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As I grow older, and my catalogue of music listening grows, fewer things surprise me. ...And Oceans surprised me with some great melodic black metal on Cosmic World Mother in 2020, they surprised me again in 2023 when the album As in Gardens, So in Tombs flew entirely under my radar, and in 2025, The Regeneration Itinerary made it to my review bench with industrial and cyber metal elements!

Now long time fans might find this less than surprising since the band has dabbled in electronics before on albums such as Cypher. But I wonder just how well the electro-industrial tinges will actually work with a band that is already pretty bloated with symphonic orchestras. And here's the thing: I'm not trying to say that ...And Oceans don't deserve some credit for being ambitious, but sometimes the pendulum swings way too far in the opposite direction. In short, The Regeneration Itinerary is an album trying to redirect everything wrong with Lorna Shore's discography, but it ends up becoming too drastic.

While Lorna Shore litter their albums from top to bottom with every single instrument screaming at you nonstop for over an hour, the main criticism is that albums like Pain Remains have no leveling. Conversely, ...And Oceans have the same problem, but the compression here is drastic. And while it certainly makes for a more enjoyable project than anything Lorna Shore has done, I cannot help but feel like the intensity is missing. The necessity by ...And Oceans to compress this album as much as they did is part of the problem; every part of the record sounds purposeful and given attention. When the electro-industrial parts of "Inertiae" and "The Form and the Formless" come out they are present, but when the guitars and drums re-enter, they sound timid. And that carries even more so into Mathias Lillmåns' vocals. 

I won't call it a bad record. Compositionally, The Regeneration Itinerary is a well constructed release with plenty of variety between the individual tracks. But the way in which it has been mixed and mastered does no favours. It's more pleasant than listening to a Lorna Shore album in 2025, but ...And Oceans are left feeling like they are not playing up to their full potential.

Best Songs: Chromium Lungs, Bronze Optics, Prophetical Mercury Implement, The Ways of Sulphur, The Terminal Filter

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.

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.

Arkhaaik are a Zurich-based three-piece who, as their name, a stylised version of "archaic" suggests, are interested in exploring pre-history, in particular the culture and practices of Bronze Age Europe. Their debut album, 2019's "*dʰg̑ʰm̥tós", was an exploration of the religion and deities of this culture, with the somewhat questionable claim to being sung in the long dead Indo-European language of the time. This 2025 follow-up takes as its theme The Hunt in both a literal and an analagous religious context.

Musically, this takes the form of blackened, old-school, cavernous death metal with death-doom tendencies, which often utilises pounding rhythms and horn-like effects to give the album a paganistic and sometimes ritualistic vibe. The tracks are fairly lengthy affairs, with the almost fifty minutes of "Uihtis" containg only four, varying from ten to fifteen minutes in duration. This affords the band plenty of leisure to build the atmospheres and vibe of arcane hunting ritual that they are striving for. Whilst metal is rightly most often judged on the quality of its riffs, and the album contains some very nice death metal riffs to be sure, I think the strength of "Uihtis" lies in its percussion and the tribalistic patterns and atmospherics that it conjures up. To this end I think drummer Vâlant deserves huge praise as his work is crucial to the album's success. The vocals also contribute massively with the bellowing roars and growls being supplemented by the whoops and howls of the (presumably successful) hunters alongside some nice native-like chants.

Despite all this aesthetical window-dressing and conceptual exposition, I guess what most metalheads want to know is, "Does it fucking slay"? I would reply with a resounding, "Oh yes, you fucking bet". I don't think it leans as heavily into the death doom side of the equation as the debut did, this being more in the vein of blackened Autopsy-style OSDM than true death doom, but with some pretty fucking brutal blasting sections and those hulking, tribalistic throbs this could indeed slay a woolly mammoth by sheer bludgeoning weight alone.

In conclusion I would say that if you are someone who loves old-school, cavernous death metal and would like to hear it used in a slightly different context then this is definitely a release you should wrap your ears around.

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.

Apocalypse Orchestra are a five-piece from Gävle in Sweden and they have a penchant for doom metal heavily coloured by european folk music. They seamlessly integrate medieval folk instruments such as hurdy-gurdy, mandola, cittern and pipes with the modern electrified instruments of doom metal in a way that feels perfectly natural and unforced. The slow, plodding riffs of doom metal are used as a foundation upon which the band interprete medieval folk melodies for a modern metal-loving audience.

I do love folk music, but I am often disappointed by its unsubtle use when utilised as a trope in metal, with a lot of folk metal sounding trite and just downright cheesy. I never felt that way once though whilst listening to "A Plague Upon Thee" because it is just so tastefully done, with an apparently equal reverence for both folk and metal. You would be forgiven for suspecting AO of playing a doom metal version of viking metal, given their swedish origins, but there is a distinct lack of the whiff of longship and battleaxe within "A Plague Upon Thee", with it often being more celtic-sounding à la Saor than the Norse influences of a Bathory or Wardruna. The doom metal side of the equation is quite functional and, in truth, it doesn't vary hugely from track to track, with most of the eight tracks following the same tempo. It is perfectly well executed, but is utilised more as a foundation or rhythm section if you like, providing the staging upon which the folk melodies and instruments perform their magic.

The lyrical themes revolve around the harshness of medieval life, plague and the ever-pervasive presence and domination of religion over the lives of the peasantry. The lyrics are beautifully delivered by voclist Erik Larsson who has a great line in clean vocals, supported by almost symphonic backing vocals provided by the rest of the band. Despite the inate heaviness and mournfulness of doom metal and the generally bleak tone of the lyrics, the music still often feels almost hopeful, as if, despite the harshness of life, there is still a ray of light or shred of comfort to be gleaned amidst all the darkness and hardship.

I really enjoyed "A Plague Upon Thee" and found its folk-centric take on doom metal to be a refreshing twist on what can often be a conservative and predictable genre. That it also avoids the trap of cringy cheesiness that plagues so much folk metal is testament to the band's skillful songwriting and reverence for their sources of inspiration. If you are looking for a different take on doom metal then I would heartily recommend this.

My reach into the underworld of raw black metal stretches further than ever before in 2025. Tornekrans from Norway are proof of this with their rampant charge of black metal that whirrs violently at the listener across ten tracks that rarely let up for breath. I stumbled my way to this one-man project after discovering Khaos Aura earlier this year and being the naturally inquisitive type that I am, my research soon directed me to other projects band members are involved with. Torkus, who does everything in Tornekrans, unleashes his debut full length following his demo from last year. Clearly worshipping at the altar of 90s second wave, he crashes and bashes his way through the album with the fury of Gorgoroth on crack.

This is a record steeped in the stench of that dank scene. Attacking each track with a seemingly inexhaustible level of enthusiasm, Torkus leaves me in no doubt of his intentions on Silent Whispers Echo from Forbidden Realms. There are no whispers or silence for that matter on the record, just echoes from forbidden realms. They come in waves, constantly. Like a hideous undead army of evil spirits, they just keep coming. Attack after attack makes for an unrelenting experience. Zombified warriors, drunk on their hatred and vitriol for the living just hack and slash away at all in their path. A record that is not for the faint of heart, Silent Whispers Echo from Forbidden Realms is a furious expulsion of black metal played against a pagan/folky backdrop.

The croaking harshness of the vocals slices through the wall of tremolos and percussive chaos, and they do elevate what are otherwise simple song structures. Nobody is coming to raw black metal for its complexity of arrangement and so this format works well enough. Whilst I am sure some will find this too frantic an experience, I cannot help but admire the approach. Unwavering and perhaps unnerving it may well be, but at the same time it stays true to the aesthetic it sits in. The folk instrumental that opens the album is the only respite you get folks, it is hell for leather from track two onwards.

As I indicated in my forum post summarising the feature release this month, if I look at Sinmara’s discography, they have never quite topped their debut album. For me the capture of dissonance and atmosphere is rarely exemplified as well as it is across Aphotic Womb. What really stands out is that in creating such a vibrant sound, the band never once let much in the way of light into their songs. As the album title suggests, this is a creation grown in the darkest of wombs, utterly devoid of light. Taking all the best parts of Deathspell Omega, Carpe Noctem and Svartidauði the band make a real European mix of black metal sounds, incorporating elements that also remind me of Irish bm crew Slidhr and even Mgla in the album’s mellower transitions. For an album with so many moving parts it could easily sound like instruments are falling over one another as the layers overlap, yet there’s none of that cumbersome nature present on the album, in fact it is one of the most deftly played dissonant bm records of the 2010’s.

The band clearly take great pride in their attack on Aphotic Womb and there is a real sense of them owning the songs in the fullest sense of the term. Without creating any sense of restraint, they manage each of the tracks so diligently that it is hard not to see their pride in the delivery of their art. Album highlight for me is ‘Shattered Pillars’ with its riffs jittering across the track in glorious shimmering dissonance. In fact, some of the lyrics on here sum up the experience of the album perfectly:

“A cluster of storms

Breathing through wormhole mazes

Feeding gaping jaws the bitter waters of nausea

To harvest the foul seed and rape the crops of life

The demented ancestry of nebulae afar”

The album feels like that cluster of storms, with each track creating that maze as they are performed. There is something foul underlying in the music of Sinmara here, something wicked that barely makes the effort to stay hidden. That strong Ulcerate sound to the guitars on ‘Shattered Pillars’ is one of the reasons why I love this track. The New Zealand dissonant death metallers had only just released the might Vermis the year before Sinmara dropped their debut. Whilst percussively speaking there is a clear difference, the similarity in the guitar sound is undeniable.

Two instrumental tracks on your debut are a bold move, especially with one opening the record, yet Sinmara pull it off for me on both occasions. Working well on the two-disc vinyl version (I am guessing as I only have a digital version of the release) these tracks herald the arrival of each disc to the turntable with a sense of drama that never quite strays into the realm of epic. The harshness of Iceland’s landscape certainly comes through on Aphotic Womb, that unrelenting, heaving nature to the guitars sounds particularly symbolic in comparison. The album sounds like a vast and desolate landscape; possibly invoking images of a mass larger than its country of origin itself at times.

Something that I have realised over recent months is that I am not necessarily averse to dissonance in black and death metal per se, only that I have an issue with it when it is used as an implement of torture rather than as a musical device. Recent dalliances with the likes of Imperial Triumphant most definitely sit in the former category whilst the likes of Deathspell Omega's entire discography or Ulcerate's "Cutting the Throat of God" show how dissonance can be used as an atmospheric device like any other musical instrument. Of course I am aware that the really dissonant stuff is only an issue for me because of my own mental set-up and I do understand on an intellectual level why some bands deploy it as an artistic device to illustrate a point, I just am unable to enjoy it is all.

I was under the impression that I hadn't encountered these Icelanders before, but it appears that I had, awarding 2019's "Hvísl stjarnanna" a four-star rating despite not being able to recall it now. Luckily for me this month's feature from Sinmara and its disonnant approach very much belongs alongside the likes of Ulcerate and DsO and has been a wholly positive listening experience for me over the past week or so. One of the main reasons for this is that at its heart "Aphotic Womb" is a blistering and brooding black metal album. The dissonance of the tremolo riffing effectively lends the tracks a frosty iciness that elevates the savagery on display to a new level, in a way that a less atonal approach would struggle to replicate. This results in a bitter and venomous-sounding album that channels all the best that the icelandic black metal scene has to offer. We are not talking thin and raw black metal here, it has a full sound with the rhythm section playing an important part in providing both impetus and foundation whilst the guitarists unleash their six-stringed, dissonant sorcery. Vocalist Ólafur Guðjónsson has a harsh growling bark very much in the vein of DsO's Mikko Aspa, providing more proof of the french pioneers' significant influence on Sinmara. The overlying effect of the album is of a suffocating busyness that threatens to bury the listener under layers of ever-shifting sound, like being caught up in a blizzard, whipped into fury by bitingly cold, gale-force winds.

