We cleaned the Filter back in March, but it’s taken a while to process the objects we pulled from the webbing. We apologize for the crud.
Blackened Death Metal
Burial Hordes – Ruins Review
“Burial Hordes seems to be familiar with me, and also with you… and for some reason, they hate us both. The band has been releasing blackened death metal at odd intervals since 2001, living in the shadow of the members’ estimable other gigs. With Ruins, Burial Hordes makes their claim on the spotlight. Are you willing to expose yourself to what Burial Hordes has been up to for the past two decades… and how the fuck have we all stayed safe from this unit since the turn of the century?” Sinister plots available in your area!
Ǥứŕū – Nova Lvx Review
“Just as the painting focuses on a spectrum of blacks, earth tones, and distortion, so Ǥứŕū does with their fusion of black metal and doom metal. Expect the typical unholy blackened trinity of shrieks, tremolo, and blastbeats, alongside the dramatic and full-bodied baritone and thicker tone of doom.” Painting with tar.
Vortex – The Future Remains in Oblivion Review
“There are three schools of symphonic extreme metal, generally speaking. You have neoclassical material, which aims to recreate the lush and delicate intricacies of classical music of a bygone era reinvigorated by a metallic influence. Then, there’s the cinematic blockbuster approach, where choirs and orchestral hits function as a source of grandiose drama and explosive scale. Finally, you have the oddball works of mad scientists who use orchestration as a tool primarily to create strange and uncomfortable music. Vortex fall under the second category.” A night at the Vortex.
Thulcandra – Hail the Abyss Review
“A confluence of circumstances made this review an eon late. Napalm sent us a late stream, and none of my lazy co-writers checked if we’d gotten a promo until I did so last week. But I was happy to save the day, as usual. Germany’s Thulcandra has been freezing up a melodic blackened death storm since 2003, and their past work earned high marks from the Ape Himself, but we’ve mysteriously missed their last twelve years of material.” Ressection.
Nexorum – Tongue of Thorns Review
“Death Unchained should’ve gotten the full Things You Might Have Missed treatment from me back in 2020. Nexorum’s relatively quietly released debut was a massive tour de force of unstoppable riffs, the likes of which complemented perfectly those of Vredehammer’s similarly massive Viperous, released that same year. To add insult to injury, I snubbed both of those awesome records from proper placement on my Top 10. Make no mistake, Death Unchained is an unqualified triumph of blackened death metal with some of the best riffs I’ve heard in the genre ever, and it never relents. Needless to say, I anxiously awaited the follow-up, Tongue of Thorns, to see how it stacked against the Norwegians’ inhuman opening salvo.” Every pose has its thorns.
Interview with: Noise of Kanonenfieber, Leiþa and Non Est Deus
“One gloomy evening in early April, I sat down for a Zoom call with German black metal machine, Noise, the mysterious creative mind behind Kanonenfieber, Leiþa and Non Est Deus. As something of a fanboy—Kanonenfieber’s outstanding Menschenmühle was my 2021 Album of the Year and this year’s Leiþa scored ROTM for January—it would be fair to say I was excited.” Noise exposure.
Atemporal – Thorn Genesis Review
“A project of Sebastian Montesi of Auroch, Egregore, and Mitochrondrion, Atemporal offers death/black insanity with Thorn Genesis. Featuring homage to the blasphemous Scandinavian greats, twisted Lovecraftian apathy, and blazing death heft in equal and lethal doses, expect dissonance and intensity at every blind turn.” Atemporal parking only.
VoidCeremony – Threads of Unknowing Review
“The ghost of Kronos past summarized on the previous word count abusing outing Entropic Reflections Continuum: Dimensional Unravel that “the parts are all there, but they’re not strung together in a sensible way.” So the real question for VoidCeremony is what’s changed? Certainly, it’s not the adherence to the progressive death metal laid out by our forefathers of late Death, Domination-era Morbid Angel, or Pestilence—though the production here is spacious yet modern, but the sound is as dusty and indulgent as you would assume.” When you noodle into the void…
Whore of Bethlehem – Ritual of Homicide Review
“”Incendiary” is a good word to describe Whore of Bethlehem. I was introduced to the Austin act with sophomore effort Extinguish the Light, which was intense and burning for its time – same with its follow-up. Whether it be the moniker or album title, the cover art, or the fire that the quintet injects into its sound, Ritual of Homicide is incendiary. Fiery blackened death accomplished through the relentless gaze of brutal death, its intensity cannot be understated.” Whores d’oeuvres.
