Armchair rhetoric on extreme metal
Lord of Two HornsOut 27th June on Nuclear Winter Records Drawn and Quartered remind us that – despite my growing cynicism – you should never write anyone off before their time. 2021’s ‘Congregation Pestilence’ was a tight but forgettable iteration of dark American death metal. One that led me to conclude that we could expect... 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 →
Funeral Baptism: In SolitudineOut 30th May on Loud Rage Music If you ever conceived the (admittedly niche) desire to know what Dissection would sound like playing depressive black metal it’s all here. Thrilling and graceful melodic content flirting on the border of the trivial engages in a balancing act with intense emotional flourishes expressed through... Continue Reading →
I’m back! After a brief hiatus to process what I’m told were “feelings”. What’s changed since I’ve been gone? Well, nothing…obviously. Except the world’s first AI band finally managing to extract the artist from the artwork. A slow march toward technological homogeneity continues apace, something everyone agrees is bad whilst actively embracing it at every... Continue Reading →
An Tóramh: Echoes of Eternal NightOut 9th May on Black Lion Records Mixing the despondency of latter day Esoteric with a lo-fi sensibility grants this album a greater degree of dignity than the overworked emotional catharsis of much modern funeral doom. The usual hesitant, droning chords are punctuated by almost constant harmonic decoration, with the... Continue Reading →
The Philosophy of Eternal Recurrence Out 19th April, self-released Jakarta’s Tombstone return for album number three of no thrills melodic black metal pulling from the mid-90s Swedish style. Here we see the contours flattened off somewhat for the sake of producing an even more direct, transparent delivery mechanism for linear runs of simple melodic sequences,... Continue Reading →
In 1985 Ray Belknap placed a 12-gauge shotgun under his chin and shot himself, dying instantly. His friend James Vance then took the same shotgun, placed it under his own chin, and pulled the trigger. He survived but was severely disfigured. The parents sued Judas Priest, whose music, they claimed, had mesmerised their sons, encouraging... Continue Reading →
Why is metal such a stubbornly perennial passion? I’d venture that it’s not just the intensity and obsession it provokes, but just how deep and far the genre spread across the globe. If you ever feel the need to refresh your listening rotation, you can pretty much close your eyes and point to a place... Continue Reading →
Impious Throne: Suffering Out 11th April on ATMF – De Tenebrarum Principio (originally released in 2024) Despite the brevity of this album, one can’t help but wish for some heavy handed editing. Frantic, riff centric, immediate black metal succeeds in conveying a tragedian gravitas and sense of occasion. But Impious Throne are forever saddling themselves... Continue Reading →
Hateful Draugar from the UndergroundOut 28th March on Darkness Shall Rise Synthesises elements of early Enslaved with Burzum to great effect, but veers away from the detached cinematic narratives of the former, into something closely resembling the understated folk narratives of Isengard. The result is a satisfying reaffirmation of black metal as both an atmospheric... Continue Reading →
Hate Meditations 