“I have a unique history with Greek black metal institution Rotting Christ. As a youngin’, I was first introduced to them via (what else?) Metal Maniacs Magazine. They were hyped up as a great second-wave black metal band with interesting melodies and a unique cultural viewpoint.” The phalanx is ready to rumble once again. Release the Kraken!
In a very special Yer Metal Is Olde, Grymm explores the beautiful, unique Mandylion by The Gathering. This induction into the Yer Metal Is Olde Hall of Fame is particularly special and particularly personal.
“Ok, be honest. If I told you today’s review was for a double album that clocked in at nearly 160 minutes and consisted of atmospheric blackened doom metal, what would you say? Well, if you’ve heard of Midnight Odyssey, my guess is that you would either say, “No shit, it’s out?” or “Fuck, not them again…” If you don’t know of the band you might say, “Oh wow, I gots to hear me some of that” or “fuck that dribble.” Honesty from Honest Abe Grier, my initial thought veered to the latterest of the latters.” Have two hours to spare? Sure you do.
“I’m not much of a social media trend follower, maybe it’s a generational thing (read as I’m old) or maybe it’s because I just really couldn’t give a shit about investing time in a meaningless fad, take your pick. That said, labelling today Throwback Thursday, transporting you briefly back to the 90s and enlightening you as to the highs and lows of Withering Soul’s third and forthcoming offering, now that appeals to me.” The clones are about to attack…again.
“After ten albums (nine for those that don’t count Under Satanæ as an original release), each new Moonspell album leaves me in a state of “ummmm,” “hmmmm,” and “interesting.”” Things that make you go hmmmm, now including Moonspell!
“The Spaniards in Dantalion have been knocking around for quite some time in Iberian obscurity. Having never heard of them, it was the cover for their fifth album, Where Fear is Born that grabbed my steely eye and got me to listen, and I’m quite thankful I did. Though their older albums feature a blend of depressive black metal and melancholic doom, they abandoned the blackened aspect of their sound in favor of melodic, goth-tinged doom death, and from what I’ve heard of their older style, they’re all the better for the switch.” Don’t you just love a surprise? Steel Druhm does. He also loves arts and crafts and long walks in the woods.
“The French-Canadian province of Quebec has a rich black metal scene, and Canadian black metal label Sepulchral Productions has strung together a real gem in the form of Légendes, a four-way split EP of proud Québécois darkness. In keeping with each group’s dedication to Québécois cultural and national identity, the split unites some of the scene’s more well-known groups – Forteresse, Chasse-Galerie, Monarque and Csejthe – to explore Quebec’s folklore.” Ready for a rare four-way split of French-Canadian blackness? Wendigos unite!
“Norway’s Tristania was one of those quirky, but compelling bands that really grabbed my attention with their Beyond the Veil album. Their strange mash-up of goth, death, black and symphonic metal was quite intoxicating and had more moods than any crazy ex girlfriend you care to mention. Follow up World of Glass was also gripping and fascinating, but as the years went by, Tristania’s wow factor rapidly drained away. By the time of 2010s Rubicon, they had become a mere shade of their former selves and the album felt like run-of-the-mill goth-metal with little to set it apart from the legions of similar female-fronted acts. I expected more of the same here with Darkest White, but I was pleasantly surprised by the improvements the band has made in their approach and song writing.” Since all we do is review death metal that sounds like Septicflesh, Steel Druhm thought it might be a good time to review some goth-metal. Tristania was available, so here they are for your viewing and reading pleasure.
Greek genre benders Nighfall are back and this time, they really mean business. METAL business! Be it doom, black, death or power, they try to cram it in this here album like 60 cats in a suitcase. This is almost as fun as that suitcase too!
In the Whack-A-Mole game that is genre pigeonholing, Lake of Tears pop up all over the board, defying you to anticipate their next move. These Swedes have been around a very long time and have always defied easy answers as to what style they actually play. Generally described as gothic metal, they’ve wandered between psychedelic doom, goth-rock, quasi-thrash and pseudo-death over the years. Each album had its own unique flavor and approach while always keeping the distinctive LoT sound. Here on Illwill, their eighth album, they keep the guessing game alive while delivering a strange mix of styles, but it all hangs together somehow and works well. With parallels to Paradise Lost, Cemetary, Charon and Type O Negative to name a few, they run all over the place but it’s always dark in tone and plenty melodic.
