BLACK METAL DAILY’S LISTCRUSH 2023: The GOS Edition

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By GOS (Order ov the Black Arts / ViaOmega Magazine)

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All my kin at Order ov the Black Arts and Black Metal Daily… It is time. Time for those of us so inclined to agonize in the depths of our own minds and memory, feebly declare war against the inner demons of self doubt and existential futility, and  toil on the very brink of madness in the ever-anticipated and thoroughly Sisyphean of labors: Black Metal albums-of-the-year list and review. The placement of albums here isn’t particularly solid but more generalized with position shifting relative to mood and context.

It is also that time of year when I celebrate the mark of another orbit of Helios, embarking on my 5th decade towards the unknown beyond. Accordingly, it would be my honor to present, as a gift of myself, to you if you will indulge me, 50 albums from 2023 which I felt compelled to address, if briefly. Though the ultimately favored tend to appear towards the end, the specific placement is of only marginal importance, and their positions never stagnant, but ever shifting and relative to mood, activity, and the Hericlitean spirit of fire and eternal flux.  

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TETRAGRAMMACIDE – Typho-Tantric Aphorisms from the Arachneophidian Qur’an [Iron Bonehead Productions]

Orientation: Radical and militant inverters of all that is sacred from India move away from noise and towards death with sophomore full length album. First on the list because it is death metal and not black metal, not because it isn’t badass.

Sounds like: Nostalgic brutal death metal of old, and what I cut my teeth on, such as HATE ETERNAL’s King Of All Kings or NILE’s Black Seeds of Vengeance, but benefiting from some modernization in the mix; needless to say, the fucking drumming is full-onslaught, batshit crazy, and one of the main listening points.

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THE ARCANE ORDER – Distortions from Cosmogogy [Black Lion Records]

Orientation: Death metal adepts from Denmark relinquish their 4th album since 2006 and make the list at the beginning because they are death and not black metal… don’t let that fool you, probably in my top 10 for this year overall.

Sounds like: Self-described as death/thrash but I’m not really hearing that; sounds to me like excellent melodic / progressive DM similar to something like SLUGDGE or HATH or early BLACK CROWN INITIATE with some sparing but fucking great synth and some semiclean vox.

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SULPHUR AEON – Seven Crowns and Seven Seals [VÁN Records]

Orientation: Renowned Lovecraftean blackened (kinda, barely) death metal band  from Germany release much-anticipated 4th album, and it is pretty damn good (but not as good as their last one… or two?).

Sounds like: Patented, fairly unique combination of brooding yet monstrous yet cosmic progressive death metal with a fair amount of lofty echoed cleans; the last track is particularly great.

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TORTURE CHAIN – The Reign of Deimos [Hosptital Productions]

Orientation: Surprisingly developed-yet-unknown project from New York, born in roughly 2008, and composed by one man (Torturer aka Brendan Radigan, who is also in a bunch of other bands which I have never heard of but feel like I should) drops 4th album… and my jaw just a bit, squeaking in on the list in the final hours.

Sounds like: ABIGOR. A LOT; also somewhat less so like FANISK or ELDRIG with the synth at times, but this is more guitar-driven (like ABIGOR); note that this album is huge, clocking in at around 70 minutes. 

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THE COLOR OF RAIN – Oceans Above [Void Wanderer Productions]

Orientation: Progressive black metal trio from the Netherlands pumps out a few singles then promptly delivers a neat debut album, which is colorful in more ways than one; probably belongs somewhere ‘higher’ on my list but I’m not sure where, so here it is.

Sounds like: A combination of postblack like AGRYPNIE, ANOMALIE, or HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY, with acoustic bits not unlike AGALLOCH, and some sort of progressive metal like RIVERS OF NIHIL or FALLUJAH… with a measure of A FOREST OF STARS and even a sprinkle of DSOish dissonance thrown in there, just in case things weren’t eclectic enough. 

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RORCAL – Silence [Hummus Records]

Orientation: Abstruse, wholly pessimistic, and incredibly heavy blackened something-or-other band from Switzerland descends further with sixth album, and I wonder if it should even be included on a black metal AOTY list, it is somewhat irresistible.

Sounds like: blackened post-hardcore/doom/sludge/noise (yeah yeah, I know); heaviness to the point of obliteration, asphyxiating density, with a compressed-yet-crystalline sound which has always been hard to describe; CELESTE (Fra), ANAAL NATHRAKH if they had headed towards noise instead of groove… or … something like that.

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AVDAGATA – The Faceless One [At Dawn Records]

Orientation: Relatively new symphonic/melodic blackdeath trio from Sweden, with members from DARK FUNERAL, NIGHT CROWNED, and REVERORUM IB MALACHT (among others) lays down a good debut full length after buttering us up with a GREAT debut EP in 2021 (Damnatio Cursus, on Black Lion Records).

Sounds like: Well… they USED to sound a lot like little known (but excellent) symphonic blackdeath commanders GLORIA MORTI, but now they have softened slightly to somewhere between that and later OLD MAN’s CHILD; good, with earworm guitar hooks and good blasting.

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BLACK VOID CULT – …Even The Stars Have To Die [self-released]

Orientation: Relatively new black metal trio from Mexico offers up a diverse and solid second album with some interesting musical additions.

Sounds like: Mostly guitar-driven with tight drumming and dual vocals, tends to muscle it’s way in with straightforward blasting, then show off with some damn sweet synth and / or guitar work before jumping back into the pit; kind of a combination of cosmic black metal and blackthrash, while incorporating some elements of symphony and Mexican flavor.

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NORDIC FROST – To Make The Acquaintance Ov Death [Rebel Pyro Musick]

Orientation: Symphonic black metal duo from California delivers 4th album; isn’t blazing any new trails, but targets a specific era of SBM for which I have a particular soft spot.

Sounds like: Contemporary symphonic black metal acts like CRADLE OF FILTH, OLD MAN’S CHILD, and DIMMU BORGIR (moreso), but importantly harnessing the tenuous magic which occurred after the said bands had modernized but before they really took a full nosedive (ie circa 1999-2003); clean, straightforward, well-but-not-overly-produced melodic black metal with piano and synth.

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MØRKT TRE: Зазирни за Обрій [Darker Than Black Records]

Orientation: Avant-garde blackfolk from Ukraine creates an eclectic but confidently cohesive third album incorporating various labyrinthine elements too numerous to mention.

Sounds like: Similar to the likes of ENSLAVED, NEGURĂ BUNGET, DORDEDUH, but inevitably with its own take due to the unpredictable, unique and progressive nature implied with those comparisons; the old world, expanded and extended into the synthy astral future. 

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SORATHIAN DAWN – Radiant Terror [self-released]

Orientation: Australian melodic blackdeath band is unnaturally excellent after waiting 11 years for a second album… and desperately needs to be signed to a solid label, or at least make some damn physicals (take my money!).

Sounds like: Riff-rich with flowing percussion and overall triumphant melody, highlighted by fantastic soaring lead and solos, nuanced synth,  and harsh screamed vocals, toneless and whispery… the one-dimensionality of which are my only real complaint; guitar work is fucking gorgeous. 

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URBAIN – A Soul Purged [Hypnotic Dirge Records]

Orientation: Progressive black metal supergroup from Texas, composed of members of WILLS DISSOLVE, OVNEV, FATHER RUST and GOLGOTHAN, composes a specifically urban-dystopic debut.

Sounds like: A conglomerate of various emotive and conceptual energies such as entropy, sorrow, rage, beauty, pride, power, grandiosity, hubris, suffering, and hopelessness; a surprisingly cohesive mix of very different purveyors of urban destitute: ULVER, VOICES, WHITE WARD, MOURNING BY MORNING, and WORM SHEPHERD. 

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ÚKRYT – 1897 [Starved Light / self-released]

Orientation: Australian partners S (of DÉPARTE) and M (of VERËVKINA) produce an instrumental  full-length opus (after an initial EP, 2019) featuring two 16+ minute tracks. 

Sounds like: An expansive, sprawling, and beautiful odyssey towards the edges of every unknown, both internally and externally, tugging on the spirit with a soft yet deadly undertow, and pulling the listener out to sea upon waves of epic atmosphere which is surprisingly crushing at times.

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FALAISE – After All This Time [Flowing Downward]

Orientation: Italian post-black/gaze project manages to make itself my guilty pleasure with a fourth album full of meandering guitar and piano hooks.

Sounds like: Equal interplay between wonderment, melancholy, and rage; blackened out with periodic volleys of steady double kick and black metal vocals; atmospheric, but distinctly urban; lots of feels; DRAWN INTO DESCENT, AN AUTUMN FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN, ALCEST

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SÓL ÁN VARMA – Sól án varma [VÁN Records]

Orienation: Authoritative supergroup of Iceland, this is a project originally commissioned back in 2018 and was founded by D.G. and T.I., but also features five (yes fucking FIVE) additional prominant Icelandic artists to produce a near 70-minute triumph.

