Infinity – The Untamed Hunger

Artist: Infinity Country: The Netherlands Label: Immortal Frost Productions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Despite Infinity not being very prolific in their early days after their formation in 1995, the band got a taste for it in the 00s…

Nights Horn – Blood Soul [Demo]

Artist: Nights Horn Country: France Label: Self-Released Formats: Demo tape Year: 2023 Of course, it is nonsensical to write an essay on Dissection’s far-reaching influence on today’s extreme metal scene. Almost weekly, we are treated to bands that (sometimes more…

Ritual Hammer – Demo 2023

Artist: Ritual Hammer Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2023 There is little background information to give you any guidance before you turn on ‘Demo 2023’ by Ritual Hammer. But this demo, so far only available as a…

Weregoat – Cunting Darkness [EP]

Artist: Weregoat Country: USA Label: Iron Bonehead Productions Formats: 7″ EP Year: 2023 Ahh, Weregoat. The ever-cheerful trio that has been ostentatiously hitting the road since the late 00s is making themselves heard again. Although their previous (and only) full-length…

Luciferian Ceremony – Goatlust Ritual [Demo]

Artist: Luciferian CeremonyCountry: PolandLabel: Fallen TempleFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 With a clear statement of hate against all Pseudo “Black metal” Luciferian Ceremony certainly isn’t out to make friends. Obviously, deeper down is their pure contempt for the commercialism of Black…

Pest – Hail the Black Metal Wolves of Belial [Reissue]

Artist: PestCountry: FinlandLabel: New Era ProductionsFormats: LPYear: 2023 It’s 1997. In Norway, the sound of the second wave of Black Metal is shifting to a more symphonic and melodic sound. In Finland, Beherit has taken a completely different electronic direction,…

Lure – Memories of Humanity [Demo]

Artist: LureCountry: FranceLabel: Amor Fati ProductionsFormats: LPYear: 2023 In some artists, creativity flows in many shapes and forms. The name of Pierre Perichaud may ring a few bells, but it’s especially the pseudonym Business for Satan (or B.F.S.) that probably…

Miscreance – Convergence

Artist: Miscreance Country: Italy Label: Season Of Mist Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Although I came across the debut of this Italian Miscreance last summer, I did not get around to giving it a few words at the time.…

Worm Altar – Astral Scourge [EP]

Artist: Worm Altar Country: USA Label: Gurgling Gore Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2023 Last year, one-man formation Worm Altar already delivered a very attractive piece of Doom/Death Metal with a self-titled demo. Although that particular genre has been troubled by…

Denevér – A Vérivók Krónikái

Artist: DenevérCountry: HungaryLabel: Metal Ör Die RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2023 ‘Vampír’ was a striking debut by the Hungarian band Denevér. On that album Tibor Terebesi paid homage to his Hungarian heritage, both in telling the story of the blood countess Báthory Erzsébet, as well…

Sacred Outcry – Towers of Gold

Artist: Sacred OutcryCountry: GreeceLabel: No Remorse RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Sometimes you have to trust your gut and you have to give in to that irresistible urge to buy a record just off of some quick listens. Or maybe…

Helleruin – Devils, Death And Dark Arts

Artist: Helleruin Country: The Netherlands Label: New Era Productions Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2023 Even for many a seasoned connoisseur, Helleruin’s sudden rising star must have come as a surprise. If I may speak for myself:…

Sammath – Grebbeberg

Artist: Sammath Country: The Netherlands Label: Hammerheart Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 The award for most persistent Dutch Black Metal band goes to Sammath without question; ever since their formation in 1994, the band has stuck (for the…

Shadows – Out for Blood

Artist: ShadowsCountry: ChileLabel: Sentient Ruin LaboratoriesFormats: LP / Cassette / CDYear: 2023 Sentient Ruin has struck some pure gold here. Shadows hails from Chile, a country with a small but exceptionally high in quality metal scene. This time it’s not…

Imperishable – Come, Sweet Death

Artist: Imperishable Country: Sweden Label: Hammerheart Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 When I stumbled upon Imperishable’s ‘Deathspawn’ demo I was really very much intrigued by the fact that it had been able to get under my radar for…

