Burzum

Murdryck – Födelsen Review

By Doom_et_Al on May 11, 2019 in 2019, Black Metal, Leviaphonic Records, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Black Metal, 23 comments

“’The first draft of almost everything you produce is shit. And the second draft is usually also shit. But you never wind up with anything worthwhile without producing those early drafts.’ A wise supervisor once told me these words, and she was right. Whether a terrified n00b trying to avoid the perils of the AMG Skull Pit, or attempting a complicated academic research paper, the early stages of anything worthwhile are often about finding your identity and your voice. That process can be messy and unglamorous, but it’s how anything great gets made.” Revise, Mutherf_ _ _ _ _!

L’Acéphale – L’Acéphale Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on May 4, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Black Metal, Eisenwald Records, Folk Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Folk Metal, 24 comments

“Twenty-nineteen has, so far, been an interesting year for metal. Not including the fact that the infamous Lords of Chaos has finally hit the big screen. And it seems to be the catalyst for some interesting current events. Events brought on by weirdos that wish they were 1) Norwegian and 2) friends with Count Grishnakh. Churches of all denominations have been going up in flames around the world and one can only wonder how far this will go. Hell, as of this writing, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris has gone up in smoke. And one can only wonder, with the nonstop success of the French scene, who is responsible.” Burning times.

10:13 – Result of an Iron Age Review

By Dear Hollow on February 14, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Black Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Black Metal, Progressive Metal, 29 comments

“I think we can all agree that the world is fucked. I was a middle school librarian for a few years and, while the majority of the population consisted of illiterate miscreants, the smarty-pants who could actually read (anything besides the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid) would always go for a dystopian/post-apocalyptic book. From the holy trinity of Hunger Games, Maze Runner, and Divergent to newer and depressing takes on the genre, I’m convinced there’s gotta be something masochistic about indulging in a future whose bleakness rests solely on human shoulders, but every few years a new book or new movie will convince us again that such a future is inevitable without serious change. This brings us to newcomer 10:13, a new instrumental black metal act from the United States, whose sole member is multi-instrumentalist Neil Carter.” In the Age of Iron, they were metal.

Dødsferd – Diseased Remnants of a Dying World Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on December 17, 2018 in 2018, Black Metal, Greek Metal, Reviews, Transcending Obscurity, Black Metal, 24 comments

“Dødsferd is one strange duck. If there was a band you could sue for false advertising, it would be this one. I still remember the shock of hearing the band’s debut, Desecrating the Spirit of Life. I mean, how did this one get by me? I thought I’d heard every ’90s Norwegian black metal gem out there. After my friend realized I wasn’t joking, he gently corrected me. ‘Dude, these guys are from Greece and this is brand new.'” Contract the disease.

Ultha – The Inextricable Wandering Review

By Akerblogger on October 8, 2018 in 2018, Black Metal, Century Media, German Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 18 comments

“As the album title suggests, Ultha play a tangled, cryptic black metal which treads many a well-worn path. What it seeks to release forth from its befuddled loins is a sense of emotional strife and confusion, a feeling many bands in this progressive black metal quagmire seek to explore.” No one likes befuddled loins.

Runespell – Order of Vengeance Review

By Lokasenna on July 14, 2018 in 2018, Australian Metal, Black Metal, Iron Bonehead Productions, Reviews, Black Metal, 35 comments

“Like most of my peers, I try to spread out my metal listening; variety being the spice of life and all that. Despite this, however, I frequently find myself short on new black metal. Instead, I return to old standbys; kvlt, traditional and the bravely exotic. Unfortunately, the promo sump is rarely a good way to fix this problem, as so few black metal bands are interested in innovating. This is particularly true at the offices of our friends at Iron Bonehead, an established where ingenuity isn’t welcome. Still, Australian studio-project Runespell’s sophomore release—Order of Vengeance—is at least less baffling than the last Australian black metal act I covered, pulling firmly from the Norwegian second wave with smatterings of other scenes and styles to keep things from growing stale.” Leftover Norway.

Trono Além Morte – O Olhar Atento de Escuridão Review

By Master of Muppets on January 16, 2018 in 2017, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Portuguese Metal, Reviews, Signal Rex, Black Metal, 82 comments

“Let me tell you something which you might already know but have most likely never heard stated directly: Master-baiting is incredibly easy. To set a Muppet trap, one only needs a handful of specific pearls to effectively get me off of one musical tangent and thrusted furiously into another. Slap the black metal tag on something, slather it in cvlt artwork and croon it to me in a foreign tongue and I’m about as sonically revved up as they come.” Muppets are cheap dates.

Taake – Kong Vinter Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on November 24, 2017 in 2017, Black Metal, Dark Essence Records, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, 65 comments

“But the ones I came back to the most were the underrated groups, like Ofermod, Svartsyn, Urgehal, and Taake. To me, this latter group has some of the best black metal ever recorded. In Taake’s case, Nattestid ser porten vid, Over Bjoergvin graater himmerik, and Hordalands doedskvad still make me dribble over my lower lip like a fucking vegetable. But, like most black metal giants, Taake’s recent material has begun to slip in quality. Their 2014 release, Stridens hus, left my throat parched and now my need for nourishment is at an all-time high. The question is: will Taake’s newest release, Kong Vinter, wet lips or will it cause them to crack and bleed?” Lip care is crucial in a frostbitten kingdom of ice.

Lustre – Still Innocence Review

By El Cuervo on November 11, 2017 in 2017, Ambient Metal, Black Metal, Nordvis Produktion, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Black Metal, 78 comments

“Sweden’s Lustre has proven divisive across the two prior releases reviewed. The first was heralded as a great atmospheric record and bestowed with a 4.0, while the second was quite the opposite and summarily handed a 1.5. I presume you’ve already skipped to the bottom for the score so I’ll address this now: my review of Still Innocence falls far closer to the second. For some reason the metal tab on Bandcamp is rammed with atmospheric black metal of this ilk so I suppose there’s an audience somewhere.” The silent majority is silent.

Grift – Arvet Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on September 8, 2017 in 2017, Black Metal, Nordvis Produktion, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Black Metal, 42 comments

“It’s the music that sends me careening through a canyon as dark as a Nick Cave soundtrack and as unique as a Sólstafir record. It has a suffocating mixture of Shining-like desperate, voice-throwing screams and cleans moodier than your grandma’s sanitarium. Coming off 2013’s Burzum-esque EP, I hoped Gärdefors would push on. I hoped for his refusal to revert back to the generic sounds of Fyra elegier. I hoped for more Syner. Well, my hopes became reality. And that reality is Arvet.” (TGIDF) Thank God It’s Depressive Friday.