Al Ard - Al Ard

Band: Al Ard
Title: Al Ard
Label: code666
Release Date: 22 June 2018
Country: Italy
Format reviewed: High quality digital promo

OK, this is interesting. As I have pointed out in some of my previous reviews, hybrid genres have never attracted me. However now I have the tough task to review the debut album of an industrial black metal band, born in 2011 in Sicily, Italy. Furthermore the band is not just industrial and black, but also integrates drum’n’bass and dirty dubstep elements. The trio claims they have been influenced by such acts like Dodheimsgard, Red Harvest, MZ412, Brighter Death Now, Aborym and DiabolicuM, Emperor, Satyricon and Diabolos Rising. Have I intrigued you already?

I little bit of a detour. Maybe the first clearly differentiating industrial black metal I heard was Diabolos Rising’s Blood, Vampirism and Sadism, in late 1995. By that time I had on tapes Abruptum’s In Umbra Malitiae Ambulabo, in Aeternum in Triumpho Tenebrarum, as well as Beherit’s H418ov21.C. Prior to them, it all was either industrial or black metal on the market. With the time, especially in the second half of the 90’s, I witnessed the rise of electronic music, d’n’b, ambient, and mixing it with all types of metal. This was also popular in the soundtracks of the movies (horror, drugs, killings…) and in the videogames (shooters and rally). To be honest these mixtures of metal and electronics (let’s for the sake of this review use this word in order to encompass the usage of machines) have never been of my preference.

Al Ard’s debut is good. It is excellent for a soundtrack of another Blade movie series, or for a high speed drive on a countryside/seaside road at hot summer night. It is an album of burning, extreme sounds consisting of 8 tracks of dark colours. Some of them are really into the black metal fury, others are in pure electronic, d’n’b and ambient mood, and third are pure disturbing noise. I really imagine blinking neon lamps in underground tunnels and corridors with white tiles, bathed in blood…

At the end of the day the album was enjoyable and actually it went comparably easy for me, despite of the experimental patterns and noise fuse at times. I must admit that the samples and the electronic background nicely complete the heavy parts in those tracks which combine both, creating a atmosphere from a nightmare - visual and emotional. The various non-metal rhythms and styles fit well, and the pure electronic tracks are even more enjoyable.

On and on Al Ard could be appreciated by all the heavy fans, nevertheless they are into industrial or black metal only. The combination here is good. Now push play to this record and create the apocalypse - go kill vampires and zombies. 6.5/10 Count Vlad

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6.5/10 We may survive

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Lychgate - Contagion In Nine Steps

Band: Lychgate
Title: Contagion In Nine Steps
Label: Blood Music
Release Date: 30 March 2018
Country: United Kingdom
Format reviewed: FLAC

This is one of those records which just happens to you. It finds you. Like a summer storm on a sunny day outside, like a momentary experience of a deja vu. Like a dream within a dream. Like a dark matter crossing the infinite.  And that’s the main reason that the present review wasn’t easy to write at all. At the end of the day I decided just to play the record and to write down everything I was feeling while listening. No special preparation, no notes, just lines pushed by all the emotions.

Lychgate’s music is like an ambivalent paradox, a multidimensional question,  a constant throw and pushes into finding the right decision for the key combination. A dichotomy of breathing black and white. An attraction of opposites. It is a labyrinth into the space, a quest, like a lifetime searching for the answers to the eternal questions. Imagine moving into endless corridors of space station, running, wandering and wondering, sometimes even finding a fields without gravitation, so you are just floating in the air...

OK, enough with the science fiction and the metaphysics and metaphors. However, this is not that much possible when reviewing “Contagion in Nine Steps”.  Lychagate simply delivers an astonishing effort. “The album is inspired by Stanslav Lem’s book “The Invincible” and all the historical and philosophical sources on the idea of swarm behaviour in crowds and civilisations from the era of Plato to Le Bon and the modern era.” And even though I am not into Lem’s science fiction heritage and characters, I would say I really found “Contagion in Nine Steps” very contagious and addictive. This third record of the English band from London certainly requires special mood and state of mind. Just because these 42 minutes, wrapped in 6 special forms of own life, deserve serious attention and imagination. “Contagion…” is an album that can’t be just played. It must be listened to carefully, several times, and then experienced. “What’s the style?”, you may ask. Well, it is space avant-garde, black, doom. There are from clean to aggressive growling vocals presented, drowning into choir or operatic passages, heavy guitars and melodic solos. An organ playing from the in a solemn hall of the corner of your cosmic sleep, a piano and a mellotron. The music is a roller coaster taking you up to the stars and drowning you suddenly down into black space holes – that much variations, layers, textures and imaginations.

