“It’s early in June, and last night we had the heating on. The wind was howling through the trees, rain battered against the window, and I sat shivering under my duvet, mourning for the summer. Few bands could provide such a suitable soundtrack as Deuil.” Ha ha, he has a duvet. That’s not metal!
This post has been removed because it promoted Nazi or Nazi-adjacent metal bands or musicians. We apologize.
“When it comes to selecting albums to review, I rely on a tried-and-mostly-tr00 method of meticulous selection that’s been proven to garner conversations around water bubblers and soda machines the world over: I sometimes randomly just pick shit from a list and think, “Okay, that’s cool. Let’s give that a shot.” Behold, today’s selection is Iceland’s Dynfari.” In the game of chance, you win some and you lose some. Are the odds in Grymm’s favor this time around?
“The way the English media tends to hype up their musicians is simultaneously cute and annoying. Whether it’s an indie rock group or, in this case, a black metal act, they never fail to hail almost every other band as “the next big thing.” Manchester’s black-metal-meets-paganism-and-folk quartet Winterfylleth had the luck (or misfortune) of being one such band.” What’s wrong with some homer press love for local bands? The overhyping, that’s what!
“For a Ukrainian black metal band writing in their native tongue, deriving their name and lyrical themes from distant mountains and rivers of which I’m unaware, Stryvigor is remarkably accessible. Forgotten by Ages, their debut album, is atmospheric black metal laced with memorable riffs, clearly influenced by fellow compatriots such as Drudkh and Khors. It’s like being set upon by distant mountain wolves while the stars twinkle overhead. Though its accessibility undercuts its kvlt black metal origins, there is no denying these Ukrainians charmed me with this ode to their native Carpathian mountains, brimming with beautiful synths and hooky guitar lines.” Who doesn’t love some good Ukrainian black metal about mountains and wolves?
“Babylonian mythology has provided inspiration for a good few metal band names – Marduk, Tiamat, Absu, erm, Ereshkigal (cheers Wiki) and of course the subject of today’s scrutiny. Blood of Kingu kicked off in 2005 after the dissolution of Hate Forest, and contains the former members of that black metal entity along with two of their colleagues from Ukrainian nature-worshippers Drudkh. Debut album De Occulta Philosophia sounded just as you would expect given this pedigree, with the added novelty of throat singing. Sophomore Sun in the House of the Scorpion brought back metal growls to complement the glottal chants while improving on the songwriting and adding variety. Would they continue this upward trajectory on latest album Dark Star on the Right Horn of the Crescent Moon?” Bablyon isn’t just a town on Long Island, you know!
“You never know when the winds of inspiration will go wafting through your soul like a favorite home-cooked meal. People will spend a good long time hammering out songs, putting hammer to anvil, cooling them off for a short time before honing them to perfection, and presenting their bared souls to the festering masses. Unless you are uber-prolific like Ukraine’s Zgard and release album after album, and I mean “four albums and one split in two years” prolific. And now, mastermind Yaromisl has unleashed Contemplation upon us.” The Ukraine may be in upheaval, but you can still count on Zgard’s productivity.
“It’s 2014, and bog standard black metal is alive and well! The Italian group Profezia (“masters of high drama”, if the promo hype is to be believed) play a kind of Burzum-esque minimalist black metal. Oracolo Suicida is their third full-length originally released late last year, but is now seeing release in the states through the grimmest of long-running black metal labels, Moribund Records. I probably don’t need to tell you that Profezia lives up to its promise of offering cold, grim black metal done in the old way, and for many, that will be good enough. But for those looking for a little more than “Old English font” black metal, a litany of concerns arise for Oracolo Suicida.” Please observe silence as JF williams begins the reading of the litany.
Steel Druhm is a big fan of Khors (the band, not the watery, unbeer-like beer) and their melodic black metal. He’s especially taken with their Return to Abandoned opus. Find out how the new album stacks up and if he’ll need a stronger brew to wash it down.
Happy Metal Guy makes all reviews a treat! ‘Cause he’s just so happy. Here he is reviewing a black metal record from a French band Aldaaron.
