Mystras

Olde Throne – In the Land of Ghosts Review

Olde Throne – In the Land of Ghosts Review

By Carcharodon on April 5, 2023 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, Folk Metal, 34 comments

“A little over a year ago, New Zealander Harrison McKenzie dropped his debut full-length album as Olde Throne. It was a tight 39 minutes of harsh, cold atmospheric black metal delving into the horrors of An Gorta Mór, the Great Hunger, which took place in Ireland between 1845 and 1852 (better known, outside Ireland, as the Irish Potato Famine). Uncompromising and bleak, An Gorta Mór was a strong debut from the then-one-man project. For Olde Throne’s sophomore effort, McKenzie is joined by ex-Tainted drummer Quentin Forster and, together, the two Kiwis traverse the Irish sea, alighting In the Land of Ghosts,” Atmo-boo.

Auriferous Flame – The Great Mist Within Review

Auriferous Flame – The Great Mist Within Review

By Maddog on August 28, 2022 in Reviews, Black Metal, Post-Metal, 13 comments

“Before listening to The Great Mist Within, I thought I knew a thing or two about Ayloss, the prolific mastermind of Spectral Lore and Mystras. Ever since Spectral Lore’s III swept me off my feet in 2014, I’ve been an avid follower of his work. Ayloss has described his new project Auriferous Flame as a 90s black metal act, a “continuation of many of the ideas and music styles in Mystras” minus the folk influences. This description made me suspect that The Great Mist Within would be digestible but unimaginative,” Mist predictions.

Mystras – Empires Vanquished and Dismantled Review

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.

Mystras – Castles Conquered and Reclaimed Review

Mystras – Castles Conquered and Reclaimed Review

By Carcharodon on July 16, 2020 in Reviews, Black Metal, Folk, 23 comments

“Castles Conquered and Reclaimed is the first release from Mystras, another outing from Ayloss of Spectral Lore fame. Following the epic Spectral Lore and Mare Cognitum split, which only dropped in March, I for one did not expect to see anything else from Ayloss in 2020, and certainly nothing of the scope and scale of this latest project.” Siege the day.