Armchair rhetoric on extreme metal
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 →
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 →
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 →
Vortex of the DestroyerOut 28th March on NoEvDi Records One could read Svartsyn as a direct descendant of ‘De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'. In the sense that this is one way of achieving a “post riff” form of black metal without leaning on ambience. Rudimentary riffs are still present and correct, but their existence is now... Continue Reading →
Words by Jason Kiss The Deep When we describe something as deep, we often imply that it goes beyond the surface and holds a kind of significance that eludes the realm of the superficial. Depth stands in opposition to shallowness and points toward a more reflective and nuanced reality than the socially accepted “truths” of... Continue Reading →
Master of the Nebulous ReachOut 14th March, self-released Despite the unevenness of Dis Pater’s body of work, he remains an artist I enjoy following closely. This latest EP goes some way to remind me why I am enamoured more with the idea of Midnight Odyssey – and indeed the other projects he has dabbled in... Continue Reading →
At the Altar of the Horned God: ElementsOut 13th December on I, Voidhanger Records Having already signalled their love of various goth formulas through their manipulation of ritualistic melodrama and black metal furniture to create a kind of hybrid style that was appealing in concept even if it fell short in execution, it’s unsurprising to... Continue Reading →
Auriferous Flame: The Insurrectionists and the CaretakersOut 8th November on True Cult Records/Stellar Auditorium Productions “The album explores the theme of revolution and delves deep into the complexities of resistance and change, offering listeners an intense and thought provoking experience.” Given the eagerness to share the complex subject matter that inspired this album, one might... Continue Reading →
Onslaught Kommand: MalignancyOut 18th October on Godz of War Productions Essentially a goregrind band with a blackened edge, Onslaught Kommand justify their rather limited existence by combining a playful package of classic grind riffs with an oppressively dark atmosphere, eschewing the cutesy play of goregrind at large. Riffs circle around the usual cocktail of early... Continue Reading →
ΦθοράOut 4th October on Tragedy Productions This may be purely anecdotal, but it feels like black metal’s popularity is waning. And that's a good thing. Finally allowing the genre to catch its breath and take stock. Sure, there are still the Goliaths of the genre that suck out the oxygen whenever they choose to resurface.... Continue Reading →
Hate Meditations 