NEIGE ET NOIRCEUR - Les Ténèbres Modernes

Neige et Noirceur - Les Ténèbres Modernes (2016, Sepulchral Productions)

This one man band from Québec with its sole member Zifond and in this release the vocals of Schimaera offers another Ambiant Black Metal record that is based on the Great War or for the non-Historians the First World War of 1914-18.

WALL OF WATER - Wall Of Water

Wall Of Water - Wall Of Water (2016, Self-released)

The debut album of this American duo is targeting a wide audience of Metal enthusiasts and wants to be as underground as it can and we’ll find if this is a success or not. Let’s remember that when there is a desire to please everyone with a product or a piece of art this is more or less a win win situation.

ASTRAL PATH - An Oath To The Void

Astral Path – An Oath To The Void (2016, Avantgarde Music)

The Canadian duo of Justin Bourdeau (vocals, guitar, drums) and Ana Dujakovic (bass, synth) of Astral Path recently released their debut album titled An Oath To The Void. Sometimes when a new band is formed and they release a new album we critics tend to say made up sentences like this is a promising first album and other banalities of the genre. 

VANAD VARJUD – Dismal Grandeur in Nocturnal Aura

Vanad Varjud – Dismal Grandeur in Nocturnal Aura (2016, Symbol of Domination Prod.)

Coming out of Estonia, Vanad Varjud is a dark ambient/funeral/doom/drone/black metal trio that seems to be trying to make beautiful yet aggressive dark music. Their tremolo guitars riffs are counter balanced by a meditative simplistic piano/keyboard soundtrack and the traditional Black metal chants.

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.”

COSTIN CHIOREANU – The Quest For A Morning Star

Music Review : Costin Chioreanu – The Quest For A Morning Star (2015, Avantgarde Music)

Written and recorded to raise funds for the victims of the Bucharest fire that happened on October 30 2015 at the Collective nightclub that killed 60 people and injured 151. The profits of this release will be donated to pay medical bills and funeral expenses of those who have been affected by the fire.

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM – Celestite

Wolves In The Throne Room – Celestite (2014, Artemisia Records)

This companion piece to Celestial Lineage, the near-masterpiece from these Washington state black metallers stating that they are not playing black metal but are obviously inspired by Ulver and Burzum’s decadent yet beautiful mastery challenge of BM while saying their biggest influence is Neurosis. Living on a farm and praising a return to organic form and life, the members of WITTR have recorded two of the best American black metal records to date; the aforementioned Celestial Lineage and Two Hunters.