“The bleak and harsh Canadian Winter has drawn us into her icy bosom. Days are short, temperatures are lower than the last run of scores I’ve given, and rain and snow abound. It’s the perfect weather for the frosty kiss of good atmospheric black metal, and yet there has been a relative dearth recently. The English trio of Fen aim to change all that with their sixth release, The Dead Light.” Fen is coming.
Doom_et_Al
Blosse – Nocturne Review
“Earlier this year, our Angry Metal Overlord declared on Twitter that he was ‘done with atmospheric anything for a long time, but particularly black metal… Everything sounds the same and no one has any ideas.’ Now, your good pal Doomy cut his teeth on atmospheric black metal like Wolves in the Throne Room and Agalloch, so this was heresy to my eyeballs.” Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the bored.
Fuil Na Seanchoille – The Crossing Review
“Single-song albums. The reason Holdeneye and Twelve no longer speak. The reason there’s still a bloodstain in the copy room after Diabolus went after El Cuervo for suggesting that Winter’s Gate ‘Isn’t really a single song, is it? I mean… not really…’ Ya see, the very idea is divisive. But it’s also philosophically interesting. What makes a song? A unifying idea or theme? If parts of a song are so different as to be unrecognizable, have you not just chewing-gummed two songs together? In this era of instant gratification, where listeners have goldfish-like attention spans, are these epic tracks justified? Or just a needlessly pretentious gimmick?” Long did the wind blow.
Den – Iron Desert Review
“Think about running a marathon. Through the desert. On one leg. With gastroenteritis. And no map. This is how difficult it is to forge a unique and compelling sound in the saturated world of metal. Bands generally either go super heavy, or adopt a hybrid sound of some kind. But when you have bands like An Autumn for Crippled Children combining dream-pop with black metal, and Devourment making music so dense it almost absorbs light, what is a band to do? Well, if they have the balls, they could try to do both. Enter Den, a band that wants to offer you a joint, then smash it unceremoniously through your skull after two tokes.” Heavy sand.
Black Beast – Nocturnal Bloodlust Review
“One of the best things about Halloween in Canada is the excuse to wear corpse paint in the hospital check out the costumes everyone is wearing. Some folks keep it simple with unusual hats or ties. Some kids wear Iron-Man suits or My Little Pony onesies. But there are always a few who go full horror: blood, gore, the works. Many pull it off, but some people just look ridiculous. It’s often not a lack of commitment or a creativity deficit. Rather, to nail something truly intense and memorable requires more than just “being scary.” It requires foresight, craft and intelligence. These thoughts came to mind while listening to Black Beast’s debut album, Nocturnal Bloodlust.” Beasts of burden.
Aegrus – In Manus Satanas Review
“The AMG taskmasters are an unforgiving lot. Missed deadlines result in extra latrine duty, or occasionally banishment to the Skull Pit. But sometimes, missed deadlines (and the grumpy glare of the frequently-disappointed ape who doubles as my editor) are worth it because not all albums can be fully digested in a week. Or even a month. Some take their sweet time to fully reveal their secrets, and patience is key. Aegrus’s latest effort, In Manus Satanas, is a great example of this.” Patience is great. Lateness is not.
Negator – Vnitas Pvritas Existentia Review
“You know that feeling when you’ve entrusted someone you don’t know to do a job, and you realize early on that they are capable and competent and that, for this particular task at least, you don’t have to worry? Listening to Negator’s latest effort, Vnitas Pvritas Existensia, is a lot like that. Within the first 5 minutes, you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into: furious, no-nonsense Germanic, occult black metal (with a distinct paucity of U’s in the song titles).” Goats til Sunday!
Advent Sorrow – Kali Yuga Crown Review
“Modern life is safe. Extreme danger and fear are rare, which makes experiences that mimic them memorable. The genre of depressive/suicidal black metal (DSBM) appears to support this, because not much is more extreme than profound depression and suicide. Yet those of us who listen, do so because it makes us feel better; that dabbling in the pain through music lessens its impact in the real world.” Depression lite.
One Hour Hell – Voidwalker Review
“It doesn’t build or tweak—it just mimics. This is a pretty good metaphor for One Hour Hell, a death metal band hailing from frosty Sweden. There isn’t a whole lot of originality going on here, just some aping of cool ideas. Originality is not essential for a good album, however. So is there anything else these guys have brought to the table?” Death in the wind.
Sleeping Ancient – There Is No Truth but Death Review
“Very few days are monochromatic. For every yin, there’s a yang. The day you get promoted at work is the day your beloved pet dies. The day the attractive girl (or boy) rejects your advances is the day your brother gets engaged. Even something as simple as white-hot fury is, if examined truthfully, usually mixed with at least a healthy dollop of sadness. It is for this reason that music that captures different tones and moods feels more authentic than that which simply focuses on one emotion.” Can I borrow a feeling?