Thus Spoke

Words of (questionable) wisdom

Litha – Litha Review

By Thus Spoke on November 20, 2023 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 9 comments

“You know the type of black metal. Somewhere between floaty atmospherics, and a raw fuzz, where snarling screams ring out over tremolos that are just that bit too indistinct to be straightforwardly driving. Where the energy is uniformly bleak and apathetic, whether you’re hearing blastbeats or no percussion at all. Herein lies Litha, the project of ambient composer and Mizmor collaborator Andrew Black. Unlike his other solo work, Litha is unpolished and angry, as well as differing wildly in the literal musical sense of being black metal. This is deliberate, with Black stating his desire to express his anger and pain through a more appropriate outlet that can do for him what ambient music can’t.” Paintracks.

Night Crowned – Tales Review

By Thus Spoke on November 7, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, 40 comments

“Ever since they smashed onto the scene with their 2020 debut Impious Viam, following up on the more quietly well-received EP Humanity Will Echo Out, Night Crowned have presented an almost ideal example of symphonic/melodic blackened death. Take a template of symphonic, subtle synth-accented black metal, and add a bunch of catchy melodies, well-pitched dramatic compositions, and that uniquely Swedish death metal flair, and you’ve got Night Crowned. But the group are more than that; they have a distinctive sound that has only strengthened over the years, and Tales continues this trend.” Evening royalty.

Amalekim – Avodah Zarah Review

By Thus Spoke on November 2, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, 51 comments

“2023 hasn’t been the best year for black metal. With some scattered, notable exceptions—DHG and Manbryne among them—most new releases have been underwhelming, or at least disappointing. Undeterred, I continue to pick promos bearing the ‘black metal’ tag, because I believe the genre, at its best, is captivating in a way others aren’t, and offers a flavor of expression unique to itself. As we approach the sunset of the year, my persistence has paid off with the arrival of Avodah Zarah, the sophomore record from Polish/Italian outfit Amalekim.” Blackened treasures uncovered.

Cult Burial – Reverie of the Malignant Review

By Thus Spoke on October 19, 2023 in Reviews, 8 comments

“You might not be aware of them, but Cult Burial generated a bit of a ripple in the metal underground with their self-titled debut back in 2020. Garnering top scores from whosoever covered it, the album’s blend of black, death, and doom did possess a certain je ne sais quoi in its moody but somewhat raw approach. It was not covered here, however, and as you know, thou shalt hath no other blogs. So it falls to me, and follow-up Reverie of the Malignant, to determine the mettle of these UK upstarts. Is the music worth the noise?” Cultic buzz.

Biledriver – Let the Sun Swallow All Review

By Thus Spoke on October 10, 2023 in Reviews, Post-Metal, Sludge, 7 comments

“It was hard to know what to expect from Let the Sun Swallow All. Biledriver’s Bandcamp page states that they “play a variety of metal, the genre of which we are eternally uncertain.” While broadly categorizable as a mixture of sludge and post-metal, the band’s confession is fairly accurate. Even the cover art is obtusely abstract (though rather nice). This is their debut, and sees the geographically disparate members—spanning Canada, the US, the UK, and Sweden—combine forces in a sometimes savage, sometimes somber series of sounds.” Rank and Bile.

Woe – Legacies of Frailty Review

By Thus Spoke on October 6, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, 12 comments

“A catastrophizing depiction of humanity’s mutual destruction greets us, the blazing fire and distraught figures a dramatic allegory for the harm and alienation caused by relentless tribalism. So, at least, Legacies of Frailty purports its art and musical content to revolve around. The personal project of Woe’s founder Chris Gregg, it marks the band’s first solo record since acquiring a full lineup with 2010’s Quietly, Undramatically.” Woe tide.

Putrascension – Forever Below Review

By Thus Spoke on October 3, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, 15 comments

“Forever Below is what I’m going to (cheesily) call old-school grit with new-school wit. The chilling tone of the guitars, the spidery, urgent riffing, the howling vocals, the thrashy tempos, pull from the best of second-wave black and blackened thrash–think Dissection and Goatwhore. But the intelligently dynamic and melodically-developed compositions pull this base sound into the modern world, and deepen their impact.” As above, so below.

Ôros Kaù – Thanatos Review

By Thus Spoke on September 25, 2023 in Reviews, 20 comments

“You may know Ôros Kaù’s sole member CZLT from experimental-free-jazz-black-death-drone project Neptunian Maximalism, or perhaps one of the half-dozen other extreme metal projects he’s part of. In his solo work he takes a distinctly more blackened and aggressive approach, though it’s not exactly your straightforward black metal. Thanatos—the first half of an announced diptych, with Hypnos to follow shortly—channels reflections on death and spiritual freedom through occult imagery and echoing avant-garde death and black metal. It’s about as impenetrably menacing as you might expect, perhaps more atmospheric, but denser than predecessor Imperii Templum Aries.” Neptune unbound.

TesseracT – War of Being Review

By Thus Spoke on September 18, 2023 in Reviews, Djent, 64 comments

“There’s promoting an album, and then there’s the campaign surrounding War of Being. Aside from the usual—social media updates, music videos, etc.—there is a literal game associated with this album that you can download for a fiver on Steam and that was created solely based on its sci-fi odyssey concept. Lead singer Daniel Tompkins is also lead director and designer of the eponymous game, alongside a host of developers, and is apparently a huge gaming nerd himself. Kudos I guess, for combining two things he’s passionate about. Bassist Amos Williams is writing a novel about it too. But a game or a novel—however good can’t compensate for flaws in the music.” Core wars.

Deadly Carnage – Endless Blue Review

By Thus Spoke on September 13, 2023 in Reviews, Post-Metal, 44 comments

“Deadly Carnage are a band who have really evolved. Beginning—as their vicious-sounding name might imply—in the bleakest of black metal, they have progressively moved into post-black territory, and their music seems only to have strengthened throughout. As they have substituted more and more harsh vocals for clean singing, dissonant chords for layered harmonies, and blastbeats for swaying, doomier rhythms, their sound has grown more introspective and intriguing.” Deadly evolution.