REVIEW Frozen Ocean - Vanviddsanger

This is the fifth EP from the extremely productive russian one man band Frozen Ocean, and this is definitely no mass-product shit I can tell you!!! I get a lot of Burzum vibes from this record with the primitive and kind of catchy out-in-the-forest riffs in midtempo that delivers some good old woodland atmosphere. The main difference between the two bands are the length on the songs, when Burzum makes both long and some short songs, are all the tracks on this EP short, almost in a "grindecoresk" style varying between one to three minutes a track. And it works very well I must say, it never has the time to get boring or tedious in any way. Of course do the vocals differ from above-mentioned band too, there are nothing directly special about them, mediocre is a word that comes to mind, but hey, they work for the job. So if you want something for a short hike in the woods an early foggy morning, the but this on, you can't go wrong!!!

8/11

Best track: Vanviddsang II

Check them out here:

https://soundcloud.com/froznocean

REVIEW Withering Night - Within the Shadows We Lurk

Its now time to serve up some glutinous cake with so much cream and sprinkles that you almost will choke in form of this ultra melodic BM release. Yeah, this is what i call a melodic black metal?!? release with endless masses of guitar melodies and so much keyboards that you almost drown in them. But is it any good?!? Yes and fuck no!!! But lets try to start on a positive note. The album manifests musicality on a high level with advanced guitar compositions and riffs (that contains a lot of inspiration from heavy metal inter alia) that feels interesting and exciting for the most of the parts, some of the stuff even sticks to me, and I can't help thinking to myself, hey this is good! The vocals are the standard stuff (raspy middle pitched voice) nothing that really stands out, with some clean male and female vocals that are both a hit and miss. And the bloody keyboards that always lays there, sometimes in the background with just atmospheric sounds and occasionally on top as a sweet ass cherry (and even plays some folk melodies). For the most of the parts it just feels superfluous and the guitars are more than enough!!! But for most of the first half of the album its a refreshing experience as a whole.

But now to the bad fucking shit!!! The second half of this record!!! Suddenly they start playing  pure fucking power metal (the shitstorm starts with the song Forsaken Judgement) but with harsh vocals (as they should call it), this shit would have fitted equally well on a fucking pussy ass Dragonforce record!!! I get nauseous and almost want to puke up my spleen out of this shit!!! And it goes on for a couple of a songs before they try to redeem themself with the title track, but then they put some faggy clean vocals on it, and Im just wondering, what the fuck were they thinking?!? The album ends at least on a higher note with the closing track Blood Worship and everything is back to normal after the trip to the gaybar. To sum it all up, I find it hard to recommend this album for you, but at the same time are there some good things here if you search for it and are into hyper melodic and heavy metal inspired stuff (and skip a couple of tracks), so check it up, but be warned..!

5 (7 if you skip track eight and nine) /11

Best track: Lifting the Veil

Check them out here:

http://razedsoul.bandcamp.com/album/within-the-shadows-we-lurk

REVIEW Skygge - Knokkelkraft

Here is a really mucky and freezing grim gem from a couple of years of ago that totally missed my radar. The first thing that comes to mind is the obvious Darkthrone influences, which is quite understandable as this band also hails from the frostbitten land of Norway!!! This is a feast in midtempo old school BM with heavily distorted buzzing guitars (with a punkish catchy feeling to them), a very primitive drumsound in a perfect wandering the fir forest pace and a cold rasping voice from the other side of the rotting grave (and lo and behold, a bass you actually can hear!?!). This a very simplistic and stripped experience that nevertheless offers a few surprises, like some mood-setting clean vocals here and there, that raises it a dimension but still has the ability to stand true to the roots. Skygge mediates the Norwegian heritage in a dignified manner into our 21st century. Dont miss necro jewel thats grim to the bone marrow!!!

9/11

Best track: Nostalgia (Necro Version)

Check them out here:
http://www.naturmacht.com/skygge/main.html

REVIEW Azziard - Vésanie

Now we are entering the sick and twisted domain of this french five man strong group!!! They bring to us a more modern type of BM that reminds me of bands like Khold and Gehenna to name a few. Pay attention to that they are modern in the right way, without adding any techno elements or making it an gay gothfeast!!! Its rather an logicall evolvement of the genre building on a solid ground with more weight on the technical level and some death metal added as an extra spice to this deadly cocktail. They keep it interesting all the way with a kind of hypnotic and bit catchy riffs with some DM swing to it! Its a great mix that commutes between classical midtempo to the blastbeat stuff and add some solos to that. The lyrics are as you probably understand in their mothers tongue, and they are delivered in an appropriate manner with a more darker and rabid tone to them. They have also given the guitars a great dirty but clean (like a maniac in a clean straightjacket) sound to them, which gives a real heaviness to the album!!! If you're tired of the old and cold shit, look up this absurd release!!!

