The February Filter is all clean and tidy.
Melodic Black Metal
Vorga – Beyond the Palest Star Review
“Ah, space. How little we know of thee. How awestruck we are by thine crushing beauty. It’s no surprise, as I noted in my review for Vorga’s debut record, Striving Toward Oblivion, that artists across various fields and mediums draw inspiration from the immense, unknowable thing that is space. With such a deep well to draw from—as much in terms of raw data and information as in fiction and imagination—I doubt even the relative microcosm of black metal could ever exhaust this rich and ever-expanding resource. Picking up right where they left off in 2022, German melodic black metal quartet Vorga blast off into the deepest reaches of inky blackness.” MOARGA Vorga.
Dödsrit – Nocturnal Will Review
“It’s not like I really need any convincing, but it’s great when an album comes along and reminds me that black metal is, in fact, fucking fantastic. 2023 was a comparatively dry year for the genre, especially as far as the more straightforward, unadorned variety was concerned. 2024 is already making up for it. Swedish/Dutch four-piece Dödsrit are one of the voices in the scene quietly but confidently proving how effective some no-frills (crust-adjacent) melodic black metal can be.” Black is the olde black.
Stuck in the Filter: January’s Angry Misses
It’s becoming apparent that our filtering systems work quite well! The crew has done a fine job pulling filth from the workings and releasing the pressure to the system. A second too late and the toilets would have backed up.
Volcandra – The Way of Ancients Review
“My roommate and good friend once got to meet Kentucky melodic black metal troupe Volcandra at work while I was stuck doing something infinitely less fun, I’m sure. I know this because she, familiar with how deeply entrenched I am in the metal scene, messaged me to ask, ‘Hey, do you know this band called Volcandra?’ I, of course, responded, ‘Yeah, they’re pretty good! Why?’ She replied, to paraphrase, ‘Yeah, I just got to meet them, and they seem really cool and nice.’ Imagine my thinly veiled jealousy as I came back with, ‘Oh that’s super cool!'” Womp womp.
Litosth – Cesariana Review
“Despite their frosty, dour tunes, the first comparison I draw when listening to Cesariana is Oubliette’s warm and rich The Passage. The second is Ethereal Shroud’s magnum opus Trisagion. Aesthetically falling somewhere between these two disparate references, Litosth’s style sounds epic without resorting to double-digit song lengths, feels relaxed in pacing without lacking passion, and manages to be memorable without possessing especially unique songwriting tenets.” Black haze.
Stuck in the Filter – November/December’s Angry Misses
2023’s cleaning protocols are finally complete, and here comes the Filter scrappings from November and December. Taste them all, then consult a funeral director.
Malist – Of Scorched Earth Review
“If there’s anything I could say for certain about Malist, it’s that they can get a hell of a lot of variety out of the superficially simple ‘atmospheric black metal’ subgenre. This variety, spanning melodic, second-wave, and quasi-DSBM styles, has doubtless played a role in Malist’s very positive reception in these halls. At least through 2021’s Karst Relic.” Mal, Maler, Malist.
Stuck in the Filter – October’s Angry Misses
The October Filter Report is here and we have some interesting things to break down for you. Get stuck!
![Massen – Gentle Brutality [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Massen_GentleBrutality_01-768x768.jpg)
Massen – Gentle Brutality [Things You Might Have Missed 2023]
“If you know me—and most of you should by now—you know that I love bands who fearlessly combine multiple genres into one pot. I want to be blown away by their exploratory vigor, dismissing all pretense of genre loyalty with gusto. Give me something that challenges my advanced ability to categorize and compartmentalize, and you are likely to garner an instant fan. Enter Massen, a Belarusian/German Frankenstein monster who unleashed one of the best records of the year, Gentle Brutality.” Polite hooligans.
