Review by Sonny for Numenorean - Adore (2019)

I don't have a problem with blackgaze as such, but sometimes it just seems that the fruit has fallen a little too far from the tree. The high level of production, clean sound and alternative rock influences of this album are a bridge too far for me, I think. I can't shake the feeling that this is meant for people who want something a bit "edgy" to put next to their Radiohead and Green Day albums. Hipster black metal may finally have become a trend and what was once a scene for extreme outsiders has gone the way of all things. I don't hate the music as such, it has some OK moments and is very competently done, but I'm greatly saddened that black metal is just another influence for Grammy-baiters to weave into their tepid compositions. Maybe I'm just being a miserable bastard, and I've never considered myself to be Mr. Kvlt, but this shit used to mean something to people.