Where the EP consisted of just under 40 minutes of slow, doomy black metal, Æ.Thy.Rift consists of just over 40 minutes with even doomier and more sluggish black metal. I choose to label it funeral black metal.
Ill Omen has been around since 2006 and this is the third full length album.

The four songs, two of which nearly clocks in at 15 minutes each, wades through the marsh with a head full of ominous chaos. Or possibly with an empty mind. Empty like an abandoned cathedral where the echo after the last ungodly ceremony still reverberates as a lost spirit. The music has a persistent droning sacral timbre that never fades. Underneath this fictitious dome, fever-demons rages in a sick man's mind.

The songs move in ominous ways via liquid transitions. The music is neither complex nor innovative, but its dystopian nature, its infamous chanting and intensely powerful sound, invokes demons from Hell while the sky is falling down, the walls are closing in and the rope tightens around the neck in a claustrophobic nightmare.

If you'd like to sleep well tonight, it may be better playing it safe, going with Leaves' Eyes, Sonata Arctica, Edguy or anything else that does not hypnotise you into thinking dreadful thoughts, seeing horrific visions or hearing terrifying sounds.

With that said; there's other albums having the same effect too, of course. Æ.Thy.Rift isn't an album that stands out or impresses profusely, but it delivers what it promises, it does so effectively, and I like it. I guess that's what I expect and demand to rate an album as good.

The band's second blasphemous full release is like poisonous spores of ergot. Besides from the “handy” side effect of providing you with gangrene, which literally can cause the body to rot, the infection has a decomposing effect on the mind. The listener, through the psychosis, is robbed of all light and hope, and ripped through the sewage of reality, a reality most sheep in denial try to embellish with lavish façades.

The Texans ain't the uppermost proficient. Nor do they write the very best songs. They don't bring the most exciting ingredients to the table, and they care very little about originality. Morbus 666 brings cold and lifeless, satanic, unhappy and uncomfortable black metal. Raw, primitive, naked and honest. No more. No less.
There's a deviant within us all, and Morbus 666 just tries to convey their views on the heinous truth.

Sure, there are many albums I like even more, but I enjoy Ignis Divine Empire, and its cold authentic disgust. The album ain't mandatory, however, unless you've swallowed, nodded and totally agreed with the misanthropic description. In which case, it just might be.

If you're still uncertain, hear Fiery Abyss and A Gateway Beyond The Funeral Shroud:

A blood soaked video was made for the song Loneliness of the debut, but that one didn't testify to said roots.
Although the band has evolved a lot since its inception, they have still remains a quaint feel we don't find too often these days.

The music Phazm offers today float and drift as an unmoored Viking ship between melodic midtempo black and death, a bit like Bloodthorn's penultimate album, with assorted suitably detours as potent spices, including hints of Ásatrú as well as a (far too) short passage with nyckelharpa and an entry of female vocals in Scornful of Icons. The music has an airy feel with room for clear melodies, while preserving brutality and punch.

The opener Ginnungagap, is somewhat reminiscent of Vikings such as Fortíð, Ereb Altor and Moonsorrow, while thrust and force makes Amon Amarth a more apposite comparison. The vocals that concludes the song consists of two layers, the deepest is so low in the frequency spectrum that it almost gets a touch of throat singing. The remaining material continues along the same deadly path, where the harsh smell of gigantic trolls, drunk on high-octane dominate, whilst Viking moods give way for other concoctions.

The band doesn't just have good variation within each songs, they also alternate so much on riffs, rhythms, vocal style, melodies, speed and techniques that the album feels very diverse. Over a steadfast foundation of solid concrete, all the details in the various cracks, pattern, colour shades and pores creates clear musical structures with depth.
The songs are as mentioned often placed in the medium to upper mid-tempo register, with a nice balance between pace and heaviness, and they generally have good dynamic structure with room for variation and solos. With angry vocals, heavy-handed drumming and fierce guitars with rowdy distortion, the Frenchmen reel off eight songs with satanic temper. Not eerie, but with a diabolical grin.

Even the sound is in tune with the musical fists and playful touches on Scornful of Icons. The production is spacious and clear, with attention to detail, whilst simultaneously favouring a juicy, vibrant, manly and warlike character. It sounds great, and the dynamics of DR8 makes it more pleasing to enjoy the album.

Finally, let me mention that this is an album with many subtle refinements and nuanced details that not only requires a little time, but that gives something back by growing to a very strong album. The only thing that annoys me a bit is the otherwise superb cover art, where the child's hands ought to have the thumbs facing outwards when the palms are facing up. And you know it has to be good when that's my only complaint.

Being traditional still has a flip side. It's almost 30 years since death metal detonated, and it can be a cumbersome balance between the traditional and the generic. Shotgun Surgery still has enough quality to offer to land on their feet on this debut.


Deathfare offers an aggressive assault with solid punch, presented with a rich and nice wall of sound. It's the American style the band is most related to. The recipe is thunderous riffing, animalistic grunting, bass with fairly loose strings that surface no more often than a whale, and a drummer who doesn't just hammer as a nail gun, but rather puts down vital groove and variety. Their death metal can be said to be in line with acts such as for instance Deicide and Dutch Sinister.

Speaking of vocals; Mikael Stokdal, which handles the microphone, seems to have done the same on Myriads' debut, which made an original twist on the local gothic metal of the '90s by adding black vocals. It should also be mentioned that Attila Csihar has laid down some disturbing vocals on the track Fistful Of Fuck.

Hover mouse over image.

The Norwegians offers descent diversity within each of the 11 tracks. The songs are good, although they don't stand out much in the bigger picture. When these slaughter-tunes are accompanied by juicy sound, Deathfare ain't far behind their more renown congeners. Some guitar acrobatics may be tracked, but there is surprisingly little shrieking shreds to be found in terms of genre.
Shotgun Surgery is a solid album that still offers rather few surprises. The atmospheric, but oh so short guitar part just before the three-minute mark in 10,000 Nightmares could have been drawn out for an eternity on my part.

Powerfully, vulgar, brutal and tough, yet very little original. A juicy debut that smell of corpses in the closet and robust potential. I still won't mind a bit more signature next time around, thank you.

If that's a useless reference we can always try a few others who have spread their furore a bit more in the underground, and we use the same two countries. The thrashers in Deathhammer has a more punkish and chaotic style, whilst the black death mongers of Bölzer lead a more controlled form of vile darkness. Somewhere in between, Deathcult sits whiles giving you the finger.

Deathcult exhibited a hellish drive on their first release, which consisted of four songs. A short bonus is now added, pushing the duration to almost exactly 25 minutes. After an intro simply called Intro, which is actually a propelling headbanger-friendly song and not just a collection of sounds, it's time for the title track. When this slams into action I get some vibes of very early Sespultura, although the resemblance ain't at all dominating. This is death metal of the sepulchral type, and a vital such. The band conveys reckless moods of equal parts misanthropic indifference and hateful disgust.
Deus Bonus Est isn't the name of the bonus track, but the title of a nearly 11 minute long raw and occasionally hypnotic nightmare. The bonus track is otherwise both shorter and less interesting than the intro.

In 2014 Deathcult released the EP Pleading for Death... Choking on Life, and the guys are now working on material for their first album. After the EP, guitarist and vocalist O. Ketzer left to focus on Bölzer.

I'm droolingly anticipating the debut, and in the mean time, I enjoy Demo '12.

It's possible that the band's nature-embossed metal with acoustic drips of Empyrium was more original at the time when Hellkult was renamed Wyrd back in 1998. Originality within the genre may have fallen, but the band has been improved over the years and now mixes several ingredients that helps preserving a distinctive identity. On Death Of The Sun I find a little bit stronger melodies than what I seem to remember from my sporadic meetings with the Finns. The biggest surprise, however, is the clean vocals used on Man of Silent Waters, The Sleepless and the Dead, Inside og Rust Feathers. The voice actually has a little hint of ageing, rusty and a bit hoarse Bruce Dickinson (not too unlike the way he's been sounding after the millennium shift, in other words).

None of the previous albums that rests on the shelf has been worn out. I don't have such a great love for the alloy of pagan metal and semi-acoustic folk. I still have a fascination and respect for the primordial instinctual nature approach it represents.
Whether or not the album should be packed and brought along on your next trip to the mountains remains uncertain. The band mixes elements of doom, heavy, black and pagan to a slightly schizophrenic hybrid. They admittedly catches some of the night forest's soul, but the music is no pure natural product in that respect, and it's hardly suitable for a family camping environment. Ergo I do not really know who I should recommend this to.

The music can be fairly great, especially when Wyrd offers good melodies as in Man of Silent Waters, but not everything on the album emerges as strong. Most of the songs hold good melodic segments, and even a few exciting sequences. The Sleepless and the Dead opens with stylish riffing and contains tastefully accordion, while the two songs with Pale in the title brings some good folk-melodies, to give a few examples. The last of these even with moods of medieval balls and banquets.
Nevertheless, I also find plenty of more primitive and anonymous sequences on this relatively long album.
I've got this impression that Wyrd seemingly always serves value for money. It turns out, however, that several of the discs I have not heard is about 40 minutes long. Death Of The Sun provides over 50 minutes by the bone fire, or wherever the album is best enjoyed.