Sounds like: … fucking ICELAND, it sounds like black metal from Iceland – alas – how could it sound otherwise? MISÞYRMING, CARPE NOCTEM, ÁRSTÍÐIR LÍFSINS, NAÐRA, SVARTIDAUÐI, ANDAVALD, ALMYRKVI.

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FATAL EMBRACE – Manifestum Invernalis [Black Lion Records]

Orientation: Swedish meloblackdeath veterans who have been around since ‘92 and released their debut in 1997 take their time creating a sophomore release… and it was time well spent.

Sounds like: Powerful, modern symphonic black combined with melodic death; aggressive, heavy, polished, similar to …AND OCEANS, but more terrestrial and grants the listener more breathing room, although it is also more brooding and dark.  

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ASAGRAUM – Veil of Death, Ruptured [Edged Circle Productions]

Orientation: Pre-eminent all-female orthodox melodic black metal from the Netherlands fires off with 3rd album and stays relevant as fvck.

Sounds like: Not far off from fairly standard melodic, satanic, mostly Swedish black metal fare (WATAIN, DARK FUNERAL, NECROPHOBIC, NAZGHOR, VALKYRJA, THULCANDRA, KVAEN, FÄUST, etc.) but more dynamic, more interesting, more authentic, or more consistent than the more well-known names. This album utilizes limited dissonance which I have not noticed before.

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ASTWIHAD – Gatha 1: Asto-Vidatu [Ardawahisht Kollective]

Orientation: One of a cluster of fucking fantastic and varied bands from Iran (including Ardwisur, Broken Pillars, Désespéré, Enscelados, Erancnoir, Forelunar [my favorite], and Menakere, among others) which make up Ardawahisht, ASTWIHAD emerges with a debut mini album, possessing an immensity that has nothing to do with its play time.

Sounds like: Incredibly oppressive yet cosmic black metal with some brief Middle Eastern percussive elements; a more savage and overtly demonic (ok to read *better than*) DARKSPACE, and closer to old BORGNE, but even still more monstrous and devastating… yet with a breathtaking synthy beauty.

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ALDAARON – Majestic Heights, Melancholic Depths [Paragon Records]

Orientation: Atmospheric pagan black metal band, founded in 2007, crystalizes a fourth aptly-titled album; from France, but I keep thinking they are from Russia, if that means anything *shrug*.

Sounds like: Gripping, blazing fast, wintery atmospheric black metal with robust production, driven by pretty obvious programmed drums (which add their own endearing aspect), and intermixed with various tidbits of dark ambient, lightly distorted guitar soloing, and martial atmospheric interludes.

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FAUSTIAN – We Come As Angels [self-released]

Orientation: Silly bois from death metal band WEREWOLVES (and a veritable shitload of other bands including THE BERZERKER, THE ANTICRHRIST IMPERIUM, PSYCROPTIC, THE AMENTA, ABREMALIN, and ex-AKERCOCKE) decide to make a black metal album, and it’s pretty damn good!

Sounds like: Competent and suspiciously catchy and quite blasty modern black metal; basically what the new PANZERCHRIST album *should* have sounded like (god dammit), although FAUSTIAN could have mixed in more death metal vocals to get it even closer.

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IRITYLL – Schlafes Bruder [Rebel Pyro Musick]

Orientation: Debut full length duo out of Austria is like a black metal meal with a fuckload of death metal seasoning. Pretty tasty if you don’t mind your food mixing. 

Sounds like: They are using a Boss HM2; deathened the fuck out blackdeath with heavy yet glassy almost deathcoreish mix or production… but still black metal; thicc but sharp and acerbic, almost wintery at times; something like new …AND OCEANS but with less synth, and LOUDER; HORDA, HORRENDA.

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GRAVE GNOSIS – Pestilence Crowned [self-released]

Orientation: Dead-serious occult black metal entity from Florida releases a stone-cold insane third album, so wild that it brushes up against my eccentricity tolerance threshold yet leaves me in awe.

Sounds like: Somebody spiked the blood chalice for the zealous satanic ceremony with a fuckload of LSD; blackened psychedelic fever ritual.

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PANOPTICON – The Rime of Memory [Bindrune Recordings]

Orientation: Still-standing-strong pillar of American black folk, like MEPHORASH (see below), seems to have journeyed away from black metal proper with a massive tenth album focusing on the balance and struggle between life and death. 

Sounds like: Should probably be considered more blackened doom folk than black folk; even when the drums are flying, the entire sensibility of the album, repetition, and pacing is much more aligned with doom characteristics, and the folk elements with extended instrumental sections are more prominent than ever; fantastic when the mood strikes.

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MINENWERFER – Feuerwalze [Osmose Productions]

Orientation: Translation: “Firestorm”; formerly “atmospheric” war-themed black metal duo from California decide to firebomb the atmosphere and focus on obliteration via shrapnel with 4th album.

Sounds like: An aweing level of hysterical black violence that borders on war metal; relentless martial battery delivering pure overt aggression and cutthroat, rabid guitar lead in equal measure; ENDSTILLE, 2000’s ENTHRONED, AD HOMINEM, PRECAMBRIAN

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RINGARË – Of Momentous Endless Night [Avantgarde Music]

Orientation: Two incredibly prolific US BM musicians Alex Poole and Jake Blackburn (both of many bands, including CHAOS MOON, ENTHEOGEN, GARDSGHASTER, SKÁPHE, KRIEG, NATTFÄRD, and more) get with Swedish vocalist Likpredikaren (NATTFÄRD, ARS HMU, MUSMAHHU) to do some great things; Swartadauþuz is surprisingly absent.

Sounds like: Atmospheric symphonic black metal with a distinct emphasis on the drums, almost as if the percussion acts as the lead instrument instead of the guitar, which I can dig because the drums are mind-blowing; vox could be dialed back a bit.

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VVILDERNESS – Path [Beverina]

Orientation: One-man Hungarian post-black / black folk project, releases a 4th album since the debut in 2017… every one of which has had placement on my end-of-year lists, although the first is still the best.

Sounds like: A unique and unmistakable hybrid of black metal, Hungarian folk, progressive metal, and post-rock, with a distinct naturalistic flavor due to use of acoustic guitars, folk influences (read: hurdy-gurdy, talharpa, nyckelharpa), breezy melodies, and a forested aura. 

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OUTLAW – Reaching Beyond Assiah [AOP Records]

Orientation: Brazilian band, notably featuring Tommi “Tomahawk” Tuhkala on drums (MOONLIGHT SORCERY, ONDFØDT, KVAEN, SPELL OF TORMENT) radiates third album of anti-cosmic Luciferian black metal. 

Sounds Like: Taking what WATAIN achieved with apex album Lawless Darkness, and springboarding off of it to create orthodox melodic black metal infused with some subtle post-black tendencies; progressive, more consistently harmonic, and fucking epic. 

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PASSÉISME – Alternance [Antiq Records]

Orientation: Relatively new (founded in 2019) three-piece from Fran – wait… Russia? Russia. Not France? Are we sure?  Ok, from Russia – get my attention with an incredibly talented if quirky sophomore album.

Sounds like: Sounds like it is from fucking France. Like SÜHNOPFER, or AORLHAC, or (to a lesser degree) VÉHÉMENCE or NÉCROPOLE, wherein guitar is just constantly leading in a way that sounds like a non-stop solo. In PASSÉISME’s case it has a wild, mischievous, woodsy, and impromptu character, with the Greek god Pan appropriately adorning the cover art; the straining shouted vox might throw some listeners.

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THE KRYPTIK – A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom [Purity Through Fire]

Orientation: Significantly overlooked black metal duo from Brazil unfurl an ambitious third album, with 7 long tracks clocking in at almost 70 minutes, the shortest one almost 8.

Sounds like: Symphonic black metal that sounds like it should have epic blue cover art… and it does; tends towards more “atmospheric” grandiosity rather than in-your-face orchestration, and strikes a balance between the two, sort of a midline between AEON WINDS (see below) and EVILFEAST.   

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… AND OCEANS – As in Gardens, So in Tombs [Season of Mist]

Orientation: Veteran Finnish dark industrial act releases second album after significant, and much -needed auditory overhaul.

Sounds Like: High-octane, impeccably mixed, full, powerful, and modern symphonic black metal; DIMMU BORGIR-level orchestration with LIMBONIC ART-like cosmic elements, but with aggression more akin to Diabolus/Attera-era DARK FUNERAL or even BELPHEGOR’s blacker edges.

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BLOEDMAAN – Castle Inside the Eclipse [Immortal Frost Productions]

Orientation: One-man upstart from Belgium grabs some deserved attention with a short-but-sweet EP-sized album with undeniable appeal.

