VESTINDIEN – Verdande

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://vestindien.bandcamp.com/album/verdande In all honesty, I did not think it possible for the uniquely gifted masterminds behind Vestindien to top or better their flawless debut offering entitled NULL, but by some perverted and wonderful miracle these six twisted souls have conjured up a new work of radiant brilliance that transcends barriers and…

LA MER – Tetrahedra

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/tetrahedra Not knowing quite what to expect from this visually intriguing album sporting a painting by Henri Martin as its cover artwork, I was pleasantly surprised by it morose mixture of catchy black metal, goth rock, and industrial music. La Mer sounds different to pretty much everything else out there and…

DOMINION OF SUFFERING/PHOBONOID – Dominion of Suffering/Phobonoid

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/dominion-of-suffering-phobonoid Fucking hell, this is some delightfully intense, unsettling, and interesting stuff courtesy of Dominion of Suffering (Slovakia) and Phobonoid (Italy). While the former serves up claustrophobic, fast-paced, and somewhat deranged black metal that recalls certain French Orthodox BM outfits, Phobonoid is a far trippier and more surreal listen and one…

CULTUM INTERITUM – Sacrum Funeral

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/sacrum-funeral What we have here is a six-track album by the Polish horde named Cultum Interitum that dabbles in murky and unpleasant black metal with a charcoal-stained mood and a grimy vibe to it. The sound is so frigging pitch-black that I am absolutely positive they recorded this sinister musical curse…

BLACK EUCHARIST – Inn of the Vaticide

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/inn-of-the-vaticide This is my first encounter with the infernal black metal trio from the US known as Black Eucharist, and I must say that I am utterly pleased with this crushing slab of musical unholiness that they have vomited forth. For one thing, efficiency and catchiness seem to be the order…

ERSTWHILE – Ancient Steel

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://erstwhilebm.bandcamp.com/album/ancient-steel I became aware of this melancholy black metal duo not that long ago thanks to the brilliant and ever-reliable Regimental Records who released the Steeling of a Soul album by Erstwhile on CD. This 3-track EP is hauntingly effective and drenched in an impressively solemn atmosphere that is underlined and…

PICTURE ANN IS LED ASTRAY

The tail end of December saw the lo-fi ambient post-rockers known as Picture Ann grace a doomed planet with a full-length album comprised of six sprawling compositions that all revolve around the idea of losing one’s way in life, of being misled and losing oneself somewhere terrible only to find the way back home an…

VEIN – Blood Oaths

RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/blood-oaths The American black metal combo known as Vein specializes in raw, claustrophobic, and downright oppressive music of the most loathsome and sinister kind. These twisted fucks manage to weave a thick and nasty atmosphere together by means of simple yet efficiently dark riffs, sick effects, and demented vocals, and the…

CRYFEMAL – La Gran Victoria del Mal

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://lnk.to/lagranvictoriadelmal The manic and maniacal brand of fiercely intense black metal spawned by Cryfemal rarely fails to excite me. As with the solid and morbidly entertaining 2020 offering titled Eterna Oscuridad, this upcoming 30-minute shroud of musical darkness delivers a proper kick to the abdomen and sounds outright vicious and insane.…

NETHERMOST CAVERNS – Ancient Spells within a Stalagnate Crypt

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://nethermostcaverns.bandcamp.com/album/ancient-spells-within-a-stalagnate-crypt This ceaselessly grim and melancholy eight-track offering by the US black metal horde known as Nethermost Caverns is one that I have been looking forward to ever since they released the Shadows of Seclusion demo a few months ago. Ancient Spells within a Stalagnate Crypt is an unpolished and raw-sounding…

GERSEY DEOFUL – Gersey Deoful

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://gerseydeoful.bandcamp.com/album/gersey-deoful Here is a grim and ugly treat for all you lovers of raw, unfiltered black metal from the American underground, namely the self-titled offering by the skilled horde from New Jersey known as Gersey Deoful.   This short and concise 6-track EP is only seventeen minutes long but do not…

NETHERMOST CAVERNS – Shadows of Seclusion

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://nethermostcaverns.bandcamp.com/album/shadows-of-seclusion-demo This fierce two-track demo by the brand-new US black metal outfit named Nethermost Caverns is one that contains heaps of promise and potential, and I was immediately attracted to its melancholy aura and melodic qualities the very first time I immersed myself in it. While ‘Shrouded in Funereal Grey’ is…

PICTURE ANN RELEASES THE DEDICATION EP

Inspired by the Gothic setting and ominous tone of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by author Robert L. Stevenson, the predictably unpredictable musical entity known as Picture Ann has unearthed a brand-new slice of melancholy and darkness titled Dedication that weaves traits and elements of post-rock, drone ambient, and lo-fi black…

GEIST OF OUACHITA/ETERNAL TOMB – Black Feudal Savagery

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://geistofouachita.bandcamp.com/album/black-feudal-savagery My brother recently made me aware of this killer split EP by the two US black metal hordes known as Geist of Ouachita and Eternal Tomb with each act contributing three tracks to this slice of unholy filth, and I am forever grateful to him for turning me on to…