Season of Mist Records

Darkspace – Dark Space -II Review

Darkspace – Dark Space -II Review

“Few acts have been as influential as Darkspace and its storied lexicon, from its cosmic take on atmospheric black metal to Swiss extreme music in general. While unwavering in the kvlt standard, spacious and cold ambiance collide with an unshakeable and vicious groove like the impact of planetary collisions. Their veritable chaos galaxies of Roman numeral monikers are grounded by this lethal sonic balance, each album offering yet another formidable perspective on the unfathomable cosmos.” Space in your face.

Omega Infinity – The Anticurrent Review

Omega Infinity – The Anticurrent Review

“The infinite expanse. Oceans above. Stars whose light is a glimpse into the ancient past. Physics. Astrophysics. Space: the Final Frontier. Space odysseys are great unless you’re beaten to death with a bone by your ape bud or gaslit by your own computer – super awkward. Plenty of black metal has ventured beyond the firmament for some ethereal goodness, but do any of them chronicle creation?” Omega men.

The Abbey – Word of Sin Review

The Abbey – Word of Sin Review

“The Abbey of Thelema was a commune in Sicily run by Aleister Crowley. Home to the wild hedonism and magick of his cult, the Abbey met its unceremonious end in 1923, when Crowley’s shenanigans convinced Mussolini to boot him out of Italy. Finnish psychedelic doom outfit The Abbey aims to carry on the Abbey’s legacy. ,b>The Abbey’s debut Word of Sin draws inspiration from occult organizations and their mystical practices.” Nuns DO have fun.

Oak – Disintegrate Review

Oak – Disintegrate Review

“After submerging myself in copious death metal throughout January and early February, Steel‘s well-seasoned body needed a soak in the soothing tides of funerary doom-death. And so I happened upon the sophomore release by Portugal’s Oak. The side project of Gaerea lead guitarist/vocalist, Guilherme Henriques and featuring various current and former Gaerea members, it attempts a style far afield from what that black metal outfit is known for. This is classic funeral doom death across the boards, though it has a fair amount of blackened elements bubbling up as well. The gimmick here is that Disintegrate is but one 45-minute track.” Counting the rings of tragedy.

Deathwhite – Grey Everlasting Review

Deathwhite – Grey Everlasting Review

Deathwhite clearly enjoy the role of enigmatic mega-mystery band. For ten long years, they’ve toiled to release dark, gothy-tinged doom music with cascading negative thoughts and feelings, and all without revealing who is actually in the band. Their sound has gone through some evolution over the decade but here on album number three, Grey Everlasting, they’ve firmly locked themselves into the same soundscape as Katatonia and Warning, dropping much of the alt-metal elements in favor of bleak, unhappy odes to bummertude.” Grey is the new grey.

Seth – La Morsure du Christ Review

Seth – La Morsure du Christ Review

“For the second year in a row, a return-to-form album from a well-established black metal entity has somehow found its way into my greasy clutches. 2020 saw me covering …and Oceans and their phenomenal Cosmic World Mother, a record that presented itself after a long hiatus as an amalgamation of the band’s experimentation and growth through the years, while simultaneously capturing the spirit and style of the band’s origins. Well, change the year to 2021 and the band name to Seth, and that last sentence still works for the most part.” Seth and taxes.

Nightfall – At Night We Prey Review

Nightfall – At Night We Prey Review

“Well look who’s back from the dead! Greek act Nightfall originally came into being around the same time as countrymen Rotting Christ and Septicflesh and played a similar style of blackened death metal. Their sound evolved a great deal over the following years, touching on doom, melodeath, Gothic metal and variations thereof. After a dead period between 2004 and 2010, the band released the oddball Astron Black and the Thirty Tyrants, which I found quirky and entertaining, and 2013’s riff-driven Cassiopeia which I loved. Then they went silent again. Seven years later Nightfall return with a heavily reformed lineup and a new direction.” Night moves.

Gargoyl – Gargoyl Review

Gargoyl – Gargoyl Review

“Ever since the early seeds of the Gargoyl project came to public light, I have been anticipating a debut album. Lo and behold, the band, featuring Revocation’s Dave Davidson (guitars) and Luke Roberts (vocals/guitars) from the underrated Ayahuasca, has arrived with their self-titled LP. Blending dark, brooding, unsettling atmospheres, Gargoyl play off-kilter progressive metal with avant garde tendencies and a strong ’90s grunge vibe, most notably drawing influence from Seattle rock legends Alice in Chains. On paper the combination has a hell of a lot going for it, however, nailing the execution and establishing a strong identity are challenges to overcome.” Super groups, man…

En Minor – When the Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out Review

En Minor – When the Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out Review

“Were I to begin giving the weeks of my life names like some sort of week-naming goon, “When the Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out” would be a top-level contender for this past week. As a title, it’s perfect; overly lengthy, blunt, and definitely different. In a slight deviation from the metallic usual, the American group En Minor, headed by one Philip Anselmo (Pantera, Down, Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals), has let loose their debut album, When the Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out, to unsuspecting masses. Given my earlier week-naming sentiments, this probably should be a match made by destiny – but is it?” Cold and miserable.

Mora Prokaza – By Chance Review

Mora Prokaza – By Chance Review

“Your fifth grade science fair project. Frankenstein’s monster. That godawful sandwich you made of leftover hash browns, macaroni and cheese, hot dog buns, and spaghetti sauce. Said godawful sandwich growing furry mold sitting in the back of your fridge after vowing you’ll eat it later. What do all these have in common? They’re experiments, forays into the unknown. Rife with experimentation, will Mora Prokaza’s latest blackened oddity fall into the happy slurpee realm or the “acquired taste” maggot cheese kingdom?” I’ll just stick with the Haggis.