Ever shrouded in mystery, the enigmatic collective Misotheist emerges from their icy realm to deliver succor to fans of metals black and arcane. De Pinte, the band’s fourth release, roughly translates from Norwegian to ‘The Tormented’ or ‘They Tormented,’1 a fitting appellation given the Trondheim troupe’s fondness for tortured topics and twisted themes.2 At their core, Misotheist takes the oppressive atmosphere of Selbst and merges it with Mayhem’s pummeling impudence, then strategically adorns that union with subtle melodies and naked emotions that remind me of Decline of the I. Mostly, though, Misotheist sounds like Misotheist, and given Doom_et_al’s brazen glazin’ of their last couple albums, that’s not a bad path to walk. Right?

As with prior albums, Misotheist continues exploring the band’s sonic landscape within the context they’ve defined for themselves. Second-wave tempests reign supreme, broken up by leaden crawls and punctuated with antagonistic bouts of dissonance and harmony. Fans of the band won’t be surprised at De Pinte’s mix, once again donning the lo-fi trappings Misotheist is known for and imbuing the songs with buzz and crunch. With four tracks on De Pinte compared to the typical three, Misotheist manages their most accessible album to date by keeping the opening trio trim (for them, anyway) and comprising a tightly written side A. Overall, the refinement on De Pinte signals a keen band that understands the path to greater success is one of degrees.

The first three tracks on De Pinte may be Misotheist’s best material yet, spewing counterbalanced discord and melody over varied paces in concise doses. The guitar twangs in “Unanswered Thrice” drop a wistful anchor of melancholy that tugs at the heartstrings over furious riffing and a bludgeoning drum performance, and “Blinded and Revealed” rumbles at an unhinged gait similar to Panzerfaust, injecting spidery leads over the blackened tumult beneath. It’s “Kjetterdom,” though, that stands out amongst on the A-side of the album, decelerating the momentum to an agonizing plod while the bass plays a pivotal melodic role that offsets serpentine guitar jangles. Throughout, the vocals cut and gut with what sounds like broken glass being ground in the back of someone’s throat, engendering an uncomfortable brutality that works seamlessly with the music. In all, the front half of De Pinte is loaded with great moments and potent songwriting, setting the stage for Misotheist’s longest song to date.

Though the heights of De Pinte surpass its predecessors, Misotheist hits a snag during the album’s last leg. The key to De Pinte comes down to tension, and where the front of the album excels here, “De Pinte” doesn’t quite stick the landing. Swirling, hypnotic trems play over rigidly metered bass drum blasts, and odd cymbal splashes jar proceedings out of orbit and into an exciting, dangerous crash course. The musical dynamics expertly weave to and fro, adventurously shifting the song’s velocity over a twenty-minute run that always shocks me with how fast it slips by. Misotheist’s dedication to atmosphere and tension throughout “De Pinte” is magnificent, and it’s baffling when so much time gets spent forging tension to have De Pinte just… end. There’s no big release. No catharsis. It might have been easier to look past if Misotheist hadn’t committed the same sin at the end of Vessels by Which the Devil Is Made Flesh, too. Despite how great the rest of the album is, the lack of fulfillment leaves me hollow, and the impact is outsized since this is a listener’s final impression.

Make no mistake, Misotheist brings the goods with De Pinte, and any fan of metal should find plenty to like on it. Though I’m disappointed with the lack of a fulfilling climax, I regularly find myself looking for forty minutes to sneak in another listen. Unquestionably great moments permeate the album, and while I’m disappointed with its final, crucial juncture, Misotheist’s latest is a must-listen in a month flush with quality releases. Don’t miss it, or the choice could come back to torment you.



Rating: Very Good!
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Terratur Possessions
Website: Bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: February 20th, 2026

Enevelde – Pandemonium Review

By Dear Hollow

There’s something to be said for simplicity in black metal. You don’t need an onslaught of atmospherics and technical skill to make it work – and in most cases, it’s discouraged. Sometimes you just need an effective chord progression, the right distortion, basically any vocal style that you can put through a reverb filter, and drums that hold a beat. Norway’s Enevelde knows this. Honing a distinctly cavernous approach to the Nidrosian black metal scene, the one-man act may not blow you away with its riffage, ferocity, or darkness, but third full-length Pandemonium aims for its most cohesive and sinister album yet.1

Enevelde is a project of B. Kråbøl, best known as vocalist of Misotheist and constituent of the second-wave Addams Family band Kråbøl, and at one time serving as drummer of the melodeath act Hypermass. While his projects are largely known for their intensity, Misotheist bringing the terror back to black metal and Kråbøl enacting traditional second-wave frigidity, Enevelde has always dealt in a more subtle and more evocative breed. Drums verge on DSBM in their restraint, rarely exploding into blastbeats, and guitars rely on droning tremolo picking rather than the sharp and vicious tinnitus with which we are accustomed. Vocals are guttural roars rather than sinister shrieks, lending a cavernous quality that adds depth and weight across the board. Following up 2020’s densely atmospheric self-titled debut and 2023’s more cruel and intense En Gildere Død, Pandemonium’s aim is subtlety, a creeping quality that suggests chaos rather than weaponizing it.

