The North

I think it's been a pretty good year for black metal. To prove it I've put together a playlist on Spotify of tracks from my top twenty albums (actually that's not strictly true as Pan-Amerikan Native Front aren't on Spotify and so Little Turtle's War couldn't be included).

Sonny's Best Black Metal of 2021

All good points Ben. I agree with you that you are not well qualified for any of your four clans & should consider not having any. ;)

P.S. Please dump my ass back in The North when you get a minute. *runs off to review the latest Mago de Oz record*

Done! Welcome back brother of The North!

Hands down the track of the month is that Sainte Marie des Loups number.  Not sure how I have missed this trio but I will expanding my knowledge of them over the coming weeks.  The French scene certainly rarely disappoints and this is further testimony to that.  A subtle necroticism to it but also a real attitude to back it up.  Yey, new things!

I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion Vinny that the French are currently the World Champions as far as modern black metal goes. They just seem to have so much going on and rarely is it that a French band disappoints (not an easy thing to admit for an Englishman!)

I knew I forgot something, so Esoctrilihum's days were extremely numbered. Auld Ridge has a fantastic album out that could go even higher since I have to revisit it again.

Solid work this month Vinny! I was very pleased with your feature album this month.

As I prepare to enter into my fourth decade on this planet, I'm continually asking myself whether or not I have gotten soft in recent years? As the years go by, thrash metal has become a dead genre to me; what used to be full of life and nonstop energy, now I view it as a black hole of empty chugging and solos, lacking in grooves and melodies and bands devoid of originality and would rather just copy the golden era of thrash of the 1980s. Even more so, my favour with those bands (i.e. Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica) has also faded as they have become tiresome and boring. And as I have grown into extreme metal genres like death/black metal, most of my favourite albums are of the melodic and atmospheric variety. For as epic as Saor and Panopticon albums sound, they won't be winning any "most brutal breakdown of all time" awards anytime soon.

With that being said, I recently gave The Dreaming I by American duo Akhlys a spin and... well I think it is safe to say that my suspicions might be true, but goddamn does Akhlys make the realm of Hades sound like a pretty awesome vacation spot! This is a marvelous record that takes the atmospheric and melodic side of black metal and combines it with some filthy grooves and riffs for one of the most impressive hybrids that I have heard in quite some time.

Whereas most of my black metal is of the open, soaring variety, Akhlys use the atmo-black sound to create a soundscape that resembles the floor opening up below your feet as you are dragged down into the abyss. The extended ambient intro of "Breath and Leviathan" sets the ominous mood right out of the gate, before what can only be compared to a B-list horror movie jumpscare, the serial killer pops up around the corner wielding their perfectly sharpened machete ready to murder you. The wall of sound black metal is sudden and shocking, and may increase your heart rate!

And if that doesn't scare you enough, the chase scene will. This black metal sound is relentless and is complimented by some fantastic sounding lead guitars and a dazzling vocal performance. The way in which this duo is able to effortlessly match their ambient interludes and atmo-black passages is both technically impressive and compositionally sound as they play off one another to create wonderful dichotomy's for cooldowns and making the wall of sound hit that much harder.

While this album is impressive, it does have a little bit of a length problem, in which some songs sound like they begin to lose momentum and would rather fade out to their conclusion, rather than with a full stop, perhaps signaling the end of the road. But perhaps the lack of an ending shows a group that would have you believe that their is no end to this path; it persists far beyond the end of a single song. However, "Consumation" has a definitive ending, but then proceeds to go on another two/three minute ambient outro and it feels out of place.

But forget the minor issues surrounding the length and how songs end! The intros and body are exquisite and the production is spectacular; the bass lines are very prominent adding to the depth. In the end, Akhlys' album The Dreaming I helps to restore my faith (however slightly) in the most extreme metal to still invoke a positive reaction out of me.

8/10

Here's my updated list:

01. Burzum - "Filosofem" (1996)

02. Deathspell Omega - "Kénôse" E.P. (2005)

03. Akhlys - "The Dreaming I" (2015)

04. Darkthrone - "Transilvanian Hunger" (1994)

05. Oranssi Pazuzu - "Mestarin kynsi" (2020)

06. Burzum - "Hvis lyset tar oss" (1994)

07. Oranssi Pazuzu - "Värähtelijä" (2016)

08. Wolves In The Throne Room - "Two Hunters" (2007)

09. Bathory - "Blood Fire Death" (1988)

10. Mayhem - "De mysteriis dom Sathanas" (1994)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/120

Caught some unexpected weekend downtime this morning so have been able to tuck into the North playlist earlier than planned.

I have been listening to that Ungfell album on and off since it came out and I still am yet to fully get to grips with it.  It just has these weird moments that I find hard to put into words as to why they are so off-kilter to me but I am on the fence still with these Swiss black metallers.

First time of listening to Empyrium and at first I found those clean and deep vocals a bit off-putting but the track is so melancholic and beautiful that they do kinda fit on reflection.  Will be exploring more of these guys based on this but I am not quite sure the folk metal is framed correctly alongside the symphonic elements based on this showing.

Violet Cold are a curved ball it is safe to say.  Reading Saxy's review of this record earlier it summarises this track as the strongest.  It starts far too busy for me and before I know it those female vocals are replaced by harsh black metal vocals and my mind is reeling for a few seconds.  I think the female vocals kill the track in all honesty and the track would be far more appealing to me without them.  There's some good ideas going on instrumentally and the overall warmth of proceedings does work for me but it just feels cluttered as a whole track and probably needed a couple of elements less to make a more positive impression on me.