8/11

Best track: Sur La Toile

Check them out here:

REVIEW Inferno - Omniabsence Filled by His Greatness

The Czech band Inferno (one of the trillions!!!) probably don't need any introduction, as they are in my opinion one of the more interesting active bands to date. They always has the ability to deliver something that feels genuine but at the sametime current, and the latest procreation aren't any exception, even if I had my doubts the first time I heard it. Their sixth full-length album surprised me substantially, they have taken a big leap from their last album "Black Devotion" (which were infernal consummate!!!) and left a lot of the straight black'n'rolling sound behind for a more epic tone. They conjure up a grand temple with the bombastic guitars as the pillars and the marvelous lyrics as the altar, all covered with the fantastic productions as the altar cloth!!! They make you travel through the gates into the dark, horrible and beautiful untreated wilderness. The opus fills you with wisdom you couldn't even imagine (and stays there in a secluded area of your consciousness for a long time) in form of its almost excellent written and performed songs. This is an album you can't miss, maybe even one of the most important albums from last year!!! I command you to check it up now!!!

10/11

Best track: The Funeral of Existence

Check them out here:

http://agoniarecords.bandcamp.com/album/omniabsence-filled-by-his-greatness

REVIEW Hope Drone - Hope Drone

Imagine yourself alone in an abandoned muddy parking lot late at night, with big raindrops dripping down your cold spine and a flickering light pole as your only source for light, this is the soundtrack for that experience!!! It creates a vivid picture of the inevitable loneliness you are going to face some time in your life, with agonizing screams of despair about how meaningless life is and melancholic guitar strokes that haunts you throughout a damp night. This post-black metal epos delivers a lot of thick atmosphere that you almost can touch and feel all the way to the marrow. If you're looking for something old school and fast, look the other way, but are you're out for some heavy melancholic and more modern stuff, look up this EP.

7/11

Best track: Finite

Check them out here:

3 FAST REVIEWS Incandescence, Slutvomit, Bornholm

Incandescence - Abstractionnisme

This is an interesting and fairly artistic release from this Canadian duo. Its kind of arty in its approach, and as usual takes some time to get in to when you're dealing with this kind of style. But on the positive side are there a lot to explore here in the misty shades of the unknown path. There are some good musical qualities here too, with influences from far and wild, you can even find some jazz inspired parts. What's bad then?!? I don't get any real enjoyment out of this, but hey! maybe its just me?!? Check out this dreamlike release.

Incandescence – Abstractionnisme

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Slutvomit - Swarming Darkness

Did anyone ask for some old school thrash and a Venom homage?!? For here you have exactly that!!! The ripping mad fast as cerberus jaws riffs are here, the classic thrashy vocals with the aggressivity are all here too. Everything is fast, rabid and insane to the maximum!!! This is a really pleasant hellride back to the time when Sodom were new on the scene and the thrash scene were just starting up. Don't miss this vomit of hellish great blackened thrash!!!

Slutvomit – Swarming Darkness

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Bornholm - Inexorable Defiance

I have seen this band popping up a lot lately on festivals and gigs alike. But then when I finally heard them for the first time I got surprised as hell! I thought they would sound old school in the vein of bands like Angantyr, I didn't expect it to be this melodic viking inspired stuff. I don't really know what to think about this stuff, sure it's played good and there are some good parts here and there, but it becomes too much as well. There are a big chunks of keyboard laying on everything like a decaying icing on a cake, underneath it, there aren't much of music to talk about, they rely too much on the keyboards to speak plainly. Maybe not for me, but some of you out there possible appreciate this kind of stuff?!?

