BLACK METAL DAILY’S LISTCRUSH 2021: The GOS Edition

Well folks, it’s been a helluva year in black metal. Just like last year. And the one before that… and the one prior, and so on. Seems like a damn near impossible task at this point to keep up with all of the amazing music produced on a weekly basis in our obsidian corner of the metal world, let alone try to sift through and pick out those gems which, for each of us, really stand out and shine with that blackened light. Yet, here we are. End of the year list time again. Aside from borrowing from a handful of reviews I’ve already done this year, I’m just gonna start writing about the shit that I liked. Let’s call it … a memoir. My black metal top 50 memoir of 2021, ready? Here we go.

~

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

~

CÂN BARDD (Switzerland). My word, do I love that Devoured By The Oak album, currently listening on a daily basis! Came out towards the end of the year (November), but by my third playthrough I knew that it was in serious danger of usurping WINDFAERER for the number one spot of the year, a band which had laid claim to that position since like July or so. And I think it has done that. Not only did Devoured By The Oak manage, to some extent, to shove aside all other 2021 considerations, it also fuckkkking annihilates the previous CÂN BARDD discography, by a considerable degree IMO, reaching the grandiose folky realms already occupied by kings like SAOR, BORKNAGAR and WINTERSUN… and this somewhat sounds like a combination of those bands. Every song is a goddamn epic, and everything is perfectly timed and placed, all the somewhat awkward, clunky aspects of previous albums (which I never really got into at all) completely streamlined, cleaned up, and dialed in, particularly the drums. On top of that, it was released at the perfect time for me, the turn of the season into winter, right when I am in the mood to listen to exactly this sort of thing. It’s. Goddamn. Beautiful. 

~

TIER ONE

[five creations of black art]

~

And WINDFAERER’s (US, New Jersey) Breaths of Elder Dawns? It is excellent as well, right up there and by far my most listened to album of the year. Kudos to them for damn near achieving, with only violin (and a few extras here and there), the epic levels for which many other bands require an entire orchestra. They went from being a pretty good black metal band with good violin to really taking it to the next level in terms of composition and complexity and weaving it all together. They still very clearly have a black metal foundation, but there’s a lot of artistic, avant-garde elements which really make it massive, make it a masterpiece, yet without getting too off track. I think that with this album they have really broken free and reached a new pinnacle, not only in comparison to their own previous work but in comparison to any relevant subgenres of extreme metal in general: melodic black metal, post black metal, progressive metal, et cetera, with comparisons also to SAOR but additionally acts like NE OBLIVISCARIS, HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY, and PANOPTICON. 

~

FUNERAL MIST (Sweden). Can’t fuck with FUNERAL MIST. Surprise release with Deiform at the end of the year, but no surprise at all that it takes a top spot for me. Filled with blazing, unhinged riffs, unparalleled vocal variety, infernal blasting on all aspects of the drum kit, and a healthy dose of the religiously macabre, Mortuus delivers exactly what we would expect of black metal orthodoxy. Perhaps not as hellish as Devilry, not as blasphemous as Salvation, not as twisted and grotesque as Maranatha, not quite as contemplative as Hekatomb. Closest to sound to the previous two, but Deiform is darker and with more fire. It overtakes them on the speed/aggression factor and ultimately probably stands above Salvation as well. You cannot fuck with FUNERAL MIST.

~

The atmospheric/symphonic subgenre, like the folk/pagan selections (overtaken by CAN BARDD), was the victim of a late coupe. While ANGUIS DEI had hung on since the beginning of the year, right at the end I became completely infatuated with the complex epic / symphonic / progressive / atmospheric project ETHEREAL SHROUD (England). Trisagion is made up of three massive tracks (four on the physical releases) which total out to almost 65 minutes (closer to 80 on the physical), each of which are comprised of three movements. It is beautiful and powerful, bright and melancholic, creative and devastating, contemplative and expansive all at once. Incredible release that I am just starting to scrape the surface of. 

~

ANGUIS DEI’s (Japan) Angeist is a goddamn masterpiece. Man there is a LOT going on.  A ton of variety within an orthodoxically satanic, symphonic, avant-garde scaffold, successfully managing to combine, intentionally or unintentionally, many of the attributes of the very best sounds that symphonic black metal has ever had to offer. It sounds “classic” within the SBM vein, but the staggering amount of variability within that scaffold and overall cohesion is what really makes it a force to be reckoned with. It’s like… when the fucking five Power Rangers come together to make that big fucking robot? This is that robot, the rangers are CRADLE OF FILTH, EMPEROR, VESANIA, ANOREXIA NERVOSA and ROTTING CHRIST and if you are a fan of those bands then this album is essential. Every instrument is masterfully utilized and the vocals are just maniacal. 

~

MAQUAHUITL (US, Tennessee) – Con Su Pistola en La Mano [ep] is hard-hitting, galloping, cutthroat southwestern bandido black metal. It’s practically impossible to not fall back on WAYFARER, but best as a contrast instead of a comparison: MAQUAHUITL is faster, dirtier, more focused, more aggressive, and more capital-B-and-M-Black-Metal, and would be better compared in sound to DARK WATCHER or VITAL SPIRIT or, even better, something more orthodox like SKAN or GLORIOR BELLI, yet allowing an even more cross-cultural elements to permeate the music, with Latin guitars, wind instrumentation, and cumbia percussion. The album revolves around the legend of Mexican outlaw and folk hero Gregorio Cortez attacking, killing, and evading American Texas Rangers on the Mexican-American border, June of 1901.

