BLACK METAL DAILY’S LISTCRUSH 2021: The DEX Edition – Full-Length Albums

Not with a whimper, but with a fucking BANG – okay fine, a dull thud at this point, we’re already at least one knuckle deep into 2022 – our long drawn out 2021 LISTCRUSH series finally comes to an end.

Pretty sure I’m the last person anywhere on the planet to publish their albums list each year, but anyway – there were over ten thousand black metal releases vomited forth into the void of rampant consumerism and discogs flipping (or unnoticed and abandoned Bandcamp limbo) throughout 2021. Here I present my 40 favourite full length albums of the thousand-plus I listened to and the couple hundred I shortlisted, a final curation that’s a damn sight slimmer than last year’s overblown top 100 but hey, I’m trying to reign myself in and practice a little restraint. New year, new me and all that (again). Also included are a handful of near misses that I really wanted to make the cut but couldn’t cram in – be sure to hunt them down as well, all of them deserved a spot on the final list.

If you somehow need even more from my curation of superb stygian artistry, seek help, but also feel free to check out my already published TOP 30 DEMOS/EPs and TOP 25 SPLITS lists as well (and scope Tom and Gos‘s lists while you’re at it, they both have impeccable taste). As always, eternal thanks and respect to all artists, labels, reviewers and promoters for keeping the black flame alive. You are all excellent. Support the artists, buy physical copies… aside from that, onwards, ever onwards, forging into the sunset.

Hails.

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NEAR MISSES

• Black Kruud – Delusions Of Gangrene
• Weathered Crest – Blossoming Of The Paths
• Labyrinthine Haze – Descending Into The Deep
• Archgoat – Worship The Eternal Darkness
• Concilium – Desecration
• Ofermod – Mysterium Iniquitatis
• Burden Of Ymir – From Élivágar
• Solipsism – Cruelty & Necrospection
• Nächtlich – Satanas Solum Initium
• Starer – 18° Below The Horizon
• Henbane Chariot – Allpine Séance
• Arazubak – The Haunted Spawn Of Torment
• DSKNT – Vacuum γ-Noise Transition
• Ungfell – Es Grauet
• Yoth Iria – As The Flame Withers
• Ifernach – Capitulation Of All Life
• Norse – Ascetic
• Korpituli – The Ancient Spells Of The Past
• Inferno – Paradeigma
• Lamp Of Murmuur – Submission And Slavery
• Abstracter – Abominium
• Miasmata – Unlight: Songs of Earth and Atrophy

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TOP 40 ALBUMS OF 2021

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40. Bræ – A Thousand Ways To End It All (Amor Fati)

Sounds like: a completely anonymous album released with no fanfare at all that zero people paid attention to. Seriously, I saw nobody talking about it, perhaps because at first glance/listen it’s quite nondescript. However, settle in and let this noisy, hypnotic and abrasive monolith of longform depression obliterate your soul and I’m sure you’ll agree: more people should have paid attention to this shit.

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39. Pan-Amerikan Native Front – Little Turtle’s War (Les Fleurs Du Mal / Stygian Black Hand / Nuclear War Now! Productions)

Sounds like: triumph, tragedy and pure grit, passed down through tales and shamanic rituals for eternity. Kurator of War‘s second full-length was the perfect prelude to his astonishing split with Kommodus; this man is never short of a riff.

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38. Firienholt – By The Waters Of Awakening (Fólkvangr Records / Naturmacht Productions)

Sounds like: Caladan Brood, but somehow even more enjoyable. This mysterious horde of UK Tolkien fanatics knocked it out of the park on their first full-length effort. More please.

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37. Nansarunai – Ultimul Rege (Banner Of Blood / Ancient Horror Records / Black Gangrene)

Sounds like: that moment when you’re deep in a tomb filled with the corpses of ancient warriors and kings… and they all suddenly come to life and want to kill you, so you’re torn apart by undead royalty from a bygone era. Something like that. Cold, vicious and powerful raw black metal filled with yearning, this is about to cop an LP release via Black Gangrene. Grab it if you’ve missed every other version, you chump.

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36. Lionoka – Tides Of Triumph (Old Mill Productions)

Sounds like: stunning traditional acoustic instrumentation woven around furious black metal. The naturalistic sound alone of this US First Nations black folk solo project is incredible and will hit you deeper than you could ever have expected.

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35. Nazxul – Irkalla (Seance Records)

Sounds like: vibes. No, seriously – the third album of an almost thirty year expression of darkness from these legendary Australians is less of a “pay attention to the intricacies” type of deal (not that those intricate details aren’t fucking fantastic) and more a just let it wash over you and sear your soul kind of record. Irkalla is an album you FEEL, and it grew on me every time I heard it. The perfect album to have playing in the background as you go about your day – it’ll infect everything you do.

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34. Blurr Thrower – Les Voutes (Les Acteurs de l’ombre)

Sounds like: being lifted out of your corporeal form and dragging your spirit downward; sinking below in a burst of pale light like some kind of transcendent reversed rapture. As I said in my REVIEW, anyway. The kind of album that makes you enjoy it – the choice is not up to you.

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33. Burier – Cremation Of Lingering Hope (GoatowaRex)

Sounds like: MAGGOTS UNDER YOUR SKIN CONSUMING YOUR FLESH but you’re still conscious and can feel every tiny bite but it feels soothing and right and you realise you are one with the earth and this is forever now. This Australian project loves death, dying and being dead, and I love this Australian project.

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32. Lunar Spells – Where Silence Whispers (Northern Silence Productions)

Sounds like new Greek black metal that sounds like old Finnish black metal. Everyone knows I’m a huge fan of albums that make me feel like the last twenty years never happened (shut up, I have a great life) – Where Silence Whispers falls firmly into that category.

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31. Fosso – Solo Amargo (Galafoice / Death Manifestations)

Solo Amargo sounds like witnessing some strange, strange magic at work in the dizzying heat of the deepest, most clandestine forests of Brazil. The synth? Spot on. Bass? Perfection. A remarkable debut that deserves both more attention and a follow up. Stat.

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30. Gorgon – Traditio Satanae (Osmose Productions)

Sounds like: the French pioneers once again showing everyone how it’s done. I rated this 4/5 in my REVIEW and I’d rate it even higher now. If you don’t like this you’re a coward, I don’t make the rules.

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29. Crucifixion Bell – Eternal Grip Of The Nocturnal Empire (Crown & Throne / Dybbuk Productions / Inferna Profundis Records / Black Gangrene Productions / Banner Of Blood)

Sounds like: staring into a mirror as you slice your face open, peeling and tearing back the skin until you’re standing there screaming at yourself with your own bare skull. I said in my Splits Listcrush that Crucifixion Bell is one of the premier raw black projects around today – if you’ve heard his other works and STILL need more proof than this album, there’s no hope for you.

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28. Dødsferd – Suicide And The Rest Of Your Kind Will Follow Part II (Fucking Your Creation Records)

Sounds like PURE FUCKING HATRED OF ALL HUMAN LIFE from the Greek underground legends. The title alone of this album will get you banned on social media, which ironically is just another example of how shit things are and how much we all suck. This record doesn’t suck, though. Read my REVIEW of it if you don’t believe me.

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27. Morte Incandescente – Vala Comum (Signal Rex)

Sounds like: black metal that absolutely does not give a single fuck about you, any current genre trends, or anything else at all. Portuguese legends Vulturius and Nocturnus Horrendus have been in the game since before you stopped shitting in diapers, and it shows. Killer. Bang your fucking head.

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26. Funeral Winds – Gruzelementen (New Era Productions)

This tasty slab of demoncy goes HARD. The word Gruzelementen translates to “smithereens”, and that’s exactly what will be left of your head after it’s been shattered by the sheer orthodox fury of this record – the way it maintains its horrifying hunger throughout is beyond impressive. Whilst other bands try to sound “Satanic”, Funeral Winds, the product of one Dutchman Hellchrist Xul, honour the ancients and achieve it effortlessly. Sounds like: being swallowed by the gaping maw of the dark lord.

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25. Stygian Ruin – The Blackened Temple (Independent)

I discovered this one thanks to Aesop of Agalloch, to whom I owe my gratitude – this Norwegian blend of dungeon synth and black metal surpasses all the usual results of that all-too-common marriage and becomes almost cinematic in scope and execution. Sounds like the soundtrack to the coolest movie you’ve never seen.

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24. Nigrum Pluviam – Eternal Fall Into The Abyss (Signal Rex / Asylum Tenebris)

Sounds like: the abyss staring back into YOU, as I wrote in our PREMIERE of this raw French insanity. This is probably the kind of thing that many of you would skip over in a second, but it’s exactly the type of thing that many of you SHOULD be listening to in order to plumb the wretched depths of the darkness within. You’ll feel better for it, trust me. An all-consuming vortex of primitive negative energy, older than time itself.

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23. Tyrannic – Mortuus Decadence (Seance Records / Iron Bonehead Productions)

This Australian oddity sounds like throwing your head back, howling in rabid, slavering fervour at the moon and diving headfirst in to a reeking open grave. I returned to this far more often than I originally thought I would. A criminally underappreciated band – Tyrannic operates in a space far and away from others of their ilk.

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22. Vahrzaw – The Trembling Voices Of Conquered Men (Transcending Obscurity Records)

Sounds like: me putting this in here because George said he’d break my legs if I didn’t. I kid – album kills. This is the best record these surly Australian black-death bastards have done since the last best record they did, so you should probably buy it. Word is their next one will be a complete change of direction as well… get keen for that.

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21. Крюкокрест – Домовина (Cold Sword Productions)

Sounds like: withering Ildjarn-esque black punk with enough wrath and spite to fuck anyone up. The debut album of these Russian Pleskau Brethren members annihilates their already great first demo and split with Леший from 2020. Here’s hoping they bring the ruckus again in 2022.

