Yesterday morning, a new folder arrived on my desk. The sole name of Grave Upheaval made my skin crawl, but I opened it anyway, driven by my instinctive curiosity and my hunger for the unknown. What awaited inside was almost too much for me to bear, it almost broke me. Just recalling this is hard for me. However, I’ve agreed to testify in front of this comity, so here’s the complete story.… Read more
Recently being part of Toilet ov Hell’s “Most Innovative Guitarist in Metal” poll, Kalevi Uibo is the closest thing to a band leader France’s Chaos Echœs has. And, judging by the music alone, he is awfully good at it. Now bands are most often more than one person, and I have to say that every one in Chaos Echœs knows their place and uses it to its full potential. Mouvement is the latest release from the band, and it is impressive in many regards. It would be quite easy to dismiss the band judging by … Read more
The ruin of a generation is shattering.
In this hour, the eyes of the one who watches fill
With the gold of his stars.
Georg Trakl was one of the pioneers of expressionism in its poetry form, an art movement which started in the early 20th century with the purpose of using powerful emotions and moods to express one’s view of the world. “Helian” was, according to him, his most precious and painful poem ever written; dealing with death, decadence, existential crisis and man’s struggle with religion. With this topic on the table, avant-garde masterminds Ayloss … Read more
Germany’s post-black metal outfit Außerwelt recently released their debut full-length album, Transitions. The album starts without hesitation and into the soaring riffs of “Isolate the Sun”. Their intention is clear: Transitions is about crafting an atmospheric aura not too far from the mellower post-rock scene, but with added tremolo riffs, and other crushing chords and pounding drums. As far as post-black metal goes, this is quite on the soft side, acting as a bridge or gateway from and to post-rock and black metal. This is a really well crafted album, as each song on it thoroughly explores a theme … Read more
Australians Siberian Hell Sounds and Convulsing are perhaps two of the most punishing, dissonant, and avant-garde black metal entities out there, and they’ve joined forces on this split release, each providing a song over twenty minutes long to feed this beastly behemoth of a record. What results is not so much a split as it is a collaborative effort to bring forth to the altar a worthy sacrifice. And worthy it is, as it pleases us with its long, winding and unconventional song structures, its sickening harmony, its thick and heavy atmosphere put on our shoulders to burden, and its … Read more