“Too much music is released and there is not enough time nor space to cover it all. Some publicists game the system and generate artificial hype for their artists. A certain uniformity in year-end lists plagues major publications. An echo chamber of taste ensnares the metal community. Some of these reasons and a plethora of others may be why bands like the Berlin-based (deathened) black metal duo Sun Worship fly under the radar.” Sun and black winter.
Vendetta Records
Imha Tarikat – Kara Ihlas Review
“The dichotomy of black metal is that despite pockets of cell-division spawning mutations of various strains, the genre prefers to spurn innovation and maintain its core of anti-religious suppurations. For every Solefald, Patria, or Ihsahn out there pushing black metal out from its comfort zone, there are legions of corpse paint-bedecked bands stoking the fires of tradition with coals of unimaginative blast-beats and stale iconoclasm. I love black metal, but that love tends to seek out bands who demonstrate innovation rather than those who peddle another tired take on Under a Funeral Moon. I crave something different and that thirst has lead me to Kara Ihlas.” Different god, same blackness.
Anicon – Entropy Mantra Review
“Anicon attempt to concoct equal amounts of pessimistic Scandinavian melodic black-metal with the contemporary ‘experimental’ touches of US bands such as Krallice. 2016’s debut record Exegeses was a dark, and winding black metal album. Entropy Mantra intensifies this.” Contents under pressure.
Wilt – Ruin Review
“The Angry Metal Promo Bin is a fickle mistress. She can conceal highly sought after treasures by surrounding them with infinite no-names, and she can trick you into believing that Rapture is Rapture. Worse yet, she mistags like a motherfucker, calling this genre that and slapping the black metal label on albums with wild abandon. It’s frustrating enough when selecting an unknown band only to find that she’s lied again, but there’s something even more personally offensive in seeing a band that you actually do know and love flagged under the wrong genre. Enter: Wilt’s Ruin, billed (like everything else) as black metal.” Black is the new bin.
Wild Hunt – Afterdream of the Reveller Review
“Welcome to the wild hunt. We’ll be venturing deep into the twisted, intestinal forests of the Afterdream: a withered, multi-dimensional landscape suffused with snarling spirits that froth forth a vitriolic seed. If we survive, we’ll venture into the blackened bowels and through to the death-grip of the Afterdream’s thumping heart.” Tally ho!
Hexer – Cosmic Doom Ritual Review
“The titillating album title Cosmic Doom Ritual jumped out at me for being both a bluntly simple title and one that I expected would lead me into the atmospheric realm of my dreams. Each word stood out and beckoned me. Cosmic: I love all things space — Darkspace, Mare Cognitum, and Midnight Odyssey; Doom: I love all things, well, doom; Ritual: I love anything reminiscent of the primal sound of early Neurosis and Isis. These three things combined made me froth at the mouth like a dog with rabies.” Into the void with rabid dogs.