Excellent black metal from France, Cythrawl is actually pre-CYT. The music is obviously similar to CYT, but in my opinion even better; The production is much more fitting, a bit raw yet crystal clear, the songs are very dynamic and well written; Unlike CYT which sounded quite “modern” this has a more raw feeling to it. This was independently released which is really a shame as this is truly quality stuff.
Compilation featuring two early demos from this Brazilian horde. Raw black metal, both demos featured are really fucking good, the atmosphere and sound is just spot-on, all the songs are great, especially from the ’01 demo. Highly recommended!!!
Raw war black metal from the guy behind Kermania. In your face music with brutal vocals and excellent composition. Recommended to all fans of grinding, fast and brutal music!
First and only album by this Icelandic band. Riff-based black metal with a nice raw edge, the songwriting is excellent and the recording is quite powerful thanks to the great production (you can actually hear the bass). Recommended!
Down Below the Fog is the Black Metal essence of Extinction where The Black Hex is the spontaneous ritual of Vuel. Eight tracks of unrestrained, discordant, obscure, sometimes improvised Black Metal. A thick, heavy production creates a strong atmosphere that clings to every facet, drawing it down. Guitars whip up violent hypnotic vortexes of noise that expand endlessly, and Vuel’s distinctive bestial vocals complete a truly Occult experience.
Swedish horde featuring some prominent members from their scene. IXXI plays some fucking awesome catchy black n’ roll, the songwriting is just great, lots of memorable songs and Totalscorns vocals fit perfectly with the music. Extremely enjoyable stuff! My personal favorite is definitely Assorted Armament, although all albums are highly recommended!
Debut album from ’06. Well written black metal with lot’s of memorable parts, the music reminds of early Nagelfar and The Ruins of Beverast but with a slightly more melancholic feel to it. There are only four songs, two of those clocking at over 20 minutes; even though quite long, they never get tedious. Clean vocals are also prominent giving it a very nice epic feeling. Essential!!!!
French band featuring a member from Blacklodge and Diamatregon. Excellent raw black metal with a piercing dark atmosphere, the knifelike vocals compliment the music perfectly and the composition is really nice; at times sounds like Blacklodge without all the effects. A must for all fans of good raw black metal.
...oh, and their cover art rules!
New split release featuring Chaos Moon, Frostmoon Eclipse and Benighted in Sodom. All three bands deliver quality music. Chaos Moon’s songs are slightly different then the stuff from their albums, more dynamic and less powerful but nevertheless quite enjoyable. Frostmoon Eclipse’s material is probably the best part of the split, excellent catchy songwriting with a great sense of melody, really good stuff. Benighted in Sodom does some very nice desolate atmospheric black metal in the vein of Austere. A good release that can serve as a nice introduction to these bands. (except Chaos Moon, their previous material is much better)
Debut album by this fucked up French band. A mix of crust, black metal and rock; dirty, raw and just plain fucking awesome!! Features cover songs of Johnny Cash, Impaled Nazarene, Led Zeppelin and Loudpipes.
"Sublimation XXIXA" is the second album of Vorkreist. In the continuity of "Sabbathical Flesh Possession", it delivers 9 works of brutal Death-Black Metal inspired by revulsion and deviance, in criminal, demonic dedication to the destruction of obsolete and pernicious humane values. Structures have been developed and aggressiveness improved along these distinct but definitely coherent tracks, the whole serving Vorkreist's vision of Hell and reality, opposed and entangled in each other.
Second EP, basically continuing where they left off with the first one; the whole sound is much better on this one, and the recording sounds more mature. There are still post-metal influences in the music, but again tastefully done. The best part of the album are definitely the vocals, extremely powerful; also this time featuring some guest female vocals, now don’t expect clean singing, these are truly anguished vocals that compliment the music perfectly. All together, the sound is just so fucking powerful, almost epic; can’t wait for the new album. Extremely recommended!!!!!
Second album; Dark and atmospheric black metal, personally this is some of the best material I heard from him, much better then the debut. Great simple composition with the usual psychedelic vocals, actually the whole album is quite psychedelic and dark. An essential listen for all fans of strange dark music!
Debut EP from this new Irish band. Excellent powerful black metal with amazing composition, the music has hints of post-metal yet it never sounds out of place nor does it diminish the power of the music. The vocals are also very strong, as is the production. Great release!
Second album by this Norwegian band. Well composed black metal with nice use of effects and synths, the vocals are great which is hardly surprising as they are done by Kvarforth of Shining. The album is very listenable and gets better with every spin, quite an enjoyable release.
Short EP from ’07 by this excellent German project; consisting of only one instrumental song and a two minute recitation. Slow and dark black metal with excellent composition and overall atmosphere,the whole recording has a really unique feel to it. Recommended!
Compilation LP releasesd by End All Life featuring some of the best European bands around. Raw black metal excellence, all the tracks are of the highest quality. Definitely among the best bm compilations ever released. Essential!
Second album from this Norwegian horde, like their other releases this just screams old-school (Norwegian) black metal; The music is somewhat reminiscent of early Darkthrone and Gehenna, and the epic acoustic parts remind of early Ulver. All in all quite enjoyable, not very original but who gives a fuck really? Recommended!
Debut album from ’05; this release features the whole spectrum of weirdness that encompasses their music, from electronics, dark ambient to black metal; much like the “black arts” demo but more focused. There are some really excellent songs on this one. The album is really long, and is a bit disjointed sometimes as far as the production goes, but that aside this is a unique record that will surely find its crowd.
Second album by this amazingly consistent Finnish band. Basically this is very much like the other two albums they released, good catchy riffs, excellent composition and atmosphere, the works! Highly recommended
Split vinyl released back in ’01 featuring Cantus Bastiae and Puritas Virginum; Cantus Bastiae plays some fucking excellent raw black metal, sounds like S.V.E.S.T. only more straight forward (hardly surprising as it features members from it). Puritas Virgium’s side features three excellent non-black metal songs, strange dark electronics mixed with harsh vocals & dark ambient, surprisingly good.
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Second demo from this rather underground French band; Dark and raw black metal mixed with ambient and other “esoteric” sounds; a strange yet very enjoyable release, fans of raw music will love this one.
Third album; continuing where he left off with Insignifiance, crusty primitive d-beat black metal. Fucking awesome!!!!!!!
