All black metal, all day! Everyday! Say it with your chest!
A couple quick things:
1) Anything that has been released in the later part of December is going on a “Best of December” list. I got tired of having something released at the very end of the year tearing up my year end, and giving me that feeling of having to shoehorn something into a list based on name and hype. Hate Forest did it to me two years ago, and now threatened to do it again this year, among other bands. I’m sticking to my guns on this from here on out!
2) I have a lot of favorite EPs for the year, but my list focuses on FULL LENGTH ALBUMS. Why showcase appetizers when I can showcase the full meals?
3) I had to dig deep on this one this year. As easy as it could have been to thrown the “name bands” on this list, I had to really sit and think about what albums I actually listened to fairly often this year. Not all the name bands got a lot of spins from me. I no longer feel the need to throw all of the “name” bands out there on my list just to echo popular opinion. I hope my list gets people wondering, and hopely you’ll find some new gems for your ears and your collection.
With that out of the way, here are my personal picks for the top black metal albums of 2022:
Something in the water right now in the UK. Absolutely crushing, aggressive Vampyric black metal with riffs for days, and the still not common occurrence of a woman leading the charge and crushing black metal vocal patriarchy with a stellar performance.
From Vancouver BC we have face melting melodic black metal with tales of anguish of the Native American tribes, with awesome musical moments straight from a Spaghetti Western movie.
Let these Slovakians take you on a journey deep into the forests, to mingle with the spirits, and said journey delivered in a musical package that reminds one of The Shadowthrone, For All Tid, Bergtatt, and the like.
This Austrian project returns to deliver six new hymns of cold, rather melodic, and dare say uplifting atmospheric black metal. IMO, the best album since Existenz.
Don’t let the weird, almost electronica intro fool you, this is by far some of the most well executed Pagan black metal you’ll hear this year, bar none. Musicianship to production is stellar.
From the frosty realms of Arizona comes an ode to all things grand about the Swedish melodic black metal scene circa 1994 thru the early 2000’s. They pay homage to Vinterland, Sacramentum, and Unanimated as much as they do Dissection.
You want riffs? A lot of riffs? A lot of *catchy* riffs? In everything that can be whitewashed in black metal fury? Look no further. Every instrument shreds to pieces on this.
USBM from Portland, Oregon that is severely overlooked. It’s melodic, it’s raw, it’s catchy, it’s some of the best Pagan-themed stuff coming from the US.
Another great Finnish band, delivering the type of epic as all hell blackened metal that hasn’t hit me this hard since the first few Moonsorrow albums. Nods to Bathory and other greats as well. Music to hike mountains with (speaking from experience).
Savagely melodic and riff forward Greek black metal that pays far deeper homage to the Finnish greats than their classic country mates. If you missed out on this one, I am sorry.
Black metal this repetitive shouldn’t be THIS DAMN GOOD. And add exclusively clean vocals to the mix, and you have something truly unique and hypnotic. I cannot get enough of this. I expect no less from Italian great Gionata “Omega” Potenti. Dude doesn’t know how to make bad music.
These Finns are here to remind you that aggressive and atmospheric 1990’s Scandinavian black metal is here to stay. Top notch performance all the way around. The perfect companion piece with sister band Korpituli.
This is German black metal on a truly large scale. The pace never goes beyond mid-tempo, but the riffs are furious, and the tone somber. It pulls you in deep and does not want to let go.
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03) FIRN – Frostwärts
This is a relatively new melodic and folk tinged German Pagan black metal project, created by the man behind Heathen folk project Waldtraene, and also involved in Folk rock/metal greats Odroerir. This flew far too far under most radars this year. ‘Epic’ is an overused word in this genre, but sometimes it’s the only one that fits.
This mysterious Swedish project reared its ugly head all the way back in January to bless everyone with a 3rd album of serpentine riffs, blast beats and deep, dark atmosphere to get lost in. These four tracks flow into one another and by no means feels like a 40 min experience. The holding power it had over the year cannot be denied. If not for my #1 coming out a month later, this could have easily taken the crown.