Subtlety is the emphasis for Enevelde, crafting subtly atmospheric tracks that rely on chord progressions, . Reminiscent of acts like Harakiri for the Sky or Gaerea, Kråbøl paints an unmistakably evocative picture with diminished chord progressions enriched by reverb-y roars and subtle synth flourishes (“Nigromantia,” “Helvete Reiser Seg”), haunted leads guiding grave, intensely dark, and nearly doomy weight (title track, “Eksilfyrste”), and fury and reaching the surface with tasteful blastbeats and dense bass (“Offer,” “Rasende Flammer”). The guitar tone throughout blends second-wave’s more barbed maceration (the raw misdirect opener “Gapende Grav) and a more modern doomish density (“Rasende Flammer”). Utilizing a style that kicks the gut-punch intensity down a few notches in favor of that creeping feeling, it’s a dreary piece of work in the most pleasant way.

While the best of black metal’s upper echelon features a smart blend of highlights and mood, Enevelde is very comfortable in its emphasis of the latter. Granted, you won’t come upon a black metal band that dwells in more cavernous tones often, but that’s about all that Enevelde does. It’s spooky blackened music with a somewhat unique vocal attack,2 a style that will please fans of the style, but there’s little else to be found aboard Pandemonium. Its slower dirge-like pacing is more akin to DSBM in the emotional gravitas attached to each plod, but if you’re not in the mood to be taken into the place that Kråbøl’s riffs and roars create, there’s nothing hooking you either. While effective, Enevelde is remarkably straightforward and one-note, its layers and richness devoted to the feeling in every movement. In short, there are no hooks aboard Pandemonium – just mood and reverie.

Enevelde has a good thing going, but its audience remains starkly limited. It will not change your mind on black metal, but its humble and straightforward execution, an atmosphere without the need for over-the-top theatrics, is a strong asset. It rarely rises above haunting and creepy, but it recognizes that it doesn’t need to. Pandemonium is far less an all-out chaos attack, and more demons are looming in the wings, utilizing punishment and insanity only when necessary. Enevelde offers a neat little black metal album – nothing more, nothing less.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Terratur Possessions
Website: 2 kvlt 4 u
Releases Worldwide: April 9th, 2025

#2025 #30 #Apr25 #AtmosphericBlackMetal #BlackMetal #Enevelde #Firtan #Gaerea #HarakiriForTheSky #Hypermass #Kråbøl #Misotheist #NorwegianMetal #pandemonium #Review #Reviews #TerraturPossessions

Doom_et_Al’s and Dear Hollow’s Top Ten(ish) of 2024

By Doom_et_Al

Doom_et_Al

2024 was the year my reviewing fell off a cliff.

I had plenty of good excuses. An infant son (Grayskull) who totally rocks my world but who gobbles up free time and good sleep habits like Pacman on a tear. A new role at the hospital, for which I was initially out of my depth, and that required enormous effort to stay afloat. An exhausting book tour for a memoir I published earlier this year. These are all incredible things for which I am extremely grateful. I just found that at the end of every day, when I should have been critically assessing music, all I wanted to do was sleep.

This significant reduction in free time has forced me to reassess my relationship with metal. In the beforetimes, I would inhale it. I was not picky; the more the merrier. Now, I have to be judicious with what I listen to. I have a lower tolerance for bad music, and less inclination to listen to it multiple times. I sometimes yearned for a time when I could focus on music I wanted to listen to, not music I was being asked to critique. This caused me to wonder if I had any business reviewing music at all.

I can’t tell you if 2024 was a good year for metal or not, because the free time I had was focused on music that brought comfort. I therefore spun fewer albums, but those I did spin got a lot of earball time. I do know that despite everything, metal continued to bring me enormous joy and happiness. Part of this is thanks to the incredible AMG team, and AMG Himself, who have created, without question, the best metal site on the planet. Special thanks to the Steely One, who could have fired me many times, but didn’t for some reason. I’d also like to thank my fellow writers who are good, kind, supportive people whose only flaw is their collective questionable taste.

Returning to the question of why I’m still here: a few weeks ago, I was playing Gaerea softly on the stereo. Grayskull crawled in, heard the music, stood up, and with the biggest grin on his face, began growling and gesticulating. He was loving it, and his unbridled joy reminded me of how glorious good metal can be. It inspired me to try to review more next year. I hope some of that rubs off on you and that you have a beautiful, prosperous and happy 2025

#10. Sgáile // Traverse the Bealach – This type of noodly prog isn’t usually my thing. But Sgáile’s Traverse the Bealach is so damn catchy and epic that it transcends the usual pitfalls of the sub-genre. Importantly, it captures the essence and majesty of the Scottish Highlands (albeit in post-apocalyptic form) in a way matched only, perhaps, by countryman Saor. It’s also an album that improves the longer you listen to it. An unexpected delight.

