Blasart: Depravatus Christianis Sacris
Out 28th March on Lavadome Productions
Overwrought black metal cloaks repetition with subtle shifts in emphasis and pitch, alongside some welcome decorative accents. Chugging thrash articulation beefs up the more fluid intent behind these tracks, only somewhat hampered by the obnoxious domesticity of the hardcore derived vocals. What at first appears to be stale repetition morphs into clear articulation of theme as Blasart reveal their competence in piecing ideas together into coherent strings, the former deployed as a useful yet not overused composition tool. Whilst ‘Depravatus Christianis Sacris’ initially gives the impression of being another empty release frontloaded with intensity to disguise the fact, picking apart the riffs reveals a tight, self-contained sequence of muscular, proactive black metal drawing on some simplistic death metal elements alongside thrash to add meat to the bones. Whilst some riff choices raise questions, this appears to be more accidental to the main thread, which reliably leans into a grandiose presentation of epic conflicts, as competing forces engage in standoffs and collisions to gain superiority. A jagged yet direct barrage of intensity.
Relic: Crown of Flies
Out 3rd April, self-released
Typical death metal often requires a finer paintbrush than black metal. The details at the micro level matter almost as much as the macro picture. Here these molecular details are blasted through a simplifying filter, reducing all to its most generic and rudimentary components. Resulting in a series of riffs that will feel like returning characters to the experienced listener, but here rendered in trite, obvious forms. Speed runs that gesture toward the inherent anti-commercialism of extreme metal are invariably compensated by cheap, crowd pleasing grooves that appeal to the physicalism of touch and bodily motion at the expense of any nuanced information delivered into the ears and ultimately the brain. A dual vocal attack between the guttural and high end further draws attention to the bridge Relic are trying to build between their more underground heritage (Angelcorpse, Diocletian) and the frequent showstopper moments typical of casualised Wacken metal. A polished product devoid of meaning beyond the process of activity and reaffirmation still attempting to draw legitimacy from an underground tradition it is in the process of thoroughly ejecting.
Sectarian Defacement: Hostile Consuming Rapture
Out 6th April on Grave Island Records
Raw and chaotic brutal death metal retains a degree of clarity through convoluted rhythmic consistency, allowing the music to run rampant whilst incrementally referring back to some main theme as if to hammer home the central thesis. Tracks are bookended by extended dark ambient interludes making this relatively short album even shorter in terms of actual metallic material. But what is on offer injects a degree of malevolent horror into proceedings sometimes lacking in the more sterile iterations of the genre. Despite the solid guttural vocals that deliver a degree of predictable percussive flow, broad passages of this album are kept instrumental, a compelling dialogue between riffs underpinned by choppy, neatly sequenced drums that force the flow of the music into episodic waves. This lends the whole a narrative structure more through a series of vignettes than any macro throughline. The result is every bit as curious, as returning characters crop up at unexpected junctures, alongside the near constant impetus to refresh the thematic landscape of the music. A tight and pleasingly spontaneous celebration of brutal death metal that retains a degree of accessibility even at its most morbid thanks to the loose, informality of the presentation.
Patior Eugea: El Paroxismo de la Zozobra
Out 19th July (2025), self-release
Raw, melodic, punky black metal from Venezuela strikes a compelling balance between mournful lamentation and an immediate physicalism that hits in the gut. Rhythmic simplicity and an economy of ideas serve to clarify this as a richly textured iteration of folk driven threnodies, with absolutely no surplus fat floating around to muddy the waters. Harsh vocals delivered in a high register match the timbre of black metal but the phrasing of punk, thus further bridging the gap between intimacy and naturalism that defines this material. The dreamy despondency of Ildjarn or Burzum is complicated by a less rigid approach to lead melody, as elongated notes bend and whine across the firm rhythms of punk, lead material that one could easily imagine being articulate by violins or indeed wind instruments, their lyrical nature creating an oddly funereal inevitability alongside the landscaped permanence of the rhythm section. A neat contrast of aged musical paths much walked but much loved and the refreshed, lively, almost hopeful energy of song, made all the more so by just how temporary they appear floating across an otherwise hostile, unforgiving environment.
Tarask: Sitra Ahra
Out 7th April on Antiq
Comes wrapped in all the soppy aloofness of post metal despite the marginally more sophisticated approach to melodic construction. There is a loose, dreamlike quality to this music that matches the surrealist Lovecraftian concept, that, if one squints, may appear intriguing. But the numbing effects of this album’s lack of diversity cannot be ignored. The problem is common to any branch of extreme metal that aligns with sentimental indie music, namely the need to deliver a constant feeling of catharsis, so that every riff, drum pattern, and vocal flex is set toward finality, to the point that no other emotion beyond intensity and release can be conveyed. This strips the music not only of contrast and variety, but also tension and even the ability to say anything internally coherent. There is nothing left but an overworked muddle of histrionic gestures that exist solely in the present, with no reference to the preceding material but also incapable of letting a single moment air out and breathe. Tarask are hardly the worst offenders in this regard. However, that an otherwise competent writer of individual ideas succumbs to this aesthetic trend leads me to believe that it’s a condition all but endemic to extreme metal.
Bezkres: Naturalna nietolerancja
Out 10th April on Signal Rex
Sterile, riff based black metal stripped of any atmospheric flourish or sense of mysticism, leaving nothing but a flow of modest but competently strung together riffs. Despite the complete lack of originality or fanfare, it’s oddly refreshing to hear a ruthlessly traditional iteration of black metal that doesn’t feel like a collection of cliches. The production is rough but not explicitly raw. The riffs are dynamic but not overly flamboyant. There are nods to a more ethereal, meditative entity, but overall the music remains energetic and purposeful. There is a subtle interplay of barbaric atonality and meandering, almost chromatic riffing that nevertheless pivots toward a minor key in orientation, allowing mysticism to arise from these interweaving threads more than additional layers of keyboards or excessive reverb. If one locks into the pacing and phrasing of the music, one is reminded of the original thrill one felt experiencing black metal for the first time in unfiltered form. This is in stark contrast to explicitly traditional second wave black metal that often leans on trite cadences and poppy melodic riffing smuggled beneath excessively raw production values resulting in little more than pop punk in all but name. Bezkres, who no doubt will be overlooked due to the decidedly unpolished and entirely ordinary presentation of this release, stay truer to the magic and sway this music continues to hold over its acolytes, and should be recognised for this.
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