Grohot/Faunul din Smida: Hranind gurile infometateOut 1st February, self-released Grohot open this split with a suitably feral rendition of lo-fi black metal. Whilst we could roughly locate this in the lineage of Ildjarn, it actually has more in common with collaborator Nidhogg, or even their one off landmark outing as Sort Vokter. Frigid, primitive, rooted... Continue Reading →

Black metal is post catastrophe music. In this, more than anything, it represented a clear break with the past. Whilst death metal frantically gestured at the limits of a society organised around liberal democracy, black metal assumed its failure had already occurred, and sought meaning beyond the collapse. Novel as black metal was in this... Continue Reading →

Cerulean: Carrion AngelOut 26th January on I, Voidhanger Records Taking in the broad spectrum of post ‘Obscura’ metal, it’s clear that ‘Carrion Angel’ sits at the less efficient end. Its cluttered tangents betray an overeagerness to please. But whilst it may be in need of some ruthless editing and trimming - the hallmark of modern... Continue Reading →

The lads chat meta media. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u3TiF-_7pY

Panzerchrist: All Witches Shall BurnOut 5th January on Emanzipation Records Panzerchrist lean into their black metal selves on this early year afterthought. An artist that’s true in name and deed, this EP functions as a trope collector of martial black metal tendencies, by the numbers and highly efficient in its ability to bring together such... Continue Reading →

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdJTvYnDQ4I&t=2320s

DipygusOut 22nd January on Memento Mori / Crypt of the Wizard Belated self-titled albums are often indicative of a system reset. Dipygus are well established by this point. Active since 2013 and now three albums deep, what could this late coming eponymous full length signal? Dipygus may not be the most striking or obvious habitat... Continue Reading →

The album II: Chemognosis – A Shortcut to MushroomsOut 26th January on Naturmacht Productions The current climate of allegedly experimental metal rests on a form of vibe alchemy, this amounts to little more than remixing various textural and aesthetic flourishes, applying them to genres that have remained unchanged for nearly four decades. Despite the praise... Continue Reading →

Hiemis: Malleus MaleficarumOut 21st December on Noctivagant Theologically preoccupied evanescent dark ambient sees the cavernous stasis of the genre lifted into a place of understated hope. Low, swelling synth patches create space for modestly deployed samples to furnish the music with links to its conceptual subject matter. Atop this sparse underbelly, gradual evolutions toward a... Continue Reading →

Anyone immersed in a niche subculture has an obligation to treat it with utter contempt. It’s probably the one thing I have in common with all metal fans. But it’s also something that metal “content creators” are losing sight of (including this platform at times). An aversion to visceral negativity, once the very stuff of... Continue Reading →