#9. Misotheist // Vessels by Which the Devil is Made Flesh – A band that hasn’t forgotten that black metal is supposed to feel ugly and dangerous, Vessels picks up where For the Glory of Your Redeemer left off, and is just as remorseless, claustrophobic and scary as its predecessors. Misotheist do their usual thing and knock out 3 dissonant bangers in under 40 minutes. When people complain that black metal has gone soft, point them in the direction of Misotheist

#8. Dissimulator // Lower Form Resistance – Thrash so tasty, even non-thrash fans like myself had to take notice. Complex, technical, ferocious… the only thing I don’t love is the vocals, and those I can get past because the rest is so good. Loaded with killer riffs from start to finish, this should appease the cave-man in you, while tickling those neurones as well. This one stayed in rotation for me all year. Thrash never does that. Which should tell you all you need to know.

#7. Spectral Wound // Songs of Blood and Mire – Although not as immediately spectacular as its predecessor, Songs of Blood and Mire is still a ferocious collection of vital and vivid black metal. Melding melodicism with fury, Spectral Wound create music as monstrous as it is catchy. Perhaps because it lacks the outright bangers of A Diabolic Thirst, perhaps because it is even more caustic, this one flew under many a radar. Don’t let it fly under yours.

#6. Kanonenfieber // Die Urkatastrophe – Building on the promise exhibited in earlier albums and EPs, Kanonenfieber realize their full potential with Die Urkatastrophe. So aggressive, so confident, so accomplished that I knew after one listen that it would list. The notion that “war is hell” is patently clichéd, yet Kanonenfieber subvert the usual trappings by cleverly mixing the faux-sunniness of war propaganda with the brutality of black metal. It works brilliantly.

#5. Selbst // Despondency Chord Progressions – Don’t let the hideous AI art turn you off. Selbst have come out of nowhere to create the year’s most chaotic, yet compelling, collection of tracks. Channelling Suffering Hour, this is music that finds the beauty in the messiness of its composition. Miraculously, the insanity never becomes wearying, only more interesting. By the time the final chords fade, you’ll want to throw yourself in all over again.

#4. Dawn Treader // Bloom & Decay – File under “surprise of the year.” I nearly snapped this one up from the promo sump, and then, like an idiot, passed it by. Joke’s on me. Capturing the warm, fuzzy side of black metal (a la Deafheaven, or a good version of Ghost Bath), Dawn Treader manages to pack a deep emotional punch despite all the prettiness on display. Alcest’s effort this year was fine… but when I wanted that transcendent experience only good black metal can provide, it was to Bloom & Decay that I kept returning.

#3. Gaerea // Coma – Gaerea have always been absolute masters of catharsis. The ability to take music that is baseline intense, and ratchet it up even further, is a rare gift. With Coma, Gaerea dial things back. Their tenderest, most intimate collection benefits from adding a gentler emotional core. This makes Coma less immediate than, say, Mirage,but ultimately more varied. And when it hits, the highs are some of the best of Gaerea’s rock-solid career.

#2. Ulcerate // Cutting the Throat of God – Arguably the best band in metal release another absolute barnstormer. Using every trick learned over the previous albums, Ulcerate deploy a devastating assault of dissonant death metal that captivates as it overwhelms. Insane drumming, complex time shifts, forceful melodies, thematic cohesion… Cutting the Throat of God has it all.

#1. Iotunnn // Kinship – First things first. Kinship not Access All Worlds Part 2. It’s more ambitious. It’s more sprawling. It’s shaggier and looser. And truthfully, on my first few listens, I thought it was a bit bloated and ill-disciplined. A 4.5 hiding in a 3.0, if you will. But a weird thing happened. I kept coming back. And every time I came back, I discovered something new. The incredible cymbal work on the chorus of “Mistland,” the gorgeous ending of “The Anguished Eternal.” Soon I realized Kinship, and its songs, are exactly as long as they need to be. Jon Aldara’s amazing vocal work elevates the stellar material even further, adding emotional complexity and yearning to the spell-binding complexity. The result is ethereal, complex, spiritually satisfying prog-death. It’s the best album of the year.

Disappointment o’ the Year:

Zeal & Ardor // Greif – I love the band. The live show still rocks. But this is a disappointing misfire.

Songs o’ the Year

• “Silver Leaves” – Wintersun
• “Mistland” – Iotunn
• “A Mercy Fall” – Counting Hours
• “Withering Flower” – Gaerea
• “Neuronal Fire” – Dark Tranquillity
• “Matricide 8:21” – Fleshgod Apocalypse

Dear Hollow

Welcome to the end of 2024! We at AMG hope the year has been kind to you – that your lives are filled with love, your hearts with joy, and our world with peace. I hope that you have found your people, and have those you can lean on. If we have ever given you a voice, a platform, or just love and support when you need it, then we have done our jobs.

2024 has been a roller coaster for the Hollow household. Our toddler is now a three-year-old encroaching on kidhood, with all the sass and sick burns she can muster.1 Fun news: we will be welcoming another kiddo into the world come summer of 2025! I also finally graduated with my master’s in secondary education this past year (mainly for the pay raise). While I’m unsure how much I will use from those classes, I have stepped up my class offerings to science fiction, true crime, and archaeology, alongside myriad others.

