Nattradio – The Longest Night Review

By Andy-War-Hall

It doesn’t seem to take long for the “wee hours” of the night to kick in these winter days. With them comes a very specific, almost hypnotic sadness that anyone who sleep has forsaken knows well. That tag-team of coldness and isolation brought on by the night just can’t be beat sometimes. Swedish goth/doom duo Nattradio know this sensation intimately, as their new album The Longest Night was written and shaped exclusively in the latest hours of the night. Injecting their Katatonia-inspired Gothic doom with elements of ambient music and noir jazz, Nattradio crafted their sophomore record to reflect the somberness of wakeful late nights, framing its ideal listening time in those hours. But will their efforts echo the sadness of the insomniac, or will The Longest Night just make them only long for sleep that much more?

Though Nattradio don’t skirt the qualifications of a metal band like Sleep Token or Ghost do, I am nonetheless reminded of more non-metal bands/artists than metal ones while listening to The Longest Night. Yes, Nattradio’s closest comparison is Katatonia, as songs like “Sketches from the Dark” and “Shifting Baseline” recall the slow, gloomy riffing of The Great Cold Distance, but The Cure seems to seep into The Longest Night’s formula just as often. Take the electronic drumming and wacky guitar effects of “Dark Streets” or the dreamy, heartbroken strings of “Rainbirds” and tell me you can’t picture Robert Smith listlessly crooning over them. Vocally, Martin Boman doesn’t have the grit typical to metal, but rather sits in the breathy middle of David Bowie and Thom Yorke. When engaged in ambient movements, Nattradio bring out the keys for spacious, dark atmospheres of jazzed-up smoothness that recall Poe and, similarly, could slide into the Alan Wake II soundtrack. Nattradio probably won’t hit for metal purists, but listeners of a wider range of genres might find a delightfully varied affair on The Longest Night.

Nattradio lean into their witching-hour moodiness above all else on The Longest Night. Slow, pensive progressions are imbued with mellow synths and Niklas Brodd’s layered guitars, while cold, bright piano chimes away on the interlude “All for You” and the ten-plus-minute title track. Boman’s high, soft delivery lends a precarious edge to The Longest Night, though his approach can feel unsuited for heavier moments and even plain off-key on “Sketches from the Dark.” Further, the soft vocals paired with Nattradio’s consistent bent towards melancholy mean The Longest Night is short on big, memorable moments. Even on The Longest Night’s most rocking tracks, “Shadow Speaker” and “Alright for Now,” the former featuring brisk double-kicks and the latter playing uber-catchy melodeath riffs that The Halo Effect would peddle, everything slows down eventually, and Boman’s wilting voice always brings back the melancholia before too long. In short, Nattradio’s brand of doom doesn’t dish out the riffs or theming meant to Fvneral Fvkk yov vp, but The Longest Night instead deals in a cozy melancholy, coldness you can settle into for a while.

Nattradio’s greatest strength on The Longest Night, however, is striking a compelling balance between busy and airy passages. Quiet verses and loud choruses are nothing new, but Nattradio always nail its execution, whether it’s moving from thumping bass to fist-pumping arena rock in “Alright for Now,” mournful piano to driving guitars on “The Longest Night,” or minimalist ambience giving way to thunderous tremolos on “Shadow Speaker.” The Longest Night’s dynamic mix really helps this end, allowing the big emotional shifts on “Night” and “The Longest Night” the breathing room needed to make it work. Nattradio know how to pace an album, and The Longest Night runs smoothly through its whole 52-minute runtime. Though lacking in powerful, “there it is” moments, The Longest Night is still an engaging record due to its expert balance not in light and dark but in fullness and ethereality.

The Longest Night isn’t anything to ruin your sleep schedule over, but Nattradio are a good group to turn to if you ever find yourself there already. Easy listening and sweetly sad, this is a record I found myself slightly more eager to get back to for each listen. Fans of Katatonia and anything under Goth’s sequined umbrella should consider checking this out. Nattradio knew what they were doing dropping The Longest Night at this time of year, and I’m sure I’ll return to it on some of my own long nights this winter.

Rating: Good
DR: 11 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s MP3
Label: Darkness Shall Rise Productions
Websites: nattradio.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/Nattradio
Releases Worldwide: December 12th, 2025

#2025 #30 #Ambient #DarknessShallRiseProductions #Dec25 #DoomMetal #FvneralFvkk #GothicMetal #Katatonia #Nattradio #Poe #Review #Reviews #SleepToken #SwedishMetal #TheCure #TheHaloEffect #TheLongestNight

MASTER'S HAMMER - 'Maldorör Disco' by @dsr_productions - #Review Online Now _ @twilight_magazin

https://www.twilight-magazin.de/reviews/musik-review/masters-hammer-maldoroer-disco

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Master’s Hammer – Maldorör Disco Review

By Grin Reaper

Besides a stout back catalog, experimental black metal weirdos Master’s Hammer vaunts an intermittent history both in band activity and AMG coverage. After releasing two largely unsung platters of black metal in the early 90s,1 the band unleashed the terminally forgettable Šlágry and hung up the hammer. In the same year our estimable blog was spawned, Master’s Hammer returned with Mantras, further augmenting their core sound with synth layers and an expanded songwriting tool belt. Before shuttering the project again in 2020, Master’s Hammer earned a glowing review and a similarly positive TYMHM at AMG, while another three albums went untested in our halls. The fires of creation never quelled completely, though, and now the Czech outfit reemerges with Maldorör Disco. Can this hammer still pummel, or should it have remained in Master’s toolbox?

