The Satanist is a tale of redemption, of perseverance.  Not solely for Nergal and Behemoth, but for this author as well.  I’ll go ahead and get the fact that I’ve been an absolute unflinching Behemoth fanboy for well over a decade now.  I love everything, the early black metal days, the masterfully blackened Grom, the […]

It’s their shortest record to date. They are treading less new ground. It’s less chaotic. It doesn’t quite strike the listener like Outre. Now that all of the things you’ve already read about Vexovoid have been reiterated, we can concentrate on just how mammoth of a record it really is.  If you’re not already familiar […]

Well, it isn’t exactly easy to review less than 9 minutes of music in any meaningful way. But Phasm’s 2013 demo absolutely smashes together 4 triumphant songs in this time frame. Call it frantic, frenetic, frenzied, or hysterical; each word has a worthy place among the pantheon of eligible descriptors for this wonderfully energetic debut. […]

This is fucking ugly. A bleak, miserable, experience fit only for the most masochistic listeners. Those uninitiated should stay away. If you’re still reading, you’ll be rewarded. Starting off as a way for 2 incredibly talented and classically trained musicians to take out their frustrations with music in general, Venowl was spat forth from hell […]

Where the hell did this album come from?  If Sweden’s Graveyard met California’s Queens of the Stone Age and made a baby with an attitude problem, its name would be Medusa.  Stoner, doom, sludge, and balls out rock ‘n’ roll collide to compose the aggressively fun 15 minute EP called Divine Malice. There is so […]

This is a polarizing release for me. When I first heard it was happening, I was confounded. I didn’t think the bands fit together, and though I absolutely love Panopticon, the inclusion of Vestiges I was decidedly less enthusiastic about. Vestiges play a mash-up of Fall of Efrafa-esque post metal and crust with inclusions of […]

The recent wave of crusty, punky, black metal has been both a blessing and a curse. While a lot of great acts have crept up from the mire in the past few years (notably: Martyrdod, Seeds in Barren Fields, Young and in the Way), there has still been a glut of uninspired Darkthrone clones releasing […]

Fattura Della Morte is a band not afraid to wear its influences on its sleeve. On their newest EP Ouranophobia (the fear of heaven), if I didn’t know they were from Australia, I’d assume they were from Louisiana. I’ve been aware of the band for a few years and even had a copy of their […]

Though I usually don’t “do” compilation albums, this recent string of bands releasing their rare / hard to find / split / demo tracks on sets of CDs has been very enjoyable for me. Relapse is shortly releasing a 3CD set from Horseback (pre-ordered), Gilead Media has been slowly hinting at a 3CD set compiling […]

Lesbian has been on my radar since their 2008 split with the amazing doom band Ocean. From there I snagged 2007’s awesome Power Hor, and anxiously awaited 2010’s killer Stratospheria Cubensis. So when I heard 2013 would bring a 45 minute, single track full-length titled Forestelevision, I was stoked. Lesbian are an odd group. They […]

After really thinking about what I wanted to say about this record, I began to question whether reviewing a release this high-profile truly mattered. Please let me know if you’ve never heard of Gorguts, and are just reading this review because you are interested in who they are and what they do. Contact me too […]

So Mike “Gunface” McKenzie, the guitarist for Deathcore titans The Red Chord and Beyond the Sixth Seal has a Doom project. How should someone like myself who pretty much despises anything with the Deathcore tag (full disclosure: I can still rock Fused Together In Revolving Doors hard, and even dug Clients), but is a long […]

When it comes to Black Metal in Kentucky, I typically think of bands with the ‘atmospheric’ touch. Bands like Wheels Within Wheels, Panopticon, and Merkaba are the standard fare it seems. It just so happens that Austin Lunn from Panopticon started Anagnorisis in 2003. After the first release in 2007, Austin left the band to […]

Continuing with tradition, Adam at Gilead Media has yet again released another of the undeniable best records of 2013. Northless‘ second full-length, World Keeps Sinking is an absolute behemoth-sized mash-up of their blend of Sludge, Doom, Post-Metal, and dare I say I feel a little Prog in there? Shhhh, it’s okay. Picture a shootout between […]

Canada is not exactly the frozen, snow-capped, northern land I think of when I’m looking for Black Metal. It is especially surprising that Neige Eternelle (French for Eternal Snow, go figure) hail from my neighbors to the north when their sound is so distinctly Norwegian, and so very 1995. It definitely seems there are two […]

You know that ominous drone that sets off every record that’s supposed to have a “dark” atmosphere? It’s here. Don’t get me wrong, I love that drone. You hold a note for 79 minutes and put it on a CDr; I’ll buy it, or at least download it from your BandCamp. You know that growly […]

While I am far from the highest authority when it comes to ultra-kvlt, super underground, cassette only, no website Black Metal, it is not frequent that I come across a release from a band, or in this case two, that have been around for nearly half a decade or more, that I have never even […]

The whole of Anarchic finds Skagos focusing upon their atmospherics and expanding further on the sounds found on the Split with Panopticon (whose tracks form one half of his brilliant On The Subject Of Mortality). This is a complicated record that is “lyrically complex, focusing on the death of the Earth and the renewal inherent […]

Dark Descent Records has been on an absolute tear of killer releases in the past few years. Off the top of my head they have put out great records by: Ritual Necromancy, Entrails, Burial Invocation, Mitrochondrion, and Thantifaxath. If the rest of their catalog is as good as the aforementioned, or Lantern’s spectacular debut Below, […]

Organs swell. Drums stomp to life. Soaring single notes harmonize and add atmosphere. This is “The Inception.” This funeral march is leading us somewhere. Probably the graves of its victims, who are most likely every single other Doom-cum-Black Metal release this year. Lychgate’s self-titled 2013 debut is surprising, stirring, horrifying, and engrossing. This frightening foursome […]

I believe to be a truly great band / artist; you absolutely have to be great at performing live. I want to see them and be absolutely floored that someone could take an album I love, and turn it into something transcendent that is not just heard, but experienced. Murder By Death (who, despite the […]