My metal reviewing has found a bit of a crossroads in 2024. At the end of 2023, I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression with potential ADHD, with a ton of childhood patterns and religious trauma rooted in my upbringing. As I unpack my need for productivity, I have had to take some steps back and see where my values actually lie as I’ve acclimated to medication, counseling, and just trying to rewire my brain. I’ve been reading and relaxing more, instead of cranking out reviews as religiously as I have. I’m trying to live without religion – of any kind.

Special shout-outs to those who have been instrumental in my journey this year: the ineffable and tireless Steel Druhm, the genre-confusing Dolphin Whisperer, and those who have been supportive all year (Thus Spoke, Maddog, Carcharadon, Holdeneye, and Mystikus Hugebeard). Couldn’t have done it without y’all.

On to the metal!

#ish. Sumac // The Healer – The amorphous and fluid nature of The Healer is exactly what I’ve wanted out of post-metal. Its organicity is its greatest asset, accomplishing rich and trembling tones across its mammoth 76-minute runtime. Improvised material largely fails due to its lack of direction, but direction was never a focus for Sumac; rather, it dwells in its own devastation – the warhead and the fallout. Electronics simmer, noise erupts, sludge riffs hit with the weight of a thousand suns, and vocals command the attack with vitriol and mania alike. The Healer wounds and heals.

#10. Sidewinder // Talon – I never thought a stoner-inclined album would make it to my list, but here we are. I scoffed, but then the first riff of “Guardians” hit, and collided with vocalist Jem Tupe’s formidable and rich belts, the pleasure was so immense I threw a table over. The full-bodied, fuzzed-out blues riffs continue into jam seshes that keep me coming back for more, with them bluesy vocals floating like a weed-piloted spaceship atop the seas of psychedelia. The New Zealand act boasts range, zeniths in the low and slow, and cuts loose with southern fried riffage. I haven’t been able to shake the riff from “Prisoner” for months.

#9. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum // Of the Last Human Being – As a recent convert to 2004’s Of Natural History, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum scratches the itch I didn’t know I had. In essence, an art rock and jazz foray, Of the Last Human Being goes from snappy blasts of UneXpect-style metal meltdowns, multilayered vocal attacks, wonky and hypnotizing dream sequences,2 to brass drawls, anachronistic industrial electronic, to art-funk, and more! Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is confidently locked into its own stylistic fluidity – Of the Last Being picks up as if seventeen years haven’t passed since its predecessor.

#8. Mamaleek // Vida Blue – Taking what made predecessor Diner Coffee so great and blowing it up with a palpable pomp, Vida Blue simultaneously pays homage to member Eric Livingston and the relocation of the Oakland Athletics to Las Vegas. Mamaleek establishes these tracks upon much shiftier sands, free jazz at its core, while jazz- and blues rock, post-punk, prog-rock, and pure experimentalisms are glossed over progressions rotten to the core. From flute and brass explosions to anarchic punk driving, you’d be hard-pressed to find an album as bewildering – and as utterly brilliant – as Vida Blue. Home run or whatever.

#7. Thou // Umbilical – While Thou has always been excellent, Umbilical foregoes the post-metal sensibilities that populated Heathen and Summit in favor of a cutthroat hardcore influence. Blessedly, while it feels harsher than much of their previous material, it doesn’t change the core that defines this Baton Rouge collective. Doom and sludge still dominate the pain and smothering that Umbilical represents, with the thick riffs reeking with the putridity of swamp water and vocals haunting with the vitriol of the bayou’s ghosts dominating the ears aplenty, with a vicious hardcore urgency biting through the humidity.

#6. Ataraxie // Le Déclin – The bleak edge of funeral doom has never felt so appealing. Recalling Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal in its audio and existential weight, the French collective balances the heft of funeral doom with the punishment of death metal – without the bells and whistles of modern atmospherics. Leads dominate the melodic portions with mobility and competence, death metal collapses regularly imminent, tension and bleakness hanging high in an empty sky. Four tracks of patient starkness greet the ears with overwhelming weight and tortured meditations on devastation.

#5. Ingurgitating Oblivion // Ontology of Nought – Easily my most returned-to album of 2024, the German duo creates a death metal album that embodies the outer extremes of the style. It’s dissonant beyond what many consider dissonant, punishing beyond what’s considered punishing, and easily one of the most exploratory albums of the year. Five long-form tracks showcase labyrinthine songwriting, experimental melodic structures, mind-flaying technicality, and a strange sense of catchiness radiating from deep within. Perhaps the most puzzling release of the year that requires and demands your full attention, the unearthed rewards are plenty.

#4. Orgone // Pleroma – Stephen Jarrett emerges from a ten-year hiatus of Orgone for a definitive piece of metal that defies explanation. Featuring a technicality that exists in a league of its own with an adventurousness and organicity that aligns its vast range of influences neatly, with its core landing somewhere among technical death metal and post-hardcore a la Amia Venera Landscape. Riffs and sweeps maintain a certain unhinged and intensely calculated tedium, while stylistic wilderness is explored in real-time. Post-metal, death metal, post-hardcore, and jazz are all tied together with crescendos and organic breadth that sway from lush harmony to scathing dissonance seamlessly. Orgone returns with an opus and pilgrimage of beauty, adventure, and pain.

