DSBM

Austere – Beneath the Threshold Review

By Dear Hollow on April 5, 2024 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 32 comments

“Austere’s third full-length, and first album in fourteen years, was one of my biggest disappointments of 2023. Corrosion of Hearts was listenable as a pleasant form of DSBM, but showcased a unique and legendary act fall into the tropes of the genre. It felt as though depressive black metal moved on while Austere stayed stuck in the past, and I’ll be the first one to admit that expectations were unfairly high for this duo. Austere on To Lay Like Old Bones is no longer – the Austere of now is more important. In many ways, this is what makes Beneath the Threshold even more crucial.” Stoic refits done real fast.

Acathexis – Immerse Review

By Kenstrosity on March 25, 2024 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 33 comments

“After the immensely affecting self-titled debut released at the end of 2018, Acathexis rapidly became one of my more closely watched new acts. A dream team of Mare Cognitum’s Jacob Buczarski (drums), Déhà (guitars, bass), and Los Males del Mundo’s Dany Tee (vocals, lyrics) comprises the talent, and melancholic black metal rife with weeping melodies and misty atmosphere makes up the content.” Super groups, man…

Skuggor – Whispers of Ancient Spells Review

By Dear Hollow on March 9, 2024 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 13 comments

“Skuggor is exactly what you expect it will sound like. Gothic font and grainy nature photo with themes of darkness, mist, and myth? You betcher ass it’s atmospheric black metal. “But I’m sure there’s something unique here, Hollow,” I can hear you say. Have you heard atmospheric black metal? You don’t listen to this shit for the neatest thing since Deftones. You listen cuz you want to be sucked into arcane and forlorn woods of ancient magic and nature untouched by human hands. I mean, duh.” Idiots.

NONE – Inevitable Review

By Carcharodon on July 10, 2023 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, 21 comments

“Were you to look up the Pacific Northwest’s NONE on Metal Archives because, you know, you wanted to find out something about them, you’d be disappointed. A picture with the faces scratched out, a list of members stated, appropriately enough, as “(none).” The promo materials from NONE’s label, Hypnotic Dirge, tell me that the band is “anonymous” and has “no social media presence.” OK, I get it, these guys aren’t in this for the fame, money, and sex. Fine.” In it for the nothingness.

Austere – Corrosion of Hearts Review

By Dear Hollow on May 13, 2023 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 9 comments

“Atmospheric black metal has long been relegated to the woods and to the peaks – to the frigid north. Neglected has been another form of desolation. While the abyss has many names, whether nature offers its lush arms of shelter or the lament of desolation can be heard across the cruel cityscapes, we think cold and bleak. When fused with the depressive and suicidal musings of life’s cruel hand, we seek shelter in ColdWorld’s snow-laden shores, smell the whiff of Silencer’s smoking gun, or indulge in Lifelover’s melodramatic puppetry. We typically don’t think desert, desiccation, or aridity; Austere does.” Sand-tyricon.

Tómarúm – Ash in Realms of Stone Icons Review

By Kenstrosity on May 2, 2022 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Progressive Metal, Technical Death Metal, 69 comments

“We as a community speak often of defining and categorizing genres, but sometimes a promo comes along that legitimately challenges those definitions. Atlanta, Georgia’s Tómarúm received a generic “black metal” tag from Prosthetic Records’ PR team, and it falls short as a descriptor for what Tómarúm play. As you’ll surely deduce after giving debut album Ash in Realms of Stone Icons even just one spin, this nascent two-piece perform forbidden alchemy with myriad metallic ores, smelting a writhing, metamorphic amalgamation. It’s that very transmogrification that not only makes this album difficult to categorize but also exciting and satisfying to experience.” Pigeon holes don’t come easy.

Unreqvited – Beautiful Ghosts Review

By Carcharodon on August 11, 2021 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, 30 comments

“Hi gang, what did I miss? Having taken July as a mini sabbatical following the arrival of a second shark pup, it’s nice to find the site still standing (no thanks to the readers or most of the staff) and to get back into the swing of things with a familiar face. Unreqvited and I go way back to my nameless_n00b days, when its third full-length album, Mosaic I: L’amour et l’ardeur, became the very first to get a 4.0 out of me. Its sequel, Mosaic II: La déteste et la détresse, failed to scale quite the same heights due to a very weak final third, which really held back an otherwise very good album. We somehow missed Unreqvited’s next full-length installment, last year’s Empathica, altogether and so we here we find ourselves, exploring love and passion on sixth outing, Beautiful Ghosts.” Ghosts or just ghosted?

NONE – Damp Chill of Life [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]

By Master of Muppets on December 8, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Black Metal, Hypnotic Dirge Records, Reviews, Things You Might Have Missed 2019, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, 33 comments

“Let’s get one thing straight from the get-go: I trvly don’t give a fuck about you, never have and never will. When I share something wonderful here, it’s because awesome Muppet is awesome, not because I want to improve your miserable lives; you deserve nothing and I hope you get less, yo. Accordingly, I write these TYMHM pieces not because *you* might have missed any gems I cover, but because *I* missed *my* chance to properly babble about them during the year.” Muppets unbound.

(DOLCH) – Feuer Review

By Grymm on November 13, 2019 in 2019, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Gothic Metal, Reviews, Van Records, Doom Metal, 16 comments

“(DOLCH) are a mysterious duo from Germany who are known for their anonymity and their ability to blend DSBM with Gothic rock, and are often compared to Dead Can Dance. So, if you want some DSBM to go with your BDSM, have at it. And now, they’ve dropped their full-length debut, Feuer, upon the masses.” DSBM = BDSM = DONT.

Vanhelga – Fredagsmys Review

By Lokasenna on July 4, 2018 in 2018, Black Metal, Osmose Productions, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Black Metal, 57 comments

“There are few genres as on-the-nose as black metal. Case in point the bunch of Swedes in Vanhelga, which means “to desecrate or profane” in Swedish. The last time these fine fellows rolled through here two albums ago, our local corpse-painted cat, Grymm, covered them, and even talked the folks upstairs into giving them a runner-up spot for RotM April 2014.” Nasal desecration.