Paganizer – The Flesh Dwellers – Rarities [Compilation]

Artist: Paganizer Country: Sweden Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Compilation Year: 2022 As if Paganizer’s regular releases don’t follow each other fast enough, we are also treated to a compilation album with great regularity. The content varies, but often overlaps. It…

Licht Des Urteils – Uhraamo

Artist: Licht Des UrteilsCountry: FinlandLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 From Tampere, Finland hails the five-piece of Licht Des Urteils. The band was formed in 2018 and quickly released a self-titled demo in 2019, before starting to work…

Hellish – The Vermis Mysteriis

Artist: Hellish Country: Chile Label: Dissonant Death Records / Unspeakable Axe Records Formats: 7″ EP / Cassette EP Year: 2021 It was early in the year 2015 when I first heard of this Chilean Thrash Metal band called Hellish, through…

Benothing – Temporal Bliss Surrealms [EP]

Artist: BenothingCountry: FinlandLabel: Everlasting Spew RecordsFormats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2021 Originally released at the end of last year on both cassette tape and CD formats, this EP from Finnish Death Metal band Benothing finally found…

Sarcator – Alkahest

Artist: Sarcator Country: Sweden Label: Black Lion Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 Usually I am not quite interested in father-son kind of relations, or any other family relations, between musicians. I think that every individual…

Necrotum – Undead Symbiosis

Artist: Necrotum Country: Romania Label: Morbid Chapel Records Formats: CD Year: 2022 As a loyal reader of VM-Underground, chances are you’ve seen the name of Necrotum come up before. Not only did we discuss the 2020 demo ‘May The Dead…

Mara – Loka M​æ​r [EP]

Artist: Mara Country: Sweden Label: Immortal Frost Productions Formats: 12″ EP / CD EP Year: 2022 Formed in 2010, the Swedish Black Metal band Mara has already released three full-length albums prior this EP, released earlier year through Belgian Immortal…

Grieve – Funeral

Artist: GrieveCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 Grieve from Finland led a short but sweet life. After their formation in 2019, the four-piece released their first EP, a self-titled two-track recording (four if you include the vinyl bonus tracks) that…

Stabat Mater – Treason By The Son Of Man

Artist: Stabat Mater Country: Finland Label: Northern Heritage Productions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2021 One of the leading and most prolific figures of the Finnish underground extreme metal scene is definitely Mikko Aspa. With his anti-Semitic views and expressions,…

Katakomba – Katakomba

Artist: Katakomba Country: Sweden Label: Redefining Darkness Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 Generally, I find Redefining Darkness Records a bit of an odd label, a peculiar hodgepodge of styles and bands, a fairly large part of which also…

Darkest Mind – Oracle Of Death

Artist: Darkest MindCountry: BelgiumLabel: Immortal Frost ProductionsFormats: CDYear: 2021 This Belgian Black Metal band consists out of three more or less seasoned musicians who also have had some experience in various other Belgian (Black) Metal bands such as Gotmoor, Theudo,…

Trinitas – Total Heresy

Artist: TrinitasCountry: Germany / SwedenLabel: Ván RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 When I first stumbled upon the band Trinitas in a playlist, I just played the track, enjoyed what I superficially heard and added it to my list of albums to…

Angra Mainyu – Ashera Triumphant [EP]

Artist: Angra MainyuCountry: SwedenLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2022 The story of the Black Metal band Angra Mainyu from Sweden goes way back to the early 90’s, when they were around under the name of Ahriman. Ahriman was an ancient Persian…

Darkwoods My Betrothed – Angel Of Carnage Unleashed

Artist: Darkwoods My BetrothedCountry: FinlandLabel: Napalm RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 Although Darkwoods My Betrothed was one of the very first Finnish Black Metal bands, with their roots in the first half of the 90’s, first under the beautiful name…

Meyhnach – Miseria De Profundis

Artist: Meyhnach Country: France Label: Osmose Productions Formats: LP Year: 2022 One of the most appealing and leading figures of the French Black Metal scene is undoubtedly Meyhnach (although I think his mother prefers to call him William). With his…

Lord Belial – The Wrath Of Belial [Compilation]

Artist: Lord BelialCountry: SwedenLabel: Iron Bonehead ProductionsFormats: LPYear: 2022 Earlier this year I spent a few words on Lord Belia’s latest album, ‘Rapture’ (Hammerheart Records), but that wasn’t the only release that was sent out to us that carried the…

Exhumed – To The Dead

Artist: ExhumedCountry: USALabel: Relapse RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Even though you’ve just started reading this, I’m sure you’re not really curious about how this new Exhumed album sounds. After all, you already know that. Ever since the band’s…

Pukewraith – Banquet Of Scum

Artist: Pukewraith Country: Canada Label: Sewer Rot Records Formats: Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 After last year’s debut EP ‘Returned Through Bile’ and the split tape with Intestinal Hex, Brendan Dean had to have felt ready for a debut…

Wesenwille – III: The Great Light Above

Artist: WesenwilleCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Les Acteurs de l’Ombre ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Once dubbed “The Svartidauði project” by the band members, the release of the sophomore album ‘II: A Material God’ saw the band Wesenwille take a large step…

Wesenwille – II: A Material God

Artist: WesenwilleCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Les Acteurs de l’Ombre ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 Even though the band born as a project meant to honour stalwarts of dissonant Black Metal, Wesenwille didn’t intend to end it there and remain a one-time…

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…