The Black Metal Thread

Abduction (GBR) - Existentialismus (2025)

Derby's Abduction are one of those black metal bands who seemingly beaver away with no fanfare or support from the music industry at large, making me wonder how they keep at it. It isn't like the UK has exactly ever been overflowing with good black metal acts now is it? Anyway, Abduction is the brainchild of guitarist and vocalist Phil Illsley, aka A|V, with guest musicians providing drums, bass and additional guitars. I was well behind the band around the time of the 2018 album, "A Crown of Curses" which I have on cassette from the now defunct Death Kvlt Productions label, but I have lost touch with their progress over the last few years.

So here we are in 2025 and album number five. This is a well-produced and written slab of vicious and savage-sounding black metal that makes no pretence to the folky or celtic atmospherics which are often a staple of UK black metal, but which goes for the jugular in full-on attack mode. That doesn't mean the thin and tremolo-heavy sound of true raw black metal, the production is too thick and muscular for that, but it takes a more bludgeoning approach, in the vein of death metal. Even though this is still unambiguously black metal with pummelling blast beats and tremolo riffing, there is a fullness of sound that puts more meat on the genre's usually skeletal bones. The band sound very tight and the playing is excellent throughout.

A|V has an excellent vocal delivery with a howling savagery and angst-ridden desperation borne of emotional frustration that screams in the face of an uncaring universe. His lyrics are poetic and dense and I haven't had much time to sit down with them so far, but I am sure they are much deeper in meaning than I have as yet been able to ascertain. The killer riffs are powerful and are driven by a phenomenal powerhouse of a rhythm section as drummer Ed Gorrod and bassist Gavin Archer blast a path with the force of a high explosive drone strike. The tracks all flow nicely with decent variation of pacing, despite the overarching aggressive feel of the album. and the songwriting seems of as high a standard as the musicianship.

All told, this is a very good slab of UKBM and with, in my opinion, the recent decline of previous UK heavyweights such as Winterfylleth and Saor there is no reason why Abduction should not sweep in and claim the mantle of the premier UK black metal act.

4/5 

Lamp of Murmuur - "Heir of Eclipital Romance" (2020)

It has take me a while to catch onto LoM. This one-man black metal project sees high praise regardless of where I look and last night, whilst revelling in the glorious fury of Storm Amy to remind us all of our place on this planet, I watched a couple of USBM documentaries with this guy being called out on both.  Whilst I have high hopes for the new album, based on the single that is out currently at least, I have found this debut to be inferior to Saturnian Bloodstorm from 2023, yet not without its merits.

I like how the majority of the similarities come from other contemporary bm acts as opposed to just endless second wave worship (Immortal and Mayhem aside - those yodellingvocal moments are pure Attila, "De Mysteriis..." worshp to my ears).  This makes for an interesting album that sounds modern whilst still firmly nodding to the old ways. It has an enduring, ever-forging direction to it.  The atmospherics seem to grow as the album presses on, culminating with the Dead Can Dance cover at the end of the record.

Embracing rawness alongside melodicism to much success, Heir of Eclipital Romance is a strong debut album that sets out the stall of LoM well enough I feel.  It is a tad too long in hindsight, which could be put down to over-exuberance on the artists part.  Credit where it is due though, I enjoy the record enough as the start of my (chronological) LoM journey.

3.5/5

Rauhnåcht - "Zwischenwelten" (2025)

As the Burzum chimes grow heavier on 'Der Spalt zwischen den Welten' ('the gap between worlds') there is a sense that Rauhnåcht's fifth full length has arrived. I am very much a fan of that particular trait from the Filosofem album, so any use of that sound can only be a good thing in my book. For a band/artist that is advertised as pagan black metal, it was a bit of a surprise to hear ambient chimes, yet it fits the track aesthetic perfectly. There are other influences on show as well, such as the illusions of grandeur of Summoning or the earthy fortitude of Drudkh.