Poccolus are another first time listen for me and their pagan leanings bring an energy in their delivery that is only really dampened by those fucking awful vocals.  I mean, they destroy the atmosphere of the music entirely.  Këkht Aräkh is an artist I keep seeing on YouTube as a suggestion but I never seem to get around to listening to.  It is obvious that Mr Crying orc knows his black metal well and it shines through in the Burzum-like guitar tone and the balance of piano against riffs is skilfully done allowing a rich warmth to an otherwise cold sounding basis.

That Negură Bunget has been getting much airtime in the Vinny lair this past fortnight as I picked the album up on CD after enjoying reviewing it for the clan challenge so much.  That incredible rumble to the bass is like a black metal pulse that travels through the floor into my very being and those ethereal melodies are striking to say the least.  Sonny wins the playlist with his choice.

Opera IX are another previously unknown act to me and I like the death metal sound to accompany those equally deathy vocals also that make up the first three-and-a-half minutes of the track.  There's a kind of doomy element to the track as it easies back to allow some build of atmosphere.  I realise now that this is Cadaveria on vocals having only stumbled across her on a playlist recently with her current self-titled project.  The solo work on this track is terrible though and I am not convinced all the instruments are that well arranged considering this is the opening track to the album but it is not that they are all that terribly arranged just that they meander a bit too much unfortunately.

That Shining track further cements my opinion of what a flawed genius Kvarforth is.  The chug of those riffs pulls the very air around the speakers towards their sweet menace.  I do need to check out more Shining as virtually everything I hear is superb.  It is good to see COF get a bit of airtime on the playlist, that album being the only one of theirs that I own in physical format having come very late to the COF party just some two years ago.  I love the progressive drive to Funeral In Carpathia that keeps things interesting.  The theme of classic bm bands continues well with Rotting Christ and their often overlooked 2016 album, this track embodies the tribalism of that album whilst still capturing that warm melodic richness we all know to expect from them.  The spoken word parts are distracting though from Danai Katsameni but I am guessing that they are essential to the subject matter of the song somehow.

If there is one band I am guilty of spending too little time with, it is Spectral Lore.  I love III but I have never managed to sit down with anything else.  I have heard good things about this release (despite that artwork suggesting otherwise) and the rather aggressive opening to this track is certainly evidence of great promise.  **Updates Trello Board with further music to check out**

As usual with these playlists I found much to check out and also some albums to revisit.  Thanks for putting together Daniel. 

Massive fan of this one and I'm not quite getting the "untapped potential" aspect that Daniel/Vinny are describing even though I can see where they're coming from. I haven't listened to any Attila outside of Mayhem so it might be hard for me to tell whether he's phoning it in or not, but I never thought I'd consider myself a fan of his vocal style outside of De mysteriis dom Sathanas. His strange croaks work really well with the more extreme edge this album has with its insanely fast drumming and more thrashy style of tremolo riffing that balances melody and aggression really well. I'm also inclined to agree with Daniel in that there isn't too much Melodic Black Metal here apart from having a few more riff transitions than normal in tracks like "Come Damnation". I think this album works so well for me because it's an EP and not a full-length, since I could see myself getting tired of the relentless and somewhat repetitive aggression past the 40-minute mark. All in all though this release is exactly what I want and expect from a star lineup of Black Metal musicians and I thoroughly enjoy every single song on this album, although "Obliterator" is where I can start to understand Vinny's "jumbled ideas" comment since it definitely lags behind the 3 other full songs on the album. "Come Damnation" is probably the best Black Metal track I've heard in months though, so it's a small price to pay. 

4.5/5

I've finished listening to (and rating) the 26 Black Metal releases from 1993 on the site. I've updated my Top 15 Black Metal Releases (1984-1993) list if anyone's interested.

Top 3 Releases

1. Darkthrone - Under a Funeral Moon (I think I like this even more than the debut these days)
2. Immortal - Pure Holocaust (even better when played in context of the year)
3. Burzum - Det som engang var (flawed, but Varg's genius shines through regularly)

Top 3 Surprises

1. Mystifier - Goetia (occult-themed doomy black metal - so much better than the debut!)
2. Christ Agony - Unholyunion (quality Polish black metal - if only the tracks didn't overstay their welcome)
3. Ungod - Circle of the Seven Pacts (Darkthrone inspired - the riffs and vocals are great, the production isn't)

Top 3 Disappointments

1. Impaled Nazarene - Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz (I used to enjoy this, but it's way too immature/repetitive these days)
2. Beherit - Drawing Down the Moon (I will never understand the cult fandom for this band)
3. Necromantia - Crossing the Fiery Path (I wanted to like this, but there's too much pomp and too little substance)

Worst 3 Releases

1. Countess - The Gospel of the Horned One (terrible Bathory clonage - laughable)
2. Abruptum - Obscuritatem advoco amplectére me (it's certainly a curiosity, but it's far from actually good)
3. Impaled Nazarene - Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz (see above)

I thought this month's playlist got off to a great start with Vinny's trio of selections kicking us off in fine style. That impetus was lost by the Skyclad and Lantlôs tracks unfortunately - Skyclad I've never liked and this was a particularly awful track and I found the Lantlôs track a bit boring. Still, the remainder off the list had some awesome tracks I'm familiar with from Panopticon, Darkthrone, Kanonenfieber, Batushka and Emperor and some unfamiliar and interesting stuff from Djevel and Evilfeast as well as the three bands at the beginning of the playlist. Overall another great playlist with something for everyone I guess.

