Gorgoroth

Denouncement Pyre – Almighty Arcanum Album Review

Denouncement Pyre – Almighty Arcanum Album Review

Don’t lie to me – you know that you absolutely adore fast-paced black metal. Who doesn’t? What’s not to love? Exhilarating, evil and when done right, it’s just about infinitely enjoyable. Highly distorted, often dissonant riffs, pounding drums with snares that sound like machine guns, rasps that sound like the vocalist swallowed a naga chilli that only made it half way down his throat, the many pleasures it can contain thrill and frighten. Throw a small helping of death metal riffage into the mix, perhaps even some speed metal and you have Denouncement Pyre. If you’re not excited by that description, or already buying it, you’ll probably remain unconvinced and should close this tab and go back to your knitting or whatever it is you do when you should instead listening to black metal. Did I mention black metal is great? Let me say it again – it’s great, and so is Denouncement Pyre.

Nidingr – Wolf Father Review

Nidingr – Wolf Father Review

When I got this disc last year via Jester Records I missed it. I don’t know why it got shuffled off to the side, or what happened exactly, but for some reason it just didn’t get done in time. In any case, I just recently got wind that they’re readying for the US release so I figured I’d break out the Internet-pen and have at a review of this super group’s (Line-up: bass and guitars: Teloch [1349, Gorgoroth, Ov Hell, Orcustus, Umoral, Konsortium]; bass and guitars (again): Blargh [Gravferd, Dødheimsgard]; vocals: Cpt. Estrella Grasa [Kort Prosess]; and drums: Hellhammer [Immortal, Shining, Thorns, Umoral, Mayhem, Winds, Arcturus]) stab at reclaiming Norwegian black metal glory.

Ov Hell – The Underworld Regime Review

Ov Hell – The Underworld Regime Review

The Gorgoroth debacle over the last couple of years has definitely left me very confused. See, I thought it was King (ov Hell) who was doing the majority of the writing on the later Gorgoroth stuff, which was some of the best, most extreme and interesting black metal that was going on over the last few years (that wasn’t deep, deep underground). Since Twilight of the Idols, Gorgoroth had a total monopoly on black metal extremity and just plain fucking evil. When QPAST was released, it was clear that it was not that modern Gorgoroth anymore and so I assumed that God Seed, and then after that fell apart, Ov Hell would be the thing that continued on the path that Gorgoroth had taken. The left hand path, if you will allow me such blatant silliness.

The Flow Chart O’ Heavy Metal Names

The Flow Chart O’ Heavy Metal Names

Angry Metal Girlfriend found this blog with a really very amusing flowchart of Heavy Metal band names. It was obvious to me from the getgo that this person was not, in fact, a real fan of metal because they missed the ever important Names Taken from Lord of the Rings section (see: Gorgoroth, Burzum, Amon Amarth, Amon Din, Crebain, Isengard and so on and so forth), but it is, in and of itself, a very excellent flowchart which demonstrates just how awesome metal naming conventions really are. Also, complete with inverted pentagram. (Cick the picture below to get it to open in a new tab/window.)

Gorgoroth – Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt Review

Gorgoroth – Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt Review

Gorgoroth is almost more infamous than famous these days. Known for the extremity of its members, its outrageous and genuinely evil and offensive stage shows and, most recently, its law suit, the band has gained the respect of the black metal scene in recent years for moving ahead of the pack with a calculated but extremely raw sound. 2003’s Twilight of the Idols and the band’s 2006 release Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam had seen the band slipping from the hands of the former primary writer into the hands of King ov Hell. With that, the sound of Gorgoroth became far more aggressive, blasty and chaotic. Of course, with the split, Gorgoroth reverted to Infernus who wasted no time in producing a new ode to Satan: Quantos Possunt Ad Satanitatem Trahunt.

Ov Hell

Ov Hell

The big news from Indie Records that I received in my inbox today was that Shagrath (Dimmu Borgir) and King (ex-Gorgoroth, ex-God Seed) are forming a new black metal band called Ov Hell. Some of you will have read how I feel about the word “ov” before and now I feel like I have a […]