Big production "dark metal" from Germany. Sort of an Agalloch meets Katatonia via Woods of Ypres vibe going on. Well performed, well written, not super cheesy, most of the lyrics are in German so I can't tell what they are about. If you are a fan of the style, you probably will cream yourself over this. I think its pretty cool and will revisit it at a later point, for sure.
Apocalyptic raw black metal from Finland. It's definitely not the reinvention of the wheel, but godfuckingdamn, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Aside from a fucking goofy name, RYCE is a pretty neat band. This London, UK based one man project blends Post-black metal sounds with noise and drone, creating a compelling and entrancing listen. Plus, Alien references on at least two of the songs, possibly this entire release is about Ripley, but I don't know without the lyrics. I think this is a solid release despite a slightly uneven production throughout, and definitely worth checking out.
A gracious and delightful new year to you all. We start this year off with a project from the frost-bitten (from the cold and the meth) depths of Wyoming, the black/doom Natanas.
Eh, definitely not great, or good, or listenable for the majority of the run time. This sounds like if Lord Wherewolfe from Kill Violate Mutilate decided to stop worshiping at the altar of GG Allin/not legal teenage girls and started to write black/doom about quantum physics and demons and Gadsen flags, then decided his already shitty guitar tone wasn't shitty enough, so he cuts through the speaker on his 10w yamaha practice combo and then drinks another handle of whiskey before starting to record. Yeah. I won't say it's completely without its charms. The drums are usually doing their own thing and that thing is usually more interesting than the guitar/vocals (not "better", just more interesting), and the last song is kind of cool with a sort of Eastern European folk vibe going on via a mandolin mixed with a post punk vibe from the drums. Like I believe though, I'm not the king of good taste, so you should check this out yourself.