I strongly recommend “Contagion in Nine Steps” nevertheless you like or dislike Lem’s book. It is a record for all those who live an breath the mysteries in music. The explorers. Those who dare. Those who are not following the flock of sheep. It is for the connoisseurs only. 8/10 Count Vlad




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8/10 To Greatness and Glory
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Délétère - De Horae Leprae

Band: Délétère
Title: De Horae Leprae
Label: Sepulchral Productions
Release Date: June 15th, 2018
Country: Canada

The québéquois hordes attack again, in this fateful June, covering the poor foundations of what remains of civilization with a macabre chant of plague and redemptive futility, which will end up corrupting our black hearts in an absolute way.

Délétère edits his second Full Length, and joins the already mythical occult black metal collection from Quebec. "De Horae Leprae" is a dense work that delves into a conceptual story set in the dirtiest entrails of the Middle Ages. 

The work introduces us to the life of Teredinis, a taciturn leper who faces the fate of becoming a prophet and the very incarnation of the plague that will strike the entire population.

The band takes the arduous task of dividing the work into nine songs (Cantus), with a total duration of one hour and five minutes. Quite an odyssey of magnanimous proportions. 

Stylistically you could compare Délétère with his compatriots Sorcier des Glaces, with some of Forteresse's characteristics, although strongly inclined towards a more melodic proposal, with hints of DSBM.

The truth is that the album sounds massive, from a sound view. You can see the band's emphasis on leaving behind the sound more inclined to Raw Black Metal, shown from their first demos and their first album, giving way to a more robust sound, with much more dynamics and depth.

The chosen concept and the compositional and sound treatment come together in a wonderful way this time. Of course, even being very melodic, this is a work that swarms away from the accessible and most popular hosts of that genre. "De Horea Leprae" is still difficult, which can result from very difficult digestion, due to the amount of sonic layers, its conceptual density and its duration, perhaps a little excessive.

I think that the only negative point that can be reproached is the lack of variety. The band almost never moves away from the tremolo technique formula on constant blasts, with occasional mattresses of synthesizers. There is a certain hypnotic factor at play, although hard to assimilate, due to its somewhat frenetic and melodic nature.

Beyond these appreciations I can assure you that "De Horea Leprae" is a very solid work and a great step forward in the career of this young band, which ensures the continuity and quality of the Québécois combo and gives us a very good Black Metal album to enjoy, while we fly in a dark dream towards mythical death rattles of medieval decadence. 8/10. Sergio. 

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8/10 To Greatness and glory!

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Funeral Mist - Hekatomb

Band: Funeral Mist
Title: Hekatomb
Label: Norma Evangelium Diaboli
Release Date: June 15th, 2018
Country: Sweden
Format Reviewed: Digital MP3

And so, on a cold June day, the mist came around us again, untimely, like a halo of inescapable misery, and Black Metal became an inescapable certainty, again, in the most inhospitable funeral of our minds.

Arioch is back, without warning, and after nine years of having edited his last Full Length, "Maranatha", in 2009, his approach of non-Orthodox Swedish extremity becomes flesh and blood again, to delight us with a pure assault to our senses. 

Perhaps, most of our readers know about the origin of this demon, but, for those new enthusiasts of this incredible music, I clarify that Arioch is also a member of a well-known Swedish band. I speak of Marduk (who coincidentally will also be releasing an album in a few days), where he takes care of the vocals. 

But Funeral Mist is another kind of succubus. Is the personal project of this musician, in which he takes charge of all the instruments, except for the drums that, in this case, are also occupied by a former member of Marduk: Lars, who turns out to be a fundamental piece to analyze the vehemence that this marvel reveals, in its totality.