Since there's already a Panopticon thread here, I've been digging into ...And Again Into the Light all this week and really enjoying it, but there's one thing that I'm just not getting about the album even after multiple listens. It feels like the folk element completely leaves during the back half of "Rope Burn Exit" and for the entirety of "A Snowless Winter" plus "Moth Eaten Soul" and awkwardly comes back in full force in "As Golden Laughter Echoes" only to be replaced by Post-Metal for the final two songs. Maybe because I enjoy the atmosphere and style of the opening track into "Dead Loons" so much that having the album progress away from that feels out of place, even though the progression makes sense? Pretty torn on it, still one of the best albums of the year but I feel like I'm missing something. 

After Mestarin kynsi won pretty much all of the critics 2020 best metal albums award, it was only a matter of time before those of us who caught on to Oranssi Pazuzu late would have to take the deep dive into the bands 2016 album, Värähtelijä. This album was equally as well received, if not more so, by critics at the time and as an outside looking in, I can only imagine why Oranssi Pazuzu were given such a loose second opportunity.

That's not to say that I do not like Värähtelijä, I absolutely do! But I've heard many atmospheric and psychedelic black metal albums in the years since this album was released and can only see it as a stepping stone towards greater things for Oranssi Pazuzu, including Mestarin kynsi!

First and foremost, I see Värähtelijä as an experimental project by comparison to its later sequel being the more refined mending of ideas together. This album contains a similar number of tracks as its follow up, but the tunes feel less impressive. The obvious outlier here is "Vasemman käden hierarkia", which sounds more like an extended jam session rather than a collection of ideas formulated together into something spectacular. At the very least, Ornassi Pazuzu are smart enough to make each of the tracks distinguishable from one another; a problem that many psychedelic albums face. After "Lahja" and the title track leave lots of space for post-rock elements, "Hypnotisoitu viharukous" drastically ramps up the intensity and is further explored on "Havuluu". And ending the album on the relatively laid back "Valveavaruus" gives this record a truly unsettling conclusion to a mostly unsettling project.

And even though the production on this album is very muddy, it does play into its benefit slightly. Psychedelic rock does not need to be riff-centric when it is the wall of sound technique that has been imported from atmospheric black metal that creates the comfortable, yet unsettling environment. I found that the fewer synthetic sounds did not help matters in making this nearly as unsettling as Ornassi Pazuzu may have thought, but these advances were made on later albums, so once again, I feel like this was an experiment for the band to see what would stick and then develop that sound further on subsequent releases.

But in the end, I know why people enjoy this record so much and while it may not be my personal cup of tea, I certainly appreciate its quality. For me, I prefer my atmo-black metal with sweeping melodic phrases and epic hooks and tales of folklore. Bit for an unsettling taste of psychedelic rock meets atmospheric black metal, you can never go wrong with Oranssi Pazuzu, even though I feel Mestarin kynsi is the culmination of this sound.

7/10

P.S. This absolutely needs to be essential listening if you enjoyed this months Infinite featured release: Lucid Planet II.

A strong start to this month's North list with that Spectral Wound track which is one of my regular spins of the past month or so.  Once I get the mining riffs of Fuath out of my head I soon find myself wondering why I have never really pursued more Obsequiae and quickly make a note to check out more of their stuff.  Moving swiftly into one of the worst things I have ever heard from Skyclad (not my usual experience of them) but then all is saved by the rich earthiness of that WITTR track - the in form Sonny does it again!

Heretoir just drifts by after that - through no fault of their own, just a tough track to follow - and I find myself reaching for the skip button to end the nonsense that is Bal-Sagoth before Arkona get things back on track - although at first I found myself caught off-guard because this clearly wasn't the Russian band I was familiar with.  More quality stuff from Shining follows and I have a little sleep during that Xasthur track to recharge my batteries (good track just heard it many times so spied my opportunity) before my new favourite band Mare Cognitum drop another stellar track which forces me to go even further into their back catalogue.  The conflict of whether I like Diabolical Masquerade this year or not is presented to me next and I decide 2021 is a good year for Blackheim.

Now I discover that Wintherr's at it again and this news has passed me by somehow.  I fell out with him for Im Wald which was far too long and my attention span struggled massively with it.  On this release it seems the internet is a bit upset with this release but from what I hear on this track it is nice and abrasive stuff.  Sonny wins himself another 100 internet points for putting my second favourite band in the world Yith on the list.

Good month (again), fuck me we are good at this!

After Achatius had a near year-long run for me in 2019 since it came out in mid-February, going back to it leaves me feeling the same way as I did back then. I really enjoy this album just because of how unique it is in a variety of different ways, from the incredibly extended songwriting, the chaotic and somewhat messy performances, and its modern take on a more lo-fi Black Metal production. I still haven't come across anything that has the same sort of energy that Achatius brings to the table, so it remains near the top of my highly regarded Black Metal albums. 

I figured that there would be some discourse here and there because this album absolutely isn't for everyone, as I can see where Daniel is coming from given how messy the album can sound in places. There's so many different guitar harmonies and dueling melodies that if you listen very closely there are some obvious blemishes, but I don't think that errors in the performance ever affected me that much just because this release has always sort of embraced the chaos for me. You never really know what's coming next, there aren't many "main riffs" to speak of, almost no choruses, so the fact that Funereal Presence was able to create a gripping concept album out of all these different elements will always be impressive to me. The messiness and the slight production issues become a feature rather than a fault, at least to me in the end. 

