ABBATH – Abbath

Abbath – Abbath (2016, Season of Mist)

Seven years after the release of last chapter of Immortal, All Shall Fall, and a series of judicial procedures over the use of the name Immortal, vocalist and guitarist Abbath, who is now on his own with bassist King Ov Hell and drummer Creature formed his own solo act : Abbath. It is supposed to be the continuity of his former band and not a side project like his entry in Thrash metal the band I.

ULVER – ATGCLVLSSCAP

Ulver – ATGCLVLSSCAP (2016, House of Mythology)

The basis for ATGCLVLSSCAP – which the band has been working with under the moniker ‘12’ – arrives from recordings made at twelve different live shows that Ulver performed in February 2014, in which band the band vaulted into the deep end of an improvisatory approach to their performance. As Kristoffer Rygg, the prime mover of the band since its inception puts it wryly, “The tour was to be an experiment, kind of loose and scary for a band as ‘set in their ways’ as us.”

AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED – Arc [EP]

Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Arc (2016, Relapse Records)

Form in Springfield in 1994, Agoraphobic Nosebleed as been at the forefront of extreme Metal. Defined as grindcore but obviously incorporating many genres they are releasing a series of four EPs that is the musical interest of each member of the band.

HORNWOOD FELL – Yheri [2015 Blindspot]

Hornwood Fell – Yheri (2015, Avantgarde Music)

Coming out of Italy, the Basili brothers of Hornwood Fell are exploring the boundaries of contemporary Black metal with a penchant for a Ved Buens Endesque sonority.

HÄLLAS – Hällas EP

Hällas – Hällas EP (2015, The Sign Records)

Walking the same paths as Kadavar and Uncle Acid, Hällas from Sweden is making music that the vinyl geeks of today would wet their pants to.

CATTLE DECAPITATION – The Anthropocene Extinction [2015 Blindspot]

Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction (2015, Metal Blade)

With their seventh album, the vegan deathgrind act Cattle Decapitation comes back after a much praised album that was Monolith of Inhumanity. Based in San Diego, California, the obvious heirs of Cannibal Corpse and Exhumed are pushing the extreme level of the genre a bit more.

DAVID BOWIE – Blackstar

David Bowie – Blackstar (2016, ISO Records, RCA, Columbia)

Released on his 69th birthday and two days prior of his death, Blackstar is the twenty fifth studio album David Bowie (David Robert Jones) ever released.

LYCUS – Chasm

Lycus – Chasm (2016, Relapse Records)

Oakland based doom metallers of Lycus have made a deal with famed underground label Relapse records after having released a strong first album in 2013, Tempest. Back in early 2016 with their sophomore effort Chasm, Lycus has mastered their music and worked with a great producer in Jack Shirley.

MORTUARY – Nothingless Than Nothingness

Mortuary – Nothingless Than Nothingness (2016, Goregeous Records)

Death / Thrash attack from Mortuary (France) couldn’t be more on top than this. Founded in 1989 in Nancy, France, Mortuary has been apart of the first wave of French Death metal bands alongside Loudblast, Massacra, and Agressor.

MATUBES - The Return of Black Metal [EP] [2015 Blindspot]

Matubes – The Return of Black Metal (2015, Distributor of Pain)

Sometimes, an 11 minutes EP is not enough to paint a full portrait of an artist. In the case of the Bulgarian Black metal band, Matubes, it might be enough to convince any fan of the genre to look forward to a full length album.

BATTLE PATH – Ambedo [2015 Blindspot]

Battle Path – Ambedo (2015, Inherent Records)

From Tennessee, the Doom metal meets Black metal five piece Battle Path is a superbly well fitted band to play with Indian or Bell Witch. Walking alongside the two aforementioned genres that through recent years have been blended more and more together, their doom metal could be at time Funeral doom and their black metal a bit crusty on the side. It makes for a mix of many complementary genres.

SOL – The Storm Bells Chime

SOL – The Storm Bells Chime (2016, Avantgarde Music)

Sometimes the promo material that I receive for my reviews has descriptions that isn’t really giving away the nature of the work that it is sent. For example, the latest release of SOL, a Danish band from Emil Brahe that  explored many genres since its inception in 2000, was described as Experimental / Martial Ambiant Doml. It couldn’t be more unspecific than that.

FIFTH TO INFINITY – Omnipotent Transdimensional Soulfire

Fifth to Infinity – Omnipotent Transdimensional Soulfire (2016, Avantgarde Music)

Coming out of Sweden, drummer Martin Lopez’s (ex-Opeth, ex-Amon Amarth, ex-Eternal, ex-Vinterkrig) new band is a melodic black metal band that might connect with the recent success of Tribulation’s The Children of the Night in its blend of extreme music and rock grooves. With Fifth tho Infinity we have a Death metal edge and breakdown riffs that could help but makes us headbang to the music.

VIRVEL AV MORKERHATET – Metamorphosia

Virvel Av Morkerhatet – Metamorphosia (2016, Avantgarde Music)

Virvel Av Morkerhatet was formed from the ruins of the band Den Of Winter in 2008 and in 2010 released the debut album Forsaken Hate Sickness, mainly including material accumulated over the years of the Den of Winter existence. In 2013 the band changed their course and started to work on the second full-length album, which was going to mark a new era of Virvel Av Morkerhatet.

OLD FOREST – Dagian

Old Forest – Dagian (2016, Avantgarde Music)

Named after the Old Forest of the œuvre of J.R.R. Tolkien, just as many other Black metal projets, British cult band Old Forest is making melodic metal with the Black metal spirit while keeping the atmospheric element as the central aspect of their new release Dagian.

INSISION – Terminal Reckoning

Insision – Terminal Reckoning (2016, Sevared Records)

In the vein of the Brutal Death metal masters of Suffocation, Dying Fetus, and most notably Cannibal Corpse (probably the band who had the most influence in Death metal and especially for the label Sevared Records’ rosters), Insision from Sweden delivers a straight to the point Brutal Death metal of uncompromising exactitude.

VERRÄTER / SXUPERION [Split] [2015 Blindspot]

Verräter / Sxuperion (2015, Bloody Mountain Records & Sordid Curse Prod.)

On this split album featuring three songs from the American Black metal band Verräter and the five Vibration songs by American Death metal one man band Sxuperion there’s something that fits between both acts and a dark link.

DRAMA / PERDITION WINDS [Split] [2015 Blindspot]

Drama / Perdition Winds [Split] (2015, Satanath Records)

VISIONS OF THE NIGHT Vs. ReMECHANIZED

Visions of the Night Vs. ReMechanized – Industrial Military Complex (2016)

An Industrial death metal remix of the album Guerillas Within Their Midst by Visions of the Night. Originally, Visions of the Night is a one man black metal act from Canada.

Remembering MOTÖRHEAD - Overkill

Motörhead – Overkill (Bronze Records, CMC International, Sanctuary Records, 1979)

With the recent passing of Ian Lemmy Kilmister (1945-2015) I’ve decided to revisit the entire Motörhead discography. As an homage but also as a way to mourn this immortal legend of rock and roll.

THY WORSHIPER – Ozimina [2015 Blindspot]

Thy Worshiper – Ozimina (2015, Arachnophobia Records)

Remembering MOTÖRHEAD – Motörhead

Motörhead – Motörhead (Chiswick Records, 1977)

With the recent passing of Ian Lemmy Kilmister (1945-2015) I’ve decided to revisit the entire Motörhead discography. As an homage but also as a way to mourn this immortal legend of rock and roll.