SCHWARZKRISTALL Towards the end of last year I got a little bit addicted to the debut demo of a little-known Austrian outfit by the name of Schwarzkristall; the winter is an excellent time of year to remind yourself precisely why black metal is the genre that howls most convincingly at your soul, and this band [...]
Archive for March, 2010
Interview – Schwarzkristall: “Like everything else in life, black metal has to grow and develop or it will stagnate and die”
On March - 26 - 2010 Comments Off
CD Review – Abstrrakt Torrment: The Will To Torture
On March - 25 - 2010 Comments Off
ABSTRRAKT TORRMENT : THE WILL TO TORTURE Disease Foundry Recordings If misanthropy, the true deeply black hatred for humanity type of misanthropy, ever unites in common cause, then Abstrrakt Torrment will be the one to supply the anthem for the gatherings. Every available means that you imagine utter hatred can visit upon the human race [...]
CD Review – Reverend Kill: His Blood, Our Victory
On March - 25 - 2010 Comments Off
REVEREND KILL : HIS BLOOD, OUR VICTORY Painkiller Records Ambiguous album titles containing the word ‘blood’ scare me; if it’s not bloody intestine-laden gore, there’s always the danger of either Aryan blood, or, Satan forbid, you know… HIS blood, which apparently redeems us all. And these guys are Reverends! It’s ok, though; even if you [...]
CD Review – Affliction Gate: Aeon Of Nox (From Darkness Comes Liberation)
On March - 25 - 2010 Comments Off
AFFLICTION GATE : AEON OF NOX (FROM DARKNESS COMES LIBERATION) No Colours Records/Metal Inquisition Formed in 2006, France’s Affliction Gate reach back way further when it comes to inspiration, delving into the thundering aggression that characterised the old-school death metal bands that probably hooked them into the world of extreme metal in the first place, [...]
CD Review – Autumnal Reaper: Rise Of The Raging Death
On March - 25 - 2010 Comments Off
AUTUMNAL REAPER : RISE OF THE RAGING DEATH Apollon Records Autumnal Reaper are a Dutch act with a passion for full-blooded, steamroller death metal. Formed way back in 1991, they already have two previous full-lengths under their belts, so it is no surprise that “Rise of the Raging Death” is possessed of an impressive measure [...]
Interview – Ophidian Forest: “If people were less inclined to view themselves as the alpha and omega of existence, the world would be a better place”
On March - 25 - 2010 Comments Off
OPHIDIAN FOREST Ophidian Forest win my heart before we even start to consider their music, jointly due to the patient and gentlemanly manner in which they’ve waited for me to get my shit together and write the two articles to feature them in this issue, and the fact that their debut album looks back to [...]
CD Review – Nagual Art: Cathedral Of Flyers
On March - 25 - 2010 Comments Off
NAGUAL ART : CATHEDRAL OF FLYERS Paralucid Records Nagual Art’s “Séance 1931 – Tales from F”, released last April, stuck in my mind as a unique and genuinely unsettling listening experience, unsurprising given the composer’s quiet, unflashy promise that his sound genuinely comes to him via the spirits. “Cathedral of Flyers” followed up in the [...]
CD Review – Aarktica: In Sea Remixes
On March - 25 - 2010 Comments Off
AARKTICA : IN SEA REMIXES Silber Records I have to admit that I have an uneasy relationship with remix albums: on the one hand it can be fascinating how a particular piece of music can be endlessly reinterpreted to produce new variations, and equally fascinating how, in the hands of an artist especially in tune [...]
CD Review – Eryn Non Dae: Hydra Lernaia
On March - 25 - 2010 Comments Off
ERYN NON DAE : HYDRA LERNAIA Metal Blade Last year Eryn Non Dae, then still going by the moniker of END. Asked me to take a look at their 2005 debut EP “The Never Ending Whirl of Confusion”, which I duly did, and was amazed at how their complex, technical, crushing later material eclipsed their [...]
CD Review – Sarah Jane: In Black Robes
On March - 25 - 2010 Comments Off
SARAH JANE : IN BLACK ROBES Silber Records Let me preface this, my very first review for Hierophant Nox, by stating that when it comes to the singer/songwriter genre I am treading in unfamiliar territory. Having said that, I enjoy having my preconceptions challenged and this is, if nothing else, definitely a challenge. The gauntlet [...]