So, in conclusion, I want to heap bountiful praise upon "Aphotic Womb" for providing more fuel for the fire on which I must burn my preconceptions and for helping me to grow into enjoying a musical style I would once upon a time have really struggled with. 

It was shaping up to be a poor Saturday afternoon all round really. It was pissing it down with rain and blowing a gale too, making any hope of gardening or a walk out in the woods completely out of the question. I had sat through (or at least started to listen to) around eight bm albums already and was slowly losing faith in the current slew of releases I had been pencilling onto my to do list over the last fortnight. Even Hermóðr and his two EPs from this year couldn’t impress me, and after there being far too much experimental musings from various other artists, I was close to turning the PC off and going for a read. Thankfully, Medieval Demon were on hand to save me.

Featuring Jim Mutilator of once upon a time Varathron and Rotting Christ and current Yoth Iria fame on bass, Medieval Demon have been around since 1993 and are now on to their fifth full length with All Powers of Darkness. With Lord Apollyon providing drums and keys, Sirokous handling vocals and Chthonius on guitar (which sounds mighty in the mix, btw), this four piece play a richly melodic and obviously Hellenic sounding brand of bm. I would say they do use a fair old amount of symphony to good effect as well as just keys. Check out the majestic Emperor-esque ‘Raging Lord of the Deeps’ as a great example of this. It is the sense of drama and theatre that is present on All Powers of Darkness that really have helped it to standout on this rainy Saturday afternoon. There is also a mightiness to the overall sound. This record has been produced to sound BIG! It fills the room as it plays, swarming its darkness over the walls, floor and ceiling too.

This record is a real lights off, candles on whilst you drink blood from the skulls of your enemies’ type of affair. Featuring leads that blaze across the tracks like some unholy hellfire, a solid percussion section that underpins the dashing keys and symphonic moments perfectly, the album sounds like a complete package. Riffs fire out like a heavy metal record from days of yore and Sirokous’ vocals possess a marauding potency about them. For a band on their second wind (they were on hiatus 1998 to 2018), this is a record that oozes an epic appetite for darkness. The “demonic orchestral” style the band have become renowned for (check out ‘Abbadon’ and closing track ‘All Powers of Darkness) is rampant and this album also sees the return of the saxophone on the title track, which is another regular inclusion on MD albums, apparently. It should not work on so many levels, but it blends so well with the dynamic nature of the closing track that I love it. Everything is superbly played too, especially those leads. Showing a real knack for arrangement, Medieval Demon are an excellent revival of that classic Greek black metal sound.

It is not a perfect score, as you can see, and that is because the album does take a little while to get going. Opening track, ‘Mystic Path Towards the Abyss’ is a bit too lacklustre in its approach to herald the approach of the rest of the album and overall, I would argue that the record only gets going from track three onwards. Still I must give credit where it is due and All Powers of Darkness holds nothing back in the main, beyond these minor gripes above.

OK, this is a kind of an odd release. I guess the rather short length for this split EP is one thing, with an average two and a half minute length per song. But when two different sounding bands come together to make this release, it can cause some confusion within the clans.

Cream Abdul Babar is more of an experimental noisecore band, edging in on sludge and add in some keys and horns, as evident in "Mahogany-Walled Executive Officer". The amount of experimentation and discordant rhythm makes them sound like a mix of Dog Fashion Disco and Today is the Day. It's not super bad though, unlike the next track... "Intruder Alert" is a 4-minute waste of time, with nothing but looped synth distortion. That band is certainly not a winner for me with that ear-f***ing sh*t.

Teen Cthulthu is a much better deal here, combining metalcore with symphonic black metal, before early Abigail Williams and Dance Club Massacre made it cool, exemplified greatly in "Astral Black". The following track "Crystal Castles" has more black metal than the previous track, with a melodic ending. "Xcalibr8" is another sh*tter though. It seems way too short at just one minute, and the hard-to-decipher-without-reading lyrics make a cheesy poem that a popstar could write. But I still enjoy those other two kick-A tracks on this side of the EP.

The cover art makes good usage of outer colors despite the image being distorted which brings its quality down to as much as that release itself. I'm really not sure how they made art much lower quality than those low-effort blackgaze album covers these days. And it doesn't change my opinion on this EP. It's an OK try with two great tracks by Teen Cthulhu. But the rest, particularly the Cream Abdul Babar side of the EP, thumbs down....

Favorites (only two tracks I like by Teen Cthulhu): "Astral Black", "Crystal Castles"

Poland continues their knack of producing quality black metal albums then. I mean Mgla, Furia, Blaze of Perdition and Kriegsmaschine all have managed to make a niche for themselves, and now Kraków residents Medico Peste (which means Doctor Plague/Doctor Pestilence) offer up more than just blastbeats and tremolos on their third record. Landing somewhere between the production values of their fellow countrymen, Mgla and the skittish musings of Deathspell Omega, there is most certainly lots to explore on Aesthetic of Hunger. Full of twists and turns to keep the listener on their toes, it possesses a level of musicianship that few other acts can boast. The combination of the dissonance in the riffs performed within progressive structures give some of the tracks a real sense of expansion. Meanwhile the vocals carry a cruelty that seems to infect the very lyrics as they are spat into the air around them.

One must take note also of drummer Adrian Stempak’s performance. It is his assured and skilful playing that holds the fabric of the album sound together. Just as at home with blastbeats as he is with slower-paced or progressive patterns, he really manages to stand out for all the right reasons here. His good work starts immediately on the album opener, ‘St. Anthony’s Fire’ a track that shows the real gamut of his abilities. As well as having a strong line up to begin with, Medico Peste invited a range of guests onto the recording of the album. Instrumental number ‘Antrakt’ has a different drummer (Janusz Gałyga – who also covers electronics over the record), and a Bartłomiej Bardon adds some guitar work on ‘Ecclessiogenic Psychosis’. Most obvious in terms of their contribution though is female vocalist Hekte Zaren who contributes some dark alchemy to three tracks on the record.

Mostly, I find admiration for the bravery in the song writing on Aesthetic of Hunger. Tracks such as ‘The Black Lotus’ use melody in an almost non-linear way, maintaining an ominous presence as it guides the track along. These thrusts of melodic dissonance carve ever-growing arteries and veins into the harsher elements of the record. They feed the Medico Peste monster with a seemingly unending supply of pestilential blood for its rotten appetite. Balancing, the urgency of the tremolo alongside these more expansive elements is a task that is handled well. ‘Ecclessiogenic Psychosis’ clearly shows how well they manage this, being able to have the progressive structures teetering on the brink of destruction from the swarming guitars. Descending into an almost jazzy section around halfway through the track, the progressive elements really take over with the bass getting a lot of space in the mix. Hekte’s dark operatic vocals add yet further opulence to this lusciously nefarious little number. This is probably my album highlight in all honesty as the track ends up very much in a different place to where it starts.

The palate cleansing instrumental is unfortunately where things come a little unstuck for me. Although it is well placed in terms of still carrying some of the experimental structure from the previous track, ‘Antrakt’ is a slowing down of pace that I doubt the need for in all honesty. As interesting as it is, it just feels like it is obstructive when considering the album track listing. The more experimental elements do bring Furia to mind and ‘Folie de Dieu’ has a great riff structure to it that continues this theme. With some of the most scathing use of tremolos on the album to this point, this is a real welcome return to form after the instrumental let down. Yet, the album does still feel like it has lost some of the earlier form in terms of structure, over the second half at least. There is not any filler present on the album, but ‘Viaticum’ seems to meander a tad, dragging its heels a bit with a slower pace that if nothing else, does further emphasises the menace the album carries. As the very Mgla-esque closer ‘Act of Faith’ plays out the album, it is hard to ignore the earlier quality that covered the first four tracks in such glory. Whilst the album does go off the boil from the midway point onwards, Medico Peste are clearly still swinging punches the whole way through even if not all of them land correctly.

I have been trying to do this write up for a while, frustrated by the fact that whilst I freely admit that this is a good album, after it has finished, I get little in the way of memorability. Mossblood seethes with all the urgent intensity you would expect from a black metal record. Yet at the same time it possesses intricacy in how tracks are put together. Whilst the tremolo is very “trilly” in the main and plays a big part in their sound, Lichen are not afraid to use chords either. Add to this a morose sounding melody and an ability to change pace and tempos, and you can hear how things quickly become interesting.

The audible bass sound most certainly helps Mossblood carry a complete and full sound. It is not a heavy or particularly “twangy” bass presence by any means, however it does retain its shadowy subtlety as it drives tracks like ‘Chthonian Mysteries’. Equally, a solid, if not perhaps a little muffled sounding performance on the drums is also a consistent part of the instrumentation on the album. The production job is lo-fi enough in terms of values yet there is also some polish to the sound that helps with the clarity in the mix. This balance should keep the kvlt hordes happy as well as bringing a sense of the dynamic to the sound of the record.

Album highlight, ‘From Life to Loam’ bristles with a sharp melodicism that could give Spectral Wound a run for their money. There’s a section about halfway through where the bass picks up some real resonance and the tremolo slugs it out with some open chords. It is moments like these that help Lichen standout from most of the releases I have heard in black metal so far this year. When you consider that there are no synths/keys on the record, the amount of tension that Lichen can build is impressive. The tremolo has a foreboding about it and the hopelessness in some of the melodies helps in building this thick atmosphere. Silly “fungal” black metal tag aside, Mossblood offers as strong a representation of the second wave you are likely to hear in 2025.

Moonsorrow was a band I had extremely high hopes for after hearing their “Tämä Ikuinen Talvi” demo. The word “demo” does a terrible disservice to this release because not only is it long enough to be a full length album, it’s also so well written, played, and composed that it could be a band at the top of their career. The production isn’t bad either!

By their sophomore album, Moonsorrow had improved in many areas. The production, of course, was at a polished, professional level, and the mix sounds perfect here. The dense yet restrained orchestration is fantastic, the layering of numerous folk elements adds intrigue and aesthetic. The playing is of course more precise. The progression of songs also feels very strong, often featuring well-earned rests and crescendos.

The issue is, in my opinion, they regressed in terms of capturing mood. Or perhaps, it’s better to say, they moved away from the kind of mood I personally prefer. While their demo had a darker, more somber feel (as a band called Moonsorrow should) they had since gone towards the direction of more epic, uplifting, and unfortunately jovial sounding tracks. At the worst of times, the instruments and melodies can sound silly even.

I mean, the 3rd track “Kylän Päässä” prominently features boing boing noises, sounding like a goofy cartoon medieval villain’s theme song.

“Hiidenpelto” is where they get back into the territory I like. That is, dark! Sorrowful! Yet still retaining that incredibly epic, folky feel of grand medieval adventure. This is what I had hoped they would evolve into. The song has a fantastic mix of slower, doomy sections and aggressive energy, and features an instrumental outro with a build up and crescendo that is just sublime. Probably the best song the band has ever wrote.

And then the next song opens up with more boing boing noises. Despite how well written and layered this music is, there’s the simple fact that I just cannot take some of this stuff seriously. Aside from the egregious “instrument” choices, there are melodies here and there that just sound too… playful. Not what I want from a band called “Moonsorrow.”

That’s not to say the album isn’t great, because it is. There are only so many points you can lose when music is this perfectly executed. The sheer force of these tracks is awe-inspiring, the way they totally encompass you in their atmosphere and take you to another time and place. Undeniably amazing album. I just wish they kept their darker sound… in which case, this could have been a masterpiece.

I started listening to this album right when the Oblivion remaster dropped, and let me tell you, there could not be a better match. On this album, Summoning combine the cheesy, medieval Dungeon Synth reminiscent of games like Runescape with their signature Atmoblack guitar compositions. Vocals shift between classic Black shrieks and epic sounding samples.