Sounds like: Crazy melodic “French” riffs similar to FORTRESSE or FERRITERIUM but a bit more light-hearted and fantasy-oriented like MOONGLIGHT SORCERY or ALDAARON; fucking epic and awesome. 

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ARGENTHORNS – The Ravening [Avantgarde Music]

Orientation: Third solo project from Finnish virtuoso Lord Vechi Vrăjitor, best known for being the sole creator behind both WARMOON LORD and OLD SORCERY adds to the emerging 90’s SBM throwback motif of 2023.

Sounds like: An excellent ode to a fucking army of classic symphonic black metal pillars (in all cases, specifically their early output): EMPEROR, DIMMU BORGIR, LIMBONIC ART, CRADLE OF FILTH, ANOREXIA NERVOSA, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS, as well as more oddball flourishes like FINNTROLL, VESANIA, and even OPETH.

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ALBIONIC HERMETICISM – Nova Nativitas Mundi [The Hermetic Order of Ytene]

Orientation: Prolific riff-god O.W.G.A, of Great Britain, sole creator behind this and additional currents (most notably AULD RIDGE, see below), casually drops 8th and 9th full length in the last 3 years (across all projects) and continues to emerge as one of the best contemporary authentic black metal artists in the world.

Sounds like: O.W.G.A.’s unpolished, spontaneous, and wholly authentic foundation, here conceptually focused on occult fantasy and satanic science fiction, with the music appropriately and spectacularly leaning into more avant-garde, cosmic, psychedelic, and progressive rock territory while still being unmistakably black metal. 

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ONDFØDT – Det Österbottniska Mörkret [Black Lion Records]

Orientation: Finnish occult black metal traditionalists offer a savage fourth album, rack another great release up for Black Lion, and spurn, for me, one of those deep and oft expensive dives into the entire historical repertoire. 

Sounds like: Solidly in the camp of King / Ghaal era GORGOROTH, albeit perhaps with slightly more traditional melodic hints like VALKYRJA or SEHTERIAL. Makes me want to mentally add them to what I think of as the subgenre of modern hyperblasting authentic black metal ala NORDJEVEL, AVSLUT, WHORDOM RIFE, DJEVELKULT, etc.

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STARER – Wind, Breeze, or Breath [Snow Wolf Records / Fiadh Productions / Fólkvangr Records]

Orientation: Completely ass-kicking one-man black metal project from Kentucky (with a penchant for covering rock and alternative) and owner of Snow Wolf Records sinks a third full length in as many years. I’m really hoping for a vinyl press at some point.

Sounds like: Surprisingly-hard-to-describe-other-than-”American” symphonic black metal which aggresses up to TSJUDER (etc.) levels, but also leaves space for orchestration, expanse, atmosphere, doomy parts, tasteful clean vocals, groove, and more. Something about it (the mix maybe? the percussive flow?) reminds me of mid-era PANOPTICON (except symphonic instead of folk), but I can’t figure out if that is a legit association or just because *Kentucky*.

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TAUBRĄ – Therizo [Debemur Morti Productions]

Orientation: Swiss offshoot of AARA unleashes debut album of satanic orthodoxy, featuring two AARA members on guitars and drums, and support from T of MALPHAS and R of ILHALUNG on bass and vox, respectively. 

Sounds like: Darker and more violent than AARA. Relatively straightforward blasting modern black metal, with riffwriting reminiscent of the last two MISÞYRMING albums… except, considering mixing/mastering by S.D. (AVERSIO HUMANITATIS) at Empty Hall Studios, predictably cleaner and thicker and less unhinged or feral in production. 

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WAYFARER – American Gothic [Century Media]

Orientation: Black “folk” pioneers from Colorado, after peaking in 2016 or 2018 (in my opinion), recover significantly with 5th album American Gothic, a release notably stronger than 2020’s A Romance With Violence. Noticing while writing this that they jumped labels from Profound Lore to Century Media.

Sounds like: Progressive black metal with the quintessential, distinctive Western-Americana flavor which is their schtick; with every album they seem to stray further from black metal proper and towards a more generalized still-marginally-blackened “progressive extreme Western-metal” sound , which, luckily, they seem to be getting better and better at (although the earlier albums Old Souls and World’s Blood are still my favorites).  

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ERSHETU – Xibalba [Debemur Morti Productions]

Orientation: Two unknown badassess from France and Norway get together to do themed albums which each revolve around death in specific culture. They recruit more renowned badassess (Vindsval aka BLUT AUS NORD, and Lars Nedland of BORKNAGAR) to help out. Debut album Xibalba tackles Mayan lore.

Sounds like: Ritualistic black metal mixed with native South American wood and wind instruments; WARDUNA meets MAQUAHUITL (but the black metal aspect is often more ceremonial, epic, and measured, and less riffy and chaotic); band describes music as cinematic and taking inspiration from film scores.  

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CELESTIAL ANNIHILATOR – Annihilation for Esoteric Nascency [self-released]

Orientation: From South Korea. One-man cosmic black metal project, creator of which is also sole soul behind AMBRIXIAK (also excellent), and guitarist for DARK MIRROR OV TRAGEDY and METAMORPHOSIS. Seems to get better and better with each thing he has his hand in. 

Sounds like: Guitar and percussion-driven cosmic black metal, which sounds exactly like it should. The fact that synth isn’t the main thrust gives it a more aggressive or visceral feel, although still distinctly cosmic. FFO MARE COGNITUM, BEZMIR, NUMEN NOCTIS, INHERITS THE VOID.

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AEON WINDS – Night Sky Illuminations [Avantgarde Music]

Orientation: Established but underrecognized symphonic black metal from Slovakia – with numerous singles, splits, EP’s, etc. filling the space between albums – gusts in with a third full length. 

Sounds like: Synthladen contemporary symphonic black metal with some slight deathy heaviness and groove making it a bit more melancholy than similar ARGENTHORNS and any of the other SBM listed above; forceful and darkly triumphant, often with an almost marching / martial quality and 50-caliber double kick; grandiose yet deliberate.

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ASET – Astral Rape [Les Acteurs de l’Ombre]

Orientation: Occult supergroup of an unknown number of reportedly fluctuating international artists, *some* of which are from ORANSII PAZUZU and SETH, focusing on Egyptian necromantic themes, descends with a debut out of fucking nowhere and turns a bunch of heads for good reason.

Sounds like: A “plunge into the mystical astral” (band’s words); a shockingly masterful apotheosis of aggressive fringe orthodox black metal which is equally immense, ritualistic, and dissonant; imagine a near perfect combination of AKHLYS / AORATOS / NIGHTBRINGER and MEPHORASH and DEATHSPELL OMEGA, also might be compared to FYRNASK and DODECAHEDRON.

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MOONLIGHT SORCERY – Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle [Avantgarde Music]

Orientation: After getting everyone’s attention with two incredible EPs in 2022 and buttering up the hype with a couple of singles, Finnish trio (plus Tommi “Tomahawk” Tuhkala on drums [OUTLAW, ONDFØDT, KVAEN, SPELL OF TORMENT]) flower their debut full length, and it was exactly what we were hoping for.

Sounds like: Fantastical and incredibly addicting black metal mixed with the best parts of power metal, to put it succinctly, overtly and beautifully reveling in the adventure which these two genres have to offer, whilst avoiding the pitfalls (ie no power metal vocals… thank fucking god). STORMKEEP, STORMLORD, blackened CHILDREN OF BODOM.

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MYSTICAL FULLMOON – Hermits Amidst the Marvels of Darkness [Zazen Sounds]

Orientation: Relatively unknown but longstanding (originated 1994) band from Italy verify that they are veterans with an excellent 3rd album of mixed extreme metal.

Sounds like: A mix of symphonic black metal and melodic death metal with classical elements; orchestration so robust that it is cinematic, yet not overbearing in the overall sound, with a somewhat homogenous production; having a hard time figuring out what other SBM band they REALLY sound like, even though it shouldn’t be difficult… perhaps that is some of the appeal; maybe a blacker and MUCH better SEPTICFLESH.

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ΣARΚ – Inumbris [self-released]

Orientation: Mysterious and almost completely unknown one-man project from Greece demonstrates rapid development by unfolding an immense fourth album after three prior since 2021. There is very little information available. Support this person.

Sounds like: Multilayered, massive, crushing black metal with shades of cataclysmic industrial, cavernous atmosphere, hypnotic doom, and eerie dissonance; INCREDIBLY good for how underground it is; *sort of*: ALMYRKVI, RUINS OF BEVERAST, BLUT AUS NORD, but also DEATHSPELL OMEGA and new GRAVENCHALICE (but better).