Some things very good, some parts less interesting, and a bit schizophrenic. In sum, fairly good. The most elaborate melody can be found in Man of Silent Waters. Check the opening and title track Death of the Sun as well:

EDIT 31.03.16: Hear every song on SoundCloud.

The name Darvulia is probably derived from the mysterious and little-known woman Anna Darvulia, who apparently was in cahoots with Elizabeth Báthory, and is even referred to as a witch. This infamous woman allegedly influenced Elizabeth's bestial acts to expand in scope.

A good name in this respect for a band that takes the most bizarre and grotesque French delirium in a further perverted and obscure direction. Dissonant melodies and a primitive raw sound creates unpleasant claustrophobic moods. The musics partly repetitive mark creates a dystopian landscape where gnawing anxiety constantly threatens to remove the last straw of grip on reality.

Kobal, who handles everything except the drums, has a vocal that already seems to have given up hope of any spiritual connection to the material world. The whole world has collapsed like a corrupted, undermined house of cards, and the sharp and frantic vocals testify to a stale mind ravaged by decay and disgust.

The sound is mercilessly unvarnished, sharp and primitive. As made for their ghastly sonic expression.
If this sounds appealing in some macabre way, it probably is. If not, stay away!

Hravn started the band along with drummer Throllv. The welded duo has, due to various unfortunate reasons, had some turnover of bassists. Partly because the band relocated from Hagfors to Borås. Their new man on thick strings simply calls himself B.C..

If you have a penchant for Battles in the North and At the Heart of Winter, Rimfrost is a very nice substitute when you need new songs to revel in. The band don't just offer identity theft, though. The style and vocals are in the same lane, but one can still not accuse the band of plagiarism. There are far more Darkthrone-clones out there. Rimfrost even has a well-developed flair for melodies them selves, and they presents eight self composed songs of high quality.
Towards the end of the opening track As the Silver Curtain Closes, LOTR-moods are manifested, but besides from this, epic depictions are left to Summoning. Rimfrost could nevertheless served as the soundtrack for crossing hazardous mountain passes and hunting orcs in ancient Dwarf mines.
One can feel the raven's flight over icy tundra in the quiet sections, and the violent strength of an avalanche when the drums beats at full strength and vocals shake the landscape like an earthquake.

If ye have little faith in Demonaz and Horgh having what it takes to deliver the goods without Abbath, this album is a very good candidate as credible replacement. Or surrogate. And if Immortal should come to convinces us with their new epos, which reportedly will be recorded this year, there's no harm in eating the cake whilst still preserving it.

See the video for Witches Hammer.

It is a far more vital hybrid we come across here. The men pick rhythms, riff- and vocal-style from rock'n'roll, thrash, punk, heavy metal and hardcore, mixing it all up as the most natural thing in the world.

There's a lot to take pleasure in on Profound and Profane, but also ingredients I personally could have done without. Good Times in the Dark Ages has a hint of Iron Maiden's Purgatory, the acoustic guitars of Low & Broken has the characteristics of modern Southern rock and the calm half of Guns n 'Roses' Lies, while The Ultimate Sacrifice makes an approach toward Clawfinger/Rage Against the Machine.

The album has plenty of def riffing and juicy guitar work, such as the lovely trills in Private Stock, but the hardcore/rapcore vibes that often comes forth in rhythm and vocals in particular ruin the fun a bit for me. I never could stand the sound of such.

If I ignore that part of the music, the guys deliver bitchin' drift, punch and enthusiasm in their lively pot pourri. None of the songs however have the last icing on the cake, that little extra to make the songs stick to the mind permanently. Did I say none? Well, there is one. The instrumental The Crate contains lovely guitar works all across the board. Even without the least sign of plagiarism, this could have slipped right into Master of Puppets. A perfectly delightful song that unfortunately sits on its throne in majestic solitude.
The album as a whole is no classic, but it's probably a decent disc to put on when the party starts getting festive.

check the video for Gods of Rock n' Roll, and hear Target Acquired here:

The barely 60 second long intro, adequately titled Perkele!, impose a blissful satanic grin on the face of yours truly, as we're being served some juicy Finnish profanity.
After this, the music opens with quite good punch in Kärsimys Kunniaan, which at first makes me think of a melodic and rocking offspring of death metal. But the thrust from the melodic death'n'roll opening don't persists. The vocals are fierce, powerful, rabid and fucking tough all the way, but the ten ordinary songs, clocking in at four minutes on average, eventually proves to be a little boring over time.
The band varies approach a bit from song to song, but each song is basically as a four-minute demonstration of fairly repetitive songs. Elämän irvikuva starts in a little Nirvana-sounding fashion, but otherwise, variation from song to song ain't too spectacular either.

This style of music, which I to be honest fail to take entirely seriously, requires strong songs with good melodies and reinforced steel hooks to prevail and that's where I feel that Kuoleman Galleria fail to pull through with Kärsimys Kunniaan. A song or two is fine, but then it's sort of enough for me.

In concluding Haittavaikutus the band shows some interesting moods, but by than, I've pretty much buckled under, unfortunately. Even this one becomes too monotonic, I'm afraid. The digital version also includes a cover of Barathrum, without it making any difference.

I like the forcefulness the guys conveys, and I've got a soft spot for the vocals. Their stylistic path might work, but if so, the guys have to work much more with the material. At least if they're to make this grumpy old motherfucker to change his mind.

Listen (and read the Finnish lyrics) to Aivokuollut Ajattelija and do watch the bloody video for Siivoa Jälkesi.

Attention to artists is, also according to the band, an unnecessary distraction that will only undermine the focus that should be solely on music. The Scotsmen (Scotsman? - There's only one man in the enclosed band-photo) sounds professional, but impressive newcomers keeps popping up rather frequently.

As a black metallic medium, the music takes the listener down the hidden back stairs in the subconscious, to the maze of the occult realm.
The band blends different forms of black metal, dissimilar styles of riffing and variable rhythmic approaches, constantly focusing on frosty and bitter landscapes. Catacomb walls are dripping with slime, or perhaps blood and organic gruel or slurry. The dim light leaves the cruel truth to the fantasy. As a hybrid of Mgła's stark and unadorned harsh brutality with Misþyrming's infernal and demoniacal maelstrom, allowing the listener to see the kingdom of night, death and the antagonists from their perspective.

O Ifrinn, you sepulchral, labyrinthine, spiritual underworld of icy downward-spiralling anti-theistic worship, yet red hot kaleidoscopic vortex of lava and cryptical black magic. Bring us your Celtic occultism, and you will be met with open ears amidst the vile voracious hordes, always thirsty for blood and spiritual nourishment.
I've booked a guided group tour to the underworld, and you are invited.

The cover art is by the way an edited version of Bridge over Chaos (approx. 1826) by British painter John Martin.
PS: The disc, a 12" MLP, is slightly delayed from the pressing plant, thus the release date will be slightly postponed.

Immensity has only got one demo behind them, carrying the artistic name The Lonely Aquarelle. They just as well added the two songs from it to the five new songs on The Isolation Splendour. Thus, you get their whole discography served here. When the majority of the songs are about ten minutes long, this makes for a long duration affair, and perhaps a protracted one too. 67 minutes of mournful music that flows slowly as a river of thick honey can be a test of patience if you (meaning I) focus on the over ten promos that should have been reviewed during the week. It's a good thing, than, that this is quiet and pleasant music that soothes frayed nerves.
Taking ones time is the only sensible option when new music is to be digested anyway.

Immensity's form of death/doom is of the rather benign kind. Their metal is generally not very hard, although it's a bit heavy. The music is more atmospheric and dreamy, with a gentle touch of gothic moods, than rumbling and ominous. Where some exhibits gloom full of indignation and underlying thoughts of revenge, the Greek sextet are closer to innocent sorrow and despair. Need references? Consider Draconian, The 11th Hour, Daylight Dies and Hamferð as a few fairly similar and rather random examples.
The two songs from the demo does also remind me a little bit of the first song of The Foreshadowing's Days of Nothing and My Dying Bride's 34.788% ... Complete in occasional riffs and lines of melody.

This is generally a genre that rests quite heavily on melodies, especially when the music is in the quietest end of the death/doom scale. Immensity offers neat and comfortable tunes and melodies, but after close to seven hours in the company of The Isolation Splendour, I miss melodies with hooks that really probe the frontal lobe and connect to the cerebral cortex.
The song material might not be top notch, but this is still a solid piece of nice music, and time well spent.

The Isolation Splendour is available digitally for an optional price on Bandcamp via Solitude Productions' official North American distributor Hypnotic Dirge Records, which this album is also released in collaboration with.

NightQueen was originally released on cassette via Jawbreaker Records on October 31st yesteryear, but was released anew in January of Heathen Tribes, a rather new label whose Greek founders reside in Germany.

