Black metal used to be about icy feelings — depression, hate , borderless self-expression. Scuttlegoat, for one, is quite glad that black metal musicians have discovered that having material that can actually be grabbed on to is beneficial. He wholly welcomes the rise of blackened traditional metal, which Tubal Cain and Slime Abyss fall into nicely. What once was kvvl is now kvlt again.
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Lord Agheros – Anhedonia Review
Anhedonia clearly stretches the black metal genre tag a very long way. Yes, you can hear practices inherited from black metal bands in Lord Agheros’ work, but they’re all quite divorced from the traditional framework. Yet without using that genre tag, without expressing a desire to belong to that movement, I’d have maybe missed this and that’d have been a shame.
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Sabhankra – Nocturnal Elegies Review
Album names shape expectations, and Nocturnal Elegies suggested something atmospheric. Sabhankra’s mix of melodic black metal, folk, and even thrash reinforced that idea — but they defied expectations.
Sometimes, it’s good to be wrong.
Urfeind – Dauþalaikaz Review
Today on the chopping block: Urfeind, with third album Dauþalaikaz. Urfeind are new to me, yet I try to approach any new thing with an open mind, and I can appreciate a good slab of pagan black metal, so long as it’s done correctly. Is this my new obsession, or is Dauþalaikaz yet another of the countless black metal albums not worthy of your time and attention?
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Häxkapell – Om jordens blod och urgravens grepp Review
Häxkapell leans into a sound that is unmistakably Scandinavian. But Om jordens blod och urgravens grepp is also a black metal album that pays attention to making most of the trek through this earthy forest path memorable. Can its sadboi chords cast a spell on you?
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Crypts of the Unknown: Khonsu – The Xun Protectorate
Join us as Metalligator reminisces on Khonsu’s 2016 release The Xun Protectorate. Oh, never heard of it? Well here in the Crypts we specialize in the unknown, the uncelebrated, and the uncovered, no matter how recent or distant. We can’t keep all our dirty little secrets… though we have to admit, it’s easy to keep secrets in the depths of space…
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Necromaniac – Sciomancy, Malediction & Rites Abominable
Black metal as an ingredient can be very interesting if added in reasonable quantities. Listening to Sciomancy, Malediction & Rites Abominable felt like sifting through a promising pile of raw ingredients that never quite form any edible dish. Guess Bobo’s not eating any time soon.
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This Week In Metal, 2025 Week 3
Welcome to 2025 with another round of metal reviews in the bag. Words are tough, so we assembled the highlights. And if you want to read the latest reviews for the new offerings from Patriarkh and The Cimmerian, you can do that, too!
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Patriarkh – Prorok Ilja Review
For the uninitiated, this band’s original name was Batushka, or at least vocalist Bartłomiej Krysiuk tried to claim it was. But after a legal battle for the rights to the name Batushka, Krysiuk lost and was forced to rename his incarnation of Batushka. But he didn’t name it Bartushka. You might just like Prorok Ilja anyway!
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Crypts of the Unknown: Loss – Horizonless
