RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/ This is my first encounter with the Polish black metal entity known as Königreichssaal, and I must say that I am impressed with (and rather intrigued by) this splendid little 4-track EP of theirs, which is frontloaded with stellar ideas and thick, impenetrable atmospheres of the moody and contemplative variety. …
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/czarne-obrazy Godz ov War Productions have an uncanny talent for unearthing some of the best and most musically interesting extreme metal bands hailing from the underground, and the Polish quintet known as Pogarda is a prime example of just that. This 5-track EP of theirs was released just a couple of days…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://lnk.to/astimeretreats Long-running Italian black metal stalwarts Frostmoon Eclipse embarked on something that felt like a new chapter (or even a new era of sorts, if you will) back in 2019 when they released the near-flawless and brilliantly evocative Worse Weather to Come via Immortal Frost Productions. Its follow-up, namely the thoroughly solid…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://asira.bandcamp.com/ What we have here is a highly interesting and uniquely crafted release that displays passion and ambition in equal measure. Somewhere between post-black metal, modern progressive rock, and experimental shoegaze lies this epic and emotionally intense opus titled As Ink in Water by the Reading-based outfit intriguingly named Asira. Sweeping melodies,…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://linktr.ee/allmenuntome Once in a while one encounters and experiences an album that transcends genres and conventions while also being transcendental. All Men Unto Me, which is a swirling mass of pitch-black musical brilliance spawned by the man known as Rylan Gleave, is unarguably one of the most unique and moving outputs we…
Inspired by a handful of trips to Newcastle upon Tyne and Tynemouth these past few years and more specifically the rich history surrounding those parts of England and the whole cultural landscape in the Northeast, a morose and reverb-drenched collection of tunes collectively known as From the Windswept Shore of Tynemouth has presented itself. In…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://open.spotify.com/album/77WTLOCAmi8iysa1VuxNuX?si=FU3Huoz3TfaFebp8TSdHwA Udenfor, the latest 2-track EP by Danish/Norwegain post-rockers Picture Ann, is out December 18. The title track came about one late afternoon when walking through a wintry cityscape, pondering the impact of Don DeLillo’s The Body Artist on yours truly and how that overlooked literary gem eloquently and elegantly thematizes…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://sepulchrebythesea.bandcamp.com Sepulchre by the Sea is an atmospheric black metal band inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe. Springing from United Kingdom the multi-instrumentalist Ash has been working on this project since 2019. In November Sepulchre by the Sea released their first album Conqueror Worm, followed by the EP Ratiocinations.…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://harrowed.bandcamp.com/album/entropic I rarely bother reviewing singles but this 2-track jewel by the fierce UK act known as Harrowed blew me the fuck away, and I may in fact have become addicted to it. Intensely heavy and punishing yet surprisingly groovy in places also, these gentlemen have spawned a muscular-sounding mixture of…
RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://lnk.to/deverbodendiepte1 Dystopia’s take on ferocious and earth-shattering black metal is quite unlike anything else that I have come across. In fact, lumping the band and album into the black metal category is doing them a disservice as they clearly exist beyond the confines of said genre and have more in common…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/na-zawsze-cieniem What a terrifically brooding and majestic opus this is! The Polish ensemble known as Absque Cor offers atmospheric black metal with variety and plenty of interesting shifts and moods to it, and there is a bleak, windswept beauty to its six lengthy compositions that immediately stands out and grabs the…
The latest full-length offering by the demented peddlers of haunting dark ambient drones and lo-fi post-rock soundscapes is out now and contains three tracks with a rather loose concept and theme to them. From the industrial revolution in Britain to the strangely unsettling works of painter Walter Sickert and further on to the cinematic quality…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://lnk.to/unveilingthepalesttruth Infinitely bleak and outright oppressive soundscapes envelop the mind when digesting the ominous content that makes up the latest offering by the Australian black metal duo known as Deadspace, and we might as well establish the fact that this is one of the year’s most captivating releases. Now that we…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://magnacorporea.bandcamp.com/album/bliss-of-non-temporal-condition This debut album by the mysterious Argentinian entity known as Magna Corporea is a most impressive and well-composed piece of underground darkness that is borderline spellbinding at times due to its strong riffs and excellent vocals, and I must say that I find it all rather alluring. Hypnotic is definitely…
RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: https://smarturl.it/rustworn This sparkling new EP by the Italian black metallers Frostmoon Eclipse is a deeply atmospheric gem, and it is fabulous to see that their uniquely evocative brand of contemplative, pitch-black melancholy remains intact. I was thoroughly impressed with “Worse Weather to Come” (2019) and “Rustworn”, which contains two new songs…
RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: LICHTBLICK – ABKEHR (smarturl.it) I have never previously encountered this Austrian quartet but what I can tell you is that their brand of bleak and melancholic black metal with an emphasis on trance-inducing riffs and tortured vocals that reek of despair and existential angst is a noteworthy one. There is a subtle sense of beauty…
