Armchair rhetoric on extreme metal
The noise diaries XVII There’s maybe just one more heat wave standing between us and a seasonal reset. Brown leaves are already littering the ground in the North of England. Autumn is in the bones. I think I’ve finally reasoned my way through why I take such umbrage with summer, and it’s nothing to do... 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 →
Sacrosanct DemonopathyOut 16th May on Werewolf Records Reminiscent of Gnipahålan for its filling and oftentimes recklessly dense concoction of Nordic black metal leftovers. The result leaves a similar residual feeling of being over sated. All the moving parts work, but at times their simultaneity threatens to collapse the music into incoherence. Given how safe 2021’s... 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 →
Kill the bliss At the risk of sounding infantile, I’ve come to hate summer. Aside from the needlessly long, skin damaging days, the clammy, sleepless nights, and the ambient good cheer of outdoor folk, life seems to reserve its more challenging scenarios for the summer months. I usually turn to the suffocating activity of death... Continue Reading →
Draugaskogur: Fullmoon Hypnotic RitualOut 25th April Profundus Records Ethereal but energetic black metal from Serbia achieves a good balance between ambiguous mysticism and epic narrative expressions. The latent heroism of early Enslaved meets a gloomier aesthetic expressed through a haze of additional harmonies played through guitar effects that warp the tone of the instrument to... 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 →
Wreathed in Dead AngelsOut 25th April on Hells Headbangers I was beginning to think that Profanatica were flagging by the time ‘Rotting Incarnation of God’ came out. With retrospect one could appreciate the intention behind the choice to veer toward a more considered, ambient doom iteration of their signature ferocity. But given the unique barbarism... Continue Reading →
Chasms of Ash and InequityOut 9th March on Blackened Label Records Metal Archives genres are an interesting thing. The site goes out of its way to stay as broad as possible. I generally agree with this policy. I may even go broader (there are only four metal genres and I will die on that hill).... Continue Reading →
Screaming with no face The Englishman’s reflex for emotional repression is unmatched. But even he will experience particularly challenging periods, periods liable to breed emotions faster than they can be slaughtered. The obnoxiously clement weather mocking any attempts to wallow in peace. In such times, his fine tuned ability to kill emotions in their cradle... Continue Reading →
Hate Meditations 