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HELLERUIN – Devils, Death, and Dark Arts [New Era Productions]

Orientation: One-man black metal riff machine from the Netherlands ignites a second album in jet-black fashion, garners legitimacy points by almost immediately having his Bandcamp profile deleted for no apparent reason.

Sounds like: Ferocious, full melodic black metal with copious tasteful blasting, entirely adequate vocals, and riffs that Just. Don’t. Fucking. Quit. MGŁA, SARGEIST, and TAAKE comparisons seem like low hanging fruit and less on-target than SPECTRAL WOUND, GRAFVITNIR, and DÉLÉTÈRE.

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HASARD – Malivore [I, Voidhanger Records]

Orientation: Debut black metal manifestation of French composer Hazard, best known for grandiose dark experimental neoclassical / extreme avant-garde opera project LES CHANTS DU HASARD; an immediate top contender for AOTY.

Sounds like: The march of an immense doomsday engine combined with the terror of a celestial air raid siren; increasingly orchestrated and industrialized advance dissipating into horror-drenched, brooding, malevolent atmosphere; impossible symmetry of chaos and momentum like the holographic scaffolding of some horrific sonic fractal; pure apocalyptic rapture; AKHLYS / NIGHTBRINGER, DECOHERENCE, early AXIS OF PERDITION, a more violent BLUT AUS NORD, ALMYRKVI, REVERORUM IB MALACHT.

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VAHRZAW – In the Shallows of a Starlit Lake [Bitter Loss (RID), self-released]

Orientation: Death / slightly blackened death metal band from Australia tries their hand at classic 90’s-style symphonic black metal…  and fucking kills it.

Sounds like: Unclean melodicism, slightly muffled blasting, malevolent vocals, flows of synth; an authentic, unvarnished and unequivocal homage to the time-honored sound of Norwegian and Swedish spirits of old; EMPEROR, CRADLE OF FILTH, DARK FUNERAL, SATYRICON, 1349, and GORGOROTH.

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AULD RIDGE – Folklore From Further Out [The Hermetic Order of Ytene]

Orientation: Prolific riff-god O.W.G.A, of Great Britain, sole creator behind these and additional currents, casually drops 8th and 9th full length in the last 3 years (across all projects) and continues to emerge as one of the best contemporary authentic black metal artists in the world. Note: We at Black Metal Daily were honored to get an exclusive interview regarding all of his projects after first completing conversational reviews for 2023 AULD RIDGE and ALBIONIC HERMETICISM albums.

Sounds like: Organic, brilliant, and audacious black metal perfection; heroic folktales provide the album concept and free-flowing, instinctive, metalized folk melodies provide the musical underpinning, particularly in the stone-cold insane improvised guitar lead (think of a more feral WINDIR, sort of), viola, and Irish bouzouki; acoustic folk interludes between each black metal track.

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IMPERIAL DEMONIC – Beneath The Crimson Eclipse [Black Lion Records]

Orientation: Unnaturally engaging and endearing debut EP from Northern Ireland manages to take my AOTY when I am in a certain nostalgic mood… but is excellent enough to induce that nostalgic mood, and marks another (major) win for Black Lion for 2023 in the process. 

Sounds like: Absolutely classic-to-the-core, straight to the point in the vein of early 2000’s Dark Funeral and Naglfar, with some Old Man’s Child and Cruelty era CoF thrown in. Nostalgic as all fuck, bringing me back like 20+ years, when I was first getting into the genre, and I love it; kicks so much ass that it is almost cheesy. 

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MEHPORASH – Krystl-Ah [Shadow Records / Regain Records]

Orientation: Supreme ritualistic occult blackened phenomenon from Sweden continues its trajectory astray from black metal proper with a metaphysicedelic fifth album, and takes AOTY in the process.

Sounds like: While still blackened, MEPHORASH has capitalized on a foundation of traditional Swedish black metal and has steadily transcended the genre with crowning sonic occultism (1557 – Rites Of Nullification, 2015), then prominent doses of ecclesiastical ritualism (Shem Ha Mephorash, 2019),  and now dark ascendant psychedelia; ecstatic elevation, rapturous layers, resonance beyond the auditory; a vast cathedral of consciousness, a battery of kaleidoscopic windows, fractals rotating, effortlessly melts and crumbles, builds, rises, melts and crumbles, over and over and over; material form, mental structure, rational thought caught in the ineffable tide of entropic cosmic connection.

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LISTCRUSH WILL RETURN… MAYBE.

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BLACK METAL DAILY’S LISTCRUSH 2023: The ALASKAN BERGWANDERER Edition, Part 2

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Yes, it is that time of the year again, where “experts” drop their picks for the best albums of the year. Everyone has their ways of going about such a monumental task, some are very meticulous; tracking plays on Spotify, Bandcamp, and at home with physical media. Then there’s others such as myself, who face existential crisis this time of year, wing a list based on listening habits of the last two or so months, and just hope the picks they present are the *right* picks. Is it the most scientific method to put a list like this together? Absolutely not.

I had thought that 2022 was a difficult year for me to compile a list such as this, in my preferred realm of black(ened) metal, but 2023 proved to be an even more stellar year, with truly great releases being dropped seemingly every single day. This truly is the most difficult time I’ve had putting one of these things together, I cannot stress that enough. And with the onset of certain announcements for January, 2024 looks like it will strive to be better still. What a time to be a music fan!

Anyway, when I put these lists together, these should never be read as any kind of real “order” of best to least best. Well, yes and no. What I mean is, for instance, album #40 isn’t necessarily worse than album #30, and vice versa for which one would be deemed better. Outside of my TOP THREE, the rest of this is a true free for all. Any and all could have occupied another slot on a different day. There were so many killer albums dropped this year that I literally feel bad to not include them all here. Also keep in mind, if I have gone out of my way to buy an album, then chances are I legit liked it. Think of this as a selection of artists I feel are worthy to check out on your own, and worthy of support.

I present to you, the reader, my top 40 picks of 2023:

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THE BEST OF THE REST

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40) OLDE THRONE – In The Land of Ghosts
39) ALBIONIC HERMETICISM – Nova Nativitas Mundi
38) ORDALIE – Mass of Perdition
37) VALRAVN – The Awakening
36) INHERITS THE VOID – The Impending Fall Of The Stars
35) NEBELGRUND – An den Toren von Krieg und Tod…
34) FATHOMAGE – Autumn’s Dawn, Winter’s Darkness
33) SHADOWS OF ALGOL – Transformations Of The Desert Witch
32) WEALD & WOE – For The Good of The Realm
31) VAHRZAW – In The Shallows of A Starlit Lake
30) EMINENTIA TENEBRIS – Rise Of A New Kingdom
29) SCÁTH NA DÉITHE – Virulent Providence
28) TAAKE – Et Hav av Avstand
27) HELLERUIN – Devils, Death, And Dark Arts
26) FOREST THRALL – Amidst Pines
25) TAUBRĄ – Therizo
24) ARIDUS – Serpent Moon
23) KIIRA – Iättömän Sanat
22) SOMBRE HÉRITAGE – Inter Duo Mundi
21) MINENWERFER – Feuerwalze

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AMONG THE BEST

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20) HÄXANU – Totenpass

This is only one of a LOT of insanely high quality black metal releases that emerged from the US scene this year. Alex Poole, multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire, was a very busy dude this year. He dropped albums with Nattfärd, Ringarë, and Krieg this year to go along with what was probably the best of his efforts; this very Häxanu album you’re now reading about. This is melodic black metal of very high order, with soaring melodies to go with equally cut throat passages. Subtle synths help guide the music along the 45 minute journey these eight tracks provide. Great drum parts and a great vocal performance by ‘L.C.‘ are exquisite toppings on an already delicious black metal cake.

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19) IMMORTAL – War Against All

Oh, surprised to see this here? To be quite honest, I would have been as well if not for the fact that Demonaz has successfully steered the Immortal brand back to its more vicious heyday, circa Pure Holocaust and Battles In The North. Now, is it actually as *good* as those two classics? Of course not. But you have to admit it is FANTASTIC seeing Demonaz being able to crank out the nasty riffage on an album himself after so many years of tendon injuries brought on by rehearsing the Blizzard Beasts material for multiple hours a day. And to be perfectly honest, I like his vocal approach. Sure, it’s not Abbath‘s trademark croaking that so many seem to get hung up on missing from these most recent efforts, but it absolutely fits the music regardless. The main riff in ‘No Sun’ ranks among the best of Immortal‘s discography. And no Horgh? No problem. Kevin Kvåle, of Gaahl’s Wyrd fame, more than handles the job behind the skins.

