Ivanova Kula: Iskovano u vatri OgnjebogaOut 14th September, self-released Takes metal adjacent ambient back to the halcyon days of the 1990s, when synth options were limited, recording more challenging, and – much like the fantasy gaming genre this sonic wing grew out of – artists relied on their listeners sharing an overactive imagination. Such goodwill... Continue Reading →

Délétère: Songes d'une Nuit SouilléeOut 23rd November on Sepulchural Productions Longstanding champions of maximalist black metal Délétère return for another filling course of winter activism. Winding melodic threads – basic in their component parts yet so populous as to adopt the demeanour of complexity – bind together this exercise in disciplined bombast. A world purporting... Continue Reading →

The lads chat 1994 black metal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RJfqHxDDs8

Cirkeln: The Primitive CovenantOut 3rd November on True Cult Records I’d wager a majority would not be sorry to see turn of the century metal consigned to the dustbin of history, especially that clutch of Darkthrone albums bordering the year 2000, when Fenriz was at his lowest ebb mentally. The kindest thing one could therefore... Continue Reading →

Desecresy: Deserted RealmsOut 26th September on Xtreem Music The Desecresy production line shows no sign of stopping. ‘Deserted Realms’ is the eighth LP from this outlier in the latter day death metal landscape, and the fourth under the sole stewardship of Tommi Grönqvist. Having quickly developed a singular niche, Desecresy displayed a rare momentum across... Continue Reading →

Painted Throat: The Clock Shaken from the WallOut 27th October on Xenoglossy What sounds like a semi-improvised drum shuffle underpins a procession of bass drones, the topography of which is defined by pitch and dynamics over any discernible melodic content. Feedback compounds on itself, providing welcome background ambience to supplement the abrasion of labyrinthine activity... Continue Reading →

The lads made a tier list. Sorry that Waters of Weeping by Black Funeral wasn't included. It should have been. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqeSjL9isHU

Further in EvilOut 20th October on Southern Lord Recordings Scene scribes have a habit of comparing music that is with music they think ought to be. Through every review, critique, and dissected minutia, they are forever trying to articulate a vision of music as they think it should be. From this angle, the actual work... Continue Reading →

Martyrdoom: As Torment PrevailsOut 23rd October on Memento Mori Anyone vaguely attuned to current events will be aware that modern death/doom is overstuffed with content. The reasons are not hard to fathom. The genre encourages puffed out mixes that make the bar of entry low, you can pad the runtime with long passages of guitar... Continue Reading →

The lads dissect new "OSDM" by exchanging audio samples in an attempt to understand their content; a kind of "Blindverkostung" or "blind-tasting." The conclusion after such an endeavour is that new "OSDM" is a vibe rather than an artistic expression.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMyrR3GpYyM