Black Metal

Abyssion – Luonnon Harmonia Ja Vihreä Liekki Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on July 1, 2015 in 2015, Black Metal, Crust Punk, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Svart Records, Black Metal, Crust Punk, 15 comments

“Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: in an alternate universe where musical ideas are themselves beings, three idea-beings walk into a bar. The first one is incredibly boring and pretentious yet still quite popular, and his name is Nachtmystium P. Floyd. The second is loud and already drunk, and his name is Rattus Kaaos; upon spying him the bartender mutters “raucous Finnish punk” under his breath. The third is Ornassi Pazuzu, who categorically refuses to stop droning on about anything and everything psychedelic. The nightly cover band got food poisoning, so there was an impromptu call for music. These three all wanted to jam so went up together, played, and wondered if they should keep this gig up. They did, and now we have Abyssion.” Good bar to avoid on cover nights.

Jason W. Walton – Mara Review

By Madam X on June 29, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Black Metal, Non-Metal Metal Things, Not Metal, Red Orchard Records, Reviews, Black Metal, Non-metal Metal Things, 3 comments

“It’s exciting when you discover that a member of one of your favorite bands has a side project. It gets weird though when you realise the project’s been around and producing for going on twenty years. Between considering the merits of becoming an Agalloch roadie/fangirl back when Steel Druhm reviewed Marrow of the Spirit and later writing up my own reviews of Agalloch’s The Serpent and the Sphere and Nothing’s Guilty of Everything, I can’t help thinking I should have come across some utterance of Agalloch bassist, Jason W. Walton’s side-project, also branded Nothing.” Prepare for nightmares made audible.

I Am the Trireme – Gnosis: Never Follow the Light Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on June 26, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Black Metal, HPGD Productions, Metalcore, Reviews, Black Metal, Metalcore, 30 comments

“Electing to join the I Am the Wooden Object Club before The Table Himself even did, I Am the Trireme’s name can be described as “I am the Phoenician, ancient Greek, or Roman naval vessel with three rows of oars.” Luckily they didn’t pick that one, but in the spirit of needlessly long names, they’ve called their first full-length Gnosis: Never Follow the Light. We know right off the bat that these guys can produce pretentious sounding names for things, but that’s not what we’re here for; we’re here to see what they bring to the Hetfield musically.” We are also the table. And the oar bench.

Valdur – Pathetic Scum Review

By Madam X on June 25, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Black Metal, Bloody Mountain Records, Death Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 13 comments

“From Vardan to Valdur, the jump doesn’t seem huge from a naming perspective, but in terms of what the two bands offer, the chasm couldn’t be wider. Hailing from a small mountain town in the beating heart of the Sierra Mountains where the Death Valley desert meets Mt. Whitney, Valdur drew its first rattling breath back in 2005 with a short independently released demo. What I can tell you is that if you go all fanboy over Bathory’s The Return… then Pathetic Scum could be the return you’ve been waiting for.” American Bathory? That sounds like a great movie title.

Nekromanteion – Cosmic Horrors EP Review

By El Cuervo on June 21, 2015 in 2015, Black Metal, Death Metal, Iron Bonehead Productions, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 5 comments

“Cosmic Horrors is a raw and rudimentary 12-minute EP by Nekromanteion. A short blast of Bolivian blackened death, with a brand which doesn’t exactly squeal innovation. But that’s what some bands are for: fleshing out over-saturated genres which are in dire need of more newcomers contributing their feces to the tidal wave of metal excrement. That’s not to say that Nekromanteion is bad, but there is certainly is a lot of crap floating out there and they merely attempt to execute the bog-standard very well. Is it possible that they can rise above the murky deluge like a surfer-dude Nergal?” Come and ride the poo tide!

Thornesbreed – GTRD Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on June 20, 2015 in 2015, Art of Propaganda, Black Metal, Death Metal, German Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 11 comments

“To pilfer a phrase from the revered postmodern philosopher Christopher B. Bridges, “there’s something wrong if you can’t stand still.” If his words are to be taken at face value, Germany’s Thornesbreed must have sensed a problem in their sound. Consisting of competent but unexciting death metal, their 2003 debut The Splendour of the Repellent was followed up eight years later in 2011 by the 273.15 Degrees Below Freezing EP, which can, for the sake of expediency, be described as “Profanatica but not as good.” 2015 sees the band releasing their second full-length in the form of the enigmatically titled GTRD, marking another step in the band’s perpetual musical wanderings.” Wandering, meandering and change for change’s sake. Is that a recipe for success?

Blaze of Perdition – Near Death Revelations Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on June 16, 2015 in 2015, Agonia Records, Black Metal, Polish Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 18 comments

“Metal addresses death regularly, running the gamut from cartoonish violence to sobering reflection, but ultimately we do our best to avoid reflecting on the most pressing death in our lives: our own. The fragility of life and our ever-present drift toward death is sometimes thrust into one’s immediate vision, forcing them to confront the terrifying final frontier for every human being. Such was the case for Polish black metal band Blaze of Perdition, who were involved in a terrible road accident in 2013 which tragically took the life of bassist Ikaroz and left vocalist S. and drummer Vizun seriously injured, with the former temporarily in a coma. Near Death Revelations, the band’s third studio album, sees men who witnessed the death of a friend and faced their own put this harrowing experience to music.” Music from the tunnel of light sounds pretty interesting.

Vardan – Winter Woods Review

By Madam X on June 16, 2015 in 2015, Black Metal, Italian Metal, Moribund Records, Reviews, Black Metal, 65 comments

“There’s such a thing as too much of a good thing. Imagine if Agalloch had released Pale Folklore, The Mantle and Ashes Against the Grain over a four-month period. These are all great albums and given time, you can appreciate every glorious nuance that makes them the timeless beauties they are. But over such a condensed period, crammed together, each vying for your attention, you appreciate absolutely nothing and eventually they gather dust. This is the problem that plagues the “busiest man in black metal.”” Enjoy of deep catalog.

Total Negation – Zeitzeuge Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on June 13, 2015 in 2015, Black Metal, German Metal, Reviews, Temple of Tortorous Records, Black Metal, 6 comments

“Those that know Total Negation know that Wiedergaenger can do more than just play the drums. New release, Zeitzeuge, continues down the road of weird, depressive black metal that Wiedergaenger built; full of depression, German lyrics, oddball percussion instruments, and even some of those stringed ones.” Can the stringed ones carry these tunes above mediocrity?

Vattnet Viskar – Settler Review

By Grymm on June 11, 2015 in 2015, American Metal, Black Metal, Century Media, Post-metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Post-Metal, 40 comments

“I’m going to get this out of the way regarding Vattnet Viskar’s second album, Settler right now: that is the saddest album cover I’ve seen in my almost-two years of writing for Angry Metal Guy, and I’m not talking “OMG THEY WENT FULL DEAFHEAVEN!,” either.” But it would be very sad if they did go full Deafheaven, just to be clear.