Once again, the UK comes through. I probably have listened to this album the most of any this year, and I still can’t grow tired of it. Raw black metal that draws inspiration from both the Finnish and French black metal scenes, and has an underlying punk aesthetic that sometimes comes fully to light on tracks such as ‘Netherstorm Of Purple-Velvet Khaos’. Absolute perfection. Ask anyone who knows me, they’ll probably tell you I have been incessantly pimping the HELL out of this one, and should surprise absolutely noone to see this on top of the heap.
BLACK METAL DAILY’S LISTCRUSH 2022 will continue.
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Greetings, infernal warbröethers and all that. After a marathon stretch we’re finally here, hammering the last rusty nail into our 2020 LISTCRUSH series – the full-length albums that resonated most with methroughout 2020. At a cursory glance,Metal Archives has 3146 full-length black metal albums logged as being released last year. Of those, I probably only checked out around a thousand, tops. So remember: this is in no way a definitive list. I’m not the grand arbiter of taste or final word on anything. These are just the records that tickled my own personal blasphemy glands juuuust right.
The original shortlist was over 200 albums long and I’ve (excruciatingly) whittled it down to a hundred of the finest – there is no “near misses” section, because in a year in which we were absolutely spoiled for good music as most had much else better to do in quarantine, there are simply too many that would have very deservedly made the cut.
There are records that immediately blew my mind (number 92, number 2, number 8), records that crept up over time to become firm favourites (number 31), expected hypebeasts (number 4) and records that deserve FAR more attention (59, 63). There were things of beauty (58, 24) and ugliness (49, 38). There are records that I fell asleep to almost every night since they were released (number 3), thrilling new discoveries (95), old masters making a triumphant return (6)… and in the case of number ONE, records that unleashed their black irradiant glories extremely late in the year yet annihilated everything else that had come before.
If any of the album titles are highlighted, clicking that will take you to our coverage of the album (reviews, premieres, interviews and all that good stuff). This list is strictly black/blackened, so if you’d like recommendations for other genres hit me up – for example my top death metal album was Ulcerate, of course, followed by Atræ Bilis. I’d probably give label of the year to the untouchable Debemur Morti Productions and if you want to check out what I consider to be the strongest demos, EPs or Splits I heard last year, readPart 1HERE and Part 2HERE.
That’s it. Have at it, Listcrush is finally done for another year. Hails.
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TOP 100 ALBUMS OF 2020
100. FORTRESS OF THE OLDEN DAYS – Verlassenheit(Worship Tapes / A Pile Of Graves)
1. ABIGOR – Totschläger (A Saintslayer’s Songbook) (World Terror Committee)
I originally intended to keep it simple and wasn’t going to write anything at all about any album on this list, but I simply have to say a few words about this diabolical gem. After TTblew me away at the death of 2019 with the dazzling NEDXXX (well, personnel are still as-yet unconfirmed but I’d bet a solid hundred that he and Rune from Shaarimoth were involved) he’s done it again with Abigor‘s twelfth album, Totschläger (A Saintslayer’s Songbook). I’ve been listening to these nine tracks repeatedly since release and over countless spins each experience brings something new to appreciate and astound – be it tiny details in each intricate composition, or an entirely new favourite track each time. Silenius from Summoning puts in what may be the best performance of his life here, too – I liked Höllenzwang, but this proves Abigor remain at the absolute top of the game. I mean, just check out the final moments of album closer ‘Terrorkommando Eligos’ – what other band would have the testicular fortitude and sheer unbridled ability to pull off what’s ostensibly a minute or two of wild, slavering, black metal drum & bass?
THIS is, hands down, the best black metal album of the year for me. Listen to it. Hail Abigor.
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Ultimate respect to all artists, labels, writers and supporters of the blackarts. You are all lords.
