Black Metal

Vinterbris – Solace Review

By Roquentin on August 18, 2014 in 2014, Black Metal, Nordavind Records, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 5 comments

“Melodic black metal isn’t exactly a style that’s being extensively explored nor are its boundaries being pushed nowadays. Most of the bands that play this kind of music embrace their heritage and the stylistic elements that have been set in stone ages ago by the likes of Dissection and Naglfar. So where does the Norwegian quartet Vinterbris, formed in Bergen in 2010, stand with its second release Solace, and does it break any of the established patterns?” We’re late to the party on this one and it’s certainly jumped on the hype train, but does it really walk the walk? Probationary writer Roquentin opines.

Sacrocurse – Unholier Master Review

By Saunders on August 17, 2014 in 2014, Black Metal, Death Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Mexican Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 0 comments

“Following a stint on highly respected underground metal label Iron Bonehead productions for the release of their Sulphur Blessing demo, Mexican/Turkish duo Sacrocurse have fittingly landed on the Hells Headbangers roster for their debut full length, entitled Unholier Master. Band members LZ (drums) and Zolrak Montes (guitars, vocals), the latter a member of long running Texan act Nodens, craft a suitably primal slab of bestial blackened death, wielding their respective instruments like crude and primitive weapons of war as they hack and hammer through ten violent cuts in an appropriately concise 32-minute running time.” Metal Rule #346: You aren’t extreme unless you have “sacro” in your band name. New probationary scribe L. Saunders reports on how the proper prefix helped these Mexican metallers in their quest for brutal conquest.

Force of Darkness – Absolute Verb of Chaos and Darkness Review

By Jean-Luc Ricard on August 17, 2014 in 2014, Black Metal, Chilean Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Reviews, Black Metal, Thrash Metal, 9 comments

“With spikes, skulls and Sarcophago as my top 3 interests on ChristianMingle.com, I was surprised I hadn’t already heard of Force of Darkness. Formed in 2002, this Chilean trio released a self-titled debut in 2006 and a second LP Darkness Revelation in 2010. I was somewhat familiar with bassist/vocalist Nabucodonosor III’s other band Hades Archer, whom I had discovered via the standard method of searching for naughty words on metal-archives.org, thus stumbling on their 2008 EP Penis Metal. As EPs go it was fairly average in both length and quality.” Two things we love at AMG are penis jokes and bad ESL album titles. Enjoy of deep verb.

Principality of Hell – Fire and Brimstone Review

By Mark Z. on August 15, 2014 in 2014, Black Metal, Greek Metal, Reviews, Thrash Metal, W.T.C. Productions, Black Metal, Thrash Metal, 6 comments

“Metal is an inherently backward-looking style. For every band that’s pushing the envelope and driving things in new directions (see Fallujah’s stellar attempt at so-called ‘deathgaze’ on their newest), there are two or three proudly waving the tattered flag of the old-school, seeking to recreate the glory of the genre’s innovators. Enter Principality of Hell, a Greek trio formed last year by veterans of other Greek acts Thou Art Lord, Necromantia and Ravencult. They specialize in black-thrash – not the modern kind exemplified by Nocturnal Graves and the like, but the classic variety that hearkens back to when the two genres were first emerging through common ancestors like Venom, Celtic Frost and Bathory.” These Greek black thrashers want to take you back to the 80s in a DeLorean. Don’t forget your Walkman™.

Midnight – No Mercy for Mayhem Review

By Al Kikuras on August 7, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Black Metal, Hells Headbangers Records, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Black Metal, Thrash Metal, 13 comments

“Punk and black/death metal are closer brethren than one might think. Obviously, punk’s influence on metal is undeniable, but when a band like Cleveland’s Midnight comes along and seamlessly mashes both styles together, it becomes even more evident how the different genres are all branches of the same tree. There are also some strong elements of NWOBHM, thrash, crust… I can go on and on, but what Midnight really hammers home is that when you throw them into a big pile, light it on fire, and piss on it, besides that horrible acrid cloud of pissmist, you get what can best be described as rock and roll.” This album has charisma AND pissmist. You can’t beat that for a dollar!

Empire Auriga – Ascending the Solarthrone Review

By El Cuervo on August 5, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Black Metal, Moribund Records, Reviews, Black Metal, 4 comments

“A curious thing occurred while listening to Ascending the Solarthrone for the first time. I was commuting into the city, a monotonous, cramped experience at the best of times, when we were informed by the disturbingly enthusiastic guard that someone had committed suicide on the tracks. I was already noting the record for its depressive and desolate atmosphere, and in that moment, the feeling it produced was quite extraordinary.” Another double secret probationary writer joins the fray as El Cuervo reviews some bleak black metal. It’s getting like a goddamn frat house around the AMG offices!

Bölzer – Soma Review

By JF Williams on August 2, 2014 in 2014, Black Metal, Death Metal, Iron Bonehead Productions, Reviews, Swiss Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, 2 comments

“Bölzer know that time is precious and quality cheap in today’s oversaturated music climate. Armed with three songs clocking in at about 23 minutes, the Swiss duo more than charmed the metal community and earned themselves a slot right at the forefront of extreme metal hopefuls dwelling in the underground with their 2013 EP, Aura. Bölzer is back and JF Williams is back with them.

Gnosis of the Witch – Dauðr Burðr Þrysvar EP Review

By Grymm on July 31, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Black Metal, Iron Bonehead Productions, Black Metal, 0 comments

“The summer of 2014 is quickly becoming the Summer of American Black Metal. Between stellar releases from Panopticon, Wolvhammer, and Wolves in the Throne Room, the Land of the Free has been churning out some primo, top-shelf Grade A Black(ened) Angus. Brand-spankin’-new two-piece Gnosis of the Witch are tossing both of their hats into the fiery pits with their second EP (and first for Iron Bonehead Productions), the easy-to-pronounce Dauðr Burðr Þrysvar. Will you be lost in their Thursian black charm, or will there be some work to be done to enslave you to the darkened grasp of Ginnungagap?” American black metal, like Elvis, is everywhere.

Belphegor – Conjuring the Dead Review

By Steel Druhm on July 30, 2014 in 2014, Austrian Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Nuclear Blast, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, 16 comments

“Hey look, everybody’s favorite necromantically inclined, goat bondage enthusiasts are back from the latex boutique to unleash another wave of blackened death on the tied and naked masses. Austria’s Belphegor are one of the leading voices in mega-extreme music and 2011s Blood Magick Necromance left quiet an impression on my steely cranium, ending up one of my best albums of the year. While these fetish freaks don’t do anything all that different from contemporaries like Behemoth, their simple, utterly savage blend of Morbid Angel pummeling and Marduk like blitzkrieging blackness really resonates with me in a way even the Polish Demigods do not.” Steel doesn’t always listen to blackened death, but when he does, he prefers Belphegor.

Panopticon – Roads to the North Review

By JF Williams on July 29, 2014 in 2014, American Metal, Black Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Progressive Metal, 12 comments

“With 2012’s Kentucky, Panopticon became among the most interesting black metal projects operating in the U.S. Unlike many USBM lynchpins that stubbornly ape the sound and ethos of their Scandinavian influences, Austin Lunn’s one-man black metal project took a full-fledged approach to the genre as tied to his own home and hearth of Kentucky as that of his Scandinavian forefathers. For those out of the loop, the result was an ambitious, politically-charged concept album centered around Kentucky’s blood-soaked history of coal mining, soundtracked by an unprecedented mix of black metal and bluegrass music.” Black metal and bluegrass sounds as good a mix as peanut butter and mayonnaise, but hey, you gotta try it to know!