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20. Ahulabrum – Daimonic Reality (Atrocity Altar)

Most people will probably hate this, but it sounds like if cryptids made tape montages of themselves terrorizing people and the resulting recorded testimonies of the victims, mashed up like audio scrapbooks. Returning (with old unreleased material, the project is laid to rest) extraterrestrial US raw black/noise/ambient project Ahulabrum quietly released one of the most fascinating and weird tapes of the year. The truth is out there.

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19. Baxaxaxa – Catacomb Cult (The Sinister Flame)

Sounds like: the continuation of a MIGHTY return. The legendary Baxaxaxa keep the flame burning strong with an album of old school purity that does everything right; I hope we get many, many more records from them now that they’re rolling again.

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18. Mork – Katedralen (Peaceville Records)

Sounds like… TRVE NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL. I said it best in the introduction to my INTERVIEW with Thomas: “Katedralen represents a more confident and honed collection of songs than Mork has ever had, at once immediately recognizable as Mork and becoming the natural evolution of the sound Thomas has been building since the inception of the project. These tracks marry a chilling aura of rising nocturnal demoncy with the storming caliginous fire of quintessential TNBM, rocking like a bastard whilst soaring with unmistakeable grandeur and grimness – the perfectly executed juxtaposition of epic, longing elements against primal neck-wrecking riffage ensure tracks ‘Arv’ or my personal favourite ‘Det Siste Gode I Meg’ (and any others really, they’re all fucking fantastic) will remain seared in your memory for an age.”

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17. Sarkrista – Sworn To Profound Heresy (Purity Through Fire / Worship Tapes)

Sounds like even more Finnish black metal perfected (by German transplants). Can you tell I’m partial to classic Finnish melody? Sarkrista are one of my favourites, and for very good reason – their third full-length uses those melodies to immediately plunge into a feeling that does not waver or fail for the entire record. A marvellous achievement from a band that hasn’t fucked up yet, and seemingly never will.

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16. Black Spirit – El Sueño de la Razón Produce Monstruos (His Wounds / Infinite Night Records)

Spanish raw black solo entity Black Spirit has been a regular showing on my Listcrushes of late, but this evocative full-length based on an aquatint by the late Spanish artist Francisco Goya is the sound of main man Javi hitting next level. Just released on vinyl via His Wounds a few days ago, too – order it or hate yourself. The sleep of reason produces monsters indeed.

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15. Misotheist – For The Glory Of Your Redeemer (Terratur Possessions)

Speaking of hitting next level, these Norwegians jumped up another three or four levels with For The Glory Of Your Redeemer. Immense, sprawling, intricate, multi-latered and multi-textured – no matter how many descriptors I spew out, the fact remains that this is purely and simply one of the finest examples of mystically and spiritually resonant black metal to emanate from Scandinavian shores in some time. Oh, and the LP packaging is probably the most luscious I received all year as well. Impressive all around.

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14. Kæck – Het Zwaarte Dictat (Folter Records / Hessian Firm)

Sounds like: a fucking tank (or something equally as heavy) crushing every bone in your body to dust. I REVIEWED this beast from the Dutch destroyers and gave it 4.5/5; in hindsight it probably should have broken the rating system and stood on its own because nothing else released this year was as infused with such ULTIMATE NEGATIVITY. So overwhelmingly bleak and brutal it becomes almost beautiful to witness.

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13. Los Males Del Mundo – Descent Towards Death (Northern Silence Productions)

I first heard this album when I was in intense physical agony whilst walking at night in the rain, and it hit me in such a way that it left an indelible mark on my soul. In fact, I think it ruined every other album of similar style that was released last year – nothing else matched up and all just sounded rather boring. Ergo, I have returned to this many times since and will likely continue to for many years to come. Sounds like: the very essence of trial and tribulation.

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12. Aquilus – Bellum I (Blood Music)

Sounds like: listening to someone far too talented to be creating music within the sphere of extreme metal. Speaking in a compositional sense Australian Horace Rosenqvist is streets ahead of everyone else on this list and Bellum I, unveiled ten years after his last release, is spellbinding as he trips the light fandango through a maze of gorgeous neoclassical or progressive soundscapes and technical blackened brutality with startling ease. I even get more out of tracks like the purely piano ‘Moon Isabelline’ than anything, which is saying a lot.

“What did the music mean to you?”

“I don’t know. It is full of emotion… but it’s not happy.”

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11. Pestilential Shadows – Revenant (Seance Records)

Australian black metal project Pestilential Shadows has been around for quite some time now. The masterful Balam created the project in 2003, and I can say with hand on heart – out of five previous full-length albums and a handful of splits and demos, 2021’s Revenant is, in my humblest opinion, his finest hour with this project. The type of record that needs to be sat and listened to in order to appreciate the depth and spiritual resonance within, this took me completely by surprise – and I already expected it to be good. Just sit and listen. You’ll see.

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10. Koldovstvo – Ni Tsarya, Ni Boga (Fólkvangr Records / Babylon Doom Cult Records / Extraconscious Records)

If you want to understand the magic of this mysterious (possibly Russian?) entity, listen to the second track ‘II’ from their quietly affecting debut album Ni Tsarya, Ni Boga – if the combination of catchy eastern European melodies emanating from ancient aeons past, haunting clean vocals (that somehow remind me of Garm‘s opening cleans on ‘Wintry Grey’ every time I hear them even though they sound absolutely nothing alike) and harrowing shrieks all wrapped up in a delicately crumbling production doesn’t leave your jaw on the floor, you’re either one cold motherfucker or probably dead. The rest of the album is also neat. Will we see more from this enigmatic entity? Here’s hoping.

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9. Reverorum ib Malacht – Not Here (Rubeus Obex)

Sounds like: a biblical depiction of total and complete destruction, obliterating all, from the very mouth and voice of God Himself. I’m going to take a bit of liberty here and say you NEED to also listen to the pseudo-companion piece Svag I döden that was released alongside this record as well, because in my opinion, they are best consumed as a complementary pair. Both albums are impossible to fully explain or quantify in this short paragraph… just read my REVIEW to get an idea, then listen and be blown away.

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8. MOON – Pandimensional Gnosis (Moribund Records)

Sounds like: early Xasthur being sucked into a black hole. Or a k-hole. Or both at the same time. Australian wretch Miasmyr‘s first full-length album in over five years did not disappoint in the slightest and only becomes more and more dysphoric and dissonant the deeper you fall in; I dare you to listen to this and not completely detach from reality. Supreme atmosphere.

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7. Grey Aura – Zwart Vierkant (Onism Productions / Kunstlicht)

Sounds like: ART. Six and a half years in the making, Zwart Vierkant not only is a work of art but deals with it in its subject matter as well. It’s based upon a novel written by founding member Ruben Wijlacker which “tells the story of an early 20th century painter who becomes obsessed with the Russian art movement, Suprematism, which idealises the abstract and rejects traditional artistic concepts” and this synergistic approach seems to inspire great creativity – which includes the disregarding of any elitist-imposed boundaries to carefully construct a dazzling stream of post-modern, almost surreal wonders and ruinous black metal to tell that tale. They take that black metal and wind it around their fingers like a cat’s cradle game, seamlessly incorporating different colored threads from any genre they see fit to create startling patterns; truly genre-bending and unique in the best spirit of the form and proving once again that the Dutch scene is one of the most forward-thinking in the world. An astonishing album that I had the pleasure of PREMIERING and speaking about with its creators, this is a modern classic that made an impact.

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6. Warloghe – Three Angled Void (Northern Heritage)

Sounds like: an album recorded in the ’90s, buried in a box under six feet of soil and only unearthed last year. No matter how eclectic my tastes can be these days as an old fuck, I’ll always remain that teenage elitist deep in my heart – you know, the guy saying black metal should be disgusting. It should be dark as pitch. It should attempt to summon forces beyond our reckoning. It should be the rotting, cancerous tumour destroying the world via sheer force of hatred… it should sound something like Warloghe‘s Three Angled Void.

I didn’t know this legendary Finnish project was busting out another album, but it certainly hit an unexpected and very welcome sweet spot for me. Building on their 2017 comeback EP Lucifer Ascends whilst ironically descending to more horrifying depths than they ever have previously, it might be nothing that people who’ve been around since before the Y2K bug fizzled out haven’t heard before – but it’s probably exactly what those people wanted to hear in 2021 without even realizing it. If Kæck up above was pure negativity, then Three Angled Void is the audio manifestation of loathing personified. Magnificent, and absolutely vile.

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5. Negură Bunget – Zău (Lupus Lounge)

Stright up – I did NOT expect Zău, the final swansong of Negură Bunget and tribute to Negru, to be this damn good. The previous few Negură Bunget records didn’t particularly land with me as they should have, but as soon as I pushed play on Zău I was breathlessly captivated from beginning to end and lost within the realm created by it. I’m listening to it again right now as I type, and still cannot believe how incredible it is. Sounds like: wandering the magical caves, mountaintops and glades of an icy world so pure, crystalline and beautiful you’ll feel your very spirit reinvigorate just by breathing the air of an album so immersive you can almost feel it in your lungs. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect parting note.

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4. Antichrist Siege Machine – Purifying Blade (Profound Lore Records / Stygian Black Hand)

“But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.” – Jude 1:10

You checked out the latest offering from blasphemic US annihilators Antichrist Siege Machine yet? If not, you’re fucking up in a big way because whilst 2019’s debut full-length ‘Schism Perpetration’ was an insane achievement, they’ve outdone themselves here – against massive odds, ‘Purifying Blade’ is a step forward in every aspect. A more razor sharp production means these riffs utterly lacerate your flesh as your bones are pummeled to dust, whilst their relentless savagery is given more dynamism (meaning they can now kill you in 36 different ways before your body hits the floor). Not one track is a dud, the interludes of bible verses are spot on – is it the best war metal release of the year? Yes. Have the piss beaten out of you and witness heaven being torn asunder by the entire thing below, if you don’t believe me. Vicious shit that sounds like… a knife in the very heart of God.