Listening to this wonderfully evocative album as I return to the familiar world of Cyrodill was a seamless union. The martial drums beating as I slaughtered adversaries in the arena, the lush and affectionately dated synths adding to the intrigue of discovering ruins, the overall majesty of fantasy of both pieces of media melding into a perfect combination.

The layering of this album is the real treat. Most of the instruments – both synthed and real – are playing simple and repetitive chords or melodies. Nothing too impressive on their own. But weaved in between the synthed horns, guitars, and drums, are a plethora of other synthed instruments, resembling anything from old medieval instruments to more modern electronic sounds. There’s a lot going on and it justifies the simplicity.

What I will say though, is that it makes a better soundtrack than it does a focused listen. One big weakness is that while the album succeeds immensely at evoking a medieval, fantastic atmosphere, it doesn’t evoke any emotion at all. It’s not sad, it’s not happy, it’s not angry or evil. And thus it works well as background music, but loses a bit as a unique piece of work due to its lack of mood. Throwing in an angry or melancholic track here and there would make it flow more like a movie rather than a static backdrop to a castle. It’s also exceedingly repetitive and low-tempo most of the time, which can get a bit tiring. The previous album did a better job of incorporating a bit more… Metal.

Still though, wow. It succeeds at doing exactly what it wants to do. All fantasy all the time. Definitely worth a listen for anyone remotely interested in the aesthetic, and my personal recommendation as a makeshift soundtrack to any fantasy game.

Songs of Hiraeth is a compilation of (majority) unreleased tracks spanning two years from 2009 – 2011. Inspired by Lunn’s first time in Northern Europe, as well as his more frequent trips to the remote north of the USA, there is a real sense of freedom in the seven songs here. The record feels like a collection of songs, and for once this is not a problem. The capture of these moments in time, the artist’s memories, carries a clearly personal nature, one which permits the listener some insight into the artists world. You can picture vast landscapes when listening to this record or envisage perhaps the frustration at having to leave such views to return to the humdrum of the daily grind.

The songs here are of the quality we have all come to expect from Austin Lunn. The more atmospheric pieces possess that familiar ethereal appeal to them. Embedding aggression around these tracks with a level of mastery that somehow still retains the atmospheric tropes that are usually so well established, whilst still suggesting varying degrees of emotion being expressed, takes talent, simple as that. The build of ‘The White Mountain View’ shows this perfectly over a near eleven-minute track. Yet the track that follows immediately after it, ‘Haunted America II’ has a much more direct approach with its scathing riffage and myriads of percussions attacking the listener from the off. Indeed, it is testimony to the talent on display here that a compilation record of tracks over fifteen years old could easily make a dent in any end of year list.

There are a couple of occasions where the production sounds a little muddled to my ears (‘A Letter’ in particular) and whilst it does not necessarily ruin the listening experience, it does diminish the momentum somewhat. I sense that some elements are just placed off in the mix and the black metal squall comes with an underlying reverb that is just, well, unhelpful. I must note however what an outstanding drummer Lunn is. On previous releases, I had somehow missed this, but on this one his skin bashing really shines through. As I say, for a compilation release, it is hard not to be impressed with Songs of Hiraeth. It is another great addition to the Panopticon discography and one that carries a real sense of connection with it. If you were disappointed (as I was) to think that the folk laden Laurentian Blue was going to be Lunn’s only release of 2025, then Songs of Hiraeth will be a more than welcome addition.

As I mentioned previously, I have only had a brief, but exceedingly positive, association with Aeternus. Their 1995 "Dark Sorcery" EP is one of my favourite black metal EPs and their 1997 debut album "Beyond the Wandering Moon" isn't bad either, so I went into this in a positive frame of mind. Luckily, this uncharacteristically positive attitude wasn't misplaced and this is a nice slab of medium-paced, melodic, norwegian black metal that was very easy to get into with Immortal being an obvious touchstone for me.

A striking atmosphere is set with the introduction to the epic opener, "There's No Wine Like the Bloods Crimson" which starts off with a warrior's raging and a brief snatch of liturgical singing before giving way to a martial drum beat which sets the conflict-riven battlefield scene where most of the album's events take place. The theme here is the horrors and glories of war, particularly toe-to-toe, whites-of-their-eyes, blood and guts medieval warfare. The riffs are fairly melodic and memorable enough to catch yourself humming along occasionally. The odd riff also has a folk metal component to it, with second track "As I March" containing a prime example. The sound is pretty thick, not the lo-fi, washed out and icy thin sound often associated with nineties black metal, but with a noticeable death metal influence which is well-suited to the blood-riven theme of the album. I always love a good drum track and Vrolok's percussive contribution is well-handled here. The track "Blodsverging", where he really gets to let rip, is a great example. I am not clued in enough to know how technically good Vrolok is, but the drums sound absolutely brilliant and I love what he was doing with the aggressive, but well-controlled, battering that he is visiting upon his kit. There is some fairly sparse utilisation of keyboards, but they are subtly handled and never smother the riffs, merely adding a thin atmospheric layer to proceedings.

I am not going to claim that "...And So the Night Became" is a top-drawer norwegian black metal classic or anything, but it is very good and I found it exceedingly easy to get into with a musical consistency and atmospheric integrity that showcases the songwriting skills of all involved. Aeternus may not get a huge amount of credit or acknowlegement in the black metal world, but here they reveal themselves to be a very accomplished black metal act that almost certainly deserve more plaudits than they receive. There is some really good stuff on here and this is definitely an album I will return to in the future.

In my most recent attempt to rekindle a bond with extreme metal, I have been met with enough suggestions than I know what to do with! Unfortunately, what I appreciate in the music is very different than what most of my colleagues enjoy. One name that has always returned to me has been Blackbraid, a solo melodic/atmospheric black metal project from the state of NY. While I have only truly listened to Blackbraid in passing, songs such as "The Spirit Returns" and "Sadness and the Passage of Time and Memory" have stuck with me, so I figure that now is as good a time as any to dig in with a new album just released this month!

It does need to be said right out of the gate that Blackbraid III is a great album. I believe that the drummer, Neil Schneider, is the albums producer and mixer and the sound of the album is nothing short of spellbinding. For an artist that is as fiercely independent as Blackbraid claims to be, Blackbraid III has better mixing than many of the modern day "mainstream" black metal artists. I'm sure that there are record labels who specialize in black metal that would be salivating to have Blackbraid join their catalogue one day. The album has tremendous blending between the guitar, bass, percussion and vocals. The guitar in particular has a crucial role on this endeavour; carrying some of the albums most infectious moments. The riffing is varied and unique, and play great chemistry with the vocals.

The record has plenty of Native American and traditional Americana flavour added to keep things interesting. I would not be surprised if Sgah’gahsowáh came out and listed Austin Lunn as a source of influence for their music, because the mimicking of Panopticon's sound is undeniable. Whether that be in songs like "God of Black Blood", the opening of the record "Wardrums at Dawn on the Day of my Death" or any of the acoustic interludes interspersed with nature sounds of campfire cackling, rivers flowing or wolves howling, however cliche that might sound.

That influence from Panopticon is also felt in the lyrics. The lyrics are painted with a level of continuity between the tracks as themes of "fading light" the "forlorn of the dark" and "sacred offerings" are referenced frequently throughout Blackbraid III. "The Dying Breath of a Sacred Stag" is one of the more heart-twisting tunes on the album as the title stag, the "great keeper of twilight", grows old and passes away from the mortal world into the moss covered ground and nightfall engulfs the sky. The Lord Belial cover of "Fleshbound" that ends the album tells of the protagonist tearing their flesh from the body so that the pained soul can be free. It is an album of dark meaning, but delivered in such a way to make it sound just as wonderful to the listener as it would to a devote believer. (I personally do not know which Indigenous nation Sgah’gahsowáh is associated with, so that last statement is purely speculation).

The biggest issue with Blackbraid III is probably its interludes. The record has three (four if you count "Dusk (Eulogy)") interludes, but Blackbraid could have easily gotten away with just two. The interlude "The Earth Is Weeping" does not really do that much for me at this point in the track list. "Traversing the Forest of Eternal Dusk" is great with the inclusion of a electric guitar solo, while "Like Wind Through the Reeds Making Waves Like Water" serves as a nice change of pace in between the albums two longest tracks.  As well, even though I already mentioned how good the main melodic songwriting is, this album does have a tendency to shift styles a little too frequently. One of my least favourite examples is the quasi thrash riff that consumes most of the middle section of "And He Became the Burning Stars..." but the doom riff that ends "Tears of the Dawn" is wonderful.

Blackbraid III is a nice little project that shows signs of progress. I think as a collective, this album has the worse production than Blackbraid II, but the benefit of better songwriting. This record is more precise with shorter songs and a slightly more brisk runtime, as well as more impactful themes.

Best Songs: Wardrums at Dawn on the Day of my Death, The Dying Breath of a Sacred Stag, Traversing the Forest of Eternal Dusk, Tears of the Dawn

I have a project list in my office for sub-genres I need to conduct a deep dive on. Pagan black metal is one item listed there as I have very little, formal knowledge of the sub-genre. When I come to a release that is tagged as “pagan” on the Metal Academy site I instantly think of folk metal, then I quickly remember that is a different thing. At least I think it is? Anyway, I won’t let the study of the tag take over the whole review, but if pagan black metal has more of what Aldaaron offer on Par-delà les cimes then I will be taking that deep dive sooner rather than later. The title of the album translates as “how pagan black metal differs to folk metal”. No, wait that’s wrong. “Beyond the Peaks” is the correct translation and the album is dedicated to their fallen comrade Thöl who covered bass duties in the band 2010-2012. Sadly, he passed away in 2022.

The album caught me off guard in two aspects if I am honest. Firstly, its potent aggression is vivid and striking from the off. The harrowing scream that starts album opener ‘Antediluvian Prophecies’ is an early taste of the venom of Aldaaron have coursing through their veins. The second item that was unexpected is how atmospheric and expansive the sound is here. Beyond those earthy tones there are soaring tremolos and majestic melodies that loop up into the air around them. Although the release has a thirty-six-minute duration, there are only four tracks here and with a couple of them stretching over the ten-minute mark it is important that the main duo of Ioldar and Voldr create some enchantment to these tracks. Thankfully they achieve this in bundles.

The choral passages are unobtrusive and befitting to the aesthetic of the album. Spaced well apart from the blackened material that drive the tracks in the main, these more ethereal sections are a clever contrast option. The charging tremolo of tracks such as ‘Chants d’hiver et de solitude’ are a joy to behold. Add into this mix, the thoughtful production job that allows each instrument some space to be heard. The vocals are superb throughout, with their ghastly edge creating atmospheres all of their own. The way you can pick out the bass on the final track, ‘Under the Icy Sky, Memories Fade Away’ is pleasing on the ear and the soaring lead work only adds to the allure of the track. A superb discovery, if not a little too short overall.

Turns out I am a sucker for the rawer end of black metal. As much as I can dig (earlier) Enslaved or atmospheric wonders from the likes of Drudkh and even blackened dm from the Akhlys of this world, give me a meat ‘n potatoes black metal record like Thorn Bringer and I am as happy as a pig in the proverbial. With the blazing intensity of Gorgoroth slicing through all in its path, the third album from Norway’s Khaos Aura is not here to show any mercy. In a year that has seen Altar of Woe charge straight to the top of my EOY black metal list, Khaos Aura were always going to be a strong entry on that list.

I would concede that there is at least some melody and alteration of pace present on Thorn Bringer though. As frenzied as it can be, there is also a sense of how well placed some of the blows are. Equally at home in nicking the skin of the listener as they are in slicing through flesh, Khaos Aura are a calculating pair. Building as true a picture of Norwegian black metal as you could hope to see, Thorn Bringer possesses a real venom to it. But instead of just relying on its bite to placate its victims, it is just as at ease coiling and slithering around limbs and into orifices to maximise the potential of its threat.

