Album Reviews

I’m always a sucker for a good symphonic style of black metal music, and recently I came across the sophomore release “I Nordisk Vredeslusta” from the Swedish act Gnipahålan, which is one of the many side project bands founded by the Swedish musician Swartadapuz. According to the old Norse mythology, Gnipahellir is the name of a mystical cave, musically, Swartadapuz (guitars, bass, and keyboards) and the German drummer Taaken joined forces to create a galactic style of symphonic black metal.
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As promised in the first part of this year, come winter we are seeing the next instalment of the Mysterium trilogy from the Dutch death doom legends Celestial Season. Firstly, the artwork is awesome. The gloomy, green hued painting of a shrouded statue fits the band’s melancholic sound a lot better in my opinion than the dragon motif from the previous record. Even though its fiery red of course reflected the more fired up, slightly more uptempo aspect of that record.
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Almost a year ago international atmospheric doom/death act Dream Unending released its debut album 'Tide Turns Eternal'. Along many bands in the doom-death metal genre, drummer/vocalist Justin DeTore (Innumerable Forms) and guitarist/bassist Derrick Vella (Outer Heaven, Tomb Mold) has pushed the genre's boundaries into a more atmospheric direction. The sophomore release 'Song of Salvation' opens the doorway for more ethereal sounds, as the duo emphasizes a tranquil mood and dreamy atmosphere.
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With their previous album ‘How it Feels to Be Lost’, they said goodbye to a poppier era of the band and brought back the old school melodic metalcore and post hardcore vibe that the band had in its earlier days. Let’s see how that turns out in their brand-new album ‘Complete Collapse’.
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Swedish symphonic metal outfit Therion is back with the second installment of the trilogy “Leviathan II” released on October 28th via Nuclear Blast Records. In terms of the operatic scale and sonic spectacle, the 18th studio album mixes mythological and mystical themes which have become the trademark of the mastermind Christofer Johnsson. While each of the band’s past albums like “Vovin” sprawled in the epic fantasy world of myths and occult, the same can be said for "Leviathan II". Therion’s musical legacy gradually progressed over the years, in addition to the fusion of classic heavy metal and the orchestral fortes that yield a magical sound and a distinctive persona.
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Following the release of the debut album 'Ominous Seep of Putridity' in 2021 Finnish death metal trio Morbific returns with a new album titled 'Squirm Beyond the Mortal Realm', out via Me Saco Un Ojo Records (Vinyl), Memento Mori (CD) and Headsplit Records (Tape) on October 24th, 2022. Since its formation in 2020, Morbific has brought an intriguing style of Finn death metal which made them a rare example in this sub-genre. Musically, 'Squirm Beyond the Mortal Realms' feels like these Finns have got into a time machine and went way back in time to transport us to the early years of 90s death metal. While the 10 tracks in the album convey plenty of heavy parts, the music is backed by grimy guitar distortion.
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Aussie black/thrash metal stalwarts Deströyer 666 has been showing true grits and now the quartet returns with all guns blazing, the sixth album “Never Surrender” out via Season of Mist on December 2nd, 2022. Fronted by K.K. Warlust (vocals, guitars), the band’s lineup includes Felipe Plaza Kutzbach (bass, vocals), Kev Desecrator (drums), and Kez (guitars). After the reformed change in the style of black metal from the early albums such as "Unchain the Wolves", and "Cold Steel... For an Iron Age", Deströyer 666 later pursued the spheres of blackened thrash metal with their 2016 album “Wild Fire”.
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35 years now and the Norwegian duo Gylve “Infidel Castro” Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have perceptively been tackling various styles within the spectrum of metal. Even with their 20th album “Astral Fortress”, Darkthrone goes beyond the spectrum of black metal, their sound now takes inspiration from heavy/doom metal. While the duo’s songwriting remained steeped in the throwbacks bringing nuances to Celtic Frost and Manilla Road on the new album, Darkthrone marked a remarkable shift from the early days with the 2013 album “The Underground Resistance”, it was clear that the duo had to wear new gauntlets. Apparently, since the band’s 2019 album “Old Star”, Darkthrone found its musical inspiration from classic 70’s hard rock and the 80’s muse of classic doom metal.
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Hailing from Zürich, Switzerland Ateiggär is a black metal outfit that belongs to the Helvetic Underground Committee and features members of Kvelgeyst and Ungfell. The band was formed in 2019 as a side project founded by Fauth Lantav (drums) and Fauth Temenkeel (vocals, guitars, bass and keyboards) and the duo showed a distinctive aptitude for a unique flair of songwriting on their debut EP “Us d’r Höll chunnt nume Zyt”. They managed to weave some ancient magic of the 90’s black metal, where the composition is defined by the variety of atmospheres and moods.
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Philadelphia’s blackened thrash metal act Daeva unleashed its first studio album “Through Sheer Will and Black Magic” on October 14th, 2022 via 20 Buck Spin. Formed by the members of the U.S. heavy/doom metal group Crypt Sermon, the lineup includes guitarist Steve Jansson, vocalist Edward Gonet, bassist Frank Chin and drums Enrique Sagarnaga. Daeva emerged seamlessly in 2017 with their debut EP “Pulsing Dark Absorptions” and took major inspiration from the 80’s black metal bands like Nifelheim and Bathory.
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