The Swedes offers three long and elaborate songs, as well as two shorter tracks.
The longest songs ranges from 8 to 11 minutes. These have plenty of variety within each song, and a hellish expression, more on the mental plane than on the musical. The music is airy and not very extreme or intense, but the moods are evil and ominous, while retaining a protoScandinavian proud and erect attitude that shines through.
The music is partly melodic, but in an eerie and sinister form. This tastes of both Dissection and Norwegian moods, while a hint of French/Icelandic maelstrom is colouring the sound. The latter albeit limited to parts of their sound.
And the vocals? You could fillet fucking flatfish with it, for it's as sharp as a razor.
Ciller as a cruel and coarse clown with a chainsaw on a carnage! Oh wait, Killer is written with a K, damn it.

Then there's the shorter segments. The Burning Light Of Daath is a cool little bully in well under 5 minutes, but it just doesn't fit in. The rhythm guitar drowns. In its place we find a prominent bass. The audio has more cotton than the other songs, and 20 seconds of silence at the end is scarcely necessary. And last but not least, this lies significantly closer to death metal than the other material. I see now that this wasn't part of the cassette release.
3 minutes long Metamorfos puts up the Viking sail and plough the waves with salty foam around the dragon head on the prow. A short but nifty thing.

The Swedes shows their muscles, albeit with a somewhat unfinished demo mark over their works. Nevertheless, the song material is mainly pretty damn slaying and well executed. Despite some debris, one helluva tough EP that testify to a damn promising future under a new moniker. I hope Voodus gets tons of attention and positive feedback on their negativity, and that they go off to create new material for an upcoming perfected fullength asap.

On Bandcamp you can also check out Jormundgand's one full length album.

The music is probably archetypical doom. Doom by fans and for fans, as the band says.
I must state that I'm not, nor have I ever been a fan of classic Doom. Still, I've heard this a few times and for me it would just be a waste of expensive time if I weren't to pass on my impression. Only hassle is I'm lousy at describing doom.
The music is in the lower part of the mid-tempo spectrum, it's melodic, and the moods are melancholic. I think that description should be general enough to fit at least 90% of all doom albums on the market.

The 54 minute long debut contains 7 songs from 5 to 12 minutes. My generic description sure fits like a spirit in a bottle here, too. The music is not particularly thrilling in my ears, but it does have a genuine touch of sadness, and quite pretty melodies. The album was recorded live in an abandoned music hall, and the sound is comfortable. Not too heavy, not too light. Deep resonating bass. Spacious dynamics.

This is not something that turns me on, and the vocals could have been deeper, but as I've said; Doom ain't my thing.
Forevermourn is an album that doom fans should check out and judge themselves. I'm just the messenger.

I don't have access to the lyrics, but the concept seems intricate. The story takes place on alien planets, where inter-dimensional travel is a possibility, and for our main character, a necessity. Dramatic events, conflicts, war for resources and a political turbulent climate namely forces our antagonist Darmak in exile.

As with the Ayreon universe, it's possible to feel the drama behind the music solely by listening to the moods conveyed. In addition to extreme metal and the symphonic spectre, the music takes use of dramatic melodic means, female operatic vocals, choirs and synth effects to build a credible backdrop as frame around its theatrical staging.

The band conveys their epic in a professional manner. The only thing I find to nitpick slightly at is the male extreme vocals, which is of a type that feels a little bit out of place at times. Soundwise in particular. The music resonates as in a mighty cathedral, while the more flat vocals is more like a badger in a shoebox. I'm exaggerating a bit to make a point, but it is a little bit too dry here and there. This does however not ruin the overall impression, but it should still be mentioned. There's also a genuine risk that the most barbarous extreme metal mongers will find this too pompous, but aside from them, those of you with more flexible taste should be able to enjoy the album to its fullest.

It takes a few spins to become familiar with this universe, and I'm probably not quite there yet myself. I can at least confirm that the music grows. With The Exile on my ears, I quickly feel the hypnotic suggestion embracing me and dragging me along on a thrilling adventure in space and time.

For a quick insight, feel free to watch the promotional video for The Exile.
The entire album can be heard below, but if you want some visual effects, please see the following on YouTube.
The first one is a lyric video.

              Resurrecting The Blood Gate               Witch of Dark Spire               The Exile               Planet Cenotaph

The band offers death metal with somewhat progressive rhythms, but expect no light-footed ballerina dance on rose leaves for that reason. Vocalist Sam Anetzberger (Fragments of unbecoming) sounds like a medium-sized ogre on the warpath, and the music shows no willingness to turn the other cheek.

Through the first rounds, this brutal beast of a bulldozer seems to drive on without yielding. People run to safety while houses breaks like matchsticks.
Eventually, a creeping feeling comes along, saying that it might not be all that exciting to witness splintered planks fly around for half an hour after all. Yet there is something inside the tornado dust that ain't all easy to put the finger on.

The band has a fine variety of riffs, and mixes in techniques and rhythms from “outside”. Some djent here, a little groove metal there. Without direct comparison, one can pick up tiny vibes and hints from various sources, such as Nader Sadek, Meshuggah and Cattle Decapitation. This playful genre hybrid makes itself heard most evidently in the song Grodek, while Der Krieg I remains mostly classic death metal. The song Erinnerung also stands out with slow riffs and rhythms and bitter melancholy.

Whether it all makes for an interesting combination or a rather schizophrenic coexistence, each must decide for them selves. I, for one, like Gomorrha., and especially the latter song. I can't call this release absolutely mandatory, though.
With five songs and 28.5 minutes, this could have passed as an EP, but it's released as an album. As always, you find the digital release by clicking the Bandcamp logo on the player, while a 12-page digipak is available via the blue link at the top.

See a studio clip of Menschheit, and watch the deadly serious teaser from their stay in the studio.

The press release draw parallels to amongst other Behemoth and Dimmu Borgir. Advent of the Human God has much of the same majestic characteristics as its predecessor, while I feel that the Canadians has shifted focus a bit from the former to the latter of these bands. The title song could have slipped straight into one of the four last Dimmu albums.

A small part of me points out, or rather claims, that the market is starting to become overexposed to this specific recipe of symphonic black/death, but I'm not willing to listen to such nonsense. We are drowning in lots of things these days, but qualitative orchestral extreme metal ain't one of them.

The material on Advent of the Human God is just so majestically pompous, well-composed and grandiose as fans of the genre probably wants it. Necronomicon write good songs that weave an epic and proud metallic bombardment seamlessly with sacral choir, doomsday trumpets and vengeful violins, to a towering diabolical expression that proudly rises as Lucifer from the abyss on the day of redemption, retribution, revenge and retaliation.

Euphonious, satanic, symphonic and exalted again from experienced Canadians. Let the mighty tones resound while the fallen leading star rises and takes his rightful place as liberal guidance for the wolf in man. Meanwhile, Yahweh's bastard son is nailed firmly in place to be tormented to death as the charlatan he undoubtedly was for the very last time, before he is devoured by oblivion (and legions of demons).
Ave Satanas!
If nothing else, at least these carefully chosen words are symptomatic of the moods I fall into when Necronomicon brings stand tall antagonistic atmosphere and attitude.

My Norwegian friends over at Eternal Terror offers Advent of the Human God in its entirety , and the band has made a video for the song Crown Of Thorns.
There's also a video for the song Rise of the Elder Ones (nsfw) from their previous album.

The fact is that the first of these recordings, made as early as in 1992, sounded better than most black metal demos released around the same time. ...o mundo morreu!, however, is approximately on the same level as my own first modest experimental musical endeavours was.

Something in the music triggered my curiosity, so I downloaded the promo and enqueued it. Still sceptical, though. Meanwhile, I read a positive review in a Norwegian magazine that worked as a pep talk, providing me with much needed motivation to get going with this hubbub of a disk.
If your acquaintances raises their eyebrows and shakes their head at the music you usually play, you risk a visit to the business psychologist if your co-workers catches you listening to Morte Incandescente's new album.

This Portuguese duo is not out to sow hope or seek renewal. With their fourth release, they acquired an expression in which they pursue the primitive roots of the most unholy and hateful genre. Not literally in a musical sense, mark you, but rather as an approach to black metal's spiritual roots, where hatred and disgust reigns. They do this without copying neither prototype, with Venom in front or the next wave, led by Mayhem. I do however find stronger vibes of the French scene. It smells a little charmingly depraved, as of Peste Noire. Unfortunately this material ain't even close to that level. Sonically this is miles better than LLN, just to have compared with another French phenomenon, but that doesn't really take much to accomplice.

The Portuguese began their career with rather cheap Darkthrone worship on their 2003 debut ...Your Funeral. Since then, they've releases an a couple of albums and a good handful of splits etc. Sure, Morte Incandescente conveys an essence of obscure and cold misanthropic contempt for accepted norms and such. But why the hell should I care? I have numerous shelf meters with CDs that convey similar feelings tens of times better. Who's got time to waste on mediocre shit?

