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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On The Threshold of Terror and Ecstasy – A Dual Review of ‘Krystl-AH’ by MEPHORASH

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By GOS & Nathan Hassall

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MEPHORASH. If you have not heard this name emanating from the occultic depths of the black metal underground, may you hear it now, and may it be known. 

A historical introduction, in brief: Originating in 2011 with Death Awakens and a timbre not atypical for traditional Swedish black metal circa 2010 (consider: WATAIN, VALKYRJA, ONDSKAPT, etc.), the first echoes of ritualistic deviation can be heard as early as 2012’s Chalice of Thagirion. Two transitional steps (“Atramentous Ungod Aspect” from a split with ASHENCULT, then the Sfaíra ti̱s fo̱tiás EP in 2013 and 2015, respectively) proceeded to the 2015 authoritative and aptly-titled 1557 – Rites of Nullification, which solidified an unmistakable distinction both in a more unique sound and authentic occultic power. The auditory meditative ritualism, thus established, was focused and amplified with 2019’s ambitious opus Shem Ha Mephorash, drenched in an aesthetical contrast of puritanical white and sanguine red — a sonic sacrament of divinity. The name of God thus (externally) addressed, what is there further to consider but divine awareness, perception, and connection? Enter Krystl-AH, 2023.

Due to the subject of Krystl-AH and the chimerical nature of MEPHORASH, the commencement of a review was nothing short of intimidating. Therefore, It was necessary and preferred to invite close comrade, poetic acrobat, and fellow psychonaut Nathan Hassall to join me. After making the necessary pharmacological preparations — incense and a black candle — and pulling three tarot cards from Benebell Wen’s Spirit Keeper’s Tarot (Revelation Edition) deck, it was so:

G: Welcome, brother *prayer nod*. The conduit opens.

N: Greetings, my friend. What is your one-word intention for the tarot card pulling?

G: Clarity.

N: Great. Mine is transmutational insight. I will pull three cards, first for you, second for me, and third for connecting principle. 

G: Which cards have you pulled?

Clarity: Herald of the Winds (AKA Page of Swords) — Venture of the Dauntless. Highlights from the accompanying tarot book: “You are fearless. You’ll undertake an enterprise even while it’s still speculative… Move forwards to move upwards. Speak with a commanding voice, and people will listen.”

Transformational Insight: The Hector — Five of Swords. “Be mindful to keep your aggressions in check. Do not lash out in anger or spite; don’t use your words to hurt others just because you can… There is an imbalance of power in the situation at hand… Indomitable strength does not come from lording your power over others; it comes from using your charisma to sway others.”

Connecting Principle: The Ivory Shield — Sanctum of the Immaculate — “Dedicate time in the sanctum of the immaculate to clear your world of the debris others have left behind in it, and once cleared, trust and create from your own intuition, psychic senses, and lean in to your emotions—they will not lead you astray… The spirits advise spiritual purification.”

N: Of course the spirits advise that!  The cards know exactly why we are listening to Mephorash this way — spiritual purification is necessary. (My fingers Freudian-slip-typed “porousness” instead of “purification” at first. So let us be porous, too.)

G: Ha! Very well! Thank you for being here with me for this.

N: And you! Let the clarity and transmutational process begin. 

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“Krystl-Ah”

N: Classic Mephorash beginning, ritualistic drumming, inviting hums. 

G: Yeah, this is a clear transition from Shem Ha Mephorash, continuing with the same drum pattern and utterance, “shem ha mephorash,” which concluded that album. I find it somewhat ironic that this track is entitled “Krystl-Ah,” as it essentially sounds like it would fit perfectly on Shem Ha, with its mellow black ritualism.

N: This album starts with a much lighter touch than 1557, the album I know second most after Shem. It’s less of a demonic hammer to the face more a calm swelling in the mind. Mmmmm. I feel that nervousness before transformation, a once-green leaf shaking in the wind as it unhooks from its mother branch and flickers tiny fires as it twists to the ground, in and out of sunlight.

G: I feel that as well, and historically, particularly with 1557, that tension tends to erupt into something fairly aggressive. Here, I have found something different is going on. The apex and release have a different nature.

N: There’s a general sheen to the music. As if the crystal momentarily trapping light before refracting it. This pace is slower, keeping more in line with Shem. Not quite doom, more melodic than that genre tends to be, but certainly on the slow end of mid-tempo. It feels odd — there’s almost a friendliness, a forgiving nature, to the spirits in this music, as if an entity is lightly pulling my left hand towards the correct (and crooked?) path. 

GOS: Everything after 1557 I interpret as being significantly less specifically daemonic and much more “holistic.” Not just below, but above as well, and with this album, a new vector is introduced within and without. A lot of this is indicated in the album art. I think that this suggests, if not demands, a brief examination of the elements of the amethyst for consideration. Amethyst is a purple crystal generally considered representative of the Anja (Third Eye) or Sahasraha (Crown) chakra. Its associated element is air. It is considered to possess a high vibrational frequency and thus align with mental and spiritual potentialities, including psychic abilities, clairvoyance, and spiritual connection with the divine, facilitating spiritual awareness and intuition. For Krystl-AH, multiple images surrounding the album feature a growth of crystals, usually of purple and indigo color, emerging or growing from the head. Additionally, promo photos of the band indicate that they have switched from a color palette centered around white and red to one dominated by purple, including the wardrobe and the first press limited LP.

N: Purple is the colour of the Crown Chakra in the esoteric aspects of Buddhism and Hinduism. Considered the seventh charka, it exists at the ‘apex’ of this system of spinning wheels. “Sahasrara,” meaning “thousand-petaled,” refers to the lotus flower, a symbol many religious traditions use/have used, including Ancient Egyptian, Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Shintoism. In the Vedic texts, Hindu gods are depicted standing on these lotus flowers. These flowers (AKA the water lily) open slowly, one petal at a time, and frequently bloom from a swamp. This sacred symbol has numerous connotations, including spiritual enlightenment, purity, and rebirth. 

G: With the conclusion of the first track, I hope the album will bloom as the lotus does…

“Gnosis”

N: Birth happens at the threshold between songs — we can hear a baby crying as it inhales its first, beautifully terrible breath. Luckily, I don’t have a womb to get twisted in knots at this — but I do feel fairly uncomfortable (I would love to know how various women feel when hearing this).

GOS: I generally have an acute aversion to infants crying when utilized in music, but it works here. THIS is the first moment of something new for the band. This incredibly soft, beautiful part at the beginning of this track is heretofore unheard of as far as I am aware. This is fantastically moving. I have goosebumps.

N: The start of this track is incredibly emotional. We’ve shared some intense experiences at your cabin, some of which consisted of listening to MEPHORASH. A shimmering beauty brings tears to my eyes, as if the guitars are sculpted out of glass, their strings carved from ice. We just experienced the baby being born, and now they are singing us into a melodious dirge.  Western twangs in the guitar? Didn’t you say “Pink Floyd-like” in our conversation the other day?

G:: YES! And there is something else that it reminds me of too, but I am having trouble identifying it. Something that is not black metal, though. 

N: Along with the tarot I pulled, the five of swords, which commanded me not to be angry or controlling, aspects of my ‘shadow self’ I’ve worked to deal with for years to bring awareness to and improve. I’ve had experiences that remind me that anger is a valid emotion — something I’ve repressed — but that there’s a way to express it healthily. Listening to this, I feel these more frustrated emotions that clench my muscles and tighten that slipknot in my chest transforming to something more thoughtful and healing by the music. It’s only track two, and a tear — its liquid hosting crystals of salt — is sliding down my cheek.

GOS: Midway through the song, I feel a climbing towards climax, drums and choirs building, the voice snarling… and then it cuts loose, not to *pure* aggression but more like rapture, ecstasy! 

N: Yeah, certainly more aggression at this mid-way point, but the female angelic choir keeps things ethereal. As if anger was never anger at all but a blazing sun of love and light emanating from the clouds. (I am aware that this language is not typical for black metal. Let the inversions of expectations continue!) Also, those wailing guitars are so crystalline, so alluring, as if crystals are vibrating and cracking into perfect form before my eyes.

GOS: I fucking LOVE where this track goes… even though it deviates away from black metal perhaps more than any other track in their repertoire (so far!). I’m completely on board, and I think I already have a lot more appreciation for this track in contrast to the first one, specifically *because* it goes so far astray.

N: I am nodding my head gently here. It’s so triumphant. Feels more like prog metal, with some Viking-like sprinkling, as men are sailing their black ship to the Mysteries over the tongue of a waterfall at the end of the earth. 

G: God, it really is beautiful. I am in awe. Currently on my third round of goosebumps… There is a LOT of resonance here on a level that goes well beyond the auditory.

N: Agreed on resonance! Of late, I’ve been listening to music more intently with my body to see what parts are reacting (and what their sensations feel like) more clearly. With an anxious joy smearing in my heart and some swelling behind my eyes, fluid is rippling at the top of my spine and spreading tentacle-like up the back of my head.

“Catoptrophilia“

Gos: The transition to this song is almost entirely arbitrary. I didn’t say that correctly. I mean: although this is being slated as a different track, it very much seems like a direct continuation of “Gnosis”. Also, considering that “Krystl-Ah” itself was transitional, I strongly suspect already that this is a journey with phases, not an album of separate tracks.

N: Agree. It’s basically Part II.

Gos: The meaning of this song title is unknown to me.

N: Catoptrophobia is an intense fear/phobia of mirrors. Self-reflection. I didn’t know this before. So, we have gone from bliss to what I would think is fear. But you wouldn’t know that from the start of the song. I am struggling to connect the meaning of the track title with the song itself. It is darker, but I know Mephorash to go much, much darker, and I don’t quite feel the fear of self-reflection or the phobia of mirrors.  OH, DAMN, lol. I researched phobia before. It says CatoptroPHILIA. So, is it sexual interest in mirrors? Or the reflection in the mirror? Or love? Is philia love or more perverse than that? Don’t dendrophiles want to… have sex with trees?

G: It’s love, but it becomes perversion when it becomes conflated with material, sexual gratification. 

N: So, in the context of this album, what do you think it means? If I’m thinking about crystals, transformation, and a later song called “I AM,” there’s something about the deepest possible spiritual self-reflection which, I intuit, will in turn ‘shatter’ the mirror? Pave the way for transformation?

G: I’m not sure I can put it into words, but what I am leaning towards is something about the self as a mirror of the divine, and this track expresses a love of that reflective process or capacity. 

N: For reference, I do mean a metaphorical/internal mirror. The mirror behind the door inside the heart. And saying that—I agree with it being reflective of the divine thinking more about what you’re saying. Especially because it’s MEPHORASH — not sure they’re a band spending too much time with ‘surface’ themes, the ungodly prison of the material world (hence their earlier ‘gnosis’ — apprehending spiritual truths intuitively). 

G: Absolutely. MEPHORASH is one of many bands for which I have immense appreciation for eschewing petty mundane themes entirely. 

N: I just realized that, in their promo text, they mention “divine narcissism.” I’d like to research that deeper because I am unfamiliar with it— though my gut reaction is adverse to that phrase, which feels oxymoronic.  I’m glad you kept encouraging me to listen to Mephorshah — although I had discovered Shem Ha Mephorash and enjoyed it, your love for 1557 and subsequent plays we’ve listened to together when we’ve been, ahem, ‘inspired’ by certain intoxicants, have led to many transformational and revelatory experiences. I even listened to it on the way to the gym a week ago while driving through the dried-up belly of a canyon in Southern California. On the way, I had an intense spiritual experience, which I won’t detail here out of respect for it. But in hindsight, I probably should have pulled over.

G: Goddamn those cleans! 

N: Man, they really nail these cleans! 

(Note: We wrote the above two lines simultaneously; it must be that “connecting principle” from the tarot…)

G: There is just an IMMENSE amount of elevation here, transcendence. I’m not sure I can wrap my head around it entirely, but such transcendence necessitates connection as a prerequisite. Or something. Ha!  

                                                                                  *** / Crows caw / *** 

G: The crows at the end of this track is an interesting element. It imparts something corporeal, some…place, someWHERE. Like… we have arrived at a point or locus yet clearly not physical. A mental state? Perhaps the next track will tell us…

“Soma Yoni”

                                                                               *** / waves break / ***

Somewhere but unsure where we were or are now. But the occurrence is being touched by something… oceanic. 

N: The song starts with a similar note from the first song on 1557. I love how MEPHORASH intertwines things like this — they understand that rituals are always a continuation of previous rituals — they are not performed in a vacuum.

G: MEPHORASH has a level of interconnectedness that I can’t even begin to grasp. I imagine that with every offering, they reference the entire body of their work. I know those connections are there, but I have no idea how to sort it out, particularly with 1557. I am a very visual learner, so the album artwork tends to be very informative about how to listen. While 1557 has an equal depth to Shem Ha or Krystl-AH, the artwork is much more cryptic and specific to a certain occult system I am unfamiliar with.

N: I agree with that. Their music is always so intentional it feels like every note is placed with utmost care. Whereas this could be stifling for some bands because they may lose wild creativity from somewhere deeper, MEPHORASH understands ritualistic, devotional flow. Even the crows in the interlude have been brought back to ‘caw’ during a drum beat, ensuring their ancient calls interact inside the organs of the music. I always think of crows as harbingers — sacred birds. It reminds me of the English poet Ted Hughes’ best poetry collection, Crow. Especially this:

Crow and the Sea

He tried ignoring the sea
But it was bigger than death, just as it was bigger than life.

He tried talking to the sea
But his brain shuttered and his eyes winced from it as from open flame.

He tried sympathy for the sea
But it shouldered him off – as a dead thing shoulders you off.

He tried hating the sea
But instantly felt like a scrutty dry rabbit-dropping on the windy cliff.

He tried just being in the same world as the sea
But his lungs were not deep enough

And his cheery blood banged off it
Like a water-drop off a hot stove.

Finally

He turned his back and he marched away from the sea

As a crucified man cannot move.

G: Yes, EVERYTHING they do has meaning. Everything is an element of the rite; every bit is magic. The double kick in the first half of this track pleases me. So far, this seems like the “blackest” offering, yet still drenched in trance, ritualism, soaring guitar lead… and now… 

N: …the sexual ritual bit. It’s pretty long — which means it would be awkward to play this music in ANY social setting (probably its intention) more than it would otherwise be, ha. I was watching the lyric video to this earlier, this track is an invocation of (some of?) the Mahavidyas, the ten goddesses of Tantra, fiery avatars of Mahadevi, the Hindu Mother goddess. The chant: “Kali, violate me! Matangi, defile me! Chhinnamasta, behead me! Shamsana, burn me! Bhairav, kill me! Tara, compel me! Shodoshi, Seduce me! Kamala Glorify and Dhumavati, mourn for me.” A later lyric refers to the “seductive dance of fire and blood.” Heavy stuff.

G: The sexual theme throws me a bit, just as the crying baby did, but while the crying was brief and seemed self-explanatory, the female moaning feels less intuitive, so I did some research. Note: In the Vedic tradition, sóma is a ritual drink of importance among the early Vedic Indo-Aryans, soma may mean “distill, extract, sprinkle,” often referenced in the context of rituals. Yoni is sometimes an abstract representation of the Hindu goddess Shakti. The yoni is conceptualized as nature’s gateway of all births, particularly in the esoteric Kaula and Tantra practices and the Shaktism and Shaivism traditions of Hinduism. Yoni has been interpreted to mean the “womb,” the “source literally” and also connotes “vagina,” “vulva,” and “uterus,” or to the “origin,” “abode,” or “source.”

N: Another thing I enjoy about bands with deep, occultic/spiritual/religious themes is that they ask us, as listeners, to research and deepen our understanding of the music’s ‘source material,’ which helps deepen our understanding of the Mysteries. Oh, and the way they utilize more clean vocals in this track — bringing the ecstasy to climax (pun intended), followed by that chromatic guitar, melodically soaring — is excellent. I feel a crystal forming in my head, akin to a stalactite dripping from the chin bone of a cave. 

G: You are almost verbatim writing exactly what I was preparing to write about the music.

N: Must be in sync. Crystal-Ah-men. Sinking. 

“Chrysallís”

N: Enjoying the synth/piano here. Writing a live review is hard when I just want to close my eyes…

G: Exactly what I am struggling with as the album goes on. This track is more similar to “Gnosis” in that it has more of a psychedelic rock foundation, very elevated, floating, fluttering, flying, of the air…

N: And we are in that chrysalis, the pupa where a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. I read somewhere that transformation processes like this in nature are the norm and not the exception — that 80% of species, 60% of all living creatures — undergo complete metamorphosis. What fascinates me is that built into the creature’s structure, at a genomic level, is a wisdom/knowing capability for this transformation. A caterpillar doesn’t have wings, but it holds the potential to grow wings, much like an acorn has no trunk or branches but can become an oak tree. I’ve read some biologists refer to puberty as a type of metamorphosis. Perhaps all living things have some form of it. The chrysalis is also a classic transformation symbol — explored in (among many, many other books, especially in ones pertaining to Jungian psychology) The Pregnant Virgin: A Process of Psychological Transformation by Marion Woodman, if memory serves me correctly. 

G: AGAIN with the rapturous elevation, it just doesn’t stop. Layers upon layers. 

N: A dark, heavy, and fast beat rarely is what gives you a “break” in a black metal album. But here, it helps give the angelic loftiness a grit, anchoring the celestial themes in the flesh that the gnostic does so much to denounce, seeing it (and all material ‘reality’) as a prison forced upon us by the demiurge. In resonance with these clean vocals, my heart is a cup, spinning and spilling its fluid electricity. 

 G: Typing words about what I hear at this track’s end seems like a travesty. This is not what is meant to happen when this music is carrying you.

N: Mate, that felt like a job to write in relation to, rather than delighting in what the music is. Totally agree.

“I am”

G: And this track isn’t going to make it any easier. Good God.

N: Haha! I love the synth. It is a little bit like… a tinge of sitar with a… xylophone? I can’t quite catch it with my ear. Here’s hoping someone with better musical knowledge will school me.

G: My capacity for analysis is reduced to almost nothing. I am worthless here. This is pure beauty. What can I say? How can I type when I must fly? Sorry readers, just get fucking high and listen to it; that might be the best I’ve got at the moment.

N: Haha! It’s a problem for us ‘critics’ or ‘reviewers’ or whatever you want to call us who write about music rather than make music. It’s good that we can review it to help bring it to more people, but there’s something horrible about the act of it. Total impurification of the art, and not in a good sense. It is a bit like one of Plato’s dialogues about the three tables, one made by God, the other by a carpenter (one step removed from God) and the other painted by a painter — a representation, two steps removed from God (or the pure “Form”). In terms of music, you have the Form (divine), the instrument maker (one step), the music producer (two steps), then, I feel like there is a third step removed from that, and it’s writing about it. And not through poetry either, but rather through the clumsiness of prose. The only thing that can come close to music in terms of language is poetry, and even that fails to touch its essence. Though Plato would probably disagree — he liked to insult poetry (while, ironically, being pretty damn poetic himself).

G: Yes, I see what you mean. The same idea is reflected in the allegory of the cave. From the inspiration (the divine) to the artist to the producer to the product (the “painting”) then we have additionally our own perceptive filter and THEN our descriptive interpretation and translation into words. I’m not sure how many steps that is… five, six?… but when you can perceive elements of the first few, the contrast between that and what we can offer in the last seems completely inadequate. This is an absurd task.

N: They played “I AM” at Cosmic Void Fest in London. You can tell when a band (that’s as talented as Mephorash) has a new song because the energy in the performance elevates, because they are playing something closer to the point of when it was inspired and manifested into what it became, and it carries that energy of conviction. 

G: You know, as a single, I didn’t understand the greatness of this song, and same with “Gnosis,” but as a part of the whole, each track blossoms in further mystical depth and is almost indescribably more meaningful and powerful. This is my criticism, MEPHORASH: singles don’t work for you. You are too great.

N: Love it. And agree with you. Devoid of the album’s context, the singles are almost anticlimactic. Like trying to look at the corner of a tapestry and mistaking it for the whole thing. 

G: These soft female vocals are absolutely gorgeous. Then, combined with the darker vocal, just… very difficult to describe its effect. 

N: Highlight of the whole album, this softness. The lyric: “From the darkest sky / the stars disperse.” Where are they going, I wonder? This is the self-realization song; in all its flowering, gnosis is in full flow. It’s the recognition of the fragment of God (Shem HaMeporash [sic] literally refers to “the explicit name,” another way of describing the Tetragrammaton — the “name” of God in the Hebrew Bible). Listening to this, I feel a wholeness; the blurring of boundaries between “Self” and “Other,” moving between the Many to the One. What’s brilliant with bands like this is they can help spark that feeling of divinity in anyone, which is latent in all of us —  like how a dormant volcano has the potential for energetic eruption. You can see these spiritual experiences as purely psychological phenomena or a true realization of the Essenceless Essence, the All, the Boundless, the One and the Many, God, Source of Nothing and Everything — it doesn’t matter. These guys have immersed themselves in that process as they can transmit it authentically. The only way to know is to experience (or, ironically, ‘nonexperience’) it. People will know if you fake ‘occultic’ or esoteric or spiritual knowledge in your music, art, or poetry, no matter how brilliant you are technically or in craft. You can only authentically translate (along with craft and skill) that which you have been revealed. The problem is you can only distort that experience/non-experience into art. The advantage is that authentically conjured music is the most direct artistic ‘channel’ to the divine. I say that with an element of pain and envy as a practitioner of poetry and, to a lesser extent, art. On this point, I can tell Mephorash knows what they are doing as authentic practitioners of the Great Work. 

“Mephoriam”

G: Metaphor + I am?

N: Mephorash + I am? I guess both works — because it could be BOTH/AND. That is the spiritual principle of showing unity. I AM = realization, so what’s now in the universe is being threaded together in this album. 

(Note: G’s  “metaphor” was initially a typo and went to say the same thing as N first — but we decided to leave both for purposes of discussion)

G: This track is monstrous, almost 17 minutes long! They outdo even the 15-minute Shem Ha Mephroash concluding title track! 

N: A long track that soars along as we write, once again. This album is exactly what it needs to be for me. Its beauty isn’t ‘spineless.’ True beauty cannot be spineless. It understands that beauty is ephemeral and urgent, and we can celebrate each cell-dancing micro-moment inside the context of the infinite and the ineffable. Something this authentic will always have bite, even if it’s just a single tooth ringing against a temple bell. However, it does make me crave their next album to go into ripping black metal. Back to 1557. Come full circle. Like, have something to go to next on this psychedelic trip.

G: This song spans and encompasses the major elements from the entire album.

N: More male cleans in this one. Broken by a demonic voice, damn. I wonder if this song will give clues to what’s next. And in transcendence, there’s power. The more we learn about the Mystery, the more we learn to explore its questions, the more ‘power,’ itself an energy, emerges. 

G: I hear it, I hear you, and I want to respond, but I am at a loss.  My feeling of inadequacy has been steadily building since “Gnosis” and finally now in the face of this track, I am basically rendered helpless, and not for any lack on its part. Sprawling, epic, majestic, powerful, pure, exalted, triumphant. 

N: You covered it with those adjectives. And the end of it is driving, keeping within the album’s melodic sensibility. 

G: I can not imagine a better end to this odyssey. 

**Concluding Remarks**

G: I’m glad you accompanied me here. This album repeatedly overpowers me, and I think only with both of us is there even a sliver of a chance of doing it justice.

N: True pleasure and yes, togethert, we can go from 0.1% of doing it justice to 0.2%. Ha. I am inconsistent with picking up reviews because I spend so much time writing other things, so asking me to join you feels great. Thank you for that!. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, clearly, unpoetically: I absolutely fucking love black metal. It’s had such a deep impact on my life emotionally and spiritually, and I’m indebted to masters like MEPHORASH, who produce music that grabs me by the spine, rumbles me out of egoic thought loops and anxious ruminations, and inspires me to act in the world, produce my own creative work in honor of the Great Mystery, and use transcendent experiences to foster change and growth, so that I may — in the end — be who I need to be so I can serve others better.

G: I can very much see a different self being frustrated at the lack of consistent black metal presence in Krystl-AH, but… the perfection of this unfolding is so prominent that instead of saying, “This isn’t black metal enough,” it quite clearly makes more sense to say “black metal isn’t enough for this”. This is WAY beyond what one comes to expect within the genre. In a last-ditch effort to summarize, I might offer a few impressionistic bits that were (barely) authored in a state of deep psychedelia and physical paralysis while consumed by Krystl-AH several nights ago: 

Chanting, trance elevates bliss, elevates to trance, chanting, bliss, bliss, each Transition vessel, towards, further, different indigo shades of inner Transcendence, higher Consciousness. The Raven insists that one must go yet deeper, sex heavy mysticism erupts in flame. My small, lonely abode expands and rises above, a cathedral, vast, ecclesial, a battery of kaleidoscopic windows, fractals rotating… and 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. Hands are far away, body lost at sea. Closer at hand: the edge of Terror and Ecstasy, overflowing Holotropic Rapture. 

***

N: Stunning words, Ivan. Perfect summary. This album clearly touched you with the Poetic Divine.

I bid you farewell, with love (sorry, nihilists), to all of you reading this. May the black flame burn ever brightly, reminding us that the gold (or, in this case, the crystal) of wisdom will forever be found inside the darkness. 

G: Amen.

Krystl-AH is available now via Shadow Records.

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Purchase Krystl-AH on LP, CD, CS and digital from the Shadow/Regain Records Bandcamp HERE or webstore HERE.

Support MEPHORASH:

• Official Linktree

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LISTCRUSH 2019: The Ivan Gossage Edition

Hails to Order Ov The Black Arts, Black Metal Daily, and any readers gracious enough to spend time reading what will follow. 2019 has been a hell of a year for extreme metal, and these are my top 57 picks of the year. There’s a hierarchy here, but only by tier… those that fall within a given tier are generally interchangeable and honestly even the margins of each tier are a little arbitrary to some extent, but this seems like the most feasible way to provide some sort of structure.

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FIRST TIER: ALBUM OF THE YEAR

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Disillusion – The Liberation

I could write a short novel about my experience with Disillusion, but that would be boring for you, too personally revealing for me, and marginally inappropriate for this forum since Disillusion isn’t black metal. Sitting midway between progressive epic death metal (think An Abstract Illusion, Ne Obliviscaris, or Eternal Storm [see below]) and progressive modern rock (i.e. Tool), Disillusion can be squarely described as epic progressive metal. Their 2004 album Back To Times of Splendor is THE album I would choose if I could only choose one album to listen to forevermore (except if I were living in the snow, then it would be The Mantle by Agalloch), and The Liberation is a sequel to Back to Times of Splendor. The music?… you will just have to listen for yourself, don’t expect anything too aggressive, and I’m never surprised when other listeners aren’t nearly as hyped about it because so much of my listening experience is wrapped up in subjective contexts. Just listen to ‘In Waking Hours’ and ‘Wintertide’ (songs 1 & 2) with headphones and no distractions… if it doesn’t resonate with you I get it, but I can’t really adequately express how this album resonates with me, and I’m not going to try. Bottom line, it’s probably my favorite thing that has been released since 2015 except for Schammasch’s Maldoror Chants EP. Favorite tracks: ‘Wintertide’, ‘A Shimmer In The Darkest Sea’ [Tool fans should check that one out], and ‘The Liberation’.

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SECOND TIER (six selections)

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Saor – Forgotten Paths

This was probably my most anticipated release coming into 2019 except for Schammasch and Fleshgod Apocalypse. Since it was released early in the year, because it is so short, and because my love of the album was reinforced by seeing Saor live at Fire In The Mountains festival, it almost certainly gets the award for most spin time. Three epic Caledonian tracks and a nice filler outro that I nevertheless bother listening to. Did I mention that it is short? Yeah, that’s my only complaint… the album length, as well as more nuanced details like the physical presence of the vinyl (regular sleeve instead of elaborate gatefold with poster like the previous 3 albums) makes me really want to accuse this release of being an EP. That aside, the music is PHENOMENAL. Three tracks make picking top songs pretty pointless, so I’d like to recommend full volume on the track ‘Forgotten Paths’ at 4:20 (do you hear that crazy rubbing sound that the bass starts doing at 4:28-30?! What the IS that?!) and the chorus’ of ‘Brón’. Saor has since signed to Season of Mist, and Andy is already working on the next album. Yes, please.

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Misþyrming – Algleymi

Unlike Saor and Schammasch, I was completely blindsided by this one. When it went up for preorder I blew it off because there was no preview track. Big mistake, which was almost instantly rectified upon hearing the first minute of the first song. Aggressive, catchy, subtly epic, and with good amount of attention paid to seriously rocking the fuck out… to put it simply, Algleymi has everything that I look for in black metal… not just in timbre, but in attitude as well: “It is our utmost conviction that the artist ought to stand beyond good or evil and that the pursuit of his or her artistic goals should therefore remain untouched by considerations pertaining to critical reception, the sensitivity of a potential audience, or anything that would detract from the full accomplishment of those artistic goals. Taking into creative consideration the very fragile current zeitgeist would render any piece of art absolutely harmless and devoid of worth … let us leave the world of binary thinking for a minute, concentrate solely on the individual of exceptional fabric, and dream aloud.” [D.G., Bardo Methodology interview, 2019]. Full Support. Favorite tracks: I don’t know… fucking… all of them I think.

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Aoratos – Gods Without Name

The prolific output of Naas Alcameth makes it difficult to resist exacting upon Aoratos a bit of comparative analysis against its infernal siblings. What Aoratos projects is a supernatural force which is both external and worldly, and can hence be more easily demarcated from the dread internal psychic nightmare of Akhlys, as well as from the more subterranean hellish inferno of Bestia Arcana. That leaves Nightbringer as Aoratos’ closest relative, but here there are important differences. Lacking the epic keyboards and heightened shrill falsetto guitar lead of Nightbringer and bringing instead a nuanced industrial edge, Aoratos forgoes the immense, sprawling apocalypse of Nightbringer and instead emotes a monstrous haunting; more local, more rural, and more terrestrial. The power of this album is absolutely annihilating. Recommended: ‘Gods Without Name’, ‘Thresher’, ‘Watcher on the Threshold’. See full review HERE.

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Schammasch – Hearts Of No Light

One of my two most anticipated albums of the year, Schammasch (unlike Fleshgod Apocalypse) did not disappoint. Overall, both lyrically and musically, Hearts Of No Light exudes something that is darker, more negative, and more personal than previous albums. Lacking the usual concrete motif, Hearts Of No Light instead consists of multiple tenebrous approaches to a wider and more varied array of areas deep within, where shadowy undercurrents hold sway, where rays of light are glimpsed, and where outward cohesion begins to dissolve. In this way, Hearts Of No Light signifies a progression not only in terms of wider musical variance, but also in the way that the whole is composed… while each track addresses different nebulous aspects of being and tends to individually move from a state of abstraction towards increased emotive cohesion, of the lack of a distinct overarching thesis is itself a statement about the chaos and darkness of inner existential turmoil. Recommended tracks: ‘Ego Sum Omega’, ‘I Burn Within You’, ‘Katabasis’. See full review HERE.

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Asagraum – Dawn of Infinite Fire

If you are looking for straightforward, no frills, epically aggressive familiar Swedish sound (ala Sworn To The Dark / Lawless Darkness and Vobiscum Satanas / Diabolus Interim) complete with persistently satanic themes, casually blazing riffs, relentlessly tasty ballistic percussion, scorching vocals and that horns-in-the-air ‘let’s burn this fucker to the ground’ insolence, look no further than this musical inferno. Everything about this release positively glows with sincere and authentic classic black metal audacity, and they are doing it WAY THE FUCK BETTER than more established contemporary acts (yes, looking right at you, Watain and Dark Funeral). These ladies are fucking DOMINATING right now and if you like that style and you haven’t been paying attention, please get off your ass, because Dawn of Infinite Fire is downright ruthless. Recommended tracks… fuck, same as Misþyrming, this whole thing is amazing.

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Mephorash – Shem Ha Mephorash

Shem Ha Mephorash is a work of massive ambition, and I have to admit that a significant part of the appeal is not just the music (which is fantastic but pointedly contemplative and ecclesial and not necessarily superior to 1557-Rites of Nullification in my opinion) but the sheer developmental advancement and enormity of the album (clocks in at 74 minutes), the stunning artwork of the physical product, and the overall level of ambition and coherence. The lines between the daemonic and theistic blur here as Mephorash seems to obscure such trivial distinctions, the trumpets of both Heaven and Hell harkening a sacred fire to the spirit, casting the listener simultaneously above as crystalized vapors of ethereal perfection and below to infernal ashes of annihilation. Woe to the profane secular flesh and petty ego, gasping and choking on the smoke from a numinous flame. A modern esoteric black metal masterpiece, Shem Ha Mephorash radiates with transcendence, sacramental power, and a terrible, beautiful white flame of holy judgement. See full review HERE.

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THIRD TIER (ten selections)

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Kaleikr – Heart of Lead

This one is a bit of an enigma. There’s a LOT going on here that Kaleikr managed to seam together very well. Starting out very close to the beautiful, utra-melodic, atmospheric black metal sensibility of Saor’s Forgotten Paths (ironic because the albums were released at almost the same time), Heart of Lead quickly evolves in a myriad of different directions, like more menacing progressive black metal, technical death metal, progressive death metal, and prog-rock. It even gets a little bit into that claustrophobic and suffocating Icelandic sound with the short title track… but this is minimal and not overdone. A good thing in my personal opinion.

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Musmahhu – Reign of the Odious

A fucking savage blackdeath offering curtesy of Swartadauþuz, mastermind behind Bekëth Nexëhmü, contributor to Gardsghastr (see below), and a surfeit of other extreme projects. This one ranks as perhaps the most violent of all my year-end picks, and might be compared somewhat to Aoratos as an immediate reference. Reign of the Odious is more death metal-oriented, but similar in terms of unremittent pitch-black maelstrom mixed with subtle industrial(ish) elements and an undercurrent of epic cataclysmic ruin. Completely necessary. 

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Eternal Storm – Come The Tide

I won’t get too into it because it isn’t black metal, but this is a magnificently written, powerful, very melodic opus of beautiful epic artful death metal, which got LOTS of playtime from me. For fans of An Abstract Illusion, Exsickator, and Rivers Of Nihil’s Where Owls Know My Name (but more melodic DM than technical DM). Recommended tracks: ‘Through the Wall of Light Pt. I (The Strand)‘, ‘Through the Wall of Light Pt. II (Immersion)’, ‘The Mountain’.

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Wormwood – Nattarvet

In 20+ years of listening to extreme metal, there has been only ONE time that an initial listening experience was so profound that I was almost brought to tears from the opening minutes of a song… What is crucial about ‘The Isolationist’ (the last song, track 7)  and in a more general sense Nattarvet as a whole, is the ability to capture a profound paradox: It is a journey both within and also beyond, aptly conjoining the psychological tragedy of isolation with the coldness of natural indifference, and achieving a dissolution of the self through immersion in the solitude that pervades reality as a whole. See full review HERE.

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Hath – Of Rot and Ruin

Another death metal album. A fantastic one… a near perfect combination of groove, speed, classiness, melodicism, brutality, progressiveness, and technicality, complete with tasteful acoustic interludes and fantastic vocal variation. For fans of Black Crown Initiate before Black Crown Initiate decided to try to sound like Tool. With vocals kind of like Travis Ryan ala Cattle Decapitation, but without those melodic highs. It’s really just badass in every way.

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Panzerfaust – The Suns of Perdition, Chapter 1: War, Horrid War

Monstrous, crushing, war-themed blackdeath with limited tasteful atonality, overpowering vocals, and some doomish sensibilities (mostly in terms of production and an overall sense of progressive desolating inevitability, not in terms of speed)… what can be said about this album that hasn’t been said before and more elaborately? This is one that just demands a listen in order to get it. It’s difficult for me to describe it in a way that makes the album sound unique, but it IS unique, and its short length and promise of subsequent installments makes it easily digestible, leaving one pining for more. I hope we get it in 2020.

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Totaled – Lament

You ever get those moments when you give your chosen listening device a raised eyebrow because of all of the asskickery that is suddenly occurring? Like it was sort of kicking ass in the first place but then it gets taken to the next level and hits that sweet spot when you are just like ‘fuuuuuck’? Well, Lament has a SHITLOAD of those moments. It’s a fusion of black metal and galloping no-damns-given punk/crust/core/grind/violence/something belligerence. On the BM side of things there’s some classic Swedish melody taking place, not unlike old Dissection or mid-era Watain, etc., but there also some much more aggressive, cutthroat Tsjuder-like ripping which really helps bridge the gap between the epic melody and the whateverthefuckitis in such a way that the tracks can vacillate between the disparate styles and sometimes outright mix them together while always sounding entirely seamless. I managed to pounce on the last fancy LP on Bandcamp and the package came with this really cool set of Tarot cards which match the cover art. Definitely highlights this as a top release for me.

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Vukari – Aevum

With only moderate hype, this album turned a lot of heads when it dropped (at least in my social media circles)… and for good reason. Progressive black metal done perfectly: great focus, great balance, great drive, great production. The sound, while not as “warm” as one would find with many post-black offerings, but it is certainly not “cold” either, and the mix embraces the sort of enveloping, balanced, crystalline density that one can find, for example, with Gaerea’s Unsettling Whispers (2018)  or Beltez’s Exiled, Punished, Rejected (2017) … the sort of mix where you can hear everything, nothing is in excess, and it all sounds terrific. There’s nothing here that isn’t downright tasteful, and it fucking rocks on top of it.

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Vortex of End – Ardens Fvror

Vortex of End definitely gets my most underappreciated band of the year vote. Despite one previous album already under the belt, captivating album artwork, a surprisingly elaborate physical product (I grabbed a gold LP), and my own best efforts, it never really seemed like Ardens Fvror gained much traction as the triumphant black metal monument that I think it is. Musically, this is undeniably compelling: a slightly death-tinged, powerful, ferocious, yet artistic orthodox BM masterwork with an array of exciting elements and plenty of room to breathe. The vocals are particularly noteworthy… varied, interesting, and effective. What it reminds me the most of is a more muscular evolution of Ascension’s acclaimed Consolamentum album, while simultaneously being much better than anything Ascension itself has put out since. PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS. 

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Rorcal – Muladona

Based on a novel of the same name by Eric Stener Carlson, and featuring narration of the story by the author, Muladona is the extreme auditory interpretation of a horrific tale of disease and decay, death, violence and stench, grotesque pubescence and entrenched evil. Heavy to the point of devastating, suffocatingly dense, and with a compressed magnitude which is a bit hard to explain, it is no surprise that Metal Archives inadequately describes the band as “Sludge/Doom Metal/Post-Hardcore” but, I’m somewhat curious that the “Blackened” tag is omitted. I’m not sure about older albums, but this one certainly warrants it. Much like the Reverorum Ib Malacht release last year (but sounding nothing like it) my reaction isn’t really “I like this”, but more like “I am in awe of this”.

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FOURTH TIER (fifteen selections)

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Blut Aus Nord – Hallucinogen

Hallucinogen is a prismatic, spiraling, inspired voyage that intentionally waxes towards both the outer realms of cognition as well as towards the far fringes of an eccentric discography which is already so varied and visionary that Blut Aus Nord holds a categorically exclusive, unique, and unmatched status within black metal at large. See full review HERE.

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Drawn Into Descent – Endless Endeavour

A melancholic and moving combination of DSBM (which I almost never listen to) and post-black warmth. Much like the Wormwood release, the album is full of quality tracks, but there’s one that really caused me to make the investment, and that was “Wither” (track 2), which a peer shrewdly described as “the ‘Sultans of Swing’ of black metal”… can you hear it? Since I do believe that ‘Sultans of Swing’ is probably one of the best 5 rock songs ever written, let’s just say I was convinced.

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Ashbringer – Absolution

Easy Americana-folk infused barelyblackmetal with meandering, woodsy melodies, lightly cascading percussion, straightforward vocals, positive Lennon-esque message, and a very organic, natural, mellow production. Very little distortion or aggression to be found here, this is for times of peace. My only complaint is that the vocals could use some variation, they stick to the Harakiri For The Sky-ish yelling pretty much exclusively. Quite beautiful overall though and probably my most laid-back pick of the year. Great tunes for a wayward northwestern drive amongst the trees, and truly a unique album, musically and visually.

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Akasha – Canticles Of The Sepulchral Deity

Malignant, audacious, and relentlessly abrasive, Akasha is a hybrid of venomous, frenzied raw black metal and savage, necksnapping D-beat driven crustpunk. Unlike Totaled, there is zero melody to found in these tracks, only slight variations of speed which ranges from paced predatorial malevolence to frenetic, driving bloodlust, all the while spearheaded by riffs to rip out your throat and vocals to mar your soul. Shockingly, singularly, and utterly vicious.

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Consummation – The Great Solar Hunter

Pummeling drums drive forward anxious riffing before seamlessly progressing to up-tempo headbanging extravaganza sections. Short but violent guitar solos are dispersed throughout, as downtempo passages featuring ominous chants emerge. Mid-paced groove proves to be one of the more stellar aspects of the album, among many other impressive qualities. Swirling, threatening, almost nauseating guitars atop simple ritualistic beats transition to more doomy, melancholic, and at times quite beautiful measures featuring soaring leads and spoken word. See full review HERE.

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Gardsghastr – Slit Throat Requiem

For me, there’s a lot to not like with about 95% of all modern symphonic black metal. Gardsghastr, essentially a supergroup comprised of Swartadauþuz (Bekëth Nexëhmü, Musmahhu, etc.), Alex Poole (Chaos Moon, Entheogen, Skáphe, etc.), the Blackburn brothers (Chaos Moon, Accursed Aeons, Guðveiki, etc.) and relative newcomer voice Glömd avoids all of those pitfalls, hurling forth an album that is at once grandiose and furious. Symphonic elements accentuate the songs instead of trying to carry them, and the tracks blast forward with surprising aggression and brazen scorn, tempting comparisons to more assaultive works within the subgenre like Anorexia Nervosa’s Drudenhaus (but less reliant on orchestration) and Nightbringer’s faster songs.

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Aihos – Hävityksen Maa

Immediately virulent melodies ala MGLA, Dumal, or Uada… helplessly addictive headbanging-in-traffic grooves… beautiful clean acoustic moments… unabashed black and roll qualities of Instinct / Assassins era Nachtmystium… the folk inspired flavors of Nokturnal Mortum… both the classic magnitude of Sworn / Lawless and the more stripped-down galloping orthodoxy of Casus / Trident Watain… fateful march-for-the-horizon-with-your-head-held-high epic ala Catamenia‘s Winternight Tragedies… and all wrapped up in just the right amount of Finnish fuzz. It might not be breaking any huge molds, but this album interweaves multiple facets of straightforward melodic black metal. An instant classic, second in line for most underappreciated album of the year.

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Ultar – Pantheon MMXIX

A critically underrated release from earlier this year. A soaring and complex melodic post-black Lovecraftian opus with a long list of fine attributes, not least of which is an amazing and varied vocal performance and soul-tugging guitar solos. While the music tends towards epic, bombastic scales, the vocals serve to maintain integration with both more traditional black metal currents as well as loop in some post-rock and black-folk elements (specifically similar to the little-known American one-man act Appalachian Winter). I was midway through the third track on the first playthrough when I found myself going for the Buy Record/Vinyl button.

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Grima – Will of the Primordial

Nature-centered and frost bitten, this Siberian black metal places a heavy emphasis on melancholic inflection, an icy subzero vocal delivery, and shitload of damn appropriate accordion. Not to mention other cool stuff like winter bells, blizzards of furious double kick, and whirling guitar riffs, and frigid synth. As a bonus, when Naturmacht Productions opened up preorders they also made the previous album, Tales of the Enchanted Woods available on vinyl for the first time. Thankyouverymuch.

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Sühnopfer – Hic Regnant Borbonii Manes

It is difficult to describe what takes place across the vast and furious sonic landscape of this album. The music embodies austere medieval granite… yet shimmers with golden empyrean aristocracy; the sound is gritty and hard… yet so clearly of the air and the heavens; belligerent and ruthless… but brimming with a passionate hyper-melodicism; a furious bombardment of harmonized antipodes. It is a shockingly flawless display of weightless chaos and choreographed intensity, breathtaking not only for its sheer aesthetic beauty but also because one can scarcely comprehend how such a beautiful maelstrom of orchestrated complexity is possible. Disorientation almost guaranteed unless full attention is given, and even then, it’s a gamble. See full review HERE.

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Remete – Into Endless Night

Steadily driving, foggy melodic black metal, courtesy of D, mastermind behind post-black prototype Woods of Desolation and the rawer(ish) and folk-energized Forest Mysticism. Synth and probably various other instruments adding heavy doses of melancholic presence make this some perfect wintertime midnight music which gets better with every subsequent listen. Into Endless Night is at the top of my list of albums that I’m willing to get pressed onto vinyl at some point. 

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Dead To A Dying World – Elegy

Sort of an odd pick for me if I’m being honest. Also, hard to categorize with some sludgy elements, progressive aspects, doom pacing, black metal flourishes, and “epic crust” is given a nod on their Bandcamp page. Also, multiple vocal styles of deep roaring, blackish screaming, male and female cleans, and array of interesting instrumentation including viola, hurty gurty, Hammond organ, piano, tubular bells, clarinet, hammer dulcimer, and cello. Forlorn, complex, and heart-wrenchingly beautiful much of the time, the wake of my own personal hype surrounding this release led me to retro-collect their entire catalogue, and I regret nothing. 

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Noctem – The Black Consecration

With The Black Consecration, Noctem have definitively annihilated any preconceived notions of what their 5th studio album should sound like… and it is tremendous. Abandoned are many of the death metal elements, grandiose epic flourishes, crystal clear pristine production, and overall vastness of musical concept. What has been embraced is something significantly more stripped down but not raw, focused but not primitive, and straightforward but not simplistic… something more… black metal, and with a noteworthy compacted production to boot. See full review HERE.

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The Great Old Ones – Cosmicism

Like some immense cosmic horror, tentacles reaching through time and space to spread its monstrous alchemy across the vast universe, Cosmicism is immense, Lovecraftian supernaturalism, carefully layered into ambitious and complex, deep yet expansive melodic black metal. The void’s cold smolder, the frothing of measureless and beautiful empyrean dread emanates from these tracks, not in a relentless explosion, but in a calculated, purposeful, majestic cosmic imperialism, more powerful with every return.

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Nihilism – Obscurite Noir

Jet-black and insidious, this album makes use of addictive, needling riffing (including something that sounds, awesomely, almost identical to parts of the anxiety-inducing film score in 28 Days Later [track 2]) and blistering percussion. It was one of the earliest albums I found this year that really resonated with me (Veldes being the only one of note that I discovered prior to it), and thus it has gotten a lot of periodic listens over the last 12 months, each time reminding me just how fucking solid it is. I would certainly buy this on vinyl, were it available.

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FIFTH TIER (twenty-five selections)

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Veldes – Flameless

This one has the benefit of being the very first album that resonated with me in 2019… earnest, verdant, nature-based melodic post-black luxuriance with prominent (if slightly overbearing) vocals. FFO Woods of Desolation etc. etc.

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Ancient Hostility – Ancient Hostility

Vitriolic black metal with scornful, torturous, and pensive mid-to-slow paced music and absolutely caustic, scathing vocal delivery courtesy of Imber (ex Synodic, Aludra, and hopefully more TBA!).

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Decoherence – Ekpyrosis

Unnerving dissonance, mechanized inertia, catastrophic atmosphere, and ominous spirit, this is Blut Aus Nord worship of the highest order, managing, like Almyrkvi (Umbra, 2017), to surpass the master.

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Qayin Regis – Doctrine

Excellent occult black metal, reminiscent of a more stripped down variation of Naas Alcameth’s various projects (mostly due to the vocals, but also due to a palpable sense of authenticity) with Schammasch-like meditative pacing and even DSO Si Monvmentvm Reqvires Circvmspice style riffing at times.

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Beorn’s Hall – In His Granite Realm

American Viking/black, surprisingly pleasing despite (or maybe because of?) a particular looseness and rudimentary approach with timing, tempo, and production.

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Falaise – A Place I Don’t Belong

Urban, isolative, and despondent, this is warm post-black featuring a particular song that is heroin-level addictive (‘Leaves in the Wind’).

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Fleshgod Apocalypse – Veleno

FA will always have a place in my heart, at the very least due to at one point being an all-time favorite band. They’ve changed a lot. Veleno is good, but I hope this album grows on me more than it has so far.

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Misertus – Daydream

Lush, atmospheric post-black melodies absolutely drenched in an almost blinding distortion and featuring a vicious vocal approach, very cool combination of beauty and malice.

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Temple of Perdition – Homage to the Dead (EP)

Religiocritical hymns saturated in warm, heavy cathedralic aesthetics, and featuring choirs, celestial instrumentation, grandiose movements, blasting percussion, and transcendental nods towards ego dissolution and ascension. See review HERE.

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Worsen – Cursed to Witness Life

Hard-hitting melodic, misanthropic American black metal with thrashy flavors and hints of melancholy.

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Sulphura – Voidpulse

Instrumental atmospheric meditative ambient ritualistic drone side project of CSR (Schammasch). If you are familiar with the ambient bits of Triangle, Maldoror Chants, and Hearts Of No Light, then you know exactly what you are in for. 

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MGLA – Age of Excuse

Polish masters of melody return with exactly what you would expect: infectious riffs and absurdly complex percussion that only MGLA delivers.

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Heilung – Futha

Massive neo-folk tour-de-force in a style similar to Wardruna, with a profound live show, fusing tribal beats with a plethora of instrumentation highlights and a vague ritualistic dance quality.

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Haxandraok – Ki Si Kil Ud Da Kar Ra

Occult black metal managing to blend ritual and melody, featuring guitarist of Acherontas and primarily semi-clean pseudo-chanting vocals, similar to what Schammasch does on the regular.

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Imha Tarikat – Kara Ihlas

Unique and candid black metal with back ‘n’ roll sensibilities, a particular shouting vocal approach, and fiery solos.

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Meszaroth – Caro Data Vermibus

Caught up with this one earlier in the year and it did the trick keeping me tuned in and primed for that Mephorash / Schammasch sound before either of the latter dropped their new albums. 

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Thormesis – The Sixth

Very solid melodic progressive black metal, which sounds a lot like Harakiri For The Sky or 2019 Saor (except with keyboards instead of the Scottish instruments and more typical vocals). 

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Minenwerfer – Alpenpässe

A strange but alluring combination of almost Agalloch-esque woodsy atmospherics, raw BM primitivism, war-metal callousness, and World War motifs. 

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Stillness – Hermit

Warm, folky and fanciful with lots of synth, bagpipes, violin, piano, acoustic guitar, clean vocals etc. makes this damn near appropriate to make the family listen to during the holidays. Except when it’s not.

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Gorgon – Elegy

Polished, well-produced, epic, muscular, fully modern symphonic death metal with touches of industrial elements, fits snugly alongside bands like Dawn of Ashes, Empyrean Throne, Shade Empire, The Monolith Deathcult, and Septicflesh.

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Decarabia – Ancestral Kingdoms

Medieval black metal drenched in ghastly, murky, and archaic dungeon/dark ambience; also, vocals are quite submerged in the mix, which I have been appreciating lately, at times evoking a sense of ancient suffocating dread, despite being fairly easy to listen to.

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This Gift Is A Curse – A Throne of Ash

Blackened crust/grind/noise-core, surprisingly sophisticated and actually a bit epic at times, while yet exhibiting an unrestrained, almost hysterical barrage of white-hot hatred.

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Frostnatt – Rimfrost

A short melodic blackish instrumental featuring guitar / percussion (particularly cymbal) reciprocation and precision not unlike MGLA, except with a more synth heavy folky trajectory… think MGLA + maybe Falkenbach or Windir or something like that.

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Iapetus – The Body Cosmic

Aspiring and brilliant progressive death metal, flaunting a constellation of great approaches and talents, including percussion from Dan Presland (of Ne Obliviscaris, a reasonable comparison). Not a huge fan of some of the vocals but this album is a bit of a masterpiece in the progdeath world.

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Cult of Erinyes – Æstivation

The placement of this release is based almost entirely on how late it came to the game and the fact that it is still vying for position amongst everything above… a wild, occult auditory assailment, which, like Vortex Of End above, benefits heavily from fucking insane vocal performance and which, like Rorcal above, is almost supernatural in its ravening violence.

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And here, with Cult of Erinyes, an end-of-of year decimator which adequately represents the imminent black and extreme metal excellence that we will continue to see in the year(s) to come, seems like an appropriate place to stop and bid farewell to 2019. I want to give a humble salute to all purveyors of extreme music that I have interacted with this year, the fellow admins and superior members of Order ov the Black Arts, and Dex with Black Metal Daily and Rick with MoshPitNation for giving me the opportunity to ignite the flame with all reviews this year.

Forward, and may thy will be done. 

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Email: blackmetaldaily@outlook.com

The Name of God – A Review of ‘Shem Ha Mephorash’ by Mephorash

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For they are the great voices in death’s song,

The grand roar of a thousand woes.

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MEPHORASH. A name that should be resonating deeper and deeper into the collective black metal consciousness by now; since their formation in 2010 these Swedish esotericists (that count past and present members of Malign and Ofermod amidst their ranks) have only gone from strength to strength with every release. Now, they have a new Qliphothic rite ready to be unleashed upon an unprepared world – fourth full-length Shem Ha Mephorash.

Artfully based upon the Kabbalistic 72-fold explicit name of God, it’s an immense album; here to offer his ruminations on it is BMD contributor Ivan Gossage of Order Ov The Black Arts. Opening track ‘King of Kings, Lord of Lords‘ is already available for your listening considerations (alongside the great ‘777: Third Woe‘ that was released as a standalone single last year), so check the official video out, read on below and make the necessary mental preparations for the full reveal of this glorious beast on April 18th through Shadow Records / Helter Skelter Productions.

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A Review by Ivan Gossage

Across the barren wasteland of vulgar and decadent terrestrial human struggle, distant and far above the horizon, carried up on the back of some divine imperial cavalry and accompanied by haunting angelic hymns… a massive thunderstorm approaches. From the roiling black clouds rides a fearsome, holy God-king, adorned with crimson robes, light, and fire; and uttering The Word as a sword. With this invocation, Shem Ha Mephorash descends upon the listener with a welcome inescapability, brushing aside the baseness of mundane existence.

The lines between the daemonic and theistic blur here as Mephorash seems to obscure such trivial distinctions, the trumpets of both Heaven and Hell harkening a sacred fire to the spirit, casting the listener simultaneously above as crystalized vapors of ethereal perfection and below to infernal ashes of annihilation. Woe to the profane secular flesh and petty ego, gasping and choking on the smoke from that numinous flame as ‘King of King, Lord of Lords’ unfurls.

Do not seek an all-out black metal assault in Shem Ha Mephorash. What is happening here is more grandiose, contemplative, and reverent. Mephorash, like a few contemporaries (see below), manages to tap into that overtly doomy style of black metal that is perfect for evoking a distinct sense of grand ritual and spiritual acclivity. Although the conversion from straightforward black metal to this more methodical style has been noted for quite some time, particularly as far back as 2015’s masterful 1557 – Rites of Nullification, here the ceremonial doom elements are even more apparent, particularly in the slower tracks like ‘Chant of Golgatha’ and ‘Sanguinem’. The more engaging tracks, however, are those that balance this out with a periodic black metal barrage, like ‘Epitome I: Bottomless Infinite’ and ‘Relics of Elohim’. There is but one truly chaotic moment, wherein all of this carefully orchestrated beauty and cathedralic structure ignites into sublime blackened flame… the apocalyptic climax of the massive closing title track ‘Shem Ha Mephorash’.

Despite the admirable 74-minute run time, Shem Ha Mephorash is clearly meant to be listened to in its entirety. Songs rarely end, but instead lapse into unhurried meditative or melancholic progressions which link to the next track and then erupt again in further sonic exultation. Far from rote, the vocal delivery is highly varied and fully contingent upon the context of the music at any particular moment, which is just as apt to lash at the listener with a driving, dominating aggression as it is to ebb into sinister and restrained bridges – nay, stairs – which build steadily toward the next pyre. The melodic soaring guitar lead uses repetition to produce a hypnotic effect, but also works to establish intoxicating, exquisite grooves, supported by a torrent of double kick. This effect is occasionally ratcheted up to even more exalted levels by maintaining the same riff progression but elevating to a different key. The effective percussion blazes gloriously when appropriate but frequently utilizes more measured, martial, and plodding techniques. War-like kettle drums, imperialistic tones, piano, pipe organ, bells, standing bell (singing bowl), synth, creaking echoes, chanting, choir, orchestration, pristine female voice… these adornments saturate the entire album, ultimately resulting in an overall immense, epic, religious timbre.

A modern esoteric black metal masterpiece, Shem Ha Mephorash radiates with transcendence, ecclesiastical power, and a terrible, beautiful inevitability.

Standout tracks: ‘King of Kings, Lord of Lords’; ‘Epitome I: Bottomless Infinite’; ‘Relics of Elohim’; ‘777: Third Woe’ (previously released on 2018 EP of the same name); ‘Shem Ha Mephorash’… noted that this is more than half the songs.

For fans of: later Schammasch, more methodical Nightbringer tracks, latter-day Rotting Christ. Somewhat less so: Acherontas, Temple of Perdition, Aversio Humanitatis, Meszaroth.

Releasing April 18th through Shadow Records.

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Pre-order Mephorash‘s Shem Ha Mephorash on CD, vinyl, cassette or digital from Shadow Records / Helter Skelter Productions‘ Bandcamp here, or from the artist’s webstore here.

Support Mephorash:

• Official Website
• Official Facebook
• Official YouTube

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