Hailing from Montreal, Quebec comes the debut of Conifère, a raw and melodic black metal act with a triumphant debut titled L’Impôt du Sang, or The Blood Tax in English. This is an instant classic and a breath of fresh air that cuts through the sea of unimaginative raw black metal albums that seem to…
Category: Review
Ruohtta – Sváigas
The Sápmi bard, Ruohtta, returns with their third full length album titled, Sváigas. This is a pure meditation on death through the cultural lens of the native Sápmi of Northern Scandinavia. As described by Tervaaja himself, ‘It tells of the liminal spaces between stages and escalations of a disease, spiritually and culturally, towards the final…
Каландар – По ту сторону неба без звёзд
The Russian maniacs return again, bringing us their latest release roughly translated into English, “Beyond the Sky Without Stars”. The band picks up from where they left off on their previous release, continuing with their raw punk-like output that blends well with their black metal sound. They continue to keep things primal and simplistic, though…
山神廟-SrenHlinMrews
Hailing from Sichuan Province in China, comes a somber atmospheric black metal act known as 山神廟 in their native tongue (roughly translating to Temple of Mountain God). With conspirators 杨厄 (DoomYang) and J. they take the very essence of classical Chinese art and translate it into a ravishingly beautiful approach to black metal as a…
Welkin – 武勇 / Emblems of Valour
Welkin, hailing from Singapore, brings us their latest battle hymn, Emblems of Valour. This album is in dedication to the legendary three brothers Liu, Guan, Zhang. Welkin is able to capture their valour, courage, and virtuous actions through their epic sounding black metal. Coming off the back of their previous album Recollections of Conquest and…
Holyarrow – 勝利萬歲 / Long Live Victory
Hailing from the most shrouded shores of Xiamen come the epic black metal act Holyarrow. For those unaware, Holyarrow takes inspiration from the gloriously bloody history of China and the Han people, retelling of ancient battles, honorable deaths, and heroic martyrs. With their latest release Long Live Victory, they take a look at more recent…
Crystayler – In The Hearts of the Brave
Hailing from Belarus comes Crystayler a traditional black metal assault who presents us with their latest offering In The Hearts of the Brave. This album calls back to the old Norwegian days of black metal, presenting cold riffs, primitive drumming, and battle hardened vocals dripping with pride and honor. The corpse paint and chain mail…
Uzlaga – Depthdweller
Returning from the depths of the seas comes Uzlaga and their third full length offering Depthdweller. This is a continuation of what they’ve done in the past with The Sunken Seer and The Might of Waves. Its a straight forward black metal album with some melodic leanings and some surprise twists that gives Uzlaga their…
Sturmtiger – Transcendent Warfare
Returning to the front lines, UK based War metal division, Sturmtiger, brings us their latest arsenal of heavy hitting war hymns. Transcendent Warfare, is a brutal assault to the senses, curating a slew of hard-hitting militant drumming, berserker dissonant riffs, and deep bestial vocals that streak fear into their enemies. Greeting you with a blasting…
Pestilength – Solar Clorex
Hailing from the ancient and isolated Basque region, returns the cthonic doom occultists of Pestilength returning with their latest full length record Solar Clorex. This is an incredibly powerful and dense album dripping with twisted riffs with a dark psychedelia attached to it. These guys have continued their path down a harsh blended mixture of…