With lo-fi but not too primitive production values, the album sounds ugly without being alienating. The borderline ambient closing to ‘Sort Vintertrolldom’ contrasts perfectly well with the jangling guitar attack of the track that follows it, ‘An Empire of Unlight’. So, all in all, Thorn Bringer is right up my alley really. It brings the rawness but shows character with it, just as it shows real heart for the good old days of Norwegian black metal. Worth noting that Torkus who handles drums and synths for Khaos Aura also has his own project, Tornekrans which is a little more roughshod than this and is also worth a listen.

It feels like Blackbraid has been around forever, when in fact it is just a mere three years of existence for the indigenous black metal solo artist from the Adirondack Mountains. Despite my confusion over how long Blackbraid has been around, this is the first time that I have gotten around to listening to one of his albums. I was interested in the beginning but then (bizarrely) I got pissed off with the constant flood of marketing emails I was getting from him and so I senselessly punished him and myself by not listening to his albums. What a twat I am sometimes.

Nowadays, Vinny comes with some degree of in-built maturity about him and so can understand that for a fearsomely independent artist such as Blackbraid, who must have a queue of labels after him by now, promotion is key to his success. The other element that is central to being successful of course is the quality of your music and album number three certainly delivers on that front. Unafraid to fire some leads into the equation, Sgah'gahsowáh can work beyond just tremolos and blastbeats. His racing and urgently paced tracks carry some real attack behind them. Channelling as much Uada as he does Immortal on tracks such as ‘The Dying Breath of a Sacred Stag’, there’s a fair old bit of power behind those punches that he throws.

As we would expect from a largely atmospheric-black metal act, there are fleeting acoustic passages and flurries of natural sounds akin to Panopticon, alongside the more direct and aggressive black metal sounds. From looking at the eye-catching artwork on the cover (a combination of border work by Adrian Baxter and imagery form Adam Burke) it is hard not to expect some of the more spiritual aspects we get here. There’s no surprises on the album. From a brand perspective, the listener should find exactly what was advertised is delivered.

My first impression of Blackbraid is that this is an incredibly well-written and skilfully performed record. Drummer Neil Schneider puts in a shift behind the skins that supports the rest of the sounds well enough. The guitar in the main is the element that shines however, alongside those harsh vocals they make quite a combo with the melodic leads and harsh riffs to boot. I guess I could criticise the three instrumentals as starting to get a little old by the time we get to track eight. However, they do all serve a purpose and aren’t directionless sounds of motion like whatever it is that is going on with the opening of the latest Drudkh album. There is a much richer melodic bm vein to the record than I was expecting based on previous reviews I have heard of his work. Whilst I won’t go over the top with praise for Blackbraid III, it is a good album. Its use of interludes aside, it is structurally sound and although I will probably not rush out to buy a physical copy I will try to make up for some lost time with Blackbraid by enjoying this record many more times in the coming weeks, months and years.

Fer de Lance present a problem for me in that they play a with very traditional heavy metal sound when approaching their music. Of course, I publicly left that sound behind a long time ago when exiting The Guardians clan. There are times when listening to Fires on the Mountainside when I begin to doubt its doom metal credentials altogether if I am honest. Yet at the same time, there is such quality to this record that I cannot help but put aside my dissatisfaction and be drawn into the joys of the record. I have seen their sound described as folk-prog in some reviews as well as mention of blackened tinges in others. I can see both most definitely, based on this record at least. Influences aside, it is easy for me to appreciate the epic metal authenticity of Fer de Lance’s sound as it is a stalwart of the tracks collected here on this record. Wherever the album does tread over the seven songs presented, the listener can be left in little doubt as to where the heart of the band truly lies.

It is good to hear the Viking metal elements of Bathory protruding through in places, and with some spurts of Candlemass alongside the more modern similarities of Atlantean Kodex we are soon finding ourselves transported around the world of metal with Fires on the Mountainside. The keyboards really drive tracks like ‘Ravens Fly (Dreams of Daidalos)’ whilst soaring leads and epic yodelling vocals continue to embellish the grandeur of the sound. Vocally, I am most reminded of King Diamond. Which, given he is one of the most overrated vocalists in my metal in my book, could be considered a slur somewhat. I find the sound of the higher pitched vocals on this record to be far more endearing though and the songs to be better structured than most Mercyful Fate/King Diamond tunes I have tolerated over the years. I sense there is more than one singer on this record though (or just one with amazing range and heavy use of overlays). ‘Death Thrives (Where Walls Divide)’ is probably the best example of this great vocal display.

As tracks like ‘The Feast of Echoes’ prove, simple structures can still make epic metal. Here is a big Bathory, stomping track if ever there was one. Straight and to the point, this is one of the most memorable tracks on display here and has great longevity as a result. Should there ever be cause for me to consider revisiting some trad heavy metal then there is a good chance that this record could be the trigger for it. Yet doubt does still creep in. There is a very well-established format to Fires on the Mountainside and to some degree it does become repetitive at times. Maybe isolated to my own battles I accept, but I am kind of “epic exhausted” by the time we are getting to the final couple of tracks on the record. There’s nothing wrong with them at all, but perhaps they are a stretch too far for me still at this point of my listening habits. However, Fires on the Mountainside has still surprised me and has been kicking around my rotation list for a good few weeks as a result.

Now we all know that Drudkh had a leading say in the development of nature-themed black metal.  They were basically THE band for the job.  They had a bit of a rocky road after their 2009 album Microcosmos, as the people say, but there seemed to be, ahem, light in the forest, during recent years.  So while I came into 2025's Shadow Play with some good expectations, I remained aware that those expectations wouldn't be met.  So while the album's getting great reviews, I have to say that they've once again become a passable and generic black metal band.  This whole album is all about relying on, and drawing out, half of the basics they had already mastered in the 2000's from Forgotten Legends to Blood in Our Wells.  The album's going for finely-tuned production above everything else, so black metal riffs and melodies come off as unoriginal.  As well, the production doesn't always balance out the ambient backgrounds and the riffs in the foreground, occasionally coming off as muddily-handled despite the ambiance.  I mean, Drudkh influenced so many bands that have done this album so many times that it's not a joke.  Did you know, if you just check the RYM charts and filter it by year and with only black metal, you'll get 25 pages of 40 black metal albums?  And 25 is the maximum they show in custom charts.  That means every year, we get over 1000 black metal albums.  These days, thanks to other nature-themed atmo-black bands like Panopticon and Ashenspire, I can guarantee you a good portion of those albums is nature-themed.  That means Drudkh has gone from influencing a classic form of metal to producing the same tripe that their own imitators make every year, just with better studio production that sometimes gets in the way.  What an overrated disappointment.  Production will keep it tolerable throughout, but otherwise this is kinda bogus.

52

There is no logical reason why I have not listened to Aeternus before this month’s feature release. Indeed, there is so much I enjoy on ...and So the Night Became by way of death metal influences as well as black metal as well, that it is almost criminal that I have never made effort to connect with them before this month. It has taken me the best of four decades of listening to metal to get around to Aeternus, but as they say, “better late than never”. What the sophomore album from Aeternus possesses is a density to the songwriting which evolves into the sound. I could see a danger of the album easily straying into overtly introspective passages. Opening track ‘There's No Wine like the Blood's Crimson’ is over thirteen minutes long and has such an epic and orchestral intro that you do start to wonder if this is going to be a little too grandiose for the palate. Thankfully, just as this fear hits the fringes of becoming palpable, the driving black metal kicks in.

This is pretty much the story of the album for me. This is a well-balanced album that uses pace well, introduces tracks appropriately and balances all these ideas nicely. It promises the epic, but for me never really stretches quite that far into proceedings with that ethos. Instead, it treads a thoughtful path that seems to have been given much consideration. As such, even the longer tracks hold value for their duration. ‘Warrior of the Crescent Moon’ carries every bit of poise that the tile suggests but is never over the top in its delivery. It charges consistently forwards, keeping check of the pace and allowing the track to level in the mind of the listener, so that when those soothing keys come in around the final minute or so of the track they feel absolutely at home, like they are simply guiding the track to its logical conclusion. That’s clever songwriting.

The Immortal style opening (and indeed continuation) on ‘When the Crows Shadow Falls’ is a joy to behold. This track for the most part is a raging beast in terms of the pace of the attack, but there remains that sense of restraint and control that somehow lets the glory of the music take precedent but never lets it runaway with itself. This is a wonderfully crafted track and probably my album highlight. With acoustic flourishes and rich melodic elements, this album is possibly one of my greatest hidden gem discoveries in recent years. Exuding Dissection levels of melody as it goes along, lavishing with layers of some Satyricon, Nemesis Divina displays of grandeur alongside the promise of progressive overtures from the likes of Borknagar to boot, there is a lot for me to like here.

Residing in a cold and yet familiar place somewhere between the ambient trappings of Burzum and the more medieval grandeur of Satyricon, Skuggor wears many influences on his sleeve throughout his third album, which is my first experience of the Australian who now resides in Sweden. Those deep, chiming notes that punctuate opening track ‘Writhe’ immediately resonate through the dark emptiness of the atmosphere of the record. Those ghastly vocals maraud and worry the listener with a menacing sense of triumph.

Things take an immediately more melodic turn on the appropriately named ‘Meditations Upon the Roots of Infinity’. A more laid back, slower tempo is embraced on this one giving a contemplative nature to the sound. The drums threaten disruption, but never quite get there. Appearing as almost ritualistic behind the thrusting notes of the guitar and the light synths that accompany them. After just two tracks it is clear why Where Sun Resigns caught my attention so quickly. There is depth and variety here, with a record that still sticks to the core black metal aesthetic. There is a balance to things, a level of control applied that shows maturity.

The man behind Skuggor (Matthew Bell) is active in a lot of other projects it seems. Ranging from dungeon synth to post-metal/post-rock, from atmo-black to thrash metal as well as funeral doom, folk metal, avant garde and symphonic melo-death metal, it is safe to say that Mr Bell has quite the repertoire to play with. The danger would be for the fusion of all those elements across the wide selection of bands, projects and collaborations he is involved in to permeate into one horrible mish mash of styles. However, as I note above, there is a firm hand on the tiller in Skuggor and having set his stall out early on, he sticks to the classic sounds referenced earlier on in the review.

There’s an overall sense of calm that I get from this record. Even in the more urgent moments it never quite sets the pulse racing. This is well executed black metal that knows the content it wants to project and focuses on delivering that to a high standard. ‘For Every Wound A Hymn of Growth’ is the longest track on here, but it stands out for its clever arrangement as opposed to just its actual length being the only thing of note. The nastiness still comes through though, mostly as a by-product of the vocals as I said. But the evil in the album is framed in this dark ambience so well that it somehow emphasises it almost organically.

Argentine black metal has got to be one of my more niche geographical listening habits. But with the likes of Brazil and Chile now regularly appearing in my listening explorations, it seems natural that other parts of South America start to cross my radar. Dark Blasphemer seem to be a long-standing outfit having formed way back in 2011 and here releasing album number three some seven years after their last album, Suicidal Catharsis.

All three albums to date have been released independently, but based on Winter of Darkness, they could easily find themselves a record label if they so wished. This is grim black metal of a suitably depressive nature but has a lot more to it than just a tape machine on record and some instruments being murdered in the same room. There might only be three of them in the band with one of them doing both guitar and drums for this record, but the sound overall is strong. All the instruments standout in the mix nicely enough, with even the bass twanging in now and again from behind the scathing riffs.

Although most definitely rooted in black metal, Winter of Darkness possesses some death metal elements for variation here and there. Those galloping dm riffs on ‘Lord of Misery’, show the band stretching their legs early in the record. Whilst the picked tremolos of ‘Legal Fiction’ is pure Burzum worship, complete with the chants for good measure. Overall, there is nothing here to note that this is not a record released by a band from Norway and the authenticity to the sound of the album is testimony to the band members experience to date. I sense there’s a lot of years in the band and that maturity comes across well in the music.

