News, Reviews and Interviews
Heavy Metal Around the Globe
EXCLUSIVE TRACK PREMIERE: Yatsu – Appomattox
It’s a scathing powerviolence attack with elements of grind, death metal, groove, and noise filtered through a lens of pure, unadulterated rage.
Cavalcade – Evergreens
There is genuinely never a dull time on this album.
Białywilk – Zmora
This is one for the dark hours.
REVIEW + INTERVIEW: Nixil – From The Wound Spilled Forth Fire
“Calling ourselves antifascist by no means takes away the ferocity of this music. Our teeth are just bared in a different direction, and dripping with different blood.”
Dethklok – Dethalbum IV
…beautifully crafted riffs, brutal vocals, and tight, clean recording quality.
EXCLUSIVE TRACK PREMIERE: Warcrab – The Howling Silence
I’m a pretty huge fan of the band’s output to date, but this track tops the pile for me.
Witches Forest – Sitting on Stardust
Witches Forest is a perfect example of someone who was actually showing indigenous musical characteristics.
Iskandr – Spiritus Sylvestris
I really love songs that sound like they’d work as a pop songs too and this absolutely does. Bravo!
Ushangvagush – Pestmo’qon
Musically, Pesto’qon picks up where Mntu left off, and then builds from there.
Auriferous Flame – Ardor For Black Mastery
while fundamentally it is black metal as we know and love it, it’s turned and tweaked and reshaped in small ways that leave it sounding fresh and vital.
Bergfried – Romantik II
It really threw me off on first listen, but it’s so well executed that I couldn’t help but fall in love with it.
Feast of the Witch – Under a Sinister Moon
Azaketh has crafted five tracks which feel genuinely powerful.
RORCAL – Silence
When leagues of black metal and sludge bands continue to narrow themselves into smaller and smaller niches in genres that are already well-trodden, sometimes a band scrambles the assumptions of genre enough to keep everything interesting. Rorcal is one such band.
Cult Burial – Reverie of the Malignant
In the case of Cult Burial’s Reverie of the Malignant, it is clear that they do not struggle to find a footing within these seemingly disparate styles. They thrive in the liminal space between them.
Tongues-Formløse Stjerner
…if you wanna sit with an album for a few listens and really get to know it, then this one’s for you!
Owlbear – Chaos to the Realm
Owlbear kicks ass. Seriously.
Ebony Pendant – Ebony Pendant
Right of the rip, or should I say riff, this album brings you to the trve and cold.
Starer – Wind, Breeze, or Breath
Starer can basically do know wrong. Each album is part of a cohesive sound, yet each also has its own unique elements.
Psionic Madness – Rotting Dominion
Big props to the guys for creating such a monumental release and in my opinion one of the best death metal releases of 2022.
EXCLUSIVE TRACK STREAM: Wyrgher – Destroyer of the Promethean Path
This may be the darkest entry I’ve heard in the cosmic black metal subcategory. It is also one of the best.
EXCLUSIVE TRACK PREMIERE: Terra Builder – Dead Celestial
Solar Temple is an absolute monster, a fantastic start for this new band, and another dark gem in the Transcending Obscurity list of releases.
EXCLUSIVE DUAL TRACK PREMIERE: Organ Dealer – Truth Blinders/Endless Despondence
The attack on The Weight of Being is poignant and powerful, both lyrically and sonically.
Gossamer – The Culling of Crones
The weight of the subject matter, the strength of the composition, and the rugged excellence of the playing make this an album worth many repeat spins.
Krigsgrav – Fires in the Fall
The trio have concocted a rich, fiery atmosphere which holds all manner of imagined evil in the shadows and contours of the riffs.
