Armchair rhetoric on extreme metal
Mรถhrkvlth: Gwenojennoรน An Ankounac'hOut 5th May on Antiq Sickly sweet post hardcore rendered in black metal form. Every riff geared toward emotional catharsis, achieving nothing as a result given the fact that no room is left for conflict, tension, strife, contrast. The total lack of patience demonstrable in the melodic signature of modern black metal... Continue Reading →
The First GeometryOut 26th April, self-released Somewhere between the arcane mysticism of formative Greek black metal and the barbaric militarism of early Graveland sits this self-released debut. Richly textured keyboard lines dominate the landscape, leaving the guitars to flesh out a more visceral physicality, with ponderous, mid-paced drums furnishing all with a threateningly understated momentum.... Continue Reading →
Words by Jason Kiss Jacques Ranciรจreโs notion of the โdistribution of the sensibleโ offers a productive theory for probing the black metal phenomenon. Ranciรจre defines the distribution of the sensible as โthe system of self-evident facts of sense perception that simultaneously discloses the existence of something in common and the delimitations that define the respective... Continue Reading →
Kirjad sรตgedate kรผlastOut 25th April on Antiq Five years since their debut and a very different beast has wriggled free of the Kรตdu moniker. Where โUnusta kรตikโ unfolded a jagged, dissonant array of plodding black metal, at once surreal and haunting despite the cold, mechanistic approach, the long awaited follow up broadens the aesthetic spectrum... Continue Reading →
The dark satanic content mills vs. Angine de Poitrine Never try to go viral. Thereโs a unique embarrassment that comes with trying to go virality. The kind reserved for TV ads that appropriate internet meme culture. An abyssal exercise in the pathetic stemming from the fact that virality, by its very nature, is a freak... Continue Reading →
Dimension: DaemoniumOut 17th April on Werewolf Finlandโs Vargrav return for another bout of outrageously dense symphonic black metal. Resembling Gnipahรฅlan in their attempt to physically overwhelm the listener with impenetrable waves of guitar and synth led noise, layers that create the illusion of activity despite an axiomatic simplicity locatable at the foundational level. Vargrav remain... Continue Reading →
Appetite whiplash Appetites are strange things. Once an appetite returns it usually does so with interest. I lost my appetite for heavy guitar music last summer, when it returned it did so with whiplash inducing rapaciousness by late autumn, spurred on in part by what was actually a pretty solid year for metal. As spring... Continue Reading →
Blasart: Depravatus Christianis SacrisOut 28th March on Lavadome Productions Overwrought black metal cloaks repetition with subtle shifts in emphasis and pitch, alongside some welcome decorative accents. Chugging thrash articulation beefs up the more fluid intent behind these tracks, only somewhat hampered by the obnoxious domesticity of the hardcore derived vocals. What at first appears to... Continue Reading →
MorgongloฬdOut 27th March on Vidfare/NoEvDia Mortuus, aka Daniel Rostรฉn, continues his habit of saving his best for well outside the Marduk roadshow. This is the third album released under the DomJord moniker, his own contribution to the long tradition of black metal artists dabbling in various ambient side projects. Being a relatively late comer to... Continue Reading →
Morbid DesiresOut 27th March on Darkness Shall Rise Productions Being Tulus must be a thankless task. Even the promo blurb accompanying this release canโt quite muster the requisite enthusiasm, boasting โconcise mid-tempo songs performed by proficient musiciansโ, โMorbid Desiresโ is โby no means a one-dimensional albumโ and has โplenty of varietyโ. On that last point... Continue Reading →
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