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3. CODE – Flyblown Prince (Karisma Records / Dark Essence Records)

And thus, the mighty and malignant < c o d e > did return. The UK progressive/avant-garde black metallers finally unleashed their wonderfully wretched and weird fifth full-length Flyblown Prince last year, and all I can say is… FUCKING HELL. Coming home to the experimental black venom of their early days yet also utilising some of the same softer-textured approach of their later work when necessary, the record is quite literally astonishing from the very first listen. This dark and dissonant nightmare fantasy was a hair’s breadth from taking out my album of the year slot, and is probably on equal footing with Resplendent Grotesque as my favourite of their works. Stunning.

“We hope you enjoy the album, and that the pain and toil was worth it. You eternally indebted wayside pastors…”

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2. Plebeian Grandstand – Rien Ne Suffit (Debemur Morti Productions)

If Flyblown Prince was a “FUCKING HELL”, Rien Ne Suffit by eschatonic French maniacs Plebeian Grandstand is a “HOLY FUUUUCK”. Idiosyncratic, intense, insane, barely music at times – Rien Ne Suffit cruelly smashes avant-garde black metal, jazz, hardcore, abrasive noise and mangled electronics together into something that sounds like total, ravaging mental torture. This record alternately makes you what to tear your hair out and smash through a fucking wall. You want the most messed up album of the year? This may just be it. And after two of the most mental albums you’ll hear in your life taking up the number three and two positions, we come to…

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1. Djevel – Tanker som rir natten (Aftermath Music / Tour De Garde / Mindscrape Music / Impure Wedding Productions)

…my album of the year. I fell in love with the seventh album from these Norwegian legends from the very first notes; by the time I’d finished my first spin I knew it would be an album that would become part of my musical DNA from that moment forwards. Why? Because this is absolutely quintessential, classic TNBM executed to perfection. The type you can feel. Moonlit magic whirls from these songs and embraces your soul with yearning, the riffs are incredible, hell even the acoustic break of the title track is mesmerizing – I’m not sure if it was the addition of Kvitrim of Mare on vocals/bass that’s made a difference (I certainly enjoy his vocals more, for what it’s worth) but whilst every Djevel album to this point has been great, Tanker som rir natten sounds like a band hitting upon their ultimate, true form. I never reviewed this, but I’d be hard pressed to not give it 5 / 5 and have almost worn the tape out already… if you haven’t listened yet, or you did and it didn’t click at the time, my sincerest advice to you is to give it another try. Majestic in every possible way, and I very, very rarely say this with any degree of seriousness… a modern masterpiece. Hail Djevel.

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BLACK METAL DAILY’S LISTCRUSH 2021: The Dex Edition, Part One – Splits

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Here we are again: LISTCRUSH 2021 HAS ARRIVED. Another year done, which for many was about as enjoyable and welcome as a wet fart, but as usual at least the music was killer. Wasting no time in getting this shit underway (because it usually takes us weeks to get through it anyway) here’s my list of the splits that resonated the most with me throughout the year. My tastes seemed less eclectic than usual, or maybe they weren’t – I don’t even know anymore. Many of the near misses could have made the list on a different day, and probably should have given that I’m listening to that Valac / Crucifixion Bell again as I type and it’s blowing me away, but fuck it. Read on and check ALL of these out, every single one is highly recommended. Infinite thanks and massive respect to every artist on the list for giving creating your art and spreading a little more darkness across this wretched earth. Stay tuned for Part 2 (demos and EPs) coming soon. Hails.

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Near Misses:

• Spider God / Μνήμα
• Valac / Crucifixion Bell
• Vampirska / Wampyric Rites
• Glemt / Vampirska
• Entropy Created Consciousness / Silent Remission
• Black Kruud / Drelnoch
• Vide / Bloodnun
• Goatpenis / Demonic Apparition
• Xavarthan / Vampyric Winter
• Order Of The Iron Fist / Necroprofanator / Intolerant / Blood Artillery

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25. Dusk Lurker / Archierophant – The Third Flame (Blackwood Productions)

Sounds like: sitting in a small boat, drifting alone down a river, watching your life go up in flames behind you. And you were the one who set it all on fire. Just a wonderfully well put together UK split of stirring black metal with hefty emotional weight.

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24. Blutschwur / Mäleficentt – Ancestral Might (AbArt Corruption, Nithstang Productions, Mordstreich)

Sounds like: Screaming at the sky as swords flash and blood flies in the heat of medieval battle. Will you die this day? Nay, thou shall not die this day. A short, sharp shock of pure kinetic energy from two US beasts.

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23. Celestial Sword / Trhä – edënohhdlha hálgra tu majtranlh’ha / ga nëcëcta mon idlhi (Independent)

Sounds like: Celestial Sword being pretty darned good but Trhä being fucking GREAT and spiriting you away to another world, as usual. This would be higher up the list if the two sides were of equal value; modern raw black metal is being torn apart by Trhä and the resulting carnage is beautiful.

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22. Black Imperial Blood / Grundhyrde – Wallachian Windspirit / Odious Chasm of Scorn (ASRAR)

Sounds like: Australians Black Imperial Blood having a MASSIVE hard-on for Satanic Warmaster whilst US cultist Grundhyrde gets lost on an epic, forest-covered mountain, saying fuck it, and living there howling with the wolves forever. Sounds a touch furry, but it works – even if Lauri could probably sue for those BIB riffs.

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21. Forbidden Tomb / Nansarunai – Forbidden Tomb / Nansuranai (Ancient Horror Records, Banner Of Blood)

Sounds like: Scraping centuries-old scum off the inside of mildewed tombs and eating it. Both of these Indonesian projects are great, but Nansarunai… holy fucking shit. Ultimate creeping death, straight from the spirit realm. 

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20. Vessel Of Iniquity / Thecodontion – The Permian-Triassic Extinction Event (I, Voidhanger Records, Bad Moon Rising 惡月上昇, Dead Red Queen Records)

Sounds like: The cream of UK and Italy destructiveness combining for the sonic depiction of an extinction level event wiping out 90% of all life on the planet. Which we said in our review, HERE. Obliterating.

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19. Glemt / Unholy Vampyric Slaughter Sect / Crucifixion Bell / Celestial Sword – What Sin Hath Twisted (Crown and Throne Ltd.)

Sounds like: Midnight madness, mania and raw fucking majesty from a who’s who of raw UK/USBM. Is Crucifixion Bell one of the greatest raw black artists currently active? You know all signs point firmly to yes. 

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18. Spear Of Teuta / Opium Grave – Fallen / Pests (Independent)

Sounds like: Two of the most interesting subterranean black conjurers around teaming up and sounding like nothing else on this list. Croatian Krik‘s post-punk raw black of Spear Of Teuta is given an extra dimension by Australian Siliniez pulling double duty here; and of course, the Opium Grave side is stellar goth weirdness. Both projects are far too slept on, and more eyes should have landed on this split.

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17. Feminazgûl / Awenden –  Feminazgûl / Awenden Split (Tridroid Records)

Speaking of interesting splits, this little conjuration is fascinating. Sounds like losing and then finding yourself again in a primal woodland glade. Remarkably touching, I’ve returned to this split far more often than I expected to yet still not as often as it deserves.

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16. Kirkebrann / Visegard – Kirkegard (Odium Records, Screaming Skull Records)

Sounds like: My TRUE NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL heart beating in double time. Kirkebrann landed on my splits list last year; I’ve absolutely no fucking clue how more heads who jam Mork or Darkthrone-esque goodness aren’t all over them like flippers on a GoatowaRex drop. This split is so long it’s like getting a mini-album from each band – no complaints here.

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15. Μνήμα / Upir / Koreltsak / Calling Of Phasmic Presence – Conspiring in Blood-drenched Moonlight (His Wounds, Crown and Throne Ltd.)

Sounds like: your life and sanity slowly being sucked out of you by spectral leeches who then reanimate your corpse to wander as a slowly decomposing lost soul, hungering for the taste of life until the weight of your own fate causes you to tear yourself limb from limb. In blood drenched moonlight, of course.

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14. Thorns Of Malice / Moraš – Quivering Silhouettes Beneath the Corrupting Gleam (Atrocity Altar)

Sounds like: Me being extremely pissed off I didn’t snag the tape of this – but hey, Atrocity Altar is back in Australia so things are looking up for the future. Speaking of, fellow Aussies Thorns of Malice keep up remarkably well with the always untouchable Finn Moraš. Pain, melancholia and the exquisitely vicious gnashing of teeth all in one.

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13. Kommodus / Burier – Poison & Perseverance (GoatowaRex)

Sounds like: Nobody on the planet being surprised that this split from two of Australia’s premier subterranean artists was fucking amazing. Nobody at all. Backing vocals on Lepidus’ side were performed by Kūwāha’ilo of Kūka’ilimoku, which is the cherry on top of a deliciously vital yet decomposing cake. Killer Vberkvlt cover art, too – may he get well soon. 

~

12. Sightblinder / Shapeless – Shapeless / Sightblinder (Poisonous Sorcery)

Sounds like: ANOTHER double Australian assault. I’ve been telling people for as long as I can remember that Australian raw black metal kills and deserves far more attention than it gets; listen to both sides of this on repeat for more proof.

