I’ve found my next Halloween album. You know, the music you put on your stereo, speakers pointing out an open window and blaring into the street for all the trick-or-treaters and their bemused parents? The past few years I’ve used a playlist of Cradle of Filth‘s overwrought instrumentals – way more elegant than the cheapo […]

With the first martial drumbeats and solemn horns of the opening title track, it seems as if Italian melodic black metal act Stormlord have taken this, their fourth album, back to the epic battle-hymns of their early work. And indeed they have, as the song crests into a seagoing epic worthy of Moonsorrow. Rousing melodies […]

‘Bring me my wine’, Ihsahn screams at the start of angL, like a tyrant celebrating dominion over all he sees. It’s a fitting sentiment for a man who’s remained part of black metal’s elite even long after vacating the throne he once conquered with Emperor. And in a reminder of his still-potent might, he launches […]

Judging by their name, you’d expect Herrschaft to be a German industrial act, all brooding Teutonic sturm und drang. You’d only be partly right – they’re actually French, and spew a harsh, danceable mix of pounding industrial, bristling electro and crunchy metal riffs. The vocals – heavily processed, of course – are definitely the most […]

Hailing from St Petersburg, Russia, Stalwart bills itself as modern death/thrash metal. That’s being modest, though – this is a progressive metal band through and through, melding elements of Meshuggah, Nevermore and Symphony X. After an ominous, symphonic intro, opener “System is Insane” unleashes a blast of Morbid Angel-like syncopation, taking a bludgeoning approach to […]

Like its namesake, Ghosts I-IV appeared out of nowhere, suddenly manifesting on nin.com with little advance warning. 36 tracks of ambient instrumentals, it’s exactly the kind of anti-commercial labor of love Trent Reznor’s been hinting at in his mounting criticism of the recording industry’s strangehold on artists and their creations. To that end, he’s put […]

Before its release, much had been written about Year Zero as a concept album: the anti-Bush/1984 storyline; the intricate alternate-reality-game’s online narrative; even how spectral analysis of certain soundbursts produce the cover’s bizarre Hand of God image. All cool stuff, but I’m more interested in how the music’s evolved. Since the days of The Fragile, […]

The Morningside hail from Russia and play a relaxed, melancholic brand of melodic death/doom. Brave Murder Day-era Katatonia and Morningrise-era Opeth immediately come to mind – not surprising, considering these bands are listed as influences. Aside from albums like Rapture’s Futile and some aspects of earlier Agalloch, this particular sound seems to be rare, so […]

On their debut album, Close to Prime, German outfit Luna Field had an interesting take on how to merge (in their words) “atmospheric black metal” with “militant death metal.” They simply split the album into two halves – the Dead Side and the Black Side. This was not a strict dichotomy, as the Black Side […]

This is a strange one. Hailing from the Ukraine, Phantasmagory blends progressive death with jazzy, serpentine synth soundscapes to create a cosmic, darkly whimsical experience. It’s like Cynic playing the soundtrack to a Final Fantasy game. Very odd. Makes Arcturus sound staid and predictable. Released in 2002, Anamorphosis of Dreams features a collection of Edward […]

This Japanese demo contains one of the coolest black metal songs you’ve never heard. There, that get your attention? Released in 1996, Under the Black Moon is one of a few demo releases from Gnome, aka Masanori ‘Wood,’ out of Osaka, Japan. Consisting of only two tracks, it’s essentially mid-paced atmospheric black metal with a […]