~

TIER TWO

[ten creations of black art]

~

FERRITERIUM (France) gave us a fucking excellent second album entitled Calvaire, which is very straightforward and clean, but not particularly innovative, original, raw, or any other extreme. Nonetheless, in some sort of way this album is… -perfect-. No frills classic melodic black metal with riffs that literally do not quit, there’s not a single thing about it that I do not like.

~

A new discovery for me was the post/progressive WOMAN IS THE EARTH (US, Minnesota), with new album Dust of Forever, which manages to be surprisingly rabid, dynamic, and exalted all at once, achieving a breathtaking level of beauty without using any synth at all, as far as I can tell. The ever-soaring, unrelentingly  dynamic nature of it somewhat reminds me of stuff like SUHNOPFER or AORLAC possibly, although WITE is a bit more… ‘post-black’? At any rate, the melody and somewhat lighter aspect of it helps me keep up with the twists and turns.

~

VORTEX OF END’s (France) Abhorrent Fervor is a slightly death-tinged, powerful, rabid yet artistic orthodox black metal album with an array of exciting elements, not least of which the goddamn vocals (handled by no less than three members) accounting for the insane variety of screams, roars, growls, yells, chants, whispers, and cleans. FFOs include other French acts like AOSOTH, ANTAEUS, TEMPLE OF BAAL, and (definitely) ARKHON INFAUSTUS, but also (and maybe even more so) the unabashed horns-in-the-air rocking-fucking-black metal of MISÞYRMING’s Algleymi, a more muscular evolution of ASCENSION (particularly the auditory occult mysticism of Consolamentum), and the infernal, grinding-riff ferocity of Gaahl/King era GORGOROTH. 

~

Gonna admit that although I am (still!) having a bit of trouble absorbing it fully, I’m pretty damn intrigued by FYRNASK’s (Germany) new opus VII – Kenoma, which for me falls right in with the likes of the heavily meditative SCHAMMASCH and vividly ritualistic MEPHORASH, although it is more dissonant, dense and abstract than both. 

~

VVILDERNESS (Hungary). Significantly more of a banger than previous releases, As Above, So Below nonetheless manages to maintain the sublime Hungarian folk sounds which are completely unique to this band and meld them with a heightened momentum and aggression for a really cohesive listen. Although it is hard to beat the serene natural harmony of Devour the Sun (2018), I do think that I am enjoying this new one even more than 2020’s Dark Waters.

~

You know who else got heavier? PANOPTICON (US, Minnesota). Fantastic right? Austin has always had that amazing Americana folk aspect and it’s in full effect with …And Again Into The Light, but as a whole the album is way heavier than I thought it would be, bringing in some doom and death elements, and so massive that I still feel like I’m just beginning to scrape the surface of that one. Fucking huge, and I love it. 

~

The INHERITS THE VOID (France) album Monolith of Light is stellar cosmic black metal. I absolutely love the cinematic, epic melodies on top of that speedy percussion, the chaotic swirling on the guitar layers, and the sheer immensity of everything that’s going on, all of the different simultaneous tracks and layers. There’s so many things about this that sound atmospheric, from the keyboards to multiple guitar tracks to the drums… I want to get to know this album well, to find all of those intricacies and nuances that I can tell are there but can’t possibly absorb without more playthroughs. FFO: MARE COGNITUM

~

ARISTARCHOS (Scotland) gave us an excellent self-titled debut which, harnessing blackened stormwinds, is more terrestrial but no less catastrophic. Although unrelated, ARISTARCHOS’ sound is directly in line with that perfected by Naas Alcemeth’s projects, specifically NIGHTBRINGER, with a similar layering of falsetto guitar lead, although somewhat less massive and overwhelming in general. Nonetheless, I fucking LOVE the sound and I knew that this album was placing somewhere on my year-end list on the first listen. 

~

Kudos to NULL (US, Virginia). I’m actually a little surprised I like Hiraeth so much, considering its immense diversity. It has a black pagan/folk scaffold but that structure is filled in with damn near everything: neofolk, thrash, epic melodeath, rock, spaghetti western, pop punk, humppa, American folk… the list just goes on and on, and every time I listen to it, it seems like I find something else. The double-CD album allows for a ton of FFOs (including FALKENBACH, FINNTROLL, SAOR, WINTERSUN, ELUVEITIE, UNREQVITED, CATAMENIA… shit, even old OFFSPRING!) with 18 tracks and a runtime of about 110 minutes, it’s honestly good fortune that the entire thing is as great as it is. 

~

Since I already have so many FFOs flying around here, I might as well get into another fairly obvious parsing together of amazing elements from black metal history and talk about the STORMKEEP (US, Colorado) album Tales of Othertime. Between 90’s era EMPEROR, DIMMU BORGIR, BURZUM, SATYRICON, and WINDIR, there isn’t really much that hasn’t already been done here, but goddamn they put it together SO fucking well and have such masterful songwriting, that this debut LP was born an instant classic. 

