Pyra – Pyra [EP]

Artist: Pyra Country: Italy Label: Immortal Frost Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 Founded in 2020, this Italian Black/Death Metal three-piece released a couple of digital singles in prelude to the official release of their self-titled debut EP through…

Ulvhedner – Legd

Artist: UlvhednerCountry: NorwayLabel: Cold Northern Breeze Records / Hellstain Productions / Screaming Skull RecordsFormats: Lp / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2020 When you chose to read this, I don’t need to explain to you that Norway was the hotspot of…

Ofermod – Ofermodian Litanies [EP]

Artist: OfermodCountry: SwedenLabel: Shadow RecordsFormats: 12″ EP / CD EPYear: 2022 Not long ago on these pages, I reviewed Ofermod’s latest full-length album, ‘Mysterium Iniquitatis’. In it, I dwelled at length on the band’s history and the undeniable importance mastermind…

Heinous – Ritual, Blood and Mysterious Dawn

Artist: HeinousCountry: BelgiumLabel: New Era Productions / Nuclear War Now! ProductionsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 My first introduction to Heinous came with their ‘Demo I’, initially released through Medieval Prophecy Records (cassette) and later by New Era…

Sadistic Intent – Ancient Black Earth [Reissue]

Artist: Sadistic IntentCountry: USALabel: Dark Realm Records / Iron Pegasus RecordsFormats: LPYear: 2022 In a genre loaded with underground bands and cult releases, Sadistic Intent probably takes the crown of kings of the underground. Formed as early in 1987, the…

Drudkh – All Belong to the Night

Artist: DrudkhCountry: UkraineLabel: Season of Mist Underground ActivistsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 2022 marks the 20th anniversary of the birth of Drudkh, the by now legendary Ukranian band formed by original members Roman Saenko and Thurios and…

Darkthrone – Astral Fortress

Artist: DarkthroneCountry: NorwayLabel: Peaceville RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Obviously Darkthrone needs no introduction. An absolutely legendary band from the Norwegian Black Metal scene, the duo of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto have been spreading their music for well over three…

Nile – Festivals Of Atonement [EP / Re-Release]

Artist: Nile Country: USA Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP Year: 2022 Although ‘Festivals Of Atonement’ was actually Nile’s second release, originally unleashed in 1995, and came before the ‘Ramses Bringer Of War’-demo from 1996, Hells…

Pukewraith / Intestinal Hex – Medieval Grime [Split]

Artist: Pukewraith / Intestinal Hex Country: Canada Label: Gurgling Gore Formats: Split Cassette EP Year: 2022 On this Gurgling Gore presented split tape we get two Canadian one-man Death Metal acts, each presenting three tracks. Both musicians have been featured…

Ymir – Aeons Of Sorrow

Artist: YmirCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 A long, long time ago there was nothing but a deep and wide chasm called Ginnungagap that separated the cold and wild of Niflheim from the heat and fire of Muspelheim.…

Trench Foot – Moral Obscenity [EP]

Artist: Trench Foot Country: United KingdomLabel: Brutal Cave Productions / Dry Cough Records / Frozen Screams Imprint / Stump Grinder RecordsFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 Recently I reviewed the short but powerful split tape that Trench Foot shared…

Sorgetid – Natt av Tusen Dödsfall

Artist: SorgetidCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 The translation of the Norwegian word Sorgetid to English means something like mourning period, while the title of their debut album ‘Natt av Tusen Dödsfall’ translates to ‘Night of a Thousand…

Chevallier Skrog – Peasant Rebellion

Artist: Chevallier SkrogCountry: SwedenLabel: Pant Y MeddygonFormats: Cassette tapeYear: 2022 With this second full-length album, the ever-active Chevallier Skrog delivers its sixth achievement of this year. Where many one-person acts from the same Lo-Fi Black Metal corner that keep up…

In Twilight’s Embrace – Lifeblood

Artist: In Twilight’s EmbraceCountry: PolandLabel: Malignant Voices / Terratur PossessionsFormats: CDYear: 2022 I have a confession to make. Sometimes, without any good reason, I decide to not give music a chance and avoid listening to it. I guess to save…

Fellmoon – Fellmoon [Demo]

Artist: FellmoonCountry: NorwayLabel: Self-releasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2022 “Alle er en måne og har en mørk side, som han aldri viser til noen”. This message is left by the entity Fellmoon on their only source of information, their Bandcamp page. The text…

Givre – Le Pressoir Mystique [Re-Release]

Artist: Givre Country: Canada Label: Eisenwald / Extinctionist Records / Fólkvangr Records / Winter Sky Records Formats: Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 In the wake of many a local Black Metal scene, the one currently brewing in Canada, in…

Givre – Destin Messianique

Artist: Givre Country: Canada Label: Eisenwald Formats: CD Year: 2022 At the same time as the Eisenwald-rereleased ‘Le Pressoir Mystique’ the Canadians come up with their sophomore album. On their debut album the band showed that Métal Noir Québécois is…

Rienaus – Luciferille

Artist: RienausCountry: FinlandLabel: KvltFormats: CDYear: 2022 The Finnish word Rienaus literally translates to blasphemy, so in a way it’s not surprising that through the years more than one Finnish band has used this band name. The band in question here…

Nile – Ramses Bringer Of War [Demo / Re-Release]

Artist: Nile Country: USA Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: 7″ EP / Cassette EP Year: 2022 Before Nile took the Death Metal scene by storm with its debut album ‘Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka’ in 1998 and their sophomore album…

