Violet Cold - Anomie Review

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Merchant - Beneath EP Review

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Snares Of Sixes - Yeast Mother: An Electroacoustic Mass Review

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GATHERING DARKNESS - The Heat Of A Dying Sun Review

Gathering Darkness - The Heat Of A Dying Sun (Necromance Records)

Release date : May 22nd, 2017

Death Metal and Latin seems to be a natural fit like tonic and gin. Formed in 1998, Gathering Darkness is a Spanish outfit that carries the flag of Death Metal in the 1990’s fashion way. Think of Morbid Angel, Hypocrisy, and Vile and you have a good idea of the meaning of this last phrase.

Sxap - Cathedral Review

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Artificial Brain – Infrared Horizon Review

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Dodecahedron – Kwintessens Review

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ISENORDAL - Shores Of Mourning Review

Isenordal - Shores Of Mourning (Eternal Warfare Records / Pest Productions)

Release date : March 25th, 2017

Coming from the Cascadian region of the United States of America, Isenordal is labeled as a Black Funeral Doom/Neofolk project; what an amalgam. It is almost as if when ordering delivery food you don’t know what you’d like and tell the guy I’m taking a bit of every possible thing on the menu and wrap it in a burrito. The 

burger/pizza/sushi/poke/enchiladas/egg roll first bite you’ll have might be a bit suspicious and near total disaster of a meal. Let’s see if the buffet of Metal genres that is Shores Of Mourning is a total disaster or not.

DYNFARI - The Four Doors Of The Mind Review

Dynfari - The Four Doors Of The Mind (Code666)

Release date : April 14th, 2017

With the huge success of Deafheaven with their ability to take the ugliest music genre in the popular’s mind perception into something as sensible and meditative as Shoegazing and hints of post-rock many hipster millennials jumped on the bandwagon to make Post-Black Metal/Blackgaze/Post-Rock-Black Metal into one of the biggest shitloads of trend and legions of lovers/haters. Sure it is a bastardization of the ‘’purest’’ and ‘’trvest’’ form of Black Metal,  almost no tongue in cheek here, but every music has the right to exist and even the worst genre can have hints of genius and produce once in a while a great album.

SLOTH HERDER - No Pity, No Sunrise Review

 

Sloth Herder - No Pity, No Sunrise (Grimoire Records)

Release date : March 24th, 2017

Back in 1999-2000 I got into more ‘’extreme’’ and ‘’underground’’ Metal by the doors of Converge and Second Wave Black Metal essentially. Both are not related by scenes one might say, but I find Converge to be more Metal than Hardcore or Metalcore. Until this day, Jane Doe and Petitionning The Empty Sky are some of the most important albums that forged me as a metalhead. Grindcore with Pig Destroyer, Nasum, Spazz, ROT is also a chunk of my obsession for bastard music as my parents were calling it back then. They might be calling it that way if I was still living in their house and blasting this music all day long.

NETRA - Ingrats Review

Netra - Ingrats (Hypnotic Dirge Records)

Release date : March 9th, 2017

Back in the 1990’s, when underground Metal was becoming a little bit more on the map we had to go to a record store, sometimes in a dark basement of a bad neighborhood to get our fix of DarkThrone, Mayhem, and Ildjarn. Now that Black Metal is as easy to get as a burger and fries at any corner many bands and one man bands have been pushing the limits of genre crossing with Folk, Shoegaze, etc.

CONDEMNED - His Divine Shadow Review

 

Condemned - His Divine Shadow (Unique Leader Records)

Release date : March 10th, 2017

Unique Leader Records is synonymous with Death Metal and mostly Brutal Death Metal. They have rosters that represents many American states that produce the best and the worst of the genre. A genre that’s been a bit worn off in the latest years. Between Technical DM and Brutal DM is a plethora of talented musicians and brutalists.

ROZAMOV - This Mortal Road Review

Rozamov - This Mortal Road (Battleground Records, Dullest Records)

Release date : March 3rd, 2017

After a series of EPs and 7’’ releases, Rozamov formed in Boston in 2011, are throwing Doom Metal lines and Neurosis like monolith songs. In fact, the similarity with the legendary Oakland band even goes into the vocals that are a shared between Tom Corino (also bass) and Matt Iacovelli (also guitars and piano).

Record Of The Month: February 2017

With a little delay and less reviews than we were supposed to produce here are the two best Records of the Month of February 2017. It is almost a tie but the winner is the lesser known and underrated Dissonant Metal album of the month. The other one has had many well deserved accolades.

VASTUM - Carnal Law Review

Vastum - Carnal Law Remaster Reissue (20 Buck Spin)
Release date: March 10th 2017

8.0

SAILLE - Gnosis Review

Saille - Gnosis (Code666)

Release date : March 13th, 2017

The fourth album of the prolific Belgian Black Metal quintet of Saille is a concept album exploring the world of the Promethean ideal and its Luciferian counterpart. Taking inspiration from the Symphonic Black Metal that followed the Second Wave of Black Metal, Saille’s sound is closer to Windir, Dark Funeral, and Emperor than Dimmu Borgir even if they still have a clean sound and the backing of a Polish production of the Hertz studio (Behemoth, Decapitated, Vader).

ANDE - Het gebeente Review

Ande - Het gebeente (Self-released)
Release date: January 7th 2017

This is pretty much a copy paste of the Scandinavian Second Wave of Black Metal sound except for some Doom elements here and there that steers the music towards an Atmospheric BM.

Nothing really groundbreaking and even the production sounds as if it was a DarkThrone's UnHoly Trinity takeover or an early Burzum record.

Another Black Metal one-man-band in the ocean of one-man-bands.

5.0

WOE - Hope Attrition Review

WOE - Hope Attrition (Vendetta Records)
Release date : March 17, 2017

Woe was formed in 2007 as a black metal solo project of multi-instrumentalist Chris Grigg. After catching the underground’s attention with a strong demo of ugly, raw black metal, the first full-length, A Spell For The Death Of Man, was unleashed in 2008. The album presented the first glimpse of modern Woe: faithful to the traditions established by the black metal classics but a willingness to inject a very American perspective by way of punk and hardcore influences. It found critical acclaim both in the underground and beyond.

SUNLESS - Urraca Review

Sunless - Urraca (Self-released)

Release date : February 24th, 2017

As I am into a lot of things other than reviewing new releases lately, I am still listening to a bunch of the albums that are overcrowding our promo mailbox. February wasn’t the strongest month in new releases and there are few records that will eventually be in my permanent rotation. Sunless and their first full length Urraca might be one of the few acts to be piercing this so-called prestigious rotation of mine. Their use of Dissonant Metal à la Gorguts and Ulcerate is quite something.

THERA ROYA - Stone And Skin Mini-Review

Thera Roya - Stone And Skin (Self-released)

Release date: February 17th, 2017

6.0