My probably blasphemous view on black metal is that it’s best compared to chicken, not fish. That is to say–don’t serve that shit raw. Oh, I know the proud history of this genre of ours, but good production makes it all the better. Still, I’ll try anything twice, so when looking for something to take my mind off of some food poisoning, something described as emotive melodic raw black metal sounded right.
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Caustic Wound – Grinding Mechanism of Torment
Caustic Wound faced the sophomore slump phenomenon many bands encounter after releasing a stellar debut. Their answer? Five years of silence following the superb Death Posture. That waiting strategy paid off handsomely with their newest album, Grinding Mechanism of Torment. No rust, just riffs.
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Liminal Shroud – Visions of Collapse Review
Peat counts himself an atmoblack fan but at the same time, believes there are a lot of bands that prove the haters right. It’s a tough style to get right. That’s why the intro of Liminal Shroud’s Visions of Collapse filled him with hope and fear at the same time. As the curtain falls, what will your vision be?
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Cell Press – Cages Review
At the time of this review, Alice has sat and listened to Cages for about half the year, searching for the right words to say. At this album’s best, you can hear the makings of something special — a band that deserves the stardom and headliner status that contemporary luminaries. And at its worst? Well, they say no press is bad press…
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Adversarial – Solitude with the Eternal… Review
It’s a great year to be a blackened death metal fan. There’s been an embarrassment of riches within this microgenre so far — Diabolic Oath, Endless Loss, Heresiarch, to name a few — and we haven’t reached the halfway point of the year yet. So how will Adversarial’s new album Solitude with the Eternal… fare in this blackened treasure trove?
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Apogean – Cyberstrictive Review
Wasting no time with an intro piece, this album kicks off with “Bluelight Sonata”, which does a good job showcasing what Apogean does correctly: hooky, catchy riffs. Unlike their contemporaries in the tech death scene, this band focuses more on writing riffs than writing wanksterpieces. But is that enough to get a high score from the eggplant bat?
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Dissimulator – Lower Form Resistance Review
It riffs. The amount of times an album has been explained to me with just these two words is staggering. The quality of “having riffs” is enough for many a metalhead, thrashers in particular, to fall in love with an album. That said, Dissimulator riffs. But is that all?
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Tomb Mold – The Enduring Spirit Review
What we get on The Enduring Spirit is certifiably fantastic, but I cannot say that I could have foreseen the direction Tomb Mold would take with this album – or that anyone could have, really. This new album utilizes the dichotomy between different textures, tonalities, timbres and moods like I haven´t heard a metal album do in quite a while. Dining on that fine mold.
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Sacrenoir – Comme des Revenants Parmi les Ruines Review
Touted by the label as being a mix of various second wave bands, such as Darkthrone and Gorgoroth, this is an album that promises a throwback to the 90s with its icy style of black metal. It seems that 30 years on, the ice has melted.
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Crypts of the Unknown: Bergraven – Det Framlidna Minnet