The only interesting take I found in this discussion was Daniel's claim in "failing to understand modern conventional Black Metal" because I definitely wouldn't consider Achatius to be that. I chose this album knowing that someone was bound to fall on the negative side of the argument given how expansive and somewhat weird it can be, so I don't think that's any fault of your own. I'd consider "traditional modern Black Metal" to be something like Mgla, which garners incredibly good reviews and scores from most of the community, and Achatius is worlds away from any Mgla release in my opinion. 

Going back to this topic, here's a little something based on a Pearls Before Swine comic, when I realized the acronym DSBM sounds similar to a different inappropriate one:

Another strong playlist made all the more delicious by the superb inclusion of Dark Medieval Times by Xeph.  I picked up a couple of new bands to explore more of including Månegarm and Sear Bliss who have always existed on the fringes of my radar.  I am undecided on Wode still - I know Sonny likes it which is usually a precursor to me doing the same based on our BM tastes but I just find it a bit distant in terms of me feeling like I am getting amongst the music all that well and it does feel a bit staid as a result.

Nice to see some Darkspace on the list too.  

I struggled with this one too, enough that I really don't think I'm going to give it any more chances even though I'm not going to give it a low score. The atmosphere and riffs are disgustingly good, but man, those vocals combined with the extended song structures just didn't do it for me. I have issues with the more "possessed" style of Black Metal vocals and this one really, really highlighted that for me. I love the dark, ritualistic atmosphere, but having it forcibly thrust down my throat for an hour straight by the vocalist just gets straight up annoying to me, especially in "Vintage Black Magic" and "The Devil Intimate".  

Tried my best to get past my bias on this one, since the rest of the album is admittedly amazing, but this one isn't for me. I'll have to come back to this in a month or so to see if it still rubs me the wrong way. 

3.5/5

I thought I'd better get a few of the less popular The North subgenres into this playlist (i.e. Celtic metal, medieval folk metal, black 'n' roll, etc.) as they'd been completely omitted in recent times. intentionally chose some pretty short tracks though.

For an album released in 2004 this has some serious early second wave credibility, which is not so surprising when you discover that despite only releasing their debut album Light of a Dead Star in 2002, they had originally formed in '92 (although they had split in '95 after releasing a demo which would later become that debut, ultimately reforming in 2000). There's a Lovecraftian aesthetic theme running through the album with it's songs of unknown threats and elder gods and in keeping with the creeping terrors of HPL's work, this isn't a monotonous blastathon, but rather, the band isn't afraid to slow it down and allow the music to reflect that crawling feeling of dread. For proof check out the superb The Elder Gods Awakening, the claustrophobic feeling of being stalked by an unnamed terror is excellently realised as you feel the darkness closing in. Don't misunderstand however, when it blasts it really kicks ass too, believe me. The first half of In the Mists of Orion's Sword is as taut as a piano wire and may well tear your fuckin' head off (fans of Darkthrone's classic trilogy prepare to salivate!)
I can't express exactly how impressed I am by this, so thanks Ben for bringing it to everyone's attention. Although black metal is viewed as a Scandinavian phenomenon, the French have certainly carved out an impressive niche for themselves within it's boundaries and Requiem Tenebrae is a great example of Gallic BM. This is the very definition of an underground classic and I'm gonna give it an unapologetic 5/5.

I haven't listened to this album as of late, but I've listened to it enough to know that it's still a 5/5 for me. 

I listened to Verisakeet extensively before checking out this one, so I went into it thinking that there's no way that it would top that one considering it's my favorite Folk Metal album of all time to this day. While I think I still prefer Verisakeet, Hävitetty is its own beast that makes some daring shifts to their sound considering how fantastically their sound evolved starting with Kivenkantaja, which I wasn't as much of a fan of. The production and atmosphere of Hävitetty is much rawer but it has a ton of depth, leading to an even more "epic" feel than Verisakeet had. While Moonsorrow's extended songwriting has been great before, they really allow it to shine with doubling their average song length for Hävitetty.

This is going to be one that I want to review eventually and just rave endlessly about, so I think the gist is that Moonsorrow followed up one of my favorite albums of all time with something that was completely different and just as fantastic in its own right. It's definitely slower than Verisakeet and even that album can be quite slow with the drawn out ambiance of "Jotunheim", so I don't think that everyone will be as immediately drawn to this one as I was. 

