Vreid

Khold – Du dømmes til død Review

Khold – Du dømmes til død Review

“After being dormant for eight years, Khold surprised the masses in 2022 with their comeback album, Svartsyn. And boy did they come back in a big way—completely erasing 2014’s Til endes from my memory. Reformed with all the key players and even feistier than ever, these Norwegian giants had me so convinced of their greatest that they made it on old Grier‘s top-ten list. Nothing made me happier that year than hearing Gald’s signature snarl and Sarke’s punishing drum work. Hell, I would have been happy just to hear the album, much less love it the way I do. Two years later, it looks as if the band is sticking around because now we have this year’s Du dømmes til død.” You can’t spell Khold without “old”.

Ars Moriendi – Lorsque Les Coeurs S’assèchent Review

Ars Moriendi – Lorsque Les Coeurs S’assèchent Review

“This time, Ars Moriendi has ditched many of the horn and wind atmospheres for traditional atmoblack ones. Instead of bombastic symphonies coating his vicious black metal slayings and soothing acoustic guitars, this focused approach allows Arsonist to explore and tinker with guitar-led atmospheres, female choirs, and bizarre yet unique effects. The result isn’t so much a change in direction as a new experiment. Though I know Ars Moriendi well, nothing prepared me for Lorsque Les Coeurs S’assèchent.” Atmo-blast.

Cloak – Black Flame Eternal Review

Cloak – Black Flame Eternal Review

“It’s no secret that the pandemic put the kibosh on the live music scene for quite some time, with aftershocks of that phenomenon still felt today. For the future of many artists releasing material late in 2019 or early 2020—like Cloak with their sophomore record The Burning Dawn—the inability to perform their latest material live to help support their reputation, their audiences, and their financials caused great strain and much uncertainty. Thankfully, Cloak dedicated every spare minute unceremoniously granted to them by the pandemic to focus on writing and perfecting new material.” Cloaking tiger, hidden flame.

Vreid – Wild North West Review

Vreid – Wild North West Review

“Like I Krig and Milorg, this new release is a concept album. Instead of learning some history, the concept here is the ups and downs of life as we wait for death. But, more specifically, bassist Hváll says the inspiration for Wild North West comes from his struggles, knowledge, and experience. One of the coolest parts about the album (not to bring Windir up again) is that some of what you’ll hear Valfar wrote back in 2002. Crazy enough, you’ll also hear him play it. He hasn’t risen from the grave, but it sure as shit feels like it.” Wild and dead.

Kankar – Dunkle Millennia Review

Kankar – Dunkle Millennia Review

““Nuclear hot riffs.” A commenter recently wrote beneath another review that the way black metal in 2021 is shaping up, to even begin to stand out, bands need to bring some serious, “nuclear hot,” riffage to the table. They weren’t wrong. We can ramble on all day about clever technical flourishes, dissonant chords, and foreboding atmospheres, but when all is said and done, we metalheads respect the almighty riff. The riff is the period that concludes a sentence, the punch to the jaw at the end of a fight, the incontrovertible law that even Steel bows down before. So what if I told you that a German duo had managed to jam more riffs into its debut release than many other bands in their entire careers?”” Fooked with a Kankar.

Stellar Master Elite – Hologram Temple Review

Stellar Master Elite – Hologram Temple Review

“Though everything SME has released is solid, III brought with it a new vocalist and direction. Building atmospheres now reign supreme over the band’s early days of traditional black metal. The result, as I mentioned in my III review, was something spontaneous, borrowing from a variety of black and death metal influences. Though III concluded the trilogy, there’s still loads of fun to be had on Hologram Temple.” Diversity stings.

Vuohi – Witchcraft Warfare Review

Vuohi – Witchcraft Warfare Review

“It’s 6:50 PM on a cold Saturday night. I’m tapping my foot impatiently, waiting for my lovely girlfriend — a few months my elder, and perhaps a bit slower moving, therefore — to come out from her room. ‘Come on, darling,’ I say, double-checking my tie in the mirror, ‘we’ll be late if we don’t leave soon.’ I hear the door open, and expect to be floored; she always looks so good in dresses, and this is a formal event. I turn around and do a triple-take — she’s wearing a strawberry onesie. I’m left confused as to what her intentions were, and I may perhaps never figure it out. May as well make the most of it, right? This ethos permeated my listening time with the Finnish band Vuohi’s debut full-length Witchcraft Warfare.” Kitchen sink-core.

Vreid – Lifehunger Review

Vreid – Lifehunger Review

“It was June 2006 and I was helping a friend move into a downtown apartment. It was hot and we were scrambling up and down two flights of stairs as fast as possible before a cop could ticket us for taking up half-a-lane of traffic with our truck. When it was finally over, we grabbed lunch and went to my favorite record store down the street. This place had the strangest collection of albums I’d ever seen and a surprisingly large metal section for a town full of hippies and reggae fans. The album I selected that day was something I had heard many things about. From a band that rose from the ashes of Windir.” Vreid it and weep.

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.