From Thunder Bay Ontario hails a new Canadian Viking squad. Raping the Ancient is the second full length release of black viking noise. Pure violence no melodies no rowdy drinking hymns. Just smash you in the head battle music. I was looking forward to hearing this disc because I have heard good things about their […]

Just like the band finding no need for lyrics or song titles, this music defies words of description. You simply have to hear it for yourself. The instrumentation is often excellent and those sections that the metal-in-the-narrow-sense fan would recognize are well done but simply not very important in the overall makeup of the album. […]

I’ve known about Arum since 2001 when they released their first cd. This is their second. This Brazilian black metal band is not bad but nothing extraordinary either. I do not want to trash them because I like the album and it shows effort, but nothing original here, which is usually not a sticking point […]

The artwork change for Singapore’s black thrash band Impiety demonstrates a renewed desire to enflame the general public. Piles of corpses from concentration camps adorn the cover and the cd. The booklet announces “man, the actual beast of hell, capable of committing the most bestial and heinous   great beast in all of us. And to […]

Lets acknowledge that the depravity factor was been toned down significantly. The imagery and lyrics are tame compared to Hell Injection and the music is more controlled, less chaotic, less hyper, and slower in pace. Apparently they no longer want you to think your daughter will get tortured if they move in next door. The […]

Let’s start off by saying I was a huge Black Sabbath fan and an even bigger fan of the Sabbath update known as Candlemass. Now we have Candlemass updated. The highlight of this disk is most definately track eight. “Solitude” is a personal favorite, and Naahz’ vision has done it justice. Cover songs rarely impress […]

The master of suicidal black metal returns with another twisted tale of madness, despair, isolation and pain. As usual, what stands out most is Wrest’s unmistakable voice. From album to album, Wrest is consistent in style and many songs would not feel out of place on any of his releases. If this kind of lack […]

Sear Bliss, the pre-eminent Hungarian pagan black metal band, returns with their sixth cd release in their ten year history and fifth full length recording. Once again the album was produced by former guitarist Viktor Scheer. Many aspects of this album remain the same, though some things have changed. This is the first cover not […]

This album would be more appropriately named Telapathetic with the Deceased, though I’m being overly harsh. On first listen I admit to being disappointed. The vocals are buried, the mix is horrible and the music is watered down suicide/doom black metal; run of the mill uninspired, unoriginal, monotonous.This one man band has been around nearly […]

1349 is back with their second full album, and third release overall, and it is the most proficient material to date, such sweet disharmony, almost sacred in its blasphemy.I like the formula, I like the sound quality (the details do not get buried). Great energy and technical precision. More complex than Liberation, it took me […]

Astarte is one of those bands that has a quiet history, usually making their presence known only when they release a new album. I’ll admit to not listening to them much at all over the years but when I pulled out my copies of Doomed Dark Years and Quod Superius, Sicut Inferius , which I […]

This is Norwegian black metal. Elite is a new band, formed in 2001, playing an old style. There are many bands playing nostalgic black metal and a few that play it extremely well. From the opening cymbals to the closing laughter, truly a delightful surprise. Yes I find true black metal delightful. The misery of […]

I must confess to having ignored this talented Australian old school death band since 1997. They formed in 1994, have had many, many line up problems, and only ex-Destroyer 666 member Chris Volcano remains from the beginning. I picked up their split album with Mornaland, for the Mornaland half I must confess again, and found […]

Bestial Mockery is, of course, obsessed with chainsaws, and aside from that gimmick offer little to distinguish themselves. That being said, this album is surprisingly good. The nostalgia factor is high, bringing the listener back to the mid 80’s heyday of thrash when Slayer ruled. Slayer is a very obvious influence and the guitar work, […]

I discovered this band accidently back in 1997 when the cover of Blutsabbath caught my attention in a record store. I had never heard of them and picked it up solely because of the cover. Shortly thereafter I found The Last Supper at the same store. Ever since I’ve been telling people about them and […]

Woods of Belial is a Finnish “industrialized black doom” band, borrowing from such acts as Skepticism and Abruptum and Darkthrone. They have been around since 1996, started recording Deimos XIII in 2000, and finished it in 2003. This is their first album, following two demos, and three labels. Firebox claims this to be “51 minutes […]

A few years back, Berserk’s debut album was a pleasant surprise, an excellent album from an unknown band. Obitus played a significant role with his synthesizers, so I was a bit concerned when I learned that he was leaving and was not going to be replaced. When I first head this new album was finished […]

Let’s start off by saying that this disc came to me for review with no information and nothing that identified which label released it. Neither the booklet nor the disc inself mention a label. Here is what I know. Parasite Records released this album on vinyl limited to 555 copies, it was recorded back in […]

This is a re-release on Behemoth Productions, the first release by that label. Black Funeral is a thing of the past, having long ago devolved into dark ambient industrial noise. This material was recorded without vocals in 1996. The vocals were added in 2000. This is very poor sound (on purpose) very simplistic playing (on […]

When Nordavind, the most corpse-like being in all of black metal, left, I feared the mighty Carpathian Forest would change drastically. His Frostian flourishes were always inspired and were one of the quirks that made the band one of the elite. Easily one of the most consistent of the long standing black metal bands, they […]

This 10 song 70 minute album by the U.S. based black metal misanthrope, Wrest, is described as Judas Iscariot grimness meets Burzum’s mesmerizing quality. Wrest calls it dark art for the satanic elite. Wrest performs all instruments in this mostly slow, pointedly simple music. It does have the mesmerizing quality of old Burzum, but not […]

As promised, more songs based upon novels by the Hungarian musical wizard, or is it demon? Last time the narrator found himself transformed into a demon, this time the songs are based upon the novels of John Caldwell. Demons once again reign. The orchestration is less aimless, more dynamic and more tightly structured as distinct […]

What can I say about Tidfall? Industrial black electronica, a Dimmu Borgir and Kovenant clone. In a word, they suck. Now I guess I have to tell you why. The electronica/ samples are more intrusive, not a good thing. They lack intensity, are not ‘grim,’ fast, blasphemous, evil, tortured… or interesting. The production is not […]

This is primitive black metal with minimal distortion, a very clear production, but not burnt. Raw may be favored by many fans, including Nazgul, but this disc proves that sliding the scale upwards slightly yields many rewards. Nazgul says he prefers the more raw, simple and harsh style of Darkthrone, Marduk, and Carpathian Forest. The […]

I’ll admit to being initially interested in this band because Frost did the drum tracks. I read that tidbit in a catalog selling the self titled cd and ordered it immediately. That was a few years ago and after listening to this new cd Liberation, it should be obvious to all that 1349 is far […]