“Art is a conduit for many things, but it’s particularly powerful when both its contents and very existence make some form of protest. A subversion of the status quo and illumination of its not-so-hidden darkness. Such is the case for Dymna Lotva’s third record The Land Under the Black Wings: Blood, a collection of stories of sorrow and injustice—both real and apocryphal—from their native Belarus.” Cries in the darkness.
“Most 70-minute albums don’t justify their own existence. In the past, UK band Fen have both succeeded and failed at that task. Doom_Et_Al fanboi’d all over hour-long The Dead Light while elegant Lady of the Night Madam X found the 75-minute Winter entirely too much Fen. The atmoblack outfit now return with the 68-minute Monuments to Absence.” Everlong?
“Well, 1476’s In Exile is certainly more than I bargained for. Having dropped my previous promo for this week because I had suspicions about the political leanings of its members (that it was bollocks made this a happy development), I picked up 1476 on a whim. And it’s a lot. Of many things. A lot of music, clocking in at over an hour. A lot of styles and influences—the accompanying blurb describes In Exile as “wonderfully all over the place”; the latter part of that statement isn’t wrong but the adverb, we’ll see.” Leatherface and open space.
“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.” Poland invades YOU!
“When I reviewed Chrome Waves’ last effort, 2021’s The Rain Will Cleanse, I described its languid, whimsical tones as the epitome of great work music. While not intended as a slight to the band, as everyone needs great work music, it was hardly a ringing endorsement for the Midwest post-black metal quartet. I finished that review, however, by saying that the band had done enough (on tracks like “Aspiring Death”) to make me think they had a great record in them. Mark Z., who had also awarded a 3.0 to the band’s previous record, A Grief Observed, materialized unbidden in the comments to agree with my assessment.” High tides of potentiality.
“Now into their fifteenth year, German four-piece Downfall of Gaia need little introduction, particularly for longer-standing readers of this venerable blog. We didn’t cover their first two records, Epos (2010) and Suffocating in the Swarm of Cranes (2012) but since then, Downfall of Gaia has had a very good run in the hands of the normally-highly-critical Mark Z., with each of their next three albums swanning off with a coveted 4.0.” Worst downfall ever.
“Bamberg, Germany’s Noise is a busy man. By my count, he put out three EPs under his Kanonenfieber moniker—two of which I covered here—and a very good full-length with his Non Est Deus project in 2022. Alongside that, he was, it seems, producing, in all senses of the word, another record as his third alter ego, Leiþa.” The many faces of Noise.
“If much of post-black metal maintains a chilly distance from its listeners, Ellende has always—for better or worse—worn its emotions on its sleeve. And these emotions are some of the most mournful in all of black metal. The problem in the past was that the execution was lacking, which dulled the impact. Shifts on previous albums were inelegant and clunky, sapping momentum; the interludes were intrusive; the fuzzy production obscured rather than highlighted. But with every new release, Ellende have been honing and improving their craft, and Ellenbogengesellschaft finds the band finally cracking the code.” Pearls before swine.
“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.
“This story — inspired by the incredibly cinematic and excellently composed third full length by Ukrainian black metal band White Ward, entitled False Light — begins where the preceding chapter concluded:
GUNSHOT, ABRUPT CUT IN:” False and Tricksy: The Movie
