What the left gets wrong about black metal’s latent radicalism Thus far, the left’s attempts to develop a political counterweight to black metal’s far right tendencies have misunderstood the radical potentials inherent in black metal itself. Rather than jettisoning the deeply problematic elements of black metal’s history wholesale and seeking to build on new, politically... Continue Reading →

Theomachia: The TheosophistOut 4th February on Xenoglossy This conceptually weighty EP self identifies as “gnostic black metal”. Borrowing artwork from William Blake, and drawing heavily on ancient Roman and Greek esotericism, one could be forgiven for thinking that ‘The Theosophist’ would be a confused exercise in sensory overload so common to modern extreme metal with... Continue Reading →

Silhouette: Les RetranchementsOut 28th January on Antiq The slow burn debut from this French outfit sees DSBM of a particularly melodic bent placed in a Petri dish with fragments of darkwave, post metal, and blackened doom. And if that all sounds like a clusterfuck to you then fear not, it's simultaneously much better and worse... Continue Reading →

#39 Giuseppe (Thecodontion): Giuseppe from Thecodontion (also one of the individuals behind Xenoglossy Productions) joins Necropolis to discuss the prehistoric theme surrounding Thecodontion, the ethos of Xenoglossy Productions, metal in Italy and other elements of Italian culture, and some dialogue about metal related matters such as the metal publications that we read.

Ultra Silvam: The Sanctity of DeathOut 25th February on Shadow Records / Regain Records Ultra Silvam gut the bracing melodicism of Swedish black metal, remove the regal innards, explode the restrained dignity and poise of a Dawn, Dissection, or a Sacramentum by condensing this riff laden style into dense, violently short bursts of razor-sharp metallic... Continue Reading →

Despite the unrelenting feeling of acceleration, a strong case could be made for culture moving at a much slower pace today than thirty years ago. The sheer quantity and speed at which content is produced in contemporary life leads to a static zeitgeist. Singular artefacts and symbols take time to reach a level of popularity... Continue Reading →

Following on from the article ‘Death metal for the general listener’ – an attempt to recast death metal as an inherently experimental form of music – I wanted to write up a similar list for black metal. This proved more challenging than expected however, because - despite their closely knit histories - black metal is... Continue Reading →

Benthik Zone: εἴδωλονOut 28th January on Onism Productions Any Star Wars fan worth their salt will have seen the footage of George Lucas discussing the jarring transitions at the finale of ‘The Phantom Menace’ with editor Ben Burtt and producer Rick McCallum. The cloaked panic on their faces as Lucas responds to the observation that... Continue Reading →

Krolok: Funeral Winds & Crimson SkyOut 21st December on Osmose Productions The second LP from this Slovakian outfit takes the trappings of black metal rendered on the murkier side and combines this with old school punk, a meeting of mysticism and aggression that demonstrates the lengthy shelf life one can garner from a unique atmosphere... Continue Reading →

#38 - Daniel Lake (USBM Book): Daniel Lake, author of 'USBM: A Revolution of Identity in American Black Metal', joins Necropolis for the formal episode about his book. USBM has always been a point of confusion in terms of its placement within the black metal lexicon. It is often reviled by its European counterpart but... Continue Reading →