Dec 162020
 

 

I got big smiles from the press materials for Baphomet Altar Worship, the new album by the Portuguese bestial black metal band Satanize. The biggest smile arrived when I saw that the PR material likened the listening experience to a form of Zen. But by then I had already listened to some of the album — and I actually understood the point, hence the smile.

Make no mistake, just as the album art so vividly portrays, the music on the new album is hellish and iron-fisted. It gives no quarter and yields to nothing in its single-minded channeling of demonic malice and slaughtering barbarity. And yet, and yet, the music does surprisingly have the capacity to induce a fugue state. As unhinged as it is, something about the viper-ous melodies and the jet-speed rhythms produces a strangely mesmerizing effect.

Or maybe I should just speak for myself. You be your own judge. Which you’ll be able to do by listening to “Luciferian Thrones of Devastation“, the song we’re premiering today in advance of the album release by Helter Skelter and Regain Records on January 20th. Continue reading »

Mar 192017
 

 

Greetings, earthlings. It’s time once again to blacken the sabbath. As you see from the title, I have too many selections to fit into one post. I’ve nearly finished Part 2, but have other nefarious plans ahead of myself today, so I’ll have to polish it off tonight and post it first thing on Monday.

I configured both parts so that each one begins with an announcement and ends with a video from a band that’s somewhat better known than the others, and each one includes a full recent release as well as advance tracks from forthcoming albums or EPs.

LO-RUHAMAH

I spotted the magnificent artwork by Elijah Gwhedhú Tamu at the top of this post, and quickly pasted it on our Facebook page, a few weeks before I, Voidhanger Records announced that it would adorn a new album by Lo-Ruhamah. But now we know that, and we know a few other things about the release. Continue reading »