This is the debut album from Italian black metal band Blutsauger.
Nocturnal Blood Tyrants contains 34 minutes of primal, atavistic black metal. Blutsauger play it hard, nasty, and grim. It may be 2025, but around these parts it’s 1993. I liked this one a lot. Continue reading “Blutsauger – Nocturnal Blood Tyrants (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Swiss black metal solo act Ashtar.
I enjoyed both 2015’s Ilmasaari and 2020’s Kaikuja, so wanted to check out Ashtar’s latest. Since those albums the band have become a solo endeavour, and I missed the artist’s 2023 album Wandering Through Time somehow. A little over a year since that record though and we have The Return of the Frozen Souls, which features 45 minutes of black/doom metal, (including a Samhain cover). Continue reading “Ashtar – The Return of the Frozen Souls (Review)”
This is the debut album from Norwegian solo black metal act Udåd.
Brought to us by the artist behind Mork, Udåd contains 47 minutes of raw, old-school black metal. Udåd contains primal blackened energies that are channelled directly from the early 90s, but given a creative twist of the knife by the artist’s keen vision. Continue reading “Udåd – Udåd (Review)”
This is the debut album from UK solo black metal act Efraah Enhsikaah.
One Thousand Vultures Waiting to Be Fed is a quality 41-minute atmospheric black metal album. It look me a while to get around to this one, but you won’t want to miss out on its dark charms. Continue reading “Efraah Enhsikaah – One Thousand Vultures Waiting to Be Fed (Review)”
This is the debut album from French black metallers Beyond the Permafrost.
Fallen from the Throne contains 33 minutes of black metal that’s influenced by the traditional style and second wave era. Beyond the Permafrost have created an album that should easily find favour with any adherent of the old-school blackened arts. Continue reading “Beyond the Permafrost – Fallen from the Throne (Review)”
Lust Hag is a one-woman black metal band from the US, and this is her latest EP.
Mistress in the Mirror contains 21 minutes of raw black metal spread out over seven tracks. You may not have heard of Lust Hag before – I hadn’t – but this is a release that should by all rights make people take notice of this very enjoyable band. Continue reading “Lust Hag – Mistress in the Mirror (Review)”
This is the debut album from French black metal band Peurbleue.
Peurbleue play a form of mood-rich, electronically enhanced black metal. La Ciguë is a 36-minute soundscape of dark atmosphere and mysterious textures. Continue reading “Peurbleue – La Ciguë (Review)”
Skinliv are from Denmark and Vermisst are from Poland, both play black metal and they have teamed up for this 38-minute split.
Skinliv open up the split, with four tracks across 19 minutes.
Skinliv’s blackened assault is Continue reading “Skinliv/Vermisst – Split (Review)”
Rasha’im are a black metal band from the US and this is their debut album.
Here we have over 65 minutes of traditional, raw, underground black metal, with frosted riffs and grim melodies. Continue reading “Rasha’im – The Horns of Euthyphro (Review)”
The highly prolific Tjolgtjar come to us from the US with the latest full-length Kjal Tjormejn.
This album contains two tracks over the length of 47 minutes. The first song Kjal Tjormejn Part 1 is only 5 minutes long and just seems to be a cut off version of the main 42 minute song Kjal Tjormejn.
This is an epic composition of strange, angular Black Metal. Riffs and melodies stick out and criss cross each other like no-one’s business, and the entire wonderful track is something akin to a Black Metal 70’s Prog masterpiece; like Mütiilation covering and corrupting Pink Floyd or something. It may sound odd on paper but it definitely works. Add to that some, (blackened), Southern Rock riffs and others that sound like they could be, (blackened), action movie soundtrack riffs, you have a varied and interesting release that’s essentially a great listen from start to finish.
The vocals have an approach of Black Metal shrieks and various cleaner strains ranging from moaning to falsetto and most in between, although the main emphasis of the album is the diverse musicality on display.
The production is underground Black Metal, and quite brittle sounding, but that sense of fragility somehow manages to enhance the music. Everything is also clearly recorded giving the inventive music the space it needs to tentatively creep out of the speakers and infect your brain. In fact this sense of a spiky, angular Black Metal sound combined with a sense of brittle fragility is quite endearing and only serves to enhance the inspired, ambitious music.
A release like this won’t be to everyone’s tastes of course, but if you are open to it there is a lot to enjoy here.
Wonderbox Metal 