~

TIER THREE

[twelve creations of black art]

~

Near the top of the ‘orthodox’ list is a close-to-my-heart Order ov the Black Arts-born debut which features elements of both cosmic and industrial black metal, but still manages to emit a distinctly demonic air: PALUS SOMNI’s (US/England) Monarch of Dark Matter. Comprised of members of ANCIENT HOSTILITY / ALUDRA, DECOHERENCE, and AKHLYS, it is a debut which is industrialized but raw, vast but dense, measured but chaotic, and progressively driving with increased conviction towards inevitable galactic annihilation. I had the honor of facilitating a bit of networking for the creation of this project, and also the honor of contributing the sigil logo.

~

Also hellish but in an entirely different way, MORGAL (Finland) came out of nowhere, amirite?! Nightmare Lord is blazing, beer-drinking black metal combined with a nostalgic NWOBHM classicism… it’s like if you took the ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ (Iron Maiden) cover by CRADLE OF FILTH, cranked up the ferocity factor a bit, gave it a bunch of cocaine, and then made an entire album out of it. There’s also a sort of more belligerent thrash or almost punky aspect to it, and some parts remind me of TSJUDER or RAVENCULT.

~

THERMOHALINE’s (Brazil/Portugal, Belgium, Argentina) mind-blowing avant-garde, ocean-themed album Maelström was the first album that I reviewed this year and it set the bar high. It has a massive, multilayered array of complexity and depth as well as almost baffling progression, disparate approaches, and seamless melding of many different styles and details, including industrial elements. This is avant-garde extreme metal at its best, and it could certainly claim black metal as a central core, but what is being presented with Maelström (apt title) goes way beyond that. 

~

Moving from outer realms towards inner depths, we have the particularly hellish and subterranean Paradeigma: Phosphenes of Aphotic Eternity from the ever-evolving INFERNO (Czechia). Notable with this latest and highly anticipated album is the truly cavernous and oppressive direction, not least of which is exemplified by the buried vocals and hallucinatory, esoteric crush of doom-laden black delirium. 

~

Then, on to AULD RIDGE (France) and his latest offering of venomous Consanguineous Tales of Bloodshed and Treachery, featuring fantastic fiery riffing, galloping percussion, spiteful vocals, excellent use of menacing, epic synth, folky acoustics, and even some twang once in a while. Think the riff / vocal savagery of GORGOROTH’s Under the Sign of Hell, combined with the bombastic synth grandiosity of LIMBONIC ART’s The Ultimate Death Worship… with some pagan influences thrown in. Somewhat arbitrary to include this album (released in May) or December’s Consanguineous Tales of Faith and Famine.

~

MALIGNAMENT’s (Finland) debut album Hypocrisis Absolution, was released in September, but is officially the last album I found which made the list, not discovered until the first week of January, 2022 and sneaking into placement on the last edit. I wish I had found it sooner! It forgoes the typical Finnish top-of-the-mix vocal abrasion for some more subdued and slightly deathened style which includes what comes close to chanting yells at times. Somewhat like PANZERFAUST. Musically it has a similar groove at times but with fiery riffing appropriate for the country, and Viking elements thrown in. Thanks to Hells Headbangers for advertising this one for purchase… don’t mind if I do!

~

FRIISK’s (Germany) new album …un torügg bleev blot Sand seems to skate that line between being orthodox but also melodic and atmospheric. What it really reminds me of is the defunct ANTLERS (also from Germany), to the point that I thought it was a continuation of that project, expertly incorporating grandiose melancholy, somewhat subdued vocals, highlighted epic lead guitar, pensive plodding intermixed with driving aggression, and even the use of somewhat martial percussion (ie. compare ‘Mauern aus Nebel’ with ANTLERS’ ‘Hundreds’). Even the logos are similar. At any rate, fantastic stuff. 

~

One-man monster KRVNA (Australia), gave us a blasting, stylized, subtly symphonic and precise black metal assault which boasts amazing drums and lead guitar. Dubbed ‘vampyric’ by its creator, Sempinfernus seems to be such in concept alone, and really seems to have sonic roots in 3rd/4th wave clean aggression, sitting somewhere in between turn-of-the-millennium DIMMU BORGIR, DARK FUNERAL, and BEHEMOTH, but the best of all three.

~

Another marine-based album which came to the surface only in the last few weeks of 2021 was LHAÄD’s (Belgium) release. Inspired by the depths of the sea, Below ended up being much heavier than I initially assumed it would be, almost death-metalish in some parts, crushing in its fluidity. This surprise (along with the more deathy PANOPTICON), really helped to fill a void for me this year, since there ended up being relatively very little death metal which really caught my ear.

~

CRYPTOSPITAL (Belarus)! Damn… Scythe of the Black Death caught me off guard. Fast-paced, unpolished, aggressive, melodic atmospheric black metal with cool as fuck vocals. Takes a minute to get going, but once that first track hits around 2 minutes and 15 seconds, it hits pretty damn hard.  Then holy FUCK! Listen to that part at 6:25 and then even more so at like 6:50, THEN AT 7:10 !!!! This is classic melodic black metal PERFECTION, no joke! And that’s just the first track!