~

11. Délétère / Sarkrista – Opus Blasphematum (Sepulchral Productions)

Sounds like: Glorious, spiralling melodies of shimmering black effulgence rising tall and proud in satanic majesty. Two of my favourite bands together on one disc was never NOT going to fucking rip.

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10. Petrine Cross / Tower of Filargyria – Split (Panurus Productions)

Sounds like: tarot cards, suffering, and capitalism being torn down – via beautiful, tortured raw black metal. I’d almost bet everything I own that this slipped under your radar, so check it out below (or at our premiere where we had a chat with the lovely Esmé and Cicatrix HERE) and get to know.

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9. Gnipahålan / Evilfeast – Storm av rå Nordisk Dödskonst del. II / Black Witchcraft over Carpathia (Amor Fati Productions)

Sounds like: Swirling ice-wind sorceries searing through the timeless black of eternal night. Swedish mystics Gnipahålan never put a foot wrong, and although I’m sometimes take-or-leave regarding Evilfeast (for a variety of reasons) even Grimspirit knocks it out of the park. Two absolute masters doing what they do best.

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8. Tenebrae In Perpetuum / Gorrch – Suicidio Spirituale (Dolomia Nera)

Sounds like: Half of those who (rightfully) jerked off over last year’s Introvertere probably not even realizing that this low-key split was out. Two of the most interesting names in Italian black metal; one of the most fascinating splits of the year. Sadly, the human blood spattered version is now sold out.

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7. Nächtlich / Grundhyrde – Nächtlich / Grundhyrde (Death Hymns, New Era Productions)

Sounds like: Riffs upon riffs upon riffs upon… yep, you guessed it – RIFFS. Interesting pairing the punkish and prolific Canadians Nächtlich with the raw classicism of Grundhyrde, but fuck me with a rusty knife if it doesn’t work a treat.

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6. Eishalle / Ancient Necromancy – Forbidden Sorcery in the Frostbitten Night (Drakkar Productions, Cultus Caliginous)

Sounds like: frozen hypnotic waves, relentless and battering even as they crumble to pieces around you. I didn’t expect this one to stick quite as hard as it did but every time I listened it just became more and more satisfying from both sides, every element perfectly placed. Grab a jacket, because this shit is fucking cold. Gloriously grim.

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5. Brånd / Calvary – Brånd / Calvary Split (Tour De Garde, Fallow Field, Födweg)

Sounds like: “the soundtrack for long and lonesome walks in utmost recluse trails of your surrounding wastelands or your own mind”, according to the Bandcamp – and this quietly stunning lo-fi split indeed fits exactly that sentiment. The combination of Austrian Brånd‘s post-punk infused riffage with US duo Cavalry‘s even more haunting and introspective approach is simply magical.

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4. Fanebærer / Carved Cross – Fanebærer / Carved Cross (Nattetale)

Sounds like: If you need me to tell you about either of these bands, just click play on the link below and all will be explained. Danish Korpsånd Circle alumni Fanebærer are exquisite as always, whilst Australian (Tasmanian, to be precise) Carved Cross‘ side is their warmest yet but still conjures a miasma like no other. Remember when I said Australian raw black kills? Yeah. Also dedicated to the memory of Lasse of the mighty Skjold. Rest In Power.

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3. Dai-ichi / Lamp Of Murmuur – Virgin Womb Of Eternal Black Terror (Fólkvangr Records, Nebular Carcoma Records, Bile Noire, Lunar Apparitions)

Sounds like: HYPE. Yeah, everyone rides Lamp but (if you’re not a sour cunt who hates riffs) it’s well deserved – and Dai-ichi is deserving of equal attention. I mean, just listen to this thing. Contemporary raw black doesn’t get much better…

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2. Kommodus / Pan Amerikan Native Front – Immortal Ceremonies (GoatowaRex)

…except for THIS, which sounds like contemporary raw black metal perfected. In an era where it seems more obvious by the day that bands are just throwing any old guitar-based musical style into the mix, playing it on a reverb drenched or ear-splittingly distorted potato and dubbing it raw black metal, Australian Lepidus Plague is out here doing whatever the fuck he wants and making it seem 1. completely authentic, and 2. totally ravenous at all times. Oh, and Pan Amerkan Native Front‘s side is even better. This would easily, by far and away, have been my split of the year. If not for…

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1. Amestigon / Shaarimoth / Inconcessus Lux Lucis / Thy Darkened Shade – SamaeLilith: A Conjunction of the Fireborn (World Terror Committee)

…THIS. Sounds like: the best collaborative effort this year could possibly have produced. Thirteen years in the making (!), these four singular artists unite under one theme and focus their will to set the world ablaze. Every time I listen to the fifteen (!!) passages of this split I’m totally blown away – the diabolical power seething within each composition ensures it’s an almost reverential experience. No other split on the list gives me this feeling; very few other releases I heard this year do eeither. Considered together, SamaeLilith: A Conjunction of the Fireborn is a towering monolith raised on four pillars of unwavering, indestructible strength to tear the firmament asunder. An immense, sprawling monument that should not – CAN not – be ignored. Split of the year. Hails.

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BLACK METAL DAILY’S LISTCRUSH 2020: The Dex Edition, Part 3 – Full-Length Albums

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Greetings, infernal warbröethers and all that. After a marathon stretch we’re finally here, hammering the last rusty nail into our 2020 LISTCRUSH series – the full-length albums that resonated most with me throughout 2020. At a cursory glance, Metal Archives has 3146 full-length black metal albums logged as being released last year. Of those, I probably only checked out around a thousand, tops. So remember: this is in no way a definitive list. I’m not the grand arbiter of taste or final word on anything. These are just the records that tickled my own personal blasphemy glands juuuust right.

The original shortlist was over 200 albums long and I’ve (excruciatingly) whittled it down to a hundred of the finest – there is no “near misses” section, because in a year in which we were absolutely spoiled for good music as most had much else better to do in quarantine, there are simply too many that would have very deservedly made the cut.

There are records that immediately blew my mind (number 92, number 2, number 8), records that crept up over time to become firm favourites (number 31), expected hypebeasts (number 4) and records that deserve FAR more attention (59, 63). There were things of beauty (58, 24) and ugliness (49, 38). There are records that I fell asleep to almost every night since they were released (number 3), thrilling new discoveries (95), old masters making a triumphant return (6)… and in the case of number ONE, records that unleashed their black irradiant glories extremely late in the year yet annihilated everything else that had come before.

If any of the album titles are highlighted, clicking that will take you to our coverage of the album (reviews, premieres, interviews and all that good stuff). This list is strictly black/blackened, so if you’d like recommendations for other genres hit me up – for example my top death metal album was Ulcerate, of course, followed by Atræ Bilis. I’d probably give label of the year to the untouchable Debemur Morti Productions and if you want to check out what I consider to be the strongest demos, EPs or Splits I heard last year, read Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE.

That’s it. Have at it, Listcrush is finally done for another year. Hails.

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TOP 100 ALBUMS OF 2020

100. FORTRESS OF THE OLDEN DAYS – Verlassenheit (Worship Tapes / A Pile Of Graves)

99. ENEPSIGOS – Wrath Of Wraths (Osmose Productions)

98. ANCIENT BURIAL – Beyond The Watchtowers (Signal Rex)

97. ONIRIK – The Fire Cult Beyond Eternity (I, Voidhanger Records)

96. BLATTARIA – Dream, Dwell, Die (Harlequinflesh / A Fine Day To Die Records)

95. OLD NICK – Pretty Much Everything They Released This Year (Grime Stone Records)

94. CURSE UPON A PRAYER – Infidel (Saturnal Records)

93. GRAVEIR – King Of The Silent World (Impure Sounds / Brilliant Emperor)

92. REVERORUM IB MALACHT – Vad är inte sju huvud? (Le Narthécophore / Rubeus Obex)

91. VAMPIRSKA – Tortuous Omens of Blood & Candlewax (Crown & Throne)

90. MAVORIM – Axis Mundi (Purity Through Fire)

89. MYSTRAS – Castles Conquered And Reclaimed (I, Voidhanger Records)

88. DUMAL – The Confessor (Fólkvangr Records / Vigor Deconstruct)

87. AKHLYS – Melinoë (Debemur Morti Productions)

86. YGG – The Last Scald (Ashen Dominion)

85. HORNA – Kuoleman Kirjo (World Terror Committee)

84. KHTHONIIK CERVIIKS – Æequiizoiikum (Iron Bonehead Productions)

83. GRÓGALDR – Illness Unto The Womb Of Spirit (GoatowaRex / Perverse Homage)

82. EBONY PENDANT – Incantation Of Eschatological Mysticism (ASRAR / Forbidden Sonority / Grime Stone Records)

81. STARLESS DOMAIN – Alma (Crown & Throne / Aesthetic Death / Tartarus Records)

80. GJENDØD – Angrep (Hellthrasher Productions)

79. STARCAVE – Final Sins (GoatowaRex)

78. FAIDRA – Six Voices Inside (Northern Silence Productions)

77. THECODONTION – Supercontinent (I, Voidhanger Productions / Repose Records)

76. AFSKY – Ofte jeg drømmer mig død (Vendetta Records / Old Mill Artefacts / Screaming Skull Records)

75. GUIGNOL NOIR – Mantric Malediction (Repose Records)

74. ODRAZA – Rzezcom (Godz Of War)

73. BAŠMU – The Encircling (Independent)

72. ABSTRACT THE LIGHT – Magna Sapientia Quaerere – to the depths of thy soul… (Talheim Records)

71. WEALD & WOE – The Fate of Kings and Men (Fólkvangr Records)

70. WARDAEMONIC – Acts Of Repentance (Transcending Obscurity Records)

69. MAQUAHUITL – At The Altar Of Mictlampa (GoatowaRex)

68. BLOOD STRONGHOLD – Spectres Of Bloodshed (Nebular Carcoma / Satanik Requiem)

67. OLHAVA – Lagoda (Avantgarde Music)

66. LAMPIR – Awaiting The Predatory Dreamscape (Altare Productions / Perverse Homage)

65. STREAMS OF BLOOD – Erløsung (Rising Nemesis Records / The Hidden Art)

64. PRISON OF MIRRORS – De Ritualibus et Sacrificiis ad Serviendum Abysso (Oration / Norma Evangelium Diaboli)

63. PETRINE CROSS – Centuries of August (Panurus Productions)

62. FLUISTERAARS – Bloem (Eisenwald)

61. OLDOWAN GASH – Hubris Unchained (Drakkar Productions)

60. VENGEFUL SPECTRE – 殞煞 Vengeful Spectre (Pest Productions)

59. VUAL – To End All Life (Independent)

58. NODUS TOLLENS – Melancholic Waters Ablaze With the Fires of Loss (Trepanation Recordings / Pacific Threnodies)

57. BLACK FUNERAL – Scourge Of Lamashtu (Iron Bonehead Productions)

56. VOUS AUTRES – Sel de Pierre (Season Of Mist Underground Activists)

55. OLD SORCERY – Sorrowcrown (Essential Purification Records / White Wolf Productions)

54. ÄKTH GÁNAHËTH – Crowned In Shadows (Death Kvlt Productions)

