Ukraine for me might as well be the other side of the goddamn moon for all the connection I have with the country, but what bands do tend to rear their heads out of that National Socialist haven (such as black-folk metal masqueraders Noktuяиαl Moяtuм) tend to have a knack for spinning you upside the ankle and knocking us feeble outside audiences on our collective asses.
This record is a sheer majesty in the art of pummeling your fucking mind to peanut brittle and then reviving whatever corpse remains into the likeness of a cream clad Seraphim. The keyboards sound in waves, and the onslaught of acoustics is a gorgeous, striking contrast ('The Sky Of Sorrowful Nights') to the madness and mercury of 'Valkiriya' and other +10 minute monstrosities.
A certain frame of mind is needed, but this may just be the best freakin' black metal album you'll ever sit through.
Intriguingly, it is not common knowledge to the masses at large that Columbia is home to awesome things besides drug dealers. Nevertheless, those who do not know of warlock warbler Dagon and his thrashy black metal ensemble Iиquisiτioи are missing out on an awe inspiring discography of debauchery, pissed off space demons and enough dimension-shattering guitar/blast beat asswhoopery to satisfy even the most degenerate rabble.
More classic thrash/doom metal courtesy of Satan and his demonic cohorts. Features a mindbogglingly great cover of Black Widow's classic dark prog. suite 'In Ancient Days'.
Although unable to break completely away from its crust punk meets thrash heritage (a conundrum shared by such bands as Venom and Hellhammer), this classic first wave black metal debut was a scum-soaked revelation upon its release and still sounds class today. Hail!!
A kickass brand spankin' new diggable yet unconventional black metal record that even your ruined, worm-filled grandpappy could tap his bones to...assuming he was raised up with l33t necomancin' or electricity. Otherwise he wouldn't move at all...
Scary-as-fuck ambient/cinematic black metal that will blow any preconceptions you have about this kind of music to amputated smithereens. Side I 'Hin' is a glorious hour that will drown you in death, noise and darkness while Side 2 is made up of seven shorter pieces that will tear at your nerves and weaken your teeth...even if there's sunshine in your skull.
Hearken close dear children - its hard to keep smiling when the lights go out...because then you cannot see what might be smiling back.
Turkish black metal EP that has recently captivated me into forlorn hypnosis, clutching at my transfixed mind with its gurgling, detached hate and strange floating textures borne from flute, tambourine, and other such organic instrumentation. This is wonderfully evocative/intriguing stuff in a black metal context, and it makes me curious as to what a Cragataska full-blown LP might be like...
Anyway, if I were to have an EP of the year, this would probably be it. Kudos!
One of the few decent black metal bands to hail from the U.K. in recent years, A Forest of Stars have slovenly yet diligently garnered a rather studious cult following since the release of their debut album The Corpse of Rebirth back in 2008, which received a variety of mixed reviews subsequently. It showed potential, but lacked character.
The band promised fans and detractors alike afterward that the next album would push the envelope and make them a household name. Cut to two years later and we have Opportunistic Thieves of Spring...and whaddaya know, nearly every expectation one might have was reached with ingenuity to spare. Bravo!
Stylistically, even those not accustomed to black metal will be able to tell right off the bat that this ensemble has an honest and distinct sonic self awareness: beyond the screaming of main male vocalist Mr. Curse and the atypical percussive onslaught you can hear some heavenly female vocals (courtesy of flautist and violinist Kati Stone from My Dying Bride), some drone and folk elements that seem more at home on a Boris record, and the sporadic ambient flourish that gives credence to their 'Psychedelic Black Metal' tag.
Although the elements mesh well on the whole, the longer tracks tend to let those special non-metallic elements shine in loneliness [the opening ambient section to the 16-minute 'Delay's Progression'] and elsewhere we see things stripped down and made delightfully primitive without a hint of lushness or hate ['Raven's Eye View', especially near the middle]. Listen to those blast-beats go head to head with a fuckin' flute and tell me that doesn't make you shit bricks!
Opportunistic Thieves of Spring showcases how 2010 has been a damn fine year for black metal and otherwise thusfar, and you song-starved scavengers should revel in these remains with fleet ferocity and a desire to derive it's blackened bliss.
