Black Metal

Adaestuo – Tacent Semitae Review

Adaestuo – Tacent Semitae Review

“As readers of Angry Metal Guy, y’all know what happens when a new black metal band throws itself at the teeming hordes while trying to remain anonymous. Guessing games ensue. Frantic-yet-fruitless searches begin on various websites. Unicorns mysteriously appear. Nine times out of ten, though, nothing new is really brought to the forefront of our collective psyche. In other words, anonymous rehashes can only go so far, and repaintings of the same ol’ Deathspell Omega portrait get old quickly.” The picture of Deathspellian Gray.

Xoth – Invasion of the Tentacube Review

Xoth – Invasion of the Tentacube Review

“In the green-binary star system of Xoth, the deity Idh-yaa got all down and dirty with Cthulhu to create his slutty star-spawn. In a similar fashion, the band Xoth have got all down and dirty with all the blackened sub-genres of the metal-sphere, spawning a debut album that reaches far beyond the stars.” Star Lust, that fabulous STAR Lust….

Netherbird – The Grander Voyage Review

Netherbird – The Grander Voyage Review

“With roots reaching as far back as Bathory, acoustic guitars have long subverted the conventions of traditional black metal, adding vibrancy to a scene born of minimalism. The last fifteen years have seen acoustic-laden acts like Agalloch and Panopticon transcend the genre with atmospheric forestscapes that owe a great deal to the Grandpa’s guitar. This evolution lit a new path through the early darkness of winter and allowed Netherbird to find fresh inspiration later in their career.” Evolve or die.

T.O.M.B. – Fury Nocturnus Review

T.O.M.B. – Fury Nocturnus Review

“Makers of what they have referred to as “shadowy,” “blackened,” and “industrial” noise, T.O.M.B. ask in their own language of exploding synthesizers what would happen if, instead of making music haunted and cinematic, someone collected everything haunted and cinematic about metal and made it musical. Literally, this is a group that has crafted an entire album from samples recorded at famous insane asylums, and here on their newest release, Fury Nocturnus, they do their best to convince listeners they have found an even spookier space.” An experiment in terror?

Uburen – Fra Doden Fodes Liv review

Uburen – Fra Doden Fodes Liv review

“Listening to Enslaved, Deathspell Omega, or Immortal now makes it obvious that an evil tone and master is something you can achieve without sacrificing sound quality. A dynamic production suited for black metal can actually increase and enhance the inherent unease of the genre. Yet, there are still persevering atavists like Uburen, whose primary goal seems to be emulating the aural mutilation of Norway ca 1993.” Behold the Tree of Strife.

Urfaust – Empty Space Meditation Review

Urfaust – Empty Space Meditation Review

“‘…the universe is a flaw in the purity of non-being.’ It’s this thought by French poet and philosopher Paul Valéry that sprung into my mind while listening and re-listening to the latest record by Dutch ambient black metal duo Urfaust. Their style was always born out of a sense of desolation and isolation, a tribute to emptiness, owing equally to dark ambient and metal.” Of being and ambience.

Vornth – Black Pyres Review

Vornth – Black Pyres Review

“Formed in 2000, this quartet mulled about in obscurity for years, releasing only a demo and an EP before their self-titled debut in 2013. Sophomore LP Black Pyres shows these thrashers continuing to cook up Destruction riffs filtered through the blackened savagery of fellow Swedes Nifelheim.” File under: The Revenge of Black Phillip.

Anaal Nathrakh – The Whole of the Law Review

Anaal Nathrakh – The Whole of the Law Review

“If there are any bands out there that I can safely claim to have a major allegiance to, it would certainly be England’s Anaal Nathrakh. Maybe it’s because their magic blend of black metal, industrialized noise, grindcore, and even some power metal elements strike a nerve like few other bands do. Or perhaps it’s because, whenever you hear people talk ill about really any type of metal (kill your mother, rape your dog, etc.), chances are the music that Anaal Nathrakh spawns are the exact sounds these people actively imagine in their heads.” Lock up your mothers, lock up your dogs.