5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1rdH2fO1ezWQznWzZv1KlL?si=VKqz5lw2TW23rZUn4H2IeQ

Tracklisting:

01. Abigor – “Gomorrah Rising - Nightside Rebellion” (from “Totschläger (A Saintslayer’s Songbook)”, 2020)

02. Walknut – “Motherland Ostenvegr” (from “Graveforests & Their Shadows”, 2007) [Submitted by Ben]

03. Melechesh – “Rebirth Of The Nemesis: Enuma Elish Rewritten” (from “Emissaries”, 2006)

04. Sadness – “I Want To Be With You” (from “I Want To Be There”, 2019)

05. Moonsorrow – “Huuto” (from “Varjoina kuljemme kuolleiden maassa”, 2011)

06. Negură Bunget – “Ţesarul de lumini” (from “OM”, 2006) [Submitted by Ben]

07. Svrm – “Мовчання” (from “Розпад”, 2020)

08. Transilvania – “Opus Morbi” (from “Of Sleep & Death”, 2021)

09. Altar Of Plagues – “Neptune Is Dead” (from “Mammal”, 2011) [Submitted by Ben]

10. Nagelfar – “Schwanengesang” (from “Hünengrab im Herbst”, 1997)

11. Emperor – “The Loss & Curse Of Reverence” (from “Anthems To The Welkin At Dusk”, 1997)

12. Serpent Column – “Violence Aesthete” (from “Endless Detainment” E.P., 2020)

Serpent Column's "Endless Detainment" is a really chaotic little E.P. full of short stop/start style blast-fests with shrieking, unintelligible vocals & a dense & inaccessible production. It's almost unimaginable to think that it might have been produced by just the two musicians to be perfectly honest. I don't think anyone will be too surprised that this release was right up my alley though given my love of both black metal & mathcore & to their credit Serpent Column have done a splendid job at combining the two genres in a fluent & exciting way with neither style taking the ascendancy. If pushed I'd suggest that the mathcore component might slightly outweigh the black metal one as I think you'll struggle if you don't enjoy mathcore but could probably still get by if you're not into black metal. There's a considerable amount of complexity to a lot of this material & the duo deserve full credit for managing to keep it all together. It's interesting that I've seen little mention of the significant grindcore component too as it's pretty obvious across a number of the nine tracks. The short run time certainly helps to make this a more palatable experience & I ended up playing it three times in a row without feeling like I needed a break to recover this morning. Perhaps "Endless Detainment" might have been better served as a The Revolution feature but I got a lot of enjoyment out of it & think it was a worthy inclusion.

For fans of Deathspell Omega, Plebeian Grandstand & Krallice.

4/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5OywTbqO5b300LG2iRw9h4?si=CBV1kSlvTN6q6tQG3hCgHQ

Tracklisting:

01. Marduk – “Panzer Division Marduk” (from “Panzer Division Marduk”, 1999) [Submitted by Sonny92]

02. ColdWorld – “Dream Of A Dead Sun” (from “Melancholie2”, 2008) [Submitted by Ben]

03. Wallachia – “Heathen Shores” (from “Monumental Heresy”, 2018) [Submitted by MacabreEternal]

04. Fall Of Rauros – “The Cormorants Shiver On their Rocks” (from “The Light That Dwells In Rotten Wood”, 2011) [Submitted by MacabreEternal]

05. Agalloch – “In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion” (from “The Mantle”, 2002)

06. Varathron – “Under the Sight of Horus” (from “Walpurgisnacht”, 1995) [Submitted by Sonny92]

07. Windir – “Svartesmeden og Lundamyrstrollet” (from “Arntor”, 1999) [Submitted by Ben]

08. Shining – “Vemodets arkitektur” (from “IV • The Eerie Cold”, 2005)

09. L’Acephale – “Sovereignty: (Dieu – Die Sonne stirbt – Sovereignty)” (from “L’Acephale”, 2019) [Submitted by MacabreEternal]

10. Leviathan – “All Tongues Toward” (from “Scar Sighted”, 2015) [Submitted by Ben]

11. Lunar Aurora – “Glück” (from “Andacht”, 2007) [Submitted by Ben]

12. Förgjord – “Suohauta” (from “Ajasta ikuisuuteen”, 2008) [Submitted by MacabreEternal]

13. Drautran – “” (from “Blót - Lohen der Opferung” (from “Throne of the Depths”, 2007) [Submitted by MacabreEternal]

14. Árstíðir Lifsins – “Ek sá halr at Hóars veðri hǫsvan serk Hrísgrísnis bar” (from “Saga á tveim tungum II: Eigi fjǫll né firðir”, 2020) [Submitted by Sonny92] 

Another utterly magnificent Deathspell Omega release here in my opinion. I just fucking love this band. In fact, I think they've been the best black metal band in the world since the turn of the century. The way they invariably manage to make such abstract dissonance sound so unnervingly evil is beyond comprehension & the drumming & vocal performances just smash me. I have no problem with the chaotic structure as that's really a part of the appeal with a band like Deathspell Omega & the lengthy track duration is only an issue if you're not engaged throughout which I unquestionably am. I spend the vast majority of "Chaining The Katechon" being amazed at the next-level artistry on display & find it just edging out "Paracletus" for second place behind "Kenose" as far as Deathspell Omega's back catalogue goes.

4.5/5

Much to enjoy here for me and a couple of takeaways for me to explore more in Kawir, Katavasia and Panopticon. Heard Panopticon before but never explored beyond the one album I own.  I think I have the Nocternity half of a spit they did with Kawir and have never heard any Katavasia until now so got some warm black metal tones to listen to over the coming weeks.

Great playlist this month Daniel, one of the best yet. Sorry though Vinny, the Jute Gyte track went right over my head. Summoning are only really any good for table-top RPGing and I found the Ensiferum track a bit fromage-friendly! I was also wondering why the Deafheaven track was so crap until... Bam!! When it gets going it is amazing. Everything else was terrific and to be honest how can any playlist that features Immortal, Bathory and Darkthrone not be awesome? A few I need to check out further too, such as Wiegedood and Anorexia Nervosa (I remember not being impressed by them before, but their track on here is very good indeed).