Zwischenwelten (‘between worlds’) is music for times of adversity. Acting as a balm with its soothing atmospheres yet also providing strength and hope in the chants and resonating tremolo riffs. As an album it has a succinctness in how it plays for just under forty-minutes, as if the artist is taking brief respite from some daily labour to share tales of mysticism and dark fantasy. As the album artwork alludes to, there is a darkness to the album that dress its contents as a warning, a collection of tales of what exactly it is that lurks in that gap between worlds; without ever stating which worlds are being spoken about.

Although less direct in approach than Drudkh, the timbre of the guitar matches on track such as ‘Naturgewalten’ (‘forces of nature’) as it builds up to full speed. Cleverly applying atmospherics in the vacant space around the instruments is well done. As with the album overall, the pagan/folk elements are obvious but never intrusive and as such Zwischenwelten feels like a more conventional black metal album than at first expected. I think the release is only let down by the fact that it lacks any genuine standout moments though. There is no raging intensity that takes the breath away at any point, nor any passages of true ethereal beauty to reflect upon either. Closing track ‘Alleinsamkeit’ comes close with its choral vocals and melancholic leanings but still comes up short in the long run.

3.5/5

Oracle of the Void - "In Darkness Is Found the Greater Enlightenment" demo (1995)

The Australian underground extreme metal scene was a really exciting place to be back in the mid-1990's & I could spend all day running you through high-quality releases & demos from bands that never amounted to anything of significance, mainly off the back of living in such an isolated part of the world during the pre-internet days. Coffs Harbour-based black metallers Oracle of the Void are one such artist & I doubt that any of you have heard of them but that doesn't stop their 1995 demo tape from being a better listen than those of the big Norwegian names like Emperor, Enslaved, Satyricon or Burzum from earlier in the decade. There can be no doubt that Oracle of the Void were heavily influenced by early Emperor as you could be forgiven for mistaking "In Darkness Is Found the Greater Enlightenment" for some of their early works if you didn't know any better with the high-pitched screams & tasteful use of keyboards clearly having been inspired by Ihsahn & co. These guys utilize a dual vocal attack though, combining those blackened screams with ultra-deep death growls to good effect. My brutal death metal band Neuropath played a show with Oracle of the Void at the Agincourt Hotel in Sydney in around 1996 & it was there that I picked up this demo tape which was re-released as a 10" E.P. in 2006. They put on a great show & were nice enough chaps too. I recall them playing a cover version of Immortal's "Unsilent Storms in the North Abyss" early on in their setlist, only to repeat it again at the end of the set at the request of various members of the audience.

For fans of Emperor, Abigor & Nazxul.

4/5

I'm pretty happy Filosofem is no longer the top black metal album on RYM.  Dissection, while not my number 1 choice personally, has a better overall sound and isn't tainted by an overlong ambient track that has very little imagination.  Burzum's quite good as a metal artist, but his dungeon synth needs work.

Hecate Enthroned - "Upon Promeathean Shores (Unscriptured Waters)" E.P. (1995)

I picked up the debut release from these British black metallers through my Neuropath circles at around the time of release & quite liked it. "Upon Promeathean Shores" was originally released as Hecate Enthroned's second demo tape "An Ode for a Haunted Wood" but ended up getting a proper release through the Blackend label shortly afterwards. There is really no doubt as to the artist that Hecate Enthroned most admire because this is very much an attempt to clone Cradle of Filth's 1994 debut album "The Principle of Evil Made Flesh" but it's not a bad effort as the quality level is quite close, even if the musicianship is not quite there yet. Future Cradle of Filth bassist Jon Kennedy's high-pitched shrieks are uncannily similar to Dani Filth's actually & one would imagine that he'd spent a fair bit of time in front of his bedroom mirror while staring at a poster of Dani. The tracklisting does tend to fade over the last couple of tracks but there's still enough decent material included here to justify a couple of listens.

For fans of Cradle of Filth, Anorexia Nervosa & Graveworm.