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18) LE PROCHAIN HIVER – Talvi

What a unique entry from the always quality Antiq label. At the very core, this is very much French black metal; Swirling, melodic and very emotive guitars in *that* French style to go along with varied tempo changes and harsh vocals that just sound cool in the native tongue. So what makes this album unique? First off, the use of operatic female vocals. That in itself is nothing new, symphonic black metal bands have been at least attempting that for decades now. What Le Prochain Hiver does differently with them is actually use said voice as part of the songwriting process. It doesn’t sound like an afterthought or a gimmick. Ms Dame Pandora even goes into some more primal stuff at the beginning of ‘Facing The First Snows’ that gives off serious Heilung vibes. It’s glorious. The next thing that stands out at times listening to this album, is the synths. They’re used sparingly, but tracks like ‘Ashes’, for instance, have synth parts that sound more fitting for a Dungeon Synth album more so than a black metal album. Again, not unusual in itself, but more the fact that while there are bands that do the Dungeon Synth/Black Metal thing, most of those bands tend to make the synths be the focus above the black metal. This is inverted, where very much Dungeon Synth moments are used in support of the music around it. It does make sense when you realize that main songwriter and vocalist Hylgaryss does in fact have a couple of Dungeon Synth projects in his stable. The atmosphere of this album is very befitting of the band name (which translates to “Next Winter”), the album title (Finnish word for “winter”) and the album art itself: Cold.

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17) DAEMONIAN – The Frost Specter’s Wrath

A damn fine discovery at the very beginning of the year, Japan’s Daemonian, specifically lone member Lord Metal, takes the template laid out by the Swedish black metal scene of the mid ’90s to the early 2000’s, but adds the machine-like technical proficiency that the Japanese metal scene is known for. This is melodic black metal played with absolutely insane focus. The riffs are literal buzz saws, ripping your head off and flaying your skin, but sounding oh-so-beautiful while doing it. This is a prime example of an absolute GEM that sadly flew under far too many radars this year. Of course, the odd decision to remove the full album streams from both YouTube as well as Daemonian‘s own Bandcamp page most certainly did not help. You can find one track online, ‘King Of The Daemons’ and it paints a fine picture of what to expect on this beast. An ultimate teaser, if you will, as it’s not even the best song on the album.

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16) ATHEOSOPHIA – Shadowgate of Winter’s Spirit

More USBM here. It’s hard not to talk about this album and not mention two of three other albums that were released by one musical mastermind Taurus and (I assume) his label Blood And Crescent. This album, Fellwinter‘s The Dawn of Winter, and Gauntlet Ring‘s Beyond The Veil Of The Night are all prime examples of raw, second wave inspired black metal done right. Riffs are ripping and have a sense of melody to go with the obvious intensity. The vocals are primo throat shredding affairs. The bass offers a nice support for the surrounding riffs. So what sets this Atheosophia album apart from the others? Well, Fellwinter‘s album is probably the most raw of the three, with real precise and straightforward drumming by one Mercenary. Gauntlet Ring‘s album is a little more polished in sound (heavy quotation marks on “polished”), and more freewheeling as Mercenary is let off the reins and just goes absolutely bananas on the kit, giving off a sense of chaos. Atheosophia‘s entry is a nice mix of the other two albums, plus has the best overall sound. It’s still raw, but there is a sense of power that can be felt in the music on this one. The only knock is that its programmed drums, as it is 100% a solo effort by Taurus. However, they sound natural enough and have enough of a human feel that it’s not really that much of a deal breaker… obviously. Yet another top tier effort bubbling up from the deeper underground USBM scene, alongside the likes of Forest Thrall, Obsidian Grave, among many others. Quite honestly, this should be a three-for-one type of entry. You can’t go wrong with any of them.

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15) OBSIDIAN GRAVE – Blood Of The Night

Speaking of Obsidian Grave… this album absolutely floored me upon first listen. While a little more on the raw side than I really typically listen to, the almighty RIFF drew me right on in. Much like the Tyrant album that shares the same cover art from last year, there is a heavier emphasis on influence from both the French and Finnish black metal scenes. The guitars carry both the medieval melodic flair of the former to go with the bulldozing wintry tones of the latter. No weak tracks to be found here, every song kicks you in the guts and dumps you headfirst into deep snow drifts. The vocals, in their mainly deeper mid-range levels give the impression of a predatory beast bellowing into the night and letting the winds carry it away. The fact this is on Dark Adversary Productions probably tells you all you need to know about its sound and quality. The USBM scene strikes yet again.

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14) SAMMALE – Finno-Ugric

Hot on the heels of last year’s self titled effort, Zannibal (of Marrasmieli and Paisaunt fame) is back with another offering of his “Finno-Urgric Forest Metal”, which translates to epic and well written melodic black metal that focuses on the old Finno-Ugric languages, culture and history. The first album, while quite good, I felt was a result of leftover Marrasmieli riffs not used for last year’s ‘Martaiden mailta’, but they were quality enough to warrant use *somewhere*. ‘Finno-Ugric’ on the other hand, feels more like proper focus was given to the sound and lore that Zannibal was striving to create. This very much gives off a feeling of finding an isolated group of people living unaware of the world around them deep in a Finnish forest somewhere. I could go as far as to say its deeply “Pagan” in nature, which it surely is, but it’s not Pagan for the sake of having a Pagan title. Use of jaw harps, acoustic guitars and more folk-like arrangements help add to this ambience. Now, there’s no doubt one will find similarities to Marrasmieli, as that project also creates a feeling of being lost in nature, but not as intensely as this Sammale album. Fans of melodic and deeply atmospheric black metal would do no wrong in checking this one out.

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13) ANCESTRAL BLOOD – Forgotten Myths and Legends-Chapter 1

More USBM on the docket. This is one of a number of releases that take melodic black metal and give it a good dash of classic heavy metal sophistication. Or, you have the opening of ‘The Cronos Stone’ which is straight up heavy metal. Unlike bands such as Moonlight Sorcery or Stormkeep, the guitars are the primary source of the melodies and ‘symphonic’ elements, using keys simply for underlying support. The compositions contained in Forgotten Myths… are of a virtuosic nature. Main songwriter Verigo shows off his fretboard technicality all over the aptly named ‘Sky Fortress of Wizardry’, as one prime example of many on this album. Another unique aspect to these proceedings is the fact that there is a female lead vocalist. While it is getting to be more common these days, it’s still not the norm. In fact, had I not double checked the band line-up in listening to this, I would have missed that fact. I did only find one glaring downside to Circe‘s performance, and that was the use of a really shallow, modern Dani Filth-like shrieking on ‘Through the Enchanted Forests of Illusions’. Thankfully, it’s an isolated incident, and ultimately does not take away from enjoying the album as a whole. If I’m being completely honest, *this* is one example of what I had hoped the newest Moonlight Sorcery would have sounded like.

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12) VALDRIN – Throne of The Lunar Soul

Ok, this *has* to be the highest contingent of US bands I’ve ever had on any one of my best of lists. It seems the talent is exploding, and more and more are succeeding in getting their names out there. Valdrin, much like Ancestral Blood before hand, play a very heavy metal infused style of melodic black metal, but leaning heavier on the symphonic side of things. The compositions here are a bit more complex than Ancestral Blood as well, more virtuosic musicians on full display. A lot of wonderful interplay between the guitars and synths that would make any Finnish band proud, though not *quite* as pure-shred heavy in the lead guitars. Interludes ebb in and out of the songs with perfect flow, the energy never subsiding. Now imagine my shock upon discovering that a) this was album number FOUR, as I was completely unaware of this project before this one, and b) that this is another chapter of a continuous fantasy story they’ve been weaving together since the beginning, with ‘Valdrin’ being the name of the titular character in the tale. Ancestral Blood weaved together their own fantasy stories on their album, but it was more like a collection of short stories while Valdrin is putting together a musical equivalent to a Robert Jordan series. Absolutely mindblowing the dedication needed to pull off something like this. This is another example of what I wanted the new Moonlight Sorcery to sound like. You know, black metal with power/heavy metal elements, not the other way around.

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11) ALDAARON – Majestic Heights, Melancholic Depths

For those uninitiated, Aldaaron plays that distinctly French style of almost hyper melodic, high speed black metal. Not as “medieval” as say Sühnopfer, Véhéhmence, or perhaps Aorlhac, but you get the idea in regards to the riffs and intensity of the compositions. The melodies are absolutely infectious, the songwriting strong enough to make songs that range from 7 to 8 minutes on average not feel like a beatdown on your eardrums. A lot of emotion that pours out of every note plucked, every word screamed, and even every programmed drum beat, as cheesy as that may be. What is most shocking about this album, is how much of a step up it is from Arcane Mountain Cult, just released last year. And a very fine album in itself, a list-worthy effort. But the compositions here are tighter, the playing is tighter, and the production is absolutely divine. Some people may be put off by the programmed drums on this, as there are some pretty ludicrous tom fills throughout… but then you realize a former member in drummer Mörkk plays those exact same kinds of fills on Ordalie‘s Mass of Perdition (also released this year), not to mention the first two Aldaaron albums, and it puts into perspective that a human being absolutely could play these parts. Another sticking point may be how they approach their cover of Dawn‘s The Knell & The World. Instead of playing a note for note cover, they instead reimagined it to be a composition that would fit better overall for the album as a whole. Brilliant move, quite honestly. Can’t recommend this one enough.

