Nokturnal Mortum

Sacrilegium – Anima Lucifera Review

Sacrilegium – Anima Lucifera Review

“A lot can happen to people over time. Take me, for instance; my 20-year high school reunion is coming this year, and I can pretty much guarantee that very few people who don’t follow me on a daily basis are going to have a hard time believing that who I am and who I was are the same people. With plenty of tattoos and hair on my face (and little on my head), I know more than a few heads will turn. Wicher, the debut album from Polish pagan metal barbarians Sacrilegium, also turns twenty this year. Until now, it was the band’s only full-length output, given that the band disbanded in 2000.” So what name tag will these cats get at their reunion?

Grymm Comments: On the Separation of Art from Artist

Grymm Comments: On the Separation of Art from Artist

“I’m sure by now you all know that your favorite artists don’t exactly live the lives they write about. Slayer’s Tom Araya is a devout Catholic and a proud family man. Similarly, W.A.S.P.’s Blackie Lawless gave up fucking like a beast for Jesus. Glenn Danzig loves his cats and Morbid Angel’s Trey Azagthoth is a gamer and a Sailor Moon fanatic. In other words, it’s not all that often you encounter a musician (or band) that lives up to the extreme lyrics they pen. They’re just regular, mundane human beings like you and me.” How disappointing….

Stryvigor – Forgotten by Ages Review

Stryvigor – Forgotten by Ages Review

“For a Ukrainian black metal band writing in their native tongue, deriving their name and lyrical themes from distant mountains and rivers of which I’m unaware, Stryvigor is remarkably accessible. Forgotten by Ages, their debut album, is atmospheric black metal laced with memorable riffs, clearly influenced by fellow compatriots such as Drudkh and Khors. It’s like being set upon by distant mountain wolves while the stars twinkle overhead. Though its accessibility undercuts its kvlt black metal origins, there is no denying these Ukrainians charmed me with this ode to their native Carpathian mountains, brimming with beautiful synths and hooky guitar lines.” Who doesn’t love some good Ukrainian black metal about mountains and wolves?