53. MRTVI – Omniscient Hallucinatory Delusion (Transcending Obscurity Records)

52. ENTROPY CREATED CONSCIOUSNESS – Antica Memoria di Dis: Acheron & Lethe (Fólkvangr Records)

51. BÜTCHER – 666 Goats Carry My Chariot (Osmose Productions)

50. SVRM – Занепад (Vigor Deconstruct)

49. DEARTH – To Crown All Befoulment (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

48. VETËVRAKH – Dominion Of Terror (Black Gangrene Productions)

47. VOID PRAYER – The Grandiose Return to the Void (Black Gangrene Productions / Altare Productions)

46. BOREAL – The Battle Of VOSAD (King Of The Monsters / Nebulae Artifacta / Realm & Ritual)

45. DEATH.VOID.TERROR – To The Great Monolith II (Repose Records)

44. YMIR – Ymir (Werewolf Records)

43. ÁRSTÍĐIR LIFSINS – Saga á tveim tungum II: Eigi fjǫll né firðir (Ván Records)

42. BELORE – Journey Through Mountains And Valleys (Northern Silence Productions)

41. VASSAFOR – To The Death (Iron Bonehead Productions)

40. DWARROWDELF – Evenstar (Northern Silence Productions)

39. VOIDSPHERE – To Sense | To Perceive (Amor Fati Productions / Prava Kollektiv)

38. OMEGAVORTEX – Black Abomination Spawn (Invictus Productions)

37. MALOKARPATAN – Krupinské Ohne (Invictus Productions / The Anja Offensive)

36. DARKENHÖLD – Arcanes & Sortilèges (Les Acteurs de l’ombre)

35. HÄXENZIJRKELL – Die Nachtseite (Amor Fati Productions)

34. ISOLERT – World In Ruins (Nihilistische Klangkunst)

33. SERPENT NOIR – Death Clan OD (World Terror Committee)

32. SVARTSYN – Requiem (Carnal Records)

31. HYRGAL – Fin de Règne (Les Acteurs de l’ombre)

30. MÄLEFICENTT – Night Of Eternal Darkness (Night Of The Palemoon)

29. CÉNOTAPHE – Monte Verità (Nuclear War Now! Productions)

28. GRIFFON – ὸ θεός ὸ βασιλεύς’ (o Theos, o Basileu) (Les Acteurs de l’ombre)

27. FANEBÆRER – Den første ild (Nattetale)

26. AARA – En Ergô Einai (Debemur Morti Productions)

25. ACHERONTAS – Psychic Death: The Shattering Of Perceptions (Agonia Records)

24. HÖSTBLOD – Dikter om döden (Fólkvangr Records, Winter Sky Records, Le Narthécophore)

23. TURIA – Degen van Licht (Eisenwald)

22. SKÁPHE – Skáphe³ (Mystískaos, Iron Bonehead Productions, Vánagandr)

21. KAWIR – Adrasteia (Iron Bonehead Productions)

20. BURIER – In Communion With Death (GoatowaRex)

19. CETUS – Khaosmos (Elderblood Productions)

18. GRAFVITNIR – Death’s Wings Widespread (KFT Produktion, Carnal Records) 

17. SEVEROTH – Vsesvit (Avantgarde Music)

16. GRIFTESKYMFNING – Bedrövelsens Härd and Malignant Morningstar (Darker Than Black)

15. CARVED CROSS – Severance of Disparity in Absolute Acrimony (Death Shadow Records)

14. OBSKURITATEM – Hronika iz mraka (Black Gangrene Productions)

13. ANAAL NATHRAKH – Endarkenment (Metal Blade Records)

12. ORANSSI PAZUZU – Mestarin kynsi (Nuclear Blast)

11. IFERNACH – The Green Enchanted Forest of the Druid Wizard (Tour de Garde)

10. HAVUKRUUNU – Uinuos Syömein Sota (Naturmacht Productions)

9. AVERSIO HUMANITATIS – Behold The Silent Dwellers (Debemur Morti Productions, Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

8. PRECAMBRIAN – Tectonics (Primitive Reaction) 

7. KATAVASIA – Magnus Venator (Floga Records)

6. ONDSKAPT – Grimoire Ordo Devus (Osmose Productions)

5. SELBST – Relatos De Angustia (Debemur Morti Productions)

4. LAMP OF MURMUUR – Heir of Eliptical Romanticism (Death Kvlt Productions)

3. PAYSAGE D’HIVER – Im Wald (Kunsthall)

2. KOMMODUS – Kommodus (GoatowaRex)

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1. ABIGOR – Totschläger (A Saintslayer’s Songbook) (World Terror Committee)

I originally intended to keep it simple and wasn’t going to write anything at all about any album on this list, but I simply have to say a few words about this diabolical gem. After TT blew me away at the death of 2019 with the dazzling NEDXXX (well, personnel are still as-yet unconfirmed but I’d bet a solid hundred that he and Rune from Shaarimoth were involved) he’s done it again with Abigor‘s twelfth album, Totschläger (A Saintslayer’s Songbook). I’ve been listening to these nine tracks repeatedly since release and over countless spins each experience brings something new to appreciate and astound – be it tiny details in each intricate composition, or an entirely new favourite track each time. Silenius from Summoning puts in what may be the best performance of his life here, too – I liked Höllenzwang, but this proves Abigor remain at the absolute top of the game. I mean, just check out the final moments of album closer ‘Terrorkommando Eligos’ – what other band would have the testicular fortitude and sheer unbridled ability to pull off what’s ostensibly a minute or two of wild, slavering, black metal drum & bass?

THIS is, hands down, the best black metal album of the year for me. Listen to it. Hail Abigor.

~

Ultimate respect to all artists, labels, writers and supporters of the black arts. You are all lords.

Like Black Metal Daily on Facebook for more cult sounds and tonal blasphemy.

Email: blackmetaldaily@outlook.com

BLACK METAL DAILY’S LISTCRUSH 2020: The Dex Edition, Part 2 – Splits and Collaborations

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Finally, Part Two of my Listcrush series materializes. I’m currently stuck in bed after surgery, high as shit on a cocktail of painkillers and feeling like someone ran over me in a flaming dump truck – what better time to sift through my most personally resonant splits and collaborations of last year? As before, every single one of these comes with my highest recommendations, even the near misses, so be sure to check them out. Stay tuned for the final part in the coming days. Hails.

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TOP 20 SPLITS

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20. INFERNO REQUIEM / CZARNOBOG – Fear of Tartarus / Remembrance of the Blood Moon (Death Kvlt Productions)

The two tracks of glorious, grandiloquent evil from the master Fog of Inferno Requiem led me to this split, where I discovered the more somber and synth laden darkness of Czarnobog. Still love the IR side a little more, but both are great stuff.

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19. PRECARIA / ÔROS KAÙ – Theosulphurous (I, Voidhanger Productions)

One of the deepest conceptual splits of the year (probably equal with number two on this list, but in a completely different way) is also noteworthy as having the unchallenged best cover art for 2020. Just look at it… and the music itself is as ambitious and resonant as that art. I was familiar with Precaria, even having interviewed sole practitioner Ianzel a few years back, but Ôros Kaù were a neat new discovery.

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18. ALBIONIC HERMETICISM / DECOHERENCE – Albionic Hermeticism / Decoherence (Independent)

This one was a huge surprise for me, as on paper I didn’t expect this pairing to work well at all. No idea why – turns out I was completely fucking wrong and Albionic Hermeticism provide a fitting Yin to Decoherence‘s obliterating Yang. Challenging and immersive.

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17. KUDLAAKH / SOLIPSISM – S/T (Atrocity Altar, Perverse Homage)

A fine helping of killer crumbling riffs from Australia’s always-superb Solipsism, but once again Kudlaakh completely steal the show for me. Absolutely cannot get enough of this project.

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16. Árstíðir Lífsins / CARPE NOCTEM – Aldrnari (Ván Records)

Two monolithic, sprawling, twenty-plus-minute long soundscapes of Icelandic gold. Carpe Noctem made a welcome tweak to their sound for this split, and Árstíðir Lífsins just continued to cement their exalted place as one of my go-to artists when I’m in the mood for this sort of thing. 