It would be remiss of me to indicate this would place high in my year end list in five months’ time. However, I must acknowledge the genuine black metal article when I hear it, and Winter of Darkness ticks all the boxes for being a veritable feast of the dark arts. Not too showy but also devoid of shabbiness at the same time, there is hopefully a lot more to come from Dark Blasphemer. For now, I can be satiated well enough by this though.

Devouring Radiant Light is the album that shows the diversity of Skeletonwitch as a band, in addition to the bands first (and so far only) progressive pivot. The 2000s were very kind to the blackened thrash group, but in 2018, Skeletonwitch put their thrash roots on the backburner for some progressive sounding black metal. 

And the result was a mixed bag. For starters, going from very short, fat free thrash metal the bands is known for, and replacing it with extended song structures as well as open chordal progressions in the guitar seems like a recipe for disaster. Songs like "Fen of Shadows" and "The Vault" have some decent passages that sound good on their own, but when paired with other, more clunky riffs, they begin to lose grandeur. The album does have some callbacks to the bands thrash roots, but their usage is not only minimized in importance, but also far more mellow; that is to say the overall tempo of the album feels much slower than ever before. Guitar solos are present with longer runtimes to help nurse the genre transition a little bit, and the percussion has not lost a beat and is just as ruthless as it was on previous records.

So why don't I like Devouring Radiant Light as much as previous albums? Well to explain, we have to look at it from a technical point-of-view. Here is a band who self produce all of their albums and have all but mastered the art of production of thrash with a blackened flare. Now here's that same bands reversing the order of genre hierarchy. The end result produces two glaring flaws. The first is in the production; because the riffs are more connected and flowing instead of choppy thrash riffs, the guitars can become overbearing and, on a number of occasions, block out the vocals of Adam Clemens entirely. Some of those climax points on "Carnarium Eternal" and "The Luminous Sky" sound crunchy as the mixing peaks and starts to explode in my ears.

The second great flaw comes in the compositions themselves. Now, as I mentioned before, some sections on these longer tracks sound great and prove to me that Skeletonwitch can write good songs even when they are pushed outside of their comfort zone. But without an outside voice who is more familiar with the traditional black metal sound or even the "new traditional" sound, Devouring Radiant Light loses some points just because it is not as well composed. If they could have employed someone familiar with bands like Wolves in the Throne Room, Deafheaven or Panopticon, it could have helped Skeletonwitch to write more concise tunes in this style. Instead, the composition of Devouring Radiant Light feels like a thrash metal band trying to make black metal.

This record is a band attempting to experiment, but going too far past their limits. I feel very similar to this record as I did when I reviewed Critical Defiance's The Search Won't Fall last year. Both are bands that have written very punchy thrash metal in the past, but are now going closer to the critic meta of blackened thrash. The short, quippy songwriting was a main feature of these bands earliest records, and that compositional style has been sidelined for more progressive songwriting. I know that this probably sounds hypocritical coming from me, since I always criticize groups for not pushing their sound forward, but perhaps some bands do not need that constant chase of progress. If Skeletonwitch ever come back to make music again, I hope they consider that.

Best Songs: When Paradise Fades, The Luminous Sky, Carnarium Eternal, Sacred Soil

My first impressions of Tavastland were not very good and as the album progressed, my impressions only proceeded to get worse. The album started off with an odd sound and I couldn't figure out why. I thought for sure it was the mixing; I thought that maybe it was the bass and that Havukruunu completely forgot to plug the amp in. But then "Yonsynty" began and it quickly occurred to me that the bass was there...it's just impossible to hear it! I have not heard an album in a very long time that sounded this thin from top to bottom. Guitar is tinny, bass is...whatever this is and percussion sounds flimsy. The only decent piece of the record is the vocals which are tolerable and the folk/Viking style chant are the most impactful. The mixing on Tavastland is unbalanced; their will be points where the guitars will play chugging and they come out of nowhere with grit and bass, while the vocals have this really awful sounding stereo effect where the left ear sounds out of sync with the right and it becomes overly distracting every time it happened. This is a record that has aspirations of something really cool, but fails in remarkable fashion by trying to be too traditional in its black metal roots.

Best Song: Tavastland

German black metal duo, The Great Sea are relative newcomers to the scene (at least in this guise). They play a turgid style of black metal that lurches its way along, its feet getting the occasional application of atmosphere and ‘post’ section as their only balm on this at times laborious journey. The vocals deploy a pagan style that works well against the musical backdrop, and as a complete package, this debut album does display an obvious degree of maturity in the performances

Where the album does fall short though is in the memorability stakes. I must be on my tenth listen through of the record now, and whilst certain elements are bedding in, they only seem to become familiar in the immediate moment they occur. I feel this maybe because the album creates too much space for itself, certainly more than it can fill on a consistent and interesting basis. A pattern quickly forms of atmospheric and ‘post’ sections being bridged by more aggressive passages, which is a logical order to be ran. However, over the duration of the whole album, the knock-on effect of this is a sense that the message the duo intends to deliver simply takes too long to arrive.

It would be unkind to refer to Noble Art of Desolation as meandering yet structurally speaking tracks do appear to outstay their welcome. Whilst I could not call out any bad tracks, equally there is a shortage of overall direction to most of the tracks here. We should keep in mind that this is debut release of course, and maybe that level of maturity I called out earlier on in the review has me expecting more compositional aptitude than I get. Still though, I cannot fight the fact that the record falls more than a little short of where it could be.

As full-frontal attacks go, Dimsvall is head and shoulders above most releases so far this year. For a band of just four members Ondfødt manage to make the din of a prison riot at times. If it is a no-nonsense approach to black metal that you are looking for then you will not go far wrong with this, the Finns fifth studio album. Yet, at the same time, you should not enter into the record just believing that this is smash and grab, blastbeat black metal. There are depths to Dimsvall that deserve exploration. Melodies to enjoy, individual instrument performances to appreciate and some very well-built structures to admire also. The acoustic intro is an early sign of this, giving a medieval mystery to the start of the record.

The fleeting acoustic sections that pop up on the record do nothing to mute the offensive textures of the album though. If anything, they glorify the aggression inherent in Ondfødt’s sound. Listen to the horns on ‘Svartsyn’ and tell me you don’t want to go march with an undead army. I tend to think of these sections as being along the same lines as the medieval, celebratory tales that told stories of battles fought and wars won in times of yore. Of course, they do also show the depth of the talent involved. With Owe and Tommi already responsible for another record that is in my top ten this year (Void of Hope ‘Proof of Existence’), I personally am not surprised by the quality of the nine tracks on offer here. The production job does the instruments justice, even if the drums do suffer a little from an effect of them being shrouded somewhat at times. The vicious rasp of the vocals really shines though, and the guitars manage to pick out their own spot in the mix too. The leads are especially good throughout, which is refreshing to hear during the more furious-paced tracks.

There are death metal tinges to the blackened proceedings that you can catch glimpses of in good measure. Ondfødt manage to hit that sweet spot of adding some depth to the fury of their black metal by beefing up the riffs, which makes for a blistering and bruising experience in equal parts. Yet they by no means repeat the same model or methodology from song to song and can create just as much menace on less heavier tracks such as ‘Futuria’ which builds a sense of growing threat to an almost overwhelming crescendo. Meanwhile, black metal bangers like ‘Grymhejtins ansikt’ and 'Bakom blekna skuggor' more than get the message across in the most direct means possible.

Whilst I cannot quite put my finger on it, there is a charm to this record that is only obvious when I return to it. I can remember bits of it when I am post-listen, but there is nothing specifically memorable about it overall. When I am sat in front of it, I like most of what I am hearing. It is vibrant with a pagan undercurrent at times, whilst staying as grim as you like for the most part still. Whilst not flawless, it is hard to criticise at the same time. It most certainly is not a record to push any boundaries, and I like that safety aspect to it, I guess.

Even though I believe in God, I've made a point of forgiving people for sins that don't really affect me. Now matter how much I bitch and whine, there will be people who disagree with me on philosophy, so might as well accept it as a part of the natural world while acknowledging the difference in philosophy. So I've heard all the Slayer albums, a good deal of Bathory, and am of the opinion that the best death metal band is Septicflesh.  But Behemoth really made their point of hatred towards religion a million times over, so do we really need it again?

Considering how familiar this album is, I'm going to have to say "not this time." Behemoth's "The Shit ov God" is obviously built specifically to get anti-religious people to buy the album, as if they're relying on edge factor. Newsflash: that's how people LOSE interest. Hell, Wes Craven used to think being edgy was what mattered most, and his early career was pretty downhill once he hated and disowned his own porn flick, and switched right to THEMES, which made his movies much better overtime. But Behemoth took the opposite route.

Now the two good things that can be said about this album are that the production is absolutely perfect. The crystal clarity is some of the finest in metal, but that's to be expected from veterans. As well, half the riffs are quite catchy, which really does help. I found myself really enjoying the bits that got quite proggy, like the midtro of O Venvs, Come. So there's a strong metal energy here that can help everything be at least fairly enjoyable to some, but this is also an extremely typical album for them. I said half the riffs were catchy, but the other half are so standard that you can pull them off of any obscure crap lost in the RYM charts. So only half the time does the production justify these performances. As well, taking a look at the lyrics, they feel thrown together and basic. The overabundance of old-timey / medieval phrasing seems to distract from that aggressive, angry nature that they're trying to promote so brutally, so the ancient vibes and the religious anger kind of contradict each other like matter and antimatter.

So this most recent entry in the Behemoth catalogue was an attempt at bringing back the vibes of their most beloved work, The Satanist, but the quality steers a bit closer to their middling debut, Sventevith. Fun moments and boring moments are heald together with a strong metallic presence and pure diamond production, so while it's perfectly listenable, it has its problems.

Now then, here’s an unexpected find in 2025. An album that reminds me of Enslaved, circa the noughties. Still with some of that Viking earthiness about them, but with an obvious smarter edge to their sound, Helheim’s latest offering takes me back to probably the last time I enjoyed an Enslaved record. With the pagan traits of Kampfar added into this mix that also has a rich melodic vein to it also (Windir, springs to mind) and the near clunky transitions of Borknagar, HrabnaR / Ad vesa soon starts to offer a lot in the way of charm to the experienced metal fan. Helheim themselves have been around as long as Enslaved (well, barring a year) and longer than Kampfar or Borknagar, so are hardly new to these sounds of course.

Album number twelve is described by the band as a “groundbreaking release” in the sense that the album was written in two equal halves. One half by V'gandr and the other half by H'grimnir, giving a “bold evolution” to the bands established sound. I will have to take their word for it as I have never listened to any other album by the band, so I can only comment on what I find on here. Whichever half of the record it is that I listen to, Helheim are unafraid to experiment with their established sound. With Hammond organ and grand piano both listed as instruments used on the record, we should not expect endless blastbeats and howls of icy fury throughout.

In this regard, there is an air of predictability to the experimental elements of the sound. Knowing they are traveling an expansive path does not necessarily result in the view being all that unfamiliar in the long run. That’s because they can stay true to their own roots whilst treading in the footsteps of the other mentioned bands already listed in this review. I do not say this as a criticism of the band or indeed the album, as I enjoy the record very much still. It feels accomplished without being cocksure, yet at the same time to call it a “groundbreaking” album seems a stretch in my opinion.

It is well played and produced to a high standard also, doing justice to the various ingredients of the music in terms of letting them all have their moment in the limelight. At forty-four minutes it does not feel too long and still manages to leave the impression of being a well-though out set of compositions that aren’t hurried along at any point. Whilst I cannot pretend to get lost in it, and I do struggle to retain a lot of what I hear (maybe it is a little too much like Enslaved on the backend of the album in particular to stimulate my brain cells much), it is a record that has seen me come back to it out of pure entertainment value. Whilst I may not remember it all, I do still recall it is a good record at least.