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THE BEST OF THE BEST, THE BLACK METAL KNIGHTS

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10) AŪKELS – Meddjan sklāit ten

There had to be at least one extremely late season offering… and this had to be that one. Having dropped on Winter Solstice, I’ve listened to this one multiple times pretty much every day, and I knew it deserved a spot in the top 10. Aūkels is one of a few noteworthy black metal projects by the one simply called ‘W.’. You probably know his other bands, which include Wędrujący Wiatr and Stworz. Aūkels is the project that focuses the most on the importance of nature and returning to the wild. Or as he puts it on the Aūkels Bandcamp page: “Anti-civ anti tech black metal”. The previous two albums featured a decidedly monotonous and repetitive approach to atmospheric black metal, in the best way possible. Not unlike a lot of Slavic bands, specifically ones from the Russian or Ukraine scene, its an approach that helps set an almost meditative mood. Or, an approach that allows the depth and layers of any given song to emerge as you simply sit and soak the music in, using subtle changes and builds throughout the track. In the case of Aūkels, the best place to experience this would be deep in the woods or on top of a mountain somewhere, observing the natural world around you. Well, Meddjan sklāit ten *is* a bit similar in approach, but with more variety to each song, a lot more ebb and flow between fast paced black metal to more introspective moments. Quite honestly, this album reminds me a LOT of the more recent Stworz efforts, except in a “nature rules all” kind of way instead of the “Pagan pride” kind of way. Every moment on this album (which clocks in over an hour in play time) is cohesive, everything fitting into place. Each track flows right into the next, no breaks. Field recordings of birds and nature sounds helped to set the “anti-civ anti-tech” aesthetic. Even 16min ambient tracks like the closing title track absolutely fly by, thanks to the impeccable songwriting and slightly different songwriting approach that keeps a listener engaged throughout. To break down the music itself, this is very guitar-driven material, with very emotive riffs and musical moments. They say “third time’s a charm”, and that is certainly the case here, as this is far and away the best of the Aūkels brand to date, and I would put this up against the newest Wędrujący Wiatr to battle for some of the best atmospheric metal music that W has come up with. No joke.

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09) MOURNING FOREST – L’Immonde Fanaison

Modern melodic black metal in the signature French way, plain and simple. Plenty of 2nd Wave inspiration, plenty of *those* French melodies on the guitars, plenty of awesome bass playing, and plenty of fantastic drum work, to go with a vocal performance that is a bit reminiscent of one Attila because of how Balkor uses his voice. And not to mention a rather high quality level of production to ensure everything is heard as intended. This was an album I got into at the beginning of the year, and the holding power it has is for real. Their use of build ups to explode into intense parts is almost unrivaled by many on this list. Almost. More on that one later. This being another rather lengthy album (75 min to be specific), there *are* times that things start hitting a bit of a lull, your attention can start to waver… but then a most glorious and epic riff erupts out of nowhere and brings you right back in. After a few of those moments, I came to the conclusion that this had to be a conscious decision by the band. They knew exactly what they were doing with the songwriting. They knew they would have listeners wrapped around their fingers. The bastards… anyway, this flew under a lot of radars and definitely deserves a lot more attention.

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8) SÜHNOPFER – Nous sommes d’Hier

What can I say about this that I have not already said in my review on this very hallowed site? This is the cream of the crop as far as that baroque style of hyper-melodic and medieval black metal, no doubt. To reiterate a couple points from said review; This is a fine return to form, a true sequel to 2014’s Offertoire. Listening to this truly makes 2019’s Hic regnant Borbonii manes feel like a departure, a side quest if you will, in its exploration of melodies and such that is key to the medieval French province of Bourbon. A fine album in itself, no doubt but Nous… is *the* sound we typically associate with Sühnopfer, and as I said in the original review, this is possibly the best Sühnopfer album to date. Read all my other meandering thoughts (*HERE*).

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7) KRAHNHOLM – Конец Трагедий

Man oh man… this is a band I have greatly appreciated for a few years now, having their full discography to date, and enjoying the progress they have made in their sound over time. Previous efforts, especially 2021’s A Wind In The Cold Night, could be compared to the likes of perhaps Drudkh or Vspolokh and the like, Конец Трагедий (Konets Tragedy) would be something that would appeal to fans of the Blazebirth Hall, at least musically speaking. ‘A Wind…’ had hints of this influence for sure, but had a variety of melodic bridges to change the mood and break things up. Конец Трагедий is lean and mean, very stripped down, not unlike the BBH old guard. Another point of comparison could be Windswept‘s The Great Cold Steppe. In either case, the mood-changing melodic bridges I mentioned earlier are dumped off on the side of the road somewhere and we are left with droning, occasionally melodic riffs that are all instant earworms and just create that vast atmosphere of being lost, standing on a cliff looking over a massive mountain valley. Oh, and a snowstorm is blowing in. Can’t forget that. My favorite moments on this album are ones like the latter part of Тирании Предел (Tyranny’s Limit). We go from a very methodical and plodding pace and suddenly explode into blast beats, while keeping that droning, meditative riff approach. So good. This album is SO GOOD. There are still a very limited number of CD’s available for sale outside of Russia, and I would highly suggest picking one up. And pick up their other albums while you’re at it. This is an unheralded band in a historically great scene!

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6) BLODTÅR – Det Förtegna Förflutna

Ok, explain to me how a label, a reputable label, like Nordvis can release an album like *this* and get little fanfare for it. Right from the get go, opening track ‘En krona av is’ establishes that this is going to be heavy on the Scandinavian folk melodies, not unlike Storm or Isengard. But then tracks like ‘Ur mörker’ and ‘Den fördärvande sorgbundheten’ kick you in the teeth with pure black metal moments delivered with the intensity of a Dark Funeral or classic Thy Primordial. I’ve even referenced this album as Windir played at the intensity of Dark Funeral, in fact. You know what else this reminds me of? Way back in the day, twenty years ago, there was a band from Norway called Ásmegin that released an album called Hin vordende Sod & Sø, and contained therein was a volatile mix of metalized Norwegian folk music with more intense black and death metal moments, with some over the top blast beats and double bass. While it could be a bit jarring when they jumped from one extreme to the other (which really wasn’t as often as you’d think), I feel like it was a template that was established, and now Blodtår emerges with what that mix could be. The transitions between the folk and the fury is smooth as silk, with the guitars leading the way. Carl proves to be yet another top-tier Swedish guitar talent, to go along with his savage vocals and melodic bass playing. But, I think the true star of the show is drummer H. Alarcón C. Until I actually looked on Metal Archives and in the booklet, I had assumed it was programmed drums. We’re talking moments that approach peak Dominator at times, between the blast beats and the fills. All in all, this is a wonderfully varied album that keeps one foot in old Folk Metal traditions while keeping the other in extremely melodic black metal. Superb.

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5) ГРОМОВЕРЖ (GROMOVERZH) – Издревле (Izdrevle)

Do you miss the glory days of Temnozor? Specifically albums like Вольницей в просинь ночей (Folkstorm of the Azure Nights)? Well my friends, have I got news for you! The one and only Stringsskald, perhaps most notable for the one lone Walknut album, wrote a bunch of music between 2001 and 2010 during his time with Temnozor. He started working on doing something with this music in 2015, and some 8 years later we have the GLORY that is Gromoverzh. This truly is a long lost Temnozor record, with everything from the raging Russian black metal riffage on up to the multiple flautists (yes, multiple) laying down enough flute tracks to make Ian Anderson proud. While it is a point of contention for some folks, I for one am all about the use of it. It is such an unusual thing to slap on top of a black metal album, but I love the fact that it’s not a typical instrument for such a record in this genre of music. The songwriting, unsurprisingly, is top notch. Good enough to where they can slap a just about 30 minute track smack in the middle of this album and you really don’t notice the difference. The multiple movements of ‘Меч Вольгаста (в 6-ти частях)’ ( Volgast’s Sword (in 6 parts) ) flow right on into another, and it just… flies by. Somehow the song does not get crushed by its own atmospheric weight, and in fact feels like there really is not much fat to trim off of it. Aside from that one lone (and very long) song, every track here has Stringsskald‘s trademark riff mastery that sounds equally like past black metal relics as well as the modern day sound. One helluva way to get your name back on the scene! No clue if this is something that will be a one and done type of thing, or if the project will continue to push forward with this style of folky, Pagan-themed melodic black metal. We shall see…

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4) TREST – Sorginak

The anonymous Germans returned this year with more tales of wrongfully convicted and executed so-called witches, this time on Sorginak highlighting six victims (by name) of the Basque Witch Trials, at the tail end of the Spanish Inquisition. To musically represent this, I felt that Trest takes a very Slavic approach to their black metal; pummeling drums, droning riffs, atonal melodies, and deeper register vocals that just reek of horror and impending doom. Each time I listened to this, I pulled more finite details out of the murky production. You can read my expanded thoughts in my original review (*HERE*).