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15. ALMYRKVI / RUINS OF BEVERAST – Split (Ván Records)

“Behold, purveyors of the sonic void: now in this era of catastrophe approaches one of the most cohesive splits in recent memory…”

Our man GOS called this meeting of minds “a black/industrial/doom masterwork of devastating proportions” in his review back in June. I, of course, wholeheartedly agree – read it. And listen, if you haven’t.

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14. NODUS TOLLENS / CROWN OF ASTERIA – Split (Realm and Ritual)

“Indescribable feelings arise from the combination of depressive black and plaintive viola (wielded by Marisa Kaye Janke, ex-Isenordal) with such devastation they would challenge My Dying Bride for sheer emotional weight; feelings that have been ripped from the chest of sole practitioner Cicatrix as he pours his soul from the gaping wound for all to see. Guitars crash and soar as his rasp and roar summons sorrows, sharing the weight that lies heavy upon him, his tribulations and turmoil becoming our own because we recognize ourselves in what his sound is expressing. We are on that rudderless boat, screaming at the world, and nobody can hear it.” …is what I wrote about Nodus Tollens‘ side of this split when I had the sizeable honour of premiering a track back in February; Crown Of Asteria then completes that stunning picture with breathtaking ease.

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13. WARMOON LORD / VULTYRIUM – Pure Cold Impurity (Wolfspell Records)

The ineffable and ruthless Warmoon Lord continue to create ultimate Finnish black metal glory that’s so good (check ‘Victory Of Irreverend Might’, fucking hell) it almost wouldn’t matter if Vultyrium totally shat the bed on their side. Luckily, those sheets remain pristine. More please.

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12. CANDELABRUM / SULPHURIC NIGHT – Death Slumbers Amidst The Ruins (Altare Productions, Black Gangrene Productions)

Entomb yourself in deep catacombs for 300 years. Arise and wander the dank forgotten halls forlorn. Scratch your way to the surface, feeding on the blood of any living thing you can find on the way… then reach the air, and rule the night forever. That’s the overwhelming imagery and feeling provided by this split. Incredible.

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11. RUNESPELL / FOREST MYSTICISM – Wandering Forlorn (Iron Bonehead Productions)

A double helping of calls to ancient earthen blood from two old Australian spirits, beautifully entwined into a single harmonious and bewitching whole. Only one way to describe this split: pure magick.

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10. BRÅND / HÄXENZIJRKELL – Split (Amor Fati Productions, Tour De Garde)

One of the first splits to make a big impact on me all the way back in the heady days of January, before the plague really took hold. Perhaps the release of this split even facillitated its spread? I know, I know… but just listen to Häxenzijrkell‘s side in particular and tell me that’s a ridiculous concept. 

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9. INVUNCHE / IFERNACH – Split (Tour de Garde)

The shamanic black punk of Invunche placed back to back with Ifernach displaying a more raw punk version of his own sonic warfare results in a compelling experience. This grew on me every time I put it on, and by the end of the year I fucking adored it. Will feature in my listening habits for a long time to come.

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8. HAND OF GLORY / ENSHROUD – S/T (Death Hymns)

I’d already had this astonishingly oppressive split locked into this spot on my list for months and was ready to yell about how good it was into all of your ears, but finding out that Lam of Hand Of Glory / Sanguine Eagle / Zarabanda Moon / Unseen Forest Patriot unfortunately passed through into the next life on 6th January 2021 puts a tragic spin on its inclusion… and makes it all the more fitting. Rest In Power.

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7. IMPAVIDA / VUUR & ZIDJE – Split (Prophecy Productions)

Described in a Bandcamp review (by our friend VUK of The Metal Wanderlust, no less) as “wonderfully unusual music”, which sums it up perfectly. Vuur & Zidje‘s debut expression of mystical madness boils away under ethereal female vocals that have haunted me since May, and Impavida is as discombobulating and harrowing as ever – especially on the epic final track Wahn & Stille. One of those splits that creeps under your skin and stays there.

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6. LAMP OF MURMUUR / REVENANT MARQUIS – Split (Death Kvlt Productions, Les Fleurs Du Mal)

Two of the premier names in contemporary raw black on one split? Hype be damned, if you thought this was ever going to be anything less than great, you’re a chump. Or you just appreciate different things, which is also fine. I guess.

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5. HINTERKAIFECK / FOREST TEMPLE / BURIER – Antipodean Triumvirate (GoatowaRex)

HAIL THE ANTIPODEAN TRIUMVIRATE. All three of these projects are the some of the best fresh black art to arise from our sweltering shores, down here in Aus – Forest Temple is the dungeon synth project of Lepidus Plague / Kommodus, which is noteworthy because 1) he (spoiler alert) shows up in this list twice, and 2) it’s the only pure dungeon synth project to surface on any of my lists. This split is the equivalent of being violently abducted and killed by a backpacker murderer (Hinterkaifeck) before your corpse is slowly dismembered and interred in a shallow grave somewhere deep in the tranquil Australian bushland (Forest Temple) then decomposes, rotting away beneath the cold, damp earth for seventeen years (Burier). Nice.

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4. ARKHTINN / STARLESS DOMAIN – Astrophobia (Amor Fati Productions, Prava Kollektiv)

Let it always be remembered that 2020 was when two of the premier cosmic black metal entities of our current era combined their limitless powers – after November 18th, the very fabric of our universe was irrevocably altered by the ravenous black hole created by this split. We will forever live in its terrifying shadow, on the cusp of being sucked in to total obliteration. Life will never be the same. Plus, there’s eurobeat.

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3. HAJDUK / AKANTHA / NIMBIFER / SØRGELIG – Ruins Of Humanity (Repose Records, Not Kvlt Records)

When I first learned of this split from the Sørgelig guys, I was hyped as hell – and I can unequivocally say that it lived up to every expectation I ever had. I mean, if that lineup alone doesn’t excite you, what the fuck else will? Masterful, in every single sense imaginable.

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2. SPECTRAL LORE / MARE COGNITUM – Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine (I, Voidhanger Records)

The most monolithic, imposing and expansive conceptual split released last year. Based upon Gustav Holst‘s The Planets – a seven-movement orchestral / symphonic blockbuster suite based upon the personalities of each planet in our solar system – the sheer amount of work put in to this thing is mind blowing, and the result is stunning.  We had to team up with Moshpitnation-mi to adequately review it. 

“…for this is a split for the ages… humbling in its size and ambition, executed to near perfection.”

~

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1. KOMMODUS / VALAC – Eclipsing Honour and Decay (Appalachian Noise Records)

And now, the champions. As I’ve waxed lyrical about many times, the mighty Kommodus is the best Australian black metal project active right now and Lord Lepidus Plague just has a knack for writing great riffs that get stuck in your head – Pyrrhic Victory was frequently found ripping through my brain throughout the entirety of December. His side is sheer indomitable ferocity (with a killer Celtic Frost cover) whilst US spirit Valac perfectly complements and continues the fury, adding a devastating Leviathan cover to boot. In a year stacked with incredible splits, Eclipsing Honour and Decay was the irrefutable cream of the crop from two projects at the very top of their game. So criminally good it should be illegal.

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NEAR MISSES: Carved Cross / Torrid Death’s Fire – Split 2020, Lament In Winter’s Night / Black Imperial Blood – Split, Evilfeast / Uuntaar – Ode To Lands Of Past Traditions, FallenForest / BlackImperialBlood – Split, Nyctophilia / Hellmoon – Under the Darkest Sign of Ancient Evil, Reign / Rulum – The Occult

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Email: blackmetaldaily@outlook.com

Bandcamp Misanthropy: Volume 27 (AUSTRALIAN EDITION – Part 2)

The bottomless wellspring of Bandcamp is overflowing with great shit just waiting to be discovered. This series aims to shine light on the freshest emanations and foulest incantations from its darkest corners… and this twenty-seventh installment is a special one. I’ve still been receiving a heap of submissions from purely Australian artists, with even more of my own discoveries being banked from earlier Volumes that I juuuust couldn’t squeeze in at the time. So here’s Part Two of our all-Australian Bandcamp Misanthropy – with more music and less words than ever before, so we can fit in even more fetid name-your-price recommendations of the best / most underground releases exhumed from the broiling subterranean caverns down under. You ready for some antipodean filth? Dive in.

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Artist: ANUNG UN RA

Year: 2020

Kicking off with a name that might be familiar to fans of Dark Horse comics. The half-demon Hellboy‘s true name is Anung Un Rama, which means “upon his brow is set a crown of flame” and is a fitting association for the onslaught dished out by the debut album of this solo blackened death project from Adelaide, the city of churches. Phillip Jarrett of In The Burial is behind everything and on Ad Mortem summons an apocalyptic rumble to shake the very core of the earth, switching between deliciously malevolent mid-paced menace and a barrage of cruel artillery fire with ease. Good stuff, melodic and dread-inducing when it wants to be, tears your face off when it doesn’t. Hope he does more. Released back in January at name-your-price download.

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Artist: ERGERLIG

Year: 2019

Next up we have one that dropped last year in August but that I really wanted to squeeze in here, because the project’s debut EP Ritual was in one of the very first Bandcamp Misanthropy articles back in 2017. Ah, memories. Anyway, Ergerlig is another solo project from Adelaide but this time we’re dealing with pure, distilled black metal straight from the heart of the second wave – Virulent Hag is six tracks of blasphemic, abyss-scraping wretchedness, rasping and blasting its way from Scandinavian origins all the way to Australia.

Whoever is behind it has come a long way in the songwriting and general performance areas too because this is a big improvement over an already neat debut EP. Tracks like ‘No God Awaits’ are killer, then it seamlessly slips into the filthy black & roll-esque swagger that opens ‘Heathen Lust’ and you totally believe it – very nicely done.

I’ll put it simply: you like Darkthrone‘s discography? De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas too? Of course you do, so check this shit out. There’s even a ripper cover of the Celtic Frost classic ‘Into The Crypt Of Rays’ as an added bonus. Name-your-price.