Miserere Luminis – Ordalie

Artist: Miserere LuminisCountry: CanadaLabel: Sepulchral ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2023 Miserere Luminis is a band with a bit of a mythical status in the Québécois Metal scene. Formed in 2008, it represented the collaboration of Neptune and Icare of the band Gris…

Verhinderer – Groschenroman [Demo]

Artist: Verhinderer Country: Germany Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital demo Year: 2023 With ‘Groschenroman’, we already have Verhinderer’s third demo/EP in our hands, and that in less than a few months, as the band was only started in 2023. This one-man…

Trépas – Les Ombres Malades

Artist: TrépasCountry: CanadaLabel: Sepulchral ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2023 While some of the members of Trépas have dabbled in Black Metal with their other bands, most people will more likely recognize them from their involvement in the Death Metal acts Outre-Tombe and…

Sacrenoir – Comme des Revenants Parmi les Ruines

Artist: SacrenoirCountry: CanadaLabel: Sepulchral ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2023 While both are considered amongst the frontrunners of the Métal Noir Québécois scene, it has been a while since we last saw an album by either Forteresse or Monarque. Forteresse’s fantastic fifth record…

Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite

Artist: Cattle Decapitation Country: Terrasite Label: Metal Blade Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Apart from maybe the very first outings (of which some were reissues on 2018’s ‘Medium Rarities’ compilation), Cattle Decapitation were never much of your regular…

Moonlight Sorcery – Burning Embrace [EP]

Artist: Moonlight Sorcery Country: Finland Label: Avantgarde Music Formats: 7″ EP Year: 2023 Admittedly, I felt a little let down by Moonlight Sorcery’s second EP, ‘Nightwind: The Conqueror From The Stars’ from December 2022. Although having largely the same ingredients…

Vomitory – All Heads Are Gonna Roll

Artist: Vomitory Country: Sweden Label: Metal Blade Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Vomitory is such a band that is hard to dislike if you are into extreme metal in general or Death Metal in particular. Although it might…

Sól Án Varma – Sól Án Varma

Artist: Sól Án VarmaCountry: IcelandLabel: Ván RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 I’m not sure if anyone, including the bands themselves and the label behind their first albums, saw it coming that the debut albums of the Icelandic bands Svartidauði, Misþyrming…

Tsjuder – Helvegr

Artist: TsjuderCountry: NorwayLabel: Season Of MistFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 Even though the band has existed since 1993, right at the peak years of the second wave of Black Metal, Tsjuder’s sound came to fruition a little…

Kvad – So Old

Artist: KvadCountry: NorwayLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: CDYear: 2023 A raw and suffocating type of Black Metal with a cold atmosphere that mixed classic American Black Metal with an Eastern European sound. That is the description that my writing partner in…

Sarvekas – Woven Dark Paths

Artist: SarvekasCountry: FinlandLabel: Soulseller RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 On the debut of Sarvekas, melodies with an epic undertone combined with a crushing rhythm guitar sound and overall pace made up the majority of the material. Comparisons with both Finnish…

Enevelde – En Gildere Død

Artist: EneveldeCountry: NorwayLabel: Terratur PossessionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 The flow of creativity streaming through the veins of B. Kråbøl seems endless. While his work with Misotheist has left a deep impression upon the admirers of the Black Metal brewing in the…

Terrifier – Trample The Weak, Devour The Dead

Artist: Terrifier Country: Canada Label: Empire Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Although the darkness and violence of Black Metal and Death Metal makes up the majority of our TWD content, we are certainly up for a good serving…

Nattehimmel – Mourningstar

Artist: Nattehimmel Country: Norway Label: Hammerheart Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 From the ever-fertile and imaginative soil of Norway, many bands emerged at the beginning of the 1990s that gave colour and new impetus to the Black Metal…

Dione – Cosmosphere [EP]

Artist: DioneCountry: PolandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: 10″ EP / CD EPYear: 2023 The seeds of Dione, a Polish one-man project consisting of Krystian Łukaszewicz, must have been sown some time ago. It almost has to be, to pull of an EP of…