Hail Spirit Noir

Tongues – Forml​ø​se Stjerner Review

Tongues – Forml​ø​se Stjerner Review

“The niche within a niche label I, Voidhanger often scrapes the fringes of underground styles for acts embracing the weird, the strange, the vaguely musical—curious but rarely captivating for me. Par for the course, I’d never heard of Denmark’s Tongues before snagging up Forml​ø​se Stjerner, but something about the tumultuous landscape of the nihilistically nautical cover called to me like a Danish white whale, a hvidhval, if you will. Feel the Willies!

Dark Psychosis – The Edge of Nowhere Review

Dark Psychosis – The Edge of Nowhere Review

“In my year-end haze of short days, lockdown and work-related torpor, I peered nervously into the promo pool for something which may re-energize my sedentary life. An intriguing “experimental black metal” tag caught my eye and it was with this that I embarked on a review of the new album by Michigan’s Dark Psychosis. The Edge of Nowhere represents only their third full-length release since forming in 1999, and it’s a far cry from those black/thrash early days.” Nowhere fast?

Katavasia – Magnus Venator Review

Katavasia – Magnus Venator Review

“Something in the warmth of Grecian waters has stirred a strange black metal beast. The devil writhes with a Dionysian disregard for evil and frost. In Greece, there’s a playfulness to the black metal of bands like Hail Spirit Noir, Aenaon and Varathron. Featuring members of the three bands, Katavasia is a blackened heavy metal monstrosity that channels Greek myth, Satan’s charms and Babylonian conspiracy.” Magnus opus.

Hail Spirit Noir – Eden in Reverse Review

Hail Spirit Noir – Eden in Reverse Review

“I’m enjoying that I’m now able to look back at the 2010s with retrospect. In all my personal affairs, life developments, and the end of my formal education. But in particular, musically. I can now definitively make sweeping statements like ‘Sleep at the Edge of the Earth is the best record of the decade,’ and ‘there was a better decade of music from 1971-1975 than across 2010-2019.’ But, and pertinently to this review, I can also state that ‘Hail Spirit Noir (HSN) is one of the most creative metal bands which became active during the teenies.’” Hail teen spirit.

Poison Blood – Poison Blood Review

Poison Blood – Poison Blood Review

“You may not have thought it but Beherit brings people together, much like Christmas and accounts of drunken excess. A mutual affinity for the Finnish blackened barbarians drew Neill Jameson of Krieg and Jenks Miller of Horseback into collaborating on a new project called Poison Blood. Tales of the occult are spun through the medium of black metal but Miller, particularly, draws from a repertoire far beyond that which is typical for the genre.” Punk up the blackness.

Farsot – Fail.lure Review

Farsot – Fail.lure Review

Farsot are a peculiar entity. Extravagantly cryptic conceptual themes are as just as important to them as their unusual experimental black-metal sound. This German quintet is drenched in mystery, consisting of bandmembers with names that roll off the tongue with sensual ease. Vocalist 10.XIXt, guitarists Pi: 1T 5r and 3818.w, bassist v.03/170, and drummer R 215k combine to paint an avant-garden of musical eden for fans of eccentricity and unpredictability.” The garden is getting a little wild.

Aenaon – Hypnosophy Review

Aenaon – Hypnosophy Review

“It’s not often that AMG Himself and I get into an online kerfluffle about a review. See, I do my best to grab promos from bands I’ve never heard of, hoping that my curiosity turns me on to some great music. For the most part, it succeeds. But there comes a time when Señor AMG gets a taste of a band you’re reviewing and goes completely ga-ga over it.” When AMG attacks.

Record(s) o’ the Month – October 2016

Record(s) o’ the Month – October 2016

“We predicted October would be a sticky wicket of a month for the put upon electors of Best in Show, and it certainly was. Any number of killer platters could have been hoisted overhead and declared the new Golden Calf without damaging our enormous metal cred and everyone had their own personal favorite clutched tightly to their steely bosoms. So how did we decide?” Civics lessons for free, only at AMG!