“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.
“Today’s Angry Metal Offering is not only more doom, it’s more doom. California’s Amarok give zero fucks for your patience or your pitiful attention span, and they take over an hour to inform you of this on their debut full-length – Devoured.” Make time for crushing.
“While exploring Mudness, the curiously titled debut LP from Italian genre-benders Obsolete Theory, I thought of a lot of bands — and we’ll get to those comparisons in a moment — but more than sonic neighbors, I kept thinking about Alex Garland’s recent sci-fi/horror masterpiece, Annihilation. I found similarities not in terms of its soundtrack (although Annihilation does have a great fucking soundtrack), but rather in atmosphere and theme. Garland’s film is a grim, gorgeous examination of evolution at its most alien and unhinged; similarly, Mudness’ unpredictable, effortless genre-hopping skills, paired with its downplayed aggression in favor of a creeping sense of dread, feels unique and otherworldly.” Theory and practice.
“I’m still a believer of the album. I crave something that’s more than just a collection of songs. Sometimes I get that from the promo bin, most of the time I don’t. Unfortunately, we live in a society that prefers the random shuffle of Pandora to eight-or-ten succinct songs from the same artist. I can’t say I’ve ever put my media player on shuffle and I haven’t listened to the radio since high school. So, this is why I’m the way I am. To me, a great album is a layered cake. Each layer providing support for the next. Each layer building off the other, intensifying the flavor until the final layer is achieved. Each layer provides its own contribution to the taste but, as a whole, the cake elevates the experience and embodies the person who made it. And that’s what Craft has done here.” I was told there’d be cake.
“2018 has been a damn good year for folk-oriented black metal. Okay, quantitatively speaking, that’s not true at all; more accurately, there have been two particularly captivating releases in the new Sojourner and Vallendusk records that on their own have single-handedly carried the style in recent months. This seems more than a bit unfair to Norway’s Cor Scorpii. Formed from the ashes of Windir by drummer Steingrim and guitarist Strom (neither of whom are actually still in this band), their decade-in-the-making sophomore effort, Ruin, is relatively featureless when stacked against the current crop of folk-black trailblazers.” Folking in the ruins.
“A black metal Transcending Obscurity release with monochrome artwork: who could have ever foreseen this one falling into my velvety grasp? Portugal’s Gaerea certainly put their Muppet-est foot forward when casting Unsettling Whispers into the Angry Metal Promo Sump, and yet I was wary. Black metal is the best metal, ov course, but it’s also everywhere and lately sounding too similar to itself. Sure, a few vague details got my attention, but I’m a poseur and all the Muppet love in the world can’t make an album innovative or objectively meritorious; did I perhaps build my hopes too high only to find yet another band trying to be either Ulcerate or Agalloch?” Black metal art.
“Aeternitas are show people. The touch of a thespian graces every pocket of their off-off-off Broadway metal career. 2016’s House of Usher took a step back from their Rappacinis Tochter stage show, to a green-as-a-clover Dr. Wvrm‘s great relief. Even then, the Poe-inspired production struggled to balance theatrics, symphonics, and plain old musics. Now, the Germans ditch a single narrative for a collection of them in hopes that fifth entry Tales of the Grotesque can mend the gap between art and fart.” Community theater-core.
“…and though the word of the land was good — for blessed are they who toil as to bring glory unto Jørn — there were those that spake a word which decried all that is right and trve, and through their blasphemy bestowed they unto the land a pox which made a mockery of these things rendered unto all by our Lord’s Jørn-ness. ‘Behold!’ spake the Muppet ‘ye heathens ov Canada! Hear me, I beg! Renounce thy false idol and remove its name from thine tongues forever!'” Muppet the Revelator.
“I’m as leery of self-proclaimed supergroups as the next guy. They almost never work out. Usually, though, they at least have some humility about themselves, and claim they are not in fact a supergroup, but rather just a bunch of chaps who happen to want to make music together. Not so with The Sea Within. In fact, guitarist Roine Stolt (Transatlantic, The Flower Kings) says “Call it a supergroup if you want – I think we can handle that.” Big words!” Super group, super attitude.
“Stormwitch is the Captain America of metal music: Perpetually out of sync with the times and what’s going on around them. Heavily influenced by the NWoBHM, they released their Walpurgis Night debut in 1984 just as the style was on the wane. They switched to a more commercial style on albums like 1986s Stronger Than Heaven as the thrash explosion engulfed the world. By 1989 they were dabbling in cheesy, ballad-heavy Euro-power as extreme metal was growing in popularity and the whole scene was on the brink of near annihilation by the Seattle grunge movement. Long story short: Stormwitch put out 10 albums at the wrong time and never broke it big.” Witches, man…
