Oct 312016
 

deathspell-omega-the-synarchy-of-molten-bones

 

Some of you have been rick-rolled in recent days by YouTube streams uploaded by assholes, advertised as tracks from the new Deathspell Omega album, when in fact it was a song by Outré or something else. But about thirty minutes ago on this Samhain evening (or afternoon here in the Pacific Northwest), Deathspell Omega made the full stream of The Synarchy of Molten Bones live on their Bandcamp page for the album, despite the November 8 release date. I learned of this through a Bandcamp alert because I had pre-ordered the album.

I’m anxious to listen, as many of you will be, but have delayed the experience just long enough to type these words… and to embed the stream after the jump. Continue reading »

Oct 302016
 

antaeus-condemnation

 

As usual, I had trouble picking which songs to include in this Sunday’s edition of Shades of Black — just too damned much new music in a blackened vein that I wanted to recommend. But in the end, this collection felt right to me. It includes considerable variety as well as a mix of well-known names and obscure unknowns (who will perhaps become somewhat better known after today).

I’ve presented the music in alphabetical order by band name, except I bumped Antaeus up by one place to begin this playlist, because… duh… it’s fucking Antaeus.

ANTAEUS

Ten years after their last studio album Blood Libels, the French black metal band Antaeus have a new album set for release on November 18. Entitled Condemnation, it was recorded by guitarist Set and vocalist MkM as the two sole members of the band, with session drums by Menthor (Enthroned, Lucifyre, Nightbringer), who coincidentally was the drummer on the excellent debut album of the Dutch band Soulemission that we premiered just a few days ago. Continue reading »

Oct 292016
 

bethlehem-cover-art

 

Hey there, happy Saturday to one and all. I kept a list over the last week of (mostly) new music I enjoyed. With the aid of an abacus, I counted how many songs, EPs, and albums were on that list. They added up to 39 (!). I moved some of them into the list of candidates for tomorrow’s Shades of Black post. I then picked the following nine for this playlist. There’s not a lot of rhyme or reason to the selections, though I did aim to provide wide genre variety. I hope you find something to like — I liked all this stuff a lot.

BETHLEHEM

This year the influential German band Bethlehem are celebrating their 25th anniversary by releasing a self-titled album (their eighth overall) on December 2 via Prophecy Productions. The album features a new vocalist, i.e., Onielar, from the German black metal band Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult, and a new Russian guitarist known as Karzov, who participated significantly in the songwriting.I think it’s worth including this quote from Marcus Losen, Bethlehem‘s drummer in the early years:

“Apparently somebody in this f*cking universe answered my longstanding wish at last. These 10 tracks have the spirit and the balls I missed in Bethlehem for more than 18 years!”

Continue reading »

Oct 282016
 

mammoth

 

(This is the fourth part of a multi-part post prepared by Austin Weber putting the spotlight on recent releases, and today he focuses on music from these three bands: Mammoth, Nostril Caverns, and Vermine. To check out Part 1, go here; Part 2 is at this location; and Part 3 can be found here.)

 

MAMMOTH – DEVIATION

We’ll start today on a lighter note with the newly released instrumental progressive metal album from the Los Angeles-based group known as Mammoth. While the group has been active for several years now, and with several releases behind them already, I only recently became aware of them when their guitarist Wes pitched Deviation to me and I instantly fell in love. Similar to Mastodon, the band’s name fits so well, because their music really is a massive force similar in size and heft to a damn mammoth. Continue reading »

Oct 272016
 

bolzer-i-am-iii

 

I’ve been racking up the airline miles lately. I got back to Seattle late last night after a whirlwind trip to New York for my day job, one in which I probably spent as much time in airport security lines and on airplanes as I did in New York. Beautiful time of year to be there, though.

You may also have noticed that we’ve had a flood of premieres this week. Four more are coming today. Between traveling and writing all those premieres, I haven’t had time to pull together round-ups, and man, this has been a week when multiple round-ups would have been justified. With so much to choose from, I’ve impulsively picked these three bands. The plan is to put together more round-ups for tomorrow and Saturday in an effort to catch up.

