Listening To This Again And It's Safe To Say, Still One Of The Best Black Metal Releases Of 2020.

Listening to this again and it's safe to say, still one of the best black metal releases of 2020.

Tundra-Demo

Boreal Hymn

Just released on US label Sacrificial Sounds, this little demo is stunningly beautiful. The duo contains a member of Wormwitch, whose album Heaven That Dwells Within was one of my favorite black metal albums in 2019. It's the raw, aggressively beautiful pagan black metal I've come to expect from Sacrificial Sounds releases, and it is done exceptionally well. This reminds me of a mix of the stellar Gaahl's WYRD album released last year and the aforementioned Wormwitch album. It's haunting, ritualistic, animalistic, and powerfully evocative of it's namesake.

You can pre-order the cassette, or just pick up the digital version, from the Sacrificial Sounds Bandcamp.

Dutch progressive black metal duo Urfaust are easily one of my favorite 21st century black metal bands. Their mix of ambience, atmosphere, and the avant-garde is excellent, and they consistently release quality music.

Their 2016 release, Empty Space Meditations, is a slow building crescendo of ambience that morphs into aggressively majestic howls, a bellowing wail into the void of existence. Each track builds upon the last, flowing seamlessly into one another while still maintaining individual identity.

This duo are exceptional musicians, and they work together flawlessly. This is some of my favorite black metal vocal work, from the tormented screeches to the majestic roaring cleans. And the drumwork. Meditatum V is my favorite track, mostly for the drumming. Its perfectly woven around the chant-like vocals, blending wonderfully with the riffs in a ritual of cosmic comprehension.

I believe most of their material is available from Van Records, and can be found easily on Bandcamp. Highly recommend them if you want a powerful and magical music experience.

Eden in Reverse

Hail Spirit Noir

(Preorder/Upcoming)

Looking forward to the newest release from Greece's psychedelic black metal wizards Hail Spirit Noir, to be released June 19th from Agonia Records. Two tracks have been released so far, with the second featuring guest vocals from Borknagar's Lars Nedland (who released a fabulous album last year).

So far the tracks have leaned heavily towards prog, capitalizing on the bands kooky, ethereal capabilities. The insane spiraling synth of The First Ape on New Earth is simultaneously creepy and beautiful, with the guitars following suit. And the soft clean vocal work hides an undertow of foreboding that permeates the track.

Nedland's vocals work wonderfully on Crossroads, a perfect match of progressive musical beauty. The track might have almost fit in on Borknagar's last album, but yet not at all, with HSN injecting their usual infectious strange into the track.

I've definitely enjoyed the teasers, but really look forward to getting to hear the whole thing, as HSN are one of those bands where the whole album is simply an experience unto its own.

----The album is available for preorder, though depending on your location you may not want to preorder physical copies from Agonia Records' Bandcamp page, as shipping is rather hefty. You may check local record distributors for your home country, and it also looks to be available on at least the American Amazon store as well, depending on where you shop. -----

Ghaal's Wyrd

"GastiR- Ghosts Invited"

So I started writing this review before even finishing the album, because quite frankly, it's that good and I had to say so. And then the album finished and I immediately started playing it again. Don't expect a long review, because really just do yourself the favor and go listen to the album.

Musically it's superb. The guitar work runs the gamut of classic burning black metal riffage to haunting atmospherics, and works in tandem with Gaahl's voice wonderfully. The two blend perfectly to emphasize the intended feel and atmosphere of each song, from howling rage to melancholic contemplation. The drumming is precise, never too much or too little. It's organic and paced, fast when it needs to be and spread out when called for. Blazing speed to haunting slow tribal doom. And the bass is not only noticeable, but superbly done. Rumbling underneath the vocal melody and gluing the guitar and drums together, all while maintaining its own presence.

The vocal work, bluntly, is some of the absolute best I've heard. Gaahl has always been one of my favorite vocalists, but he takes it to the next level here. From his classic burning roars to hauntingly beautiful tones that are on par with the Peaceville gothic metal staples, he does it all. Dark chanting, ethereal howls, melodic singing, and high pitched wailing. And he does so at the perfect moments, delivering nuanced performances that suit each song and truly push the album above and beyond.

Its aggressive, contemplative, melancholic, celebratory, ancient, primal, beautiful, spiritual, and altogether powerful. I cannot recommend giving it a spin enough, even if black metal is not normally your thing. Even at its most aggressive it never loses its melody, never sacrifices its nuance.

You can pick up copies via Bandcamp and Season of Mist!

Oomph!

Ritual

I finally sat down with the entirety of Neue-Deutsche-Härte founders Oomph!'s latest album, and I consider this to be one of their greatest albums. This is absolutely fantastic from start to finish, and I really don't think it slows down at all. It's got the hefty weight and crunch of metal but the catchy melody of rock, and the industrial elements are both harsh and majestic.

Dero's vocal work is on point, nailing nasty vicious bits and then morphing into powerful cleans with gusto. The guitar riffs are pummeling, almost reminiscent of Rammstein's level of heaviness. Not to mention chorus vocals are well mixed, aligning perfectly while still being discernable. The rythym doesn't let up, and enforces the heavy crush of the riffwork. It's aggressively melodic, and will lift you up before smashing you like a train repeatedly. It's wild, weighty, and moving.

Again, definitely one of their best albums to me. The singles such as Tausend Mann und ein Befehl and TRRR-FCKN-HTLR are intensely catchy, and songs like Europa (ft. Chris Harms of Lord of the Lost, who released an excellent album last year) and Lazarus are majestically powerful.

You can get it everywhere from Bandcamp to Amazon, so do yourself a favor and check it out.

Bandcamp Daily

Artists and Labels Offering Donations, Special Merch, and More Today

Including those donating to organizations fighting for racial justice and change.

Bandcamp are returning all revenue directly to bands and labels for today's sales (June 5th 2020), and numerous musicians and labels are using the opportunity to offer discounts, specials, and raise donations for various causes.

Naturally there's several punk labels and bands, but also several heavy metal labels, from Apocalyptic Witchcraft to Dark Descent. I've put all the heavy metal labels and bands I recognize from the list in the tags, but you might recognize a band name I don't.

Invictus Productions in particular are donating to a wildlife preserve in Ireland, and the aforementioned Dark Descent to a homeless youth outreach program. For several of the labels you will need to check what their discount code is and make sure you apply it! Some are automatically slashing digital prices, but will also discount physical merch as well if you use a code.

Please note though, due to the revenue return, even if a band isn't offering a discount, today your money is fully supporting them! Meanwhile several labels are also using this as reason to give more revenue than usual to bands for sales. Plenty of reason to support the musicians you like, all of whom have taken a financial blow this year.

I also know this list is not comprehensive, so you might do some more digging and see if your favorite band or label are doing any discounts. I've included some in the tags that I received messages from announcing discounts/ specials/ donations that I didn't see on here. Note that Non Serviam have an ongoing 1€ digital album sale.