"Hekatomb" does not take a moment to submerge the listener in an occult sound vortex, which results
in the discovery of an artist perfecting a facet that he had already demonstrated in his last album.

Far has been the excessive chaotic delirium of his cult work "Salvation", from 2003 (One of the best Swedish black metal albums of all time), and his sound search seems to be more in connection with the sound clarity shown in "Maranatha". And this characteristic, in other artists, could be understood as a counter, but in the case of Funeral Mist, it works as an incredible tool for the promotion of aggressiveness without precedent.

I think that what always stood out for this project was the audacity and talent of the artist to develop, in his vision, a unique cosmogony that, even being far from the Avant-Garde niche, could advance the genre towards unsuspected territories of originality. This album is not the exception and, in its somewhat scarce 43 minutes, we attend a concatenation of ideas that are fresh, and totally necessary, that undoubtedly raise the genre to a peak rarely reached this year.

Many will notice certain similarities with Marduk in the most aggressive moments. Technically, the fury and direct disposition of Arioch's riffs and the precision of Lars' blasts manage to reach a climax of absolute insanity very much in tune with his other band. 

Arioch is totally accurate in the guitars, totally abrasive or spitting blasphemies with mastery with his tone so particularly intense.

But the intensity also flows, intermittently, and also yields to sections where original and peculiar ideas can be appreciated. For example, in the song "Naught but Death", you can hear a kind of gospel choir that, far from being artificial, gives a mysterious aura to the composition, which fits perfectly. There are several moments of this nature, that emerge during the work, and that give surprise and the sensation of being listening to a monument of extreme music, unique in its kind, that fluctuates, intrinsic and magnanimous, like a cursed testament of black nature as the deepest hours of nocturnality.

The world of Black Metal is in luck, because Funeral Mist returned with a revitalizing force, with one of the best and radical albums of this year.

Intense, original, lacerating, like a freshly sharpened blade cutting the flesh of your most morbid desires. 9/10. Sergio

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9/10 Epic Storm

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Malauriu - Morte

Band: Malauriu

Title: Morte

Country: Italy

Label: Southern Hell Records

Release date: 21 May 2018
Format reviewed: Digital Mp3

Malauriu is a Black metal band from Sicily, Italy founded in 2013. They have participated numerous split releases and compilations in their relatively short existence. A band with a serious approach to the genre, personally I am not familiar with their earlier offerings. Some releases you just happen to come across, and how sweet it is to find some gold…

This 5 track ep starts off with a intro track to get the listener into the mood of some serious Black Metal. It closes with an outro track much in the same way. Though I understand the choice to create an atmosphere, black metal is about atmosphere! With an ep ticking in at 19 minutes, it seems a bit out of place.

The first real track, Vortex of supremacy, is a kick of a tune. Full blast ahead, raw vocals and old school guitars. The drumming is fast and intricate.

Revenge of the shadows is up next. Sets of in slower pace, drums all over the place (in a good way). More of an epic song, if brutal BM can be described as epic. This song has many variations and grooves big time.

The last real song is Behold the Damnation, here Malauriu is back to a full assault again. Great vocals and drums, classic BM guitars. What`s not to like?

With this ep Malauriu is proving that they have their own take on BM, though firmly planted in the early 90`s, they show creativity and technical ability to bring something new to the table. If I could change anything I would have skipped the intro (and outro), and given it a fourth real track.

All in all, 19 minutes well spent: 8/10 Harald

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8/10 To Greatness and Glory
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Stortregn - Emptiness Fills the Void

Band: Stortregn
Title: Emptiness Fills the Voids
Label: Non Serviam Records
Release Date: May 25th, 2018
Country:  Switzerland
Format reviewed: CD quality digital promo

Moment to cross the night observing the infinite sky and its countless stars. Our frantic heart fills with speed, adrenaline and the melody of the wind cuts our skin.

Moment of listening to the new Stortregn album. The already veteran Geneva formation gives us its new full-length, a behemoth full of light and darkness alike, masterfully composed and executed. The world of Melodic Black/Death can rejoice again, because we are facing one of the best albums of 2018.

"Emptiness Fills the Void" is quite an achievement from a technical point of view. There really is nothing that can be reproached in the instrumental aspect. The ability of each of the members is noted at the moment of executing extremely complex passages with absolute mastery. We are talking about highly trained musicians here. 