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3) WINTARNAHT – Anþjaz

I tried like hell to get people turned onto this one upon its release way back in March, to little avail. Even so-called Dauþuz fans couldn’t seem to be bothered with this, and I could not tell you why. The riffs are quite reminiscent of what you’d hear on a Dauþuz release, the mass variety of vocal delivery is like what you’d hear on a Dauþuz release, and that is no surprise given the main man Grimwald is also one of the main guys *in* Dauþuz. Alas, we are not talking about a Dauþuz album, but instead one of the very best Pagan themed black metal albums of the year. As I originally stated in my review, this is no gimmick. Grimwald dives deep into Germanic history, using the ancient Old High German language and going deeper into Shamanistic atmosphere. No surface level fake shit to be found. Read all about it (*HERE*).  

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THE PRINCE OF THE KINGDOM

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2) STRAHOR – Gde Vukovi Zavijaju

Despite being numero dos on my list for the year, this was quite likely my most listened to album this year. The young buck behind this Serbian based project, Volkh, graced us with a volatile mix of freezing Slavic riffs, second-wave sensibilities, and ran it through a COARSE heavy metal filter, all while not being afraid to inject a little thrash and a little folk and doom elements here and there. Every song was an absolute earworm, with ‘For Those Who Follow The Heart’ easily being my anthem of 2023. Volkh was limited by having to self release this and promote himself best he could via the usual social media means, but this is yet another album GROSSLY underappreciated by the general black metal masses. May Volkh‘s wolves forever howl for years to come. As with all of my top 5 picks, I did write a full review, which can be viewed (*HERE*).

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THE KING OF THE REALM

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1) AULD RIDGE – Folklore From Further Out

I called it. I proclaimed it in the collab review I did with fellow BMD scribe GOS. I said that, and I quote, “O.W.G.A. is standing on a castle turret, awaiting all challengers to come and lay claim to the throne he is currently occupying. The gauntlet has been thrown down”. I said this back in early May, and the prophecy has been fulfilled. Nobody took the throne from O.W.G.A., although Strahor made a good run at it. I mentioned that the Strahor was my most listened to album of the year, so what gives? How did this still be number one? Well, whenever I had any thought of Strahor taking my number one spot, I would throw this guy back on, and it was as clear as day why this wouldn’t budge. Think of the difference between a brash young warrior and a seasoned knight/chieftain/what have you. The brash young warrior has the strength, charisma and power to win duels and battles on his own, sure, but the seasoned one has refined his skills, distilled his art to deadly precision. Strahor has exuberant riffs and a lot of exciting ideas all over the place. Auld Ridge is more calculated, every note of every part in the place it needs to be in to make the entire album as a whole impenetrable and be able to dispatch all comers with far less effort. It’s a level of class that is really difficult to describe except that you can just simply HEAR it in every song. Even the folk tunes are presented with the same level of care as any of the metal tracks, they were not thrown on as gimmicky interludes. This is god-tier stuff.

And, perhaps I’m just simply more vested in this project than any other from this year. Hell, I’m more vested in this *circle* of projects than any other this year, as The Hermetic Order of Ytene puts out truly elite material. I got to do the collab review for this (see it *HERE*), as well as Albionic Hermeticism‘s Nova Navitivas Mundi (which is *HERE*), and also had the opportunity to help GOS with the ONE AND ONLY EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW that O.W.G.A. granted this year, which you have to check out. Go *HERE* and be blown away by the thorough and thoughtful responses. It was destiny that this would be my number one, and STAY my number one.

All hail the king, Auld Ridge has claimed the throne of my 2023 Black Metal Albums Of The Year! 

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LISTCRUSH CONTINUES SOON.

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Of Space, Satan and Psychedelica – A Review of ‘Nova Nativitas Mundi’ by ALBIONIC HERMETICISM

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By AK Bergwanderer and GOS

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GOS: Well, well, here we are, back again. Straight off the finale of the AULD RIDGE review, AKB and I decided that we gotta take life by the horns and yolo / inertia / all that stupid shit and roll right into a review of O.W.G.A.‘s concurrent release from brother project ALBIONIC HERMETICISM, in a blatant attempt to brainwash readers into loving The Hermetic Order of Ytene family as much as we do. *motions of worship commence*  

AKB: Hell yes, I’m all aboard The Hermetic Order of Ytene train, and have no qualms keeping this one rolling along.

GOS: I feel like we should do some preliminary conceptual groundwork, but without giving away too much, because at the time of writing this, access to information about this concept of the album is limited. Nova Nativitas Mundi is being described as “a space opera in 3 acts”, which, briefly, revolve around a cosmic quest for divinity, the encountering of Satan, and subsequent Satanic galactic imperialism. Now that we have that covered…

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‘Prologue’ / ‘The Devil In A Conical Flask (Or His Unholy Formula)’

GOS: Oooooohhhhhhh this is spacy and cozy, psychedelic. Or is it just me? Floaty synth with acoustics creeping in… AAAAAAEEEEEEEHHH!!!

AKB: And BOOOOOMMM, it goes off. The first actual track certainly didn’t fuck about starting off… but man, this got a bit trippy. ‘Spacy’ is a very apt term, describing both the intro and now barely a minute into the first proper track! But man… not unlike the AULD RIDGE, the guitars are NOT messing around. None of it is messing around, if we’re being honest.

GOS: Yeah, as expected, it is riffing all over the place. It reminds me of something… Oh it’s WINDIR! And these initial vocals remind me of ESOCTRILIHUM. But more rudimentary sounding. In a good way, if that makes sense.

AKB: There’s also a murkiness that is different from the AULD RIDGE record, but then again, that’s been one of the differing factors between these two specific projects. ALBIONIC HERMETICISM is a bit more raw and “out there”, so to speak.

GOS: Definitely. This seems both more raw and more… abstract.

AKB: I can’t bring a specific comparison to mind, vocally, but did I just hear some clean vocals buried in there that was a bit Attila-like? This is already a journey. I expect nothing less from a self proclaimed “Space Opera” as stated in the booklet. And while this is more abstract for sure… this is so far the most accessible ALBIONIC HERMETICISM album to date, already. The other albums I have to be in a mood to sit down and listen to a whole album. This is already something I know I will visit again multiple times. I’m liking this. I’m really liking the more delicate moments, when there’s space (no pun intended), room for the song to breathe and guide us along.  

GOS: There’s definitely something about this that feels more… I dunno… delicate? Pristine? But not in production, it’s just that there is some element that seems almost graceful or beautiful or something. I dunno. Maybe I am too high. Haha.

AKB: Nah man, I hear it too. It sounds vast. This is what other “space themed” black metal acts strive for, I assume, but it comes off… muddled. There is an underlying beauty to the proceedings so far. And… that was 12 minutes of music already??

GOS: THE FUCK? That was like a goddamn time warp. Really? Dude. I think I might be a little too high. Or maybe just right for this I dunno. Whew. Aaaanyway… It’s strange, because compared to AULD RIDGE, this definitely seems more, well, all those things we mentioned up above. In a word, let’s say ‘atmospheric’ or ‘cosmic’. But, prior to this I have always thought of ALBIONIC HERMETICISM – Psalms to the Father, anyway – to be more aggressive and heavier, like AULD RIDGE but a little more deathy. That is NOT what is going on here.  

AKB: Yeah, this is not like the previous efforts at ALL. I hear that same kind of… ’avantgarde’ vibe the other albums of this project have, but yeah, it’s not nearly as harsh. As I stated before, I have to be in the right mood to sit down with the other ALBIONIC HERMETICISM albums. And, I think we’re seeing this continued trend of these projects under this Hermetic Order banner becoming more homogeneous. I hear AULD RIDGE, I hear SKARE, but it still stands out as different from those other two monikers of O.W.G.A.

GOS: It almost seems to me like AULD RIDGE is sort of the backbone, it seems more consistent and predictably awesome album to album, while ALBIONIC HERMETICISM is a bit of a grab bag. Sometimes deathier, sometimes cosmic (apparently), sometimes… what do the earlier ALBIONIC HERMETICISM albums sound like? You know them better than I do.  

