This is the debut album by German post-black metallers Hæresis.
Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum contains four tracks, with a duration of 41 minutes in total. Hæresis offer up a feast of foreboding hostility, and will ably reward anyone into acts such as Akhlys, Black Birch, Der Weg Einer Freiheit, Terzij de Horde, This Gift Is a Curse, Ultha, and Wiegedood. Continue reading “Hæresis – Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum (Review)”
This is the debut album from UK post-metal band Dimscûa.
It’s unlikely I would have come across this if it wasn’t for the organiser of Damnation Festival‘s enthusiastic endorsement for it on the brilliant 2 Promoters 1 Pod. I’m glad I did though, as it’s a corker. Dust Eater is a 32-minute post-metal/sludge tour de force. Continue reading “Dimscûa – Dust Eater (Review)”
Lera are an Italian post-metal band and this is their debut album.
Containing a graceful mix of post-metal, doom, and post-rock, Rêverie is a 40-minute journey into intricacy and heaviness. Lera have produced a record that is worth spending time with, unravelling its charms and secrets. Continue reading “Lera – Rêverie (Review)”
This is the debut album from US post-metal band Idle Heirs.
Featuring the singer of Coalesce, Life Is Violence brings us a 51-minute journey into absorbing post-metallic worldbuilding. It’s well-written, professionally executed, and passionately delivered. Continue reading “Idle Heirs – Life Is Violence (Review)”
Obscure Sphinx are a post-metal band from Poland. This is their latest release.
Oh my, new Obscure Sphinx! We last heard from this exemplary band on 2016’s Epitaphs, which narrowly missed out from breaching the top three in that year’s end of year list. So rejoice, as we now have Emovere to salivate over hungrily. Continue reading “Obscure Sphinx – Emovere (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Belgian post-metal band Briqueville.
IIII contains 39 minutes of dark, enigmatic music. Briqueville’s style is deeply atmospheric, and IIII is the sort of album that will drag you into the darkness as it hypnotises with its shifting walls of rich mood. Continue reading “Briqueville – IIII (Review)”
This is the third album from US doom/sludge metal band Hush.
Hush play the sort of hybrid sludge metal that I like – bleak, crushing, nasty, and very, very heavy, but also emotive and atmospheric. Across these 56 minutes the band dish out the punishment mercilessly, but they also do a lot more than just batter and bruise, which is great to hear, as otherwise a running time like that could easily become a burden. Continue reading “Hush – The Pornography of Ruin (Review)”
Adliga are a post-metal/doom band from Belarus and this is their debut album.
Adliga play a doom-laden brand of post-metal, and on Vobrazy they deliver 41 minutes of captivating material. Their music reminds me of a mix of Obscure Sphinx, Katatonia, Madder Mortem, The Ocean, and Cult of Luna, although these are only rough reference points. Continue reading “Adliga – Vobrazy (Review)”
Transcending Obscurity – the best of 2016
Some great bands on this. My selection includes Seedna, Nervosa, Necrosavant and Obscure Sphinx.
Check it out here.
Obscure Sphinx are one of those special bands that openly wear their individuality like a badge of honour while still fashioning songs that really, really hit the spot. Post-metal can sometimes be one of the most emotional, atmospheric and intense sub-genres there is, and Obscure Sphinx embody this realised potential perfectly. Their third album Epitaphs is 57 minutes of pure class. Here is a band that know what they’re doing and know that they’re doing it very well indeed, thank you.
Guitarist Aleksander Olo Łukomsk told me all about their latest release, with tantalising hints of secrets and ambitions to come… Continue reading “Interview with Obscure Sphinx”
Wonderbox Metal 