Shining

Grift – Arvet Review

Grift – Arvet Review

“It’s the music that sends me careening through a canyon as dark as a Nick Cave soundtrack and as unique as a Sólstafir record. It has a suffocating mixture of Shining-like desperate, voice-throwing screams and cleans moodier than your grandma’s sanitarium. Coming off 2013’s Burzum-esque EP, I hoped Gärdefors would push on. I hoped for his refusal to revert back to the generic sounds of Fyra elegier. I hoped for more Syner. Well, my hopes became reality. And that reality is Arvet.” (TGIDF) Thank God It’s Depressive Friday.

Mist of Misery – Shackles of Life Review

Mist of Misery – Shackles of Life Review

“Such is the dearth of my trveness, humility, and years, I’ve recently realized that I tend towards double-adjective metal. That is, types of metal with an additional adjective in their genre tag. Progressive death metal? Check. Post black metal? For sure. Symphonic power metal? Come at me. I could therefore scarcely avoid swiping at the tantalizing fruits surely offered by the three adjectives in the ‘depressive symphonic black metal’ labeled on our promo sheet.” A three metal combo, now with a side of cold saw.

Gravdal – Kadaverin Review

Gravdal – Kadaverin Review

“It was the gorgeous construction of Torturmantra’s ”Mishandlet” (guested by Niklas Kvarforth), that roped me in. This past encounter with Gravdal, and hearing of guest appearances from members of Satyricon, Taake, SAHG, The Ruins Of Beverast, Seven Impale and Orkan along with lyrical contributions by V`gandr (Helheim and Taake) would seem to cement Kadaverin as a “must-hear” release. But does it?” The black metal circus arrives.

Cold Fell – Irwell Review

Cold Fell – Irwell Review

“It’s no secret: I love me some black metal. But, even I, have gotten tired of every other album we review being a product of the genre. And none of it is good. So, it’s no surprise that I have to ignore a large portion of the releases that sneak by our oh-my-god-I’m-so-sick-of-black-metal filters. Again, I love the genre and still listen to way more black metal than even the sickest doctor would dare prescribe. But many of the new black metal outfits just don’t do it for me.” Feel like you’re drowning in excessive blackness?

Sarkom – Anti-Cosmic Art Review

Sarkom – Anti-Cosmic Art Review

“The biggest difference between 2013’s Doomsday Elite and their previous work is the amount of inspiration they brought into every track of Doomsday. They brought in The Kovenant’s Psy Coma to handle the closing orchestral arrangements, Negator’s Nachtgarm for vocal assistance, and the guitars of Keep of Kalessin’s Vyl. And Anti-Cosmic Art is here to take it one step further. The band brings more guests, unleashes more riffs, more blastbeats, and a plethora of guitar solos. The result is Sarkom’s best release to date. ” Is this the Avantasia of blackness?

Mortualia – Wild, Wild Misery Review

Mortualia – Wild, Wild Misery Review

“Here’s a sage piece of life advice you can have for free: always carefully check what you’ve typed into your Google search bar before hitting ‘enter.’ I recently fell foul of this little rule while researching ‘depressive suicidal black metal’ (or ‘DSBM’) for the purposes of writing this review. Unless you’re feeling particularly brave, you’ll just have to take my word for it that while DSBM and BDSM might look similar, they are definitely not the same thing. I learned this the hard way.” Are we still doing phrasing?

Unbegotten – Proem of the Unborn Review

Unbegotten – Proem of the Unborn Review

“The phrase “Spain is different!” seems to roll off the tongue of many a Spaniard. And rightly so; as a country its culture, cuisine and even the architecture, are markedly recognizable in flavor, style, look and feel. So how does that relate to Unbegotten’s debut release Proem of the Unborn? Have these mutinous Spaniards turned against their Spanish roots? Or have they perhaps added a little Flamenco or maybe some Latin pizzazz to their black metal offering?” Spain’s Unbegotten isn’t that different after all…

Spire – Entropy Review

Spire – Entropy Review

“Believe it or not the life of a music reviewer is not as glamorous as one would think. Yes, from time to time you’re invited to the likes of Thor’s Rock Opera in some trendy part of New York City, you’re jet-setting off to Chicago with tickets to Alehorn of Power IX, or you’re the first to get your grubby mitts on Swallow the Sun’s new triple album. Outside of those jaw-dropping moments though, reviewing consists of picking some unknown band/album off the promo sheet with your fingers tightly crossed hoping that what’s going to burst out of your monitors isn’t going to suck monkey balls. Aussie ambient/black metallers, Spire, was one of those random, finger-crossing, hope-for-the-best-expect-the-worst moments.” Sometimes you win and sometimes….

Darkend – The Canticle of Shadows Review

Darkend – The Canticle of Shadows Review

“Until recently, I believe Italy’s Darkend promoted the kind of symphonic black metal that chased the coattails of bands like Cradle of Filth. With their fourth release, The Canticle of Shadows, I was unsure of whether to expect more of the same or something entirely new. I succeeded in missing their earlier releases like Damned Woman and a Carcass, Assassine and Grand Guignol, despite them receiving mostly positive reviews.” What the hell is a canticle?