Bythos – The Womb of Zero

Artist: BythosCountry: FinlandLabel: Terratur PossessionsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2020 The Finnish Black Metal scene is about as rich and diverse as any scene, ranging from the ultra raw to the symphonic and melodic. However, for the most…

Frostmoon Eclipse – Rustworn [EP]

Artist: Frostmoon Eclipse Country: Italy Label: Immortal Frost Productions Formats: CD EP Year: 2022 As one of Italy’s longest running Black Metal bands, with their roots dating all the way back to 1994, and having released quite an impressive string…

Convulsive – The Grotesquery Ruins Of Death

Artist: ConvulsiveCountry: BrazilLabel: Ablaze Productions / Death Metal Industry / Rat Covenant / Sewer Rot RecordsFormats: Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Mixing standard Old School Death Metal with elements of Paradise Lost’s 1990’s ‘Lost Paradise’-album, in a to the max…

Defleshed – Grind Over Matter

Artist: DefleshedCountry: SwedenLabel: Metal Blade RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Not too long ago I spent quite a few words on Defleshed’s 7” EP, ‘Fleshless And Wild’, which was released to reintroduce us to the recently resurrected Defleshed. Arguably Sweden’s…

Blessing Lycanthropy – Demo II [Demo]

Artist: Blessing LycanthropyCountry: SlovakiaLabel: Pant Y MeddygonFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 The first demo from this three-member Slovakian Black Metal band Blessing Lycanthropy was released in June this year. Just one month later, the band is already releasing ‘Demo II’. In…

Kjeld – Ôfstân

Artist: Kjeld Country: The Netherlands Label: Heidens Hart Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2021 Northern Netherlands-based Kjeld is not a band in a big hurry. On the contrary. The band was formed back in 2003, but it took them…

Perversion – Dies Irae

Artist: Perversion / Pyromancer Country: USA Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 “Dies irae, dies illa. Solvet saeclum in favilla“. The first words in the Latin Dies Irae, the Day Of Wrath, they…

Firtan – Marter

Artist: FirtanCountry: GermanyLabel: Act Of PropagandaFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Black Metal has always been a genre in flux and development. If you look at the First Wave Black Metal in which bands like Hellhammer, Bathory and Venom ruled the…

Drowning The Light – Abyssic Tides

Artist: Drowning The LightCountry: AustraliaLabel: Dark Adversary ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2022 When it comes to highly prolific Black Metal bands, I think anyone who is deep enough into the scene will mention Australian Black Metal trailblazer Drowning The Light as one of those bands…

Universally Estranged – Dimension Of Deviant Clusters

Artist: Universally EstrangedCountry: USALabel: Blood HarvestFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Ever since I hooked up with the first release of Sweden’s most prolific underground label Blood Harvest Records, there were times when the label provoked a kind…

Nocturnal Depression – When My Time Has Come [EP]

Artist: Nocturnal Depression Country: France Label: Ars Macabra Audio Formats: CD EP Year: 2022 When I first encountered Nocturnal Depression, a Depressive Black Metal band from France, I was not quite impressed. I have always thought that the term of…

Cadaverous – Remnants Of Violence

Artist: CadaverousCountry: USALabel: Frozen Screams ImprintFormats: Cassete tape / CDYear: 2022 Not long after their quite unimpressive EP (demo), Cadaverous is already releasing their first full-length album. In any case, the trio from Indianapolis, Indiana doesn’t like wasting any time.…

Angrrsth / Czort – W Czeluść [Split]

Artist: Angrrsth / CzortCountry: PolandLabel: Godz ov War ProductionsFormats: Split CDYear: 2022 Once again through the power of eye-catching artwork I stumbled upon a split by the two Polish bands Angrrsth and Czort. I hadn’t heard of Igor Datkiewicz &…

Angrrsth – Donikąd

Artist: AngrrsthCountry: PolandLabel: Godz ov War ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 Angrrsth was formed in Toruń, Poland in 2018. After the release of an EP in their year of formation they took the next three years to work on their…

Czort – Apostoł

Artist: Angrrsth / CzortCountry: PolandLabel: Under the Sign of Garazel ProductionsFormats: Split CDYear: 2020 Czort is a Polish band from the Silesian Voivodeship, a province of which Katowice is the capital. The band, who shares their name with a horned,…

Arise From Worms – Arise From Worms [EP]

Artist: Arise From WormsCountry: USALabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: 12″ EP, CD EPYear: 2022 I am always a bit allergic to the term ‘supergroup’, not only because it is often an exaggerated representation of reality, but even more so because it is often musically hugely disappointing. Best example…

Symbtomy – Demo #2

Artist: Symbtomy Country: Czechia / United Kingdom Label: Souls Of Underworld Records Formats: Demo Tape / Demo CD Year: 2022 With a logo in which a guitar pedal is depicted and above which it reads ‘Old School HM-2 Death Metal’,…

Necrotum – Hanging Above The Deadpool [EP]

Artist: Necrotum Country: Romania Label: Dark Recollections Productions / Gutless Productions Formats: Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2022 Earlier this year the Romanian Death Metal combo Necrotum released another chapter of Old School and moldly sounding Death Metal with…

Deathhammer – Electric Warfare

Artist: DeathhammerCountry: NorwayLabel: Hells Headbangers RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Norway’s Deathhammer have taken the Metal world by storm, crushing the masses with their intense Thrash/Speed Metal mix that blends in some of their Norwegian Black Metal…