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For four years in a row now I have developed a list of my favorite albums of the year. One would think that I would have developed some sort of solid format at this point, but strangely, this is not the case. For reasons not entirely clear to me, the way I organize and categories the list changes from year to year. What worked perfectly for 2019 (a tiered selection) did not work at all for me for 2020. I simply could not make sense of it, could not organize releases in a way that seemed coherent using that method. So, I reverted (it almost seemed that I was forced to revert) back to something I did all the way back in 2017, which was to break up selections into some broad and subgenres and categories, which should be fairly self-explanatory, although of course open to interpretation. I also borrowed from what I did in 2018, which was to forgo a solid ranking and to instead place releases according to “quantum” principles, wherein each release (save the AOTY) does not have a solid location, but shifts around in the general vicinity of its placement depending on my mood etc. So, while I have chosen an AOTY, the top few picks in each category might very well be my favorite thing of the year at the moment of any particular time or mood. Am I being wishy-washy? Perhaps a bit. Am I overthinking it? Almost certainly, but I suppose that if this conceptual apparatus is what it takes for me to be satisfied with a summation my assessment of black metal in 2020, then so be it. Of note: the United States KILLED IT this year for me, and that is a first. Thanks for checking this out, and may thy will be done.
Anyone familiar with Naas Alcameth’s monumental output of immense, perseverant, and absolutely malevolent black metal in the forms of NIGHTBRINGER, BESTIA ARCANA, and AORATOS will immediately recognize the signature auditory maelstrom of perhaps his most notorious project, AKHLYS. A journey inward, a manifestation born of terrifying psychic nightmares, and the dread spirits which inhabit them, the dense murk of harrowing antipathy ascending from the depths with only a futile glimmer of warning before we are consumed in torrents of synth, writhing layers of pitchshifted guitars, measured percussive severity, and the hellish, maniacally spectral voice of Alcameth. The rhythm guitar and bass help to keep everything from tearing itself asunder, and periodically they pull the other instruments into their less frenetic trajectory for powerfully bombastic, cadenced movements across the whole instrumental continuum. Menacing builds towards abrupt eruption in absolute fury and malice. Lavish, orchestrated melody, tragic, compelling, terrible, and beautiful… imposing and utterly demonic black metal terror that is sustained, pensive, ominous, oppressive. {full review and interview}
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HYPERAURAL
(11 selections)
PANZERFAUST [Canada] – Suns of Perdition Pt. 2: Render Unto Eden
Centering on religious and spiritual motifs: humanity’s sin and virtue, suffering and denial, fall from redemption, descent into ruin, and impending judgement, PANZERFAUST continues to dish out monstrous, crushing, black/death with overpowering, uniquely roaring vocals (a standout feature among a litany of compelling characteristics), and an overall sense of progressive, desolating inevitability. The shift in focus from the first Suns of Perdition installment is not only represented with the album title and lyrical themes, but also with the sound itself, which seems overall to be a bit more ritualized and contemplative, borrowing more from progressive blackened doom sensibilities than its predecessor did, and perfected in terms of execution, production, and mix. Render Unto Eden is, overall, a more than adequate follow up to War, Horrid War, a powerful yet reflective specimen of God-tier blackened art, and to no surprise, PANZERFAUST have produced truly one of the best albums that I have heard this year. {full review}
Endarkenment is really damn good, and better than I thought it would be. I’m particularly appreciating the lack of forays into djenty or metalcore territory and it seems like there’s several angles from which NATHRAKH has dialed up the ferocity factor. I’m surprised at the increased transparency that the band is providing, as well as the number of songs that decline to swing into that pattern of melodic chorus with clean vocals. While I frequently like those parts in other albums, I’m finding myself particularly drawn to tracks that don’t do that as much here. Even so, a few of those clean melodic choruses have undeniable hooks which don’t easily leave my head. After A New Kind of Horror (2018) I was pretty concerned that NATHRAKH was going to stray afar from black metal altogether, but I think those concerns have been laid to rest. {collaborative review}
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DECOHERENCE [United Kingdom] – Unitarity
With virtually no introduction, the listener is confronted with a celestial wall of overwhelming cosmic black metal. Where the previous album Ekpyrosis (2019) had room to breathe around a more staggering pace, here much of that space filled with blasting maelstromic percussion, a molten dense core of bass, searing trajectories of guitar dissonance, more sustained cataclysmic ambience and well-embedded vocals that roar through the tracks like some sort of abrasive solar turbulence. While initially more saturated and massive, the journey through Unitarity proves it to be also more epic and nuanced. As the final orbit is traveled it is clear that DECOHERENCE have created an elite, immense constellation of black epic industrial atmospheric insanity, decimating in execution and universally apocalyptic in scope. {full review}
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ABIGOR [Austria] – Totschläger (A Saintslayer’s Songbook)
Well, I guess this one is really a surprise to nobody, except maybe me. Never been into ABIGOR before this for whatever reason. I just found it too… technical? Thin sounding? Just too fucking weird? Yeah, this is different. Came out of nowhere in the final moments of the year but already I have listened to this compulsively more times than many other entries on my lists. Grandiose, varied, aggressive, complex, dynamic… I just don’t have time to do this album justice with words this late in the year. This thing is just a gaddamn masterpiece and we all know it.