BÖLZER

A few days ago the mighty Swiss juggernaut Bölzer released another song from their new album Hero, which will be released on November 25 through Iron Bonehead Productions. The first song that appeared, “I Am III”, was more than 10 minutes long — a dramatic, majestic, dark, brooding, esoteric, and triumphant piece in which the band moved in some dynamic new directions. The latest track, “Spiritual Athleticism“, is a more compact affair and perhaps more in line with what we were expecting based on Bölzer‘s previous releases. Continue reading »

Oct 232016
 

Schammasch

 

This Sunday’s edition of Shades of Black is quite large, but I nevertheless decided not to divide it into two parts for fear that I’d get diverted by something and never finish Part 2.

The first two items are new videos for songs from previously released albums. The next three are new songs from forthcoming albums. And the last three items are all songs from releases that have been out for a while but that I only discovered recently.

SCHAMMASCH

Andy Synn wrote a special three-part review (collected here) for Triangle, the new album by Schammasch, calling it “a true triumph of ambition and creativity”: “[A]ny listener who embraces the experience of Triangle on its own terms, with their eyes, their ears, and their mind open to the spiritual signals it transmits, will find their decision rewarded ten-fold.” Continue reading »

Oct 232016
 

thornium-dominions-of-the-eclipse

 

Thornium was a band I was considering for our usual Sunday installment of The Rearview Mirror. Throneum was a band I was considering for this Sunday’s installment of Shades of Black. And then in rapid succession last night I came across songs by Thoren and Thornspawn that Facebook friends had posted on their pages. How could I resist?

Well, obviously, I couldn’t. And so rather than isolate Thornium in a Rearview Mirror post, I’ve compiled this selection of songs instead.

THORNIUM

Sweden’s Thornium recorded a demo in 1994, and their debut album Dominions of the Eclipse was released in 1995 by a label named Necromantic Gallery Productions. Two other albums followed that one (after a few stints in prison for the band’s founder Daniel “Thypheuz” Munoz), Mushroom Clouds and Dusk in 2009 and Fides Luciferius in 2010. The band’s Facebook page includes a note from May of 2015 indicating that they were set to record a new album that summer, with the title of Deathcatharsis, but I’ve seen no further news about that. When it is complete, it appears that Soulseller Records will release it. Continue reading »

Oct 222016
 

clouds-departe

 

Greetings brethren and sistren on this beautiful Saturday. At least it’s beautiful where I am, deep in the heart of Texas, where I’ve been visiting family members the last couple of days. In fact, it’s such a beautiful morning that I felt compelled to ugly it up with new metal. I found some good ways to do that, which you will hear below, and I found one other surprise, too.

But before we get to music that will bruise the day, I’m beginning this collection with something that’s as beautiful in its own way as this morning. And before I get to THAT song, I’ll leave you with YouTube links to some new music and videos that appeared just yesterday from the following bands, though I’m not writing about them here: Hail Spirit Noir; Madder Mortem; and Dark Tranquillity. I’ll also embed the videos at the end of this post if you’d rather not leave our humble site to hear and see them.

CLOUDS

I thank Grant Skelton for alerting me to this first song, which appeared about five days ago. Its name is “How Can I Be There” and it’s from Departe, the second album by the band Clouds. Continue reading »

Oct 202016
 

wedrujacy-wiatr-band

 

Well, here we are on a Thursday and this is our first new music round-up of the week. I suppose it goes without saying that, four days into the week, I now have a very long list of songs and videos I’ve found that I like enough to recommend — but don’t have time or room to mention all of them.

I’ve made some choices that range far and wide in their musical styles, but because I have a hard time making choices, this is still a big post despite the fact that I haven’t been able to include everything. Stay with me though, because there’s a lot of good music below.

WĘDRUJĄCY WIATR

I first heard of Wędrujący Wiatr through an enthusiastic recommendation by Austin Lunn, the man behind Panopticon. When he first told me about the band, word had surfaced that a new album would be coming out this fall, but no music was yet available;  Austin‘s enthusiasm was based on the band’s debut album, 2013’s Tam, gdzie miesiąc opłakuje świt, and after I listened to it, I understood his passion for the music.

Well, now we have a song from the new album, and it’s pretty magnificent. Continue reading »

Oct 142016
 

decathexis-art

(This is the second part of a multi-part post prepared by Austin Weber putting the spotlight on recent releases, and today he focuses on music from these three bands: VIII, Shioya, and Cyprus. To check out Part 1, go here.)

VIII – DECATHEXIS



For all the things in modern society we blame on social media, the flip side is how much good comes from using it as a tool to spread and share new music and other art forms. Without it, I would never have heard of VIII, a strangely named Italian black metal group whose new album Decathexis continues to blow my fucking mind. Continue reading »