Maldorör Disco marks a departure from Master’s Hammer’s earlier eras, dropping black metal vestiges in favor of a sound more in line with Neue Deutsche Härte and electro-industrial. On the likes of Vracejte Konve Na Místo and Formulæ, synths bolster atmosphere and texture. Here, Master’s Hammer adopts the keyboard as the primary driver of melody, and though Root and Mortuary Drape served as apt reference points on earlier albums, Maldorör Disco merits a new set of comparisons. Hints of Turmion Kätilöt, KMFDM, and Heldmaschine permeate Master’s Hammer’s landscape, but more than any other act, I find Maldorör Disco evokes Kraftwerk. ”Anděl Slizu” and “Bicycle Day” exemplify the electro-pomp that Germany’s finest man-machines defined decades ago. With the hooks predominantly occupying synth-driven territory, other instruments are relegated to supporting roles across Maldorör Disco’s ten concise and lively tunes.

Despite Maldorör Disco’s pivot in musical direction, Master’s Hammer retains much of the talent that supported the success of their second era. The only raw recruit is full-time keyboard player Kamil Princ, a sensible addition given the album’s dedication to synth. Princ crafts tenacious melodies that sink their teeth in and don’t let go, a testament to the memorability of Disco’s schtick. Meanwhile, bandleader, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Franta Štorm asserts his uniquely gruff croon and mixes its deployment with other effective stylings ranging between soft cleans (“Anděl Slizu”), backing falsetto injections (“Bicycle Day”), and vocal effects (“El Teide,” “Slatina”). Melded together, these elements fashion a diverse and engaging listen against the synth-laden backdrop. Necrocock (guitars) and Honza Kapák (drums) round out the rest of the band, ably bracing Maldorör Disco’s grooves.2

The revamped, key-centric concept on Maldorör Disco pumps a breath of fresh air from Master’s bellows, although a flaw or two hold the forge fire back from a full-on blaze. The focus on electronic influences adds a new dimension to Master’s Hammer’s sound, and while it works, I lust for more of the oddball shit that made past albums such a blast. The shift in musical approach grabs the limelight, but at the expense of what makes Master’s Hammer so lovably eccentric. Maldorör Disco also stumbles in its adherence to mid-paced tempos. Slower songs don’t pose an inherent problem,3 but restricting song speeds places a heavier burden on songwriting dynamics. Though not a fatal flaw, I wonder what Maldorör Disco might have sounded like with a couple tracks oozing the fury and venom of “Psychoparasit” or the varied velocity on “Zvířecí Zvuky.” Aiding Maldorör Disco are the restrained runtime and improved production, both of which have detracted from previous albums. Forty-two minutes are enough to explore what Master’s Hammer crafts here, and though synths don’t require the dynamic range that denser compositions do, the production is rich enough to highlight when the other instruments break out of the pocket.

After seven dormant years, Maldorör Disco proves Master’s Hammer still strikes with potency. Štorm and the gang might be longer in the tooth, but time hasn’t stripped their ability to pen tunes that stick with you long after Master’s forge has cooled. Nearly forty years since forming, Master’s Hammer bangs out another set of craftsmanlike ditties that’ll keep you whistling while you work. Though I wish Master’s Hammer would have incorporated more of their inimitably kooky antics, I enjoyed my time at the Disco, and assuming electronics aren’t anathema to your metal intake, I recommend giving it a spin or three.

Rating: Good!
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Darkness Shall Rise Productions
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: November 26th, 20254

#2025 #30 #blackMetal #czechMetal #darknessShallRiseProductions #experimentalBlackMetal #heldmaschine #kmfdm #kraftwerk #maldororDisco #mastersHammer #mortuaryDrape #nov25 #review #reviews #root #turmionKatilot

FESSUS - 'Subcutaneus Tomb' by @festeringfessus & @dsr_productions #Review Online Now _ @twilight_magazin !

https://www.twilight-magazin.de/reviews/musik-review/fessus-subcutaneous-tomb

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Starting the weekend with this classic masterpiece originally released by Cacophonous Records in 1994:

CRADLE OF FILTH - 'The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh' by @cradleoffilth & @dsr_productions