Well-produced, aggressive, mature, mainstream symphonic/industrial black/death and it is phenomenal. This album has a particular sharpness, crystalline, and pristine quality to the overall production that I think perfectly expresses what the band was trying to achieve. This album got a lot of playtime from me, particularly early in the year. FFO mid-era DIMMU BORGIR, BELPHEGOR, GLORIA MORTI, SHADE EMPIRE, EMPYREAN THRONE, DAWN OF ASHES, ID:VISION
Expansive, cosmic, electronic, epic, black madness. Sustained atmospheres and beautiful keys float over a blistering percussive attack and razor-sharp riffing, which in turn radiate from a dense core of bass and ebbing industrial noise effects, all accentuated by mostly frigid vocals with some haunting cleans. This is a perfect follow up to 2017’s [∞], and utilizes much of the same postapocalyptic impressions and melancholic vastness. Herein we may witness the cold, detached power of an ever-expanding universe.
By the time the modest intro of the first song breaks into a well-timed barrage of double kick, cascading piano, shredding riffs, and triumphant roaring, it is readily apparent that every element of Solace of Death is orchestrated with immense, grandiose, overwhelming intensity. Vacillating between charging power and insistent groove, unhinged frenetic pacing, downright assaultive synth progressions, incinerating guitars and almost constant minigun battery on the drums… just as the listener starts to adapt to this exquisite barrage, we are treated to a fucking beautiful acoustic interludes, melody with a tempered intro of acoustic guitar and fantastic piano, grandiose and almost majestic sections. This is nothing short of a symphonic black/death metal masterwork, with complexity, precision, and fire. {full review}
Conceptually, the black spires of a colossal, horrendous evil preside over a helpless, abject populous as a lone individual struggles in desperation against incomprehensible malice and inevitable doom. The sonic representation is an opus of contemporary black metal: persistently massive, forcefully heavy with elements of doom, and almost grandiose in its complex, blackened melancholy. Misery, desperation, hopelessness, and despair find auditory expression through layers of elaborate and epic guitars, a veritable onslaught of vicious percussion, immeasurably dense bass progressions, haunting and mesmeric synth, and varied ferocious vocal manifestations. Yet, amidst this impenetrable darkness, we can find a faintly glimmering ore of heroism, strength, loyalty, hope, love, sacrifice, and tragic beauty. {full review and interview}
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OBSCURAE [United States] – To Walk The Path Of Sorrows
Sort of similar to BORGNE in its expansive, nocturnal cosmic aesthetics, except the atmospheric onslaught is ratcheted up to the highest possible degree. Whereas BORGNE’s cosmicism leaves plenty of room to breathe, OBSCURAE’s layers upon layers of texture and nuance greatest a density which is just absolutely crushing yet profoundly beautiful. It was love at first listen for me, and To Walk The Path Of Sorrows was a late but instant addition to both my end of year list and my vinyl collection.
Pensive yet savage, technical but with no small expression of agony, forceful yet nuanced, Devouring Ruin is a near-perfect example of black/death/grind hybridization, which has been at the forefront of my attention for the majority of the year. FFO (pre SIDABS) ULCERATE, ULSECT, EMBRA, NOCTAMBULIST
Skáphe³ manages to ride just on the right side of the very limits of what I’m able to tolerate in terms of unpredictability and erraticism in black metal. And it does so beautifully, each element really standing out as exceptional, and the combination of them is a beautifully psychotic journey to the heart of spiritual abyss.