#3. Ulcerate // Cutting the Throat of God – I was this close to writing off Ulcerate’s newest as too accessible and too forward, lacking the atmospheric prowess of The Destroyers of All or Stare Into Death and Be Still. Then I let Cutting the Throat of God whisper and breath. In between these stormy blusters came the answer, and a sentience emerged. It wasn’t about a broad showcase of dissonance and technical prowess, but a holistic cohesion that stitches the music together with the nuance and sinews of being. The vicious and the ethereal blended into unspoken horror, with meditations ranging from the frantic to the morbid. Cutting the Throat of God is the most human of its releases but in the tragedy it becomes and the metamorphosis it undergoes – the murder of God.

#2. Aborted // Vault of Horrors – I’ve never been terribly keen on the Belgian deathgrind legends, but Vault of Horrors curb-stomped a special place in me – namely because it sounds like deathcore. I’m not willing to banter about that specificity, but all I know is that Vault of Horrors kicks serious ass. Ripping tempos, bludgeoning riffs, and an unhinged technicality align for an album deserving of the act’s reputation, bolstered by a legion of guests.3 Highlight after highlight rolls by with reckless abandon and pulverizing intensity, until your body is so bruised and beaten you have nothing else to offer. I don’t care if it’s deathcore; it’s brutal, bouncy, and wicked, and I’m just happy to have my skull caved in.

#1. Convulsing // Perdurance – Thinking of the meteoric trajectory of Australian one-man project Convulsing and its albums, it’s no wonder that Perdurance has lasting success. Dissonant death metal has a high standard this year with established juggernauts Ulcerate, Gigan, Mitochondrion, Devenial Verdict, Pyrrhon, Replicant, and Ingurgitating Oblivion releasing scathing blight upon the world in monolithic and ruthless fashion. In this way, Perdurance takes the world in a whisper. Encapsulating a sound that is both unforgivingly dense and painfully claustrophobic, while also starkly and lushly atmospheric in its layered crescendos and exploratory songwriting, few artists profess the level of songwriting the way sole member Brendan Sloan utilizes: intricate and gradual evolution of riffs and melodies, achieving a level of organicity and sentience seen by few. Twisting convention with a knife firmly planted in devastation, Perdurance achieves a truly iconic and transcendent voice in the best album of the year.

Honorable Mentions:

• Paysage d’Hiver // Die Berge – It might not best Im Wald, but it’s a damn good conclusion to the Wanderer’s journeys, scathing black metal and frigid ambiance conjuring the majesty of mountains.
• Stenched // Purulence Gushing from the Coffin – I’ve never quite gotten what Steel Druhm has been on about with filthy, putrid death metal, but now I get it. Ugh, I need to take a shower.
• Defeated Sanity // Chronicles of Lunacy – Brutal death metal darlings don’t hesitate to bring the ouchy, but armed with enough technicality and insanity to keep us guessing, it’s a tough album to beat.
• Apes // Penitence – What appeared to be a total Nails ripoff turned out to be a much more atmospheric and thoughtful affair, the Quebecois group still managing to cave my skull in.
• Pillar of Light // Caldera – With a pulverizing yet restrained palette aimed at evocation through sludge and post-metal, this Detroit collective scratches the itch that only Amenra could have.
• Charli XCX // Brat – Well, color me Brat green and call me 2012 The Hobbit’s portrayal of the Misty Mountains. It’s a pop album that caught me by surprise. Hooks and experimental sensibilities align with a deceptively bare-bones album with a strong and palpable theme coursing through. I have not been able to get “Sympathy is a Knife” out of my head.

Biggest Surprises:

• Everyone and their Kitchen Sink // La Suspendida – What. The. Fuck.
• Jeris Johnson // Dragonborn – “Siren’s Song” is a perfect holiday track, as it interpolates the central melody of “What Child is This?”!!! Merry fucking Christmas. God.
• Two La Torture des Ténèbres albums in one year – I like it raw, boys.
• Three Monolith records in one year: blackened hardcore, doom/deathcore, and aquatic atmoblack. Impressive, fellas.
• How crucial darkwave bands Lazerpunk, Perturbator, and Sleepless Droids were to finishing my master’s. Thanks for the recommendations, Mystikus!

Songs o’ the Year:

• Assemble the Chariots – “Evermurk”
• Firtan – “Hrenga”
• Melvins – “Pain Equals Funny”
• Shiverboard – “Vitamins of Darkness”
• Convulsing – “Endurance”
• Charli XCX – “Sympathy is a Knife”

#2024 #Aborted #Apes #Ataraxie #CharliXCX #Convulsing #DawnTreader #DefeatedSanity #Dissimulator #DoomEtAlSAndDearHollowSTopTenIshOf2024 #Gaerea #IngurgitatingOblivion #Iotunn #Kanonenfieber #Mamaleek #Misotheist #Orgone #PaysageDHiver #PillarOfLight #Selbst #Sgaile #Sidewinder #SleepytimeGorillaMuseum #SpectralWound #Stenched #Sumac #Thou #Ulcerate #ZealAndArdor

Record(s) o’ the Month – March 2024

By Steel Druhm

Well, this one is especially late, even by our famously sub-par standards. It’s not yet the halfway point of 2024 and we’re already 3 months in arrears, just like we are with our court-ordered payments to permanently disabled staff members and a host of traumatized readers. We will do our best to catch up with some of these things before the summer ends, but time is the fire in which we burn and we’re wearing gasoline-soaked linens and TNT tophats. Anywho, here are the belated goodies!

