Dead Head – Slave Driver

Artist: Dead HeadCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Hammerheart RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Considering this album was released by the end of April this year, I am a little late to the party with this review. Dead Head has never really changed…

Sagenland – Oale Groond

Artist: Sagenland Country: The Netherlands Label: Heidens Hart Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2021 Despite the fact that Sagenland has been around since the early 00’s, 2021’s ‘Oale Groond’ is only their first album. Earlier, in…

Funeral Winds – Gruzelementen

Artist: Funeral WindsCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Necromanteion / New Era RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2021 Sometime after the release of 2007’s ‘Nexion Xul – The Cursed Bloodline’, Hellchrist Xul brought Funeral Winds back to what can be considered…

Isengard – Vårjevndøgn

Artist: Isengard Country: Norway Label: Peaceville Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2020 That Fenriz is a slightly odd duck is, of course, an understatement. And, anno 2022, we also know that musically he is basically all over the place.…

Gorgon – Traditio Satanae

Artist: Gorgon Country: France Label: Osmose Productions Formats: LP / CD Year: 2021 Even if you think you are fairly well versed in the (Black) Metal scene yourself, it sometimes happens to you that you overlook something. For instance, I…

Mortuary – Final Mortuary Of Souls [Compilation]

Artist: Mortuary Country: Serbia Label: Darzamadicus Records / Grom Records / Necrovoid Records Formats: CD Year: 2021 Extreme underground metal has been forged in the most unlikely places of earth, even in the early days of the genre. Yet, many…

Abythic – Eden Of The Doomed [EP]

Artist: AbythicCountry: GermanyLabel: Iron Bonehead ProductionsFormats: 12″ EP / CD EP / Cassette EPYear: 2022 Abythic’s three albums have all been released by a different label, and certainly not the least. In chronological order, Blood Harvest Records, Xtreem Music and…

Morgal – Nightmare Lord

Artist: MorgalCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2021 One of the interesting aspects of reviewing albums is diving into the musical history of a band, going back to the earliest material, and comparing how a band…

Larvae – Acid Horror Cult [EP]

Artist: Larvae Country: Romania Label: Dawnbreed Records / Sacred Tomb Records / Unholy Domain Records Formats: 7″ EP / Cassette EP Year: 2022 For me, this ‘Acid Horror Cult’-EP was my first introduction to the Romanian/Italian Larvae, but I wouldn’t…

Outre-Tombe – Abysse Mortifère

Artist: Outre-Tombe Country: Canada Label: Temple of Mystery Records / Timeworn Records / Triumph ov Death Formats: LP / CD Year: 2021 I think every Death Metal fan has imagined a ‘what if’ situation surrounding Chuck Schuldiner’s stay in Canada…

Algaion – Aomai Algaion [Reissue]

Artist: AlgaionCountry: SwedenLabel: Shadow RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 For the development of the American (Black) Metal scene, the Full Moon Productions-label was of great influence and importance. Not only did it help American bands like Acheron and Black Funeral…

Angmodnes – The Weight of Eternity

Artist: AngmodnesCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Black Lion RecordsFormats: CD EPYear: 2022 Sometimes there’s just too much Doom Metal in you. This is the case for Y.S and M.V, two members of the Dutch Doom Metal band Apotelesma, who needed a vessel…

Scorching Tomb – Rotting Away [EP]

Artist: Scorching Tomb Country: Canada Label: Dismal Fate Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2022 Canadian Death Metal will mainly evoke associations with the mainly technical flank of the genre, bands like Cryptopsy, Gorguts, the more modern Archspire or maybe even…

Затемно – В аду

Artist: Затемно (Zatemno)Country: RussiaLabel: Heidens HartFormats: CDYear: 2022 After its debut EP via Russian Death Knell Records, this avant-garde ensemble found shelter with the never-conventional Aesthetic Death on which the first full-length album, ‘В петле’ (‘In The Noose’), was released…

Centinex – The Pestilence [EP]

Artist: CentinexCountry: SwedenLabel: Agonia RecordsFormats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 You can accuse the Swedes of Centinex of anything, except a lack of underground aesthetics. Despite taking a few years off (from 2006 to 2014), they have been tenacious…

Azazel – Aegrum Satanas Tecum

Artist: AzazelCountry: FinlandLabel: Primitive ReactionFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2021 When you list the originators of the Finnish Black Metal scene, names like Beherit, Impaled Nazarene, Archgoat and Barathrum are inevitable. You would almost forget Azazel was right…

Lunar Spells – Demise Of Heaven

Artist: Lunar Spells Country: Greece Label: Northern Silence Productions Formats: CD Year: 2022 Anyone who follows the Black Metal scene a bit will have noticed that Melodic or Symphonic Black Metal is on the rise and is being widely embraced…

Liminal Shroud – All Virtues Ablaze

Artist: Liminal Shroud Country: Canada Label: Willowtip Records Formats: CD Year: 2022 ‘All Virtues Ablaze’ is the second album by Canadian Black Metal band Liminal Shroud, the first album, ‘Through The False Narrows’ (2020, Hypnotic Dirge), had escaped my attention,…

Anathema – A Vision Of A Dying Embrace [Reissue]

Artist: AnathemaCountry: UKLabel: Peaceville RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 When Anathema embarked on their 1996 tour supporting their then new ‘The Silent Enigma’ record they were captured live in Krakow, Poland. That footage ended up at the VHS which was…

Haradrim – Demo 2022

Artist: Haradrim Country: Sweden Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital demo Year: 2022 For the non-Lord of the Rings aficionado among us: The Haradrim were the race of Men from Harad in the region of Middle-Earth, directly south of Gondor. These people…

Ancient – Eerily Howling Winds [Compilation]

