Scour – Scour
The short EP gives the sense of a relentless, many clawed demon screaming across the landscape for the sole purpose of rending flesh from bone.
Quinta Essentia – Initiates of the Great Work
I always love an album which forces me into some involuntary reaction, especially an album that touches whichever part of my lizard brain causing headbanging. Initiates in the Great Work is just such an album.
Nox – Ancestral Arte Negro 7″
It can be difficult to find worthwhile black metal in the underground, but also well worth the effort. The swirling riffs, brutal blasting, and flesh-rending vocal delivery of this brief release make it one of the black jewels that keep you looking.
Inter Arma – Paradise Gallows
Paradise Gallows, like Sky Burial before it, is both expansive and oppressive in its ferocity, sometimes glacial, sometimes frenetic pacing, and its ability to suck all the light from the room in a way both tragic and beautiful.
Dark Funeral – Where Shadows Forever Reign
Imagine flames hailing down from the blackest of skies while putrid, festering lava flows consume the last vestiges of modern society. Black winged creatures swarm the few remaining humans, driving them towards the darkest of ends. Sounds like fun? No? Well, really it is.
Moonsorrow – Jumalten Aika – Album Review
Jumalten Aika by Moonsorrow evokes a sort of blood drenched imagery. By no means is the album all brutality. In fact, Moonsorrow have created a richly layered tapestry of mythology, harsh beauty, and encompassing darkness.