First and only release by Nocturnal Overlords (ex-Crimson Moon) project; This is pure occult atmospheric black metal / ambient. Half of the demo is black metal and half ambient, no vocals are used everything is instrumental, and the atmosphere created is spot-on; Very much in the vein of earlier works by Crimson Moon; Really incredible dark music, hopefully we’ll see more of this project.
Mandatory compilation by this incredible Swedish horde; started out as a death metal band (The Eternal Frost) but later changed their sound to a more melodic black (death) metal sound similar to Dissection, Noctes or Sacramentum. This release covers basically all of their discography (emitting two early demos) and needless to say it’s essential stuff!
Goatmoon is a one man black metal band from Lappeenranta, Finland.
Goatmoon was created in spring 2002 from the ruins of BlackGoat’s old band Count Lähde(-99). First recordings BlackGoat made by him self, but in some point of summer ‘02 joined drummer T. Bloodvengeance, who played on the half of songs on the first demo. On the early winter of ‘02 Bloodvengeance left the Goatmoon. BlackGoat has recorded six demos by himself during the years 02-05. First full length album was brought to moonlight late winter ’04 released and distributed by Werewolf records. Infos on Metal-Archives
Punkish black metal from Italy, really short ep with four songs, there's really not much to say, 10 minutes of pure simple crusty black metal, quite enjoyable; A must for fans of Malveillance, Bone Awl and the like!
Great new one-man band from Canada; Sombres Forets plays slower paced majestic atmospheric black metal; excellent use of synths, usually in the background to create a dark mood, also prominent is the use of the acoustic guitar, quite a few songs feature tastefully done acoustic breaks. The new album is particularly good, there’s a distinct improvement over the great debut.
[Special thanks to Dimaension X for recommending me this]
Debut album from Lurkers (ex-Vrolok drummer) main project, he’s aided by Wraigh of Nazxul fame. Rawish dark black metal, the first half of the album is more melodic in a post-punk kind of way, while the second part is on the rawer side. The production is great and there are some really memorable parts, the biggest downside is the short length of the release, the last song is basically a 10 minute outro, a bit unnecessary in my opinion; that aside, “obscure chasms” is a quality debut and I’m looking forward to future releases.
One of my favorite bands from Poland. Lux Occulta performs unique, challenging, majextic and emotional music that very few bands can recreate. My personal favorite is “My Guardian Anger”, truly an amazing piece of symphonic / melodic black metal, which through the years hasn’t lost a bit of its brilliance! The other releases are just as good, the debut has some excellent doom elements, and Dionysos is definitely a classic in the genre. On the last album they turned to an avant-garde sound, mixing elements of trip-hop, jazz & industrial with extreme metal, a great album, but in my opinion not on level of their previous releases.
Split album between the Russian Blackdeath and Leviathan. Blackdeath performs some rather average black metal, the vocals are good, but the drum machine basically kills it for me; definitely not their strongest moment. Leviathan’s side on the other hand is pure brilliance, the material is in the vein of “10th sublevel…”, the songs are really great; and “mine portrait in scars” is definitely one of my favorite Leviathan songs.
Legendary Aussie thrashers MORTAL SIN have issued the following update:
"Our long time friend Greg Morelli, guitarist of NAZXUL was tragically killed in the early hours of Thursday morning November 20th in a motorcycle accident. As many locals would know a huge storm hit Sydney last night and Greg was riding his motorbike home and hit a greasy wet patch on Parramatta road North Strathfield.
Greg's death will be a huge loss to the Australian metal scene and of course the international black metal scene. The new Nazxul album had just been completed and Greg was really looking forward to getting back out on the road and we had also talked about the possibility of heading over to Europe for some shows next year. Greg explained to me that the new album was sounding like they finally wanted to sound like, and was really proud of what he had achieved.
I hope all the black metal fans out there will raise their horns tonight for Greg. Rest in peace mate, you're a fucking legend."
First split release by Leviathan, with the Polish horde Iuvenes. Iuvenes plays old-school black / Viking metal, in the vein of Bathory; nothing special but done right. Leviathan’s part is, unsurprisingly, the highlight; tortured black metal with amazing atmosphere. The production is more distorted and dirty then other Leviathan material, and it just adds to the overall feeling of despair. Definitely one of my favorite releases by Wrest!
Great are the days when unions like this can be witnessed! 2 leading names of the Finnish Black Metal scene join on this release to cast visions of the end, each offering 2 spells. Gatherered is the demonic black aura of BEHEXEN and the reaping werewolf darkness of SATANIC WARMASTER
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Third album from this great underrated band, NOP performs excellent “modern” black metal, closest musical comparison would probably be “the exhibitionists” release by Secrets of the Moon. The musicianship is top-notch, and the overall production is great; the release comes with a 20 page booklet with very nice artwork. A release worthy of your time!
One of my favorite Japanese bands, Gallhammer plays a great mix of black / doom with crust;
The composition is simple but incredibly well done; the production is great, lot’s of distortion creating a lifeless dark atmosphere. Highly recommended!!