Artist: AncientCountry: NorwayLabel: Soulseller RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Earlier this summer, Dutch label Soulseller Records released a collection of old recordings by Ancient. A band that was hardly taken seriously in the past, at least, after their debut album.…

Severe Torture – Fisting The Sockets [EP]

Artist: Severe Torture Country: The Netherlands Label: Season Of Mist Formats: CD EP Year: 2022 Dutch Death Metal is mainly linked to the more classic bands from around the 90’s. Of course, bands like Pestilence, Sinister and Gorefest have been…

Myrsky – Tuonelalle

Artist: Myrsky Country: Finland Label: Nocturnal Mourning Records Formats: Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 From the always musically fertile Finland comes this new Black Metal act Myrsky. At the time of writing, very little is known about the band’s…

Olio Tähtien Takana – Spectral Katharsis

Artist: Olio Tähtien TakanaCountry: FinlandLabel: Avantgarde MusicFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 The first band that people are most likely to recognize from the list of acts that v-KhaoZ features in is Vargrav, whose stellar debut `Netherstorm’ caused quite a stir upon release (not in the…

Vermisst – Night And Fog

Artist: VermisstCountry: PolandLabel: Esfinge de la CalaveraFormats: Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Polish Black Metal band Vermisst has been around for a while and already has quite a discography, a handful of demos and (split) EPs via various underground labels,…

Fall Of Seraphs – From Dust To Creation

Artist: Fall Of SeraphsCountry: FranceLabel: Memento MoriFormats: CDYear: 2022 The first thing I thought of when I saw the band name was the Mayhem song from their 1997 ‘Wolf’s Lair Abyss’ mini LP, but clear enough, this French Death Metal…

Vel’Har – Letanía I [Demo / Re-Release]

Info Artist: Vel’HarCountry: GermanyLabel: Sentient Ruin LaboratoriesFormats: 10″ EPYear: 2022 Although the band denies it, Vel’Hal was part of Chile’s Black Metal underground elitist circle that goes under the name of ‘Pure Raw Underground Black Metal Plague’. Whether that is…

Belphegor – The Devils

Artist: BelphegorCountry: AustriaLabel: Nuclear BlastFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Admittedly, I had lost sight of Belphegor for a while. After the 2000 release of ‘Necrodaemon Terrorsathan’, I somewhat lost interest in the band. I did hear some…

Amorphous Dominion – Demo 2022

Artist: Amorphous DominionCountry: ThailandLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 This Bangkok, Thailand based Black Metal band Amorphous Dominion started in 2018 from the spirited soul of ‘Sunrize Eclipse’, who after some time realised that he could only realise his black visions…

Hulder – The Eternal Fanfare [EP]

Artist: Hulder Country: USA Label: 20 Buck Spin Formats: 12″ LP / Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2022 EP’s are often used by bands as a taster for a new album, a sort of sop, but it also happens…

Worm Altar – Worm Altar / Demo ’22

Artist: Worm Altar Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital demo Year: 2022 When I think of the state of Maine (USA), which I have never visited, my thoughts mainly consist of the imaginary and gloomy images I have acquired while…

Kvad – Cold & Dark, As Life [EP]

Artist: KvadCountry: NorwayLabel: Forbidden Keep Records / TormentRexFormats: Cassette / CDYear: 2022 This Norwegian act has chosen a cover for its debut-album that is very much in the same vein as many of their fellow countrymen, it depicts a cold…

Kvad – Invocations [EP]

Artist: KvadCountry: NorwayLabel: Self-releasedFormats: Digital EPYear: 2022 The debut album ‘Cold & Dark, As Life’, released on cassette via Forbidden Keep Records, was my first introduction to the Norwegian Black Metal band Kvad. The album brought an interesting mix of…

Funeral – Llamada Funebre

Artist: Funeral Country: Chile Label: Burning Coffin Records Formats: Cassette Year: 2022 Although I don’t know exactly how old this Chilean Black Metal band is, I always wonder how it is possible that the creative minds of musicians can’t come…

Norfulthing – Norfulthing [Demo]

Artist: Norfulthing Country: Finland Label: Frozen Screams Imprint Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 Helsinki based Death Metal band Norfulthing released two digital single tracks before this same-titled full demo, of which the revenues are donated to a charity that focusses…

Exhumation – Twilight Of The Funebre Night [Demo]

Artist: ExhumationCountry: SpainLabel: Pesta Negra RecordsFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 For many listening to a Funeral Doom Metal record is, and fair enough, a gruelling ride; it may even seem a form of self-flagellation. To fully grasp the painfully slow music,…

Issolei – Cilicium

Artist: IssoleiCountry: NorwayLabel: Terratur PossessionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 Unconventional was the term used earlier to describe pretty much everything about Issolei. Fascinating would be another. While the `Devouring Current’ EP’s spent a lot of time disorienting the listener, only…

Hekseblad – The White Flame [EP]

Artist: Hekseblad Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital EP Year: 2022 With the Woods Of Ypres-tribute EP as some sort of an interlude, the American Black Metal duo continues with this 1-track EP/single where they left off: the musical narration…

Hekseblad – The Night Of The Long Fangs [Demo]

Artist: Hekseblad Country: USA Label: Self-Released Formats: Digital Demo Year: 2021 This is the first 1-track demo of this American Black Metal duo, consisting out of Frosk who is responsible for all instrumentation and Bruxa who contributes the vocals. When…

Hekseblad – The Fall Of Cintra [EP]

Artist: Hekseblad Country: USA Label: Fólkvangr Records / Grime Stone Records Formats: Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2022 After a first 1-track demo, ‘The Night Of The Long Fangs’, the American duo of Hekseblad (which is actually Dutch for…