SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2): FERALIA, ARCTOS, DOLD VORDE ENS NAVN, OSSOMANCER, HAR

 SHADES OF BLACK  1 Response »
Sep 022019
 

 

HA!  Surprised you, didn’t I? I already posted a SHADES OF BLACK column in its usual place yesterday, and I didn’t hint that there would be a second column this week. Or at least I didn’t give any hints yesterday. I did hint last Sunday (a week ago) that I had a second Part in the works. I just didn’t get it finished before the hectic weekdays began. But this is that second Part which I had planned 8 days ago. That makes the music a bit dated, but no worse the wear for that.

I’ll also wish a Happy Labor Day to those of you in the U.S. and Canada who are enjoying the holiday. You gotta love a holiday that celebrates labor by giving people an excuse not to work.

FERALIA

On August 11th the Italian black metal band Feralia released their first single, “Conception“, which was also the first excerpt from their album, Helios Manifesto. The album is described as “a concept that runs through the mystical / initiatory path of man as ‘god’ of himself, using sometimes Aleister Crowley and thelemic extracts to explain with images an esoteric and initiation mood”. On this album the trio of Italian musicians are accompanied by Tibor Kati (Negura Bunget, Sur Austru) as the lead singer. Continue reading »

AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): HAR — “VISITATION”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
Feb 282018
 

 

Visitation is the name of the new EP by the Israeli band HAR, and it does indeed conjure the atmosphere of a terrifying intrusion into our own world by hungering forces from shadow realms where death reigns supreme. This ghastly offering of black/death terrorism will be released by Sweden’s Blood Harvest Records  on March 2nd, and to help spread the word we’re offering you a full music stream today.

The three songs encompassed by Visitation sound as if they were recorded in a sepulcher cut from basalt deep underground, everything reverberating as if bounced back and forth off massive dank walls and a vaulted ceiling lost in the darkness. The sounds are dense, unearthly, and inhuman. And those sounds give rise both to explosions of violent chaos and to a pervasive air of horrible grandeur. Continue reading »