SHADES OF BLACK: VALLETTA, OFERMOD, KAECK, ILDARUNI, MULM, HYPNOSINOSIS

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  1 Response »
Sep 072025
 

(written by Islander)

In this week’s edition of SHADES OF BLACK I’ve called attention to recent songs excerpted from forthcoming albums by four bands. After that I’ve highlighted two recently released albums that really made an impact on my addled head and heart. And “highlighted” is the right word, because I just haven’t had enough time to give either of them the more comprehensive review they deserve. But as I always tell myself on days like this, something is surely better than nothing.

I’m not sure I have a coherent way of trying to sketch out how the musical experiences change from one selected band to the next. They’re all diabolical in their own ways, but you might get a couple of instances of whiplash as musical shifts occur. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ONE OF NINE, WALDGEFLÜSTER, KALEŽ, ARROWS

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  5 Responses »
Aug 312025
 

(written by Islander)

Today I decided to focus on four selections: two songs from forthcoming albums, a debut EP, and a debut full-length. The two songs are tragic but breathtaking. The EP and the album are also stunning, in different ways.

The world often seems like it’s either burning or devolving into a deep and disgusting pool of glop (“shit” is an overused word), but if you immerse yourself in what I’ve chosen today I wager you’ll forget all about that, even if it will all eventually come back to you. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: 1914, KAECK, KORP, MALAKHIM, OUTLAW, BLACNK, VÖRNIR

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Aug 242025
 


(written by Islander)

Welcome to another bloody blackened Sunday at our site. In deciding what to include today I fell into something like a fugue state, by happenstance finding one relentlessly intense song after another, and so engulfed by the experiences that I didn’t even think about trying to create some kind of musical detour before the end.

To be clear, you’re not about to get blown out by blizzards of raw black metal. All of these songs have vital melodic components, but even the melodies channel emotional intensity of differing kinds. But to be further clear, all the songs should get your hearts pumping and muscles throbbing too. (There’s also a bonus entry at the end.) Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ANTIVERSUM, PORENUT, VÖRNIR, BÁL, YMBEROPHILIA

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Aug 172025
 

(written by Islander)

About half an hour after I finished yesterday’s roundup I left home with my wife and didn’t return until nightfall. Waking up later than usual today, I immediately got diverted from anything musical by reading a long discussion by two really smart people about a harrowing political and economic subject. By the time I finally re-oriented myself to the column you’re now reading, my clock for this thing was winding down, so it’s shorter than I had hoped it would be.

In deciding what I’d need to leave on the cutting room floor, I found myself focusing on music that in different ways is unorthodox, at least in how I think about black metal orthodoxies. But you can be the judge of that, as I hope you will be. Of course, to judge, you need to listen. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ARA SUBVERSOR, FØSPHENE, KORELTSAK, NON SERVIAM, VOLLOÍOM

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Aug 032025
 

(written by Islander)

I have bit off more than I can chew. All five of today’s picks are complete albums or EPs. I have listened to a couple of them a couple of times and others only once. A good reviewer would only write about one or two of them, and do so thoroughly and after considered reflection. You’ll have to go elsewhere for that kind of coherent professionalism. Here, you’ll just find a dude jumping up and down, waving his arms and yelling “Listen to this!”

I put them in alphabetical order by band name because I couldn’t figure out a better way to arrange them as step-wise progressions of sound, and because my brain was already overloaded by what I bit off. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: HASARD, ETHEREAL WOUND, LOWERED HEAD, ANGE DE LA MORT, NEXION, ONDFØDT

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Jul 272025
 

(written by Islander)

This week’s column devoted to blackened sounds includes six individual songs, one each from five forthcoming albums plus a compelling new video. There’s another compelling video in the group too. To explain the choices: I fell down a rabbit hole that led to some very dissonant and disconcerting (and frequently eye-popping) tracks, one after another. And then I finally came across a song that pulled away from that; it’s the one at the end.

I had ambitions to write complete reviews of some of these forthcoming albums, i.e., to talk about songs you can’t hear yet, but personal events conspired to prevent me from doing all the listening and thinking that would have required. I may or may not be able to do that later, and so (as usual) I think it’s better to do what I’m able to do now to help spread the word rather than wait and wind up doing nothing. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: LUCTUS, NATÜRGEIST, MANIA, ARKHAAIK, TRYPANON, DOWNWARD

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Jul 132025
 

(written by Islander)

Although this Sunday’s collection includes varying shades and phases of black metal I would say they have unsettling sensations of madness and murder in common, and most of them feature a muscular heart-hammering punch as well as abundant doses of crazed ferocity and mind-bending psychosis.

In many instances you’ll also encounter some of the most unhinged vocals you’re likely to find outside the hideous real-world history of self-immolation.

Only in extreme metal could an introduction like that qualify as “enticing,” but I know our audience well enough that I’m sure it will be. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS, SEA MOSQUITO, PROFANE ELEGY, CRUENTATION, BEANNACHD LEIBH, MORTE TRIUNFANTE, ROUGAROU

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Jul 062025
 


Pestilential Shadows

(written by Islander)

I’ve been distracted by the tragic flooding in Central Texas, where I grew up. I still have a brother and sister-in-law in that area. Their property has been hit hard, but they are alive and whole, unlike a lot of other people. The rains continue, and so will the death count.

Nothing much I can do about this up here in the Pacific Northwest other than worry and grieve. The music provides a temporary distraction, and even some moments of catharsis. I hope what I picked today will do you some good too. The collection includes five individual songs, an EP, and an album. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: CAGED BASTARD, OBŠAR, SANGUISUGABOGG, IGORRR

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Jun 292025
 

(written by Islander)

Between signing off on yesterday’s roundup and starting this one, various events conspired to prevent me from making this one as substantial as yesterday’s. One of them involved a surfeit of gin, another a forgetfulness about something I agreed to do today with my spouse; possibly the two are connected.

A rash of new musical discoveries over the last 24 hours was also a contributing factor. They complicated the making of choices at a time when time has become short.

Well, enough about all that, I’d better get started or this collection will turn out to be even briefer than brief. Be forewarned: Nothing in here today resembles conventional black metal, or even black metal at all in some cases. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: AKVAN, ESKAPISM, PIT OF DESPAIR, IDOLOS

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  1 Response »
Jun 222025
 

(written by Islander)

I got a call last night from an anxiety-prone Millennial family member asking whether I thought World War III had just begun. He said he couldn’t bear to read very much about what had just happened but knew that I would have done so quickly.

I did my best to calm him down, tried to explain why I thought this won’t turn into WWIII and to assure him we’re all safe in Seattle (I didn’t mention the funding cuts to programs that combat domestic terrorism or the 22-year-old intern who was put in charge of the main DHS hub for that).

But yes, I’ve been reading a lot. I can’t help it, even though I know it’s pointless, even though no one really knows where this is headed but every pundit has an opinion (the smart ones tick off discouraging possibilities but then acknowledge that no one knows). It seems like an odd time to be thinking about music, but as usual on days like this the music becomes something of a refuge (NCS as a sanctuary city!). And so, on we go… but where to begin? Continue reading »

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