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Artist: IMPERFECTIONIST

Year: 2019

“Capitalist alienation – reverence for nature”

Newcastle duo Imperfectionist play post-black that isn’t always yearning melodies and melancholy memories. Sure, they do that sort of thing too (and they do it as well as anyone) but their sound isn’t afraid to head to some very dark places, constricting and tightening around your chest and throat until you can barely breathe through the pain. This also dropped late last year but fuck it, Nausea is their debut album and honestly deserves your full (if belated) attention – it does more in even half an album than others can manage in their entire discography. Plus Forge of Norse, Somnium Nox, Convulsing, The Amenta and a dozen others is on the drum throne here too, if that helps convince you to check it out. Name-your-price.

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Artist: MÅNEN SKYGGE

Year: 2020

Another Adelaideian solo project, Månen Skygge released a fucking great demo towards the end of last year that I intended to squeeze into one of these pieces and never did – happily (or unhappily, this is DSBM after all) he dropped his second demo To Rot In A Shallow Grave a few months back, so I can’t neglect this one. Eschewing the stereotypical shrieks usually associated with the sub-genre the vocals here are misanthropic loathing incarnate whilst the music itself almost plays a secondary role, inducing heavy catatonia through glacial-paced atmosphere and ponderous melodies. It’s produced almost perfectly for what it needs, too – these two tracks sound fantastic.

Name-your-price, so dive headlong into the misery and fuel your hate.

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Artist: BURIER

Year: 2020

THE GRAVE RECEIVES YOU. Born somewhere in “the eastern swamplands of Australia”, mysterious solo deathworshipper Burier had released two excellent demos before this, a debut album entitled In Communion With Death… and this blows even those two previous works clean out of the water. Experimenting with and expanding his corrosive sound to further harrowing depths of mesmerizing malady and malignancy, the final product ends up somewhere in the void between a rawer Burzum and the pure nightmare of incomprehensible terrors from beyond, and is my personal favourite release in this entire batch of antipodean greatness.

In Communion With Death symbolizes an ultimate realizing of potential and vision. Name-your-price, also on physical formats via GoatowaRex. Bury yourself deeply… for you are already rotting.

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Artist: MOONKRAFFT

Year: 2020

From Townsville, northern Queensland where it’s hot as fuck comes the boiling, war-driven madness of Moonkrafft. After an introduction of combat sounds that goes for far too long (seriously, it’s the second longest track on the EP) the melodic depression/aggression on display for the following three tracks might be fairly rudimentary at times, but has a great atmosphere that feels like diggers slowly going insane in battle trenches and makes On A Barbed Wire Fence definitely worth the price of admission. What is that price? Free download. Hails.

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Artist: Mortem In Aeternum

Year: 2020

“Music made while reflecting. It isn’t perfect, it isn’t meant to be.”

So says sole member Joel about Solitary Remedies, the debut EP of his depressive (but not DSBM, this thing has more fire to it) outlet Mortem In Aeternum. Released just over a week ago, three compelling original tracks and a neat Woods Of Ypres cover comprise this journey of imperfect art; the variety between each weaving an enjoyably textured, atmospheric tapestry to lose yourself in for a few moments. Honest and unassuming, created somewhere in Victoria, available at name-your-price.

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Artist: DYING KINGS

Year: 2020

The throat-shredding vox from frontwoman Alora are just one of the highlights as Perth hellions Dying Kings rip out their second full-length in as many years. Melodic, rockin’ and grim in all the right measures, the material on Salted Earth, Ashen Air sounds like the kind of thing that would sit just right listening to it with a few beers/mates in a pub, so I hope they make it over for an east coast show or two soon. I quite like the organic-sounding mix here too; everything has its own space, nothing is too distorted or obscure. Solid stuff, grab a self-released CD or name-your-price download.

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Artist: LEGE SI ORDENE

Year: 2020

Black/death/punk/grind/war/kill/fukk/die from Brisbane. Grooves like a bastard, will also chew your face. Two tracks only. Just over three minutes long in total. First demo. Name-your-price, also out on tape via Miseria Records. What more do you wanna know?

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Artists: CARCINOID / CHARNEL ALTAR

Year: 2020

Yeah, yeah… Melbourne’s Carcinoid are more firmly entrenched in the old-school rotting metal of DEATH on this split that released a few months back, but Adelaide denizens Charnel Altar‘s absolutely obliterating blackened death-doom onslaught more than guarantees this superb split a spot on the pages of Black Metal Daily. Carcinoid crunch your bones, Charnel Altar slither inside your empty skull and lay eggs… that probably spawn those things on the cover art. One of the top splits this year, suss it at name-your-price because the tape from Headsplit Records and 10″ by Seed Of Doom are probably long sold out by now (edit: couple of 10″ left on the Charnel Altar Bandcamp).

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Artist: SOLIPSISM

Year: 2020

Solipsism: The view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist. Does that dictionary definition explain a little about misanthropic Sydney spectre Solipsism? Possibly, as the introspective raw miasma emanating from every cursed note of Whispering To The Strange… is certainly a solitary one. With a sound both deep and haunted the ghostly synthwork and rasping vocals reach spindly, twisted fingers to the fore; the hollowed space between them and the drums/guitar imbuing this midnight ritual with a disembodied and deliriously detached quality akin to retreating deep within your own mind. Having dropped on Atrocity Altar a few months back, you already know it’s going to be excellent…. but you know what else is excellent? The split he also just put out with Kudlaakh a few days ago. Check out both at that name-your-price goodness, or get your hands on a tape when the next Atrocity Altar batch goes live.

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Artist: VILE CRONE

Year: 2020

Now we’re getting a bit weird. Vile Crone is the project of Adelaidian warrior Tom G, Apostle is its debut that dropped back in January… and it’s a genuinely surprising melting pot of whatever the fuck Tom wanted to throw in on top of the solid black/death backbone of the project. Falsetto shrieks? Check. Eurobeat-esque electronic bits? Why not. Oddball cleans? Chuck ’em in. Fucking awesome doom numbers (‘Writhe In Decay’ particularly slaps)… do you even have to ask? Underneath all these inventive elements is a neat album however, so you should check it out at name-your-price and inspire the bloke to make more – I want to hear him get even stranger. Oh, and there’s one single tape left too. Snap it up.

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Artist: ORBYSSMAL

Year: 2020

…and now we’re getting really fucking weird. Brisbane avant-garde black death maniac Orbyssmal has been absolutely churning out the releases this year – Gloatthe released last month and it’s his fourth offering since January. Good thing they’re all great, right? Eleven portions of pure sonic abuse borne of schizophrenic, dissonant black death abrasiveness and noise then delicately adorned with vocals halfway between a roar and a strangulated bat shriek, this is not an easy listen by any means and is definitely not for the faint hearted – but fuck if it isn’t fantastic. Dig in at name-your-price, it’ll give you anxiety or a headache. Or both.

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Artist: CELESTIAL CONJURATION

Year: 2020

The first demo from this obscure Australian revenant was nothing short of fantastic, so of course the follow up had a fair chance of being great – but I couldn’t foresee that it would be this good. Demo II sees a more melancholic, somber side arise, one that seems to come from the cosmic expanse that the project name implies rather than scrabbling up from the grave… although there’s a fair amount of that as well, of course. Superlative raw black/DS. Name-your-price.

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Artist: THE PEREGRINE

Year: 2020

Up for some beautifully arranged, progressive post-black? Self-released a few months back (and also available on 2LP), I’m a little surprised Rust And Dun by Melbourne’s The Peregrine didn’t get more attention – I guess people looking for this sort of thing prefer it to be more polished and pretty. Expansive and epic yet maintaining a slight ruggedness and relatable realness that’s probably about what you’d imagine from an Australian project, everything about this is subtly superb; from the intermittent clean vocals to the guitar tone to the songs themselves, the more time you spend with this album the more it will settle within and remain with you for quite some time. NYP for this undiscovered gem.

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Artist: Opium Grave

Year: 2020

And to take us out, the latest EP from an artist I follow fairly regularly but don’t seem to post about often enough – Melbourne blackwave maestro Opium Grave. One of THE premier blackwave artists in the world right now, sole practitioner Siliniez gets better with every release and The Omega Era sees his bleak, misanthropic, blackened retro stylings near perfected into hypnotic waves of synth hell – plus he utilizes my favourite The Matrix quote in the closer ‘Titans Of Malignancy’, so I’m all in. Check it out for a dollar… it’s worth the money.

“We are all living in an age of decline, of spiritual degradation and of rampant materialism. Humanity has happily chosen its current path and it is one that leads to eventual oblivion.
However, it also leads to eventual reawakening and rebirth of the Earth. May our ugliness forever fade.“

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Submissions for inclusion in future volumes are welcomed.

Email: blackmetaldaily@outlook.com

Bandcamp Misanthropy: Volume 25 (AUSTRALIAN EDITION – Part 1)

The bottomless wellspring of Bandcamp is overflowing with great shit just waiting to be discovered. This series aims to shine light on the freshest emanations and foulest incantations from its darkest corners… and this twenty-fifth installment is a special one. I’ve been receiving a heap of submissions from purely Australian artists lately, with even more of my own discoveries being banked from earlier Volumes that I juuuust couldn’t squeeze in at the time. Might as well compile them all together for a New Years Eve special, hey? It ended up being too large for one piece so enjoy Part One of the first ever all-Australian Bandcamp Misanthropy – with more music and less words than ever before, so we can fit in even more fetid name-your-price recommendations of the best / most underground releases exhumed from the broiling subterranean caverns down under. You ready for some antipodean filth? Dive in. See you filthy fucks next year. Hails.