AKB: Simply put, the earlier efforts are raw black metal, with a tendency to get off into some weird headspace. Never too far *out there*, but there’s a feeling of experimentation. They have some rather bipolar moments. And keep in mind I’m only speaking of the two splits and the preceding two full length efforts. The very first full length… ehhhhh, I’m not a fan. O.W.G.A. was definitely trying to find his footing, and he hadn’t found it yet. It’s pretty standard stuff, but not particularly interesting. But, it’s probably still better than any number of projects out there. You know, it dawns on me; without knowing what O.W.G.A. is all about in his day-to-day life, and in thinking about the prior AH albums, I wonder if AH is a project he does the compositions for when he is under the influence of something mind altering. Be it drugs, alcohol, both, whatever the case may be. AULD RIDGE is so much more straight laced and focused (as you alluded to previously), while this has more of a “free form” thing going on.

GOS: Perhaps! I hope we get a chance to ask him. I do know that I’m currently experiencing a good amount of… ummm… *saturation* with this Nova Nativitas Mundi!

AKB: Speaking of which, the title track is up next.

GOS: *mentally buckles up*

‘Nova Nativitas Mundi’

GOS: Wow this riff is… all over the goddamn place. Is this a riff? Or is he just doing whatever? I’m having trouble finding a solid pattern repetition. Jeezus. I’m gonna have to listen to this so many times to try to figure out what the guitar alone is doing.

AKB: Woah… I like how this kicks off!! It’s almost… ’70s prog. PROGRESSIVE. That’s another way to describe this whole album so far. I am a bit annoyed that there are no lyrics to read along with. I can call there’s something conversational happening with the vocals. Like there’s different characters speaking. And here we go… a little more aggression and beef in the 3min mark.

GOS: Yeah it sort of solidified into familiar territory for a second there but that guitar is STILL all over the place.    

AKB: Let’s face it: O.W.G.A. is just showing off at this point. His guitar prowess and songwriting ability is off the damn charts.

GOS: Yeah this is some Faustian shit. I wonder if he “wrote” this beforehand or just fucking *did* it during the recording. The guitar work has a very improvised, almost jazzy feel to it (without sounding like jazz at all). There was some cool chanting that flew past there which I really enjoyed, and you are right, there is definitely a discourse happening within the music that we cannot make out.

AKB: I had refrained from saying “improvised”…but now that you say it. There is that kind of flow to it, just finding a groove, a track to fall into and is just playing what comes to mind. He’s pulling a Roman Saenko under his WINDSWEPT guise on us. OR, O.W.G.A. just has that big of a brain and is just a musical savant.

GOS: I’m gonna give the credit to his spirit, not his flesh! I just realized I heard about 15% of that song. I was so zoned in on the guitar that I don’t even know what the rest of it was. It’s tempting to replay it again, but for some reason it seems almost daunting, like I just know I’m going to get lost again.

AKB: Aside from the fact that it was a title song, and it should be dense as all hell, there’s just a ton of stuff going on musically with this entire album. It’s quite cinematic, really. My little computer speaker setup does this no justice at all. I think I need a massive 1980’s stereo and speaker system to fully appreciate everything that is happening. Not that I don’t appreciate it right now, but it needs a bigger room and much more volume! Haha.

GOS: I do have it playing loud on big speakers (small space, however), and I can tell you, it is quite overwhelming. Earlier I could have kept up with it, but as I’m getting more tired, there is SO MUCH going on that it is pretty disorienting.

‘Agios! The Cosmic Temple of Satan Is Born’

AKB: What in the name of ABIGOR is up with that song title? I’m sure it will be another mind-melting, lengthy slab of spacy insanity. And I love the thought of it. This is by far my favorite ALBIONIC HERMETICISM to date. I feel I can say that with confidence now that we’re this far along.

GOS: I’m on the fence. This is trippy and cool, but so different from Psalms, and I like Psalms a LOT. I’ll have to do a side-by-side someday, and it’s a little strange to anticipate that it might be apples and oranges even though they are both ALBIONIC HERMETICISM.  

AKB: For me, I think it’s the accessibility of it. It’s not quite as much a strain on the ear as the earlier albums, and… maybe due to this concept album thing going on with this one, there’s a consistency between the tracks that I can latch onto. Whatever the case, I just love it. Anyway, so we have this ABIGOR-inspired song title, let’s see what an audio representation of a Cosmic Temple For Satan sounds like… Oh this is nasty, vicious. Much more assertive.

GOS: YES! I can dig this. Way more straightforward than that meandering of the last track. Now THIS reminds me a bit more of the last album of AULD RIDGE. I like the more upbeat groove and the chanting vocals, but also when it slows down into this almost meditative psychedelica.

AKB: This interlude part… this has to be real drums. Yes, I’m still stuck on that. I like this ethereal, trippy vibe going on. AND BOOM. What an explosion back to the blasts!  

GOS: Yeah I like this better than the last track fo sho.

AKB: If I didn’t know better, I’d say it makes sense this track is like THIS, as this story is starting to get to its final stanzas. A climax of a track. Once again, I long for the lyrics to this madness. And I do not typically say that about a black metal album.

GOS: Let’s ask him! I got an email reply from O.W.G.A a few days ago that he is interested in an interview with Black Metal Daily! Man this song is great. A great closing track… except there is actually still the Epilogue to go.

AKB: I’m still mind blown about that news. And oh yeah, there *is* an Epilogue, isn’t there? Haha.

‘Epilogue’

GOS: … an epilogue which is layers of reverbing riffs across an easy-flowing tempo and perfectly audible bass and keys. Even as an album outro, this is very enjoyable.

AKB: It sounds like a dirge of sorts. Satan has won, the defeated are marching to their doom… but what is this..? There’s a bit of piano and an uplifting melody emerging? This is rather epically cinematic. Oh man, I’m really liking this riff pattern happening now…and the synth touches… I get ’70s vibes. OOOhhhh… this gets a bit… ominous… in the closing bit of this, eh?

GOS: Yeah, very beautiful towards the end… overtaken by feedback… then beauty again for the fade out.

AKB: What a ride of an album.

GOS: Definitely demands subsequent listens to try to grasp what is going on. At the very least with the pretty significant variability between tracks.  

AKB: For sure. I’m definitely going to be diving in on this one a few more times. There is variability between the tracks, but there’s still a cohesion that ties it all together. Perhaps a *CHAOTIC* cohesion, but it’s still cohesion. Man, ‘Agios!…’ and the ‘Epilogue’ really steals the show here. Everything prior was just a big build up to these tracks, which does make sense as part of a concept album. Once again, I do hear elements of O.W.G.A’s other projects in the mix. And yet, this still stands on its own legs as quite the entity itself. Bravo!

GOS: I’m not sure that all of what is offered here hits the same as the parts that I like the best, which is basically the more straightforward and aggressive element, but I would be lying if I said that the album concept and the corresponding divergence of different styles isn’t intriguing.

AKB: I can certainly appreciate that train of thought. I’m with you, in regards to the more straightforward moments on this album. I obviously like those parts the best. HOWEVER, the super trippy free flowing riff fest presented for the majority of this wasn’t a big ear strain for me. My big issue with a lot of the more “avantgarde” styles of black metal is the pure note density that tends to happen. There’s space for the notes to breathe (as we had talked about earlier), and you actually can hear what O.W.G.A. is doing at any given point in time, instead of having to decipher layers upon layers of tracks and murk to figure out half of what’s going on with other artists. May not be a big deal for some, but that’s huge for me and my particular tastes. If more of these types of projects had a similar approach to the production as *this*I would be a much bigger fan of this particular subgenre of black metal.

GOS: I’m with you. I think it happens when the avant-garde style ends up being too technical or progressive, too complicated, and usually too sterile. In this case though I would describe it less as that and more borrowing elements from, like, psychedelic rock or something, with a very stripped-down, organic feel. I approve.  

AKB: That’s a fair point. Maybe I’m a bit loose, or even unknowing with the “avant-garde” tag, but then again I don’t really listen to many of those kinds of bands. The progressive element should have been a more obvious descriptor for me, as now I’m reminded of the earliest Arcturus albums (ok, the first album), and maybe even ‘Vikgingr Veldi’-era Enslaved. You know, where it’s obviously black metal but there’s much more complex musical backbone underneath it all. I did pick up on all those ’70s psych-rock flourishes as well. I bet O.W.G.A. has quite an extensive music collection in his abode. And I suppose that is something that could be asked in a potential interview!

Nova Nativitas Mundi is available now via The Hermetic Order of Ytene and Dark Adversary Productions.

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Purchase Nova Nativitas Mundi on CD and digital from The Hermetic Order of Ytene Bandcamp HERE or the Dark Adversary Productions webstore HERE.

Support ALBIONIC HERMETICISM:

• The Hermetic Order of Ytene Bandcamp
• Official Albionic Hermeticism Facebook

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

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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