3.5/5

I have the most recent Darkthrone albums on vinyl and thought I would like to get the earlier stuff on that format to. Nicely timed is the release of this beast of a boxset, a copy of which I have arriving tomorrow.

The Fist in the Face of God (2026)

The nine albums from "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" through to "Sardonic Wrath" in vinyl format with a shit ton of other stuff. Really looking forward to this baby's arrival!

Mayhem - "The Dawn of the Black Hearts: Live in Norway 1990" (1995)

This live bootleg release was a total conquest for me at the time after the Reverend Kriss Hades from Sadistik Exekution told me that he had a picture disc version of it. I was so jealous that I spent the next week hunting down a mail order picture disc copy of my own, probably at an incredibly inflated price. It turned out that it wasn't much to listen to though as the recording quality is pretty much handheld cassette recorder level but the novelty factor is certainly there, firstly for the incredibly poor taste cover "artwork" which features a graphic photo of Mayhem's legendary front man after he'd blew his own head off & secondly for the inclusion of the Dead's vocals which are invariably brilliant. Even though the sound quality is incredibly raw, it never threatens to mask the incredible skills of Dead who pretty much set the scene for the modern black metal vocalist. No one was doing this shit in 1990 but three years later we'd see every man & his dog trying to emulate Dead's style. There are a few tracks that manage to overcome the lack of production here (see "Deathcrush", "Necrolust" & my personal highlight "Freezing Moon") but I can't seem to overcome the feeling that I'd much rather be listening to "Live in Leipzig: East Germany 26/11/90" which is a good couple of steps up from this release. I'd admittedly still take "The Dawn of the Black Hearts: Live in Norway 1990" over pre-Dead 1980's Mayhem releases like the "Pure Fucking Armageddon" demo tape or the "Deathcrush" E.P. though.

For fans of Gorgoroth, Darkthrone & Watain.

3/5

That cover is absolutely fucking heartbreaking man. What a sickening and utterly tragic waste of an exceedingly rare and truly one-off, albeit extremely troubled, metal individual. RIP.

Immortal - "Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism" (1992)

I'm not much of a fan of Immortal's two 1991 self-titled releases (i.e. their initial crude death metal demo tape & subsequent move into black metal through a two-song E.P.) so it's their debut full-length "Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism" that really represents the birth of our relationship. The album includes both of the tracks from the E.P. in a superior format & showed Immortal to be ahead of most of the pack in terms of timing with the Second Wave of Black Metal boom about to land. I will say that I still wasn't fully convinced by the debut though which is probably why I haven't rated "Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism" until now. It wouldn't be until I purchased Immortal's classic 1993 sophomore album "Pure Holocaust" that I'd find myself giving one of their releases more than a few listens & I still maintain that feeling after this week's revisit.

There's no doubt that opener "The Call of the Wintermoon" is an excellent example of the Norwegian black metal sound but I don't think the album ever reaches those heights again over the remaining five songs. The croaky signature vocal delivery of bassist Abbath Doom Occulta (Abbath/I/Old Funeral) is already a highlight but the instrumentation still feels a little under-developed with the musicianship being very simple &the noticeable lack of the exciting blast-beats that would drive Immortal's next couple of records when Abbath would take over the drumming from Armagedda (Demonaz/I). Admittedly, Demonaz' (Demonaz/I/Old Funeral) guitar work is cleaner than his fairly sloppy performance on "Pure Holocaust" but the riffs are clearly less challenging to play from a speed & technicality point of view at this point. I do quite like the production job though as it gives the music its own personality, even if the riffs aren't exactly anything to write home about. The increased Bathory influence over later material is most welcome here with "Blood Fire Death" appearing to be a major influence on tracks like epic closer "A Perfect Vision of the Rising Northland". The lacklustre "Blacker Than Darkness" is the only dud included with the rest of the tracklisting being more decent & acceptable than it is essential.

For fans of Inquisition, Abbath & Bathory.

3.5/5

This one's about right IMO. Not much I would "disagree" with here.