Bornholm – Inexorable Defiance

REVIEW Celeste - Animale(s)

Straight from the misery on the streets of France comes this lengthy (double disc) fearsomely beautiful and almost poetic tale about some real matters. This is some deep shit I must tell you, this ain't something you just dust of your shoulders like some dead skin cells. This is an album that affects you, both in the lyrics and how the music are performed. The combination of post-hardcore and sludge mixed with BM is an really interesting concept, and it works great in reality too. It delivers something that kind of feels unique in its way, but simultaneously stands on a solid ground. One thing is certain that it functions very well to bring out emotions! The slow (and heavy as a lead pipe) grinding guitars with some string picking builds up a great miserable atmosphere of desperation. Most of the album is actually in a slow pace, without making it bland in anyway, and Im glad the chosed to do it this way for it fits the weekdays monotoni perfectly! They succeeds keeping it interesting throughout the whole almost 70 minutes long record regardless, and always excogitating some new interesting elements into the music to find. This is some heavy stuff with a meaning that still feels fresh, you should definitely check them out!!!

8,5/11

Best track: D'errances en inimitiés

Check them out here:

REVIEW Heron - Ritual

This is the definition of atmospheric black metal!!! The guitars are grinding in the background with the organ laying on top, not to dominate in any way, but to enfold the whole recording and give it an extra dimension. Organ you say?!? Yeah you heard right, this american quartet uses an organ instead of the more common keyboard, and the result it delivers is great. An organ has the ability to blend right in to the music and just set the mood for this deep in the dark dense wolves haunted forest journey. Thats probably the best thing about this EP, other than that are the vocals OK, heavily distorted, but they do the job. And there are some nice sirens of the woods vibing melodies here and there. Definitely worth a listening if you want something atmospheric that brings you to the woodland at dusk.

7,5/11

Best track: Wolves

Check them out here:

http://heronmetal.bandcamp.com/album/ritual-2

REVIEW Desiderium - Sunless Meridian

The album starts of slowly with some laydback smooth guitars which brings forth a lot of Opeth wibes with the clean vocals and all. But then the curtains fall to reveal distorted guitars, screaming vocals and some great melancholic guitar harmony melodies. They really show of how to do progressive BM in a great way, without making it into a weird arty farty experience!!! They create this feeling of loneliness in an urban area, with rain pouring down on the dirty sidewalks, and the bright lights from the shops shining on you as your only friend on this bleak night. This record feels very realistic in a way and easy to take in, but in the same time diffuse around the edges and hard to grab. And thats the thing with this album, its the contrasts that make this so great, from the melodic clean vocals filled with emotions to the harsh screams of despair. There are both solitude and anger, serenity and rage! Its almost like drowning in the endless blue, first comes the panic, then the hopelessness, the realisation and finally the tranquillity. This magnificent creation brings some excellent guitar solos and melodies, a keyboard that are used in the right way, just to enhance the experience and set the right mood! They borrow a lot of influences throughout the genre and even explores the fields beyond the border to create this magical piece filled with emotions and wonderful melodies!!!

9/11

Best track: Thousand Year Winter

Check them out here:

http://domesticgenocide.bandcamp.com/album/desiderium-sunless-meridian

REVIEW Astaroth - Chaosatanas

Lets make one thing clear first, this is the first release from the norwegian band Astaroth, not to be confused with the far inferior band with the same name from Austria. The first three thing that comes in mind when I hear this record is Dissection, Dissection and Dissection! It really shows that they were heavily inspired by such legends, both in their musical and lyrical path. This anti-cosmic quintet delivers an intense journey through the devouring black flames with well written music and interesting lyrics. They keep a perfect balance between too little and too much melodies without derailing it and still making it an interesting and a dreadful fertile journey to take. Unfortunately, it is not holding all the way, occasionally it gets quite bland, but its a good fucking effort for a first release, and they have every possibility to grow far beyond every imaginable dimension!!! Should definitely appeal to fans of Watain and ehhh Dis...

8,5/11

Best track: Xeper-I-Apep

Check them out here:

REVIEW Schattenvald - IV

Did someone order a massive amount of keyboard?!? Probably not! But hey, as long as it done in the right way, theres nothing wrong with this electronic device, eh?!? The record starts of with an intro sounding like a circus in the dusk with a carnival of miserable freaks strolling forth, and it kind of sets the tone for the whole recording. Yeah there are some heavy use of synthesizers on this fourth full-length (yeah, who the fuck could have guessed that?!?) album from this timid german group, that makes me think of bands like Emperor, Limbonic Art and Troll. There are both a lot of piano, strings and atmospheric sounds that lay over the buzzing guitars like a dense cloak. There are some folk melodies here and there, but other than that, its not much new here to the genre to be honest. So do the keyboard melodies work?!? Yes and no, The music is fantastic and have and horrendous beautiful atmosphere in some parts. In other parts it just becomes too much, like a thick porridge made of bile and cream are mashed through your ears. But as I said, there are some parts that contains a lot of atmosphere, and the vocals fits perfectly for the purpose. So are you into BM with a heavy use of keyboards, then they are probably worth a listening!

