Carnal Records

Domgård – Rót Review

Domgård – Rót Review

“Black metal is a branch of the heavy metal tree that once, a long time ago, traded on fear and a reputation for violence and chaos. Nowadays, the genre does not inspire nearly the same degree of terror it once did. Somewhere between corpse-painted cat memes, dalliances with commercial success, and the general overreach of the internet, the teeth of those early days have been filed down quite a bit; another form of dark expression saturated by the direct sunlight of too much attention. Enter Domgård, a band formed in Göteborg, Sweden back in 1997 by Jonas Almén, aka Vindkall.”

Grafvitnir – Venenum Scorpionis Review

Grafvitnir – Venenum Scorpionis Review

“As if on cue, a momentary silence in my headphones is broken as a highly melodic yet terrifying tremolo fades in, only to cut out to allow a wolf to howl far, then near. I’m overcome with primal energy, and I seriously consider shedding my clothes and running into the woods to live out my days as the basis for further Sasquatch sightings. Realizing that I have neither the temperament nor the survival skills for such an endeavor, I resolve to keep scrubbing and simply enjoy the sweet sounds of “Wolf of the Eclipse,” the opening track from Grafvitnir’s sixth Swedish black metal opus Venenum Scorpionis.” Of wolf and apeman.

Grá – Väsen Review

Grá – Väsen Review

“Formed in 2010, Grá play their brand of black metal straight down the middle. The ice-clad riff is their weapon, thrust with maniacal force at the heart. Sweden is their home and pummelling blast-beating aggression their game. A spiritual sheen, carried through their lyrics and electronic touches, coats the battle-ready stance that the band has had since their 2011 debut Grá and 2015 follow-up Ending. There is no end, though: Väsen — Swedish for supernatural or spiritual inner nature — is their third full-length. Don your battle armor and find your dusty tome of magic spells for we are venturing into the heart of Swedish black metal.” The wand picks the warlock.

Omnizide – NekroRegime Review

Omnizide – NekroRegime Review

“I’m not an expert on black metal; in fact, I’m somewhat at an initiate level. While I have dug the occasional blackened affair like Axamenta, I’ve never had quite as much love for the kind of gritty, treble-laden, snare-abusing, hysterically-snarled theater that has been hated by parents, loved by anti-establishment youths and mocked to varying degrees by just about everyone else. This makes for a difficult situation when the dumping grounds of December leave naught but black metal promos.” Black is the season.