I've only heard this four times. Something that is too much. I am of course aware that music grows with each number of spins, with the music slowly penetrating the skin and details being revealed. Just what the hell do you take me for? But if something still sounds like shait after four spins, then it is shait! Fair enough, I've heard worse than ...o mundo morreu!, but it's nevertheless poor.
To idolize everything that is rotten and vile just because it is corrupt and evil, testify to lack of perception and perspective, just as this duo shows a lack of self-criticism by presenting nearly 50 minutes of dull, yawn-inducing black metal with lacklustre quality.

If you're 20 years old and have just discovered black metal, this may perhaps impress you. If, however, you've been submerged in the cesspool for that many years or more, I find it beyond my comprehension if you should react with much less arrogance.
Provocatively indignant greeting from your unpropitious uncle Gorger.

See the meaningless video for Distúrbio absoluto, and listen to Nas esquinas da alma, while I go grab an Aspirin and an overdose of antidepressants.

When after a few spins I consult the Encyclopaedia Metallum, I get my impressions confirmed. Someone has defined Paragon as power/speed metal, apparently with no large-scale protests. Maybe not strange than, that I haven't lent them my ear before, given that power metal has never been my favourite brand. The music quite correctly moves as a bullet train on the track midway between power and speed/thrash. Imagine, if you will, a rather uplifting Overkill at its very cheeriest, or likewise, rapid and fairly aggressive power metal.

The music in itself is quite cool.
Profusion of melody, energy and hefty dual guitars drag my mind many, many years back.
The biggest challenge, as you may already have guessed, is the vocals. Andreas is definitely not the worst singer, though. He doesn't have the balls stuck in a vise, although he at times takes a trip up treble-pitch lane. He's actually got some punch and a becoming, not excessive vibrato. At his best it actually reeks slightly of Udo of the vocal performances, and I can live just fine with that.

After years of an almost resigned relation to newer classic 80s styled metal, Hell Beyond Hell brings a joyful nostalgic revisit. The veterans use a traditional recipe, but offers relatively good songs with lively vitality. Nothing spectacular, but welcome indeed, although they could've benefited from leaving the most power metallic habits behind on my part.

Genre fans will hardly come to dislike the album, but whether it offers anything new is a different matter.
I like the band best when they floor the pedal a bit, but the title track Hell Beyond Hell keeps the pace bottled up.

The trio performs grim and cold black metal with grieving melancholy, or vice versa, without these three troubled souls having what it takes to move me much with their misery.

After a rather lamentable intro, things rapidly changes for the better, but my scepticism don't let go easily. The drums are fast paced, the guitars mournful and dreamy and the vocals full of bitterness and resentment. The expression is a bit rawer than post-black, but still borrows pretty much from it. The music has underlying gloomy melodies, but the melody lines are somewhat mediocre, and the band drives pretty safe and straight forward without either variation nor hooks to talk about. These Canadians falls quite far from the kind of Québécois black metal Sorcier des Glaces et al. performs.

I basically enjoys this expression too, but during the three first proper song, it's generally too monotonous. During the second half of Cendres Célestes, things finally start to settle a little bit more. In particular when the monotony starts loosing its grip slightly due to the nifty start of Tourments des limbes glacials. When the following Transis also starts a bit different, and surprises with a long and delicious guitar sequence, the moods finally seep through, and I can enjoy the final song Le mangeur d'os, but than the albums is completed

I've tried again and again, with the same result. The album is alright to listen to, with fairly nice melodies and sore moods, but does not possess enough excitement or originality for a direct recommendation. It has at least grown from below-average to slightly above. The band has only two years behind them, and this is their debut, so I guess it's allowed to hope for progress until next time. On the other hand, all the members are fairly experienced from other bands, which should justify my high expectations and requirements.

With Violator, Vredehammer has taken a solid step into the Dead Marshes. I was fond of Vinteroffer (2014), which I gave 4/6 points in a Norwegian review back than, but this time the band shows one hell of an attitude. That album had its share of deadlines amongst its black riffs, but I guess I never gave the aspect proper contemplation. This time, however, the deadly factors in the band's black/death are far more significant.

The first song's been given the appropriate name Light the Fucking Sky. With delightful riffs and fiery percussion, the guys sets off one hell of a fireworks from the very first song. With gradual transitions and good subtle melody lines behind a wall of aggression, Vredehammer makes a point of the importance of good song writing prior to an aimless flow of rapid brutality.

Valla says he's been inspired by older albums, where each song stands as timeless monoliths. Not only recognizable, but even unforgettable. Admittedly, there ain't no Master of Puppets quality to Violator, but the album combines that kind of mindset with contemporary brutality and disgust, while adding some riffs and rhythms that doesn't really belong, yet are still made to fit quite naturally.

Their songs offer magnificent moods, that with boosting pride oozes of invincible strength. The expression is pulverizing, but the foundation is made out of thoughtful rhythms, sometimes with a playful touch, and various sequences and passages seamlessly woven together into good structures. The band don't go all the way with their melodic aspect, but it is present. Surely, they've included some intriguing guitar works and an occasional solo to accompany the freight train riffs.
To a greater extent than what is typically within blackened death nowadays, the songs got their own life with a considerable amount of hooks, but it's still far from the unique song identity that was more common before pure extremity became the norm.

With the song Blodhevn, Vredehammer gives a nod to their black past, with sharp guitars and Norwegian lyrics, whilst not afraid to add small spices of strange calibre, as the Meshuggah-like effects from 4:08. Cool song, but the king of the hill is called Ursus. A moody monolith with delightful melodies.
The sound on the album is by the way just as rich and magnificent as the music.

When ereyesterday (bring that word back into your vocabulary, kids), I said that Purgatory didn't grind everything to smithereens, it was specifically with Violator in mind. Some albums roam the earth like giants, and even the world's largest meat grinder can touch them.

With one band after another better than the previous, I have painted myself into a corner of the grading scale. Like a marzipan covered cream cake, Violator appears a bit rich and satiating. After 5-6 spins I needed a break, but after a few days, a full dish of delights again tastes just as good.
This is a big step up and forward for this northern sledgehammer! With just an ounce of doubt I award them the with a killer grading for a badass piece of demolishing machinery!

Test out Light The Fucking Sky and Cyclone, as well as Spawn Tyrant:

The Ritual I, as the first song is called, begins with droning low frequency and hushed exotic plucking, before a hellish inferno breaks loose. A cacophonous outbursts of fierce rhythms and breathless riffing that have just enough atmospheric background sounds to make the wholeness obtain a rather ritual expression. Even when the pace calms, the intensity and burning temperature stays intact.

The Ritual II don't change a winning formula, but continues to pour gasoline on the flames.
The vocals do their best to contribute to this infernal furore. This devilish, belligerent, sharp voice, oozes of disgust and contempt.

Denis Reich has taken care of all of the production, and the speakers are practically smoking.
Although The Hexagram has only existed since 2013 and Denis don't seem to have lots of prior experience, the band is more than ready for the full-length format. If the man manages to write equally strong material that triple to quadruple the duration of these ten minutes, that is. And I have faith he will!

Purgatory has been operating for over 20 years, something the 20 Years Underground compilation, released at the end of 2013, testify to. This is their eighth(!) full-length album. And yes, these guys play unsullied death metal with punch and thrust. If you don't have no relation to them, you can blame yourself. As I do.

It should be said that there's a little Immortal vibes initially in the first song, and that in (amongst others) Codex Anti, there's a hellish drive, not too unlike Marduk/Dark Funeral. I won't deny that also these deathmongers holds a somewhat scorched approach, not unlike Swedish Diabolical. Nevertheless, Ωmega Void Tribvnal is undoubtedly death metal.

The cover gave me a sensation of ramshackle underground extremity without significant quality, but the truth is quite different. Purgatory offers sturdy hate-filled crushing metal. As a giant mill standing as a monolith, grinding everything to smithereens. Everything? Not quite. There are releases that gravel even more, but we'll rather come back to that another day.

Whether the band fires of the flame throwers and push the pedal to the metal, or offer mid-tempo sequences, it's still heavy as an aircraft carrier, and explosive as its projectiles.
There are many clichés here, but the music is fortunately not as generic. That is, we've all heard similar, but Ωmega Void Tribvnal is still a very tough record with tons of brutality. The album is not only an uncompromising brute. It contains melodic and rhythmic hooks, mighty and dark moods, and powerful sound that pulverize the majority.

With Codex Anti, I bid thee bon appétit.

These Aussies blends a reckless brew of death and black scorched brutality. Not entirely without finesse, although hellish fury tops the agenda. However, I believe I can promise to come back with some authentic death metal later today, if the devil stands by me, and that is what you thirst for.

The band supposedly started as a pure black metal band, but has thus decided to blend it with crushing riffs from the camp of the competitors. The band operates as a duo, consisting of Kakorot from Violent Bloodshed and dissolved Altars of Sin, and Marcus Hellcunt from Vomitor and earlier Bestial Warlust et al. The former maul his vocal chords and mutilate his hands on axes wrapped in barbed wire, while the latter butcher the drum kit.