7/11

Best track: Morgenstern Luzifer

Check them out here:

http://schattenvald.bandcamp.com/

REVIEW Satanic Assault Division - March to Victory

Watch out!!! Here comes a devilish assault straight through the fucking guts from the danish panzer platoon called Satanic Assault Division!!! This is straightforward and simple with short songs and some rockin undertones and thrash influences (which makes it kind of catchy occasionally). It easy to draw parallels to their scandinavian colleagues at Impaled Nazarene, both in the lyrical and musical department. It may not be the most imaginative concoction, but hey, it doesn't always have to be either. If you just want something right in the kisser without some underlying hidden messages and preto thoughts, just plain old antichristian warmongering stuff, then this is fucking right for you!!! Now to the shitty stuff, there are some irritating synth sounds in the background once in a while. Don't really know what the fuck they are, but they interferes the battle like hell, and feels more misplaced than a catholic priest in a nudie bar (without any young boys?!?). And the record would really had benefited from a better production, it sounds kind of tinny and weak, it feels almost castrated, the balls and attitude this music needs aren't really there. But there are still a lot of good shit here to find between all the rotten skulls!!!

7/11

Best track: Erasing Religion

Check them out here:

REVIEW Nevaloth - The Antagonist

This record (or piece of art) is no exception when you are dealing with some tricky avant-grade stuff, its fucking hard to get into, but once you are there, you discover a lot of details and marvelous music. It takes some time to take in, you probably gonna think what kind of shit is this?!? the first time you hear it, but it grows in a hellish rate. There are so many levels to the music, so many little things of musical excellence to find (like the mentally insane piano!!!). And its there it balance, between an intelligent creation and madness, its both schizophrenic and beautiful. This slovakian gang really know how to handle their instruments and almost push them between reality and dream. The technicality on all the parts is on a extreme high level with some obvious influences from technical death metal. So if you're into bands like Arcturus seasoned with death, then this is probably a spot on match for you or you just like your musical experience to be a little more advanced. Too bad they aren't as good songwriters as they are musicians, because its there their weakness lies, some great idés and opportunities are wasted on meaningless songs and just falls into oblivion. But other than that are this an iron solid colossos that should be cherished!!!

8,5/11

Best track: Per Aspera Ad Astra

Check them out here:

http://nevaloth.bandcamp.com/

REVIEW Beltez - Tod : Part 1

I started listen to this record with no expectations at all, I thought this was just another mediocre BM release from the overpopulated german scene. But what a fucking surprise this was, it were totally fucking awesome from the first notes, I were hooked like a dead whore in the freezer room!!! The marvelous guitar riffs doesn't do anything particularly new (a lot of influences from the second wave like Darkthrone and Burzum!!!), but its how its done, its played to perfection, and the riffs, ohhh they are of that kind that speaks straight to your marrow and put you in the right mood, you just fucking know its great!!! And the vocals are fucking excellent and hits just the right spot, filled with desperation and anguish from the deepest parts of human decay. There are some piano here and there, but its sparingly used, which is good, because its just redundant. And did I tell you that the production is perfectly done too? It hits the fine line between old school necro but with a more modern sound quality to it which fits very well. To top it all of are they concluding this death stenched procreation with a great cover of  "Der Tod Ist Ein Meister Aus Deutschland" by the german punk band "Slime".  Watch out for this suicidal masterpiece!!!

9,5/11

Best track: Selbstmord

Check them out here:

REVIEW Clad in Darkness - Decathect

I haven't heard anything from this band for a long time, not sense they were new to the scene, and I must say  that they have evolved in the right way. This is a concept album based on the novel "Ethan Frome", a book I definitely did not expect a BM band to write a whole album about!?! For you see the book (haven't read it however) do not contain anything particularly that you usually connect to BM, nothing more than that its winter in the story. But enough about the bloody book now!!! The winter theme fits perfectly now for the season with the snow covered hills outside, and it brings the feeling of bare tree branches and snowflakes falling down around you. Its a kind of cozy experience and you can hear that they have borrowed some stuff from early Ulver. As you probably understand, this is not a usual BM recording, its far more melodic and artistic with a lot of acoustic guitars, clean vocals and great musicality (another band that comes to mind is Opeth) from this Progressive black metal quintet. You hear a lot of somberness and thoughts has gone into this, and it has surely not been done in a haste, this is a real craftsmanship done from a winter afflicted oak!!!