~

Man, the new OSSAERT (Netherlands) also kicks ass. Though not described as such, it almost makes sense to think of Pelgrimsoord as a sequel to the debut album Bedenhuis (2020), a surprisingly coherent mix of raw / melodic / progressive / punkened black metal, and exceptional songwriting. Track two, ‘De Val en de Beroering’ is particularly fantastic and contains one of the best progressions of the year, with a ludicrously badass driving progression, intoxicating lead riff, and a repeatedly thrashing, convulsing bassline that I can’t even really begin to describe. 

~

AVDAGADA (Sweden) – Damnatio Cursus [ep] is well-produced, aggressive riff-based deathened black metal with nuanced synth and fantastic vocals. FFO GLORIA MORTI, KRYPTAN (see below). Not to get off topic, but GLORIA MORTI happens to be probably my all-time favorite band from Finland, so a comparison is definitely saying something.

~

TIER FOUR

[twenty creations of black art]

~

THE WOLF GARDEN (England) was a close-to-the-last minute addition that had initially escaped me in the oversaturation of the final months of 2021. It was my brother-in-arms Naph (co-conspirator in our conversational FERVUS CONJUNCTUM reviews at Black Metal Daily) who pointed out the verifiable virtues of Woven of Serpent’s Spines. Almost equal parts nature-inspired emotive atmosphere and driving, elevating post-black melody, I couldn’t help but notice a similarity between it and the also excellent WINDFAERER release (sans violin). An excellent album.

~

For FELLED (US, Oregon) the expected Pacific Northwest, Cascadian folk tag is right on target with fantastic melodic passages, soaring guitars, tumbling drums, and an organic mix. The Intimate Earth also wields  imperfection well and embraces a certain looseness, a natural imprecision and unpolished quality which produces an unparalleled sense of grounded earnestness and honesty. 

~

KRYPTAN (Sweden) – Kryptan [ep] Is classic ‘third wave’ melodic Swedish badassery with a dash of synth and a good dose of excellent vocals. Another band (read: NORDJEVEL, HORDE OV HEL, AVSLUT) which is doing DARK FUNERAL way better than they are doing it themselves. Also FFO: NAGLFAR, TRIUMPHATOR.

~

The release which is more black metal than black metal, from a band which takes orthodoxy quite literally and manages to be often exponentially more demonic sounding than 99% of the scene at any given point of time… despite being devout Roman Catholic: REVERORUM IB MALACHT (Sweden). Though two albums were released at the end of summer simultaneously, it is the more aggressive and grinding Not Here which really caught my attention with its continual percussive battery, massively down tuned bass, terrifying and sublime vocals, and insidious industrial grind. I’ve said it before and it is still relevant: With this project, for me the end result is not *enjoyment* but *awe* instead. 

~

SUMERIAN TOMBS (Germany) – As Sumer Thrones At Night [ep]. Far from the romantic or historical vampiric sound of current BM trends, what we have here is a connection to a bloodthirsty source which is more ancient, primitive, pervasive, and infernal… and this is reflected in a more orthodox and demonic sound. 

~

RÜBEZHAL’s (US, Alaska) Remnants of Grief & Glory consists of exalted, triumphant black metal melodies gust over layers of deathened, burly vocals, and a harnessing percussion and overall songwriting. Expect fiery riffing, brief but effective guitar hooks and well-placed cascades of irresistible, driving blasting, and tempered sections which build and overflow into more commanding, groovy progressions. Each song provides its own take on this fantastic resonance of exaltation and brutality, utilizing a classic, melodic black metal approach with a weighty application of death metal and even doom elements.

~

CARATHIS (Austria) – Hymns to the Tower [ep] is blasting, raw(ish), thrashy, and has riffs that smolder in your brain after just a single listen… just straight up unadorned classic black metal! FFO TSJUDER, RAVENCULT, ASAGRAUM

~

SALQIU (Brazil) – Urban Post Black [ep] is a short, avant-garde and somewhat industrial black art offering, fantastically resonant and disorienting EP, the sound of which may be translated into the experience of a perfect, brief soundtrack to urban angst.

~

GRAVENCHALICE (US, Florida) dropped another one! I don’t like Samael quite as much as their previous, it’s a bit more methodical and doomy, but still awesome. A concise description would be elements of the dissonant occult gravity and dynamic atonality of DEATHSPELL OMEGA, perfectly conjoined with the sublimely melodic, intractable momentum of MGLA, but better the most recent offerings from both. Finally, a few that are a bit more ‘old school’.

~

NOLTEM (US, Connecticut) I perceive as having a heavily water-based sound overall, and Illusions In The Wake is like a lucid, surreal dreamstate, with meandering acoustic recurrence over nonchalant percussion which seems to unfurl in jazzy eddies, delirious distorted strings, and harsh vocals, often with a faint rush of turmoil, building inertia, and apexes which overflow into an expansive, beautiful cascade. It also boasts one of the most unabashedly colorful album covers in recent memory.

