“In his 1848 tract Human, All Too Human (Menschliches, Allzumenschliches: Ein Buch für freie Geister), Fredrich Nietzsche wrote that “hope, in reality, is the worst of all evils for it prolongs the torment of man.” So many of the bands I enjoyed as a young metal fan have demonstrated time and again just how right Nietzsche was.” Oh yeah, a double review and a Nietzsche quote? This is gonna be good.
“V, a doomy post-metal band from Sweden, released their first album Pathogenisis in 2017 and are back this year with a six-track concept album. Inspired by a short story concerning the departure from the hustle and bustle of civilization into the wild and remote Finnmark in Dalecarlia, Sweden, Led into Exile chronicles a story of the hardships of living in Finnmark, a will to be secluded from the rest of the world’s insanity, and the ultimate disappearance of one who surrendered to the siren song drifting from the taiga-belt.” Lost in the woods.
“Lacrimas Profundere has been one of my go-to sources of sadboi goth rock for a very long time. From their doom death Peaceville Three inspired days in the early aughts, to their recent string of moody goth rockers, they had a real knack for delivering the exact dose of gloomy medicine I crave, while keeping things intense enough to still be metal. It wasn’t until 2016s Hope is Here outing that the wheels came off their gravy train with an album littered with uninspiring ballads and listless soft rock. I truly wanted to like it, but was unable to connect with the material.” Blood well spent.
“Katatonia are something like my anti Pokémon: when I first discovered them, circa Viva Emptiness, I shared none of the love that the rest of the metalsphere had for the Swedes, and yet it and each subsequent album would eventually dig the band a little deeper into what’s become their home at the innermost depths of my heartcicle. Like the infamous pocket monsters ov yore, each successive Katatonia offering has introduced new defining elements to their makeup, constantly evolving and establishing distinct historical chapters in their wake. Today we revisit Tonight’s Decision, an album that bade farewell to Katatonia’s violent youthful tendencies and set them on a course for dark prog greatness.” They chose…wisely.
“I have a soft spot for things I spot in the promo bin that are self-released. I think this is probably a function of my own complete lack musical talent, which means I already hold musicians in high regard and anyone who has the drive to self-release a record is a little bit amazing to me—the downside to this foible is, of course, that there is no vetting or editing on self-released records.” Self help.
“It’s been a hot minute since I even remotely touched anything Katatonia-related. That’s not out of complete and utter disownership of a great band, mind you. I’ve just been bombarded with so much doom and black metal that keeping up with them can be a bit difficult. So when word that former members the Brothers Norrman had not only put out a new October Tide album, but also the second full-length album from their prog-rock outfit Thenighttimeproject, I figured a reacquainting/discovery mission was in order.” Night shift.
“This site has introduced me to countless gems that have captivated me and permanently improved my life in inimitable ways, yet even my most heartfelt exercises in overrating have failed to yield ‘that’ album unto me… until now. With Theia, the sophomore full-length from Austria’s Glare of the Sun, I have found completion, something that fills my Muppet void in ways that would make Ron Jeremy blush.” Sun worshiping.
“Mystical. Archaic. Melodic. Militant. Triumphant. All words that could be used to describe Greek black metal, and all reasons why albums like Macabre Omen’s Gods of War – At War and Rotting Christ’s mid-00s material hold a special place in my blackened heart. Funeral Storm aren’t technically a new name on the scene, though you’d be forgiven for never having heard of them given they’ve released virtually nothing other than a few splits since their 2002 formation.” Putting the Hell in Hellenic.
“Summer is coming slowly to New York, and it seems to rain every day lately, keeping a grey, overcast shroud over the Empire State. That means the time is as right as it will be until October for a new October Tide opus of melancholy melodeath. Album number six In Splendor Below sees Katatonia expats Fredrik and Mattias Norrman sporting a new, more illegible logo, and a bit more of a blackened edge at times, but otherwise it’s business as usual for theses purveyors of gloom. Their output still sounds like a mix of early Katatonia and Rapture, and aims to hit that downcast sadboy sweet spot.” Splendor in the sad grass.
“Those of us at not familiar with Vektor shot some great shit around the AMG office bilge warmer when we first heard that Terminal Redux was going to be 73 minutes long. A thrash album coming in at over an hour long? Don’t these wankers know that I could listen to Reign in Blood two-and-a-half times instead of their shitty album? We all know how that went down. Suffice it to say that the Reign in Blood rule can at times be violated. Yet it still surprised me when Varaha took their 47-minute-long atmospheric-goth-doom-etc. album and, in stuffing another 21 minutes of orchestral interlude tracks in, somehow improved the record.” Binge without guilt.
