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Father Befouled - Desolate Gods

Father Befouled – Desolate Gods

It’s been way too long since I have really sat down to enjoy some intriguing filthy, soul-crushing death metal. Just as all hope was lost for the genre, Father Befouled comes crashing in with their brand new album, Desolate Gods. With my increasing affinity with the band’s music, from their extremely raw debut Obscurus Nex Cultus to the more mature Revulsion of Seraphic Grace, Father Befouled…

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Valdur - Divine Cessation

Valdur – Divine Cessation

In all its different incarnations, one thing has remained constant in American extreme metal band Valdur‘s outputs. Be it the coldness and harshness of the black metal Raven Gods Amongst Us to the brutal blackened death battery of At War With and Pathetic Scum, the intensity has always remained, though presented in different forms. The band this year releases their fifth full length, Divine…

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Almyrkvi - Umbra

Almyrkvi – Umbra

We’ve already had a taste of what the burgeoning Icelandic black metal scene can bring us, with bands like Sólstafir, and more recently, the excellent Auðn release. While the aforementioned bands bring a sound that is more akin to ambient/atmospheric black metal, Almyrkvi promises a more dissonant, disturbing aural experience with their debut full length, Umbra. The cues that the band takes from…

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Acrimonious - Eleven Dragons

Acrimonious – Eleven Dragons

Greek black metal band Acrimonious left me thoroughly impressed with their 2012 full length, Sunyata. The perfect fusion of the grimness of black metal and the melody of heavy metal resulted in a sound that was reminiscent of the works of bands like Watain or even the legendary Dissection. 5 years later, the band finally follows up with their third full length, Eleven Dragons, this time under the…

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Auðn - Farvegir Fyrndar

Auðn – Farvegir Fyrndar

For some reason, whenever bands from Iceland are mentioned, particularly black metal bands, I immediately associate them with a cold, atmospheric soundscape. Of course, this has probably got to do with the climate of the region, but also due to bands like Sólstafir, or more popularly, Sigur Rós. Unlike the apparently recent increasing popularity of dissonant black metal bands of the region, the…

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Necrotted - Worldwide Warfare

Necrotted – Worldwide Warfare

Let me come clean and admit to you, I am not the biggest fan of deathcore. Having said that, I have listened to the few good ones that have been around since the mid-2000s. So I had hopes, and went into listening to Necrotted, a German band’s latest release with an open mind and open heart. Having never heard of them before, I was pleasantly surprised. But before I analyse the album, let me just…

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Cloak - To Venomous Depths

Cloak – To Venomous Depths

Whenever black metal and rock ‘n’ roll are mentioned in the same line, one immediately thinks of the style that either Satyricon has crafted, or the punkish, Motörhead-fuelled style of Darkthrone. But Cloak presents a rather different take on the fusion of these two genres on their debut full length, To Venomous Depths. With the band citing cult black metal acts such as Dissection as their main…

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Degial - Predator Reign

Degial – Predator Reign

After finding out the connection between Ghost and Repugnant, I quickly got hooked onto the thrashy, chaotic-styled Swedish death metal that Repugnant dishes out. From there, my fascination in the genre led me to bands like Tribulation, Morbus Chron, and of course, Degial and their debut album Death’s Striking Wings. With their…

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Aosoth - V: The Inside Scriptures

Aosoth – V: The Inside Scriptures

After four long years, the great Aosoth are finally back with V: The Inside Scriptures. And I have been waiting very eagerly for them. With their fourth album, IV: An Arrow in Heart (thank god Satan for bands who number their albums), these stalwarts of the French Black Metal scene created quite possibly one of the top Black Metal albums, let alone Heavy Metal albums of 2013. And the album still…

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Bruce Dickinson - What Does This Button Do? An Autobiography

Bruce Dickinson – What Does This Button Do? An Autobiography

Bruce Dickinson: The voice of Iron Maiden, aka the Air-Raid Siren, pilot, and fencer, in that order. Or so one would have thought prior to reading his new autobiography, What Does This Button Do? Fans of Iron Maiden expecting a biography of the band from Bruce’s perspective will be left very disappointed. Rather, What Does This Button Do? focuses on Bruce’s early life that turned him onto…

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Ne Obliviscaris - Urn

Ne Obliviscaris – Urn

Ne Obliviscaris (NeO) burst into the international metal scene in 2012 with their progressive take on black metal on their debut, Portal of I. The fusion of the aggression of black metal with the melancholy of the violins, and emotional clean vocals made for a perfect listen on a cold, depressing night. 2014’s Citadel took this progressive aspect even further, as the band seemed to focus more on…

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Steven Wilson - To the Bone

Steven Wilson – To the Bone

Steven Wilson: singer, songwriter, producer, genius. That’s the sense that I got listening to Porcupine Tree, and finding out more about his extensive works. Yet, this year’s To the Bone is the first time I am actually taking the time to check out his solo works. Not really with much choice actually, since Porcupine Tree seems to already be taking a backseat.…

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Heresiarch - Death Ordinance

Heresiarch – Death Ordinance

New Zealand black/death metal horde Heresiarch released what could have been my favourite EP in 2011, Hammer of Intransigence. The fusion of the bestial fury of Ross Bay Cult heroes Blapshemy and the war metal of Conqueror made for an aggressive and effective war metal masterpiece. Their 2014 release, Wælwulf marked a slight shift…

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Progenie Terrestre Pura - Oltreluna

Progenie Terrestre Pura – Oltreluna

Few bands make me as curious as Italy’s Progenie Terrestre Pura. With their debut promo in 2011, the band laid the foundation of their music with sci-fi, space, and the future being main topics, and the musical style a unique brand of ambient black metal. Despite their ambient/atmospheric black metal tag though, the band couldn’t be further away from your typical black metal act with the themes…

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Akercocke - Renaissance in Extremis

Akercocke – Renaissance in Extremis

I remember my first foray into extreme metal. There were two particular music videos that left lasting impressions on me (or scaring the shit out of me, to be really honest). The first being Dimmu Borgir‘s Sorgens Kammer – Del II. The way Shagrath peeled off his skin completely creeped me out, and the first exposure to Satanic imagery did little to quell my fears. Over the years, I eventually…

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Archspire - Relentless Mutation

Archspire – Relentless Mutation

Archspire [Canada] Relentless Mutation 2017 Full Length Season of Mist Technical Death Metal To date, Archspire‘s The Lucid Collective remains one of my favourite tech-death albums. The technical prowess of each of the individual members, along with the intense songwriting on the album left me subconsciously going back for more every time there’s a need to release some pent-up frustration (Seven…

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Triumvir Foul - Spiritual Bloodshed

Triumvir Foul – Spiritual Bloodshed

American barbaric death metal band Triumvir Foul are back again, with their sophomore album Spiritual Bloodshed. Their 2015 self-titled debut marked a polishing of their musical style from their first demo, with heavy influences from such prominent Ross Bay Cult legends as Conqueror and other inspired acts like Heresiarch, finding some sense of coherence amongst the chaos that they evoked.…