Vahrzaw are an Australian black metal band and this is their fifth album.
Having enjoyed 2014’s Twin Suns & Wolves’ Tongues, 2018’s Husk, and 2021’s The Trembling Voices of Conquered Men, I was always going to have to check out the new Vahrzaw album. Continue reading “Vahrzaw – In the Shallows of a Starlit Lake (Review)”
This is the second album from Glyph, a one-man black metal band from the US.
We turn now to solo act Glyph for a 37-minute trip into a black metal underworld that’s a work of individuality and obvious passion. There’s a special sort of mysterious, esoteric magic that surrounds The Time of Peril, one that’s quite intoxicating to delve into. Continue reading “Glyph – The Time of Peril (Review)”
This is the debut album from Nachtmaer, a one-man Belgian black metal act.
Van de Mare Bereen contains 39 minutes of black metal. There are four songs, each one featuring a different singer, (from bands such as Kludde, Toorn, Soul Dissolution, L’Hiver en Deuil, Antzaat, Ars Veneficium, and Dissolve Patterns). Continue reading “Nachtmaer – Van de Mare Bereen (Review)”
This is the debut album from UK black metallers Eihort.
Consuming the Light consists of six original blackened hymns and a Samael cover. All told, we’re given 33 minutes of classic black metal from a band that obviously know and love the style very much. Continue reading “Eihort – Consuming the Light (Review)”
Orphique are a Canadian black metal band and this is their debut album.
Consécration Cadavérique contains 40 minutes of music, and is an exemplary introduction to Orphique’s charismatic take on black metal. Continue reading “Orphique – Consécration Cadavérique (Review)”
This is the debut album from US black metal band Skythala.
Boreal Dispair offers discerning listeners 57 minutes of avant-garde black metal, which is a really simplistic way of describing a work that’s the complete opposite of simple. Continue reading “Skythala – Boreal Despair (Review)”
Helvellyn are a black metal band from the UK and this is their debut album.
Containing 38 minutes of material, The Lore of the Cloaked Assembly delivers black metal steeped in the old ways; Helvellyn worship at the altar of 90s second wave black metal. The band have clearly been blessed by their dark gods, as their music recalls the classics, while also offering something worth listening to in 2022. Continue reading “Helvellyn – The Lore of the Cloaked Assembly (Review)”
This is the second album from Swedish black metallers Jordfäst.
Av Stoft contains just two tracks, the first of which lasts 16 minutes, and the next 17 minutes. During these two lengthy songs we are taken on an epic, windswept journey into Jordfäst’s world.
If you think of bands such as Skagos, Ulver, Primordial, Wolves in the Throne Room, Bathory, and Skogen, (the singer of which guests here), you’ll have a rough idea of what Av Stoft contains. Continue reading “Jordfäst – Av Stoft (Review)”
This is the third album from Irish black metal act Eternal Helcaraxe.
On Drown in Ash Eternal Helcaraxe provide 47 minutes of music that’s dark and personal, dealing with intimate themes of depression and loss. As such, the music is a forlorn and melancholic form of black metal that drips with feeling and emotion. Continue reading “Eternal Helcaraxe – Drown in Ash (Review)”
Firtan are a German black metal band and this is their third album.
Marter offers a 58-minute feast of expressive atmospheric black metal. Richly anointed with post-rock detail and progressive depth, this is an album of impeccable taste and commanding presence. Continue reading “Firtan – Marter (Review)”
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