~

An act that I did not realize was so melodic until I finally caught up with it was this year’s Dy’th Requiem For The Serpent Telepath was ESOCTRILIHUM (France). Mislead by perhaps a faulty perspective on previous releases, I expect oppressive, harsh, dense heaviness, not the pervasive melodic aspect which is present here. I’m talking real melody, classic black metal melody. Not just thrown in amidst a bunch of oppressive dissonant blasting, but instead a melody with emphasis and space created for it which brings to mind shit like old DIMMU BORGIR (think ‘Mourning Palace’), CALADAN BROOD, LIMBONIC ART, and FALKENBACH. 

~

DARK WATCHER (US, Arkansas) – Hymns Of A Godless Land [ep] is high energy, horns-in-the-air, spaghetti-western-flavored americana black metal, short and sweet. FFO recent MAQUAHUITL, VOLAHN, and VITAL SPIRIT.

~

MORKE’s (US, Minnesota) We Are The River is a must-mention; a very personal, genuine, melancholic, introspective, powerful, beautiful 80-minute release, poignant both from a conceptual and auditory perspective. Truly an ambitious project, which clearly demonstrates that the project needs a good label contract.  

~

AGRYPNIE (Germany) graced us with Metamorphosis, boasting a fairly heavy symphonic element, and affixing it into an overall style which is altogether more modern and progressive, resulting in some massive, crystalline, and powerful material. Think HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY but more epic arrangements and less irritating vocals, and also FFO BELTEZ, GAEREA, and VUKARI. 

~

With this year’s Arkivet, WORMWOOD (Sweden) went in the direction that I hoped they would. Each song is more in line with what I particularly appreciate from previous works (specifically the PINK FLOYD-esque guitar lead), and each one has nuances that continue to reveal themselves after a few listens. I venture to say that even though Nattarvet’s finish sets the bar for peak WORMWOOD, overall Arkivet is the better album. 

~

This would normally be the place I would place the ever-productive UNREQVITED, probably my favorite black ‘post / gaze’ project and a frequent entry on my AOTY lists. However, although it is good (and I still bought it) the ultralite Beautiful Ghosts album didn’t resonate with me as much as the quite similar but darker and more sinister HÆNESY (Hungary). Featuring lush atmospheric delirium, buried and indistinguishable vocals, and excellent black metal drive at times (‘Drowning In The Final Intellect’), Garabontzia certainly put this project on the map for me. 

~

GRANDEUR (Austria) – Aurea Aetas is unfancy, violent, but melodic black metal with some fiery lead on top and blasting galore, hitting that prototypical black metal sweet spot and hitting it hard with the backing force of some driving crust/punk inertia! 

~

VUKARI (US, Illinois) – Omnes Nihil [ep] is progressive black metal done perfectly: great focus, great balance, great drive, great production, this time a bit heavier than their last album. This band just gets better and better with every new release. FFO BELTEZ, GAEREA

~

KAMPFESWUT (Germany) – Kampfeswut [ep] is stripped down, squealing, punky black metal with an AGALLOCH-ish folky acoustic element. 

~

DUSK IN SILENCE (Indonesia) also hit a sweet spot with me for reasons which are a little hard to put a finger on other than the fact that Beneath the Great Sky of Solitude’s memorable riffs and outstanding progressions just immediately wormed their way to my mind loop to the point that I grabbed that LP one Bandcamp Friday. 

~

HONORABLE MENTION

[not black art]

~

To round out 2021 with a solid top 50, I’ve got FALLENSUN (Canada) – The Wake of the Fall. Epic progressive melodic death metal at it’s finest. I have a MAJOR weakness for this sort of stuff and my all-time favorite album (ever) would fall into this description (DISILLUSION – The Liberation). FALLENSON do it near perfectly, a gorgeous melding of deeply moving euphonies and deathened extremity, this debut album elevating them to the heights of fellow aeronauts AN ABSTRACT ILLUSION, NE OBLIVISCARIS, ETERNAL STORM, COUNTLESS SKIES, IOTUNN, IAPETUS, and DESSIDERIUM (who’s 2021 album Aria has at least some potential beat out The Wake of the Fall once I give it a fair shake). 

~

Follow Black Metal Daily on Facebook, Instagram, Spotify and Bandcamp HERE for more cult sounds and tonal blasphemy.

LISTCRUSH 2019: Dex’s Top 21 Splits and Collaborations

The end of the year is always intense, for many reasons. December last year was particularly fucking insane here as we did our first LISTCRUSH extravaganza, inviting artists and label owners from all over the world to contribute their own personal best-of lists… so this year, in the interests of clinging to the final remaining shreds of what passes for our sanity, we’re keeping it simple. All BMD writers will have their own list articles each, and that’s it – as many or as few recommendations as they please, whichever format they chose, sticking to pure and trve black metal or including whatever genres they see fit (I’m already keen for Tom‘s). Easy? Easy. So without further bullshit, kicking off the 2019 edition of Black Metal Daily‘s LISTCRUSH, here’s my selections for the top splits and collaborations of the year that was. Hails.

~

21: HÆNESY / MOONDWELLER – Earth and Space (Black Mourning Productions)

Sneaking this one in at number 21 (yeah I fucking suck at cutting my lists down), but it’s still superb. I likely wouldn’t have heard Earth and Space all the way back in January if it wasn’t for Hænesy, but I’m glad I did – both sides achieve the atmosphere that I wish the stuff like this that crosses my path always had. Beautiful, monolithic, endless.