8,5/11

Best track: Undulations

Check them out here: 

http://cladindarkness.bandcamp.com/album/decathect

REVIEW Handful of Hate - To Perdition

This is some fast fucking shit!!! It starts of like an atomic blast with the title track, and I can't help myself from thinking about Dark Funeral (but less suckier), but thats only when you scratch the sharp sulfur fragrant surface, there are a lot fucking more to it underneath!!! Its far more varied than your typical blastbeat ridden album and there are some great technical qualities to the music. It may not overflow with atmosphere and out in the forest wibes, its far more cleaner in the production and the execution than that. But this Italian group has something else going for them, I can't really put my finger on it. I should not care for this that much to be honest. But there are something which grips me on this album, maybe its so dull that its just the pure musical talent?!? But fuck it anyway, this is some good shit and well worth a listening if you want a break from your lo-fi BM!!!

8/11

Best track: Swines Graced Gods

Check them out here:

VIDEO Shitfucker - Sex Dungeon

A new classy video from the maniacs in Shitfucker!!!

Check out our review of their latest album here!!!

REVIEW Искра жизни (Iskra Zhizny) - Уверенность в завтрашнем дне

There aren't much information in the wilderness about this russian crust flaming molotov cocktail, and the fact that everything is written in cyrillic script doesn't make it any fucking easier too. But fuck that, lyrics and shit aside, the main thing is that this is some good fucking BM with shitloads of influences from the crust genre. (which seems to be the latest fashion in the scene!?!). The music oscillates between your-stuck-in-some-thick-mire-slow to fuck-the-society-fast-crust with lead heavy guitars falling from above like napalm bombs. Some melodies are snucked in here and there to keep it from being too monotonous and dull. And at last you may not forget the abyssal bass that lays the perfect foundation for this black tar covered crust lodge. 

7,5/11

Best track: -

Check them out here:

http://iskrazhizny.bandcamp.com/

REVIEW Guerra Total - El Armagedón Continúa

I'm going to begin for a change from the the last track for this review,  for it describes best whatta hell this is, Black Speed Rock and Roll!!! You can really hear the speed and thrash influences of the eighties pumping though the diesel tubes of this abnormal beast!!! And its more catchy than a pedophile on a picnic with honey all over his pecker. Its fast, its loud and rough with fantastic guitar riffs working hard through the record in the pace of a leopard on speed!!! This shit really starts your adrenalin pumping and want you to start to thrash every fucking shit in your way and finish it all up with a golden shower in an arctic cold beer keg. The riffs are on a high fucking level in the early Bay Area vain. The production is a perfect match with a lot of wight laying on the guitars and placing the vocals and drums a bit lower. The texts mixes between english and spanish with the typical lyrical themes, war, satan, zombies and the inevitable end!!! So why the hell are you still sitting down and reading this shit?!? Put this fucker on now!!!

8/11

Best track: Satan's Army of the Apocalypse

Check them out here: 

3 FAST REVIEWS Mindgrinder, Vattnet Viskar, Gorthaur's Wrath

Mindgrinder - Prop Agenda

This ain't that fucking bad actually, rather the opposite, it was quite surprisingly good,  if you could call this BM?!? You hear more death than black here, with a lot of electronic effects!!! But hey it works fine as a whole experience. There are of course imprints in the music from the other members bands like Zyklon and The Wretched End to name a few. Its well played and interesting enough to keep you  listening throughout the whole record.

MindGrinder – Prop Agenda

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Vattnet Viskar - Sky Swallower

Vattnet Viskar (swedish for the water whispers) is kind of an interesting release with its epic style of BM mixed with Doom. The album has a heavy spacey feeling to it with its magnificence in the songs, but at the same time you feel a great emptiness, like you are falling into an endless void. Its gets a little to slow and dull for my taste occasionally, but on the other hand is it a part of the space atmosphere. So give it a try if thats the kind of stuff you like.

