BLACK METAL

[Cranial Blast]

Fellwinter - Dark Medieval Art (Blood & Crescent) I've been picking up everything by these guys and not so sure they aren't one of the best if not the best US black metal acts out today. Taurus and Mercenary keep getting better and better with each release. There are no frills, just good raw black metal with some glorious satanic war hymns. This new album by Fellwinter definitely is their strongest, starts off immediately with some really powerful and majestic lead guitar work and fierce pounding drums. Whole album is very good lots of galloping drums, lots of sweeping melodic parts and the production overall is great! Highly recommended listen for those looking for some really good black metal. anyone into Warloghe, but perhaps a bit faster, I'd imagine would love this new album!

[prelapsus]

I used to follow black metal really closely but I have fallen out of the loop a bit in recent years. Obviously watching Blood & Crescent now but who else is worth keeping tabs on? I used to follow Death Prayer but nothing lately has caught my ear. Chances are if it's been around since 2015 or earlier I'm probably familiar already but I feel like I've lost touch with where exciting new acts are releasing stuff.

[Cranial Blast]

I used to follow black metal really closely but I have fallen out of the loop a bit in recent years. Obviously watching Blood & Crescent now but who else is worth keeping tabs on? I used to follow Death Prayer but nothing lately has caught my ear. Chances are if it's been around since 2015 or earlier I'm probably familiar already but I feel like I've lost touch with where exciting new acts are releasing stuff.

I really like that Horrible Room stuff a lot to. It's like a collective of bands from Russia with lots of black metal, oi punk, ect. The one that really jumps out of that horde is Крюкокрест. That stuff is really good! Reminds me a bit of the Legion Blotan stuff, kind of that same underground approach. New Era seems to be releasing and distributing a lot of their stuff. Death Prayer I was following for a bit with the Revenant Marquis stuff, but seems to of tapered off and I can't say I've heard much from that label in the last year or so though.

[HateSermon]

I saw BEHERIT this past weekend near Chicago. Fucking incredible. Sound was great and stage presence was great. Never thought I'd get the chance to see them. Kommandant was one of the openers and was also really good. Intense militant vibe. Gas masks were a nice touch. That's one of those bands I've known about for some time but haven't really listened to much.
The venue was really strange. It was like a huge sports bar with giant tv's and slot machines. You'd have like a giant backdrop with the Beherit logo and then on both sides are screens playing live NFL games. The venue should have just turned that shit off. Security guys were also total assholes. Constantly running into the crowd with flashlights to break up the pit during Beherit, which was pretty distracting. My thoughts on that are just let people mosh. It ain't like this is some jock hardcore show with people crowd killing each other. But, at the end of the day, I'm thankful the venue wasn't in Chicago itself otherwise parking would have been a bitch. You'd think beers would have been cheaper outside the city but no luck there, either.

[Olion]

Fellwinter - Dark Medieval Art (Blood & Crescent) I've been picking up everything by these guys and not so sure they aren't one of the best if not the best US black metal acts out today. Taurus and Mercenary keep getting better and better with each release. There are no frills, just good raw black metal with some glorious satanic war hymns. This new album by Fellwinter definitely is their strongest, starts off immediately with some really powerful and majestic lead guitar work and fierce pounding drums. Whole album is very good lots of galloping drums, lots of sweeping melodic parts and the production overall is great! Highly recommended listen for those looking for some really good black metal. anyone into Warloghe, but perhaps a bit faster, I'd imagine would love this new album!

Arbor is a great project by Taurus, love it since his earliest outputs. He started with very minimal approach which was great, but his later, slightly more compositionally developed albums like "Behold... The Age Of Pagan Blood" or "Eventide Primitivism" are top notch, too.
Gauntlet Ring is a great project of Taurus, too.

[prelapsus]

I used to follow black metal really closely but I have fallen out of the loop a bit in recent years. Obviously watching Blood & Crescent now but who else is worth keeping tabs on? I used to follow Death Prayer but nothing lately has caught my ear. Chances are if it's been around since 2015 or earlier I'm probably familiar already but I feel like I've lost touch with where exciting new acts are releasing stuff.

I really like that Horrible Room stuff a lot to. It's like a collective of bands from Russia with lots of black metal, oi punk, ect. The one that really jumps out of that horde is Крюкокрест. That stuff is really good! Reminds me a bit of the Legion Blotan stuff, kind of that same underground approach. New Era seems to be releasing and distributing a lot of their stuff. Death Prayer I was following for a bit with the Revenant Marquis stuff, but seems to of tapered off and I can't say I've heard much from that label in the last year or so though.

Horrible Room was a good tip, thank you. Some other stuff I've enjoyed recently:
Volahn- Popol Vuh, super intense, quite triumphant sounding and good use of more folk-ish sounds in parts. A complex record which rewards repeat listens.
Mystic Blood- s/t Finnish traditional sounding BM. Some parts remind me of the slow riffs from Ominous Doctrines... era Inquisition but it's rawer sounding than that. Very good.
Gates of Dawn- III Psychedelic black metal but in a laid back way rather than a nightmarish way. Unique sounding and a successful fusion of almost early Pink Floyd kind of sounds with black metal.

