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.…
The Whispering Darkness
Tales From The Underground
The Whispering Darkness
Tales From The Underground
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 reissued on 2018’s ‘Medium Rarities’ compilation), Cattle Decapitation were never much of your regular…
Drowning The Light / Ghosts Of Oceania – Mountain Of Malevolence [Split]
Artist: Drowning The Light / Ghosts Of Oceania Country: Australia Label: Dark Adversary Productions Formats: Split CD Year: 2023 Those of you who tend to follow Azgorh’s musical steps in general and that of Drowning The Light in particular, will…
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…
Mournful Congregation – The Exuviae Of Gods – Part II [EP]
Artist: Mournful Congregation Country: Australia Label: Osmose Productions / 20 Buck Spin Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2023 We live in a time where everything happens so fast, where all contacts seem fleeting and there seems to…
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…
Ruïm – Black Royal Spiritism – I – O Sino De Igreja
Artist: RuïmCountry: Norway / PortugalLabel: Peaceville RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Mayhem has left Black Metal fans divided for decades. Still followed and revered by legions, there are plenty that swear the band died with the murder of Øystein “Euronymous”…
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…
Old – “Good metal doesn’t need big promotion or a fucking image”
Despite leaving behind only a very modest discography, the German band Old managed to leave a solid impression in the Black/Thrash Metal scene. So much so that the band’s only full-length album, 17 years on, is widely regarded as a…
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…
Azaghal – “I have always been a huge fan of 90’s Swedish Death Metal”
The actually ever-productive Azaghal unexpectedly was very silent for several years; after ‘Valo Pohjoisesta’, released in 2018, it was years of waiting for a follow-up to this solid album. But in 2022, some digital singles arrived there. These turned out…
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…
Denouncement Pyre – “For me it’s all about capturing a feeling that is dark and fiery”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Australia-based Denouncement Pyre, a band that I feel does not always get the credit it does deserve based on its music. Last year, the band released their fourth album with ‘Forever Burning’ through…
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…
Wesenwille – “Wesenwille has always dealt with the transformative influence of modernity”
With the release of ‘III: The Great Light Above’ Wesenwille delivered one of the strongest albums of 2022. It presented the culmination of the band’s journey into dissonant Black Metal that once started heavily inspired by Deathspell Omega and Svartidauði but…
Immortal – War Against All
Artist: ImmortalCountry: NorwayLabel: Nuclear Blast RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 With ‘War Against All’ the Norwegian Black Metal institute Immortal brings forth its 10th instalment. A new album alone is enough to revisit this monumental band, but a tenth album…
Diabolical Messiah – “The fragility of the human being brought us back to a defenseless creature”
When I first heard Diabolical Messiah’s debut album, I didn’t hesitate for long and picked up the vinyl edition, released via Blood Harvest. ‘Satan Tottendemon Victory!!!’ was yet another proof that there had to be something very deadly in the…
Perdition Winds – Burning Spiritual Crypts
Artist: Perdition windsCountry: FinlandLabel: Hellthrasher ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 ‘Transcendent Emptiness’, the second record by the Finnish Black Metal band Perdition Winds, was a ripper of a record. But maybe that wasn’t all that surprising, as the band features…
Sotherion – “This demo actually is a declaration of scorn to the human race”
Contrary to the usually otherwise quite chauvinistic proud nature of the French people, the French Black Metal scene has remained quite modest when it comes to their influence on the overall genre. OK, that about the chauvinism might be a…
Spirit Possession – Of the Sign…
Artist: Spirit Possession Country: USA Label: Profound Lore Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2023 Take Black Metal with a strong Heavy Metal riff base that features a cacophony of sliding and tapping guitar notes best known to Black Metal…
