Phazm are from France and this is their fourth album. They play Black Metal.
Phazm’s brand of Black Metal is influenced by the Death ‘n’ Roll style as well as old-school Black Metal. These elements combine to produce a very likeable collection of songs that focus on being a catchy and enjoyable combination of blast beats, groove and inhuman vocals.
Fimbulvinter are a Russian Black Metal band. This is their début album.
Fimbulvinter’s Black Metal is thoroughly of the old-school, so much so that it even contains a relatively high proportion of proto-Black Metal in the form of more classic-era Metal riffs and licks, including leads and solos.
There’s a pagan feel to some of the guitars and the band successfully capture the original Scandinavian style while also infusing the music with other elements. Infectious riffs from even earlier times are frequent additions and there’s enough of a melodic edge through the leads to grab the attention.
The songwriting is really strong and the band’s grasp of dynamics and pacing is good. These songs are exactly that; songs. Coupled with the highly enjoyable leads and the well-considered rhythm guitars, Начертаны Резы Древних Заклятий aptly demonstrates the band’s considerable talent in writing tracks that are actually quite catchy and memorable.
Screamed vocals make up the bulk of the release, but growls also appear on occasion adding that little bit extra variety and interest.
At only 36 minutes in length Начертаны Резы Древних Заклятий doesn’t outstay its welcome; in fact it leaves you hungry for more. The Metal leads, blackened guitars, solid riffs and rasping hatred that flow easily from the band make this album an extremely enjoyable listen.
Definitely one not to overlook. Very highly recommended.
Ande is a Black Metal solo project from Belgium. This is his début release.
With each song separated by a short atmospheric interlude, we get three actual songs that evoke the original Black Metal template with a atmospheric and emotive sheen.
The music has good riffs, good atmosphere and tasty screams. It’s a short but enjoyable release that lets the listener wallow in the blackened depths of an atavistic style.
Old-school and obscure, this will likely be overlooked by most fans of the style, which is a real shame as Licht is an extremely satisfying listen. This strikes all of the right notes and moods without feeling stale or done-to-death.
The songs have a relatively good degree of variety between them and the interludes all work well to provide an unusual atmosphere between the blackened abysses that the songs create. I prefer the slower, more atmospheric sections over the faster ones, but the faster ones are still very well done.
The recording is well pitched, with just the right mixture of clarity and rawness that a release like this deserves.
I really enjoyed this.
Moloch is a Ukrainian one-man Black Metal band. This is his latest album.
This is Old-School Black Metal that’s bookended by two Dark Ambient pieces, both of which are strangely effective.
The main feast is primitive, raw Black Metal that’s of the lo-fi persuasion and reminds of bands like Burzum and Xasthur. Elements of the Depressive Black Metal style rear their despondent heads on occasion, lending a painful edge to Moloch’s cold Black Metal.
These songs seem barely held together, but not because they are sloppily played or anything like that. The playing is in fact quite tight, but the style of Black Metal on Verwüstung has an inherently chaotic, tortured feel to it; it’s almost as if this has been created and released under extreme duress and some significant amount of pain.
The vocals howl, shriek and seemingly claw their way through the tracks with the sharpness of a sword. An impressive performance is given and I can only imagine the man was emotionally ruined near the end of the recording process. At least, it sounds that way.
Good variety and songwriting means that Verwüstung is an involving and engaging listen, with enough changes in speed and feeling to keep things interesting without becoming inconsistent.
With a recording that’s underground enough to be raw yet coherent enough to work well with the material, Verwüstung is a very satisfying album and a very strong listen.
Be sure to check this out.
Formicarius are a Black Metal band from the UK. This is their first release.
Here we have almost 12 minutes of music, made up of two originals and an Emperor cover. Formicarius’ Black Metal is Symphonic, Old-School and dark. Harking back to an early era when bands like Cradle of Filth, Emperor, Dimmu Borgir and Emperor were still young, Formicarius are attempting to herald a return to such times.
Featuring veterans of the UK Metal scene, (including the guitarist of the excellent De Profundis), this is a band who are starting out from a very strong position, so although this is only their first release it very much sounds like they have been together for a lot longer.
The songs have a streamlined darkness that flows and winds around the ostentatious keyboards like vines trying to strangle the life from something. The grim music pulses against the throat of the bright orchestration but doesn’t dampen its enthusiasm. Indeed, it seems spurned on by its antagonistic partnership to even greater heights.
One thing that was largely missing from this style back in the day was guitar solos, so I’m pleased that these make a brief appearance here. Played well, the music in general is accomplished and enjoyable. The songs are relatively simple homages to the Old-School Symphonic Black Metal style, (a bit of a mouthful), that are well-written and perfromed by people who clearly know what they’re doing.
Although there is a good helping of nostalgia with music such as this, (very much so for me), this is still a band who are doing their best to bring the style into the modern age. Admittedly, there’s only so much of this which can be done before changing the music into something else entirely, but on Lake of the Dead it’s the small touches here and there that give the band a certain edge; a short melody, a certain riff or keyboard addition…it distinguishes them as a band who are from the here and now, regardless of how old a style it is that they play and clearly love.
