Greek Metal

Black Soul Horde – Horrors from the Void Review

By Steel Druhm on November 9, 2021 in Reviews, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, 99 comments

“So you just endured a long, soul-killing week of nonstop 4.0s at the AMG Forced Labor Emporium and need to get away from a certain cadre of overrating hack reviewers. You get home, kick off the war boots, seize a large tankard of ale, a larger goblet of hobo wine, and sit down for a relaxed sampling of Black Soul Horde’s latest platter of epic/trve sword-worship, Horrors from the Void. And what happens? You get unexpectedly tentacle smacked across the face, chest, and ham hocks by slimy Lovecraftian horrors from beyond space and time.” Tendril innsmouth disease.

Mystras – Empires Vanquished and Dismantled Review

By Carcharodon on November 5, 2021 in Reviews, Black Metal, Folk, 63 comments

“When Mystras’ first outing, Castles Conquered and Reclaimed, dropped last year I expressed some surprise that Ayloss had the capacity to write and release another record, alongside the epic Spectral Lore and Mare Cognitum split, never mind something of the scope of Mystras. Castles paired raw, harsh black metal with traditional medieval folk to offer a scathing and emotive assessment of the poverty, oppression and injustice suffered by medieval European peasants and the sacrifices made to fight back. Scroll forward a year and Mystras is back with their sophomore effort.” Unfathomable productivity.

Ember Sun – On Earth and Heaven Review

By Grymm on October 27, 2021 in Reviews, Funeral Doom, 26 comments

“Here at Angry Metal Guy and His Amazing Super-Friends, we’ve all seen our fair share of one-person black metal. Seemingly every January, they all come out of their cocoons, sprout wings, and greet us all en-masse like the loveliest and most rewarding of locust swarms. But one-person funeral doom? Now that’s a treasured rarity, and not something that makes its presence known or felt all that often, if ever. And yet Lorthar, former guitarist for Greek black metallers Order of the Ebon Hand, felt that his prior band didn’t quite satisfy his needs, so he ventured off on his own to form Ember Sun, handling all duties and offering us On Earth and Heaven. Enter sad man.

Winter Eternal – Land of Darkness

By El Cuervo on June 9, 2021 in Reviews, Melodic Black Metal, 25 comments

“Greek black metal is a well-established scene in one of metal’s most extreme subgenres, and for me personally, none more so than Winter Eternal. Although they may have relocated from Attica to Scotland, I’m still happy to bundle 2019’s Realm of the Bleeding Shadows with that enclave given its excellence. It was a low-key release which now sits in my top 5 melodic black metal records of the 2010s. Its key qualities include its crisp tone, strong melodies and brevity which it wrapped into a compelling package which almost seems over before it’s begun. Clearly the band was unhappy with just realms, so they’re now branching out into a Land of Darkness. Is this a land you should visit?” Dark tourism.

Illusory – Crimson Wreath Review

By GardensTale on May 25, 2021 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Thrash Metal, 11 comments

“Oh boy. There’s a crying child on the cover. If there’s one thing I’ve learned when it comes to metal covers, it’s that a crying child on the cover means serious business. Because really, who grabs an album with a weeping toddler off the shelf to liven up a party? Sociopaths, that’s who! So, after this introduction to my grab bag result of the week, what kind of seriousness is this Illusory? Well, the band’s been around for almost 30 years, but until less than a decade ago it was still known as The Ivory Tower and released a whole one album.” In a time-out.

Spectral Lore – Ετερόφωτος Review

By Doom_et_Al on April 21, 2021 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, Drone, 44 comments

“It’s no secret that I was a huge admirer of the 2020 Spectral Lore / Mare Cognitum split, Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine. Like an elaborate dance, the ethereal material from Spectral Lore waltzed perfectly with the more grounded, riff-driven focus of Mare Cognitum. I was fascinated to see how each band would follow this with their respective solo albums. Mare Cognitum clearly incorporated the introspective, mournful influence of Spectral Lore to great effect on Solar Paroxysm. The question was how Spectral Lore mastermind, the Greek Ayloss, would approach his latest collection, Ετερόφωτος.” Tales from the basement (sub-floor lore).

Acid Mammoth – Caravan Review

By Kenstrosity on March 2, 2021 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Stoner Metal, 41 comments

“Stoner doom. Cool, now that two-thirds of the readers have scurried away, let’s get down to brass tacks. This genre is fucking plagued. To find prime specimens in this genre is a rare feat indeed, and as I write this I realize even I only have one or two, maybe three records to offer as modern examples of such. Everything else sounds like a litter of indistinguishable duplicates to me. Greek quartet Acid Mammoth should be able to break that mold, though, right? First of all, they’ve got one of the best metal logos in recent times. Second of all, they occupy the darker side of the stoner doom spectrum.” Diamonds and tusk.

Caedes Cruenta – Of Ritual Necrophagia and Mysterious Ghoul Cults Review

By Dear Hollow on February 16, 2021 in Reviews, Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 15 comments

“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure where the line between black metal and blackened death lies. There’re folks who are entirely justified for crying “DEATH” when you add some bass to the mix, but others will be completely in the right to scold them for hopping a little too hard. Since groups like Belphegor and Marduk have blurred the lines with their bottom-heavy yet grim AF aesthetics, it’s a horde of near or far-sighted folks blurring everything.” Ghouls night ovt.

Yoth Iria – As The Flame Withers Review

By GardensTale on January 29, 2021 in Reviews, Melodic Black Metal, 53 comments

“The debut of a band formed by seasoned veterans is, in a way, the best of both worlds. You get the fresh perspective of a new artist, eager to try something different, without the inexperience that may lead to errors in performances or songwriting. You also get all the good of a collection of artists who know what they’re doing, without the expectations that come with extensive back catalogs, hard-earned fan bases and established styles. Yoth Iria is one such acts, and As The Flame Withers is such a debut.” New black is the new black.

Need – Norchestrion: A Song for the End Review

By sentynel on January 12, 2021 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, 52 comments

“Need’s previous record Hegaiamas: A Song for Freedom was one of my favorites of 2017. Apparently I’m not alone, as I had to fight Huck
off to review this one. As the album titles imply, Greece’s Need play pretty prototypical pretentious prog, in the vein of Mountain-era Haken and bits of Symphony X. As the tussle over reviewing it implies, they’re also really good at it,” Needful songs.