During half an hour, the band of course throws a lot of bricks right in your face, but in addition to guitars and drums going in one hundred and hell, they also offer riffing with leaden boots, along with fine heavy rhythms and malicious moods. Some staccato rhythms exist but Hellcunt is a vital drummer, shifting technique habitually, creating a great momentum.

The seven songs typically clock in at somewhere over 4 minutes, and offers half an hour with rich sound and deranged aggression. Apart from the good variety, the material don't offers no very big moment or any stylistic surprise. Without particularly memorable killer riffs or otherwise intricate depth, we're not dealing with a future classic, but The Coming of War!! is still a very cool strike of lightning when you need some in-your-face adrenaline!

Iron Bonehead used to deal primarily with vinyl and tape previously, but they have apparently begun to discharge a few releases on CD as well. Including this one, which comes on both on LP and CD.
Hear Storm of Steel:

Said review did, from what I remember, make a point of Convulse having changed practically beyond recognition, which may also explain my first impression; the band's name, meaning something in the vein of spasm, a dark and “worn” cover art and growling from the nether regions, stands in stark contrast to the music.

I expected death metal before I started listening, and my subconscious had a point there. Either caused by associations concerning cover and name, or because I've run into the band before and the subconscious having a better memory than the consciousness. It turns out that Finnish Convulse quite rightly has its origin in death metal. The band started in 1990, but split in 1994 after going in a more death 'n' roll direction. In 2012, the band announced their reunion before launching their third album, Evil Prevails, the following year. This saw the band return to pure death metal, but with Cycle of Revenge, the band has again fallen into experimental temptation.
If there really is a cycle, the band will anew go underground, and return with uncompromising death metal around 2035.

Expectations can be alpha and omega.
If you expect (or demand) aggressive brutality, you may easily end up disappointed.
So what can you expect?

The vocals' in the basement, as mentioned, but we find different vocal expression that accompanies a melodic hybrid of jazzy rhythms and well-structured songs with progressive construction and substance. It's a far more playful approach the band showcase. It's admittedly not “happy schnappy” metal, but despite fierce vocal, the music is very vital. The music has got partly atmospheric moods and a slightly melancholic slant at times, as well as some tiny overtones of technical whims. It's not what I'd define as technical, though.
If you have an open mind, and the term progressive death metal sounds interesting, it may very well be that Cycle of Revenge will appeal to your taste. Without any particular expectations, and after hearing the album another 3 or 4 times, I find 34 minutes of good music and eight songs that gradually grows stronger.

Visit No Clean Singing to see the lyric videos to God is You and Cycle of Revenge.
On the band's YouTube profile, you'll find the video for Pangaea.
Drop by Invisible Oranges to stream the lot.

The bright, slightly fiddle'ish synth that starts of 13 minutes long Chime, automatically gives me vibes of an equivalent at the beginning of a song called The Maimed God by Maltese Apotheosis. Perhaps partly because I mentioned the band in conjunction with a review of Mussorgski two weeks ago. But the similarity stops there.
Sound effects of rattlesnakes in old western revolver duals, and the sound of sprinkling stars, rather similar to of the hallucinogenic angel dust that Peter Pan and Tinkerbell push to minors, while deep droning guitars comes in, creates a slightly idiosyncratic feel.
Slow and evocative as the building of tension towards the final shootout in Dodge Bullet City, the music moves through the terrain of the Dead Marshes on its way to Mordor to join Sauron's army.

9.5 minutes Black Bleak Nebula aims for the stars. The droning style that Jani adopts, together with various sound effects, works very well to create an otherworldly sensation, and when the lyrics generally seek the unknown, it's suitably to leave the tiny idyllic blue marble, where harmony has been spoiled and corrupted by the two-legged race homo septicus.

One minute shorter Wall of Eridanus reaches the outer limits of the universe, while rumbling music with atmospheric means and growling characterized by an emotional touch, makes me wonder whether it is from this godforsaken place that Lovecraft's elder ones has originated.

Horizon of the Mute offers hypnotic, droning funeral death/doom with remedies and spices from the industrial, the electronic and the atmospheric ministry. Without the focus ever shifting from the former.
The self-titled debut has become a marvellous moody affair where Jani Koskela in a passionate way drags the listener along into his obscure, explorative cosmos.

To be honest, that's a fairly misleading intro, but we'll rather come back to that.

Several metal bands have interpreted local history by means of metal in the past decade. In Bergen, Svartediket made an attempt, but with the exception of the successful theatre staging that followed, the album was seen as a misfire. Helheim has had more success incorporating local historic flair.

Both Enslaved and Wardruna has stared far into the Sami drum and brought out the soul of aboriginal primordial spirit-life in widely different ways. Einar Selvik composes the score for the television series Vikings with authentic instrumentation, and in collaboration with Ivar Bjørnson, a commissioned work was written for Norway's democratic commemoration. The production of this piece was performed by Enslaved and Wardruna on Eidsiva Blot festival at Eidsvoll on September 13th, 2014 during the 200-year anniversary of the Norwegian constitution. (Sure, Norway is much older, but both the fucking Danes and the fucking Swedes had to go play imperial conquerors for a while. One day, you motherfuckers. Just you wait).

The album Skuggsjá is the studio version of this work, a through-and-through Norwegian product, and not just a Bergen-based such. But if you want me to tell you what Skuggsjá is all about, I would without hesitation highlight a taste of the wild Western coast and its Viking culture.

The music is rather varied, from muted parts with whistle, lure, frame drums, whispering vocals and gentle violin, to an intense but not very metallic expression comprising of many simultaneous instruments and melancholic choir-like vocals. But despite of the diversity, the music moves slowly from one sequence to the next, and it all appears as rather monotonous. With ancient monotonous stev (Scandinavian folk song) at one end and esoteric contemporary music in the other, Skuggsjá balances in between.

Ivar handles vocals, bass, guitar and keyboards, while Einar “Kvitrafn” handles vocals, percussion programming and a wide range of ancient instruments; tagl-harp, kravik-lyre, Billy Goat Horn, trumpets, birch-bark lure and bone flute, quite likely the oldest instrument in the world. This Norwegian interview with Einar also showcase some of the instruments.
In addition, Cato Bekkevold contribute on drums, Grutle and Lindy-Fay Hella on vocals, Eilif Gundersen on birch-bark lure and Olav L. Mjelva on Harding fiddle.

It is a comprehensive piece of music these prestigious artists offer. Everything from what I traditionally think of as folk, and that I'm rather fond of, to the eclectic, ambient moody mosaic, which can be a bit too much. Quaint, but often delightful. The question is, would you have bought this if it weren't for the fact that these esteemed gentlemen was behind it?

At its best, this is quite marvellous. At its least good, it can be both monotonous and painstaking. To be music created with folk instruments and calm, faded metal instruments, the sound is also a bit too loud and intense. In quiet sections I turn up the volume, and it sounds extravagant, but then fiddle and layered vocals start to increase until the intermezzo rings in my ears. The highest frequencies should have been kept restrained, so that lower frequencies could have benefited from a better dynamic range. Besides from intro and outro with DR11, the average is clipping at DR6, which is far too little for music that should preferably sound naturally organic.

The album lasts quite exactly for an hour, which is too excessive for me. Fascinating and distinctive, indeed, yet somewhat humdrum, I'm afraid, and I'm not entirely happy with the sound either. Most of this negativity, is in terms of subjectivity (now ain't that almost a poem?). After all, I don't even have the patience to sit through an entire Wardruna album, as pure and true metal is my thing, so why bother listening to me at all?
Thus, perhaps you will be spellbound by Skuggsjá?

Behold, if you will, the video for the title track Skuggsjá.

Putting Sarke in a single pigeonhole would be slightly amiss, but the band might be said to circle around a laid-back mid-tempo black 'n' roll expression.
Bogefod is the band's first complete concept album, which deals with the Icelandic Eyrbyggja saga, which takes place during the Christianization of Iceland. Torolv Bogefod apparently dies a rather brutal death before coming back to terrorizing the village as an undead after having been buried. Not just once.
The idea comes from the Norwegian black metal, viking and biker movie ( - with zombies, no less) Saga, which sees vocalist Nocturno Culto in a leading role. The film hopefully premieres this year.

Sarke has always made good music with small interesting details as tasteful spice to good craftsmanship. Nevertheless, the band has never been one that creates enormous enthusiasm for yours truly. As before, I think the music is tough, with a lot of diversity. The band has a fairly naked expression with plenty of room for dynamic experimentation and many different inspirations. As before I'm not blown away completely.

I have most certainly heard Bogefod at least 10 times, probably more, during the recent days, and it wouldn't have bothered me the least to hear the album both ten and twenty times more. There are considerably worse things to listen to.
Based on the two albums I've heard before, Sarke still sounds like Sarke. They've come up with new songs that don't copy old ideas, whilst maintaining their sound. Or rather; this time Sarke has written nine new songs himself, before the other three in turn have coloured them.

In addition to said protagonist, which by the way plays bass, and the well-known singer, the band consists of Steinar Gundersen (Spiral Architect) on guitar and Anders Hunstad (ex-Tulus) on keyboards.