And the Emperor cover is fucking great, too.
12:00 minutes of quality. Get it.
Loputon Suo are a Finnish Black Metal band and this is their début demo.
Lasting only 12 minutes, this is a dense, murky affair with elements of Melodic Black Metal and Death Metal included.
The vocals are bestial growls that are worryingly feral. They give the band a feeling of something dangerous and uncompromising. Decent riffs and a dark aura work with the melodic guitars in a complementary fashion.
When the ferocious growls are mixed with the atavistic music and Old-School melodies, something quite special emerges. This demo has an obscure and authentic feel above all else.
The recording is stripped back, raw and befitting of both the demo status and the style. However, that’s not to say it’s a bad sound, and it’s quite endearing in a harsh, violent way.
Very enjoyable. Check this out for your underground, Blackened fill.
Heathen is a one-man Black Metal band from Norway and this is his second album.
This is Atmospheric Black Metal played with an Old-School flavour and swamped in darkness.
Here we have 53 minutes of music that is authentic Norwegian Black Metal; recognisable enough to be instantly appealing and enticing enough to hold attention.
This is in the lo-fi style and sonically everything just fits perfectly. This is the kind of sound that Black Metal was born to.
Musically the brain behind the outfit is extremely talented and these compositions are very advanced. A lot of bands either concentrate on riffs or atmospheres but on this release we get a decent amount of both.
Quality riffs lay a bedrock on which the moods evolve and dark atmospherics unfold slowly and malevolently.
The pace picks up as well so as to provide variety but even here the aim of the increased speed is to also increase the impact of the feelings that are evoked.
The vocals are high pitched static screeches that are barely audible above the guitars. In effect they act as another layer to the music and it’s like someone is trying to scratch your eyeballs out with sound.
What can you say about an album like this? It needs to be experienced. This is the kind of Black Metal that keeps you in love with the genre.
An absolute must.
Angmaer is a one man Black Metal band from the UK. This is Angmaer’s début album.
This is raw, Old-School Black Metal with a cold sound and an even colder heart.
Angmaer is the sound of a horrific curse, born of its Scandinavian forefathers and birthed into an uncaring underground world where it has slowly been uncoiling and feasting on lesser entities.
This will take you right back to when you first heard badly recorded Black Metal back in the early 90’s and it all sounded so visceral and nasty. Toward Darkness’ Paradise harken’s unashamedly back to this era.
The vocals are acidic and burn upon exposure. They’re performed as well as any in this genre and really have a sharp, frosty tang to them.
The songs have plenty of aggression but also slow the pace where necessary. The darkened feelings and Blackened atmospheres are cultivated through every part of these songs and it really does almost feel as if you’ve stepped back in time.
This is also a release that looks to the future though. Reliving past glories is one thing, but the riffs here have their own take on Black Metal’s infernal light; Norway filtered through the UK.
Time to support the underground and check out Toward Darkness’ Paradise.
Demonic Slaughter are a Black Metal band from Poland. This is their fifth album.
This is Old-School Black Metal with good Darkthrone grooves and a cold, frigid heart.
The production is underground and raw whilst still retaining a power and presence; it fits the band perfectly and recalls a golden era of the style.
Vocally we have traditional Black Metal croaks, rasping out blasphemy and hatred with relish. Again, like the production values, it suits the band’s aesthetic to a tee and the delivery never slips.
The songs are traditionally composed and use winding melodies to add atmosphere and Blackened intent. The rhythms are dark homages to all that is evil and the riffs seem to circle malevolently like waiting carrion feeders.
If you enjoy largely mid-paced Black Metal with a grim melodic sensibility then I would definitely recommend Demonic Slaughter to you.
A very good listen indeed. Bring on the darkness.
Ius Talionis are from Germany and this is their first release. They play Black Metal.
Although this is actually a demo release the quality of both sound and content belies this.
This is underground Black Metal with a raw-in-a-good-way sound that has a warmth and approachability to it despite the icy aura that the riffs themselves exude. The bass deserves special mention as not only is it audible but also adds tangible atmosphere and depth to the proceedings.
The songs lack ostentation and are atavistic beasts drawn from the dawn of Black Metal and harken back to the days when the likes of Burzum and Darkthrone were just dark amalgamations of potentiality and burgeoning threat.
This is Old-School Black Metal viewed and produced through the prism of history and hindsight. As such it perfectly captures the raw essence of Black Metal without ever falling into the trap of complacency, pointless hero-worship or any number of pitfalls that might befall the common Black Metal band.
These songs have a good deal of honesty about them and each one is truly enjoyable as an exemplar of the Blackened art of mood, pace and malevolent tribute.
Eleutheromania is a very impressive début release. With 4 songs in 36 minutes it could have easily passed as a début album. The fact that they haven’t done this and we still have this future début to come is a very exciting prospect indeed.
Ius Talionis are a band to watch that’s for sure. If they can keep the quality levels up then I predict a great album from them at some point.
Wonderbox Metal 