Armchair rhetoric on extreme metal
Eternal Roar of the Thunder and RainOut 21st February on Eternal Death Atmospheric black metal that takes the legacy of Burzum somewhat seriously, in that Burzum, especially on the first two albums, were never much of an atmospheric outfit by todayโs standards. The chief source of dreamscaping invoked by music to โstimulate the fantasy of... Continue Reading →
Tubal Cain: Slime AbyssOut 27th February on Darkness Shall Rise It remains curious to look at black metal as the completion of metal's evolutionary circle. A symptom of the hysteria and panic that gripped metal fans as death metal bands proudly displayed their tracksuits and time signatures. Black metalโs closer alliance with linear heavy metal... Continue Reading →
Vengeance EvangelOut 14th February on Lavadome Productions โTechnical death metalโ is a problematic label. Genre names often refer to some specific technique or dominant feature of the music itself. To apportion off a subgenre by simply asserting that itโs more technically demanding than its mothership can be something of a misnomer. Just exactly how or... Continue Reading →
Tribulated BellsOut 24th January on Hammerheat Records (originally released in 1992) Coinciding neatly with our recent discussion on Chilean metal comes this reissue from Hammerheat Records of Sadismโs โTribulated Bellsโ, an early intervention in Chilean extreme metal. Notable alongside the likes of Torturer for being one of a handful of bands to make inroads into... Continue Reading →
Megalit al PutrefacศieiOut 20th January on Memento Mori Not far into this competent but generic rendition of slow, primal, backward looking death metal, I was struck by a particular guitar lead that sounded awfully familiar. I immediately looked Putred up and found that they were from Romania. Another Romanian outfit (just) made my top picks... Continue Reading →
Words by Jason Kiss Preface It is evident that the new Mefitis release, The Skorian // The Greyleer, has faltered in terms of gaining underground traction. Despite the promotional machinery of Earsplit Compound and the substantial backing of Profound Lore Records, the Spotify listenership remains very meager, reviews are scarce, and I cannot help but apprehend... Continue Reading →
Perditionโs Mire: Into a Dark HeartlandOut 13th December on Headkick Music At one point these impotent guitar lines were probably reasonable black metal riffs. Onto this framework is draped a tedious exercise in self-therapy. Because this bandโs focus is on individualised inner struggle they have nothing useful to say beyond meaningless gestures on why life... Continue Reading →
ฮฆฮธฮฟฯฮฌOut 4th October on Tragedy Productions This may be purely anecdotal, but it feels like black metalโs 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 