Vargrike – A Vereségben

Artist: VargrikeCountry: Hungary / USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: DigitalYear: 2022 Not long after the release of their debut EP, the American/Hungarian duo of Vargrike commenced work on their first full-length album. What exactly determines the line between an EP and full-length is…

Vargrike – Útkereső [EP]

Artist: VargrikeCountry: Hungary / USALabel: Self-releasedFormats: CD EPYear: 2021 How the international Black Metal duo came together is unknown, but in today’s day and age it allowed the union of the San Diego, USA based Velsingard and the Budapest, Hungary…

Nächtlich – Third Ritual [EP / Re-Release]

Artist: Nächtlich Country: Canada Label: Inferna Profundus Records Formats: CD EP Year: 2022 Canadian Nächtlich was one of the bands that helped shape the current revival of the (ultimate) Raw or even Lo-Fi Black Metal movement. The band that already…

Nächtlich – Howling Depths Rehearsal [Demo]

Artist: Nächtlich Country: Canada Label: Vinland Corpse Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2022 In the band’s preparation for their show at the Summoning Of The Elder Spirits festival earlier in 2022, at which the band appeared alongside acts such as Borda’s…

…and Oceans – As in Gardens, So in Tombs

Artist: …and OceansCountry: FinlandLabel: Season of MistFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2023 The musical legacy of …and Oceans has hardly been one of conformity. From the very earliest album, the band has always given their own distinct and…

Noenum – Heresiarch

Artist: NoenumCountry: FinlandLabel: Northern Heritage RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 Form in the mid to late 90’s, release a sensational demo or EP, and then disappear for a few decades only to come back with an unexpected debut album. It seems to…

Nécropole – Yoga

Artist: NécropoleCountry: FranceLabel: Northern Heritage RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 Nécropole’s star rose to fame with the rather sensational demos ‘Atavisme’ and ‘Ostara’. Both were examples of a rejuvenated style of French Black Metal that hints back at the infamous past of…

Arnaut Pavle – Transylvanian Glare

Artist: Arnaut PavleCountry: FinlandLabel: Amor Fati Productions / MystiskaosFormats: LPYear: 2023 The 2013 demo by the Finnish band Arnaut Pavle was a pretty sensational release, filled with filthy punky Black Metal heavily inspired by Darkthrone. In the following years the…

Arnaut Pavle – Arnaut Pavle [Demo / Reissue]

Artist: Arnaut PavleCountry: FinlandLabel: MystiskaosFormats: LPYear: 2023 Arnaut Pavle, also known as Arnold Paole, was a Serbian Hajduk living in the town of Meduegna. His particular name was remembered as a curious case study documented by two Austrian doctors. In…

Kringa – All Stillborn Fires, Lick My Heart!

Artist: KringaCountry: AustriaLabel: Terratur PossessionsFormats: CDYear: 2023 Kringa’s ‘Total Mental Desecration’ was a pretty sensational EP. Although the band had released some demos since its inception in 2009, it was probably that specific release that gained the band a bit…

Dødsengel – Bab Al On

Artist: DødsengelCountry: NorwayLabel: Debemur Morti ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 The unorthodox creativity and impenetrable darkness that Dødsengel managed to evoke with their earliest recordings were of a major influence on the revival of Norwegian Black Metal, so near the end of the 00’s.…

Sacrificium Carmen – Nekrognosis – Avain Varjoihin

Artist: Sacrificium CarmenCountry: FinlandLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2021 For the Tampere, Finland based Black Metal band Sacrificium Carmen, ‘Nekrognosis – Avain Varjoihin’ is their third album. Formed in 2009, the band took a few…

Morbikon – Ov Mournful Twilight

Artist: Morbikon Country: USA Label: Tankcrimes Records Formats: LP / CD Year: 2022 That music in general and metal more specifically is something that can bring together the most unlikely people. There are so many great examples of implausible collaborations,…

Odal – Sturmes Brut [Re-Release]

Artist: Odal Country: Germany Label: Eisenwald Formats: LP Year: 2022 At the tail end of 2022 the German quality label Eisenwald reissued Odal’s debut album ‘Sturmes Brut’ on vinyl. Originally released in 2002 through the Christhunt Productions label, it hasn’t…

Gouffre – Demo Compilation

Artist: Gouffre Country: Belgium Label: Medieval Prophecy Records Formats: LP Year: 2022 At the very end of 2022 Medieval Prophecy Records released this compilation LP that contains both Gouffre demos, 2019’s ‘1: Grim Spirit’ and ‘Crawling Death’ from 2021. The…

Förgjord – Ruumissaarna pt. 1

Artist: FörgjordCountry: FinlandLabel: Werewolf RecordsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Veterans of the underground Finnish Black Metal scene, Förgjord had undertaken the ambitious project of releasing the ’Ruumissaarna’ trilogy. The songs recorded during these sessions, of which the title translates to…

Harvest Gulgaltha – Ancient Woods

Artist: Harvest Gulgaltha Country: USA Label: Godz Ov War Productions Formats: Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 The anonymous American trio that is Harvest Gulgaltha returns with their sophomore effort, five years after their debut. The enigmatic Black/Death Metal combo…

Kamra – Cerebral Alchemy

Artist: Kamra Country: Slovenia Label: Avantgarde Music / Edged Circle Productions Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 After a two-track demo/EP from 2021, this new Slovenian metal band propels itself to new levels with their Avantgarde Music…

Sacrimonia – Anthems Of Eclipse

Artist: Sacrimonia Country: Poland Label: Self-Released Formats: CD Year: 2022 Sacrimonia is a Melodic/Symphonic Black Metal band from Poland that was founded in 2015 and released a first EP in 2016 but went silent for the following years. It wasn’t…

Saram – …Lima Hell! [Compilation / Re-Release]

Artist: Saram Country: Peru Label: Werewolf Records Formats: LP Year: 2023 Despite being officially formed in 1998 in Lima, Peru, Saram’s history goes back many more years. In 1991, the band Neuroparalya was formed which eventually turned into Saram Scivit…

Outlaw – Death Miasma [EP]

Artist: Outlaw Country: Brazil Label: Drakkar Productions – South American Division Formats: CD EP Year: 2021 Outlaw is an international band made up of band members from at least Brazil and Finland who, despite this EP being my first introduction…

Manticore – Endless Scourge Of Torment

Artist: Manticore Country: USA Label: Hells Headbangers Records Formats: Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 One of Hells Headbangers earliest releases was Manticore’s debut album, ‘Bowels Of The Holy Anoint Us In Evil’. Together with a few other of those…

Sigh – Shiki

Artist: Sigh Country: Japan Label: Peaceville Records / Ward Records Formats: Cassette EP Year: 2022 Last year, Japan’s most enigmatic metal band, Sigh, now signed to the British Peaceville Records label, returned from a five-year silence. Its latest feat, ‘Heir…

Eggs Of Gomorrh – Wombspreader

Artist: Eggs Of GomorrhCountry: SwitzerlandLabel: Godz Ov War ProductionsFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 Of all the bands that uphold the Ross Bay Cult tradition, I have never found Swiss Eggs Of Gomorrh very convincing. Throughout their career,…

Heltekvad – Morgenrødens Helvedesherre

Artist: Heltekvad Country: Denmark Label: Eisenwald Formats: LP / Cassette tape / CD Year: 2022 Heltekvad is a relatively new Black Metal band from Denmark, formed by Ole Pedersen Luk (of Afsky fame) and two more musicians who happen to…

Vampyric Tyrant – Zorn Und Hass [EP]

Artist: Vampyric TyrantCountry: GermanyLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: CD EPYear: 2022 Only a few months after the German Black Metal band’s debut album, released earlier in 2022, Vampyric Tyrant returns with a new EP, ‘Zorn Und Hass’. This new EP was…

Vampyric Tyrant – Schwarze Schwingen

Artist: Vampyric TyrantCountry: GermanyLabel: Into Endless Chaos Records / Mortal Rite Records / Purity Through FireFormats: LP / Cassette tape / CDYear: 2022 After the 2021 released ‘Das Schwert der Sterne’ EP, the German Black Metal band Vampyric Tyrant returns,…