[Kaaoskultti]

I'm curious to know what the people around here think about this projetc. As much as I loved Silencer, I guess I do enjoyr this release even more; not least because of its genuine organicity and haunting atmosphere. Makes me think of Klinkal Skum aswell.

[Cranial Blast]

Another really great black metal demo to check out is the most recent Traum demo tape entitled Diminishment In Perpetuum, released by US black metal label Torture Palace Productions. Filled to brim with cold sardonic atmosphere and lofi production! Definitely something to check out, especially by those who have enjoyed much of the Blood Crescent catalog.

[Minus1]

Is Electric Wizard = Black Metal? Or Stoner Doom? Is there some overlap? It's all labels labels labels. 😂

Anyway I'm pissed. In January mainman Jus said there'd be an album (maybe their last!?) this year. And here we are in December. Put down that bong, Jus. Sheesh.

Anyway - I love this band. Dopethrone gets a lot of attention, but I think fans should have another look at Time To Die. It's Dopethrone's big brother. He went to Architect school but dropped out. He's more shroomage than weed.

Anyway, if I have my labels all wrong, sue me. 😂

[Cranial Blast]

Is Electric Wizard = Black Metal? Or Stoner Doom? Is there some overlap? It's all labels labels labels. 😂

Anyway I'm pissed. In January mainman Jus said there'd be an album (maybe their last!?) this year. And here we are in December. Put down that bong, Jus. Sheesh.

Anyway - I love this band. Dopethrone gets a lot of attention, but I think fans should have another look at Time To Die. It's Dopethrone's big brother. He went to Architect school but dropped out. He's more shroomage than weed.

Anyway, if I have my labels all wrong, sue me. 😂

I'd declare Electric Wizard simply as stoner/doom metal, but with heavy emphasis on satanic and or occult symbolism, giving nod especially to that 70's era of counter culture occult anesthetics = satanic symbolism, but yet, they kind of give a more austere vision or vibe to that notion as making the satanic panic element seem as if there is truly some horned figure in the mist of the myth to their projected element. It's like they are playing on those fears with what's being said about, which I like! I love that angle to use Satan as a weapon against those wjom believe Satan is this "real threatening force" and do so well in a sense that it feels legitmate in ideals. Not black metal in overall riffs, or the sense of quick tremolo picking sound, but perhaps in some proto ideals of "satan", but certainly a crushing, fucking heavy force to he reckon with! Perhaps in some ways conjuring the occult better than some said "Black Metal" bands. In my opinion black metal derives around the "occult", first and foremost when it comes to topic, so if someone thinks some viking metal shit like Bathory's Hammerheart is still "Black metal" than... Dopesmoker or any other Electric Wizard album should be considered Black metal, simply based on the idea that at least it revolves around the occult. If viking metal shit like Hammerheart can be called black metal, than why not doom metal that revolves around occult topics... Obviously this notion can be debated, but my understanding of Black Metal has always revolves around this idea about occult, Satanic ideas and those ideals. If pagan ones are okay in black metal lore and maybe they are fine and that's okay, but then my argument simply is if pagan bands be lumped in this genre, then why not doom bands, as long as it's satanic or occult driven. I've got a very "Venom" Idea about what Black metal is or maybe should be, but my attitude also conflicts that notion at times too. It's a complicated ordeal of identity at times!

[SSRI]

That's well said. I've always thought Electric Wizard was somewhat cartoonish with horror and exploitation movie samples and all, but Satan has many faces and that of a trickster is certainly one of them.

Good band. I like the early stuff best and think they peaked with Dopethrone. Funeralopolis track is one of the most massive things in the world.

[Cranial Blast]

That's well said. I've always thought Electric Wizard was somewhat cartoonish with horror and exploitation movie samples and all, but Satan has many faces and that of a trickster is certainly one of them.

Good band. I like the early stuff best and think they peaked with Dopethrone. Funeralopolis track is one of the most massive things in the world.

Funeralopolis is definitely incredible! I also really like the song Eko Eko Azarak: I) Invocation II) Ritual. It's the first song on We Live album, that one really builds nicely into this doomed slab of occult metal. I quite enjoy the doom bands that incorporate occult and satanic elements into their work. Cardinal's Folly from Finland is great one too, filled with some interesting and heavy riffs at times, but also with great occult lyrics to go with those riffs.

[Minus1]

Is Electric Wizard = Black Metal? Or Stoner Doom? Is there some overlap? It's all labels labels labels. 😂

Anyway I'm pissed. In January mainman Jus said there'd be an album (maybe their last!?) this year. And here we are in December. Put down that bong, Jus. Sheesh.

Anyway - I love this band. Dopethrone gets a lot of attention, but I think fans should have another look at Time To Die. It's Dopethrone's big brother. He went to Architect school but dropped out. He's more shroomage than weed.

Anyway, if I have my labels all wrong, sue me. 😂

I said "Anyway" 3x. Sorry. I was...very tired.

I think last year's live-album (Black Magic Rituals & Perversions Vol. 1) was wonderfully raw. Hopefully Vol. 2 is imminent.