“‘Délétère’. A word which translates from French into English as ‘deleterious’. Aside from sounding distinctly metal, it apparently means ‘harmful’ or ‘damaging’. Bear this in mind. Addressing the band that is the subject of today’s review, Délétère partake in the affecting métal noir Québécoise scene.” Québéc-core.
“2017 saw the release of the début full-length by Switzerland’s unusual, folksy black metal band called Ungfell. I was introduced by the ever-insightful Alex at Metal-Fi who held it up as one of his best of the year. While Tôtbringære was only just shy of real greatness and probably deserved a nice write-up, I never put pen to paper. Scarcely a year later and I’ve resolved to rectify this deficiency by reviewing their sophomore album called Mythen, Mären, Pestilenz. Does it stack up?” Swiss misery.
“The French black metal scene has given us some truly great bands and releases through the years, especially of the avant-garde kind. The likes of Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord, Peste Noire, and even Alcest are still pushing out some of the most interesting and innovative metal music. This time around, it’s the French avant-garde black metal one-man project Antagoniste that introduces a début whose mission is to reach and eclipse the sonic standards set by his countrymen.” Trying to out weird the weird is a tough task.
“I came across Shining for the first time while reading Angry Metal Guy’s Best Heavy Metal Songs of All Time back in 2011. Since then Kvarforth and his menagerie of Scandinavian black metal projects and collaborations (Shining, Skitliv, Diabolicum, Den Saakaldte and Bethlehem) have been a constant on my playlist. I’d go so far as to say that, were I to have some kind of guarantee that it would arrive on my sunny shores, I would absolutely order a copy of When Prozac No Longer Helps – hand numbered in Kvarforth’s blood of course!” Madam X and Kvarforth are clearly a match made by the Sid & Nancy Dating Service and/or Hell. Will love blossom once again or will the knives come out?