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Artist: Altar Defectation

Year: 2019

Who could kick off this celebration of Aussie blasphemy in perfect impious form? None other than Adelaidians Altar Defecation, of course. As filthy as their name sounds, debut EP Anno Domini Luciferum is exactly the type of black metal you’d expect to be excreted from the “city of churches” – a savage, anti-religious tirade of blasting, thrashing carnage with an impressive dual vocal assault (courtesy of Demoness Blackheart and guitarist Vile) with a bit of Cradle-esque over-the-topness thrown in for good measure (“smoke crack and hail satan”, anyone?). Great debut, great Aussie black metal. Name-your-price.

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Artist: Förfalla

Year: 2019

Next up, a black/doom/drone/ambient mire from Melbourne’s Förfalla, the solo project of Tom Void from Thrall. Only three singles have been released to date, of which June’s Plaguethereal is the latest – another one that sounds like the title suggests as its ethereal yet pestilent soundscapes crash and expand through turgid chords and an excellent use of negative space. All three tracks are at name-your-price, check this one out below and then grab the rest while you’re there. Very good stuff – give us a full-length album soon, hey Tom?

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Artist: Lament In Winter’s Night

Year: 2019

I’ve long said there’s some incredible raw black metal coming from these shores, and the first demo from mysterious Australian entity Lament In Winter’s Night is yet another that proves my statement correct. Their eponymous debut was released on cassette through Atrocity Altar in October and is a total throwback to the second wave demo tape days, with fantastic sound, howling reverberating vocals and riffs dripping in cold melancholia. Exquisite dungeon-synth and folkish elements, too. Four tracks that are over far too soon… but in great news, he’s just released another demo. Claws to the sky and go grab both of ’em at name-your-price.

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Artist: Úkryt

Year: 2019

Úkryt is what happens when two longtime friends from various established, top quality acts finally take some time to lose themselves in nature with the sole purpose of creating something together. Debut EP Ŕeka is Sam Dishington of Départe and Mares Refalæða of Rise Of Avernus carefully crafting remarkable, instrumental post-black metal that holds true beauty and will resonate to the deepest core of your being. Written in Lower Portland NSW, released at the death of May, available to you for free – I really hope they find the time to do more of this soon, but in other good news there’s apparently new Départe baking in the oven and Mares has some amazing stuff on the way with her solo project Erresire, so keep an ear out for that.

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Artist: Vacant Body

Year: 2019

The inclusion of this little three track demo is kinda cheating – it was recorded during a period of the Australian artist living in the UK. But hey, in the great Australian tradition of claiming any related stuff as our own, here’s the eponymous debut of Vacant Body.

After a brief intro track, ‘Spiralling Altar’ kicks in and takes us on a compelling trip through a blend of black metal, dissonance and groove elements (some of the bendy riffs and grooves are only a few steps removed from some early-2000’s metalcore like A Life Once Lost or some shit, but it works). ‘Light That Never Prevails’ continues this with more venom, and then… it’s over. You’re left wanting more. Which is lucky because there’s a full-length on the way in 2020. Great, huh? Notably mastered by Magnus of Marduk, released on physical formats through Total Därkness Propaganda, name-your-price download.

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Artist: Kommodus

Year: 2019

I forgot to put this in my Top EPs and Demos of 2019 list, so here it is – if you follow this site/blog/zine/abomination at all and haven’t yet checked out Kommodus, what the fuck are you even doing? One of my favourite raw acts of recent times released its excellent fourth demo An Imperial Sun Rises back in June and this time main man Lepidus Plague finds inspiration in the life of Yukio Mishima, the Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, film director, nationalist, and founder of the Tatenokai (civilian militia). He lived a remarkable life before his death-by-seppuku in the Mishima Incident, and this is a remarkable recording in his honour – just go listen, alright? Name-your-price.

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Artist: Serpentum

Year: 2019

Probably the earliest one from this article to rear its hideous head in 2019, this one-man Queensland DSBM act released its second album Harmony Of The Paradox on the 3rd of January. Despite a simple-yet-serviceable production his thing has great negative atmosphere and a thoroughly misanthropic venom at its core, plus some cool spoken word/dialogue samples dropped in too – worth your time to check out at name-your-price download if you think your day is going too well.

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Artist: Drugoth

Year: 2019

This Tolkien-inspired black crust project keeps knocking EPs out in the deep reeking underground, and every one of ’em is great. I’ve linked September’s offering Lutaum here but they’ve also done recent splits with fellow Aussie carnage artists Snorlax and Odinsgoat and both of them also rule, so go bust a suss at all of them for name-your-price.

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Artist: Calacorm

Year: 2019

Right off the bat this gets major points from me for being named after a Fighting Fantasy creature (I used to fucking love those books as a kid) and lifting the image straight from the book as cover art. Excuse me while I drown in a nostalgia trip. Anyway, this Melbourne blackened death demo is as brawny as the two-headed lizard dude it’s named after, but with surprising tweaks in the sound like some inspiring dungeon-crawling symphonic elements that pop up every now and again. For the most part however, this just wants to rip off your head and shit down your neck. Check it out at name-your-price or grab a tape here.

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Artist: Obed Marsh

Year: 2019

Lovecraftian blackened funeral doom from Perth. Released their debut Innsmouth through Breathe Plastic Records back in ’17; second album Dunwich is self released but no less skin-crawling. Lumbers and mutates, riff-heavy with seriously harrowing vocals… a third album is on the way too, so grab this for a dollar and get to know before the next unspeakable abomination arrives.

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Artist: Internal Purgatory

Year: 2019

A “more personal recording” regarding the artist’s “experience with mental illness”, on second effort A Decade of Psychiatric Deterioration Melbourne solitary soul Internal Purgatory hints at the self-loathing excreted by old Xasthur, just more delicate and undeveloped. Second track Psychiatric Deterioration – Part II is excellent for what it is and shows where it could all go if he keeps at it; there’s a lot of promise here that will crumble into a glorious, inescapable vortex of death and devastation one day. Check it at name-your-price, worth it.

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Artist: Ceremonial Crypt Desecration

Year: 2019

Incredible subterranean raw black project that you can almost literally hear crumbling away as you listen. I could spout superlatives to tempt you to listen but if you want the best feedback, Vardlokker from Witchbones has written on the Bandcamp: “I listen to this when I jerk off all over gravestones. Cryptastic”. Now if that don’t make you wanna check this out, I don’t know what to say to you, son.

Available on CD here, tapes or name-your-price download.

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Artist: Vrörsaath

Year: 2019

Recorded on a 4-track, the magniloquent darkness emitted by demon Vrörsaath is something to behold – if you’ve ever wished your raw black had even MORE dungeon synth in it than ever before, this is what you need. He’s done a couple of great splits with Lipitoare and Kaznaxtheth but start here with Moonlights Wrath for the deepest immersion and drift away… Cold, crystalline transcendence. Name-your-price, tapes long sold out from Atrocity Altar.

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Artist: Burier

Year: 2019

More raw black… but with a surprising amount of nuance. Over the course of its five expulsions Burier‘s eponymous demo travels through a variety of wretched moods; from the expansive three-part malodorous malady of ‘Beneath The World’ to the crescendoing cacophony of ‘Disease _ Deluge’ (the kind of wall-of-sound onslaught where the drums almost become negative space) this thing is riveting, with many a trick up its moldering sleeve. Sold out via Goatowarex, still available for you to ruin your day with at name-your-price.

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Artist: Convulsing

Year: 2016 / 2019

Hah, you thought this was gonna be new Convulsing? I wish, but I can’t miss an opportunity to push this outstanding album again – especially seeing as it’s had an updated remaster and put back up at name-your-price. If you haven’t heard this dissonant slab of blackened death emotional devastation (or its equally ace follow up Grievous) yet you are SEVERELY fucking up. Download Errata now, or grab one of the very few remaining LP’s from Impure Sounds here… New record 2020, perhaps?

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Artist: Dispossessed

Year: 2019

“We are not here to heal your white guilt. We are here to destroy all those who stand in our path. We are vessels carrying our ancestor’s wrath, sorrow and vengeance.”

The grinding, crusted black death contained in this remarkable record is not just a statement- it’s a war. It’s an unfortunate fact that Australia was colonized on the slaughter of indigenous people, and Dispossessed are the deadly weapon firing right back at it. Strong themes, furious and powerful album. Sovereignty was never ceded.

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Artist: Irreparable

Year: 2019

Darkwave industrial black metal containing a member of Greytomb and Adamus Exul. For those wondering what darkwave industrial black metal might sound like, influences from a multitude of eras and genres make their way into this delicious concoction that is their debut EP Transfixion, but there’s one act readers of this site will surely know and understand – varying hints of Ulver‘s wide-ranging pallette waft through these songs, not least of all in Nick’s clean vocals, who sounds not a million miles from the dulcet yet insistent intonations of a younger Garm. There’s plenty more to it than that though, and it’s all great stuff. Check it and support at name-your-price.

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Artist: Mornedhel

Year: 2019

Aaaaaaand to take us out, some weird-ass synthetic/symphonic/psychedelic black metal curiosness from Mornedhel, a side project of synthwave metal oddity Hyper Lightning Hydra. Equal parts dazzling, confusing and terrifying, it has no lyrics or vocals yet is thematically based upon Tolkien‘s elves, is utterly frenzied, and… yeah, I don’t even really know what else to say about it other than this guy is some kind of turbocharged maniac. Check it out the projects second EP Immonehtar yourself at name-your-price download below… if your head doesn’t explode. We do some batshit things down under.

Stay tuned for part two… coming soon. Hails.

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Submissions for possible inclusion in future Volumes are welcome.

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Email: blackmetaldaily@outlook.com