~

20: POSSESSION / VENEFIXION – Passio Christi Part II / Necrophagous Abandon (Iron Bonehead Productions)

The black death maniacs get religious in the conclusion to their two-part concept split contributions (part one is also great, but this edges it) before Venefixion up the ante and turn absolutely rabid.

~

19: SUN OF THE SLEEPLESS / CAVERNOUS GATE: Sun of the Sleepless & Cavernous Gate (Prophecy Productions)

This took me completely by surprise with how damned well it all works. Well, Schwadorf‘s side was always going to be amazing, but Cavernous Gate match it effortlessly with the perfect blend of death-doom, tinted with juuuuust enough blackness. Very good.

~

18: BAŠMU / PÉNOMBRE – Bašmu – Pénombre Split (Les Fleurs du Mal Productions, Amor Fati Productions)

Lose yourself in the forest and howl at the moon. Transcendent abrasiveness, and also contains probably my favorite outro to any Bašmu track.

~

17: AMESTIGON / HERETIC CULT REDEEMER – QVRI OKBISh 718 / In The Depths Of The Nine Chambers Of Fire (World Terror Committee)

Slow-burning mysticism in patient streams and roaring surges from the Austrian mainstays / Grecian heretics. As the blurb says: “A sacred journey to Mauve Zone through the tunnels of Set and the Ninth Arch to the Den of Spider OKBISh! Listen in Darkness! The Deep will respond!” …which pretty much nails it.

~

16: LVTHN / HÄXENZIJRKELL – LVTHN / Häxenzijrkell (Amor Fati Productions)

Two covens combine their two very different approaches for one night of vicious occultic frenzy – plus, Necrobutcher himself gave his blessing to the ‘Pure Fucking Armageddon‘ cover on here. Neat.

~

15: SUTEKH HEXEN / 夢遊病者 – 7″ Split (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

Half split, half collaboration… all surreal, mind-altering and awe-inspiring experience. Very little else like this out there.

~

14: EGGS OF GOMORRH / SARINVOMIT – Encomium Of Depraved Instincts (Krucyator Productions)

Black death war hell from both outfits, ferocious and unwavering, just the way we need it. The inclusion of live tracks on either side is a nice touch too.

~

13: BLACK FUCKING CANCER / GLOAM – Boundless Arcane Invocations (Sentient Ruin Laboratories)

More of a collab than a split as both of these ineffable USBM entities forged their sides together in the same studio, around the same concept, and both sides flow together seamlessly as one huge, engrossing diabolical paean to the maleficent and metaphysical.

~

12: SLAVEHOUSE / NÄCHTLICH – Slavehouse / Nächtlich (GoatowaRex)

Feral, crusted filth from US horde Slavehouse and raw vampyric wails from beyond courtesy of superb Canadian duo Nächtlich. What’s not to like?

~

11: GRÓGALDR / KOMMODUS – Howling Sanguine Triumph (GoatowaRex)

If anyone missed this in June, the CD and CS now drops on 28th December. Want a review? These US and Australian projects absolutely kill it here. Grógaldr‘s side is virulent, weaponized black hypnosis and Kommodus continue their ascent to the top of the twitching pile of bodies that is the raw black scene with all the punk violence, outstanding riffage and lethal energy we’re fast becoming accustomed to. Buy it now.

~

10: THY SERPENT / ASH POOL – Thy Serpent / Ash Pool (Kvlt)

US raw bone gnawers Ash Pool return for the first time in six long years with a consummately excellent track, which would be worth the price of admission alone – the fact that long-running (since ’92) Finnish “anti-christian dark metallers” Thy Serpent absolutely kill it with THEIR long awaited return (last released material was back in 2000!) is a very welcome bonus. Great vibe.

~

9: AIWĪGAZ UNĐERGANGAZ / MÚSPELLZHEIMR – Aiwīgaz Unđergangaz / Múspellzheimr (Afgrundsvisioner, Lunar Apparitions / Nebular Carcoma)

Primordial and turbulent black atmospheres, heaving and churning. Múspellzheimr continue to rule and Aiwīgaz Undergangaz are no slouches either.

~

8: OCCELENSBRIGG / BLACK TURMOIL – Storming The Katatonik Transgression (Signal Rex / Harvest Of Death)

The Portuguese / Bosnia and Herzegovinian pair open a portal to the darkest parts of existence, letting whatever the hell they want crawl through to destroy us all.

~

7: GNIPAHÅLAN / DEMSTERVOLD – Split (Amor Fati Productions)

Swedes Gnipahålan show once again why they’re one of my favourite Swartadauþuz projects of the last few years. Demstervold thrill with tense, insistent riffs and spooky synth. Put them together and you get one fantastic (and eerily resonant) split.

~

6: LIPITOARE / ENSHROUD – Liptoare / Enshroud (Black Gangrene Productions)

Yeah, there’s a lot of raw black in this list… my EP and album lists are more schizophrenic, I promise. Anyway – untouchable atmosphere from the cold, crumbling black ambient/noise infused madness of Lipitoare that only dives even deeper into the abyss when Enshroud consumes your soul. Magic.