The drums of Samuel Jakubec give no respite throughout the journey. It is so technical, dynamic and precise that it seems almost inhuman! Vocals alternate between dark black shrieks and deep growls. The bass stands out, at times, interspersing harmonies like a tireless warrior in an eternal battle, but the absolute protagonists are the guitars, as it could not be otherwise in an album of the genre.

And it is that Stortregn's compositions are supported by a totally accurate and massive dual attack, elevating the compositions to stratospheric epic proportions.

And I mention the composition factor because, ladies and gentlemen, we are facing a band that knows very well how to write songs  that, in their heroic and complex structures, stop being mere songs to become micro symphonies with a total purpose in the whole of the work.

"Emptiness Fills the Void" grows slowly, like a magnanimous crescendo, to lead to its last track (and the longest on the disc, of 11 minutes long) in a wonderful musical catharsis from another world. It is the moment in which one realizes that in the world of Stortregn nothing is left to chance

It is an honour, in these times, to enjoy an album like this, in which you can appreciate the dedication, willingness and predisposition of each of the actors involved to achieve a result of such quality in the world of metal.

I do not think I'm exaggerating when I say that Dissection has found a very worthy successor in Stortregn. And is that the band, even having a very own voice, moves away from mere homage and aesthetic clichés to invoke the true perfectionist spirit of Jon Andreas Nödtveidt, in a way rarely seen.

"Emptiness Fills the Void" is a spectacular work, full of mastery and quality, which will satisfy the most burning desires of lovers of the most technical and melodic metal. All a testament of virtuosity and talent without equal. 10/10 Sergio

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10/10 – Immortal Classic. 

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UADA - Cult Of A Dying Sun

Band: UADA

Title: "Cult Of A Dying Sun"

Label: Eisenwald

Release Date: 25 May 2018

Country: USA

Format reviewed: FLAC

After the masterpiece debut “Devoid of Light” released in 2016, UADA (“haunted” from latin) put a rock solid base for something spectacular. That’s why the expectations about their following album were really high. Actually “Cult Of A Dying Sun” was expected with huge impatience by all the those who were already praised their previous effort.

And UADA didn’t disappoint us! Really, there is something magical in Oregon most recently and “Cult Of A Dying Sun” is a stunning record. So lively, with big soul and beating heart. Besides the amazing black metal riffs, the record includes some very melodic, let’s call them, not black meta riffs, which creates butterflies in the stomach. The intensive tempo doesn’t leave a second in calm, and the record goes from the beginning till the end in just a breath. 

And indeed, with 7 songs and total running time of 55 minutes “ Cult Of A Dying Sun” is a pure blast. It is absolutely inspired and absolutely inspiring. It carries the roots of the best melodic black metal acts from the middle of the 90s, but at the same time the band plays amazingly vivid own atmospheric and epic tunes. Of course there is a strong continuation in the line of the composing presented in "Devoid the light", but now everything sounds much more mature. It is the next step. The record sounds very contemporary, and for sure within 20 years it will be untouched again by the time. The songs seem long enough on first glimpse, but in reality they come and go, leaving absolute hunger to listen more and more of them. There is some pure hypnosis in all the spectacular melodies and all the variety of tempos. These are so distinctive and at the same time so sophomore, so complete. Atmospheric to the core, all the seven tracks bring that amazing magical feeling which only the music can deliver. I’m not going to dissect “The Purging Fire”, “Snakes & Vultures”, “Cult Of A Dying Sun”, “The Wanderer”, “Blood Sand Ash”, “Sphere (Imprisonment) and “Mirrors”. I can’t. They just must be heard, experienced, lived, felt. And again, and again. 

Along with few very strong releases in the previous couple of years, as well as so far in 2018, “Cult Of A Dying Sun” is a black metal record-example, a record which makes me believe that the genre hasn’t lost of its passion and still can bring the brightest flame in burning pyres under the majestic night skies, deep into the black woods. UADA have delivered another glorious gem; a record which will haunt you many days ahead.  It is among the AOTY contenders in the heaviest and darkest music for 2018. 10/10 Count Vlad

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10/10 Immortal Classic

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