Svart Records

Aleah – Aleah Review

Aleah – Aleah Review

“Readers of this site, and fans in general, know of Aleah Stanbridge. After doing some work on her own and collaborating with The Mission’s Andy Cousin in That Which Remains, she laid down guest vocals for Swallow the Sun and Amorphis before forming Trees of Eternity with Swallow the Sun guitarist Juha Raivio. Trees of Eternity released Hour of the Nightingale in 2016, months after Aleah tragically passed away from cancer at age 39. Since then, Raivio has been assembling and touching up Aleah’s work, and he’s finally presenting it to us now in the form of a double album.” Music is immortal.

Hexvessel – Kindred Review

Hexvessel – Kindred Review

“Finnish forest folk band Hexvessel’s music conjures images of druids and deep, misty woods, and I’ve been a fan since Steel covered No Holier Temple. I love this sort of mystical folk-influenced music, a genre my partner describes as “witchy music.” Right after I wrote about All Tree, I saw them play an enchanting show in an incense-steeped church in London. And now, of course, we’re all stuck in quarantine and unable to actually go wander in the woods. You’d think, then, that I should be excited for another album.” Forest fever.

Vesperith – Vesperith Review

Vesperith – Vesperith Review

Throughout the ages, many are the writers of these ancient halls who have remarked upon metalcore bands whose promotional materials lurk deep within that bogs of our storage facility masquerading as something else altogether. Many are those who have excitedly snatched up and absconded with a rare unsupervised melodeath promo only to realize, to their endless despair, that the joke is on them. As a relative newcomer, I knew to beware of this phenomenon, but I didn’t count on the surprising number of ambient bands whose promotional teams might seek to do the same thing with black metal. You’d think I’d have learned by now – Vesperith’s self-titled debut marks the fourth time I’ve sat down to sample a not-black metal “black metal” album.” Sucker!

Warsenal – Feast Your Eyes Review

Warsenal – Feast Your Eyes Review

Warsenal is a throwback speed trio hailing from Canada, and much like their countrymen Razor, they want to bring the iron hammer down on you with merciless aggression and bestial wengeance. Their sophomore outing is speed for speed sake, with everything carefully curated to sound like it was belched out between the years 1983 – 1986.” Speed thrills.

PH – Osiris Hayden Review

PH – Osiris Hayden Review

“This time around, PH are aiming for something “beyond the limits of modern psychedelia,” something that pulls influence from Gary Numan and Nine Inch Nails. And one of my psychedelic favorites from the past, Julian Cope, fully endorses these guys. This all makes me at least willing to dig in.” Needs more alkaline.

The Deathtrip – Demon Solar Totem Review

The Deathtrip – Demon Solar Totem Review

“Five years ago, Grier became more than a twinkle in AngryMetalGuy.com’s eye. Forever after, AMG was subject to the King of Clickbait. And, since then, you poor bastards have had to read the sometimes depressing, sometimes passionate, sometimes right and sometimes wrong moments of my career. In these early days of the Coming of Grier, there arose such an album that it still finds regular rotation for this ole Dok Tor. First, for its content—old-school, Scandinavian black metal. Second, for resurrecting a master of the black metal arts—Aldrahn. I loved The Deathtrip’s Deep Drone Master and still love it today. Not for its originality but, rather, for its commitment and flawless execution of ’90s Norwegian black metal. It wasn’t until I heard it that I realized how much I missed Aldrahn’s voice. But, Aldrahn has vanished once again. In his place stands Kvohst (ex-Code, ex-Void, and ex-Dødheimsgard).” Musical chairs and deathtrips.

Goatess – Blood and Wine Review

Goatess – Blood and Wine Review

“With tones as murky as three week old bong water and riffs as thick as oak tree trunks, Goatess nail the sonic aesthetics that stoner doom enthusiasts crave. At a whopping 65 minutes in length, Goatess don’t hold back in vomiting their ideas into one marathon package. There’s decent variety within their chosen style and thankfully the more upbeat vibes and stoner cadence generally avoids plodding monotony.” Blood and wine for the Blood and Wine God.

Wizard Rifle – Wizard Rifle Review

Wizard Rifle – Wizard Rifle Review

“What is a ‘wizard rifle,’ exactly? It is a rifle that shoots magic missiles? Perhaps a rifle that spawns wizards propelled to impossible velocities (which does not bode well for said wizards, I suppose)? Maybe it’s something simpler, like a rifle made specifically for wizards that stores itself magically inside their hats. Or it could be something more complex, such as a rifle whose first shot pops out a smaller wizard who holds his/her/their own miniaturized wizard rifle, and so on.” Spell spewing.

Winterwolf – Lycanthropic Metal of Death Review

Winterwolf – Lycanthropic Metal of Death Review

“Today we take a trip back to 1993 when, while I was in 2nd grade listening exclusively to oldies music and getting my video games taken away for uttering vile profanities like “butt” and “fart,” old school death metal was death ‘n’ rolling along in Scandinavia. It’s a year that saw important releases from Dismember and Entombed, as well as one of OSDM’s more unique offerings, Demilich’s Nesphite. The latter retains a legendary cvlt status among death metal fans as it was the band’s only full-length release and it featured a bizarre unique musical style and unbelievably low belching vocals.” The monster is now a wolf in winter.

Kaleidobolt – Bitter Review

Kaleidobolt – Bitter Review

“One of the things I love about metal is its endless potential for combining and re-purposing different sounds, styles and textures. Sure, one of the results is banal strings of genre designations, but who cares when you have such an enormous spectrum of influences you can pick from? Choose any mood, any feeling, any level of energy or intensity, there’s a band that delivers. Hell, there’s probably a dozen or more, no matter how outlandish your desires. Finland’s Kaleidobolt grabs bits and pieces of different proto- and heavy metal formations, both genres that have literally been around for almost half a century, and pieces them together in a way that it sets itself apart anyway.” New from olde.