Vattnet Viskar – Sky Swallower

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Gorthaur's Wrath - Wrath War for Heaven

This is apparently one of the first Croatian black metal bands to appear. But don't be fooled and start thinking this is some old school shit, for there are as much heavy metal in the music as it is BM. Sure there are some interesting stuff here (especially the track The Lucifer Rebellion) and I ain't saying they are bad in any way, but are you looking for real BM you probably should look somewhere else. But are you after a good melodic metal record with shades of black, then you have come fucking right.

Gorthaur's Wrath – War for Heaven

REVIEW Grue - Casualty of the Psychic Wars

This american band is a new acquaintance to me, a fucking good one of those!!! They may not bring anything perically new to the altar, but its in how they deliver it unto us! They master their instruments like the grim reaper masters his scythe. And the songwriting skills are on a hellish high level for their first full-length release. They also bring some interesting elements to the music with the use of a jews harp and cello in the instrumental track "Lament of the Spheres". There are always a lot of shit going on on this psychotic journey with some new interesting idés and the excellent infernal grinding guitarworks that makes it feel fresher than a cadaver in the freezer at the same time. The album ends on a real fucking highnote with the grand lengthy opus "They Who Walk Behind the Skies", and you couldn't have asked for a better end!!! Its sums up the record almost brilliant, but on a twice as high level!!! Check out this Boston dou if you are looking for excellent musicians and madness!!

8,5/11

Best track: They Who Walk Behind the Skies

Check them out here:
http://grue.bandcamp.com/

REVIEW Centralia - Grimoire

I was about to discard this album as just being another pathetic band of youngsters that still tries to copy what made Darkthrone so successful, but I was dead fucking wrong. They are playing far more old school and better than that, back to the time when Venom still was great. It ain't until the second track starts when really hear the influences coming from the times when black metal were in its cradle, and what a fucking surprise it is!!! The rockin riffs starts of with a lot of NWOBHM and punk influences as it should have been then. And the production fits the purpose well with a sloppy trashy sound to the instruments and the vocals ly a little bit in the back of the music with a reverb from hell of course!!! The lyrical theme is almost at the same level to, which also serves its purpose well. If you like your BM served real old school with catchy riffs and trashy production on the top, this definitely worth your fucking time!!!

8/11

Best track: Harbinger of Death

Check them out here:

Cult of Fire - मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान (Ascetic Meditation of Death)

Oh Kali, this record, where should I begin?!? The first time I heard this record, after I just had listened to the first notes on the beginning track, those tunes spoked directly to me, to the deepest fearsome parts of the body and mind. I couldn't stop thinking of this album, I heard the chaintings, the meditational rhythms, instruments and the atmosphere of it all. I came to the realisation that I was possessed beyond all salvation by this epic occult creation, and it only grew deeper. I insist this is something out of the ordinary, It ain't often you come over a record that are this excellent on so many levels, and that starts on such high pedestal only to claim higher. Its an almost perfect constellation of bombastic black metal with instruments and tones from hindu mythos combined with the luciferian teachings. This is the textbook example how you make music the right way without the syntherziser taking over, this is the definition of quality black metal! Unlike other shit you hear today, this has a higher meaning, a higher consciousness!!! This album is like a fine wine, it's not just something you put on in the background and minds your own business, this is a album you put on to really listening to, tasting it, analysing it and embracing it, this is a whole experience!!! Maybe one of the best releases last year!?!

10/11

Best track: अस्तित्व की चिता पर (On the Funeral Pyre of Existence)

Check them out here:

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/cult-of-fire

REVIEW Styggelse - No Return

Oh what a tolerable aeon we live in, with so many assfucking awesome black'n'roll releases, it almost makes the meaningless wandering of the earth worth it. And this ain't no exception from what the adrenaline pumping hatred and excitement this kind of releases brings to my reptile brain. Its stripped naked and cold to the essence of BM without any unnecessaries. This is raw and kicking like an epileptic seizure. This is music that's probably works best live with a dusen of dead cold beers in the throat. The production on this catchy abomination (that Styggelse means in swedish) is excellent for its assignment with a kind of deaden sound to the guitars and drums which brings you to the eighties, with the magnitudes that belonged to that era (without mention any names!). Of course are there millions of influences from everything from punk to NWOBHM with a great fucking result. This is definitely something you don't want to miss, even if you are lying hangover in a grave!!!

10/11

Best track: Hangover in a Grave

Check them out here:

FAST REVIEWS Craven Idol, Filii Nigrantium Infernalium, Germ, Absent Heat

Craven Idol - Towards Eschaton

This album reeks of thrash- and sulphuric black metal with its fast drums, thrashy riffs, screaming solos and some doomsday choirs. 

