Tag Archives: post-black metal

明日の叙景 – わたしと私だったもの

by Matt Matheson

The Music

The Words

It never fails to warm my heart when I come across a nominally “black metal” band that is willing to shed all vestiges of trve kvltitude and incorporate taboo elements of hardcore, metalcore, screamo, world music, pop, or any other style that results in a synthesis of musical ideas that stretches the boundaries of black metal’s comfort zone. On their debut full-length わたしと私だったもの (Watashi to watashidatta mono) – or, by its English title, Awakening –, Japanese quartet 明日の叙景 – read “Asu no jokei” – mingles their blackened approach with the post-hardcore intensity of fellow countrymen Envy … Read more

[‘selvə] – Doma

by Dæv Tremblay

The Music

The Words

Italy’s Selva – stylized [‘selvə] – is a potent purveyor of blackened post-hardcore. Their 2016 album Eléo was impressive enough as it was, but I think they truly hit the nail right on its head with their just-released EP Doma. With only two tracks, the twenty-five-minute record delivers a level of aggression only matched by their Swiss cousins Rorcal. Indeed, the similarities are unescapable: both “Silen” and “Joy” sound like they could have been on any Rorcal album.

Such comparisons are always a bit diminutive of the work of their respective artists, so let me … Read more

Außerwelt – Transitions

by Dæv Tremblay

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

Botanist – Collective: The Shape of He to Come

by Dæv Tremblay

I was a proponent of Californian experimental black metal project Botanist, when their debut double album, I: The Suicide Tree/II: A Rose from the Dead was released, back in 2011. At the time, it was new and pretty much unheard of, at least not widely so. The following albums, however, felt like mere reiterations on the same themes and a simple reorganization of the same core sounds and ideas; no matter how long you shuffle your salad, it’s still going to be the same salad. That’s why I was [cautiously] optimistic for Botanist’s new project: there was no roman … Read more

Ghost Bath – Starmourner

by Ignacio De Vincenzi


Ecstasy. Joy. Paradise. Cosmos. “A surrealistic journey through the heavens drenched in sorrow.” That’s how American blackgaze band Ghost Bath describes Starmourner, a direct sequel to a trilogy which started with their 2015 release Moonlover, a forty-two minute exploration on humanity’s melancholy and depression; it managed to be one of my favorite releases of that year due to the beauty encased within its dark sound. Two years later and signed to Nuclear Blast, one of metal’s biggest labels, Ghost Bath returns with the aforementioned Starmourner, their longest and most ambitious album to date, changing their topics to deliver … Read more