Skuggeheim – Samlede Verker [Compilation]
Artist: SkuggeheimCountry: NorwayLabel: Terratur PossessionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 After the explosive 90’s of Norwegian Black Metal, not much of that bustling prolific and high-quality scene was still intact by the mid 2000’s. Sure, bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone, Satyricon and…
Infernal Conjuration – “I can hear an evil, melancholic eeriness to Mexican Death Metal that cannot be denied”
Although Infernal Conjuration is not the most prolific band from Mexico’s rich underground scene, the band’s sparse work is emblematic of what that Mexican metal has to offer. Their last album, ‘Infernale Metallum Mortis’ dates back to 2019, but, singer…
Imha Tarikat – “All you see are frustrated, distrustful and tired faces, there is no more empathy, companionship”
Over the past decade, the Black Metal genre has, once again, renewed, deepened and broadened. This can be largely credited to a number of Icelandic and Norwegian bands (always those Norwegians!), whose recordings often have been released under the watchful…
Altars – “This isn’t just death metal, it embodies a sense of timelessness”
Last year’s ‘Ascetic Reflection’ was one of the best forward thinking Death Metal releases that reached my ears in a long time. The compelling intricacies, creative dynamics and overall mind-boggling musical wizardy made the album slip into my Top-15 of…
Stutyr – Missä Yö Teidät Kohtaa [EP]
Artist: StutyrCountry: FinlandLabel: Wolfspell RecordsFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2023 One of my favorite demos of 2022 was the first release by the Finnish Herugrim, whose ‘Demo XXMMII’ featured a stunning mix of raw Black metal with epic Heavy Metal…
Thulcandra – Hail The Abyss
Artist: ThulcandraCountry: GermanyLabel: Napalm RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Admittedly, I only got hooked on the Thulcandra phenomenon quite recently. In the past, I had heard some individual songs, but then ultimately chose not to delve further into it. Reason?…
Devil Moon – Devil Moon [EP]
Artist: Devil MoonCountry: FinlandLabel: Signal Rex / Old Forest ProductionFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 A bondage ritual on the front cover, a pentagram in the band logo and a member of Morgal in the line-up: Devil Moon ticks…
Deimhal – The Grand Gathering [EP]
Artist: DeimhalCountry: FinlandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 In a time where melodic Dissection-inspired Black Metal and symphonic Black Metal were at the height of their popularity, bands like the Finnish Catamenia fit right in. Perhaps never the most original or…
Noirceur – In The Cold Winter [Demo]
Artist: NoirceurCountry: FranceLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital demoYear: 2023 Anyone with any interest in the underground Black Metal of the 1990’s must undoubtedly have stumbled across one of the bands from the illustrious Les Legions Noires at least once. This collective comprised…
Maniak – Speed Metal Terrorist [EP]
Artist: ManiakCountry: SwedenLabel: Self-ReleasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2023 Maniak, not to be confused with the Filipino band of the same name (and even a somewhat similar logo), releases their debut EP with ‘Speed Metal Terrorist’, a more than fitting follow-up to…
Impetuous Ritual – Iniquitous Barbarik Synthesis
Artist: Impetuous RitualCountry: AustraliaLabel: Profound Lore RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 It was 2009’s ‘Relentless Execution Of Ceremonial Excrescence’, initially released by Profound Lore Records on CD and later in 2011 on vinyl by Blood Harvest, that put Australia’s Impetuous…
Norrhem / Sielunvihollinen – Split CD
Artist: Norrhem / SielunvihollinenCountry: FinlandLabel: Hammer Of Hate RecordsFormats: Split CDYear: 2023 Norrhem and Sielunvihollinen have a bit of history together. Not only are they both from Finland, Sielunvihollinen mastermind Ruttokieli was part of the live lineup of Norrhem and…
Gärgäntuäh / Kastijder – Föltrit / Reinigend Vuur [Split LP]
Artist: Gärgäntuäh / KastijderCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: New Era ProductionsFormats: Split LPYear: 2023 With the demos ‘Dödenlicht’ and ‘Kastijder’, New Era Productions had released two gems from the Dutch Black Metal underground courtesy of the bands Gärgäntuäh and Kastijder respectively. Both…