Calm, doomy Barrow of Torolv stand out, especially with the atmospheric middle section and the floating moods towards the end, but nothing (well, except from a review like this) can prepare the listener for what the song Dawning offers. I don't see it as unlikely that The 3rd and the Mortal may have been one of the inspirations, but we probably don't have to reveal everything.

An inconvenient factor concerning intense extreme metal is that the compact freight train of sound takes its toll, demanding a clear path, as it can easily drown in a noisy environment. Sarke is airier by nature, and rises naturally above everyday sounds as a helium balloon. This makes Bogefod suitable for a road trip etc. Almost unbelievable considering the paltry DR5 in the sound.

The guys deliver the goods, I'm enjoying myself so-so, but don't take off completely. Therefore a subjective minus.
Watch the video to Alternation, official soundtrack to Saga, and the lyric video for Sunken.

The music is melodic but dim and mysterious. Call it pagan, call it black, toss it in your jute sack. There is something close to nature in the musics atmosphere, without it becoming some sort of “three-hugger” for that reason.
When the album starts of, it's with a slightly thin sound, but much of the scepticism I feel instantly disappear when the guitar sound thickens after 44 seconds. The remaining scepticism must give way to the feeling of wonder and mystique when the music drags me deep into the dark primeval forests. The moods that prevails has something in common with Nocte Obducta and Zgard without musical similarities beyond that.

Waldmark mixes elements from black and pagan with a primitive spirit of the forest into something that is exotic, yet familiar at a primal instinctive plan. Whoever likes a bit peculiar and intriguing bands such as The Vision Bleak, Eisregen, Denial of God or Klabautamann, knows approximately what I'm talking about.
Waldmark is my first encounter with Alastor, a band that sounds extraordinarily primitive for having been around since 1996, but that still charms me immensely with bewitching melodies and enigmatic moods. Hopefully, there won't be another eight and a half years until the next album comes out of the forest below the mountain ridge.

EDIT 15.03.16: A small portion of this already short review has been left out. I initially had access to files with a little glitch, but the tiny, unproblematic problem was quickly rectified. It's human to fail. Hell, even we, the undead, do it from time to time.

Ereb Altor has chosen to pick a selection of material from the early legacy, because it's these old classics the band members grew up with. The selection ranges from The Return...... (1985), to Twilight of the Gods (1991), albeit the song The Return of Darkness and Evil was originally released as part of the 1984 split Scandinavian Metal Attack.
From this vast cultural heritage, Ereb Altor has made a careful selection, ending with a 45 minute homage released on vinyl and digital only.

The most significant difference, especially in relation to the oldest albums, is what about 30 years has done to audio production. I like the good and full sound modern productions can provide, but I'm not exceedingly excited about the unnecessarily loud volume new releases are equipped with. The original songs had a typical average of DR10, while Ereb Altor's renderings lie between DR7 and DR8. It's more fun to crank up the volume myself than getting pre-tuned loudness. You wouldn't buy pre-chewed fruit if you were given the offer, right. Give us viscosity, density and texture, rather than a uniform wall of sound, reaching to the roof!
Not that this sounds bad, mind you. I'm just fucking around on Ereb Altor's behalf a bit concerning their somewhat low dynamic range here, but that's simply because the difference is so striking when compared with the over 25 years old song material. This release sounds good, and the dynamic range is modern for better or worse. It's not even particularly low set up against the contemporary average.

Some will prefer Woman of Dark Desires with primitive, slightly raw and rotten sound, some will embrace the massive and magnificent interpretation Ereb Altor offers. I'd have it both ways, thank you very much.

When the quartet from Gävle regenerates Bathory-classics, there's no doubt that it helps to reinforce the songs inherent epic qualities. Sure, the sound is set unnecessarily high, but where Bathory recordings may seem to sound a bit thin in hindsight, the same songs now sounds rich, bordering on the pompous. So kick back and turn up the volume. No, wait, you don't have to think about that yourself in this damned age.

Ereb Altor is a band consisting of talented musicians, and I think they have done a very good job with Quorthons heirlooms. It's obvious that they've put their soul into this, and if I am to point out something in particular, it must be the clean vocals, which are fantastic, beautiful and full of emotion. Blot · Ilt · Taut is a mighty fine collection, performed with respect, but with the band's own signature, which should satisfy both new and old Bathory fans and appeal to others with a penchant for epic Viking hymns.

Watch the official video for Twilight Of The Gods, and hear it along with A Fine Day To Die right here.

After 63 seconds of introduction to destruction, armoured vehicles covered with sharp barbed wires comes rolling into town. After another two minutes, the first grenade shells detonated from a band who have heard their share of Marduk.
Whether the pace is high or midtempo, Winterheart controls drumsticks with steady hands and pedals with rapid ankles. The guy hammers for Norwegian Hinsidig, insofar as they are still active, and has a past in Nyktalgia, Krieg and Armagedda amongst others.

Nevertheless, Lifecrusher ain't solely a display of speed, but rather a demonstration of the strength that lies in the combination of disturbing, hostile moods and a cacophonous bombardment of sadistic thrust. The moods the band conveys, is more hateful than eerie by nature. Like psychotic Dobermanns with cropped ears, Total Hate sneer with froth at the mouth, while snapping at anyone who comes within range.
The sound is just as crushing as the expression, and with adequate DR8, it's not too compact either.

He who seeks originality have to continue his search, but you that'll settle for 36 minutes of aggressive warmongering with German precision need look no further. To elaborate; the album lasts for 42 minutes, but 6 of these consists of silence due to a hidden track. One can certainly wonder at the effect of such in the digital age, but verily, it may have an effect if you're a bit absent-minded.
Lifecrusher - Contributions to a World in Ruins consists of wrecking, well-played, trve old-school schwarzmetall.
Quite killer. Simple as that.

The men's deadly pandemonium consists of dark, rumbling death metal. The vocal, gurgling like the death rattle from someone about to be boiled alive in the witches cauldron, is symptomatic of the music in general. The volcano is seething and boiling, but the large-scale eruption leaves me awaiting.

The sound is deep and roaring and songs have indeterminate and unpleasant moods from the purgatory. Eponymous Veneficium is a very good demo, and isolation a good EP, if that's what it's now being launched as. In a wider context, the three songs, at about 4:30 on average, will probably still come a bit short. Albeit the songs are quite good and moody, they're not very imaginative or spectacular. The originality is so-so, although I'm not able to come up with any good examples of similarities. I've still heard enough metal cut from the same cloth to cover my most urgent needs.

The potential is there, though. Isolated, the thundering sound is pretty good, even if it may perhaps be a bit exaggerated, but after spending lots of time lately with Sulphur and Total Hate amongst more, this also sounds a little undeveloped.
Absolutely not bad, just a bit meaningless when considering the relentless competition. Reasonably good, I'd say.
You can make up your own mind after hearing Veneficium here:

He wrote poems about these thematics before he got the idea to use the lyric as a starting point for a musical expression. After being realized in 2010, Éohum has grown to a full six-piece band, which also has a few guest musician aboard on their first EP. The band only have one demo behind them. Ealdfaeder consists of five songs and lasts for almost half an hour.

With elements of death and black metal, and a touch of folk and prog, the Canadians goes to work without any modern nonsense. The first song opens and closes with stylish flute that I would have liked to hear more of. Éohum does however incorporate (French) horn that fits very well into music and concept. It's still the metallic elements that dominates. With hard and aggressive conduct, they perform both mid-tempo and frenetic extreme metal. The band plays their music with varied rhythms and distinctive riff and melodies behind a hissing vocalist.

On Ealdfaeder clear instrumentation and a moderate melodic touch is combined with an overlying primitive expression. The sonically dynamic range didn't sound very ample, but I'm still a little surprised to measure it to only DR5, for despite the brickwall, the various elements of music emerges as distinct in the mix.
The music has a little doomy touch, as well as changing rhythms in otherwise coherent songs. Moods of dejection and dismay testifies to someone holding a grudge, not willing to forgive. The mixture works well and appeals to me. Somewhat undeveloped perhaps, but it is still very charming.
Ealdfaeder is a pretty good EP that shows a very promising potential. With a little stronger compositions and better sound Éohum can prove to be a band to be reckoned with.

The three first songs are available for streaming. 1 & 3, Eurocide and The Apathetic Plague can be heard here, whereas number 2, Unmasking A World Of Deceit can be heard on YouTube.

...A few, however, are so comprehensively executed that it earns them the right to life and continued existence on a professionally printed EP on fine-feathered vinyl.

When the music commence, after a shallow three minutes intro, it's with 15 minutes of pulverizing and transcendental black/death awaiting. Unexpectedly, equipped with very good and extremely powerful sound.

Voidnaga is a solo project from Malaysia, created last year by a shaman named Adlan (formerly (un)known under the name Blackblood Debauchery of Blasphemy), after putting his previous project Impious Blood to rest.
The three songs have a ferocious drift and a raw and brutal expression, but also underlying swirling melodies and a certain spiritual and hypnotic feel.

