“Reign of the Odious is the debut album from Musmahhu, a one-man metal project helmed by a man known only as Swartadauþuz. Reign of the Odious integrated itself perfectly into my mood playlist, however, and made for a chaotic emotional outlet.” Feelz the pain.
“Portuguese black metal had a bumper year in 2018 simply by virtue of the release of Gaerea’s debut album called Unsettling Whispers, which ranged from very good to great. It may not have made the cut for my year-end list but it’s an accomplished listen which drags various blackened scenes from the past twenty-five years into its melting pot. The prospect of further Portuguese debutantes, masquerading under the name Graves, was therefore enticing and it was with interest that I selected Liturgia da Blasfemia from the promo pool. With but a single demo under their belts this represents their first foray into the world of fully-developed releases.” Can you dig it?
“There are phrases one never expects to encounter, phrases that raise more questions than they could answer on their own. One such phrase is “free jam black metal.” It raises such pressing questions as “why,” “who,” “how does such a thing come about,” and, of course, “…why?” The Netherlands’ Eadem offers no explanations, only their art.” Art for art’s sake.
“We’ve all been there. You find a new band and everything seems great. Their riffs are sick, their songwriting is tight, and they have an ample discography for you to explore. But then, something starts smelling foul. They have a record called Incorrigible Bigotry. They have a song called ‘Hereditary Taint.’ They have a lyric that talks about a foreign warrior being ‘unable to grasp the shortcomings of his brood.’ Suddenly, it dawns on you: your new favorite band is fucking racist.” Hate lives outside the Hall.
“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.
“You’ve all heard the adage about variety and spices, right? Variety keeps things fresh and interesting. After all, if Colonel Sanders only used one herb and/or spice for his fried chicken, would it taste as lively? What am I getting at? Greece’s Embrace of Thorns dropped off their fifth album, Scorn Aesthetics, into my hot little paws. I’ve listened to this album at least five times. I’ve listened to it on my way to and from work. I’ve also lit candles, darkened my living room, and rotated the house cats for freshness and spirit-warding. What did I find?” The spice must flow!
“Once upon a time, metal acts – the early ones at least – skirted around the issue of Satanism. “Are they for real?” “Are they not?” “Can’t you just like goats and pentagrams without someone thinking of the children anymore?” But that shit curved back on itself like a funhouse mirror. In no time at all, every band, be they black, death, or retro pop, were sacrificing small animals and pilfering scented candles from their mom’s bathroom, and, in so doing, killed the shtick wholesale. Those same blasphemous symbols that once declared you were in league with Satan lost their oomph when they could be purchased on discount tee shirts at Walmart. So what are we to make of Abhor?” In a bowling league with Satan.
“Okay, stop me if you’ve heard this one before: lofty, esoteric song titles and album names, a promo picture of a single dude who looks like one of the choir guys from Batushka and goes by just his initials, and very little-to-no-internet presence at all, so looking for much information on the “band” in question, other than the fact that Adversvm is a German one-man act, is an exercise in futility… all these things would have you screaming, “Fuck, not another one-man black metal band.” And I would sympathize with you completely if it was accurate. You see, though, Adversvm is a one-man funeral doom band hoping to make a name for himself in a steadily-growing genre.” One slow man.
“Back in 2014, I reviewed Dauðr Burðr Þrysvar, a promising EP by American black metal duo Gnosis of the Witch. Even with the amount of preciousssssssing going on vocally by vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Niðafjöll, the energy and ferocity piqued my interest. Four years later, Gnosis is Gno-more, and now Niðafjöll has teamed up with Grá drummer Dimman in a headier, more atmospheric project known simply as Veiled.” No Gnosis is good Gnosis?
“I’ve often wondered about the importance of a band’s name. Would Death be as big, or produced the same groundbreaking music, if they’d named themselves Erotic Diarrhea Monster? Would Kreator have become the thrash legends they did if they instead called themselves Pee Wee’s Scrotal Shitstorm? The world may never know, but it certainly seems having a more common and accessible name puts pressure on a band to produce better music. Case in point: Antichrist, a Peruvian quartet originally formed in 2004 and later reactivated in 2012.” The Devil is in the details.
