band.
While I enjoyed 2013’s Voices from the Eternal Night, it seems that Atra Vetosus have truly come of age on Apricity. On this latest album Atra Vetosus have expanded their melodic black metal sound to include elements of the atmospheric, depressive, and post-black metal styles, and they have done this very well indeed. Continue reading