This UK group delivers everything you have come to expect from this poisonous mixture. It isn't bad by any means, but ain't that thrilling ethier...

https://myspace.com/cravenidol

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Filii Nigrantium Infernalium - Pornokrates: Deo Gratias

This is a kind of interesting christ-defying cocktail with a lot of heavy- and thrash metal influences mixed in the receduce of black metal in the bottom of a black bucket. It overflows with all kinds of classical heavy metal riffs, and it ain't that bad, most of the times. Not much remains of what once were of this old portuguese group, but it's still a rewarding listening experience to take, at least once...

https://myspace.com/fninfernalium

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Germ - Grief

I really had high expectations for this album after his last EP "Loss" which I cherished indefinitely. But this album disappointingly does not live up to the predecessor. It absolutely ain't bad, the melancholy, the emptiness and despair is all present with its keyboard oriented music. But the mood is not quite here, the synthesizers and clean vocals takes up to much space and destroys some tracks that could have been great.

https://soundcloud.com/germofficial/

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Absent Heat - Absence of Heat

This is an excellent album if you need to slumber. For almost everytime I have listened to this record I have fallen asleep. I don't really know why, it ain't that boring, maybe its the soundscape that sooths you or some magick stuff. But this album moves you're far away into your unconsciousness anyway. Other then that is this the typical stuff for depressive BM with noisy guitars and rabid distorted screams. Try it if you can't sleep.

http://absentheat.bandcamp.com/album/absence-of-heat

THE ELEVEN BEST ALBUMS FOR NOW...

REVIEW Voidhanger - Working Class Misanthropy

As you probably know by now, we here at DV have a predilection for BM of the more rockin' kind, and thats what this polish band delivers unto us like a punch in the fucking spleen. From the first tone are we invited to an excellent lesson in how you do high quality BM with a good fucking intensity and still keeping the essence from the roots of it all. But there aren't just rock'n'roll influences here, the album are teeming with a lot of punk influences too! This brings some fucking nice attitude to the recording and makes it kind of old school in a way. But on the other hand can you find a lot of crystal clear inspirations from polish death metal (of course!), which totally contradicts the last claim of them being old school!?! But thats the thing, the duality, the fucking have both!!! They have taken the best of the old and mixed it with the newer technical stuff with a great interesting result. If you want both, new and old, with some punk rock pumping through the veins, check this shit out!!!

8,5/11

Best track: Working Class Misanthropy

Check them out here:

http://www.lastfm.se/music/Voidhanger

REVIEW Esoterica - Aseity

This is a review I have been holding on to for a while, letting it incubate in the depths of the mind. For you see, this isn't just some run of the mill BM album that you just put on and enjoy, you really gotta be in the right mood for this psychosis producing artcraft. The sounds this album generates through the speakers digs into your the deepest parts of the pulsating brain, and almost brings you to a hallucinogenic state. That is if you close your eyes and leave every bit of normal reasoning and let yourself fall into a trance-existential place. This is another one of those records that's almost impossible to put words on (fuzzy ones at least!), it must be experienced to really understand it. Give it a shot and inject your brain with some madness!!!

8/11

Best track: Lethe

Check them out here:

REVIEW BlackShore - Terror

After what feels like an eternal slumber has the blog risen again from the abyss to deliver the first review for the year. Yeah, okay, its a release from last year, but the piles of records are as high as the infernal fires, so its a lot of shit to go through, so on to the review!!! 

And what a fucking great record this is!!! I can hardly believe what I hear, music doesn't get much better than this, if you ask me. To try to be a little objective at least (but hey, fuck it!) its the third release from this german band, and they fucking nailed every part of this recording, from the opening with the mandatory George Orwell quote throughout the whole assmelting record, with every note smashing like a an atomic blow. This is an adrenaline filled nuclear attack through your eardrum filled with the greatest elements of black-, thrash metal, catchy rock'n'roll and punk together with a lot of fucking attitude. You have to be a mongoloid if you don't understand or like this shit!!! It speaks to you every primitive nerve and instinct, you just want to fuck everything, and let the primordial drunkenness flow free through your body. This is probably one of the greatest record from last year, and definitely nothing you want to miss!!!

10,5/11 

Best track: Troublemakers Black Metal

Check them out here: 

https://myspace.com/blackshoremetal