Indie Recordings

Vreid – Welcome Farewell Review

By Madam X on February 23, 2013 in 2.5, 2013, Black Metal, Indie Recordings, Norwegian Metal, Rating, Releases, Reviews, Black Metal, 14 comments

“After the tragic, but remarkably metal, death of their vocalist, Windir was laid to rest in 2004. From its ashes came Vreid (“wrath” in Norwegian), which barreled onto the scene, knocking ten tons of shit out of listeners with machine gun riffage, under the command of ex-Windir bassist Hváll. Vreid have a black metal flavor that bears more than a few striking similarities to the misanthropic, war and history flavored style of Windir. Outside of that, Vreid have riff-heavy, black ‘n roll similarities to the likes of Carpathian Forest, some of the attitude and energy of Borknagar’s Universal album and a blend of the rocking grooviness of Sepultura and the more traditional and melodic elements of Taake, Koldbrann, Ragnarok, and middle earth’s own Carach Angren.” With a list of comparisons like that, you’d think it wouldn’t be possible for Madam X to get angry about this…

Cult of Luna – Vertikal Review

By Alex Franquelli on January 19, 2013 in 2013, 4.5, Hardcore, Indie Recordings, Reviews, Sludge, Swedish Metal, 10 comments

I started listening to Cult of Luna with The Beyond. The year was 2003, the city was quiet and the light had been swallowed by the sound of an unspecified frequency – an electric wall of sound that made everything glow. And it burned so bright that I remained silent for the following, painful 67 minutes. I stopped listening to Cult Of Luna a year later. It was 2004, the album was Salvation and I couldn’t help but think that everything that had to be told had already been told. I resumed listening to Cult of Luna in 2013. Resistance became futile. And, yes, giving in was the right thing to do.

Kråke – Conquering Death Review

By Madam X on June 26, 2012 in 2.5, 2012, Black Metal, Indie Recordings, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, 9 comments

Kråke have chosen to play with the big boys by entering the symphonic black metal arena. Unfortunately, the big leagues are maybe a tad too hard for ’em.

Djerv – Djerv Review

By Angry Metal Guy on August 4, 2011 in 2011, 4.0, Heavy Metal, Indie Recordings, Norwegian Metal, Not Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 7 comments

So here’s an old record that has been out since June (so I guess it’s not old, but in the world of reviewing that’s a motherfucking eternity). I’ve been meaning to get to it and I just really haven’t had the time or level of mental stability to do it. But now that we’re on a more even keel and the urge to kill is lessening a bit, I’ve been able to come back to this one. And boy am I glad I’ve come back to this one. Because as I said when I reviewed their EP: Djerv is something that is actually truly cool and unique.

Sarke – Oldarhian Review

By Steel Druhm on April 18, 2011 in 2.5, 2011, Heavy Metal, Indie Recordings, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 2 comments

This is an odd one indeed. Basically, Sarke is a side project for Thomas Berglie (Old Man’s Child, Khold) and he handles all the instruments here. He recruitedÂ Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone) to do the vocals and together they released Vorunah in 2009 and now they’re back with Oldarhian. Although both men come from black metal backgrounds, Sarke is not a black metal band. Instead they play a mix of traditional heavy metal, Cemetary, Tiamat and new Darkthrone with some extra punk tossed in for good measure. The music is very stripped down, simplistic and not exceptionally heavy. At least for Nocturno, this material isn’t a big departure since it’s similar to Darkthrone albums like Circle the Wagons and F.O.A.D. Keeping their sound fairly consistent with the Vorunah album, Oldarhian offers more of their basic metal-punk fusion and while it has some enjoyable, rocking songs, it doesn’t completely work for me as a whole.

