Desolate Shrine - The Heart of the Netherworld

| LABEL |

Dark Descent Records

| AVDIO |

Bandcamp

| Death Metal | An ancient darkness and a mysterious aura surrounds the entire album, creating a sound as if it were from another world, netherworld!!!

First and foremost, this is a solid album. The structure is as stable and mysterious as an ancient stone monument. Everything is covered in a veil of darkness and mystery, it is cloudy and majestically at the same time. Dark as a forgotten chamber and glistening like a copper shield.

There are several nuances and layers in the album. In the background is constantly a roaring darkness and in the forefront, we find ancient divine melodies that speaks to the body and blood of the inner self. It is an epic soundscape that is created by small means and suggestive undertones. The album oscillates constantly between DM and BM, with the intemperate weight of DM with darkness and mystery of the BM.

It feels like this obscure creation comes from a bygone era. It really manage to conjure up an entire landscape of sounds that you get drawn into, whether you are conscious of it or not. A disc that can be played over and over again. There are so infinitely much to discover. It even activates other senses than just hearing. I think I can feel the odors, tastes and ancient deities in my vicinity. A divine experience!!!

| EXECVTION	| 92	| COMPOSITION	| 89 |
| INNOVATION	| 88	| PRODVCTION	| 94 |

| GRADE | 91 |

Vargsang - In the Mist of Night

| LABEL |

Obscure Abhorrence Productions

| AVDIO |

Bandcamp

| Black Metal | Vargsang is like an old institution, they deliver above average BM as a reliable as a clock. You always know what you get, and you will never be disappointed. 

The album delivers classical BM with all the bells and whistles that we have come to enjoy. The gritty guitar distortion, little bass and the more treble. Slow- to mid-tempo drum. That ugly and terrible, but so fitting voice. And to top it all of with some simple eerie keyboards in the background for atmosphere (Totally unnecessary if you ask me). 

The song structure is nothing new here, it is almost the same formula since the second wave BM. There are a number of songs that delivers pure BM as it should sound, without complicating it to much. It is just music that you know from the deep within that you appreciate.

It is all presented in a primitive lo-fi production as it should be. And that's what makes up most of the atmosphere and feeling of the album, the rawness, the simplicity and the primitive. You don't always have to invent the wheel over and over. Just listen to this album instead!!!

| EXECVTION	| 75	| COMPOSITION	| 73 |
| INNOVATION	| --	| PRODVCTION	| 82 |

| GRADE | 77 |

9. Zaklon - Nikoli...

LABEL
Possession Productions
AVDIO
Bandcamp
GRADE
83%

Black Metal. If you you just scrape the surface could Nikoli appear to be just another of thousands of mediocre BM albums that have been released since the mid nighties. But so is not the case, it holds so much more in its dead nest. It has something unspeakable, I can't exactly point to what it is, in simple terms its just doing what millions of bands have done before, but this album speaks to me in a different kind of way. It goes straight in to my subconscious makes my whole body shiver in dark delight and transports me far away into the Belarus forests, where nature prevails. 

19. Patria - Individualism

LABEL
Indie Recordings
AVDIO
YouTube
GRADE
90%

Today's band Patria offers up a more modern type of "black metal" that is basically BM with a more melodic progressive twist. And it ain't that bad actually, rather the opposite!!!

It all feels new and alive in some twisted way like rotten roots that finds new ways to grow. The album is adventurous and takes on new paths without getting lost in mediocre oblivion. It has an unstoppable creativity which makes the whole album interesting the whole way. Furthermore is the album catchy as pest in the medieval times and must be listened to at least once!!!

7. Adamus Exul - Arsenic Idols

LABEL
ATMF
AVDIO
Bandcamp
GRADE
93%

Orthodox Black Metal from Australia that burns strong with the black flame. It boasts an abnormal strong force that penetrates every orifice of your body and mind. A really strong release that hold to the end and that stays interesting murky path the whole way.

It have every element to create black metal successfully and it succeeds in every way of it. It dark, wondrous and dreadful in its scale. Recommended for people that appreciate bands like Watain and Ofermod.

Black Altar - Black Altar

Here we have the venerable polish one man project Black Alter with their latest release. Some of the songs on the EP were actually meant to be on a Shining split that never happened, and its a good fucking thing that it diden't!!! The five songs stands really good on their own feets, with an competent and somewhat death metal inspired sound to them in this suicidal concoction. The album begins with an kind of creepy and atmospheric piano and then all hell breaks loose with fire and brimstone!!! With fast grinding drums, dark downtuned guitars and great agonizing potent vocals of the more darker kind. You may think that there are a lack of mood because of the DM influences, but then you are fucking dead wrong. They mange to evoke an great atmosphere in every song both with the great guitar riffs and with an helping hand from a keyboard (Sparingly used!!!). Its an great collection of five ghastly awesome tracks, well worth a check up!!! 