#linsedunemanninen
#intensemusic
#cradleoffilth
#darknessshallriseproductions
#blackmetal
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#vinyllover
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#metalpunksteel
#speedmetakpunks
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https://www.instagram.com/p/DM0O79Nt-P8/?igsh=cHo1MHh6M240MzNq

Mouth of Madness – Event Horizon Review

By Mystikus Hugebeard

As metalheads, there are many things we collectively appreciate about our musical genre, but one important component I often see lauded is originality. It’s not exactly a deal-breaker, but it can be exhilarating to listen to something treading unexplored territory. Indeed, a common complaint leveled against artists is calling a piece “derivative” or some such. If you count yourself amongst those who take umbrage with being unoriginal, then look no further than German duo Mouth of Madness and their debut album Event Horizon! After all, the pre-release literature simply spoils me for assurances that Event Horizon represents “an inspired band’s curious take on metal that, due to its originality, defies being easily tagged,” amongst other choice phrases. Fair’s fair, Event Horizon’s artwork does titillate the imagination, with a striking image enriched by stark colors. Fine, I’ll bite.

As my teeth sink in, it first becomes clear that Mouth of Madness are first and foremost practitioners of death metal. “Sex and Thanatos” opens up the album proper with some swedeath swagger and Morbid Angel chugging, while the following “Year of the Dog” offers a clearer picture of Event Horizon’s style. The guitars riff with thrashy abandon across a blackened tremolo-driven edge, as the drums consistently maintain a blast-beat pace. The lead guitars are sadly given scant little to do, outside of a few fun wails in “Worms.” Event Horizon’s production job is clean and crisp. It eschews the usual blunt force one might typically get with death metal, and I do rather like the soundscape. It feels minimalist in a way I fondly associate with early black metal without sounding like it was recorded in a garbage can, and allows one’s focus to rest squarely on the songcraft.

And yet, under this sharper focus, Event Horizon falls apart. Despite the aggression and fast pace, the riffs of songs like “Year of the Dog” or “Masaan” lack meaningful heft and rarely coagulate into a satisfying whole. Connecting the riffs in Event Horizon is a sea of bloat in the shape of melodically anemic passages that make Event Horizon’s 36-minute runtime feel much longer than it is. The particularly egregious midsection of “Worms” goes nowhere fast with directionless tremolos blazing away and wasting the song’s decent opening. The first half of “Fireborn” carries a similar aimlessness. If the intent of this guitar-work is to create a labyrinthine, snaking sensation across Event Horizon as a whole, then it needs more melodic intention and inspiration. I do like “At the Heart of the Unknown,” where a spartan intro builds black-metal discordance into a truly satisfying riff, although the song does overstay its welcome by about a minute. The ambient “Transhimalaja+,” which is spread across Event Horizon in three parts, is also strong in a vacuum. It’s well-made ambient music, but it’s a tonal clash with the rest of Event Horizon, as if it were from a different album.

Which is because it is! “Transhimalaja+” is a song by the German group Popul Vuh, or more specifically, a song written by Florian Fricke, a founding member of Popul Vuh.1 Incomprehensibly, Mouth of Madness split Fricke’s six-minute “Transhimalaja+” into three asymmetrical parts and played them in reverse order across the album, entirely unaltered. It baffles me. It doesn’t tie Event Horizon together, since “Transhimalaja+” strikes a mysterious, almost ominous tone that the remainder of Event Horizon barely reflects. It also poorly serves the album’s pacing. “Worms” clumsily transitions into “Transhimalaja+ II” which in turn clumsily transitions into “Fireborn,” and then “Masaan” ends on a flimsy down-note that abruptly jumps to “Transhimalaja+ III.” Mouth of Madness’ implementation of “Transhimalaja+” crucifies Event Horizon on its own promise of originality. I doubt there’s a legal issue—considering that the promo blurb mentioned Popul Vuh, I charitably imagine the label must’ve gotten permission or some equivalent, but the implied legality doesn’t excuse the miserable laziness of it.2

It is a truly joyless endeavor to come down on a band like this, especially one like Mouth of Madness who’ve just released their first LP after over a decade. And yet, I can’t ignore that their inclusion of Florian Fricke’s “Transhimalaja+” is both baffling and insulting, and contributes to a discouraging debut. But I’ve yet to review a band where I don’t yearn for their growth and improvement. While their “curious take on metal” rings hollow, a solid cut like “At the Heart of the Unknown” does demonstrate that Mouth of Madness has potential. As with any artist, I will always want to see that potential realized, and I look forward to the day I can recommend Mouth of Madness to all. But guys, even if it’s as small as an ambient opener or interlude, write ’em yourself, for fucks sake.

Rating: 1.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps
Label: Darkness Shall Rise Productions
Websites: facebook | bandcamp
Releases Worldwide: July 16th, 2025

#15 #2025 #BlackMetal #DarknessShallRiseProductions #DeathMetal #EventHorizon #GermanMetal #Jul25 #MorbidAngel #MouthOfMadness #Review #Reviews