Nov 112015
 

Wolfpack 44-Iron Dream

 

In mid-September I was fortunate to premiere a song called “Dark Mountain” from The Scourge, which is the forthcoming debut album by Wolfpack 44, a collaboration between multi-instrumentalist Ricktor Ravensbrück from The Electric Hellfire Club and vocalist/guitarist Julian Xes from Kult ov Azazel. Today, we get the chance to share with you a second track from the album — a beast named “Iron Dream” — along with info about pre-ordering the album.

When I premiered “Dark Mountain” in September, I also included a review of the entire album — which is due for release by Deadlight Entertainment on January 20. It defies easy genre classification, in part because there’s so much variety among the different songs, as well as lots of multi-layered textures within most of them. Wolfpack 44 have described the music as “Satanic, industrial/black/death/psychotic/evil-as-fuck metal with a sardonic edge”, and that’s actually a pretty accurate description. Continue reading »

Sep 142015
 

Wolfpack 44-The Scourge

 

The first time I heard the first full song on Wolfpack 44’s debut album, it was lust at first listen. There’s an industrial-styled, industrial-strength groove in “The Black March” that I thought was going to make my head come off. Turns out, there are a lot more headbanging grooves — including one in a song I asked (and was granted) permission to premiere along with this review — plus a wide-ranging assortment of other styles and moods. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

For those who don’t know, Wolfpack 44 is a collaboration between multi-instrumentalist Ricktor Ravensbrück from The Electric Hellfire Club and vocalist/guitarist Julian Xes from Kult ov Azazel. Their debut album, The Scourge (which features cover art by Robert Cook, aka Norot), is due for release on January 20, 2016, by the French label Deadlight Entertainment.

The album includes a slew of guest appearances, including: vocalist/lyricist Thomas Thorn (The Electric Hellfire Club); vocalist/lyricist Jinx Dawson (Coven); guitarists Lord Ahriman and Chaq Mol (Dark Funeral); vocalist Dana “Satania” Duffey (Demonic Christ); and guitarist Dan VC Guenther (Vein Collector). Together, all these talents have contributed to one hell of a hellish ride. Continue reading »

Jul 312014
 

I’ve collected in this two-part post seven very good new songs from four bands that I heard for the first time yesterday. All the songs are from forthcoming albums, and as the title of the post suggests, most (but not all) of them incorporate elements of black metal into the music in varying degrees, and they are all shrouded in darkness. The cover art for each album is also really good. The bands are presented in alphabetical order (Part 1 can be found here) — except for a last-minute addition at the end.

SWALLOWED

I found out about this Finnish band more than two years ago when I listened to (and wrote about) their self-titled 2010 EP (still available here). It’s been a long wait for their debut album, but it finally seems to be on its way. The name is Lunarterial and it’s projected for release on October 14, 2014, through Dark Descent Records and Me Saco Un Ojo. The cover art is the work of Swiss artist Peter Birkhäuser. The new song I heard yesterday is a track from the album called “Arterial Mists of Doom”.

This disorienting song’s huge, slow, nearly atonal chords vibrate with grotesque levels of distortion — and then erupt when you least expect it into ghastly pyroclastic flows moving at blinding speed. The visceral drumbeats and cymbal ticks seem to have a mind of their own, and their unpredictability is also part of what makes the song so arresting. The vocals match up with the doomed, blasted, destructive aura of the music — they’re maniacal, agonizing, horrifying. It appears that Swallowed have made a soundtrack for your nightmares… Continue reading »