This is the third album from UK black metallers Craven Idol.
It’s great to have some new material from Craven Idol. 2013’s Towards Eschaton and 2017’s The Shackles of Mammon were both records that I hugely enjoyed, and the 41 minutes of new material on Forked Tongues continues this trend nicely. Continue reading “Craven Idol – Forked Tongues (Review)”
This is the second album from Swedish black metal band Night Crowned.
Featuring current and ex-members of bands such as Nightrage, The Unguided, Dark Funeral, and Imperium, Night Crowned play a melodic mix of black and death metal, (weighted towards the former), influenced by the 90s Scandinavian scene. Continue reading “Night Crowned – Hädanfärd (Review)”
Kold are a black metal band from Denmark and this is their debut release.
For some reason Kold is billed as an EP, despite having a duration of 39 minutes. Regardless of what it actually is, the music is really good, and that’s all that matters. Continue reading “Kold – Kold (Review)”
This is the debut album from Danish doom metallers Funeral Chasm.
Funeral Chasm play their music slow and with an emphasis on atmosphere. Omniversal Existence takes this starting point and delivers music that combines funeral doom with old-school Gothic doom metal. Add in some elements of first and second wave black metal, especially regarding a taste for expansive keyboards, and you have Funeral Chasm’s debut record. Continue reading “Funeral Chasm – Omniversal Existence (Review)”
This is a gargantuan four-way split, consisting of 15 tracks across a total duration of 96 minutes. Continue reading “Thy Darkened Shade/Amestigon/Inconcessus Lux Lucis/Shaarimoth – SamaeLilith: A Conjunction of the Fireborn – Split (Review)”
Noctule is a one-woman black metal band from the UK, and this is her debut album.
Brought to us by the singer/guitarist of Svalbard, Wretched Abyss is a 42-minute Skyrim-themed album that takes some of the darker and melodic elements you can hear in Svalbard’s sound, and wraps them around a blackened core. Continue reading “Noctule – Wretched Abyss (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Jarun, a Polish progressive black metal band.
Both 2015’s Pod Niebem Utkanym z Popiołu and 2017’s Sporysz were very enjoyable blackened progressive/folk hybrids, and their newest album continues Jarun’s unbroken run of high quality releases. Continue reading “Jarun – Rok Spokojnego Słońca (Review)”
This is the debut album from Canadian black metal band Oriflamme.
Oriflamme’s black metal combines furious intensity with atmospheric appeal. When the band play fast they play with fire and vigour, but when they slow down is when the real dark magic happens. Continue reading “Oriflamme – L’égide Ardente (Review)”
This is the debut album from Polish black metallers Mānbryne.
Featuring members of Blaze of Perdition, Odraza, and Voidhanger, Mānbryne grabbed my attention right out of the gate. On Heilsweg: O Udręce Ciała I Tułaczce Duszy the band offer up 41-minutes of malevolent black metal, and it is very gratefully received. Continue reading “Mānbryne – Heilsweg: O Udręce Ciała I Tułaczce Duszy (Review)”
This is the third album from Russian one-man black metal band Utburd.
Story of Frozen Souls is the 58-minute follow up to 2018’s The Horrors Untold.
Utburd’s music is a mix of the atmospheric Continue reading “Utburd – Story of Frozen Souls (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 