AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): LUCTUS — “TAMSOŠVIESA”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Oct 092025
 

(written by Islander)

Now almost a quarter-century into their lifespan, the Lithuanian black metal band Luctus are poised to release their fifth album Tamsošviesa (Chiaroscuro) via Inferna Profundus Records. As the band explain, it “marks a new passage in our journey through the ever-shifting borderlands of light and darkness,” representing “both a continuation and a turning point – a chapter where our path through the twilight sharpens into clear focus.”

The album is indeed a changing progression through realms of shadow and brightness, creating excursions within each song that are at times poignant and haunting, and at other times frighteningly diabolical and utterly ferocious. It’s a meticulously crafted work, viscerally powerful and hard-hitting but also frequently mesmerizing as it ranges from major tropes of black metal into sonic territories beyond those traditional boundaries.

We have a lot more to say about the album below, but the main point of this feature is to let you hear all of it for yourselves. Continue reading »

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

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
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 »

ANDY SYNN PRESENTS: REVIEWS IN HAIKUS (GHOSTS OF THE SUN, IRIST, LUCTUS, MAIASTRA, ORANSSI PAZUZU, SOLOTHUS)

 Reviews In Haikus  6 Responses »
Apr 172020
 

 

(Nineteen months after the last time he did this, Andy Synn has brought us another collection of three-line album reviews.)

I have to thank our buddies over at the Toilet Ov Hell for inspiring this brand new edition of “Reviews In Haikus”.

After all, if they hadn’t recently tried to steal my thunder then I probably would have forgotten all about this particular column (it turns out I haven’t done one since September 2018).

It’s good timing too, as there’s been a bunch of newly released (or newly discovered) albums from the past couple of months which I’ve been itching to write about, but which I simply haven’t found the right time (or right format) to cover properly.

So, without further ado, here’s a collection of reviews/critiques/comments all delivered in the form of the ageless haiku. Continue reading »

VIDEOGRAPHY: LUCTUS, KYOTY, ASG, NORTHERN GENOCIDE, LORD IMPALER, DIGITAL DOOMZDAY

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Nov 242015
 

Luctus 2015-photo by Luneth Vinonen

 

I had more than the usual amount of time to explore new music yesterday. As usual, I found a lot to like, so much that I’ve divided the discoveries into two posts. In this one, I’ve collected mostly recent videos from six bands.

LUCTUS

In September I reviewed Ryšys, the excellent new album by the Lithuanian black metal band Luctus, along with a full stream of the album. Luctus have now released an official live video for their cover of “He’s turning blue”, originally recorded by Carpathian Forest. It’s not the first time Luctus have covered the song — it appeared on their 2011 album Live at Intro (which is available here on Bandcamp). Continue reading »

LUCTUS: “RYŠYS” (A REVIEW AND A FULL-ALBUM STREAM)

 Reviews  3 Responses »
Sep 082015
 

Luctus-Rysys

 

I discovered the Lithuanian band Luctus for the first time at the end of July, reveling in the power of their last album (2013’s Stotis) and writing about a few of the songs (here). At that time, news was beginning to spread about their next release, a concept album named Ryšys (which means “connection”).

In mid-August an advance track from the album became available for listening — one named “Kvantinis šuolis” — and it proved to be as exhilarating as what I’d heard on Stotis. Now, the album has just been released by Inferna Profundus Records and the entirety of it has become available for streaming.

I’m very high on this record. It brings with a vengeance what many of us want first and foremost in black metal — cold, calculating savagery — but it does that with a powerfully heavy weight in the riffs and the kind of deep vocal growls more often found in death metal (along with skin-tearing shrieks, effective clean vocals, and even throat-singing!). Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: LUCTUS, PUTREFIED REMAINS, BLACK SUN RITUAL, FLESH SS

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  6 Responses »
Aug 162015
 

Luctus-Rysys

 

I spent a couple of hours yesterday listening to new songs and a few recent short releases. As usual, I found a lot to like, and the music I’ve collected here comes from various widely dispersed corners of the black metal soundscape.

LUCTUS

I discovered this Lithuania-based band only a few weeks ago and wrote enthusiastically about some of the songs from their last release (2013’s Stotis) in a previous edition of Shades of Black (here). As I mentioned in that previous post, Luctus have now finished recording a new concept album entitled Ryšys (which means “connection”), and finally a song from the album has just become available for streaming. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: VI, TSJUDER, MEPHORASH, THE CLEARING PATH, LUCTUS, WISDOM OF SHADOWS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK  12 Responses »
Jul 262015
 

VI-album art

 

I’m still surrounded by excellent new metal, like a cork bobbing in the ocean. In a post yesterday I collected four recently released songs and videos, and I have more to recommend today. In this post I’ve included three more new songs and one new album stream, followed by music from two releases that are not quite as new but are new to me. The music here falls within the realms of black metal, although as you’ll find out, the tracks are still quite diverse.

This is a long post with a lot of music in it, and perhaps I should have broken it up into pieces. But though it may appear daunting in its length, I hope you’ll stick with it, because there’s a lot of good metal in here from some tremendously talented bands.

VI

This first new song caught my eye because the band — whose name is VI — has a line-up that includes current or former members of Aosoth and Antaeus. The cover art by the talented Alexander L. Brown is a real eye-catcher, too.

The band’s debut album De Praestgiis Angelorum is scheduled for release on September 25 by Agonia Records, in a 6-panel digipack CD and on vinyl. There’s also a shirt that features that cool cover art. Look at all this tasty stuff: Continue reading »