~

5: SERPENTS ATHIRST / GENOCIDE SHRINES / TREPANATION / HERESIARCH – Scorn Coalescence (Cyclopean Eye Productions)

Holy fucking shit this four-way split is a nuclear bomb. Pure war, pure death, pure carnage. World-ending annihilation. Just die, alright?

~

4: TIME LURKER / CEPHEIDE – Split (Les Acteurs de l’Ombre Productions, Mallevs Records)

Is there a more underrated project than Time Lurker? I mean probably, but this split with also-eternally-slept-on countrymen Cepheide is exquisite, beautiful agony.

~

3: IMMATURA MORTE / SANGUINE RELIC – Immatura Morte / Sanguine Relic (Perverse Homage)

If you want the raw black metal soundtrack to tearing yourself apart, Mexican master Immatura Morte has you more than covered here… and US entity Sanguine Relic continues to do what he does best. The current lord of rawness for a reason.

~

2: TOME OF THE UNREPLENISHED / STARLESS DOMAIN – Epistolary Of The Fall (Aesthetic Death)

As anyone who’s had the misfortune of reading my ramblings before would know, I’m all about splits where the two artists complement each other and combine to create something bigger than the sum of their respective parts. Opening with Tome Of The Unreplenished‘s 19-minute ride through churning black noise and ambient cosmic hell ‘Proskynesis’ is the perfect setup for Starless Domain‘s ‘CERES’, a near 40-minute transcendent maelstrom of interstellar proportions (and probably the heaviest/harshest sound they’ve had). In a word: immense. Would have been number one if it wasn’t for a certain collaboration…

~

1. SKÁPHE + WORMLUST – Kosmískur hryllingur (Mystískaos)

…and here it is. Two lengthy tracks from two of the most dazzling acts in modern black metal, combining their powers to forge an intense display of light and shadow weaving together with such impossibly layered intricacy the mind can scarcely comprehend it. H.V. Lyngdal, Alex Poole and Dagur Gislason hurl themselves (and you) deep into a psychedelic abyss of horror, tumbling and spinning… by far and away the best collaboration of the year and deserved number one on this list. Here’s hoping this isn’t the last time they work together. Hails.

~

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Eos / Malebranche – Eos / Malebranche

Ordem Satânica / Niteris – Sepulchral Silence of Satan

Aspergillum / Obscurum Tenebrarum – Obscure Emanations Stretching Callously Across Forlorn Grounds

Uten Håp / Apothecary – Waking In An Eternal Fade

Darkenhöld / Griffon – Atra Musica

Nefarious Spirit / Void Prayer – Split EP

Blosse / Aster Wreath – Stranded

~

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

Email: blackmetaldaily@outlook.com

Deeper Meaning – An Interview with Hænesy

There is beauty in simplicity; beauty in the pure, simple showing of human emotion too. With their debut album ‘Katrusza‘ Hungarians Hænesy are creating some undeniably beautiful things. Their songs are carefully filled with yearning melancholy and peaceful sorrow, all expressed via a well-produced, modernized take on the familiar templates of black metal.

The strength of this album for me is the skillful utilization of song structures that temper themselves to build and deconstruct in a way that strips back all unnecessary elements and unneeded trappings, allowing the emotion in the compositions to take centre stage and wrap you in it’s warm embrace. Warm might be an odd descriptor for black metal, I know; but this isn’t the type of suicidal fuck-the-world depression type of emotion. It’s bittersweet memories, hopeless dreams and longing for times gone by, perhaps even futures that will never arrive. It’s almost comforting. The nice post-black quality inherent in their sound invites that kind of contemplation but with moments of blasting, wild anguish and hope also shining through, the whole thing seems perfectly balanced; it ebbs and flows, surges and rages… The songs still move and change, but artfully so and never distract from the ultimate goal: simply making you feel. The wonderful spell woven by album opener ‘Katrusza I‘ is a great example of this and a personal highlight; over it’s 13 mesmerising minutes melodic themes slowly unfold, utterly captivating and tugging at your core the entire time.

You can tell the love and care that has gone into this work. The vibe is something truly special, immersion within revealing fascinating nuances and definitely reaping high reward. Enigmatic main man Henrik composes/plays all the music and contributes some vocals, so I reached out to him for a little more info about this remarkable debut (released about a month ago through Black Mourning Productions) and he was happy to lift the veil ever-so-slightly. Read on below for a glimpse into the world of Hænesy.

~

Greetings Henrik! Sincerest thanks for taking the time to speak with us today. We’ll start with something a little abstract… In your own words: What is Hænesy, why does it exist, and what does it mean to you?

– Hænesy directly doesn’t have any meaning. It is just a fantasy name. But for me, there is one meaning. So, when I start this project there was one goal what I would like to reach: I would like to make music with a very deep instinctive energy. You can see it, that the themes are not too complicated, so this is what I say. Hænesy is a very dark, passionate deep down thing. I hope you understand me.

You’ve recently released your debut full-length album, ‘Katruzsa’. What was the creative process like, how long did it take to complete the album? Did you run into any problems?