Ha, Jute Gyte is a challenge alright.

Yeah, he sure is. I really enjoyed his Perdurance album, but I'm a bit too much of a literal person for the more avant-garde stuff. Still, he's obviously ridiculously talented, so good luck to him.

Worked my way through this earlier, some interesting stuff in terms of new bands like Mystras, Manegarm and in particular I Shalt Become whose whole album I listened through this morning and subsequently have found my way to Krohm as a result.  I found White Ward to be a bit odd, a bit forced if perfectly honest.  They don't need that jazz edge (not sure if that's a whole trait of theirs or just limited to that song) as it brings nothing to the track. When the track did get going it was decent enogh BM to my ears so why f**k about is my initial ask.

Had forgotten how abrasive and harsh Jute Gyte was as it had been a while since I heard much of his stuff; hasn't helped my tinnitus anyway.  Another enjoyable list thanks Daniel. 

It's now October which of course means that we'll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we're asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We're really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don't be shy.

This month's feature release for The North is the highly regarded 2010 self-titled debut album from Norwegian crust punk/black 'n roll hybrid Kvelertak.

https://metal.academy/releases/3931

I think that Falkenbach exists in the "this is pretty good I guess" zone of Folk Metal for me. After listening to this and Heralding I might have to admit that straight up Folk Metal doesn't really do it for me, especially in the way that Falkenbach presents it. This album is incredibly smooth, pretty, and easy to listen to, but I can't help but feel like nothing really happens. I don't necessarily get any atmosphere the same way I do with other Folk Metal bands I tend to gravitate towards, like Moonsorrow. I'm sure that these guys are massive favorites for people that enjoy straight up Folk Metal because, again, this album was admittedly gorgeous. But I still can't exactly recommend it because of the reasons said above me, it wasn't engaging nor particularly exciting for me. 

Three things I have learnt / relearnt from the playlist:

1. I really love black metal.

2. I really dislike folk metal.

3. I actually like Shining a lot more than I thought I did.

There's a couple of well-respected albums on there that I've not checked out yet and I definitely now intend to - Fluisteraas and Oathbreaker.

That Aquilus track was very interesting to. I'm intrigued to listen to the whole album now.

Yeah I felt fairly similarly about this playlist to be honest Vinny & it reminded me the reasons why I opted to remove myself from The North altogether because there's a substantial portion of the subgenres it covers that are simply too far removed from my personal tastes which sit very much in line with with your own. I could easily have stuck to my comfort zones when creating these lists but it I would always have left someone disappointed so I opted to go with a more holistic approach. I'll be interested to see what the community consensus is on that over the next month or so but I think things will inevitably morph into whatever direction the clan members want to take over time once we have more regular suggestions for inclusion coming in.

Just shared my review. I had a lot to say so let me be brief:

Sunbather is a record that shocked a lot of people when it came out. Hell, it's still controversial even to this day. Some "metal purists" do not like the idea that their favourite genre is commercializing. They can't stand change. But change can be for the better. I believe that Deafheaven created the most culturally significant metal record of the 2010's and a great one to boot. The major chordal harmonies found within are truly spectacular and unlike anything I've heard in any strain of extreme metal. The atmosphere is warm and uplifting rather than cold and brooding. It is flawed for sure, but its unique charm almost makes me lenient by default.

8/10

P.S. If you like this new wave of blackgaze, may I suggest giving artists such as White Ward, Sylvaine and Unreqvited a chance as well. 

Whilst I find a lot of Depressive / Suicidal Black Metal to be self-absorbent and, frankly, amateurish, one of my recent favourites in the sub-genre is Déhà, the Belgian behind the bands Imber Luminis and Slow (amongst a shedload of others). He has released nine albums in 2020 so far, including three in his A fleur de peau series. These three albums are some of the best DSBM I've heard, Déhà having a gift for expressing the inner emotions of the psychologically troubled without sounding like a self-absorbed idiot. Despite his profusion of releases this year, the quality has not been compromised at all.With guest appearances from artists like Kim Carlsson of Hypothermia, Natalie Koskinen of Shape of Despair and Nils Courbaron from Sirenia Déhà is pushing the envelope as far as DSBM goes.

Also I'm curious Daniel, and this isn't meant to be a jab since I'm genuinely curious, are all folk melodies cheesy for people who don't care for Folk Metal? I ask because I saw a few comments about Nokturnal Mortum's Голос сталі saying it was the cheesiest thing they've ever heard, and I honestly don't get where they're coming from. It can get a bit over the top, sure, but I try not to instantly equate that to "cheesiness". 

Yeah I'm afraid to say that 99% of folk melodies do sound cheesy to me when they're presented in a metal context. To be clear though, I actually quite like folk music in isolation. It's just that I have a strong preconceived notion of what metal music is supposed to be & the more uplifting & joyous feelings these melodies tend to evoke are in direct opposition to that. In fact, the only folk metal releases I've ended up enjoying over the years have been the ones that veer away from these melodies & are actually pretty borderline as to their qualification within the folk metal subgenre. Fans say that good folk metal is quite epic but I don't feel the same empowerment & crave something darker & more intimidating.  I don't ever want my metal to make me feel like dancing a jig but I respect that many people enjoy this aspect of folk metal. It's really that simple.