So, here is yet another example of the fact that I have no idea what I am talking about, or even what I like half the time. My only other exposure to Krallice was their 2015 album, Ygg Hur, to which I awarded a measly 2.5 stars. I remember said album as being a bit technical and a bit dissonant in the way that I didn't especially enjoy around that time. As such, I wasn't particularly enthused going in to this, but it is actually pretty good and I enjoyed it a helluva lot. It is made up of fairly lengthy and repetitive tracks of muscular black metal that seem to have a beefiness derived from employing death metal production techniques. With the repetitious nature of the riffs and lengthy runtimes you would be forgiven for filing this away as atmospheric black metal but it isn't really as I don't think the repetition is deployed in a way as to create atmospheric layers, but rather to bludgeon the listener and make them feel like they have taken a metaphorical punch on the nose. There is some dissonance involved, but nothing too egregious and certainly not enough to put even my sensitivity to it on alert, just enough to add a bit of bite and edge to the tracks to prevent them becoming too warm and fuzzy.

I don't want to give the impression that this is a boring slog of repetition, though, because the songwriting and composition of a track like "Telluric Rings" is much more accomplished and nuanced than that and is a fine of example of a band who want to make interesting black metal whilst still delivering on the darker side of the genre. The band employ two vocalists, the main one, I think, is guitarist Mick Barr whose vocals are a harsh bark in a more death metal style than the more familiarly thin shrieks of second vocalist, bassist Nicholas McMaster. Speaking of which, I must also make mention of McMaster's bass playing which is busily at work doing some serious heavy lifting for a fair bit of the runtime, not content to just follow the riffing, the bass weaves some quite complex patterns, adding some nice flavour to the musical mix.

I have got to say, I am quite impressed by Diotima and feel that maybe I have been unjustified in giving Krallice short shrift in the past. Every track is strong, but the aforementioned "Telluric Rings" sounds like something special to me and is possibly heading towards becoming a firm black metal favourite of mine.

Somehow flying under my radar to date, Finland’s Havukruunu have been causing waves in metal for a few years. It has taken me about ten listens to Tavastland before I could order my thoughts into some semblance of coherence, such was my surprise at just how much I enjoyed their unique brand of imperious blackened heavy metal. I mean, I have heard pagan black metal before, Moonsorrow and Kampfar immediately spring to mind, but nothing quite feels as invested as Tavastland does and certainly nothing sounds as passionate as it does. Telling the story of the Tavastian people’s rebellion against the Catholic church in 1237, the album carries the angst and unrest of the story well on its broad shoulders. The storytelling as a result carries an authenticity a sincerity even, to it. Far from relying on furious blastbeats and raging tremolos, Havukruunu construct the narrative with well-thought through structures. Unafraid to lean on melody and catchy, chant-driven chorus lines to captivate the listener, the Finns show a versatile and pleasing array of variety across the eight songs here.

I am captivated by the time the chants start on opening track ‘Kuolematon laulunhenki’, only to be further hauled into the baying mob by the mining riffs of ‘Havukruunu ja talvenvarjo’. The choral elements of the latter track disperse into the song unexpectedly, without dispelling the more aggressive and driving rhythm that constitutes the main part of the track. I think this is one of the key areas of success for Tavastland. Despite showing a clear penchant for the more extreme parts of metal, the band always keep that apron string back to that very traditional metal sound that their art is built on, very much in reach still. The pagan influence does not get lost either, the title track being heavy with that content across both instrumentation and vocal context also.

There is a cello, and numerous sections of keys deployed on Tavastland, meaning the interest levels are easy to maintain throughout for me. I cannot pretend to be pagan metals biggest fan but when an album is put together this well, it is hard not to be onboard. The lead work is sublime. Richly melodic and still completely unintrusive, in fact it is most welcome when it does make an appearance on tracks. The notes all sound crisp and clear against the more urgent backdrops of the music they are so often layered over. With such a heady sounding review thus far, it is perhaps unsurprising that I have not hinted at any negatives. The truth is, I don’t have any criticisms, no duff tracks and no moments where I reach for the skip button. This may be down to it being an excellent album that moves at such a relentless pace that you cannot help but be taken along by it. Is the last track a stretch too far at nearly eleven minutes? Well, maybe for some. However, to me it sounds like a final glorification of the great content that precedes it and so I love it just as much as I do the rest of the record.

This year’s exploration of new releases has seen me approaching the early signs of burnout as we reach the halfway point of 2025. With some two hundred and fifty albums already listened to, many of which soon got dismissed before ever being considered worthy of a second listen, it was starting to get a little tiresome. I am grateful though of the releases that still transcend this creeping sense of tedium. The ones that manage to still leave more than a mere dent in the plethora of releases in the year so far. These albums and EPs have something about them, an essence of some strength beyond their grim content and corpse-painted faces. Whilst they don’t always have to be soaked in progressive tendencies, albums such as Incendiary Sanctum are what have kept me largely going this year.

These Canadians come from a strong pedigree of black metal bands, with the country already being responsible for giving me Spectral Wound, Nordicwinter and Panzerfaust, to mention but a few. They are different to pretty much most of what I have heard come out of Canada to date though, deploying a strong death metal element as well as having a post-metal vein running through their sound. It is easy to look at an album with track lengths that extend to nearly nineteen minutes and be discouraged. Indeed, I would go as far as to say parts of Incendiary Sanctum look daunting. However, my experience of these lengthy tracks has thankfully not been one of progressive wankery or grandiose showmanship. Even without that imposing nature to performances it is clear beyond any doubt that everything is remarkably well played here. Equally the album is arranged very intelligently, and yet even with this order to proceedings, especially with that post-metal element being so strong, the dynamics of the sound do not suffer. Arguably the most obtuse thing about the band for me is their ridiculous name.  A Flock Named Murder?  Really?

The four tracks that run over the hour and three-minute duration are all delivered with a maturity and a sense of patience being applied to the song development. This is not just four tracks of post-metal that grow into raging black metal crescendos at the halfway point, to be then taken into some death metal section before fading away into more minimalist pastures to end. The structures here are varied and are kept interesting throughout the longer than usual runtimes. Think the clever songwriting of Cult of Luna coupled with the innovation of Enslaved and then throw some Agalloch in there to temper everything and you are absolutely on the right track. I would argue that this is more entertaining than anyone of those bands in isolation (notwithstanding that I am not Agalloch’s biggest fan by any means) and being able to take the better elements from just three such well established artists show a talent in itself of course.

Incendiary Sanctum is one of the better-balanced releases that I have heard in 2025. Where it does lean into prog it does so without managing to lose me. The death metal element is strong throughout and whilst there is little room for black metal, what is here is still of excellent quality. It does start to lose some traction with me if I listen in one sitting and I do find that splitting the album in two does tend to reap the better rewards for me. I cannot think of anything else I have heard this year to compare this with and as such it stands out from the pack well in what has already been a very busy year.

Featuring a cover, every bit as horrific as the content held within, Veneraxiom’s debut full-length is a somewhat aphotic affair in the sense that there is zero sign of light, hope or positivity throughout its nine hellish soundscapes. This is an album made for people who accept that there is no unspoken rule to the universe around fairness. Life is cruel and so is Veneraxiom’s music, so fuck you all. Leaning towards death metal more than being simply conventional black metal, Apocryphilia is ironically far from being questionable or inauthentic. The band achieve exactly what they set out to from where I am sat listening. Torturing the listener with crude black ‘n roll elements and then terrifying us the next with screams of unfathomable human suffering the next, this is an album that has no hidden depths and is stronger for it.

The trio hail from LA and have released a couple of EPs and a compilation to date (along with a split with Grand Bewitchment in 2023) before committing to a full album release some six years into their existence. Tracks lurch around, shrouded in morose melodies and mining riffs. Spoken word excerpts from films make appearances here and there to emphasise the direction of the music a little more clearly. There is a mocking undertone to this album, the sense that Veneraxiom are laughing at the order of society, its cultural norms and the comforts of modernity. Apocryphalia is not as uncomfortable a listen and it is supposed to be though. It has a punky catchiness to it in places, which although smothered by relentless blastbeats at times, is most definitely always around the mix of things.

The album’s Achilles heel is its longevity factor for me. By the time I get to track five, I get it, after which point I am zoning out more than a little bit. Whilst I do understand why a bit of variety here and there would kill the aesthetic they are trying to create; the spoken word sections don’t inject enough extra for me to focus on. Whilst ‘Et Demonio Ad Aternum’ does try to dial up the intensity immediately after the midway point, throwing some chaotic lead work into the music to jolt the concentration back on point, it is only a momentary reprise. For the final three tracks of the album, there is a sense that the band are just coasting to the end. In their stronger moments, I am reminded of Grave Miasma which is no mean comparison to be able to make, right? If we could stray into that brand of ordered chaos, then I feel I could stretch the rating on Apocryphilia somewhat. As it stands though, I will simply make note of them ready for if they get to a sophomore release.

I purchased The Triumph of Malignant Narcissism after just one full listen through being completed. This happens rarely with me, but with my renewed use of Bandcamp, the ease of purchase was just too hard to resist when faced with this fantastic slab of frantic black metal. Simply put, the record ticks all my bm boxes, tingles all my necro nerve endings and scratches those riff craving itches nicely. All the work of Илья Львов (or Elias as he is known), this one-man project has one other record to his name, which I am yet to experience but it most certainly be going on the to do list soon enough based on my experience of this record at least.

When I go looking for a black metal record, as in a real black metal record, The Triumph… is the exact type of record I want to find. Full of vicious riffing and strained keys, with ghastly vocals too boot. The percussion is just awash with that shimmering hue of hi-hats over the rest of the music, but they never invade the other elements. The rampant riffs of ‘Necromancer’s Night’ shows this perfectly, the riffs get front and centre at a couple of points and it is glorious in underlining the beastly nature of the track. Despite the raw approach here, I sense some calculation in the arrangement of tracks as the album does only appear to grow in stature as it blazes its way along to completion.

Those dungeon synth elements are well executed also. Unafraid at times to let them take centre stage, they create a distorted and near dizzying atmosphere. They play almost sub-consciously across the record to my ears, plaguing the rest of the instrumentation in the background like nefariously evil children causing mischief in the corner of the studio with a synthesiser that is not plugged into the mains and is low on battery power, but they play the shit out of it all the same. Lovers of the second wave can park their cars along the roadside if the car park is full as you most certainly would not want to miss out on this record.

Variety is here still; it is just kept to a minimum. Occasional strings (‘The Darkest Path’, ‘The Ballad of the Scorn’s Guardian’) add further atmospheres alongside the much-discussed synths, but the record is still at its best when in full flow. ‘Sadistic Grin of Evil’ is the standout track for me. This is straight up, no fucks left to give black metal, delivered in a riotous and offense manner. I can almost see the sadistic grin in question, stretched across the face of Elias as he sneers his way through the track. You could easily find more necro/lo-fi sounding bm I am sure, but production values on the record are suitably low enough, intimating that ‘recorded in my bedroom’ vibe perfectly.

Altar of Woe just challenged my current top bm release of the year (even though Gràb is very much a different style of bm) and it is a strong contender to remain there ahead of the likes of Drape even. All hail!

The enjoyment I found in Nattestid ser porten vid... from Taake, released all the way back in 1999, has never been topped by anything that I have heard by them since.  Considering my praise for it (a generous 4.5 stars, no less) with its excellent songwriting, I could have been forgiven for wondering how good things would get on subsequent releases.  Admittedly my coverage of the rest of the discography is patchy at best, but even on the more casual listens to the likes of ...Bjoergvin... or ...Doedskvad those albums have not lived up to being anywhere near the debut release's standard.  My main criticism of Stridens hus was that the rock elements had gotten just too brazen and there was a regurgitation of ideas that had already had more than enough airtime over the years.

