Black Metal

Vrtra – My Bones Hold a Stillness Review

By El Cuervo on August 28, 2016 in 2016, American Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Sentient Ruin Laboratories, Black Metal, Doom Metal, 32 comments

“There’s something about Vrtra that screams ‘the trve vndergrovnd.’ Maybe it’s the wholly capitalized stylization. Maybe it’s the ambiguous ‘V.’ Maybe it’s the dark artwork with wispy flecks of gray. Maybe it’s their sub-400 followers on Facebook. Maybe it’s that they play one of the least common fusions of metal genres. It’s definitely not their hometown(s) however, as they partly hail from the Bay Area, a home rooted in metal history. Yet thrash they reject: instead, My Bones Hold a Stillness is their debut attempt at encapsulating the towering stature of doom with blackened ferocity.” Maybe it’s that snazzy and indecipherable logo….

King – Reclaim the Darkness Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on August 26, 2016 in 2016, Australian Metal, Black Metal, Indie Recordings, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 48 comments

“The best way to describe King is by taking Amon Amarth, Onheil, and Gormathon, and blackening them with the likes of Dissection and Satyricon.” Hail to the King, baby.

Inquisition – Bloodshed Across the Empyrean Altar Beyond the Celestial Zenith Review

By Angry Metal Guy on August 26, 2016 in 2016, American Metal, Black Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Black Metal, 70 comments

This post was removed due to Dagon’s involvement in a number of explicitly Nazi projects and events. If you were unaware of this, now you know. Armed with that information, I encourage you to not support Inquisition or any Nazi band. The reason this is important is because financial support for Neo-Nazi groups often comes via the white power punk and metal music scenes and, therefore, cutting off financial support to these bands may be a meaningful way to counteract the ability to organize.

Imperium Dekadenz – Dis Manibvs Review

By Grymm on August 23, 2016 in 2016, Black Metal, German Metal, Reviews, Season of Mist, Black Metal, 100 comments

“There’s some saying we Westerners adopted about having too many cooks in a kitchen spoiling the meal. For the most part, it’s accurate. As we’ve seen with duos such as Godflesh and Anaal Nathrakh, it does take two to make a thing go right. German black metallers Imperium Dekadenz are another duo who’ve been at it since 2004, with multi-instrumentalists Horaz and Vespasian holding firm the entire time.” But what happens when they add a little Deafness to the mix?

Twilight Fauna – Fire of the Spirit Review

By Treble Yell on August 15, 2016 in 2016, American Metal, Black Metal, Folk Metal, Ravenwood Recordings, Reviews, Black Metal, Folk Metal, 15 comments

“It’s not enough for new album releases these days to crow that they’re the work of a single person. The novelty of a sole individual stitching together a trove of instruments and producing a handcrafted, free-range, conflict-free album has long since worn off. There needs to be more – some sort of hook to separate itself from the horde of other releases jockeying to gnaw at our aural pleasure centers. With a concept built around snake handling, Fire of the Spirit is the latest release by Paul Ravenwood, whose band Twilight Fauna is described as “a blackened-folk solo project devoted to telling the often forgotten stories of the Appalachian Mountains.”” Mountain folk don’t like no outsiders intrudin’.

Unbegotten – Proem of the Unborn Review

By Madam X on August 13, 2016 in 2016, Black Metal, Forever Plagued Records, Reviews, Spanish Metal, Black Metal, 20 comments

“The phrase “Spain is different!” seems to roll off the tongue of many a Spaniard. And rightly so; as a country its culture, cuisine and even the architecture, are markedly recognizable in flavor, style, look and feel. So how does that relate to Unbegotten’s debut release Proem of the Unborn? Have these mutinous Spaniards turned against their Spanish roots? Or have they perhaps added a little Flamenco or maybe some Latin pizzazz to their black metal offering?” Spain’s Unbegotten isn’t that different after all…

Marsh Dweller – The Weight of Sunlight Review

By Mark Z. on August 8, 2016 in 2016, American Metal, Black Metal, Eihwaz Records, Folk Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Folk Metal, 19 comments

“Having recently relocated from South Carolina (a.k.a. The Land of Eternal Swampass), the name Marsh Dweller immediately piqued my interest when I saw it on our promo list. I always seem to find myself applying band and album names in stupidly personal ways, and a moniker like that reminded me of the long nighttime walks I used to take through a nearby salt marsh while listening to Baroness and picking my underwear out of my asscrack.” This too, shall ass.

Concert Review: Plebeian Grandstand, Pyrrhon, and Air Raid at the Livewire Lounge, Chicago, Illinois – August 3rd, 2016

By Kronos on August 6, 2016 in 2016, American Metal, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Blog Posts, Death Metal, French Metal, Live Reviews, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, 23 comments

“The always well-attended Summer Slaughter tour came to Chicago one cloudy Wednesday night, with a packed lineup of death metal giants. Nile, Suffocation, Revocation, and headliners Cannibal Corpse played to a packed and pickled pit until the wee hours of the morning, and few prevailed without injury. Truly, it was a night to be remembered. At least, I assume that happened. I elected to skip the megatour (and probably the best pit Chicago will see all year) and head just a few miles further up Milwaukee avenue to see the most Kronos-approved bill that will ever come to be; the tour to end all tours. Plebeain Grandstand. Pyrrhon. The trvest of the trve had gathered.” The night Chicago was trve.

Spire – Entropy Review

By Madam X on August 5, 2016 in 2016, Ambient Metal, Australian Metal, Black Metal, Iron Bonehead Productions, Reviews, Ambient Metal, Black Metal, 9 comments

“Believe it or not the life of a music reviewer is not as glamorous as one would think. Yes, from time to time you’re invited to the likes of Thor’s Rock Opera in some trendy part of New York City, you’re jet-setting off to Chicago with tickets to Alehorn of Power IX, or you’re the first to get your grubby mitts on Swallow the Sun’s new triple album. Outside of those jaw-dropping moments though, reviewing consists of picking some unknown band/album off the promo sheet with your fingers tightly crossed hoping that what’s going to burst out of your monitors isn’t going to suck monkey balls. Aussie ambient/black metallers, Spire, was one of those random, finger-crossing, hope-for-the-best-expect-the-worst moments.” Sometimes you win and sometimes….

Vukari – Divination Review

By Akerblogger on July 28, 2016 in 2016, American Metal, Bindrune Recordings, Black Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 19 comments

“Atmospheric black metal. Some run to the hills, disgusted by the label, while others embrace it with an incredible fervor, an addict in desperate need of his next fix. Part of the beauty, or tedium, of the ‘atmospheric’ label is its elusiveness. Ranging from one-man bedroom-studio synth-heavy releases to six-piece major-label indie-black-digeridoo extravaganzas and everything in between, I never really know what freakish concoction awaits.” Life is like a box of kvlt chocolates.