“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure where the line between black metal and blackened death lies. There’re folks who are entirely justified for crying “DEATH” when you add some bass to the mix, but others will be completely in the right to scold them for hopping a little too hard. Since groups like Belphegor and Marduk have blurred the lines with their bottom-heavy yet grim AF aesthetics, it’s a horde of near or far-sighted folks blurring everything.” Ghouls night ovt.
“We’ve all been there. We’ve all strived to transcend weakness, to beat back the forces of oppression, to rip the fucking heart from the proverbial lion. Deströyer 666 use the motif of a wolf to convey this sense of power; fellow Australians Mongrel’s Cross use a dragon. Their 2012 debut The Sins of Aquarius was rife with such smoldering imagery, taking the Australian black thrash tapestry and soaking it in the grandiose swagger of Bathory’s Blood Fire Death. The result was both a personal favorite and one of the style’s most potent albums in recent years.” Dragons, Bathory and battles, oh my!
“Pagan black metal stalwarts, Kawir, typically wait four years between releasing albums that are decent, yet overlong and poorly produced. That all changes with their seventh LP, Exilasmos. Dropping a mere nineteen months after Father Sun Mother Moon, this record hits the road with tires spinning!” Blackened Greek salad to go.
“A great wise man once said, “You have your whole life to craft your debut album for the masses.” It’s true, though. The time taken to craft an impressive debut is, quite literally, limitless. While some bands gloriously fly against this logic, many of them take extra care to make sure their debut shines brighter than a million incandescent suns. Some bands take a few months after inception to write, while others, like Greece’s Disharmony, took a while. And by “a while,” I mean 26 years.” Band meets world.
“I’m a sucker for bands who incorporate their country’s cultural sounds into their music. Whether it’s Orphaned Land’s Israeli instrumentation, Chthonic’s weeping erhu-induced Thai melodies, or Nile’s violent riffing recalling the war-torn sand dunes and ancient pyramids of their home country of South Carolina, peppering your music with your country’s native sounds can make things a bit more interesting.” Think globally, listen locally.
