Armchair rhetoric on extreme metal
Grog: Sphere of AtrocitiesOut 13th June on Helldprod A collection of generic brutal and semi technical death metal furniture, delivered with the random freneticism of grindcore. Swirling between ideas, Grog are just as liable to hack up the momentum with abandon as they are to repeat themes and riffs in order to hammer them home.... Continue Reading →
Nithe: Funeral DeathOut 30th May on Caligari Records Standard retro black/death/thrash metal conceals a more active imagination than is typical for this beaten and very much deceased horse. Each segment revels in its simplicity, but as an excess of ideas unfurl across each track, one can at least admire the attention to detail in constructing... Continue Reading →
Ahamkara: The Harrow of the LostOut 25th April on Bindrune Recordings Blends the vast sweeping atmospheres of Wodensthrone and the idiosyncratic polyphony of Obsequie into a vapid mulch of emo black metal. Trivial harmonic material decorates a slue of anthemic riffs rendered with a black metal aesthetic for an audience incapable of confronting the music's... Continue Reading →
Clactonian: Everlasting PaleolithicOut 28th March on Prehistoric Sounds Clactonian return for another brief skirmish of dark war metal. Here we see them combine the violent intensity of early grindcore with the haunting darkness of Von. Pivoting on a basic, punk riff, hammered home with an almost ludicrous determination, with only brief variations in pitch or... Continue Reading →
Voodus: Emanating SparksOut 28th February on Shadow Records/Regain Records Modestly melodic Swedish black metal that ups the game as far as their own standards are concerned. The overall packaging is still thoroughly domesticated, renting a generous helping of ideas from ‘The Somberlain’ whilst flattening off its longform ambition in favour of crowd pleasing speed thrills,... Continue Reading →
The purpose of an interview is what it does The recent discussion between Decibel’s Albert Mudrian and longtime YouTube reviewer Anthony Fantano looks benign enough, but what does it do? Unsurprisingly, Fantano’s line of questioning ventriloquises the polarised interests of the modern fanbase, which tends to oscillate between an obsession with death metal’s origins and... Continue Reading →
Scheusal: UrwahnOut 3rd March on Purity Through Fire Supplements the playfully abrasive punk of Ildjarn with a tragedian melodic signature. In this sense there is an oddly modernist swagger to the presentation, a mechanical order speaking more of concrete and machinery than organicism. This is something only emphasised by the predictable precision of the simple... Continue Reading →
The unlikely story of dungeon synth By Jordan Whiteman I’m a longtime fan of black metal. In that capacity I was familiar with the music we now call dungeon synth long before its so called revival in the 2010s. I’ve maintained a mild curiosity about it ever since. Given all that, I would have thought... Continue Reading →
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