Although Falkenbach sounds extremely clean when it comes to Black Metal tinged Folk Metal, I found this one to be a pretty dull slog for the most part. There were definitely some standout sections, especially when the harsh vocals started coming into play, but I felt like a lot of similar riffs and ideas were overused throughout the album. Heralding hits its stride in the middle of the album with "Roman Land", "Heralder", and "Laekmishendr", but the rest of it has a very sluggish triplet or 6/8 feel that didn't really interest me. It's still a very pretty album with great dynamics on the folk elements, don't get me wrong, but I wish there was a bit more to it. I'll have to check out some more Falkenbach to see if any of their other stuff interests me, or maybe I need to come back to this one for another round. 

3/5

Inspired by Chris Van Ettan splitting hairs over which genre an album from a different clan has (thrash or speed metal, death metal or grindcore, power metal or trad metal and sludge vs. stoner vs. doom), I decided to continue the DIS vs DAT activity with an interesting twist; instead of voting on which album has the greater edge, we do it with genres from one of the clans instead. Single-genre clans (like The Gateway and The Sphere) would be divided into hidden subgenres that some of us have heard of but are never listed in the site (for example, alternative metal vs nu metal, industrial metal vs neue Deutsche härte). This should be a nice interesting challenge for Chris and other members of the site. Got two or three albums from a different genre in the same clan and same release year but can't decide which one has the greater edge? Share them here!

My review that I have up for A Blaze In the Northern Sky is pretty shallow compared to what I normally write, but I think it still summarizes my feelings pretty closely. I first listened to this album when I started the 1st Decade Black Metal challenge, and the album stood out an incredible amount compared to its peers at that time. There were few other bands that really captured that evil and cold feeling better than Darkthrone with this album, and I feel like it is one of the massive stepping stones between Bathory's 1987 album Under the Sign of the Black Mark and Mayhem's 1994 album De mysteriis dom Sathanas. The extended song structure and overall chaos of it is more akin to what I'm used to in modern Black Metal and while it is definitely rough around the edges in terms of guitar clarity and such, it still has clarity to it, which was rare for a lot of Black Metal bands in the late 80's and early 90's. A Blaze In the Northern Sky just gives me exactly what I want from a genre that is supposed to sound cold and evil, simple as that. 

4.5/5

This was one of those albums that I wish I liked more, but there's just something about it that didn't click in the end. It's been a while since I've listened to some good, old-fashioned, Pagan Black Metal inspired Folk Metal, so An deiz ruz was definitely refreshing. It has a ton of things I like, from the acoustic but still heavy riffing to the flute and folk elements playing perfectly with the Black Metal harsh vocals, but I wasn't thrilled at the end of it. Maybe an hour of this is a bit too much, or maybe the constant flute on top of the riffing began to feel uninspired during the second half of the album, but this one is going to have to be one that I revisit. I love what's going on, but I think they decided to write too many similar songs for the entire album to be as exciting as the first half. While the flute can sound fantastic, it feels like more of a nuisance when it copies exactly what the lead guitar is doing, like in "Epona, Part 2". Some of the Celtic elements feel a bit overblown too, like they don't exactly fit, especially when the vocalist gets involved in the folky-tunes on tracks like "Son ar Everezh". 

3.5/5, but it has potential for me. 

Inspired by the new DIS vs DAT thing on Metal Academy, in turn inspired by that weekly feature on Utopia Records' Facebook page, I decided to turn this conversation-starting activity into a full thread instead of separate threads. Got a couple albums with the same genre and release year that you can't decide which has the greater edge? Share them here!

Hammerheart has had a slow burn for me over the last year and a half or so. When I initially checked out Bathory's discography I was looking forward to Hammerheart the most, since I knew it was the true start of the Viking Metal genre, but at the time Blood Fire Death captivated me so much more with its balanced split of slower, more extended tracks and classic early Black Metal thrash. As I come back to it more and more, though, Hammerheart is really starting to win me over. Each riff is absolutely stellar, having an unmistakable raw heft that only early Bathory production can provide. Since Hammerheart is slower and more restrained in terms of songwriting it really plays to the strengths of its pushed back and crunchy production style. Although Quorthon is known for his signature and furious Black Metal barking, he somehow manages to find a strained but clear clean voice that is still filled with emotion and fits the style of the album superbly. I think it still takes some getting used to if you're not familiar with Bathory, but I'm just always surprised that it sounds so natural and good although it sounds like his throat is about to give out during certain parts of "One Rode To Asa Bay". The choirs that are so heavily used really give a nice contrast to Quorthon's ragged voice as well, giving Hammerheart its epic sound and quality. 

I think I've finally reached the point of truly appreciating this release, since I was still skeptical of all the hype even after many listens. Something didn't click, and this time around the wheels have really begun to turn. I still think "Home Of Once Brave" holds the album back a little, but with "Baptised In Fire And Ice", "Father To Son," and "One Rode To Asa Bay" I'll forgive it. 

Heol Telwen - "An deiz ruz" (2005)

So in the interests of ensuring the continued expansion of my knowledge of all things metal, I decided to give a release labelled as Celtic metal a go so that I could find out what it's all about. From my understanding (& feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), the subgenre is essentially just folk metal that utilizes traditional Celtic instruments like bagpipes, whistle, fiddle, flute, bodhrán & hurdy gurdy. The record I selected was the only album from French outfit Heol Telwen entitled "An Deiz Ruz" & I have to say that it was a real struggle for me to get through. The band are certainly decent musicians & composers & I think they'd make for a very reasonable black metal band given that the basis for this music is built on black metal. But the continued use of folky flute melodies & the gang vocal "Hey!" parts make it almost impossible for me to take it all seriously. I'm not a fan of most folk metal but I think Celtic metal might be even further away from my personal tastes.

