This is the second album from US one-man black metal band Starer.
Hot on the heels of last year’s 18° Below the Horizon, (which made it into my year end list), the artist behind the band has returned already. This time he’s packing 50 minutes of new material spread out over four grandiose songs. Continue reading “Starer – The What It Is to Be (Review)”
This is the third album from Indonesian one-man black metal band Pure Wrath.
While the name Pure Wrath might conjure images of ultraviolent brutality of some sort, what we actually get on this album is 44 minutes of atmospheric black metal with an emphasis on melancholic emotion. Joined by a handful of other musicians, Continue reading “Pure Wrath – Hymn to the Woeful Hearts (Review)”
The Mist from the Mountains are a Finnish black metal band and this is their debut album.
Monumental – The Temple of Twilight contains 38 minutes of 90s-influenced nature-inspired black metal. The promo blurb mentions bands from that era such as Old Man’s Child, Gehenna, Dimmu Borgir, and Borknagar, which, coupled with the enticing album art, meant I definitely had to give The Mist from the Mountains some of my attention. Continue reading “The Mist from the Mountains – Monumental – The Temple of Twilight (Review)”
Worm Shepherd are a blackened deathcore band and this is their second album.
It’s been less than a year since 2021’s In the Wake of Sol, but here we are already with another Worm Shepherd album. Not that I’m complaining, as that album was a solid slab of blackened atmosphere and crushing deathcore heaviness. Continue reading “Worm Shepherd – Ritual Hymns (Review)”
This is the fourth album from German black metallers Dauþuz.
Vom Schwarzen Schmied gives us 57 minutes of well-crafted black metal to sink our teeth into. Continue reading “Dauþuz – Vom Schwarzen Schmied (Review)”
This is the second album from Zornheym, a symphonic extreme metal band from Sweden.
Featuring an ex-member of Dark Funeral, Zornheym present us with a symphonic monster of black/death/heavy/extreme metal. Yes, a lot of genres are thrown into this one, to great effect. The Zornheim Sleep Experiment contains 37 minutes of the stuff, and it’s a damn good listen. Continue reading “Zornheym – The Zornheim Sleep Experiment (Review)”
While August was a slower month than some others have been this year for first class metal albums, it was still home to more than enough top releases to warrant this list. Continue reading “Monthly Overview – the Best of August 2021”
This is the seventh album from US black metallers Wolves in the Throne Room.
A new Wolves in the Throne Room album is a huge event, especially for me, as they’re essentially one of my favourite bands.
With a rawer, sharper sound than Continue reading “Wolves in the Throne Room – Primordial Arcana (Review)”
Necronautical are a UK black metal band and this is their fourth album.
Featuring members of Winterfylleth and Foetal Juice, Necronautical play black metal influenced by the second wave, in particular the keyboard-enhanced symphonic side of it. To this is added a muscular death metal influence, which is streamlined by the blackened core of the band and used to add a lethal edge to the music. There’s also a progressive metal influence that can felt on occasion, usually in a particular riff, solo, or melody, for example. Continue reading “Necronautical – Slain in the Spirit (Review)”
Worm Shepherd are a blackened deathcore band and this is their debut album.
Blackened melodies expand with fiery grace and keyboards swell with malevolent doom, only to be cruelly cast aside by cold, merciless slams when the moment is right. Worm Shepherd play a form of blackened deathcore that combines Continue reading “Worm Shepherd – In the Wake ov Sòl (Review)”
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