I actually really like DFM. The energy and naive looseness of it really appeals to the side of me that spits in the eye of technicality, complexity and polish.

I have the most recent Darkthrone albums on vinyl and thought I would like to get the earlier stuff on that format to. Nicely timed is the release of this beast of a boxset, a copy of which I have arriving tomorrow.

The Fist in the Face of God (2026)

The nine albums from "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" through to "Sardonic Wrath" in vinyl format with a shit ton of other stuff. Really looking forward to this baby's arrival!

So this finally arrived today - no fucking thanks to Amazon. Supposed to arrive Mar 6th. Nope - put back to Mar 13th. Nope - now due to arrive end of April. I have fallen for this shit with Amazon before and in the end they say they can't get hold of it anymore so you end up disappointed. Checked on the Peaceville online store and it was still available, so cancelled the Amazon order and bought it direct. Arrived in 3 days. Fucking Bezos!!

[It is every bit as great as I had hoped by the way.]

I have the most recent Darkthrone albums on vinyl and thought I would like to get the earlier stuff on that format to. Nicely timed is the release of this beast of a boxset, a copy of which I have arriving tomorrow.

The Fist in the Face of God (2026)

The nine albums from "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" through to "Sardonic Wrath" in vinyl format with a shit ton of other stuff. Really looking forward to this baby's arrival!

So this finally arrived today - no fucking thanks to Amazon. Supposed to arrive Mar 6th. Nope - put back to Mar 13th. Nope - now due to arrive end of April. I have fallen for this shit with Amazon before and in the end they say they can't get hold of it anymore so you end up disappointed. Checked on the Peaceville online store and it was still available, so cancelled the Amazon order and bought it direct. Arrived in 3 days. Fucking Bezos!!

[It is every bit as great as I had hoped by the way.]

Yep, gave up with Amazon ages ago for this very same reason, although currently in dispute with Artoffact Records after the Mares of Thrace record I ordered directly at end of Dec 25 with a 7 Feb 26 delivery date has still not arrived.  Bandcamp can't even get an answer out of them either, four days left before I get a full refund ffrom Bandcamp and they deduct the cost out of future sales the label makes through the site.

I have the most recent Darkthrone albums on vinyl and thought I would like to get the earlier stuff on that format to. Nicely timed is the release of this beast of a boxset, a copy of which I have arriving tomorrow.

The Fist in the Face of God (2026)

The nine albums from "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" through to "Sardonic Wrath" in vinyl format with a shit ton of other stuff. Really looking forward to this baby's arrival!

So this finally arrived today - no fucking thanks to Amazon. Supposed to arrive Mar 6th. Nope - put back to Mar 13th. Nope - now due to arrive end of April. I have fallen for this shit with Amazon before and in the end they say they can't get hold of it anymore so you end up disappointed. Checked on the Peaceville online store and it was still available, so cancelled the Amazon order and bought it direct. Arrived in 3 days. Fucking Bezos!!

[It is every bit as great as I had hoped by the way.]

Yep, gave up with Amazon ages ago for this very same reason, although currently in dispute with Artoffact Records after the Mares of Thrace record I ordered directly at end of Dec 25 with a 7 Feb 26 delivery date has still not arrived.  Bandcamp can't even get an answer out of them either.

I often wonder nowadays if the world is becoming peopled by complete incompetents and shysters. Nothing seems to work anymore and no one seems to know why, or even want to do anything about changing it. I have had no end of things lost in the post - especially things I send to my brother in Scotland - but no one seems to care or wish to do anything about it. In fact it is now seen as quite usual. They all want you to pay for registered and insured post rather than making the standard post better - another damn scam.

There's only really Debemur Morti I have any faith in anymore but I haven't been purchasing a lot of physical stuff whilst I was waiting to see how my home situation panned out (turns out I am staying in this house so can start purchasing again).  Testing Amor Fati records with that Misotheist record I was loving yesterday to see how they fare.