Sarke

Khold – Du dømmes til død Review

Khold – Du dømmes til død Review

“After being dormant for eight years, Khold surprised the masses in 2022 with their comeback album, Svartsyn. And boy did they come back in a big way—completely erasing 2014’s Til endes from my memory. Reformed with all the key players and even feistier than ever, these Norwegian giants had me so convinced of their greatest that they made it on old Grier‘s top-ten list. Nothing made me happier that year than hearing Gald’s signature snarl and Sarke’s punishing drum work. Hell, I would have been happy just to hear the album, much less love it the way I do. Two years later, it looks as if the band is sticking around because now we have this year’s Du dømmes til død.” You can’t spell Khold without “old”.

Tulus – Fandens Kall Review

Tulus – Fandens Kall Review

“For the uninitiated, Tulus has been around since ’91, 1996 debut full-length Pure Black Energy considered a cult classic of early black metal. Although taking a six-year break between 2000 and 2006, the trio has amassed six full-lengths and a compilation over the project’s career.” Olde and still Khold.

Khold – Svartsyn Review

Khold – Svartsyn Review

Khold combines Carpathian Forest-esque black ‘n’ roll, Satyricon accessibility, and Darkthrone-like sinisterness that molded Grier‘s tiny heart into a lump of coal for nearly a decade. Then, 2014 saw the end of the band. During this time, the crew resurrected their thrashy black metal counterpart, Tulus. Which felt like a somewhat natural progression following Khold’s odd 2014 swansong, Til ended. Also, the band’s founder/drummer found success with Darkthrone’s Nocturno Culto, releasing album after Sarke album. Fast forward to 2022, and the boys are back.” Ice Khold.

Sadistic Ritual – The Enigma, Boundless Review

Sadistic Ritual – The Enigma, Boundless Review

“Thrash that brings something new? So much has happened in this year of 2022 that I’ll believe about anything. Alas, my hopes remain high despite our resident shusher, Dr. A.N. Grier, willfully relinquishing the right to this curiously spiked morsel of raucous riffs. Though neither a fan of hugs nor happiness, D.A.N.G. found himself mildly enthused with the last output from these Atlanta-based thrashers, even if they sounded a lot like Kreator. Well, I’m here to say that these guys still sound like Kreator, but blackened a degree further and doused graciously with echo-inducing, signal-tripping pedal-work—psychedelic thrash.” Coma of bowls.

Sarke – Gastwerso Review

Sarke – Gastwerso Review

“Since 2016’s Bogefod, Sarke has been on a steady incline that includes clean/acoustic guitars, interesting key work, and female vocals. In and around it all, they use aggressive Hellhammer/Celtic Frost moments, cold first-wave tremolo pickings, and plenty of slumbering sinisterness. Bogefod and its follow-up, Viige Urh, were fresh cuts that sounded like siblings born moments apart from one another. But where is Gastwerso’s branch on this family tree? Is it the birth of triplets or is this a xenomorph C-section?” Horrific lineage.

Sarke – Viige Urh Review

Sarke – Viige Urh Review

“Well, the cold has begun to settle in. Which means dark, frigid, unforgiving black metal will soon permeate the air of the Grier home. You can expect nothing less than the raw, primitive output of old-school Mayhem, Darkthrone, Enslaved, and Celtic Frost. It’s the right metal for the right season. The kind that you can almost feel blow through the pines as you walk over the fallen needles. The kind ‘Where Cold Winds Blow’ ‘Under a Funeral Moon,’ just ‘(Beyond the) Northern Winds.’ It’s the time of the year where I find myself once again—burrowing under cottonwood leaves until the warm suns of spring arrive to dry them out. So, it’s only fitting that one of my favorite black metal vocalists is back with an October release.” Winterize your ears.

Slegest – Løyndom Review

Slegest – Løyndom Review

“I typically associate the Norwegian style of black metal with either the raw aggression of say Gorgoroth, Carpathian Forest or Taake or the more classic atmospheric beauty of Burzum or Ulver. One of my favorite movie depictions of this very dedicated brand of black metal is that goose-bump moment in Until the Light Takes Us when Fenriz is sitting on the train and Ulver’s “Not Saved” starts playing… atmosphere as thick as mist you can’t help re-playing that moment over and over. So when did this very somber brand of metal, so dedicated to opposition, start to follow the crowd and take on such a dirty, ear-friendly, catchy groove?” This is a valid and intriguing question and Madam X demands answers! Comply or get whipped.