SHADES OF BLACK: ISSOLEI, CAEDES CRUENTA, EGO, THE AMENTA, CULTED, VØIDWOMB, SUNNATA

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Dec 062020
 

 

Sometimes fortune smiles and these Sunday playlists just fall into place as if directed by some devilish higher lower power. In those times I move through songs I might be interested in, and by serendipity the music just flows in a way that makes sense. That didn’t happen today.

I had sorted out what I wanted to recommend, but had no good idea how to order them. I made an effort, but it’s still a pretty twisty and turny trip, made even more twisted by a last-minute addition prompted by a recommendation from my comrade DGR.

This episode is also different from most, in that it includes no complete releases, only advance tracks from forthcoming records. To spice things up, a few come with videos that will likely make you sit up and pay even closer attention.

ISSOLEI (Norway)

I decided to begin with a song called “King Apophis“, though I have very little information about the band or the release. Issolei apparently come from Trondheim, but beyond that they are a mystery. Terratur Possessions will release a debut Issolei record that includes this song, but hasn’t yet announced the title or a release date. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2): ARKHTINN, STARLESS DOMAIN, MISOTHEIST, GLOOMY, SARVOK, ANTE-INFERNO

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Nov 292020
 

 

If you happened to lose your way, you can find Part 1 of today’s black metal collection here. And now you can get lost in the music I’ve chosen for Part 2. Lots of twists and turns lie ahead.

ARKHTINN / STARLESS DOMAIN

I mentioned in Part 1 that on November 18th ПРАВА Коллектив (Prava Kollektiv) released no fewer than five full-lengths, and that I spent time this weekend with two of them, while remaining eager to check out the other three as soon as time permits. I picked one of those two to lead off Part 1, and the second one is this: an album-length split named Astrophobia that includes the music of Arkhtinn and Starless Domain and features cover art by Markov Soroka. The split consists of two epic-length tracks, one by each band. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 1): HWWAUOCH, KÖNIGREICHSSAAL, EXTIPICIUM, GLEMSEL

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Nov 292020
 

 

I was able to devote much of Saturday and this Sunday morning to music-listening. The result was not only yesterday’s gigantic round-up but also a two-part SHADES OF BLACK that I’m beginning here. I realize it’s too much to expect that any normal person would listen to all of this, but my enthusiasm often triumphs over practicality. It also often triumphs over my capacity to write, resulting in more hurried consideration and fewer words than the music deserves. That’s especially true today.

I devoted a big portion of the listening time to two of the five (!) full-length releases issued on November 18th by ПРАВА Коллектив (Prava Kollektiv). I’m beginning Part 1 of this post with one of those, and starting Part 2 with the second one. The other three look just as exciting, but I’ll have to get to those another day. This Part also includes another album, an EP, and an advance track. Hopefully you’ll have time to at least sample everything. Part 2 will be even longer.

HWWAUOCH

Based on past experience with this mysterious entity I would have eventually checked out Hwwauoch’s new album without any other encouragement, but the fact that three of my most trusted recommenders of music — Rennie (starkweather), Miloš, and eiterorm — all urged it my way elevated it on my listening list. The name of the album is Protest Against Sanity, and it’s one of those five Prava Kollektiv releases that emerged 10 days ago. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ONDSKAPT, SAINTE MARIE DES LOUPS, TOTALITARIAN, WAERLOGA, RAVENOIR, NEIGE ET NOIRCEUR

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Nov 222020
 

 

Today we begin our 12th year of existence, having celebrated our 11th birthday yesterday. It just so happens that we begin the next circle of the Earth around Sol on a Sunday, and an opportunity to blacken the sabbath again.

ONDSKAPT (Sweden)

After doing some searching I was surprised to learn that I’ve never previously written about the music of Ondskapt at our site, though I do see one (very old) mention by a guest contributor in a year-end list. This absence puzzles me. It is definitely more a regrettable oversight than a sign of disinterest. But now, finally, I can check that box, and do so enthusiastically thanks to the song I’ve picked to open today’s playlist. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: BEHERIT, HYRGAL, FUNERAL CANDIES

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Nov 152020
 

 

I’m not quite sure what got into me when I began focusing on what to cover in today’s edition of this column. Let’s just say that most of it is off the usual beaten paths. It’s also slightly more compact than what I usually manage, but that’s because I put a lot of time into another column today, which itself includes black metal. Check that one out here if you haven’t yet.

BEHERIT

Two days ago Beherit made a surprise album release — at least it came as a surprise to me, the first new music in 8 years. Bardo Exist is a massive thing, a 37-minute first half consisting of 11 songs and a second half that’s the 23-minute title track. I probably shouldn’t be writing anything about it because I’ve only listened to it once, but I know myself: If I don’t jump on something quickly, I get carried away to other things by the flood-tide of new releases. So here are some immediate reactions: Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: STORMKEEP, FROSTNATT, CIBOLA, CHANNELER, AKVAN, VOREUS, VALRAVNE

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Nov 082020
 

 

I spent a joyful day yesterday, though I was rooted in front of the TV instead of listening to metal. But the good feeling carried over into this morning as I began listening to things, and in rapid succession found music that just seemed to fit together beautifully for this column. The arc of sounds as I’ve arranged them here was almost exactly the sequence in which I heard them, and I’ve kept it that way even though not everything here qualifies as black metal.