The fascination for ancestral magic, cosmic horror, occultism and Malaysia's mythology and demonology has been the spiritual impetus, and it has likely made its impact on the ungodly mood of sulphur and hell-fire conveyed.

With bubbly enthusiasm, I was on the verge of revarding this a stronger grade, but it must be said that the degree of originality don't really nominated the band for any price. With many sluggish and leaden sections characterized by sinister eerie, and some faster sequences marked by aggressive anger, this is clearly not some sensational innovation. It's not really memorable either, but that might simply be caused by my bad case of premature senility.
It still kicks ass!

Demo MMXVI is without doubt the best demo I've heard in ages, and it deserves initiation into the grooves on a vinyl, and possibly even a place on the top shelf in your home.

...even if YouTube ain't the most reliable source for researching phonetic quality, of course.

When I use flames as metaphors, it's the fiery guitars I am referring to. Over steady riffing we find a lead guitar that flickers like a campfire and that abrupt and volatile changes its course as bats in the dark autumn nights.
The guitars offers sharp, evocative notes, that appears more like wild wasp than real melodies, when it doesn't actually contribute a real blazing solo.
The drummers feet move as nitro-powered pistons, while both arms are everywhere on the upper part of the battery.

The guys perform black metal with fierce pace and vital passion, consisting of intricate instrumentation, swirling melodies and reckless moods. Opening song Non Serviam is a real powder keg, while subsequent Bury the Light has gliding guitars that creates atmosphere in the style of Watain. In Flammen Im Vakuum the flames continues to lick the guitar, but it's followed by a few tracks with less luminous glow. That is... Anti-Vists and Vexillum Luciferi don't feel as strong, which is really just because the first three songs demolishes everything around them.

The albums second half, starting with the latter song, has a variety of samples that admittedly offers Luciferian moods, but what really gives artistic breathers is that the pace is often lowered. Krater picks up the thread from Bury the Light and give us slower, heavier and darker songs with satanic moods, not unlike Behemoth and Rotting Christ in every second song. I obviously like the kind, but after the infernal arson they've lit in places, Urere almost requires a little mental readjustment.

Urere shows two sides of the devil's medallion; the passionate, intense and flaming enthusiasm, and the self-adulation, hedonistic, occult ceremony. First, war and triumph, marked by hell-fire, then celebration with wine, mead, hypnotic intoxication and unrestrained lewdness.

Some tiny quibbles and slightly splayed style (let's rather call it variation) notwithstanding, Urere is an utterly delightful album.
I vacillated long between the highest and second highest ranking, and time may show that I have chose wrong.
When it almost starts becoming embarrassing to hand out very high scores, it's rather easy to become too strict at the wrong time and place.

See the video for Lust to Burn.

In Black Priest of Satan the two guys plays a rather sludgy kind of black metal, and exactly this thundering storm, rumbling like an upset kebeb-stomach, is what separates them from the crowd.

The music is mid-tempo or slower and have basically simple or staccato drum beats. Just what is boomy bass and rumbling guitar ain't easy to separate, without that necessarily being negative by itself. The problem is that the songs don't offer hooks with barbs, neither in melody, rhythm, mood, instrumentation or other aspects. In my book, much of the material is actually closer to droning sludge/doom with an occult stoner-touch than black metal.

The song Unheard Prayer has a negatively charged character with fairly evil ritual moods. The five other tracks on this nearly 45 minutes long record however, leaves me fairly indifferent. Element Of Destruction has a deep, thunderous and boisterous sound. Probably exactly the way Avenger and Molestor Kadotus wanted it. For everyone else it becomes a matter of taste. The dynamics are closer to DR8 than DR7, and that is certainly praiseworthy.

On Youtube, you can be Guided by the 2 moons.

...for here we find strong melodies with clever transitions, symphonic structures and a generally playful touch.

Parallels can be drawn to many melodic black and extreme metal bands with a certain symphonic approach. A litany of reference may not be very imaginative, except for the fact that Hyperion reminds me more of a bygone era than today's scene, except from in the sound. I recognize an aura of semi-old albums from bands like Tartaros, Kvist, Naglfar, Mactätus, Limbonic Art, Old Man's Child and so forth, without the Swedes in any way plagiarising others. They have rather been inspired to write real musical works, consisting of various musical components and comprehensive details.

The sextet from Stockholm has written intro plus eight songs with strong identities and tremendous idea-wealth, where acoustic sections, great riffs, exemplary varied drumming and blistering solos are peppered with unexpected transitions, choirs, grand piano and other orchestral elements. The way they constantly lead the songs in new directions, and change the ingredients and proportions thereof without losing sight of the leitmotif red thread, is simply fabulous. Even some exuberant jesting, in line with circus Arcturus is at times incorporated.

Whilst song-writing and instrumental execution is of superb character, Hyperion never get lost in sterile showoff. Thoughtful compositions notwithstanding, Seraphical Euphony never lacks soul or feels calculated, but rather come of as heartfelt and evocative.
Hyperion offers both old and new, with new compositions, delightful nostalgia and modern production, meaning good sound that narrowly balances on the brink of compression. In spite of similarities with others, this band has guaranteed spent enormous resources to construct good songs, marked by signature, substance, credibility and ingenuity.
The guys deliver an unrivalled feat, where the final product is truly thrilling!

The album is available on CD through Black Lion Productions, and digitally via Bandcamp, where it can be downloaded for an optional fee. If this appeals to you, I suggest you go for the CD or pay full price for the download. It's definitely worth it!

Dimmu Borgir; talented composers, one of Norway's biggest musical exports, and still a favoured hate object.
With roots in the Norwegian black metal scene of the early '90s, corpse paint, satanic content and promo images at night, with spikes and medieval weaponry, they lay too close to black metal. With melodic touch, pronounced use of synth, hell, even their own keyboardist... and add a silly top-hat as icing on the cake, they were too far astray from the dangerous black metal, and contributed to making it a more housebroken and commercial genre. All according to the more genre-conservative.
(Fair enough, Dimmu Borgir can scarcely be considered pure, unsullied black metal, but I don't hate them for that reason).

A thousand years have passed since I came across and bought Tusen år har gått, and I've been curious ever since, wondering how this album would have been received by the same orthodox fundamentalists who hates For all tid, released the same year.
Probably not very good, though who knows (and who really cares?), for the music consists of fierce black metal added moods of both pride and eeriness.

You see, Tusen år har gått is soaked in melodies, epic moods and good compositions, but also added the means that two youngsters of 16 and 19 years had to imitate orchestra; synthesizer.
About as many times as I have caught myself whistling the ghostly mid-section of Mother North, epic Dagon has flowed across my cracked lips. The subsequent double bass-drum attack in Journey is not as easy to whistle, but the transition to blistering ice-riffs and frantic drumming is no less appealing. On the contrary.

The band, consisting of Draakh Kimera (drums, lead guitar, keyboards and vocals) and Goth Gorgon (bass, rhythm guitar and keyboards), took intro, interlude and eight songs with strong melodies and very solid structuring, and went to Dan Swanö in Unisound in May 1995.
The band added to their compositions youthful aggressive pitch-black vigour, impressive instrumental skills, acoustic elements and a symphonic slant, and created a concept album with a mixture of Swedish and English lyrics, not to mention a wonderful mystical aura.

The re-release is fortunately not remastered. The original master from Cutting Room has plenty of punch and adequate dynamics between DR7 and DR8. Although contemporary synth may seem a bit charmingly dated today, it ain't so widely used that the album becomes a quaint antique. The material still works remarkably well, and will likely remain towering considerably longer than most releases coming out in 2016, and I'll even go as far as saying that the sound will knock much of today's easy solutions over as well. Tusen år har gått has definitely stood the test of time.

The album comes with an extended booklet and two bonus tracks. The demo version of the title track shows a grittier and more undraped version without lyrics. In this version, without any window dressing, melodies and structure, and thus the boy's impressive flair for song-writing, becomes clearer. When Moonshine Is the Only Light is picked from the band's first demo in 1993, and is an interesting curiosity for the fans.

Four albums and ten years after the band's gloomy dawn, the end was unfortunately reached for the saga of Draakh Kimera, Goth Gorgon, and their Mörk Gryning.
PS: My policy refuse re-releases in the Reviews section. Otherwise, I'd give this delightful album 6 points.

H.M.T., creator and commanding officer of his lone vessel, plays ethereal, occult metal built on a death/doom foundation seasoned with symphonic overtones. It's a spiritual experience he invites the listener to. I get a little sense of ambient sound collages of these evocative tracks, but the songs does have cohesive melodies.

The most peculiar aspect, or rather quirky and odd one, is all the extended monologues. In Tree of Life for example, almost three minutes is used on the story of Adam and Eve. Hell knows why. There's a whole lot of chatting during the album, but vocal effects prevents a feeling of listening to an audio-book. Much of the narration moves integrally as one with the hypnotic music.