Noregs vaapen appears to be an earlier version of the same issue.  Whilst I can acknowledge that it sounds nowhere near as sterile and dull as Stridens hus, it most certainly has the same underlying issues.  Gone are the clever arrangements of the debut, replaced instead by ad-hoc instrumentation and random sections.  It seems unrealistic to say that such a shadowy and controversial figure puts out music for clickbait purposes, yet Noregs vaapen just does not sit well with me in terms of being a black metal album with kvlt credentials galore.  That probaby sounds more elitist than it is supposed to, and as someone who listens to a variety of music, I can honestly say that incorporating your influences into your sound is an absolute given.  That is not to say it always works though, and there are always some boundaries I am uncomfortable with being pushed too far.

What is here is well played, and this is by no means a terrible record.  The longevity factor is stunted for me though and the appeal wears of far too quickly.  There is not any shock value to it, yet bizarrely there is no sense of familiarity from it either, as a black metal record it feels quite alien to me.

My enjoyment of Hexvessel’s last offering, Polar Veil was based on the clever combinations that weaved through each song. This tapestry of mysterious atmospheres, doomy aesthetics and blackened leanings has not only been retained on Nocturne, but the intensity of these elements has been increased. Hexvessel pick up on album number six right from where they left off last time. It is a stronger sounding record from the off, exhibiting a boldness about the brevity of the songwriting as we immediately roll into two eight-minute plus length tracks following a succinct intro track. It is also obvious from the beginning of the record that the blackened edges are more present than I recall them being on Polar Veil. This creeping iciness tempers the more brazen elements of the record. Where we get a little too folk-laden (‘A Dark & Graceful Wilderness’) or dreamy even (‘Phoebus’), the are some black metal droplets that drop into the stillness of the water and immediately disperse with a subtle yet audible disruption.

The band achieve atmospheric black metal heights during ‘A Dark & Graceful Wilderness’, those chiming keys overlayed atop the grim riffs hit with maximum effect. Their ability to combine seemingly opposing elements is borne out by the plethora of instruments utilised that are arranged to work so well together. The piano that opens Nocturne has no place once the raging tide of ‘Sapphire Zephyrs’ kicks in. Yet the slow of pace the track takes for the chorus sees the scathing riffage no less offensive in delivery, just well-tempered by the delicate vocals and background piano keys. Acoustically serene strings give us a further chapter to this song. Creating such a triumphant track so early in the record whets the appetite for what comes next on the record.

Bristling with spiritual transcendence and possessing a soothing and calming capacity to act as a balm to the more aggressive sections, Nocturne is a real exploratory record that all feels well anchored to the central theme that runs through the record of a connection to nature and our surroundings in general. Lavished with choral elements like on ‘Inward Landscapes’ there is a sense of a near-constant evolving to the record as these new parameters are set, and ethereal elements are introduced. The songwriting seems to suggest that although it is a nebulous concept, the world around us, our immediate earthly surroundings, offer opportunity to connect to a more mystical and basic form of existence.

Hexvessel sound committed to this record and the themes it explores. There is obvious passion behind the music which is well played throughout. Without being able to describe the guitars as luscious exactly, there is a moreish quality to them still. I never want the beauty of ‘Spirit Masked Wolf’ to end as it rises to seemingly unfathomable heights of serenity. The doomier elements of the album are delivered thoughtfully, applying a cloak of subtle atmosphere and more sluggish pacing when deployed. I am struggling to find fault overall with Nocturne and my reticence to give it a full five star rating is more due to the feeling to need to spend more time with it, as opposed to any individual fault I can place my finger on.

Kadath is a prime example of how perception can change over time. Having never heard of Ultar before this, my only expectation was that they were a blackgaze group from the Krasnoyarsk region. Initial thoughts were mixed, but I cannot say that I didn't enjoy parts of how Kadath sounded. The biggest issues I had with the album had to do with production sounding very treble heavy and not emphasizing its low end enough to make these songs really pop off.

Repeated listens is when the issues hit. Blackgaze is, by definition, not a very innovative genre. And with very few exceptions (i.e. Svalbard, White Ward, etc.), growth in the genre has become remarkably stale since Deafheaven's Sunbather. If I were to listen to Kadath when it came out nearly ten years ago, I probably would have enjoyed it more; I like Sunbather and Kadath just seems to be more of that. But now, having been oversaturated with blackgaze and a fair bit of it stemming from the Russian Federation, Kadath doesn't do anything for me personally. More so, the albums faults are further emphasized. Lacking a prominent bass to propel these tracks forward is a grave misfire in the worst of times, and here is no exception. Including two such interlude tracks ("Shore of the Sleeping Seas" and "The Ancient Ones") are comfortable breaks, but I'm not sure that "Xasthur" and "Azathoth" really needed them. The closing track "Kadath" does sound really nice and has this excellent sounding crescendo leading towards a conclusion, but not only does this crescendo feel excessive, but it also leaves the listener on a cliffhanger; it's literally the Dragonball meme where Goku charges his finishing move for an entire half-an-hour episode, only to miss in the last thirty seconds.

Best Songs: Xasthur, Azathoth

Consisting of three members, Kveldstimer contains Alex Poole (Krieg amongst a million others) on guitar, bass and synths, Rory Flay (former Ash Borer) doing vocals, guitar and synths and Seguigo just doing drums and keeping it simple. The first two list a multitude of other bands as active projects currently and clearly bring a wealth of experience to the set-up, as The Cursed Oak nods firmly back to the early days of Norwegian black metal. With Ildjarn and Sort Vokter influences clearly on display, the nine tracks on offer here possess a chilling vibrancy and an ambient allure for fans of atmospheric black metal. But fear not, ye blastbeat loving masses, for The Cursed Oak has a hefty old share of higher tempo stuff to please all of you.

What is immediately obvious upon starting to listen to the album is that the music is written by well established and highly skilled musicians. The instrumentation all fits together seamlessly for the main part. Tremolos are well picked and those insanely screech guitar melodies sit just the correct side of not grating territory. This component reminds me of Akhlys on opening track ‘Withering Storm’. Beyond mesmerising at this early point in the record, the guitars possess a real potency to them. The whole album seems to command an offensive position without ditching the ethereal and haunting atmospherics in the process. The drums are solid and consistent, unafraid to blast yet also I hear a couple of runs and fills here and there that fit the aesthetic of tracks well. Rory’s vocals are a vicious rasp for the most part, with there being one occasion on ‘Broken Limbs in the Frost’ where they take on a bellicose, folk element which if I am honest is an uncomfortable moment for me, even after hearing it multiple times.

The synths are deployed effectively on all the tracks here and the album would be at a loss without them for me. Providing a real supporting role as opposed to dominating proceedings, they swell tracks with a richness, and within the swirling chaos that they help develop, I sense them growing, filling all available space behind those prominent guitars. The soundtrack to my late summer evening listening playlist will have instrumental track ‘Solitude’s Garden’ in the mix. The cold resonance of the synths creates a cooling ambience in the harshest of temperatures for me. The track also provides a well-placed palate cleanser, positioned towards the middle of the record.

As with all atmospheric black metal releases, there are comparisons with BAN almost inevitably made and The Cursed Oak does not escape this either. There seems a little more of an acute intensity to Kveldstimer’s sound (just a touch mind). If you pay close enough attention though you will hear the great build that tracks possess. The early third of ‘Their Eyes I the Shadow of the Moon’ being a fine example of this, as the guitar makes a sound like a war horse about to charge into battle before unleashing the tremolo upon the track. Again, that Akhlys sound is on full display during the melodic riffing of this track, something which please me no end. It may have taken me a few listens to get there, but I have discovered a real gem in this one. Addiction levels are high currently.

Waidelotte... That's a name I haven't heard before, but then again, aren't there many other bands with unusual names? Apparently, this band is named after a Prussian priestess with duties of prayers, blessings and fortune. Anyone with historical knowledge would know that Prussia was a German state with a Baltic tribe until it was abolished as a result of World War II. It is not to be confused with Russia, the country currently at war with Ukraine.

Waidelotte was formed in Ukraine in 2023, when the war was (and still is) raging. Members of the band have come from more notable bands, with vocalist Andrii Pechatkin from White Ward and bassist Oleksii "Zlatoyar" Kobel from Soen. The only other member is guitarist Mykhailo Bogaichuk, so I'm guessing the drums are programmed. Conceptually, Celestial Shrine takes you through death and despair in inner struggles to battle. This album is described as melodic/pagan black metal, though I can also witness the melodeath/progressive metal of Obscura, maybe even Ne Obliviscaris. The vocals and bass give that away in the extreme instrumentation blended with folklore.

"Descending" is a soft folk-ish intro not too far off from Opeth's interludes. As for the first actual song, "The Era of Stagnant Gods", it's not often you hear flute after extreme fury, but it works out well. The slow ending sounds so atmospheric. Hurdy-gurdy comes up in "Todestrieb", which itself is a melodic pounder. The usage of folk instruments and occasional female singing give it a bit of an Eluveitie vibe.

"Opulent Mirage" is a more progressive highlight, mixing the mid-2000s eras of Enslaved, Leprous, and Opeth. "The Mortality Archway" basically takes the extreme side of Kayo Dot and adds in the thrashy complexity of Believer and some Eastern European instrumentation. "Ascending" is one more folk interlude with Neurosis-like ambience.

Things get more fun in "Lightkeeper". Then the title track tones down the fun for some melancholic sorrow. It makes great use of their native instruments like the bandura, performed by Vlad Vakolyuk. That aspect is in superb balance with heavy riffing. This should've been the end of this offering, but the band felt like adding a little something to make a full album... "Dissolving" is an 8-minute dark ambient track featuring Solar Kollapse. It's so odd and boring, and the album would've been perfect without it.

The half-hour of power that makes up the rest of Celestial Shrine is an effective album of Slavic-infused progressive melodic black/death. It's a unique combo that really hits it right. The horrors of this ongoing war didn't stop this Ukranian band from unleashing their creative talents. They should really be commended for their perseverance....

Favorites: "The Era of Stagnant Gods", "Opulent Mirage", "The Mortality Archway", "Celestial Shrine"

Not content with just seven active projects, USBM misanthrope Drape (or E.X. to had slightly less mystery to him) first ventured into our ear space with three demos, a split, a single and an EP in what turned out to be a busy 2024 for him. This year sees the full length arrive, promising “six hymns filled with torment and regret”, and that we have “TRUE FUNERAL BLACK METAL” (the capitals are as the words are typed on their Bandcamp page). I am unsure if this is the announcement of a new sub-genre or not, but Beautiful Glorious Death Throes has a slower pace than most black metal releases for sure. It is suitably morose as well, with rasping vocals striking out from behind the din of guitars that swarm in front of them.

This duo (E.X. on guitars and vocals, Drugoth on drums) cast the grimmest of shadows over what is in fact just twenty-five minutes of low-fi black metal chaos. Whilst never straying into the frantic blastbeats of say Gorogorth, Drape still vary the pace from their funereal core nicely whilst never quite losing that lurching backdrop to the overall aesthetic. Clearly equipped with an understanding of the second wave, this is a pairing that soon convinced me of their kvlt credentials. That almost monotone, edge to the drumming made me think there was a drum machine deployed at first. With minimal bass presence, the sterile nature of the sound echoes in the vast cavern that it seems the album was recorded in.

