2021 Metal Academy "The North" Clan Awards

So the hour is finally at hand. The announcement that all of our dedicated clan members have been eagerly anticipating for the last couple of months has arrived at long last. It brings me great pleasure to announce that The North's Release of the Year iiiiiissssss....... *insert blast beat drum roll here*

Panopticon - "...And Again Into The Light"

And The North's Cover Artwork Of The Year goes ttttttooooooo...

Gloosh - "Sylvan Coven"

Couldn't see any other winner in The North to be honest. I also bought the Gloosh CD and I really dig that cover too.

This one is honestly kind of sad for me because The North was so goddamn strong with with 9 or 10 other Black Metal albums (and one not exactly Black Metal) edging out ...And Again Into The Light but it's still undoubtedly one of the best albums Lunn has ever produced, there's some truly gorgeous stuff in there. 

I agree with you Xephyr. I wouldn't say that I'm anywhere near as on top of new releases as some of our other members are but I had four black metal releases in front of "...And Again Into The Light". There's no doubt that it's a very strong release & I'd comfortably take it over a lot of previous Panopticon records but Mare Cognitum took my bikkies over Ethereal Shroud, Spectral Wound & Le Chants de Nihil with Panopticon finishing in a respectable fifth place. I wouldn't say that I checked out a The North release that captivated me at that very top level this year though. None of these records reached "classic" status for me personally.