Ambient, ethereal, soaring, spiritual and ritual are all words that can describe this artwork. It's somehow no use analysing this kind of music. The individual segments are too quirky to operate separately. If, however, you just allow yourself to flow downstream and drift away with the music, the wholeness will form a hypnotic device that leads you into other dimensions. Well, sort of anyway.
Therein lies the difference, I guess, between the ability to enjoy The Secretis Naturae Alchymica, or to regard the whole thing as fairly far-fetched. As the (fallen) deity I am, I'm able to see both sides of the coin simultaneously. Therefore I treat this to a quite ambivalent grade.
Although I lean mostly toward a positive standpoint, as I willingly and knowingly, let myself be hypnotized by this.

Satanic Warmaster presents four songs, against Archgoat's nine. This uneven distribution doesn't affects each bands duration, though, cause both bands chip in just about 21 minutes.

Satanic Warmaster go first. The band has made some changes to their expression over the years, especially in the sound. From pure pitch-black metal to a somewhat more pagan touch. I remember Fimbulwinter as a very pleasant surprise last year.
What the band does here is simply to boost new life into old classics.

The song Black Destiny from Opferblut (2003) probably lose a little black magic in some folks eyes when the necrotic is robbed, but what the hell, it sounds powerful, magnificent and evil in a new aural robe.
Wolves of Blood and Iron from Strength & Honour (2001) was hardly fucking listenable in the original garb. The Pest cover Satanic Winter has only been released on the live album Black Metal Massacre (2007). Both deserve a second chance, and the difference is significant.
My Kingdom of Darkness originates from the classic Carelian Satanist Madness (2005). It's risky to tamper with such, but what fans of Satanic Winter would complaints of having the song in two different packagings?

I don't know Archgoat's story that well, and I can't find the origin of their songs without searching the web for each and every one. It's not that important. What I have heard, has often been characterized by monotony with small amounts of moods. The exception was last year's The Apocalyptic Triumphator, a massive surprise!

If these songs hail from “obscure” small releases, which I suspect, they have probably been given a better production this time. That doesn't imply that any of the songs are polished. On the contrary. This' as raw as it gets. The drawback is that much of the material is monotonous and staccato. Exceptions thankfully exist, like the guitar part just before halfway in Death & Necromancy, and the short solo in Penis Perversor, a few seconds of ominous church organ in Soulflay, and some other moods underway. The song Rise of the Black Moon, from the band's first demo, Jesus Spawn (1991) is the one that offers the very darkest and most ripping stuff here.

Archgoats expression, execution and raw sound is fucking killer, but the material ain't much to write home about. Satanic Warmaster does the honour of pushing up the average this time.

The press release states the following:

Grand Sounds PR launched digital version of the latest sampler – volume 6.
Just enjoy by 21 bands from all over the world!
If anybody would like to participate in vol. 7 – please write to Grand Sounds PR directly to grandsoundsmetal@gmail.com

Our World Blackened is a hit parade, painted black. Jet black. With blast beats, icy razor guitars and sharp tormented screamed vocals, the band plough through familiar titles like Am I Evil, Wild Child, Fear of the Dark and Bark at the Moon before the last remains of gunpowder is burned away by torching selected goodies from Dio, Judas Priest, Megadeth and more.

I've heard this album but once, and I offer no grade. We've all heard similar, and most of you will probably agree that this sort of gag is enjoyable just once, and barely then. The whole thing is fairly well carried out, even if it doesn't sound very professional. Our World Blackened is actually not quite as cheesy as Six Feet Under's dumbfounding series of deadly versions of undying song material. Perhaps simply because this is done with more tongue in cheque in the first place. Also, the band has received help with violin and flute, and some guest vocals.

Pure heavy metal fans will shudder of this, fundamentalist black metal mongers will sneeze at it, and others will most likely reveal a brief smile. Well, at least the album is free on Bandcamp.

The Metallica song Blackened really suits a blackened, necro expression, but that was sort of in the cards, no wasn't it.
It's Friday, so lighten up you grumpy old caviler, and crank it up to 11.

That part of Inverloch's expression gives the feeling of being buried alive under a landslide, but while the music adds stone by stone to your involuntary tomb under the heap, your spirit levitates well above ground, via occasional mournful and soaring moods.

The music goes through gradual changes, but does have a somewhat monotonous funeral/shoegaze touch. The music glides slowly as a ghost ship through dismal waters. With the right, patient mood, Distance | Collapsed is a beautiful, but woeful journey with all the worlds grievance as weight on the shoulders.

Inverloch delivers the gods, but at the same time, I've heard both better and more exciting metal in a funeral pace. For reportedly being “one of the most anticipated full-length debuts the metal underground has seen in years”, I honestly think you'd come to expect just a little bit more. Everything simply ain't equally interesting but make no mistakes, there's much to be enthralled by too, after all.
Especially the sound makes this a very good experience. It sounds massive, colossal and vigorous. There's hardly any point in listing studios and names, but the dynamics range from DR8 to DR10, which is extraordinarily much when the sound is so utterly leaden.

Hardcore speed metal fans and impatient souls will shake their heads in disbelief. Let them, for they know not what they're missing. I was somewhat impatient to begin with myself, and It was no bed of roses attempting to digest this at first. As expected, things came to its own gradually, and Inverloch has gain an open invitation to come trample on my head, at least in a calm evening or a drowsy morning, when I'm relaxed and receptive.

I was almost about to call this a near ultimate hybrid of the atmospheric and the leaden, but I found it to be a bit pretentious. Sure, the band masters the amalgamating superbly, but to suggest that they are world leaders, performing pioneering work, would be rather excessive.
All in all, I have a taste for Distance | Collapsed, although I don't obtain a fanatical relationship with bands nor album.

The band plays a kind of fairly proggy post-metal, with hints of hardcore. I could do without the somewhat annoying vocals, and post-metal is a genre I'm largely fed up on by now.
Ergo, not full score, but Seventh offers more than enough variety and other musical qualities. I have no problems recommending The Herald to metalheads with a slightly different taste than yours truly. I even feel like upping the grade a notch at times.

The album har a strong touch, and a good one as such, of melancholy. The band also offers a diverse expression, the genre taken into consideration. Some of the little bit jazzy rhythm and riffs, leads my thoughts to Tool, and the Italians seems competent at what they're doing. Thus, the music never becomes directly sleep-inducing and monotonous. Certainly, 45 minutes can some times feel tedious due to my musical preferences, but I wouldn't really call it boring.

I have no problems getting through The Herald, nor do I struggle with hearing that Seventh has put a lot of hard and good work into this music. The sound is also clear and crisp, despite rather compact sound. The album was recorded with and produced by Paolo “Pablo” Bertoncello in Putrefashion Empire Studios, and mixed/mastered by Luca “Peo” Spigato in Hate Studio.

Not quite my taste, but maybe yours?

Hericide begins quite good, with powerful tones that suits the colossal monoliths on the cover. The rhythm easily spreads in the bloodstream, resulting in unconscious movement in various body parts.
Menhirs Of Enmity shifts towards more melody, as well as incorporating a bit more technical structures.
Debaser reinforces the furious and frantic, with swirling death metal and a hint of black roots.
Servant To The Void takes the band in a slightly more progressive direction with more intricate rhythms and transitions en masse.

Carnac moves within progressive death metal with a touch of black metal, with dark, deep sound and ever-changing rhythms. The musical frames can also be said to host a band like Bölzer, just to give a hint of musical direction. The Turks are admittedly not quite as distinctive, and their songs not nearly as strong, without the similarity between the two being that significant. It's just that I can't call to mind any others to compare with at the moment.

Isolated, the songs are fairly strong, but the totality felt a bit inconsistent to begin with. It will pass and Frail Sight will end as a good and promising opening of a band from a country I don't remember having heard too much from in the past.
Carnac is definitely a band to keep an eye (make that an ear) on in the future.

Frail Sight is a name your price on Bandcamp.

The Poles don't break no new ground, but rather start of on a safe pathway, if aggressive death metal really can be called safe. Admittedly, the band has a characteristic smell of fresh leather. The album was partially produced unassisted, and its compositions may not be particularly daring, but they've managed to succeed nonetheless.

7 songs and 28 minutes is a nice first dose. The music is fierce and swift, fronted by deep guttural vocals. To my delight, it's fortunately far from repetitive. The men in Resurrection sees the necessity of creating nuances in the material. In the passages between the larger rhythmic transitions, shifting riffs and solos, they've put subtle diversity in both percussion and strings. What debutants concerns, these guys must be said to be well above average.

Betrayed by God offers seething rage and moods of abstract dimensions in the wonderful solos. The latter is rather reminiscent of Morbid Angel's occasionally otherworldly moods.

Only the drums seem to be recorded in a studio, but the album is mixed and mastered by outsiders. It does in fact sound professionally. The dynamic ra(n)ge lands on steady DR5, which is weak, but it doesn't sound distinctly compressed.

Resurrection will be exciting to follow. With a little more experience, and a finicky producer at their side, I'm sure this band can go far. They have already taken a very good first step, for Betrayed by God is a demonstration of power in itself.

Check the title track, Betrayed by God.