666 Megabeast!!!

8,5/11

Listen here and buy it here

REVIEW Dødsfall - Kronet i svart eld

The black flaming procreation begins with a classic sample from the formidable movie The Seventh Seal to processed to the devouring flames of traditional BM (as it always has been, and always will be) that this EP delivers! This norwegian/swedish collaboration really succeeds to generate that old, raw and cold feeling from the ancient (probably not so fucking old!!!) days of black metal in a proper way. They build up a creation that feels fairly genuine with solos, the kind of guitars that weaves you into the endless darkness with its string plock and all the midtempo you ever could have asked for!?! And of course are the production very primitive with the drums farthest away and the (extremely raw and grim) vocals closest  in the production (with the "necro sound" as it should be). It may not deliver anything particularly new, but its a nostalgic journey to the past, before there were millions of subgenres under BM and everything derailed. Come forth and be crowned in the black fire!!!

7,5/11

Best track: I skuggans famn

Check them out here:

REVIEW Withering Night - Within the Shadows We Lurk

Its now time to serve up some glutinous cake with so much cream and sprinkles that you almost will choke in form of this ultra melodic BM release. Yeah, this is what i call a melodic black metal?!? release with endless masses of guitar melodies and so much keyboards that you almost drown in them. But is it any good?!? Yes and fuck no!!! But lets try to start on a positive note. The album manifests musicality on a high level with advanced guitar compositions and riffs (that contains a lot of inspiration from heavy metal inter alia) that feels interesting and exciting for the most of the parts, some of the stuff even sticks to me, and I can't help thinking to myself, hey this is good! The vocals are the standard stuff (raspy middle pitched voice) nothing that really stands out, with some clean male and female vocals that are both a hit and miss. And the bloody keyboards that always lays there, sometimes in the background with just atmospheric sounds and occasionally on top as a sweet ass cherry (and even plays some folk melodies). For the most of the parts it just feels superfluous and the guitars are more than enough!!! But for most of the first half of the album its a refreshing experience as a whole.

But now to the bad fucking shit!!! The second half of this record!!! Suddenly they start playing  pure fucking power metal (the shitstorm starts with the song Forsaken Judgement) but with harsh vocals (as they should call it), this shit would have fitted equally well on a fucking pussy ass Dragonforce record!!! I get nauseous and almost want to puke up my spleen out of this shit!!! And it goes on for a couple of a songs before they try to redeem themself with the title track, but then they put some faggy clean vocals on it, and Im just wondering, what the fuck were they thinking?!? The album ends at least on a higher note with the closing track Blood Worship and everything is back to normal after the trip to the gaybar. To sum it all up, I find it hard to recommend this album for you, but at the same time are there some good things here if you search for it and are into hyper melodic and heavy metal inspired stuff (and skip a couple of tracks), so check it up, but be warned..!

5 (7 if you skip track eight and nine) /11

Best track: Lifting the Veil

Check them out here:

http://razedsoul.bandcamp.com/album/within-the-shadows-we-lurk

3 FAST REVIEWS Mindgrinder, Vattnet Viskar, Gorthaur's Wrath

Mindgrinder - Prop Agenda

This ain't that fucking bad actually, rather the opposite, it was quite surprisingly good,  if you could call this BM?!? You hear more death than black here, with a lot of electronic effects!!! But hey it works fine as a whole experience. There are of course imprints in the music from the other members bands like Zyklon and The Wretched End to name a few. Its well played and interesting enough to keep you  listening throughout the whole record.

MindGrinder – Prop Agenda

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Vattnet Viskar - Sky Swallower

Vattnet Viskar (swedish for the water whispers) is kind of an interesting release with its epic style of BM mixed with Doom. The album has a heavy spacey feeling to it with its magnificence in the songs, but at the same time you feel a great emptiness, like you are falling into an endless void. Its gets a little to slow and dull for my taste occasionally, but on the other hand is it a part of the space atmosphere. So give it a try if thats the kind of stuff you like.

Vattnet Viskar – Sky Swallower

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Gorthaur's Wrath - Wrath War for Heaven

This is apparently one of the first Croatian black metal bands to appear. But don't be fooled and start thinking this is some old school shit, for there are as much heavy metal in the music as it is BM. Sure there are some interesting stuff here (especially the track The Lucifer Rebellion) and I ain't saying they are bad in any way, but are you looking for real BM you probably should look somewhere else. But are you after a good melodic metal record with shades of black, then you have come fucking right.