Tracks such as ‘Lifeless and Corpsed’ are tormenting little numbers to contend with. The drums labour just enough to make you wonder if they are going to bother or not at times, whilst the guitar just continues to grind out that tremolo riff, occasionally allowing it to soar a shade higher to truly herald the growth of the track. But in the main, Beautiful Glorious Death Throes is a success largely because of its steadfastness. The album does exactly what it says on the tin. You can predict how the record is going to sound, just by looking at the necro cover, and if you love bm then you will not be disappointed in the no frills approach. This is a true celebration of darkness that is as consistent as the other EP and split that came out this year from these guys also.

My symphonic deathcore expedition has led me to what might just be the earliest band of that sound besides Winds of Plague, The Breathing Process. This American band from Connecticut has practically invented the idea of a symphonic deathcore/melodeath blend while also throwing in some Scandivanian-style melodic black metal. It's a mix of epic and extreme that barely any other band had attempted before...

Having just come across their debut In Waking Divinity, I have to admit, it's not as glorious as the later more popular bands of the league. However, it's slightly better than other humble beginning attempts at a niche subgenre. I also admit that the band name is a little goofy, but not bad enough to qualify for the "sh*ttiest band name" thread.

The album's intro "The Hunter" is an ambient yet heavy start with some samples. A bit pointless, yet I approve. The title track impresses me with heavy guitars, skilled drums, and killer vocals. While the symphonics are more oddly placed compared to the later bands of the league, I enjoy the more metallic headbanging sections. Great start, though keep that in mind before the remaining full songs of the album follow the same formula. "Lament Configuration" is a melancholic piano lament. "Blessed, Be Thine Martyr" basically continues the melodic deathcore sound of Bring Me the Horizon's debut Count Your Blessings and blends it with the symphonic black metal of Abigail Williams around that time. "Pandora's Rebirth" has more unique identity. I love the chorus in which the vocals appear over background synths, reminding me of Bleeding Through.

Not much happens in the 24 seconds that make up "Oceans". However, "The Harvesting" attacks like a symphonic Despised Icon. Melodic and technical riffing are more balanced in "Prey" which isn't amazing but I approve of this stylistic blend.

"Legion's Prayer" is one more piano interlude. The winning highlight has to be "Dear Antigone" with lots of vicious headbanging moments. "Somnium" has more interesting progressiveness. It starts doomy with spoken vocals, slowly building up before a final climax. A bonus track in some editions, "Inferno" is an earlier track from the I Am Legion demo, and I love the clean chorus here. If they had more of that in the actual album, I would rate it higher.

I think the title track and those 3 full songs at the end are what you need if you're checking out this band and album for the first time. While a couple tracks in the middle and the interludes are average, In Waking Divinity is still a good start to the then-unpopular symphonic deathcore trend. Not to be missed out, but it's fine if it is....

Favorites: "In Waking Divinity", "Pandora's Rebirth", "The Harvesting", "Dear Antigone", "Somnium", "Inferno"

Norrhem’s fourth full length release has been bobbing around near the surface of my fathomless pool of new releases this year for months now. As soon as I get into it again, something else distracts me and then I go back see it marked as a “contender” on my list of new releases I am working through, and I remember to give it some more plays before I fallback into the whirlpool of new music that I cycle in nowadays. Nominating it for feature release in The North clan this month had a hidden purpose of giving its review an added dependency.

Now, I am not overly familiar with pagan black metal, however I do know a hint of Moonsorrow when I hear one and after multiple listens, I think that the reference is the nearest I can make to how I can define the sound here. The tracks for the most part have solid, driving rhythms, offset with acoustic, atmospheric passages that give time for reflection. Clearly Norrhem have a deep sense of pride in their Finnish heritage and this nationalism is strong in the sound of the music. Embracing the melodic aspects as they do on Aurinko ja teräs alongside the more choral/chanting effects makes for a good mix of foot stomping black metal that carries an almost hidden catchiness (in the sense that it takes a few listens to pick up on it – well at least I did). Unexpectedly, I find some of the tracks quite warming, despite the colder atmospheres associated in general with the music.

I did baulk at the symphonic comparisons I saw with other bands but, again, upon repeated listens I did start to increasingly notice this in the sound. Even when the band drifts a bit too far on the eerie ballad ‘Mullan marttyyrit’, they still manage to make it work well in the grander scheme of things as a (albeit slightly grandiose) intro to the title track. Despite this symphonic and pagan meleé the band can add a great selection of riffs into play also, ranging from the squally efforts on ‘Hävitetty maa’ through to the relentless chop of ‘Teräsmyrskyssä’ which is my album highlight here. Some of the keys remind me of 80’s pop whilst on other occasions they sound like chimes straight from a Burzum record.

Aurinko ja teräs has worked its way onto my rotation with an almost dogged determination. It is not my usual bag really but is hardly celebrating sub-genres that I go out of my way to avoid either. My overarching sense from multiple connections with it is that the record grows stronger as it goes on without quite reaching the imperious levels of pagan black metal that Havukruunu have achieved in recent years. It is unlikely to walk away with any massive accolades this year but it certainly deserves recognition.

Belgium is at it again. That often-forgotten corner of the global black metal community that likes to give it large with the synths to really add some atmosphere whilst still retaining the requisite amounts of rawness to remind us that production values still don’t mean diddly-squat. Forbidden Temple has seven years of marauding, atmospheric bm under their bullet belts. Espousing witchcraft and good old-fashioned paganism as some of their key topics of lyrical discussion, this trio (don’t really know how fulltime the keyboard guy is) now have two albums to their name. You will have to scour YouTube to find them, as they are released on suitably obscure and shadowy labels only (no Spotify or Apple Music quick search items here thank you very much).

In the Rotting Grave certainly sounds like it has been recorded south of ground level. It is full of dank riffs and lumbering synths. Creating doom-like atmospheres seems to be an organic output to what Forbidden Temple do. The opening to ‘Mephistopheles Nightmare’ with its choral accompaniment sounds perfect before it gives way to some solid riffs and haunting keys, the drums all the while are bashing away like some dementor with two bits of wood and a stool and some pedals. The Norwegian influence is still very clear throughout the record, with early Darkthrone being a clear similarity from the off. However, there’s some Mortuary Drape and Samael kicking around on here too. FT are all about the late 80’s and early 90’s bm scene baby.

Not much is known about the members of the band, yet it is clear where their hearts lie in terms of influence. Whilst the aesthetic is very DIY in terms of production the performances themselves have layers and textures. The result of this is that whilst In the Rotting Grave retains a distinctly murky and cold charm to it, utterly devoid of any grandiosity, at the same time it has a deep-rooted warmth to it that reminds me of Varathron also. This dynamic tends to hide in plain sight, adds to the constant sense of mystery and necrotic wonder of the album for me. I feel like I know exactly where I am going each time I listen to it, yet I hear something new each time I listen. Not that repeated listens uncovers new instrumentation or extrovert direction, more that subtle melody lurks in corners not fully explored the last time around.

So where does it sit in the year list? Well, it breaks into the top 20 without managing to challenge the higher scores, relying as it does on purely old school qualities to separate it from the pack to any degree. There is a lot to enjoy here however and I would suggest it will continue to be revisited for some months to come.

Eiger is in reference to a specific mountain found in the Bernese Alps. Aara are using this mountain as the basis for their album since it is one of the most treacherous inclines on the planet. At least 64 climbers have attempted to climb to its peak, and have been unable to return to tell the tale; the perfect backdrop for a Nordic atmospheric black metal project!

Aara have been producing records on an annual basis since 2019 (which is very impressive) and Eiger is kind of a change of pace for them. Aara's previous releases have told recollections of gothic literature, so this move towards real life events might be strange. And that can be heard in the vocal presentation. I do know a little German from my second language course in University, however I haven't used that language in quite some time, so the finer details in the words were a little hard to dissect. But in general, the vocals of this album are pretty barebones. Not that I expect a life changing storytelling experience out of a black metal album, but they do feel rather dry.

But when the vocals are so inconsequential to the performance, it allows for those gorgeous instrumentals to take center stage. When those blast beats and thundering guitars enter the mix you can feel the weight of two avalanches suppressing you. While the guitar leads lead you on an almost ethereal journey. The key to making Eiger so good is the songwriting. When the album is ferocious, it's as pulverizing as any modern black metal record. But when then album brings in those acoustic guitars for outros, intros and bridges, they bring another layer to this already cold tale. Something about their unaccompanied texture is just so isolating and awesome and give the listener a moment of respite before the inevitable return of the black metal textures of before. They almost remind me a little bit of Saor's Forgotten Paths from 2019 and that's high praise.

Unfortunately for Aara, they don't really seem to be doing much else with the atmospheric black metal sound on Eiger. Yeah it's a fantastic albums filled with highs and lows, some of the prettiest sounding melodies in black metal since Sunbather, and a solid backdrop for a concept album. But they don't reinvent the wheel. Perhaps Aara does not need to reinvent the wheel, since they are too busy releasing a new album on an annual basis. And when you release an album that is as top quality as this, why would they need to? 

Best Songs: Die das wilde Wetter fängt, Senkrechte Welten, Todesbiwak, Zurück zur roten Fluh, Alptraum

Fimbulwinter were a very short-lived early norwegian black metal band who split-up after releasing this, their sole official release. They were a trio that included bassist Skoll and drummer/guitarist Shagrath who went on to become long-term members of Arcturus and Dimmu Borgir respectively. This is some pretty raw early norwegian shit, with demo-level, lo-fi production values and some pretty basic songwriting. Yet, as is often the case with early black metal, it is also exhilharating and exciting as hell with a completely necro feel that just serves to increase the iciness of the material. Vocalist Necronos has a great line in demented screams and screeches that make it strange that he never showed up anywhere else when Fimbulwinter split. If you have a love for lo-fi early second wave black metal then this is a must hear.

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!)

Although black metal is viewed as foremost 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.

With the arrival of a new Sargeist record in any given year, you can usually bank on this being a sign that the scene just stepped up a notch at that point in the year. In short, it is something I always consider to be a treat. It has been seven years since Unbound mauled our eardrums and if I am honest, I completely missed the following year’s EP, Death Veneration, so I do have some catching up to do. Flame Within Flame arrives in a year of strong releases so far and so quite how it fits into the year will be interesting to watch unfold in the coming months. There have been some lineup changes since the last record also, with Shatraug taking over vocal duties on a studio album for the first time since 2003 (‘frowning, Existing’ from Satanic Black Devotion). With Marko Hirvonen no longer on bass, it is up to Spellgoth (Horna) to fill this role, and the sticks are now in the hands of Decapitated Christ drummer, Alewar. Therefore, only VJS (Nightbringer) joins Shatraug from the previous album.

Has this shake up changed how Sargeist sound? Well not fundamentally no. this is still easily identifiable as the rich tremolo wielding, melodic black metal that we have all come to expect from Sargeist over the years. At the same time though, I do sense some loss of intensity in some moments. Shatraug’s disinterested sounding vocals take some getting used to in the main, but I still feel overall that proceedings are dialled down when compared with previous releases. This tame element could be down to a refreshed (rebuilt?) lineup of course but on the plus side there are many genuinely glorious moments to digest as well.

Tracks such as ‘Incandescence of the Funeral’ open with such a strong driving, melodic bm beginning that sees the band at their urgent and racing best. With a pace akin to racing horses, Sargeist do still have gas in the tank, that much is clear. It is increasingly questionable as the album goes on as to whether Shatraug has the vocal style to be able to compete with the rest of the group though. Whilst I cannot say that they make for a terrible listening experience, they certainly do go some way in acting as a distraction from some of the better executed elements of the record.

Still, listeners should take time to revel in the chiming majesty of the guitar on ‘To the Mistress of Blackened Magic’ as it dances like the darkest of incantations imaginable. Likewise, ‘Juravit Sanguine’ is another fine example of the rich melodic vein that runs through the band’s sound. This track is almost catchy; such is the level of accessibility here. So, all in all, a mixed affair if I am honest. Not their best, but then again instability is a cruel mistress it seems.