2/5

Any of our members love this stuff? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this album & the subgenre in general. Please feel free to use this thread for continued discussion on the subgenre moving forwards.

Finally got around to my review of this.  The proof of what a great record it is comes from me being able to review whilst playing it in my head, like it is transcribed in my memory.  Need to hunt down a decent physical copy.

Thanks for clearing that up Daniel. I had a feeling that it would be considered ok for the Academy (as I believe it should be). Just checking because, as you rightly say, some websites make completely arbitrary decisions on what constitutes being "metal enough" - a position particularly odd in the case of metal-archives as they claim to be an encyclopaedia of metal music yet dismiss many valid artists out of hand because of personal bias.

Yet another example of why Metal Academy is a superior site for the Metal connoisseur!

Bathory - "Hammerheart" (1990)

Quorthon finishes his transition away from Bathory's classic black metal sound into previously uncharted territory... well at least for extreme metal anyway as the Manowar plagiarism is very clear. "Hammerheart" not only single-handedly created a new subgenre of metal but it also presented itself in the most defined, impressive & iconic package we've heard from Viking metal still to this day. Amazing stuff that completed a trio of classic of Bathory albums in my opinion.

4.5/5

A lot of Black Metal this year. An overflowing amount. Here's what I ended up with for a Top 10:

1. Funereal Presence – Achatius 

2. Serpent Column – Mirror In Darkness 

3. Saor – Forgotten Paths 

4. Obsequiae – The Palms of Sorrowed Kings 

5. Deathspell Omega – The Furnaces of Palingenesia 

6. Stormlord – Far 

7. Grima – Will of the Primordial 

8. Mgla – Age of Excuse 

9. Fen – The Dead Light 

10. The Great Old Ones – Cosmicism 

I really thought that I'd enjoy this more than Hammerheart, but by listening to them both back to back they evened out for me. Cleaning up the production for the guitar tone and drums makes Twilight of the Gods sound infinitely better than Hammerheart, but it also makes it lose that dirty edge that Bathory's old production had which helped to sell the Viking theme. Twilight of the Gods sounds like it's telling the tales of Gods rather than the mere mortals present on Hammerheart. The dirty old production is replaced with full and clean sounding guitar tones and bass rhythms, distant but bombastic sounding drums, and folky but powerful acoustics, creating a more familiar atmosphere for me in terms of viking and folk metal. 

While I don't think it should be overlooked and it has its place in the classic Bathory discography, I think that it's definitely missing something compared to Hammerheart or Blood Fire Death. With the entire album being rather low tempo and plodding, it loses a bit of its luster after the first three or four songs. It's very well written and certainly epic, but Hammerheart and Bathory's other albums had more spice to them. 

I'll have you know that kvlt evil metallers get cold feet too Ben. Do you think they really go to bed in leather & spikes? I'm pretty sure that Satan himself wears ugg boots whilst enjoying a nice cup of tea & a biscuit after a hard day of cursing people for eternity.

More from Necrobutcher on this topic:

“When I did that interview I was thinking, ‘What kind of moron fucking question is this?’ They didn’t have one fucking question about the new album, which we are out here to do, so I was like … what’s this line of questioning? Aren’t you over that now?

But yeah, OK, I’ll tell you straight up, I wanted to kill that fucker in the end. He … Imagine that somebody you think is your friend coming home and finding your other friend killed themselves and took pictures of their dead body. Who the fuck in their right mind would do anything like that? Everybody should have the little bit of intelligence to know that, that’s gotta be somebody completely stripped from empathy and normal emotions. And really a bad fucking person. But now he’s a fucking hero! And it’s like, OK, I’ve always talked good about him, never wanted to talk bad about the dead, but this has gone too far now. I mean, if the guy wasn’t killed, he would’ve gone to jail for many years for lighting up a church in Oslo. He’d be gone. He’d have been sued just like Varg Vikernes for 50 million NOK, so when he would be released from jail, he would never have a job, never own a car, own a flat, own a TV. He would be fucked with a capital F. He’s the big hero? No, he’s the big fucking asshole, that’s who he is. The betrayal — he betrayed his friends and the bad karma in the end came and took him. I never cried a tear for that guy. I was mad as fuck when he died, and what I told that journalist is when I read it in the morning paper, I headed straight home and cleaned my house for all the illegals. I was sure the cops were going to come home to my place next and that I was going to be a suspect. I didn’t know that they already knew who did it. 

“And I’ll tell you since we’re into this. Norway is a very small country. Varg Vikernes lit up a church, went to jail, they couldn’t get evidence, so they had to let him out. Big disappointment for the cops, a loss of prestige. So, they bugged his phone, bugged his apartment, everything. And he was plotting to kill Euronymous on the phone and everything, making an alibi on the phone. But of course, they knew everything! So, I was a little pissed at the cops later on because I’m thinking … they knew what was going on and they didn’t even stop it. This is very fucking bad, you know what I mean? The government was in on killing him. So, I never talked about it before, but now I’m thinking, since the government isn’t linked up to my ass now, it’s starting to get down to earth again. And that’s not the smart thing for me to do, to make enemies again now that I’ve cooled again, but it’s in me. I can’t help it. Anything that wronged me has to be right.”