– It was a 7-8 month working period. So, it wasn’t a simple thing. Every clever person makes albums step by step. Making demos, playing up drums, basses, guitars and vocals, mixing and mastering it. I made it with a mixed process. But there wasn’t any problems.

Given that ‘Katruzsa’ has been out for a month now, are you satisfied with both the fruits of your labor and how the album has been received by the public?

– I have to thank every single person who purchased it. It is amazing, that people could order my music from Japan or Australia. Yes, I feel good about it and it has satisfied me. But there was a little problem in the promotional period. The “Atmospheric Black Metal Albums” channel was taken down from YouTube after my album came out, so the promo is aborted. But, I hope this channel will be reborn and rise up as before.

I believe the album deals partially with themes of nature. I’d imagine there are some incredible natural places around Hungary, is there anywhere in particular you have drawn inspiration from?

– Of course there is, yes. I like hiking and really like the Hungarian mountains. The Mátra is my special favourite mountain, because my half family is living in the foot of the Mátra. The Hungarian mountains are not huge, but they are very nice.

I can’t find any translation for the album title anywhere, but I assume it is significant as each track is also named ‘Katruzsa I’, ‘Katrusza II’ etc. What does this title mean, and how does it relate to the themes of the album?

– Katruzsa is a place name in the foot of the Mátra. Otherwise Mátra is the greatest mountain in Hungary. This place symbolizes to me ancient values and traditions. Everything that is meaningless in this ‘consumer’ worldview that we have.

The average English speaker like myself may not be able to understand the lyrics, but the deep emotional content of the music transcends any language barriers. The construction of the songs themselves is quite effective in this way and you’re obviously a relatively accomplished composer, plus judging by some of the tones used and other small hints on the album I would also guess you don’t only restrict your listening or playing to only black metal. Would I be correct in saying this is not your first band or project, and that you draw influence from a wide variety of musical sources?

– Yes, you are right. I listen to many kinds of music. I’ve been listening to black metal for 2 or 3 years. So, this is not too much time. But in these few years I’ve established a strong linkage between me and the genre. I especially like the atmospheric black metal scene, I also like the old school ‘true’ Norwegian scene too. But my cultural roots are not coming from black metal. I have a Deathcore band called As Karma Brings. This is also an underground project, but we play live shows and we would like to go ahead. So, my cultural roots are Metalcore and Deathcore, but I also listen to a lot of genres. I really like sludge metal for example, and Ambient too.

Your also-great first demo ‘Mortals’ was a completely solo project, whereas for ‘Katruzsa’ you have now fleshed out the band a little with a fuller lineup. Can you tell us about the other musicians and their roles in the band? How do you feel their addition has affected your sound from the demo to this debut?

– Yes, on ‘Mortals’ I was just alone. But I haven’t got a full band now; two more vocalists have now joined me. I think their vocal sounds add a lot of pain and suffering to my music. So, I have to thank them for it: Gábor, who made most of vocals (he also made the cover of the album) and Attila from the label (Black Mourning Productions), who has an ambient project called Twilight of Emptiness and he had some black metal bands in the past, so he has vocal experiences.

Has this expansion of the lineup gotten you closer to any live Hænesy performances? Is this something you will be aiming for in future?

– After ‘Katruzsa’ was released, some musicians – in the city I live – applied to make the full live Hænesy performance. So, in the future maybe we will make it. We will not be locked away from it.

The album is released in conjunction with Black Mourning Productions, a fairly new label. How did this partnership come about, and what has it been like to work with them?

– After ‘Mortals’ was released, Attila from the label contacted me and he offered a digipack release option. I thought it was a great idea. After this, the Katruzsa digipack was released by Black Mourning Productions and it has a good run. If you would like to buy it, search our Bandcamp page.

Going back to the lyrics: not having them available for perusal and most likely not being able to understand them anyway, are there any passages or songs you are especially proud of writing or that neatly sum up the meaning of the album that you would like to share with us here?

– My especially favourite song is the ‘Katruzsa IV’, this is the last song that I wrote and I think this is the way that I would like to follow. The lyrical themes were written about passing, nature, anxiety and things like that.

The cover art is great; very simple and effective. I believe this is a photo taken by your main vocalist, Gabor Angeli. Why did you select this particular piece as the cover? Also: is this the first time his art has been used in this fashion, and is there anywhere we can view any more of his work?

– I don’t know. I just had a divination that it would be a great album cover. It was love at first sight. But he has many amazing photos in the same style. You can check Gabor’s work at this site: https://www.instagram.com/darklordsci/.

And lastly, how is the health of the local black metal scene in Budapest? Are there any bands or artists you’d like to give a shout out to, that you feel deserve far more exposure than they’ve been getting?

– Not so much. In Budapest mostly nothing. But in Hungary there are some good artists. For example Vvilderness, Realm of Wolves, Lepra, Sear Bliss.

Thanks again for your time Henrik, it’s been a pleasure. Any final words?

– No thanks.

~

Purchase Hænesy‘s ‘Katrusza‘ on CD and digital from Black Mourning Productions here, or from their own Bandcamp here.

Support Hænesy:

• Official Facebook
• Official YouTube
• Official Bandcamp

~

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

Email: blackmetaldaily@outlook.com