Author Reverend Darkstanley
Vargafrost has managed to perfectly join two parts of the black metal world into one intriguing release with Honour, Blood, Nature and Love (we’ll come back that that title shortly). Whereas some of the best heathen black metal I’ve heard… Continue Reading →
Did Deathspell Omega realise the festering demon they had spawned all those years ago when they spewed forth Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum? Even now that avant-garde and, if I can use this ugly and inexact sub-genre description,… Continue Reading →
Ostots seems to be making a name for itself among some sections of the black metal underground, not least for the origins of the band bang in the middle of Basque Country somewhere near Bilbao, Spain. In fact, I discovered… Continue Reading →
Anyone who thought black metal legends Urgehal would dream of serving up half measures on their final album need only look at the guest list. Like a Who’s Who of Norwegian black metal, the list includes Darkthrone’s Nocturno Culto, Hoest… Continue Reading →
Titaan’s ambitious debut is one of those releases that leaves me wondering what on earth else there is lurking between the cracks in the extreme music scene. On the one hand, it’s always an impressive risk when a band reaches… Continue Reading →
This may sound like a very odd statement to some people: but I find the idea of a world without Rage difficult to imagine. But, at the same time if you told me you’d never heard a single track by… Continue Reading →
We’ll go into the ‘not to be confused withs’ at a later point. But, just to be clear, this is the bestial black metal band from Belgium – and a new band with a demo that’s been doing the rounds… Continue Reading →
Time for a dose of stoner metal by a band with a name that sounds like the menu in a cheap steakhouse, but which actually has an impressive pedigree. These boys famously won a battle of the bands contest in… Continue Reading →
Prog funeral doom? I guess it had to happen even in this most conservative and tectonic of genres – here with elements of keyboard abuser Jean Michel Jarre, those other serial French synth talents Air and black metal hook machine… Continue Reading →
Sometimes I come across a release which feels like any lingering positivity and joy for life has been sucked out. The increasingly abundant crop of post-rock, post black metal bands such as Harakiri For The Sky, Fall of Efrafa and… Continue Reading →
After causing a splash with a 20-minute EP earlier this year, Australian musical extremists Ur Draugr have quickly followed up with a full-length release. Safe to say anyone who enjoyed having their brain cells put through that blackened death metal… Continue Reading →
Monolithe have carved an excellent niche since they returned from a five year hiatus in 2012 with their musical signature, best described as progressive doom metal with a spring in its step. Each of the band’s four full-length releases has… Continue Reading →