Jun 152024
 

For this currently foggy-headed writer yesterday was a hell of a day and last night was a hell of a night. There was food grilled near hot coals, copious drinking, fire, and conversation far into the night among people who could barely understand each other. Deep underground with the oxygen cut off, a bigger bed of hot coals started cooking some things; today we will reconvene to discover the results.

Depending on those results we may eat grass and go our separate ways early, or it may be another late night. But yeah, it’ll probably be a late night regardless; there’s still plenty of beer, wine, and dry wood on hand.

And that’s an explanation for why this usual Saturday roundup is appearing so late and is so short, and a preview that Sunday’s black metal roundup may befall the same fate.

Continue reading »

Dec 042020
 

 

It’s always a welcome day at our site when we have the chance to help spread the word about the music of Burial Oath. We had the pleasure of premiering and reviewing this Cleveland black metal trio’s debut album, Beyond the Vale of Shadowlands, back in 2017. It made a striking impression. The music was sulfurous and savage, but its ferocity was more than matched by the appeal of its dark melodies and the dynamism of its rhythms and energies. The next year the band released their second album, and we praised it as well:

Subjugation of the Bastard Son was recorded live, and it has the sort of immediacy and visceral power of a powerhouse live performance. The vocals are persistently scalding in their intensity; the blazing, booming, and hard-rocking drumwork seizes control of your pulse; the deep bass thrum seems like a frantic heart; and the riffs are irresistible, whether the guitars are racing in a ferocious fury or jangling and jumping. The music is often black-hearted and bleak, but the energy is nevertheless explosive, and the hooks in these songs are razor-sharp…. It’s the kind of record that richly rewards a complete listen from start to finish because these dudes do such a fine job filling these songs with dynamic twists and turns, and giving each one its own memorable qualities.”

And now we’re excited to spread the word about Burial Oath again. The band are working on a new album that they plan to record by the end of the year, and as a sign of what they’re doing they’ve created a video for a new song called “Pagan Fires“, which we’re proud to reveal today. Continue reading »

Oct 092018
 

 

I’ve chosen so much new music to feature in this stylistically eclectic round-up that I’m going to dispense with any further preface and just get right to it.

MAJESTIC DOWNFALL

Veins” is the first track released (just yesterday) from Majestic Downfall‘s new album, Waters Of Fate, which will be released on December 7th by Solitude Productions and Weird Truth Productions in Europe and Asia and by Chaos Records in the Americas. If you couldn’t guess based on how much praise we’ve heaped on this Mexican death/doom band over the years, this album is one we’ve been eagerly looking forward to. If possible, I’m even more eager now that I’ve opened those Veins. Continue reading »

Mar 312017
 

 

About 10 days ago we included two advance songs by the Cleveland melodic black metal band Burial Oath in one of our SHADES OF BLACK collections, and now it’s our pleasure to bring you a full stream of the debut album that houses those two, and six others. The album is Beyond the Vale of Shadowlands, and it will be released on April 7.

By way of introduction, I’m going to repeat what I wrote about those two advance tracks, and then add a few thoughts about the balance of this very multifaceted album. Continue reading »

Mar 202017
 

 

I don’t suppose there’s any need to blacken a Monday, since they’re usually bruised to begin with, but I didn’t have time to finish Part 2 of this post yesterday and so here we are.

Like yesterday’s Part 1, I’m beginning this one with an announcement, ending it with a video, and slotting in a full release (actually, two) along with some advance tracks. As always, everything here is recommended.

WORMWITCH

Prosthetic Records recently announced that they would be releasing the debut album Strike Mortal Soil by Vancouver, BC’s Wormwitch on May 12. Almost exactly one year ago we premiered a video for a single the band released called “Coffin Birth”. Continue reading »