“Malist’s previous album Karst Relict was a decent but not outstanding piece of atmospheric black metal. This latest outing, As I Become Darkness, mainly follows in its predecessor’s footsteps in terms of quality, though Malist has now largely dropped pretensions to atmosphere. As Twelve—who rescinded reviewing rights after a couple of listens—informed me, it is essentially “atmospheric black metal, without the atmosphere.”” Now 100% atmo-free.
“Like distant thunder, the world of atmospheric black metal is simultaneously a comfort and a terror. I’ve been craving new atmospheric music lately. Thinking back, my two most recent forays into its claws have been the most recent offerings by Old Growth and Winterfylleth. Good enough albums, but neither really grabbed me the way I’ve been hoping for. Whether because of too much atmosphere, not enough variety, or just an altogether lack of menace or edge, atmospheric black metal of this particular vein was not all that good to me in 2020. So when I encountered Karst Relict, the third full-length in as many years from Malist, the solo project of one Ovfrost (Bewailer), I was cautiously optimistic.” Malist in Hell.
“The difference between what one might expect from something labeled as atmospheric black metal versus what to expect from Malist was something I stressed when reviewing their debut, In the Catacombs of Time, and I really can’t stress it enough this time around.” AtmoMantle.
![Suldusk – Lunar Falls [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Suldusk-Lunar-Falls-01-768x728.jpg)
“Spotify’s Discover features serve me well. For without my Discover Weekly playlist or the Artist and Playlist radio station features, I do not know whether I would have stumbled across Suldusk’s stunning debut album Lunar Falls in time to join the flurry of this year’s Things You Might Have Missed posts. Suldusk is the one woman neo folk blackgaze project of Emily Highfield of Melbourne, Australia.” Lunar folk.
“The first day of fall, my favorite season of the year, is just around the corner. That means the Seattle drizzle has made an appearance, advertisements for Oktoberfest litter the streets, and the most basic of drinks (step aside White Claw), Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte, has already been available in stores for almost an entire month. Coffee drinkers and non-coffee drinkers alike, including those who consider pumpkin spice a season and not just a drink, came in droves to get their first PSLs on August 27th this year, the earliest launch ever. Thankfully, mid-September also means the release of Arctos’ highly anticipated debut full length Beyond the Grasp of Mortal Hands.” The blackness is on the pumpkin.
“Malist’s In the Catacombs of Time – the album in question, for the contextually challenged – is about as joyful as an AIDS diagnosis. One-man blackened army Ovfrost leads a 10 track charge against cheer, skulking through an expansive spectrum ov sombre and sullen sounds along the way.” Bleak, blackened and miserable is no way to go through life, yo.
![Bloodbark – Bonebranches [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Bloodbark-Bonebranches-01-768x768.jpg)
“If you’ve been making the mistake of paying attention to me this year, you’ve probably noticed the name Bloodbark tossed about all William Nilliam. This phenomenon has occurred for two reasons, the first of which being that you likely have terrible tastes in role models. The second, more important reason, is that Bonebranches comprises forty minutes ov the most magnificently Muppetous metal music made amidst the massive, miserable mess mankind’ll ‘member as ‘2018.’” Muppet bones.
“Time for a confession, dear reader, one that I hope will not cost me the “exalted” position of Nameless N00b_17: I am not a follower of the trve faith and, try as I might, cannot enjoy black metal. I know, I know, it’s all about the atmospherics, the stripped-back aggression, the chilling extremity… but, to be frank, I find myself unable to appreciate the, um, subtleties of Gorgoroth or Marduk. So it was with a certain sense of trepidation that I approached Mosaic I: L’Amour et L’Ardeur, the third album from Canada’s Unreqvited.” Northern sadness.
“I like to think that I’m one of the more omnivorous consumers of metal on the AMG staff, but sometimes while perusing the promo sump, I’m overcome with a strong urge to say “fuck it” and dump nothing but atmospheric black metal onto my upcoming review schedule. There are so many submissions to choose from in this style, and I’ve had such consistent luck in reviewing the genre, that I would probably be content with pigeonholing myself as the blog’s go-to atmo-black guy for an extended tenure. Of course, “atmospheric black metal” is an especially broad classification in today’s metal climate, and perhaps no other album I’ve encountered plays with the term as loosely as Vallendusk’s third LP, Fortress of Primal Grace.” Emo the masses.
“First-time long-time readers will note this site’s rep for lofty production expectations. Hell, even yours truly, who once indulged in sub-100 kbps Youtube rips, the food court Chinese of music formats, somehow finds himself infected with those same insidious ideals. Still, that total production meltdown, the one that drags down a perfectly otherwise great score and results in public gnashing of teeth, has escaped me. So when I saw that Nature Stays Silent was mixed by a 19-year-old one-man band ‘at home,’ I braced my eardrums for maximum pain.” Bardd of hearing.
