Armchair rhetoric on extreme metal
Putred: Blestemul din adรขncOut 20th March on Awakening Records True to the formula laid out on the previous effort 'Megalit al putrefacโศโiei', for the most part Putred stick doggedly to plodding, Derketa-esque tempos as a means of both conjuring tension and allowing elegantly simple riff templates to extend their tendrils in multiple directions at once.... Continue Reading →
After my recent survey of modern black metal, a death metal follow up was all but inevitable. Commercially speaking, death metal seems to be in a healthier place than black metal, with bands like Blood Incantation threatening to transcend the genre in terms of their brand reach. Tastes in death metal also seem to behave... Continue Reading →
Witch Wife in an Alien WorldOut 9th October on Cruz del Sur Music As the erstwhile darlings of the new wave of traditional lesser spotted heavy metal, this album is a bold move for Smoulder. Sure, aside from a clear pivot away from doom into faster classic metal stylings, the material is contiguous with previous... Continue Reading →
Bokkerijders: Crush Kill DestroyOut 23rd October on Personal Records The debut album from this Belgium outfit smuggles in a surprisingly broad sweep of meditative, melodic, emotive black metal beneath a superficial faรงade of old school speed metal. Initially we are taken in by the homebrewed energy of Aura Noir or Merciless, only to be swept... Continue Reading →
Hรฆnesy: EsentiaOut 25th September on Purity Through Fire Five years ago this Hungarian outfit presented an interesting proposition with โGarabontziaโ, a black metal album crafted almost entirely from clean, reverb drenched guitar lines, working their way through oddly cathartic melodic hooks and chord sequences rich in pathos. There was no denying its proximity to post... Continue Reading →
Critical Defiance: Rivers of BloodOut 25th September on Dying Victims Productions 2024 was the year Critical Defiance suddenly caught the attention of a broader international audience with โThe Search Wonโt Fallโฆโ, a finely crafted treat of frenetic thrash fair alongside some well integrated oddball moments. The Chilean death and thrash metal scene has pulled well... Continue Reading →
Krolok: Hriฤov - Sรบฤพov - LietavaOut 25th September on Osmose Productions Slovakiaโs Krolok continue to grow into their skin with this third offering. A finely balanced ingredients list drawn from central European black metal, from Graveland, to early Root, Cult des Ghoules, and ethereal folk elements lifted from Romanian acts like Negura Bunget. But 'Hriฤov... Continue Reading →
Book report - Melancology: black metal theory and ecology Dominik Irtenkauf: [black metal theory] seems to be more about speculative interpretations of a musical sub-culture than developing a coherent system of theory. Is that perception correct? Nicola Masciandaro: Yes. I recently had the misfortune of stumbling onto a debate raging across Substack between continental and... Continue Reading →
DecayOut 25th September on Relapse Records Hellfest 2010 was a pretty special festival. John Garcia got 75% of the band back together as Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri took the stage for a few numbers during his Kyuss classics set. Immortal, Asphyx, and Carcass were all in their post revival pomp, affording a younger generation... Continue Reading →
Hail Conjurer: Abyss & EkstasisOut 23rd September on Into Endless Chaos Records / Crypt of the Wizard Over several albums, Finlandโs Hail Conjurer have been offering curiously deconstructive takes on black metal, pivoting on doom metal pacing, depressive moods, and dominant yet oddly fragile synth tones offering an eerily mournful counterpoint to the distorted backdrop.... Continue Reading →