There was little doubt which record was taking the top slot for March. Hamferð are big players in the doom-death sweepstakes and when Men Guðs hond er sterk hit the scene with a concept about a real-life whaling accident in 1915, only Moby Dick could drag AMG Himself away from this thing. Led by the stunning vocals of Jón Aldará, Hamferð swings for the fences with massive doom set pieces that crush you with mass and emotion. Smart infusions of folk and use of native Faroian language lend extra atmosphere and ground the music in the concept’s time period. The material is impressively nuanced for something so heavy and the songsmithing is consistently compelling. The album is steeped in melancholy and takes the listener on a voyage of terror and ultimately, redemption. As AMG extolled, “Hamferð’s strengths are abundant and Men Guðs hond er sterk leverages each of them to land a coup de maître.” A whale of a tale!

Runner(s) Up:

Aborted // Vault of Horrors – The Belgian deathgrind institution known as Aborted just keep on grinding at the death mill with 12th album Vault of Horrors. And damn do they sound like a band reenergized and ready to murder a new generation of listeners. Chaotic, vicious, and unrelenting, Vault comes after you and your whole family with rabid aggression and monstrous death grooves. It’s a nonstop artillery pasting of nasty riffs and pounding war drums and at no time do they brake for the elderly or cute animals. Only some vague symphonic bits offer melody and atmosphere to break up the boot party. This is the album to blast if you need to let off serious steam. As our man Grier summed up, “this new record might be their best since 2016’s Retrogore—providing just enough diversity in the tracklist to keep me coming back again and again.” Get in this Vault.

Misotheist // Vessels by Which the Devil is Made Flesh – Somehow finding a sweet spot between accessibility and horrific dissonance, Norway’s Misotheist crafts dark and mysterious black metal with ugly hooks. It’s fast and furious fare but with enough melodic tricks and treats to keep things interesting, and the result is, gritty, dramatic, and oddly engaging. It’s the rare album that can be relentlessly extreme but still seems so listenable, but Misotheist nail that delicate balancing act. As Doom et Al remarked, “Complex, interesting, furious… if you’re a fan of black metal, you don’t want to miss out on this one.” Miso heavy!

#2024 #Aborted #Hamferð #MenGuðsHondErSterk #Misotheist #RecordSOTheMonth #VaultOfHorrors #VesselsByWhichTheDevilIsMadeFlesh

Album Review: Misotheist — ‘Vessels by Which the Devil Is Made Flesh’

#Misotheist #AlbumReview #MarchReleases #blackmetal

https://metalinsider.net/reviews/album-review-misotheist-vessels-by-which-the-devil-is-made-flesh

Misotheist – Vessels by Which the Devil is Made Flesh Review

By Doom_et_Al

In the overcrowded field of black metal, it’s difficult to stand out. This is even more true when you commit to working within the confines of the genre, rather than, say, employing some gimmick like “black metal meets Barbie meets hardcore.” Yet within two albums, quietly standing out is exactly what mysterious Norwegian outfit Misotheist managed to do. Forging a path that threaded the needle between “accessible” and “dissonant as fuck,” their two previous efforts, 2019’s Misotheist (dreadfully underrated by some hack at this site) and 2021’s For the Glory of Your Redeemer (appropriately rated by some hack at this site), were standouts for fans of twisty, complex, dark black metal. Which means that a new release is suddenly a big event in metal circles. Or at least, it should be. Yet Vessels by Which the Devil is Made Flesh has weirdly flown under the radar. I’m here to tell you why it deserves time in your ear holes.

In keeping with its two predecessors, Vessels features three songs of varying lengths and differing styles. Thematically and sonically, it feels like an extension of For the Glory of Your Redeemer. This means the furious black metal tracks are built around the twin pillars of dissonance and repetition, with a tone that oscillates between fury and despair. If that sounds boring, it’s not. Think how awesome bands like Sinmara and Svartidauði, who employ a similar aesthetic and sound. Those elements are the building blocks of great metal, and Misotheist manage to add their own spin to it. Through wretchedly compelling vocals, a gritty production, and unsettling signature shifts, the band conjures up something deeply primal and choking. The claustrophobia is relentless, but Vessels is relentlessly listenable because the songs are some of the best Misotheist have ever created.