What made the experience even more thrilling was that five of the seven bands here were new to my ears (some of the music comes from debut releases).

STORMKEEP (U.S.)

I don’t have to spend a lot of time formulating words to describe Stormkeep’s “Glass Caverns Of Dragon Kings“, because Jon Rosenthal did his usual excellent job in writing about it when Invisible Oranges premiered the track two days ago: Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DODENKROCHT, SHAGOR, NÉVOA, TYHJÄ, DØDSFERD, TE RUKI

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Nov 012020
 

 

This worked out okay. I woke up at 7:00 thinking I’d be late finishing SHADES OF BLACK again, and then realized after my first cup of coffee that I’d forgotten to set the clocks back. Suddenly, I had an extra hour. Fortunately, I also made all of today’s selections yesterday and had even added all the artwork, links, and a few notes. It just remained to create some complete sentences, not enough of them to qualify as careful reviews, but hopefully enough to tantalize you.

Tantalizing is the strategy of the day, because this week’s collection includes three complete albums and a three-track demo, in addition to two singles, and although they all merit the kind of thoughtful and thorough reviews that most other NCS writers manage, it’s beyond what I have time to do, even with an extra hour. So, please become tantalized.

DODENKROCHT

I’m beginning with one of the singles, a lyric video released two days ago for the title track to The Dying All. That’s the fourth album by the Dutch band Dodenkrocht, coming out on November 27th via the Swiss label Auric Records. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: EXITIUM SUI, BHLEG, EZKATON, GRABUNHOLD, KEISER, SPEEDKILLER

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Oct 252020
 

 

I got a late start on the day and therefore have had to adjust my plans for this week’s column. Running short on time, I’ve had to postpone brief reviews of some recently released albums that richly deserve attention and instead focus on new singles and advance tracks from forthcoming records. But they richly deserve attention too.

I’ve arranged these tracks in a way that provides a flow that made sense to me, starting off one way, taking a turn in a different direction, and then changing course one more time at the end. Coincidentally, one thing these tracks have in common (and they don’t have a lot in common) is that blast-beats are in short supply.

EXITIUM SUI

The title of the first song, “Eviscerate My Withered Soul“, tells you a lot about the mood of the music. Launched by ritual drums, ominous symphonic swells, and grim, seething chords, it stalks forward in a way that leaves feelings of oppressiveness and despair in its wake. Augmented by bestial growls and withering screams, the music’s intensity mounts, creating tension and tragedy in equal measure. There’s a sense of horrible grandeur in the music, commingled with fever and pain. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DARK BUDDHA RISING, SPYROS APOSTOLOU, INFANTS OF THE AFTERLIFE, GORRCH, SANCTUS HEXE, LYCOPOLIS

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Oct 182020
 

 

Although this column is principally devoted to flavors of black metal, sometimes I branch out and include music that’s outside the genre. Usually that happens when it’s something I don’t want to delay recommending, but it’s also usually music that at least to my ears has a “spiritual” kinship to black metal. And by “spiritual” I don’t mean satanic, but rather a kind of pitch-black mood that makes its placement in the playlist suitable (for want of a better word). I’ve done this today with the first two items.

DARK BUDDHA RISING

To begin, I’ve chosen an astonishing video made by Dehn Sora for the song “Sunyaga” by the Finnish dark underlords of psychedelic drone, Dark Buddha Rising. The song is from the band’s forthcoming seventh album, Mathreyata. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2): IGNIS GEHENNA, CEREMONIAL CASTINGS, VALRAVN, WŸNTËR ÄRVŃ

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Oct 112020
 

 

I don’t have much to say by way of introduction here, other than to urge you to listen to the music in Part 1 of today’s column if you haven’t, in addition to the fine new sounds I’ve chosen for this Part.

IGNIS GEHENNA (Australia)

“Sulphur Pit” was first released by this Tasmanian band as part of its 2008 debut demo Ecclesia Diabolus. But the song has been “re-imagined and re-written” for Ignis Gehenna‘s new album Rites of Transvaluation (which is the successor to 2017’s Baleful Scarlet Star) and in fact iit’s the song that opens the new record.

I haven’t heard the earlier version of “Sulphur Pit”, and so I’ve taken this new version just as it comes. It’s quite a striking experience. At more than eight minutes in length, it has room to change and explore. An aura of ritual emanates from the opening ambient tones, but the music becomes a flame-like ecstasy of rippling chords, climbing the scale and descending. In the midst of those quasi-deranged manifestations there are outbursts of ravishing savagery (the teeth-bared roars are always savage), and the music also conveys a kind of poisonous and bombastic grandeur, as well as melodies both bleak and baleful. Continue reading »

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