Over the years throwing Bathory, Celtic Frost, Mercyful Fate and Kreator in a blender along with Motorhead has worked wonders for this Swedish mainstay. Minor lineup changes have had little impact either. They have dropped the bullet belts and corpsepaint as well, going back to the black leather jackets again. They even seem to have […]

I have a list of upcoming releases that I keep, constantly adding the names of albums of interest as I learn about them. Sometimes I add a band name followed by a question mark in anticipation of an as yet unannounced new album. Drautran is such a band, having been on my list for six […]

Helrunar has quickly jumped to the top of the heap of Norwegian wave black metal imitators. This German band has only a six year recording history but obviously a much longer history as a fan of real black metal. Baldr ok Iss is their third full length release, and second by Lupus Lounge. In terms […]

While the popularity of this band has been soaring with each release my interest has been plummeting. I still listen to Ultima Thulée and Memoria Vetusta from time to time, but I didn’t check out the reissues, and if I didn’t get the next three full lengths as review copies I probably would not have […]

When the staff here at Digital metal was asked who wanted to review the new Immolation there we no immediate takers, which surprised me. I offered to review it even though I’m not considered a death metal guy, I had already bought my own copy. I said I was a fan and had the first […]

This is Sear Bliss’ sixth full-length album and first on Candlelight. Extreme black metal with a classical flair. Once again produced by Viktor Scheer, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. This time Viktor has gotten a deeper richer sound with more bottom end and the drums are much more resonant. The horns truly stand […]

Nocturno Culto did the mastering of Gallhammer’s debut album, Ill Innocence, so says the press release. I thought their debut album Gloomy Lights was several years back. In any case, three people with no musical experience and no idea how to play their chosen instruments band together to make raw, primal, blackened doom, sound familiar? […]

Black metal for misanthropic Luddites gets another boost from Wrath. Raw, orthodox production values and defiance of modern recording technology are on display once again. Cursing Your Will To Live is album number three in a year and a half, and he managed a split release in there as well. Usually such a proliferation would […]

It was a happy day in Hell when Limbonic Art called it quits. All those demons got 24 hour a day concerts from the defunct duo. The international day of Slayer was a joyous day for those of us in this realm for 6-6-06 was the day that Daemon and Morfeus decided they had more […]

Dødheimsgard to DHG is kind of like Covenant to Kovenant. They are not fooling anyone, and the name change is meaningless anyway, absolutely everyone knows who they are, even with the loss of their logo and the loss of the band members that mattered. Are they a parody of themselves or something worse? Gone are […]

Standing amid a sea of dreamers, I occasionally encounter one that rises above the floodwaters and proves their worth emphatically. I came across Throne of Katarsis because of Einherjer. Stein Sund left and formed Thundra along with ex-Enslaved drummer Harald Helgeson and Thor Erik “Grimnisse” Helgesen. Grimnisse then formed Throne of Katarsis. An Eternal Dark […]

I was a long holdout from the cd format, resisting until 1994 when I could no longer find things on either vinyl, first choice, or cassette, second choice, so when Horna started releasing vinyl only releases, even though my turntable was broken, I purchased each and every one of them starting with Sota. Eventually I […]

First I must state that these releases represent one thing, classic limited releases selling for exorbitant prices are now widely available. As a bonus, these songs are on cd format for the world audience. I already own both the vinyl and cd releases of these gems and purchased the cd version because I was too […]

First I must state that these releases represent one thing, classic limited releases selling for exorbitant prices are now widely available. As a bonus, these songs are on cd format for the world audience. I already own both the vinyl and cd releases of these gems and purchased the cd version because I was too […]

I was a long holdout from the cd format, resisting until 1994 when I could no longer find things on either vinyl, first choice, or cassette, second choice, so when Horna started releasing vinyl only releases, even though my turntable was broken, I purchased each and every one of them starting with Sota. Eventually I […]

Shining is not new to extreme metal fans. They have been trying to get lots of attention over the past year. I guess they felt some people just didn’t understand, so they changed the name of their web page from suicidesquadron to shiningangst, and if that wasn’t obvious enough, they sent out fake press release […]

Three quality releases all on Folter Records, which is why I picked up the first one, Folter has never let me down, one of the few labels where you don’t have to worry about listening first. Strijd was high quality black metal, high pitched shrieks, corpsepaint and swords, and all lyrics in Dutch. Verwoesting/Devastation was […]

For the past decade, if you wanted to form a mosh pit at a Sigh show you had to bring your own music. Hangman’s Hymn changes everything. Calling it a return to form would be unfair but a nod to both their early days and the early days of black and thrash metal is definitely […]

Officially referred to as “demo 2006”, the self titled debut by Maine’s blackened folkdeath band Shadar Logoth does not really deserve the demo tag. Sure the sound is weak and the band produced it themselves, but I can think of many ‘real’ releases with worse sound and far less developed song writing and less accomplished […]

Marduk is a kid in the candy shop band, a drop everything and pop it in the cd player with excitement band. When a new disk arrives, the world screeches to a halt until I’ve listened to the disk a few times, then I slowly start to recognize those worried glances from passing motorists… Rom […]

UTD: Beneath the Odd-Edge Sounds of the Twilight Contract of the Black Fascist / The Wealth of the Penetration in the Abstract Paradigms of Satan is the latest offering from Norway’s Furze. Furze operates in an other dimensional plane of reality. Those of the “real” world cannot connect to his world without a spirit guide, […]

From the ashes of Germany’s Nagelfar comes The Ruins of Beverast, a project originating in 2003. Rain Upon the Impure is the second cd. For a time period of one hour and twenty minutes you can commiserate with Alexander in a maelstrom of doom black metal. Long songs, fuzzy guitars, droning synths, and hypnotic drums […]

What do you get when Nachtmystium drummer and Cult of Daath vocalist/drummer Wargoat Obscurum takes a break for a side project? Alioth is an occult one man band formed in 2001 in order to compose occult atmospheric music in the style of legendary bands such as Varathron, Acheron, Master’s Hammer, and Rotting Christ. The debut […]

first encountered Dodsferd mid 2006 when I ordered Desecrating the Spirit of Life from Blackmetal.com based upon one phrase “Nordic-influenced Black Metal is heavily inspired by USBM legend Judas Iscariot” Being a Motorhead purist (the first album I ever bought with my own money was Overkill in 79) I immediately appreciated the scratchy rasp of […]

White faces scowling out of the darkness, an indecipherable logo, songs about darkness, night, cold, winter, storms, mist, and one called Immortal can mean only one thing. True Norwegian Black Metal comes to Greece. Winterdemons is a new band formed in 2003 in Greece based upon the premise that Immortal did it right back in […]