Whereas previous albums featured an almost post-metal dedication to shifting sections and movements, which sometimes felt disconnected, with Vessels, Misotheist’s sound has tightened up considerably. There’s still the feeling of intense claustrophobia, but it’s more disciplined now. The melodies are more melodic, the bass is more prominent, the slower sections are more unsettling. You can feel the band growing more confident. This is highlighted by the two album standouts, “Stigma” and “Whitewashed Tombs.” Both are well over 10 minutes, and they’re both masterpieces of mood and pacing. Misotheist can switch effortlessly between jaunty chugs, twisty, mid-paced dissonance, and furious riffage, all within one song. They make it all seem so easy that it’s only after multiple listens that the complexity is revealed. The climax of “Stigma,” with its crashing drums and subtle harmonics, is so seamlessly executed, you may miss how brilliantly everything has been woven together from patches of what came before. It’s this leap in songwriting that separates this album from their debut.

The production, while not shiny by any means (which wouldn’t work for music this dark), is also an improvement. I was hard on Misotheist for totally burying the bass, making the sound a bit tinny. Vessels corrects this and the texture that is added is immediately noticeable. The sound is richer and deeper, improving every facet of the songs. Nitpicks would be that middle song, “Vessels by Which the Devil is Made Flesh” isn’t quite as strong as the ones that bulwark it, although it does feature some interesting female vocals that complement the sound very well.

Misotheist continue to quietly impress. Every 2 or 3 years, these guys drop a dark, no-nonsense banger and then disappear. Their music is neither flashy nor cool, which is why it never winds up on any major lists, but underground fans have been paying attention. Vessels is yet another hit, honing their potent sound while providing fans of dark, dissonant black metal with everything they could want. Complex, interesting, furious… if you’re a fan of black metal, you don’t want to miss out on this one.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Terratur Possessions
Websites: terraturpossessions.bandcamp.com/album/vessels-by-which-the-devil-is-made-flesh
Released Worldwide: March 1st, 2024

#2024 #40 #BlackMetal #Mar24 #Misotheist #NorwegianMetal #Review #Reviews #Sinmara #Svartidauði #TerraturPossessions

Throat – Blood Exaltation Review

By Dear Hollow

I’m gonna sound like an absolute madman when I say this, but Blood Exaltation is what I wanted Ad Nauseam’s Imperative Imperceptible Impulse to be. Poland’s Throat is neither dissonant nor death metal, and their aesthetic resides in tired and trve approaches of blackened occultism and evil in the shadow of religious alienation. However, there is a distinct and tantalizing array of clattering and creaking, a dusty and organic quality that settles like hard night on an old church, the tension of ancient voices crackling through haunted halls. The promo makes comparisons to Cultes des Ghoules, Necromantia, and early Samael in this unholy union of second-wave intensity with ancient occultism. Throat creaks and rattles and vomits its blackened witchery across Blood Exaltation in a surprisingly effective, if imperfect, second-wave experience.

Poland’s Throat takes cues from black metal’s unhallowed halls, perhaps unsurprisingly, and the chaos instilled in Blood Exaltation borders the Signal Rex-core blackened edginess of acts like Irae or Ancient Burial. However, the sound is described as “catacombed, ancient, unsettling,” and the existential occult dread that courses through every fiber is palpable. Blood Exaltation could technically be considered an EP, with opening songs “Chuć” and “Klątwa”1 preceding a re-release of their 2020 demo material, the two parts of “New Flesh Nectar.” While the sound quality between the two halves is stark and impacts the quality of Blood Exaltation, the songwriting is undeniably solid, lending itself to Throat’s limitless potential.

Black metal, particularly its raw inbred cousin, has a stereotype for kvlt aesthetic overcompensation and makes its corpse-painted ilk difficult to take seriously. Throat feels dangerous in ways that few can hold a candle to, such as the aforementioned Cultes des Ghoules or more recent output by Misotheist or Leviathan: fiery and intense but willing to dwell in its existential devastation. Both halves of Blood Exaltation feel fresh, frantic and intense but fluid in jaggedness and discomfort. “Chuć” embraces the unhinged vocal quality of Amnutseba in a feral combination of shrieks, shouts, moans, and howls alongside the shifting sands of raw chords and punk beats that slow down for the satisfying doom-influenced conclusion, while more atmospheric pulses and room noise saturate the negative spaces of “Klątwa” alongside a satisfying groove. While much rawer, the two parts of “New Flesh Nectar” feel like apt conclusions to the newer tracks, with more aggressive percussion and vicious death growls dominating alongside epic and victorious chord progressions with sinister melodic flourishes. Throat do what they can to ensure that the two disparate soundscapes are reconciled through a progression that encompasses the whole album.

The most glaring issue with Blood Exaltation is that, despite their best efforts, the two halves are jarringly disparate in sound. “Chuć” and “Klątwa” are darker and cleaner, with wild vocals and bass more pronounced, while raw black tropes dominate the two parts of “New Flesh Nectar” alongside a more traditional blackened screech with sparse death growls. While the songwriting attempts to smoothen this divide, Throat can do very little to remedy it without a solid rerecording of the New Flesh Nectar demo. As it stands, it nearly singlehandedly keeps Blood Exaltation from excellence despite the more dynamic songwriting of the “New Flesh Nectar” duo. On a more nitpicking level, some passages of “Chuć” are repeated too long, while the intro of “Klątwa” denotes the track as atmospheric before slapping you with a blazing riff. As is the case for this style of ugly music, and even more so for this creaking and groaning interpretation of black metal, it will not be for everyone. Blood Exaltation is caustic and unforgiving, eerie and dense, and requires myriad listens to breach the veil.

