This is the fourth album from Canadian black metallers Wormwitch.
New Wormwitch! I’m a bit behind on this one, but I couldn’t let it pass me by. Whether it’s 2019’s Heaven That Dwells Within, 2021’s Wolf Hex, or this year’s split with Sadistic Ritual, Wormwitch always deliver the goods. Continue reading “Wormwitch – Wormwitch (Review)”
This is the debut album from Marrow of Man, a one-man black metal band from the Netherlands.
Ancient Hymns of Apocalypse contains 46 minutes of black metal, with some thrash metal elements added in for extra brutality. The promo blurb says that the primary influences of this act are Dissection, Bathory, Evilfeast, Darkthrone, Odium, and Lunar Spells, so that will give you a starting point for the Marrow of Man sound. Continue reading “Marrow of Man – Ancient Hymns of Apocalypse (Review)”
This is the second album from Modern Rites, a Swiss/US black metal band.
Endless is the follow up to 2021’s Monuments and contains 41 minuets of new music from Modern Rites, (who are made up of members of Aara and Kuyashii). It’s a wonderfully realised expression of aggressively bleak blackened darkness. Continue reading “Modern Rites – Endless (Review)”
This is a split between two US black metal bands, Lust Hag and Reaping Fields.
NEW LUST HAG! ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! I dunno what it is with Lust Hag, but I just can’t get enough. Actually, I know exactly what it is – it’s just absolutely killer black metal. This is a split though, and Reaping Fields, as we’ll see, are a revelation. Continue reading “Lust Hag/Reaping Fields – Prayers Unanswered – Split (Review)”
This is the fourth album from UK black metallers Gråt Strigoi.
Despite being four albums deep into their career, I’ve never heard of Gråt Strigoi before the wonderful Fiadh Productions put them on my radar. It’s seriously been my loss, as this stuff is so far up my alley it hurts. The Prophetic Silence contains 56 minutes of black metal that’s so good you should just stop reading this now and go and listen to it. Continue reading “Gråt Strigoi – The Prophetic Silence (Review)”
This is the second album from US black metal band Mnajdra.
Following hot on the heels of last year’s self titled debut comes In the Name of the Goddess; 50 minutes of apocalyptic modern black metal. Mnajdra’s malefic music has ascended to a higher level of spectral might with this new album. Continue reading “Mnajdra – In the Name of the Goddess (Review)”
This is the third album from German solo black metal band Uprising.
III is brought to us by a founder of Waldgeflüster, with drums provided by the artist behind Panopticon. Uprising’s music is rooted in the classic black metal style, but not limited to it, and carries with it a contemporary message. Continue reading “Uprising – III (Review)”
Scarcity are a black metal band from the US and this is their second album.
The successor of 2022’s well-received Aveilut, The Promise of Rain contains 40 minutes of new material from Scarcity. Brought to us from a band that features members of Anicon, Glorious Depravity, Krallice, Pyrrhon, Seputus, Weeping Sores, and Woe, Scarcity have a wealth of experience in the realms of extreme metal that they bring to bear here to good effect. Continue reading “Scarcity – The Promise of Rain (Review)”
This is the third album from Canadian black metal act Liminal Shroud.
Following on from 2022’s All Virtues Ablaze, comes the 44-minute Visions of Collapse. On their new record Liminal Shroud continue to forge ahead with their brand of black metal, refining it further, with some very tasty results. Continue reading “Liminal Shroud – Visions of Collapse (Review)”
This is the third album from Swedish black metal solo act Kvaen.
The name Kvaen hit the black metal underground hard with 2020’s The Funeral Pyre, and then followed this up in 2022 with The Great Below, which showed that the quality of the debut was no fluke. Another two years have passed, and now we have The Formless Fires. Do the 39 minutes of new music here still demonstrate a continuation of these quality levels? Continue reading “Kvaen – The Formless Fires (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 