Of all the distinctive black metal scenes to emerge in the 1990s, the Quebecoise probably had the most ill-defined style. Although broadly speaking it was melodic, epic, flirting with symphonic, and inspired by the cold climates from whence it came, the key artists to emerge from this part of the world were grouped more by... Continue Reading →

Valgrind: Condemnation (2020) Italian slow burners Valgrind released their fourth LP ‘Condemnation’ this year; an album which, unlike the band’s career, wastes no time in setting its stall out. The approach taken here is akin to a melodic death metal version of mid-period Vader, with a vocalist that apes the Martin van Drunen style with... Continue Reading →

The fault lines between black and death metal have always been a curious place. In one sense artists operating in this realm do exactly what they say on the tin; marrying the soaring melodrama of black metal with the disjointed staccato aggression of death metal. But taking a broader, historical view, it shines a light on... Continue Reading →

Paysage d'Hiver: Im Wald (2020) After a lengthy silence, bar a couple of split EPs, pillars of raw European black metal Paysage d’Hiver return with ‘Im Wald’, which sees this artist graduate beyond the realms of obscure, half-finished demos into the world of full-length albums, with all the production values that entails. Emphasis on ‘length’... Continue Reading →

Polemicist: Zarathustrian Impressions (2019) After Satan and Lovecraft, and of course Tolkien, my boy Nietzsche is probably the most influential figure at work in that complex and ill-defined milieu that is the Philosophy of Metal. But as with any theme frequently delved into by the multitude, there is a stark contrast between surface level and... Continue Reading →

It’s the early 2000s, and the mainstream face of metal has gone through one of the weirdest decades of its existence. The birth of groove metal, the rise of alt rock, the decline of apocalyptic self-assurance that characterised the 1980s; all took their toll on metal of all forms to varying degrees throughout the 90s.... Continue Reading →

Dawn of a Dark Age: La Tavola Osca (2020) ‘La Tavola Osca’ is the *checks notes* sixth studio album since 2014 from the Italian black metal solo project known Dawn of a Dark Age. Previous releases were a tribute to the six elements, each album consisting of six songs, and the first four albums being... Continue Reading →

More notes from the b-tier, this time from two artists that – aside from some early flukes that would endure the test of time – were entirely unremarkable when compared to the crop of acts from the early to mid-1990s. But what is remarkable about these two artists in particular is the lasting popularity they went on... Continue Reading →

Black Funeral: Scourge of Lamashtu (2020) Black Funeral continue their quest to shed their idiosyncratic, atmospheric tendencies for the sake of furthering melodicism within raw black metal with the release of their latest album ‘Scourge of Lamashtu’. There is an undeniable surrealist quality at the heart of this album, which finds expression through the keyboards... Continue Reading →

Sadistic Drive: Anthropophagy (2020) After the ambitious demo ‘Street Cannibal Gluttony’, Finnish surrealist gore revellers Sadistic Drive have added a little water to the dense wiring of their morbid death metal, left the thing to air out some, and returned with a relatively spacious full length by the name of ‘Anthropophagy’. I say this is... Continue Reading →