Insense – Burn in Beautiful Fire Review

By Steel Druhm on April 6, 2011 in 1.5, 2011, Indie Recordings, Metalcore, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Metalcore, 19 comments

Reviewing albums like this is how I pay my debt for getting the Amon Amarth review. My inbox will become a wasteland of the very worst metalcore, deathcore, screamocore and whatever soulless rubbish Angry Metal Guy can hurl at me in an Oden-like rage (thank God I didn’t ask for the upcoming Amorphis review). As part of my community service, I’m here to enlighten you about Norway’s Insense and their fourth album Burn in Beautiful Fire. If you never heard of them, these guys play third-rate metalcore with all the emo/screamo pap that goes along with that craptastic style. Their bio says Anders Friden of In Flames thinks they’re the next big thing to hit the scene. Well, if this is what Anders thinks is good music, that explains why In Flames has sucked so thoroughly since Colony. All apologies and respect to Mr. Friden but even by metalcore standards this is super shitty and irritating. It’s boring, annoyingly unoriginal and painfully below average in every aspect. I even hate the freaking album cover.

Solefald – Norrøn Livskunst Review

By Angry Metal Guy on November 4, 2010 in 2010, 5.0, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Folk Metal, Indie Recordings, Progressive Metal, Record o' the Month, Reviews, Progressive Metal, 13 comments

Solefald is just a cool band and they have been for a long time. I first got into their stuff with the epic Red for Fire: An Icelandic Odyssey which came out in 2005 and that record has maintained a standard place in my discography because of its amazing blending of black metal, progressive metal and rock and unique Norse sounds. While I was not equally as impressed with Black for Death and I’ve been a bit hit or miss on some of the band’s older material, I’ve always appreciated the band’s unique approach to the music they produce and their intensely creative outputs. Nothing they have put out has really disappointed me, it’s just a matter of being more or less into it.

Enslaved – Axioma Ethica Odini Review

By Angry Metal Guy on September 17, 2010 in 2010, 4.0, Black Metal, Indie Recordings, Nuclear Blast, Progressive Metal, Record o' the Month, Reviews, Progressive Metal, 16 comments

It is not hard to accept one fundamental axiom of the post-black metal Norway that I have referred to recently: Enslaved is easily Norway’s finest band. From the beginning the band has always been strong; grown-ups in a room filled with angry teenagers. This sense has not lessened with the passage of time. While certain members of the scene will forever be singing their equivalent of Alice Cooper ridiculous teen hits as 45 year olds (or older, like the man himself), Enslaved will continue to push the boundaries of black metal with a mature and progressive sound. Starting with the release of Below the Lights in 2003, Enslaved has produced four modern classics of “progressive, psychedelic black metal.” The fourth of this string of amazing albums was Vertebrae, which was released in 2008 and landed the band a tour with Opeth as well as more recognition than they had ever received worldwide. And with good reason: it was the best record the band had written to date.

Sahg – III Review

By Angry Metal Guy on September 13, 2010 in 2010, 4.0, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Indie Recordings, Reviews, Black Metal, Heavy Metal, 5 comments

Retro is the new new, apparently. Everyone and their dog is doing retro bands doing old school things with better (or at least louder) production and with the sensibilities of generations who have listened to a lot of music and decided that it’s time to come back to the thing that really seems to unite them: the 1970s. I, myself, have been listening to a lot of stuff from the 1970s lately, and especially the progressive rock movement that influenced many of the musicians from Scandinavia seems to be rearing its head in an interesting combination of traditional hard rock, heavy metal sensibilities and dudes who used to play black metal. Sahg’s III embodies this movement sonically, and does it very, very well.

Djerv – Headstone EP Review

By Angry Metal Guy on August 9, 2010 in 2010, 3.5, Black Metal, Indie Recordings, Reviews, 3 comments

I don’t make a real habit of reviewing an EP because EPs aren’t really considered to be a “happening” in the musical sense of the word. They aren’t an event in the traditional sense that an LP is, rarely longer than about 15 or 20 minutes it’s hardly not anything to get too excited about. But Norway’s Djerv, a combination of vocalist Agnete KjÃ¸lsrud (Animal Alpha), Erlend Gjerde (Wardruna) and Stian KÃ¥rstad of the mighty Trelldom, have created a fascinating fusion of sounds that was something that I didn’t want to pass up.