Throat ultimately makes one hell of an impression with Blood Exaltation, creating a breed of black metal that remains neatly within the lanes of the style while also twisting it into a terrifying, ancient sound. Its excellence is derailed by the soundscape differences between the new tracks and the inclusion of the New Flesh Nectar demo, but nevertheless feels raw, punishing, and amorphous in ways that recall the genre greats as well as other styles, including Ad Nauseam. Black metal ought to be terrifying again, and Throat makes a fantastic case for it.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Primitive Reaction
Websites: tøø kvlt før yøv
Releases Worldwide: February 9th, 2024

#2024 #35 #AdNauseam #Amnutseba #AncientBurial #BlackMetal #BloodExaltation #CultesDesGhoules #Feb24 #Irae #Leviathan #Misotheist #Necromantia #PolishMetal #PrimitiveReaction #RawBlackMetal #Review #Reviews #Samael #Throat

Serena Cherry has a knack for melody. In her storied career with Svalbard, the charismatic vocalist and guitarist has co-written and performed a decade of melodic hardcore tinged with post-hardcore, post-metal, and black metal. My experience in last year’s excellent When I Die, Will I Get Better? balanced melody with in-your-face lyrics, but above all, stellar songwriting. While undoubtedly furious, it addressed difficult issues controversially mincing no words and doing so with a heart unseen in much of metal and metallic subgenres. Now, Cherry tries a little something different in her new solo project Noctule, hoping to “spread her dragon wings and take off in an intriguing musical direction on her own.”

A labor of love and isolation, Cherry composed and recorded the Noctule debut while in the UK Coronavirus lockdown. Opposed to the melodic hardcore leanings of Svalbard, she now bets it all on black in blackened release Wretched Abyss, an album themed after the popular RPG Skyrim. It’s not the first time that gaming and metal have coincided, as the early Halo-themed days of Shadow of Intent or Legend of Zelda-themed cavernousness of Chthe’ilist spring to mind. Cherry aptly reflects this epic and medieval theme in her music, utilizing melodic tremolo, blastbeats, beautiful sustaining notes, and distant shrieks to create eight tracks of epic adventure. Ultimately, Noctule too often crashes atmoblack’s party and it’s difficult to find Wretched Abyss’ bite, but it’s nonetheless a fun album full of powerful melodies and a definite sense of destination.

Old habits die hard, and Cherry’s project often feels a lot like a more blackened Svalbard. Hyper-melodic overlays dominate each song and repeated passages get drilled into listener’s ears while a backbone of distant howls and plodding drumming keep the journey progressing. Tracks like “Elven Sword” and “Winterhold” offer layers of melodic earworms alongside speedy tremolo, “Unrelenting Force,” “Deathbell Harvest,” and “Evenaar” offer crispy shredding riffs, while the more contemplative tracks “Labyrinthian” and title track have me feeling emotional about a game I’ve never played.1 Utilizing layers of guitar riffs and melodies, synthesizers, and tempo-shifting drums, Wretched Abyss is relentless in its atmosphere. While not particularly aggressive, the tone recalls the marauding epic flavors of fantasy-inspired acts like Summoning or Caladan Brood. In true Svalbardian fashion, Noctule’s star of the show is its songwriting and the presentation of its melodies: as it utilizes catchy refrains and a similar song structure that avoids overuse, songs never feel too long. Wretched Abyss clocks in at a modest forty-two minutes, which furthermore is a good runtime to flesh out its elements without overstaying its welcome.

That being said, the schism between the melodic atmo- or post-black and rawer second-wave continues to widen. Noctule ultimately has more in common with recent (albeit excellent) atmospheric offerings like Harakiri for the Sky or Mossweaver than 2021 offerings from “trve” acts like Seth or Misotheist. As such, there is little wretched or abyssal about Wretched Abyss: its melody being the main attraction, Noctule’s teeth are lost in the fold. While crisp riffs appear periodically, they are utilized as emphasis to the melodies. While dwelling almost entirely in the melodic, darker elements are most emphasized in the minor keys of tracks like “Evenaar” and instrumental closer “Become Ethereal.” As such, similar to post-black or atmoblack, the blasting drums and shrieked vocals are merely an afterthought and one may question why they are present to begin with. If anything, Cherry’s hardcore roots shine.

Old habits die hard, and Noctule remains very much in the shadow of Svalbard. Serena Cherry conveys her songwriting skills to a new style and for the most part, succeeds, but at the cost of black metal’s fury and kvlt attitude. The Skyrim influence works for the epic atmosphere, but melody pervades every fiber of Wretched Abyss, and the speedier hardcore influence is unmistakable. While potentially damning, Noctule keeps its head above water thanks to its fantastic songwriting, which allows listeners to feel as if they’ve reach a destination by the end of its forty-two minute quest. Noctule remains an unbalanced side-quest to Svalbard, perhaps, but one that is ultimately just plain fun.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Translation Loss Records | Church Road Records
Websites: noctule.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/NoctuleBand
Releases Worldwide: May 28th, 2021

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