Tag Saor
It’s all too easy to forget about the likes of one-man black metal artists who go it alone independently, not playing live and just occasionally popping up to deliver a new album. Arx Atrata is the work of Nottinghamshire based… Continue Reading →
Easter Saturday presented a difficult choice with some great bands playing matinee shows including Madder Mortem, Imbalance and Horrifier but there was also the black metal auction. Keeping with my own tradition, I ordered a white beer and pulled up… Continue Reading →
A move to Hammerheart Records for Lithuanian Baltic Folk Metal band Romuvos feels like a fresh start for the band. Over their three previous albums they have been honing their own sound based around their ancestors ancient Baltic traditions, customs… Continue Reading →
The concept behind this second album by the Glaswegian band Sgàile is interesting: “Traverse the Bealach is that of a nomadic traveller in post-apocalyptic Scotland, trying to figure out his fate and facing the elements while travelling north, battling inner… Continue Reading →
Friday Part 1 Holding the inaugural event of this three day festival within the finery of Scarborough Spa is possibly the most unlikely of venues you could imagine, but was an absolute stroke of genius. The journey from West Yorkshire… Continue Reading →
Saor is a Gaelic word meaning free or unconstrained. Saor is also a one man band flying the flag for Scottish inspired blackened folk metal. The concept for heritage and folk influenced heavy music has been quite noticeable among Nordic… Continue Reading →
At last, it’s great to be back and about bloody time. Some Dutch courage no doubt helped those of us still not 100% certain about shedding the masks and dispensing with the social distancing, which totally went out the window… Continue Reading →
Isolation, solitude, nostalgia and poeticism all meet headlong here over two lengthy tracks. Paolo Bruni is the person behind all artistic expressions on this release. He comes from Brazil and now resides in Scotland. This is possibly not the reason… Continue Reading →
When is a three way split album not a three way split album? When two of the bands are the same one gent is when. This is an entirely instrumental album from, dare I say it, two masters of enthralling… Continue Reading →
Although I am far from the first to stick my flag in the lunar surface of this particular moon reviews wise here, I have fleetingly traversed its shores before and always appreciated what I have heard. This is atmospheric black… Continue Reading →
An offshoot of Saor, Fuath’s atmospheric black metal takes its influence from original 90s black metal but also the harsh and rugged landscapes of Scotland and its cultural heritage. The artist behind Fuath quotes the ritual of walking through the… Continue Reading →
And with a slow, ominous drumbeat, the lapping of restless waves and choral, almost Nordic voices Nre of And Now The Owls Are Smiling introduces his latest conjuring of isolation. As soon as the riff breaks loose on ‘Rejection’ you… Continue Reading →