Gorthaur's Wrath – War for Heaven

REVIEW Voidhanger - Working Class Misanthropy

As you probably know by now, we here at DV have a predilection for BM of the more rockin' kind, and thats what this polish band delivers unto us like a punch in the fucking spleen. From the first tone are we invited to an excellent lesson in how you do high quality BM with a good fucking intensity and still keeping the essence from the roots of it all. But there aren't just rock'n'roll influences here, the album are teeming with a lot of punk influences too! This brings some fucking nice attitude to the recording and makes it kind of old school in a way. But on the other hand can you find a lot of crystal clear inspirations from polish death metal (of course!), which totally contradicts the last claim of them being old school!?! But thats the thing, the duality, the fucking have both!!! They have taken the best of the old and mixed it with the newer technical stuff with a great interesting result. If you want both, new and old, with some punk rock pumping through the veins, check this shit out!!!

8,5/11

Best track: Working Class Misanthropy

Check them out here:

http://www.lastfm.se/music/Voidhanger

REVIEW Valkyrja - The Antagonist's Fire

Finally a new album (after almost four fuckin years of slumber and waiting) from one of the lords of swedish black metal together with Ofermod and Watain (if you ask me). The comparison with Watain isn't that far fetch to begin with, the music is vastly in the same vain of the above mentioned band together with the lyrical and imagery themes are close to each others. And to top it all are both bands complete full-length catalogue recorded at the excellent Necromorbus studio by Tore Stjerna which obvious sets a quality mark on the releases. So it isn't that hard to see why these bands often get paired together. But were they differ them self  from each other is in the evolution of the bands, were Watain always seems to be a step ahead and Valkyrja following after (nothing bad about it!!!). But enough said about Watain, this is a Valkyrja review for fuck sake!!! This is a horrifically awesome recording from the first opening riffs of "Betrayal Incarnate" to the last infernal tones of the closing track "Treading the Path of the Predator". I enjoy the whole terrible and interesting journey through the bottomless chasms to the endless darkness of abyss. This album grows on you for every time you hear it, getting higher and higher like the black flame. It has every element that you ask for from a great BM band and all the things you crave!!! Its an extremely rewarding journey to take for all your senses, you don't fucking want to miss this release!!! 

9,5/11

Best track: Madness Redeemer

Check them out here:

https://myspace.com/valkyrjaswe

REVIEW Sangus Legio - Vengeful Brutality

This came out of nowhere like a big fucking punch to the face. With its kickass speed and primitiveness that takes you back to early days of BM with bands like Mayhem (think "Deathcrush"), Sarcofago and Hellhammer in mind. This is a hellrockin demo from the american group Sangus, with a lot of attitude and punk influences that makes it hard to stand still. Its almost like the whole fucking floor is melted magma and you just want to thrash everything in your soundings. This shit is really what its all about, hellraising old school BM that makes the blood pump in every vain.

9/11

Best track: Bone Collector

Check them out here:

http://sangus.bandcamp.com/album/vengeful-brutality

REVIEW Mord'A'Stigmata - Ansia

This I must say is one of the more interesting releases in a long time, delivered to us from one of my favorite BM countries, Poland!!! It absolutely brings something new to the genre without wander to far off into some artistic bullshit, that are just being weird for the weirdness sake. They mix different genres in a almost perfect way, you can even smell some jazz tones here and there, without fucking it all up in a bloody mess. This is indeed an interesting and rewarding listening experience throughout the whole record, crammed with madness, misanthropy, enthralling thoughts and idés that you don't want to fuckin miss. 

9/11

Best track: Praefatio Pro Defunctis

Check them out here:

http://mordastigmata.bandcamp.com/

REVIEW Wintercult - The Last Winter

It begins with a sombre cold wind that blows through the frostbitten speakers together with some clean melancholic guitars that sets the mood for this record. You can hear a lot of Burzum influences on this recording, both in the music with its nature inspired grinding hypnotic riffs, and the midtempo drums. And of course in the vocal department with painful screams from the frozen abyss. It feels like you have been locked out from the warmth and safety of your social lodge and left alone in the dark windswept spruce. There are a lot of atmosphere here, even though it has been done thousand times before.  

8/11

Best track: Taedium Vitae

Check them out here:

https://myspace.com/wintercultofficial

REVIEW Thrall - Aokigahara Jukai

This is a hellish awesome recording from the australian band Thrall, and it really took me by fucking surprise like a disease infested corpse rising from the swamp. The band mixes traditional BM with a lot of influences from both punk, rock and post-hardcore in incredibly way which gives the music a grand dimension. You get the feeling that you are rotting away in some godforsaken marsh with parasites and fungus taking over what's left of your mouldering bones. This is a bloody excellent album from the opening track "Longing for Death" that slowly build up the decomposing process to the concluding "Slaves" that ends the album in a high note with its black'n'roll scented riffs.

10/11

Best track: Slaves

Check them out here: