Tag Archives: post-black metal

Album Review – Harakiri For The Sky / Mӕre (2021)

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This Atmospheric Black Metal duo from Austria returns with a breathtaking collection of tales from feverish dreams in the form of their fifth full-length opus.

Mӕre, a malicious folkloristic entity creeping on sleeping people’s chest during the night and causing breathlessness and anxiety, is the exact state of diffuse terror and paralysis that has been enshrined in Vienna, Austria-based Atmospheric Black Metal duo Harakiri For The Sky’s music ever since their debut album. Now in 2021, a breathtaking collection of tales from feverish dreams is being released in the form of the band’s fifth full-length opus Mӕre, the follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2018 album Arson. Founded in 2011 by vocalist J.J. and multi-instrumentalist M.S., the aim of Harakiri For The Sky has always been to create a unique mixture of melancholy and aggression, madness and meaning, wrapped in alternately manic and mellow songs that bridged Black Metal and Atmospheric Post-Rock. Featuring session drummer Kerim “Krimh” Lechner (Septicflesh, Act of Denial) and an atmospheric artwork by Meike Hakkaart (Art of Maquenda), Mӕre will haunt your soul and darken your heart in a majestic way, being therefore highly recommended for fans of the somber music crafted by bands like Alcest, Wolves In The Throne Room and Agalloch.

The atmospheric guitars by M.S. kick off the venomous opening track I, Pallbearer, with Kerim hammering his drums in great Black Metal fashion, providing J.J. al he needs to vociferate rabidly. In other words, what a sensational start to the album, ending with gorgeous, serene piano notes and setting the tone for Sing for the Damage We’ve Done, a lesson in Atmospheric Post-Black Metal that’s as visceral and aggressive as it’s melodic and epic, with guest vocalist Neige (from bands like Alcest and Zero) helping J.J. declaim the song’s poetic and introspective words (“It’s been so long, it’s difficult to tell / If I truly miss what I once called home / It’s been so long, it’s difficult to tell / If this truly was my longest way home”). Another round of their imposing and captivating sounds fills our ears in the pulverizing Us Against December Skies, where J.J. sounds bestial with his sick screams while M.S. slashes his stringed weapons mercilessly supported by the always infernal blast beats by Kerim, and you better prepare your senses for 11 minutes of modern-day, vibrant Atmospheric Black Metal in the form of I’m All About the Dusk, where M.S. will hit you in the head with his low-tuned bass while piercing your mind with his riffage, being full of breaks and variations and an endless sense of despair. And the duo continues to spread darkness and rage through their devilish roars and riffs in Three Empty Words, another good tune blending the heaviness of Melodic Black Metal with Post-Black Metal where Kerim proves why he was invited by J.J. and M.S. to be responsible for the drumming duties.

Atmospheric Black Metal usually means lengthy songs, and in the case of Harakiri For The Sky that’s translated into a thrilling musical voyage through obscure lands titled Once upon a Winter, a multi-layered and very detailed composition where J.J. takes his rage and despair to the next level, whereas in And Oceans Between Us we face more of their cryptic, somber lyrics (“You were the ailment / And leaving was the cure / I fell away and I still suffer / And year by year I’m fading away”) enfolded by a beyond mesmerizing sonority led by the strident guitars by M.S., exhaling epicness and bringing to our ears grandiose passages intertwined with classic Black Metal beats. The anonymous vocalist of Portuguese Black Metal band Gaerea lends his sharp vocals to the Stygian tune Silver Needle // Golden Dawn, with the song’s guitars overflowing pure Atmospheric Black Metal while drums and vocals lean towards contemporary Post-Metal, and acoustic guitars kick off the melancholic and embracing Time Is a Ghost, growing in intensity as the music progresses with Kerim stealing the spotlight with his infernal drumming, while J.J. continues to growl and bark just the way we like it in extreme music. And as the icing on the cake, Harakiri For The Sky offer our ears a fantastic version for Song to Say Goodbye, from the 2006 album Meds by Placebo (you can check the original version HERE), and let me tell you the band did a tremendous job adding a gargantuan amount of obscurity and heaviness to their version, with J.J. taking the lead with his trademark hellish roars.

As you might already know, the word “harakiri” means a ritual suicide by disembowelment with a sword, formerly practiced in Japan by samurai as an honorable alternative to disgrace or execution, and after listening to the deep, scorching music found in Mӕre it’s easy to understand why the name of the band was chosen to be Harakiri For The Sky, piercing your soul like a samurai sword and eliminating all traces of life from your body, therefore leaving you in pitch black darkness for all eternity. Hence, don’t forget to give the duo a shout on Facebook and on Instagram, to stream more of their enfolding music on Spotify, and to purchase their excellent new opus by clicking HERE. Needless to say, you should definitely go for the very special CD Wooden Boxset edition of the album, available from AOP Records, EMP, Nuclear Blast and Amazon. Melancholic and aggressive, Mӕre represents another solid stone in the career of Harakiri For The Sky, showing us all that in Atmospheric Black Metal there’s nothing better than a never-ending, eerie onrush of fear and terror.

Best moments of the album: Sing for the Damage We’ve Done, I’m All About the Dusk and And Oceans Between Us.

Worst moments of the album: Three Empty Words.

Released in 2021 AOP Records

Track listing
1. I, Pallbearer 7:06
2. Sing for the Damage We’ve Done 8:05
3. Us Against December Skies 8:21
4. I’m All About the Dusk 11:09
5. Three Empty Words 9:29
6. Once upon a Winter 10:27
7. And Oceans Between Us 8:57
8. Silver Needle // Golden Dawn 7:09
9. Time Is a Ghost 8:33
10. Song to Say Goodbye (Placebo cover) 5:25

Band members
J.J. – vocals
M.S. – all instruments

Guest musicians
Kerim “Krimh” Lechner – drums (session)
Neige – additional vocals on “Sing for the Damage We’ve Done”
Anonymous – additional vocals on “Silver Needle // Golden Dawn”

Album Review – Sepulchre by the Sea / Conqueror Worm (2020)

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Showcasing an equal passion for all things Post-Black Metal and American author Edgar Allen Poe, this UK-based one-man army is ready to stun you with his debut full-length album.

“Lo! ’t is a gala night
Within the lonesome latter years!
An angel throng, bewinged, bedight
In veils, and drowned in tears,
Sit in a theatre, to see
A play of hopes and fears,
While the orchestra breathes fitfully
The music of the spheres.” – Edgar Allan Poe – The Conqueror Worm (1843)

Formed in early 2019 by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ashley “Ash” Shannon with an equal passion for all things Post-Black Metal and American author Edgar Allen Poe, Bristol, UK-based Atmospheric Black Metal one-man army Sepulchre by the Sea has quickly grown from a single idea into a fully-fledged studio project, incorporating many different sounds from atmospheric soundscapes and traditional Black Metal riffing to more eclectic areas such as shoegaze and folk-based pieces. As a matter of fact, the project’s name was inspired by Annabel Lee, the last complete poem composed by Edgar Allan Poe, while another poem, The Conqueror Worm, which by the way is about human mortality and the inevitability of death, was the inspiration for Sepulchre by the Sea’s debut full-length, six-track opus Conqueror Worm, the follow-up to the 2019 demo …And So It Crumbles, creating something larger and more ambitious in scale, spanning nearly an hour and crossing multiple sub genres along the way.

And the project’s Edgar Allan Poe-inspired feast of melancholy and darkness begins in a truly atmospheric way in the opening track I Loved Alone, venturing through the realms of contemporary Post-Metal before Ash begins firing dirty, scorching riffs from his stringed axe and anguished gnarls in paradox with the song’s serene background piano notes. Then Ash hammers his guitar, bass and drums mercilessly in the furious title-track Conqueror Worm, blending the mystery of Atmospheric Black Metal with the violence and heaviness of Black Metal and even Punk Rock, not to mention his growls get even more demonic than before as the music progresses; and you better get ready for 12 minutes of fulminating blast beats, vicious riffs and an endless sense of despair and obscurity in And So It Crumbles, where Ash does an excellent job mixing classic Black Metal with Atmospheric Black Metal and Doom Metal nuances, also presenting Stygian, austere passages that perfectly represent his passion for the work by Edgar Allan Poe turned into extreme music.

Slices of Death is a pensive and enfolding composition by Ash where he focuses on the melody and all small details of the song instead of the usual harshness of extreme music; furthermore, it’s quite easy to sense how personal this harmonious ballad is to him, whereas our talented lone wolf and his Sepulchre by the Sea put the pedal to the metal in the visceral and austere Behind the Walls, enhancing his aggressiveness and rage through his hellish roars and fulminating Black Metal riffage, and ending in the most melancholic way imaginable. And last but (definitely) not least, you better be prepared as Ash will crush your senses for over 17 minutes with the closing tune Plutonian Shores, the icing on the cake in this multi-layered album of Atmospheric Metal where after four minutes of ritualistic sounds Ash comes ripping with his scorching riffage, also showcasing so many breaks, variations, changes in tempo and obscure passages it’s hard to describe the complexity of such grandiose tune in just a few words.

As I like to say, it’s always a pleasure to review the work by one-man bands like Sepulchre by the Sea, mainly because you can easily feel and enjoy all the hard work, all the passion for the music he plays, the musical evolution from song to song and, above all, all his respect and admiration for one of the greatest poets of all time (and the most beloved one by the metal community hands down). Hence, in order to show your support to Edgar Allan Poe’s right-hand man in extreme music, go check what Ash is up to on Facebook, and purchase your copy of Conqueror Worm from his own BandCamp page, from the Anthrazit Records’ BandCamp page, or from Amazon, and don’t forget you can also stream this fantastic display of Atmospheric Black Metal in full on Spotify anytime you want, savoring every single second of it like you would enjoy each word from Poe’s vast collection of amazing tales and poems.

Best moments of the album: Conqueror Worm and Plutonian Shores.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2020 Anthrazit Records

Track listing
1. I Loved Alone 6:40
2. Conqueror Worm 6:40
3. And So It Crumbles 12:07
4. Slices of Death 7:34
5. Behind the Walls 7:49
6. Plutonian Shores 17:14

Band members
Ashley Shannon – vocals, all instruments

Album Review – Seventh / Vacarme (2020)

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Let your soul be consumed by the atmospheric music crafted by this amazing Canadian act, exploring psychological distress, mental disorder and how some individuals will benefit from committing immoral acts to escape reality.

Hailing from the always amazing Québécois independent metal scene, the Atmospheric/Post-Black Metal act that goes by the straightforward name of Seventh might have started their path not a long time ago, being formed in 2016 in the charming Quebec City, Canada, but they’ve managed to put out already two full-length album, those being their 2017 debut effort Limbes, and their newborn spawn Vacarme now in 2020. Recorded at La Boîte Noire Studio in Quebec City with François C. Fortin, and featuring a Stygian artwork by Canadian illustrator Philippe D’Amours linking all the songs together to represent escapism and abandonment for a better realm, Vacarme explores psychological distress, mental disorder and how some individuals will benefit from committing immoral acts to escape reality, all embraced by the massive wall of atmospheric sounds crafted by Jean-Fred Gauvin on vocals, Olivier Falardeau on the guitars, Martin Lessard on bass and Alex “Blaireau” Bernatchez on drums.

The guitar lines by Olivier arise to the sound of a ticking clock in the intro Synthèse, building a strong atmosphere for the band to crush our senses with Echoes and its psychological lyrics growled by Jean-Fred (“Here come all the signs stranding from the mind / To keep death in motion redefined / Held inside I hear it loud and clear / Like a raging storm of noise that bleeds out all my dopamine”) in a fulminating display of Atmospheric Black Metal with a stunning acoustic ending. Then without wasting any time the quartet pierces our souls with Hundred Winters, where the blast beats by Alex walk hand in hand with the Black Metal riffage by Olivier, and the music keeps growing in intensity, darkness and fury until the very end led by the always anguished gnarls by Jean-Fred; and get ready to bang your heads in the name of darkness together with Seventh in The Gift of Death, where Olivier and Martin slash their strings in great fashion, bringing elements of Doom Metal to their already heavy-as-hell sonority.

Serene and melodious lines permeate the air in the bridge titled Bloom, before they come back in full force with Lust, with its over six minutes of grim and mesmerizing passages showcasing another amazing job done by Olivier on the guitars while Alex keeps pounding his drums like a beast in an exciting depiction of what the music by Seventh is all about, whereas those four metallers are ready to smash us like insects In the nine-minute aria Disheartened, a lecture in Atmospheric Black Metal made in Canada presenting elements from what we like to call “Métal Noir Québécois”. Moreover, Jean-Fred is absolutely demonic on vocals, accompanied by the strident riffs by Olivier and the thunderous bass by Martin. And another stylish and charming interlude titled Collapse works as the calm before the storm for Through the Flesh, bringing forward more of their austere lyrics (“As the pleasure consumes all of these laws of morality / We consume all of these laws of indecency / As we consume all of these laws of misanthropy / We consume all of these laws of pure savagery”) and their pulverizing fusion of blackened sounds, ending the album on a truly incendiary and climatic note.

If you want to savor the atmospheric and somber “Métal Noir Québécois” brought forth by Seventh in Vacarme in its entirety, you can stream the full album on YouTube and on Spotify, but of course I highly recommend you grab a copy of the album from their own BandCamp page, or simply click HERE for all locations where you can buy or stream such distinct release. In addition, let’s show our support to Seventh by also following them on Facebook and on Instagram, and by subscribing to their YouTube channel, getting absolutely mesmerized and embraced by their dark creations. It’s always a pleasure to witness the rise of Extreme Metal bands here in Canada like Seventh, keeping the scene alive and, consequently, offering us fans of heavy music more and more options for our daily playlists, with Vacarme being specially recommended for the ones who admire the darkest and most introspective side of our beloved metal.

Best moments of the album: Echoes, The Gift of Death and Disheartened.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2020 Independent

Track listing
1. Synthèse 1:26
2. Echoes 8:10
3. Hundred Winters 5:47
4. The Gift of Death 5:34
5. Bloom 1:08
6. Lust 6:21
7. Disheartened 9:01
8. Collapse 1:07
9. Through the Flesh 7:58

Band members
Jean-Fred Gauvin – vocals
Olivier Falardeau – guitars
Martin Lessard – bass
Alex “Blaireau” Bernatchez – drums

Album Review – Dunwich / Tail-Tied Hearts (2020)

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A bottomless ocean of emotions, worlds and experiences connected into something much larger, absorbing and liberating in the form of the debut album by an innovative trio from Russia.

Hailing from Moscow, Russia, the Black and Doom Metal trio known as Dunwich doesn’t limit themselves to just those two subgenres of heavy music, also adding to their music an array of distinguished elements from Darkwave, Post-Punk, Post-Rock and Progressive Rock, among others, resulting in a unique sound that frontwoman Margarita Dunwich has been crafting together with guitarist and keyboardist Anton Bronikov and drummer Mikhail Markelov since the band’s inception in 2018. Together, Dunwich are an attempt to dive into the bottomless ocean of your emotions, which is exactly what they’re offering us all in their debut effort entitled Tail​-​Tied Hearts, with each song from the album representing a separate world and a separate experience, but with all of those worlds and experiences being connected into something much larger, absorbing and liberating, showcasing the paradoxical beauty of the creations by those talented and passionate Russian musicians.

The phantasmagorical keys by Anton ignite the dark and sinister Glow, bringing forward elements from Atmospheric and Depressive Black Metal to their smoother sonority, setting the stage for Margarita to shine with her piercing vocals and roars in Through the Dense Woods, bringing forward doomed sounds perfect for Margarita to darkly declaim its cryptic lyrics (“Crawling bugs along the spine / You feel them, that’s what you’re think / Wolf howl in the ears and webs in hair / Slobbering mouth of fear exuding stink”), sounding cinematic, dense and Stygian from start to finish. And the gentle, acoustic guitar lines by Anton permeate the air in Solitude, with Margarita simply stealing the spotlight with her introspective and mesmerizing vocals while Mikhail delivers minimalist and at the same time tribal beats in this modern Darkwave composition, followed by Wooden Heart, where futuristic sounds and tones warm up our souls in one of the most progressive and groovier of all tracks, with Anton doing a superb job with both his riffs and keys, resulting in a lighter but still obscure version of modern-day Doom Metal.

Anton comes ripping once again with his Phantom of the Opera-inspired organs, generating a menacing ambience before the band ventures through more rockin’ and visceral lands in Mouth of Darkness, a lesson in Post-Metal where Mikhail dictates the rhythm with his classic beats in a fusion of the music by Cradle of Filth with Sisters of Mercy and Type O Negative, all spiced up by the witch-like roars by Margarita, whereas Fall is another grim and pensive creation where Margarita, Anton and Mikhail offer the listener a Post-Black Metal aria focusing on the serene vocal lines by our stunning frontwoman, growing in intensity until reaching a truly Stygian vibe. Sanctuary is a folk-ish song full of ethereal passages and an embracing atmosphere, with Anton alternating between gentle guitar lines and heavy-as-hell riffs while Mikhail brings sheer doom to the overall result with his sluggish beats, before The Sea concludes the album in the best possible way you can imagine. The song couldn’t have started in a more doomed and melancholic way, with Anton slashing his guitar in great fashion in over nine minutes of somber passages, classy beats and the always hypnotizing voice by Margarita, flowing smoothly and beautifully until its climatic finale.

If you have what it takes to dive into the dark and embracing world ruled by Dunwich, simply follow them on Instagram and on VKontakte for news and other nice-to-know details about the band, subscribe to their YouTube channel for more of their music and stunning videos, and of course purchase their newborn opus Tail​-​Tied Hearts from the Caligari Records’ BandCamp page or from Amazon. Margarita and her loyal bandmates might be a new face to the world of heavy music, but the high level of professionalism and the top-of-the-line production of their debut album make them look like true veterans to the scene, proving not only that they know exactly what they’re doing, but also that there’s nothing better than a wild and gripping fusion of dark music styles to flawlessly depict the never-ending rollercoaster of emotions we end up experiencing every single day of our lives.

Best moments of the album: Through the Dense Woods, Wooden Heart and Mouth of Darkness.

Worst moments of the album: Solitude.

Released in 2020 Caligari Records

Track listing
1. Glow 2:43
2. Through the Dense Woods 4:35
3. Solitude 5:46
4. Wooden Heart 5:47
5. Mouth of Darkness 6:39
6. Fall 5:28
7. Sanctuary 5:45
8. The Sea 9:13

Band members
Margarita Dunwich – vocal
Anton Bronikov – guitars, keyboards
Mikhail Markelov – drums

Album Review – Kassad / London Orbital (2020)

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Combining the misery and madness of modern urban life with abrasive Black Metal, this British one-man band offers the perfect soundtrack to our harsh lives in the city.

Formed in 2014 in London, England, Urban Black Metal one-man project Kassad conveys an all-encompassing sense of existential terror and claustrophobic anxiety that hits you and builds to a crescendo before everything descends into dread and finally nothingness, combining the misery, futility, and madness of modern urban life with abrasive and gritty Black Metal and a hallucinatory ambience, being therefore highly recommended for fans of bands like Ihsahn, Darkspace, Burzum, Altar of Plagues, Nachtmystium and Downfall of Nur, among several others. After the releases of his debut EP Humans, in 2016, and his first full-length album Faces Turn Away, in 2017, an album that by the way explored themes of misery and claustrophobia in an urban setting, it’s time for Kassad to dive deep into this theme once again with his sophomore full-length opus, entitled London Orbital.

Recorded and mixed at Lusus Studios in London, mastered by Daniel Thabet at Liquid Studios, and featuring a gray and modern cover art by Brutal Colours, London Orbital centers around modern urban living and looks to a near future of megacities where the city itself is a personified, malevolent being where human empathy and culture have been replaced by artificial intelligence. “I wanted to create music for an imagined, future London – one where the city’s monoliths of glass and concrete have come alive to assert their malevolent control over the millions of people that live and toil amongst them. Workers travel in the vast shadows of these buildings, in the tunnels and transport systems that snake below or in the briefest snatches of sun that are yet to be blacked out. If you tilt your head and look at the city just right, you can already see the light starting to turn to darkness,” commented Kassad about his newborn spawn, an album that, besides its strong Black Metal root, also knows when to slow to a crawling funeral dirge to convey total despair and the loss of hope.

Ominous and melancholic sounds permeate the air from the very first second in The Boundary, where the serenity of Post-Metal is beautifully blasted by Kassad through his strident guitars and steady beats, exploding into high-end Urban Black Metal until its enfolding ending and with first-class poetry flowing from its introspective lyrics (“The city on the hill / Calls me for herself / Wants to own me / Like all her empty souls / That live inside her walls / A digital slave hoard / Eternal fires in code”). Then darker and heavier than the opening track, The Concrete is a gorgeous and captivating lesson in Atmospheric Black Metal where Kassad roars and gnarls in great fashion while at the same time he keeps pounding his drums and slashing his guitar strings nonstop, always focusing on extracting minimalist sounds and tones from all instruments.

And Kassad offers more of his Stygian and introspective sounds in The Hope, a song perfect for gazing at the sky on a cold winter night in the city, and as soon as you are absolutely mesmerized by his atmospheric and depressive music, Kassad brings forth a wall of blackened sounds that will crush your senses mercilessly. The Hopeless starts in a way that’s just as obscure and gray, working as a sequel to the previous song, showcasing Doom Metal-inspired sluggish beats intertwined with sounds of nature and eerie background elements before Kassad comes ripping with his anguishes growls in another top-tier Post-Black Metal extravaganza; and as Kassad’s grand finale to the album we have The Hollow, which begins in an even more melancholic and grim manner, with that bleak and ethereal vibe going on until the end of the song in a solid and vibrant display of austere, unadulterated and piercing Urban Black Metal.

As aforementioned, in London Orbital, which is available in full on YouTube and on Spotify, Kassad continues to delve into the claustrophobic, grim and lonely life in the city, resulting in a must-have album for admirers of the more modern side of Post-Black Metal and Atmospheric Black Metal. Hence, don’t forget to show your support to Kassad by following him on Facebook, and of course by purchasing your copy of London Orbital from the Hypnotic Dirge Records’ BandCamp or webstore in different formats, like the regular CD version or the “Faces Surveilled From Orbit” mega-bundle, as well as from Apple Music, from Amazon, from CD Baby or from Discogs. In a nutshell, Kassad managed to turn all the hopelessness, solitude and cold landscapes of his hometown into a majestic feast of grim and at the same time delicate sounds in London Orbital, proving Urban Black Metal is and will always be the perfect soundtrack for our harsh lives in the concrete jungles we live in.

Best moments of the album: The Concrete and The Hopeless.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2020 Hypnotic Dirge Records

Track listing
1. The Boundary 7:27
2. The Concrete 5:26
3. The Hope 8:14
4. The Hopeless 8:54
5. The Hollow 8:42

Band members
Kassad – vocals, all instruments

Album Review – Bergraven / Det Framlidna Minnet (2019)

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Never shy of venturing to the very edge of the extreme music terrain, this cult Experimental Black Metal unity from Sweden is back after 10 years with a brand new album dealing with memories, regret and despair.

Swedish Experimental Black Metal unity Bergraven is never shy of venturing to the very edge of the extreme music terrain and staring into the maddening abyss, delivering an always interesting and unique fusion of a wide range of styles such as Progressive Metal, Avantgarde/Atmospheric Black Metal and Post-Black Metal that penetrates deep inside our ears and minds. Now in 2019 the band formed in 2002 in the city of Hässleholm, but currently located in Malmö, is ready to take us on another vibrant journey beyond the boundaries of Black Metal with their brand new opus, entitled Det Framlidna Minnet, or “the lost memory” in English, ten years after the release of the excellent Till Makabert Väsen.

Carefully mastered by T. Stjerna at the renowned Necromorbus Studio (Watain, Armagedda, Mayhem, Shining) in Stockholm, Det Framlidna Minnet deals with memories, their fluid nature and how the healthy human spirit builds a wall around itself with adjusted memories, and yet sometimes the system corrupts and memories become ghosts that haunt their hosts with regret and despair. If these words are not enough to show you the true uniqueness and potency of the music by Bergraven, which by the way means “mountain black” in English, then let the triumvirate comprised of Pär Stille  on vocals and guitar (also known for his work as guitarist and songwriter for Swedish Black Metal band Stilla), Andreas Johansson on bass and Johan Marklund on drums guide you on a one-way journey into the realms of experimental heavy music made in Scandinavia.

The intro Minnesgåva (“memory gift”) provides the listener a very good idea of how wicked and bizarre Bergraven’s music is, with all its eerie noises and beats permeating the air until Allt (“all”) comes to haunt our souls with its creepy atmosphere and piercing guitar lines, while Pär begins his growling attack barking like a demon, with the music flowing demonically and obscurely into an abrupt and vile ending. Den Följsamma Plågan (“the painful plague”) is even more eccentric and experimental, with Pär and Andreas making sure even the acoustic moments do not sound calm at all, always adding a touch of dementia to their musicality in seven minutes of Post-Black Metal not recommended for the lighthearted (not to mention how its ending reeks sheer melancholy and insanity). And the metallic bass punches by Andreas and the Doom Metal-inspired beats by Johan provide Pär all he needs to roar in Minnets Melankoli (“memory of melancholy”), a Mastodon-meets-Gojira-meets-Dream Theater-meets pitch black darkness tune where the music alternates between serene, somber passages and a disturbing havoc for our total delectation.

Swedish words flow disturbingly from Pär’s deranged vocals throughout the over eight minutes of modern, progressive and doom-ish Post-Metal in Leendet Av Hans Verk (“the smile of his work”), where Johan’s beats get more and more obscure as the music progresses, adding even more thunder to the song’s visceral riffs and menacing ambience, followed by Den Dödes Stigar (“the paths of death”), bringing elements from Folk Metal to Bergraven’s already distinguished musicality. Furthermore, Pär doesn’t stop vociferating deeply and with a lot of anguish while Johan smashes his drums beautifully, resulting in a very detailed song that’s full of breaks, variations and creepy passages, remaining dense and enfolding from start to finish. Then get ready to be dragged into the pits of hell with over ten minutes of disturbing Experimental Black Metal in Till Priset Av Vårt Liv (“for the price of our lives”), led by Pär’s sulfurous gnarls and slashing riffs. In addition, it’s interesting to see how the trio gradually reduces the song’s pace and speed, slowly attracting us to their sonic realm, capturing our souls and keeping us in darkness forever. And there’s still time for a beyond dissident outro similar to the album’s intro, this time entitled Eftermäle (“posthumous reputation”), as if the band wanted to close the circle offering us a feast of whimsical sounds and tones.

You can actually savor all of Bergraven’s eccentricity by listening to Det Framlidna Minnet in full on Spotify, but if you’re already convinced of the band’s undeniable talent and insanity, you can also follow them on Facebook and purchase your copy of the album from the Nordvis Produktion’s BandCamp or webstore (in Digipak or LP format), as well as from iTunes, Amazon or Discogs. It’s not everyday that we, mere mortals, have the pleasure of facing such peculiar, nonconformist music like the one blasted by Bergraven, so don’t waste your time and succumb to the most unconventional side of Swedish heavy music together with Mr. Pär Stille and his horde. It’s surely worth the ride.

Best moments of the album: Allt, Minnets Melankoli and Den Dödes Stigar.

Worst moments of the album: Den Följsamma Plågan.

Released in 2019 Nordvis Produktion

Track listing
1. Minnesgåva 2:25
2. Allt 5:56
3. Den Följsamma Plågan 7:20
4. Minnets Melankoli 8:03
5. Leendet Av Hans Verk 8:20
6. Den Dödes Stigar 8:34
7. Till Priset Av Vårt Liv 10:41
8. Eftermäle 2:58

Band members
Pär Stille – vocals, guitar
Andreas Johansson – bass
Johan Marklund – drums

Album Review – Lascar / Saudade (2017)

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Blending modern elements of extreme music with feelings of loss, fragility and desperation, this one-man band from Chile offers us a unique interpretation of the apparent conflict on the naturalistic experience.

Hailing from the alluring city of Santiago, the capital of the mighty Republic of Chile, here comes a Post-Black Metal one-man army that goes by the name of Lascar, who since 2014 has been delivering truly captivating music by blending modern elements of extreme music with feelings of loss, fragility and desperation, offering a unique interpretation of the apparent conflict on the naturalistic experience. After the releases of the demos Lascar (2014) and Depths (2015), followed by the band’s debut full-length album Absence (2016), it’s time for Lascar, the brainchild of Chilean multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Hugo, to mesmerize us once again with beautiful Atmospheric Black Metal in the full-length opus Saudade, a Spanish word that can be translated as “yearning” or “nostalgia” (albeit there’s no specific word for it in English), implying a sense of abandon and a nostalgic mourning manifested within an artistic environment.

The opening track, entitled Tender Glow, is Atmospheric Black Metal at its finest, bringing forward a bucolic start with the sound of the guitar thoroughly blended with the wind while the music remains gloomy, desperate and anguished at all times thanks to the demonic gnarls by Gabriel, who effectively vociferates the song’s poetry-like lyrics (“The sun expands through the morning air / with its astral constant energy. / Ornaments of ice melts / through the cracks of crystal moments in an hyperbole. / A heartbeat rumble through a fragile atmosphere. / Echoes of lost dreams trespassing the ethereal. / Seasons of purple blossoms falling through the hands of time. / Ornaments of ice melts / through the cracks of crystal moments in an hyperbole.”). Thin Air continues from where the first song ended, impregnating the air with visceral blast beats, old school Black Metal riffs and tons of agony and melancholy, resulting in a wall of dark sounds built up by several distinct layers that will crush your soul mercilessly. Furthermore, Gabriel keeps growling like an uncanny entity until a gentle break brings some peace to our minds, with this paradox of negative emotions and gentle sounds being absolutely fantastic.

The third track of the album, Uneven Alignment, couldn’t start in a more melancholic manner, with its smooth sounds and nuances mesmerizing our senses before Gabriel returns with his visceral roars and frantic drums. Put differently, this is a solid and beautiful depiction of modern Black Metal with Gabriel taking us all on a whimsical journey through the obscure realms of Lascar. And lastly, the acoustic guitar by Gabriel kicks off the final breath of Post-Black Metal in Saudade, a 14-minute aria named Bereavement, showcasing all elements from Atmospheric and Depressive Black Metal fused with traditional Doom and Black Metal, with devastation and despair flowing from all instruments from start to finish, therefore ending the album on the highest note imaginable.

It’s quite difficult to express in just a few lines what the music by Lascar truly represents, which means that, if I were you, I would definitely go take a very detailed and focused listen at Saudade in its entirety on YouTube, as well as follow Lascar on Facebook. Hence, in case Saudade has all the elements you’re searching for in obscure extreme music, you can purchase a copy of the album at Lascar’s BandCamp page, at the ATMF’s BandCamp page or webstore (as a regular CD, a regular LP, or a collector’s edition translucid purple vinyl LP with white speckles), at the Throne Records’ webstore or at Discogs. The feeling of loss followed by a strong and deep sense of yearning might not be something easy to deal with inside ourselves, but with the lugubrious music by Lascar as the soundtrack at least we have a very good reason to let those feelings and thoughts consume our minds in the darkest way possible.

Best moments of the album: Thin Air and Bereavement.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2017 A Sad Sadness Song

Track listing
1. Tender Glow 10:25
2. Thin Air 8:49
3. Uneven Alignment 8:34
4. Bereavement 14:25

Band members
Gabriel Hugo – vocals, all instruments

Album Review – Ghost Horizon / The Erotics of Disgust EP (2017)

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Four distinct compositions that will pierce into your mind and soul in a beautiful way, brought forth by a musician that definitely knows how to transform his deepest feelings into great music.

If you’re an admirer of the most obscure and melancholic forms of Melodic and Atmospheric Black Metal, I have some very good news for you. Critically acclaimed Post-Black Metal act Ghost Horizon is back with a brand new EP, titled The Erotics of Disgust, a follow-up (but with a considerably different sounding) to the band’s previous EP Astral Possessions, released in 2016.  This time around, this Phoenix-based project consists of founder Dan Stollings on vocals and all stringed instruments, and newcomer “Frog” Magus (Norse) on drums, who together brought into being four distinct compositions that will pierce into your soul and crush your feelings in a beautiful way.

Dan commented that the EP “has been waiting in the darkness for quite a while now – it’s been completed for months. It’s been hard to let this EP into the world, because in a lot of ways, I’m sharing some pretty deep emotions that I would never talk about otherwise. I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs in the process of its creation, and I think that’s reflected pretty heavily in the music. The decision to do the vocals myself was also a part of this realization that in order to portray exactly what I’m thinking, I need to use my own voice. Nothing on this album is perfect. I didn’t want it to be perfect. At first I went into writing with the mentality that this will be the best produced thing I’ve ever done, but after finishing the vocals, I realized this thing needs to be raw. And so it was.” After reading such powerful words by Dan, I’m sure you’re more than curious to listen to The Erotics of Disgust, but once again let me warn you that the music might be too dark for the average listener.

Radiant Eyes presents an introspective beginning for this new phase of Ghost Horizon, gradually morphing into a dark amalgamation of Blackened Doom and Post-Black Metal with hints of progressiveness enhancing the song’s depressive sonority. Moreover, “Frog” Magus does an amazing job on drums, maintaining the song’s dense rhythm flowing smoothly. In So Hollow, not only Dan surprises us with his clean vocals supported by a gentle ambience, but the song’s lyrics also prove that he’s definitely a skillful poet of darkness (“You can take it all / Everything we know / You can break it all / You chose a path I cannot follow / You left a heart in me so hollow / Changing skies above / Breaking hearts below / On again / True love / Off again / Bruised love”). This is modern and gripping Atmospheric Black Metal that brings at the same time peace and hopelessness to our hearts, making us eager for more of the music by Ghost Horizon.

Following a similar pattern to the previous song, This Forever Flow also presents delicate guitars and bass lines together with the Doom Metal-inspired beats by “Frog”, with its last piece getting heavier due to the harsh growls by Dan without losing its core subtlety. Besides, how not to get touched by its profound lyrics (“Fading from my heart is the will to be one / Fear in my words – last words to my love / Fire fading quickly, your lips have left me cold / The ending of a romance with the ending left untold”)? Lastly, featuring guitarist and composer Tyler Allen on guest vocals, Ghost Horizon deliver a full-bodied darkened composition bursting with anguish, despair and melancholy entitled Whispers, with its Black Metal riffs and blast beats bringing an extra dosage of obscurity to the overall musicality. In my humble opinion, it’s the best and most complete of the four songs of the EP, the type of music I would like to see Dan explore even more with his future releases.

In summary, although many people have a lot of difficulties to talk about their deepest feelings, it seems that Dan has simply mastered how to express his own feelings through the music by Ghost Horizon. However, you have to be very open-minded and absorb each second of The Erotics of Disgust in order to fully understand the whole message delivered by Dan this time, letting your mind and soul minutely merge with the music found on this fine album. And you can always get to know Ghost Horizon in more detail through their Facebook page and listen to their music on Spotify, as well as purchase your copy of The Erotics of Disgust on BandCamp, at the Tridroid Records’ webshop, on Cd Baby, on Amazon or on iTunes. The Erotics of Disgust is certainly not Dan’s last stint with his Ghost Horizon, which means there’s still a lot to come from such distinct act, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Best moments of the album: Whispers.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2017 Independent

Track listing
1. Radiant Eyes 4:11
2. So Hollow 4:05
3. This Forever Flow 5:01
4. Whispers 4:34

Band members
Dan Stollings – all stringed instruments, vocals
“Frog” Magus – drums

Guest musician
Tyler Allen – additional vocals on “Whispers”