2019 Black Metal - Tumblr Posts
Black metal from Wisconsin.
One of the first black metal releases of 2019 I'm really digging is this little 3 track EP. The riffs are quite enjoyable, well done vocal work, groovey rythym. Good stuff.
Swedish black-metallers Ultra Silvam's debut album is up for pre-order from Helter Skelter Productions. The first single, Birth of a Mountain, can be listened to now. Burning raw black metal with rock n roll riffs, but definitely not a black n roll sound.
Really excited to see this come out, their two song 2017 demo, also available from Helter Skelter, was a great little gem.
Give these guys some love if you like black metal and you like riffs.
Rotting Christ
The Heretics
Greek black metallers Rotting Christ released their newest album earlier this year. Interestingly, perhaps due to their Best Of album from last year, I feel The Heretics harkens back to the melodies of some of their bigger hits. This album is fire and brimstone but with an anthemic bent, and it maintains the atmospheric approach they've taken with their latest releases.
One of my favorite elements of this album is the vocal work. Sakis Tolis continues his grandiose growling screeches we've come to expect, but also capitalizes on some fantastic guest vocalists. Dayal Patterson's spoken narrations are moody and evocative, and a lovely inclusion. Irina Zybina's vocals on the second track recall Russian blackened folk metal band Arkona, and make the track one of my favorites.
The melodies and rythym recall some of my favorite songs such as In-Yumen -Xilbalba, careful whispers dancing around chants, tribal drumming, and atmospheric riffs. Songs like "Heaven and Hell and Fire" and "Fire, God, and Fear" take their titles literally, auditory infernos blistering your ears with an intense roar. The album also maintains that magical, spiritual element I love about their music, invoking beings of the abyss with utter gusto.
Overall, this is a solid album, and I thoroughly enjoy it. You can pick it up from Season of Mist, Bandcamp, Amazon, etc.
Airengrav
Storms of Agony
This release from one of Zane Young's (Elegiac, Gormanudr, Blitzgeist, Sacrificial Sounds Label, etc.) numerous black metal projects is one of the best black metal releases I've listened to this year. It's a concise, powerful, ferocious album that blends black metal with noticeable heavy metal melodies.
The vocals are superb agonized howls and vengeful roars, and accompany the pummel of the music perfectly. The opening vocal work on Anchor for My Burning Soul is exceptionally vicious, and one of many reasons it's my favorite track. The guitarwork is a great mix of rapid, headbanging tremolo riffs and pleasant Iron Maiden-esque passages, usually as openings and interludes. Songs such as Dualities of Dominance and Amphimixis tap this classic metal sound to create memorable melodies before throttling you. I also enjoyed the riffwork in Like Wind Against Flames, a mournful, desolate tone that reminds me of Elegiac's Pagan Storm album from last year. And Barbarian Hammer is a full tilt flaming roller coaster of a track.
The rythym is also fantastic, an all out battery attack that weaves around the riffs just right. The latter half of Anchor for My Burning Soul hits especially hard, a raging, riffing, pounding track that howls into the abyss. Again, probably my favorite, though that's a tough call when all of the tracks are this good.
Particularly enjoyable is the build from Faint Glowing Embers into the pure black metal majesty of Black Magic and Metaphysics. An apt title, because the track is classic second wave black metal through and through. Frankly, the entire album is raw, unapologetic black metal that deserves your full attention.
Tapes can be picked up from the Sacrificial Sounds Bandcamp page if still available, and is also always available digitally.
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!
New Elegiac just dropped! He continues to be one of my favorite American Black Metal projects.
You can pick it up from the band, Sacrificial Sounds Records, or Red River Family Records.
Adversarial Light
Lothric
There's not much I can say about this album just yet, except that I bought it after just one song. So far it has been a fantastic modern homage to second wave black metal, and I found the riffs to be exemplary. The vocal work is really well done as well, it has a sort of lilting quality to the harsh bellows before transforming into fiery damned roars. And the drumming remains consistent even while galloping at full pace with the guitar, making nice complex transitions to underline vocal and riff changes. As I explore more of it I'm also finding some superb Viking/Folk metal forays with the guitar riffs and overall song pacing that pleases me greatly. Overall, I strongly recommend checking out this project.
The album can be picked up digitally from the artist on their Bandcamp page, unfortunately it looks like physical copies are currently all out of stock, not that I can blame people for snatching them up.