Iku-Turso / Standvast – Ikuinen Viha [Split]

Artist: Iku-Turso / Standvast Country: Finland-The Netherlands / The Netherlands Label: Wolfspell Records Formats: Split 7″ EP Year: 2022 The Finnish/Dutch Black Metal band Iku-Turso shared a piece of vinyl with Kalmankantaja and Goats Of Doom before, so they are…

Sex Messiah – Metal Del Chivo [EP]

Artist: Sex Messiah Country: Japan Label: Austral Holocaust Records / Nuclear War Now! Productions / Sex Desire Records Formats: 12″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EP Year: 2022 I once read an article that Japanese would be the most…

Eschatology – Eschatology [EP]

Artist: EschatologyCountry: Poland / SwedenLabel: Shadow RecordsFormats: 12″ EP / CD EPYear: 2022 Music brings people from all over the world together. In the case of Eschatology, this unites a Swedish Black Metal guitar player, a fellow countryman that earned…

Misþyrming – Með Hamri

Artist: Misþyrming Country: Iceland Label: Non Serviam Records Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD Year: 2022 When the Icelandic Black Metal band Misþyrming first hit the Black Metal scene in 2015, their name was incredibly hyped through the now…

Pestilent Hex – The Ashen Abhorrence

Artist: Pestilent HexCountry: FinlandLabel: Debemur Morti ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 The debut album of Finland’s Pestilent Hex has been in the works for some years. In 2017, Convocation, Desolate Shrine and Ordinance multi-instrumentalist L.L. and Corpsessed, Profetus and Tyranny…

Veter Daemonaz – Muse Of The Damned

Artist: Veter DemonazCountry: RussiaLabel: Osmose ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2022 Sometimes, as a metal fan, it is a bit difficult to keep track of everything properly. The releases come by at a breakneck pace and then it ends up being…

Aegrus – The Carnal Temples [EP]

Artist: AegrusCountry: FinlandLabel: Osmose ProductionsFormats: 10″ EP / Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 It’s not an uncommon thing for Finnish bands. They start off, release a slew of demos, but the fans have to patiently wait for that debut…

Bezwering – Dodenkroning

Artist: BezweringCountry: The NetherlandsLabel: Ván RecordsFormats: CDYear: 2022 I have regarded Bezwering’s debut album, ‘Aan De Wormen Overgeleverd’, as one of the better Dutch Black Metal albums of recent years and a more than worthy successor to Wederganger, on which…

Veljessurma – Noidansolmu [EP]

Artist: VeljessurmaCountry: FinlandLabel: Naturmacht ProductionsFormats: Cassette EP / CD EPYear: 2022 Veljessurma hails from the Finnish capital of Helsinki, and their first EP follows the 2020-released demo ‘Ritual of Cain’. On ‘Noidansolmu’ Veljessurma blends a raw Black Metal rhythm guitar…

Aeon Furnace – Providence Descends [Demo]

Artist: Aeon FurnaceCountry: FinlandLabel: Ancien CulteFormats: Demo tapeYear: 2022 Out of nowhere comes Aeon Furnace, a Finnish four-piece that features members with illustrous pseudonyms like K.V.U. Mycophagous on bass, That Which Dwells in the Pit on guitars, drummer and vocalist…

Thy Darkened Shade – Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya

Artist: Thy Darkened ShadeCountry: GreeceLabel: W.T.C. ProductionsFormats: LP / CDYear: 2023 Despite a history that goes back as far as 1999, Greece’s Thy Darkened Shade didn’t really hit their stride until 2012 with the release of their debut album. But…

Riivaus – Hehkumaton

Artist: RiivausCountry: FinlandLabel: Purity Through FireFormats: LP / CDYear: 2021 Riivaus is the solo project of Hoath Daemnator, who under a few different pseudonyms is also active in a number of other bands of which Sacrificium Carmen is probably the…

Rotten Moon – The Endless Church [Demo]

Artist: Rotten Moon Country: Finland Label: Ancien Culte Formats: Demo Tape Year: 2023 The uncontrollable work ethos and creativity of Heinous Soul in mainly channelled through his musical main vessel of Circle Of Ouroboros where he is responsible for all…