One would be hard-pressed to deny that the modern black metal scene is becoming ever more saturated with an array of musical variations which increasingly depart from the traditional foundations of the orthodox cannon. Thus, for me there is a distinct sense of appreciation when an album comes along that manages to, for a time, sweep all of the frills off the table and demand full attention with pure, austere, straightforward hyperscandinavian fucking excellence. While The Funeral Pyre isn’t breaking new ground, this debut album establishes KVAEN firmly alongside an extremely impressive plethora of god-tier Swedish peers. Every damn song is born a classic, every note is pure gold. {full review}
Apparition is currently top of my list for most under-recognized masterpiece of the year. They got a bit of recognition in the Order but no label? Someone needs to sign these dudes stat! I mean, give the first track just a few minutes and focus on those layers of guitars. How many do they have simultaneously? Two? Three? That shit is artful as fuck and damn near orgasmic. This reminds me of why I enjoy Si Monvmentvm from DSO, but sort of fell off afterwards. Some amount of atonality with the riffing but the progressions themselves are classically coherent and awesome. And the vocals are awesome. And the cover art is awesome. IT’S ALL AWESOME.
Döden Nalkas is not only one of the most unabashedly savage and vehemently apocalyptic albums to be unfurled this year, it is in fact one of the most puritanically decimating traditional black metal offerings of recent memory. The auditory foundation for this maelstrom is an absolutely devastating assault of blistering black metal aggression and aural hatred of the most authentic and blatant variety, reminiscent of pillars of Swedish aggression like 90’s classic DARK FUNERAL and MARDUK, combined with the unbridled, unflinching darkness of FUNERAL MIST. The riffs? Incinerating, burning through the tracks and embedding in the flesh of the psyche like the razor-edged spearhead of death itself. The vocals? unhinged, ragged, varied, powerful, and ruthless. The torrential, relentless ballistic percussion is provided by none other than the ineffable king of artillery Nils ‘Dominator’ Fjellström. But what really pushes HORDE OF HEL to its darkest capacity and solidifies it as unique among a host of impressive peers is the massively effective incorporation of an evil, catastrophic, and inexorable industrial edge to the blasting turmoil. {full review}
Not much I can really say about this which hasn’t been said by people who are more familiar and more versed on the history of ONDSKAPT’s discography. Bottom line: its just fucking great. To my ears it basically sounds like top-notch Swedish orthodoxy with furious guitar lead, mixed with that heavier/deathier aspect that Poland often brings to the table. Creative combination and a terrific album.
Malleus Philosophorum retains many fantastic elements of DEVENEROR’s first album Kenoma (2019): blasting percussion, savage and layered vocals, incinerating guitars, and imperious, fully audible bass, carefully crafted together with just the right amount of dissonance (an element which I have seen highlighted in various descriptions of the album, but which, to me, really shows itself to be only one aspect of a full spectrum of awesomeness) and an impeccable mix. What it does shed is some of the sporadicism and in its place, develops a lot more of everything I really like in black metal. It is more melodic, more structured, more cohesive, more coherent. Less infernal and chaotic perhaps, but certainly more thoughtful and engaging. {full review and interview}
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YMIR [Finand] – Ymir
Punchy, upbeat, aggressive, snowbound fire with plenty of blasting and continuous riffing. That and a combination of really epic elements, overt melodicism, and lots vocal variety which doesn’t overpower the music (as is the case with much Finnish BM) elevates this one above other similar offerings this year for me. This one’s doing for Finland what KVAEN is doing for Sweden in 2020. Perfected classic traditionalism which hits all the right targets.
Like ritual artifacts placed purposefully around the perimeter of a prophetic shrine, every title, word, image, note, sound and utterance from Icelandic black metal entity NEXION has been crafted together with a full intention to create a coherent meditation on pursuit of decimating esoteric wisdom. Forgoing the overtly claustrophobic and oppressive signature Icelandic black metal style for one that is more dynamic, aggressive, catchy, melodic and with hints of death metal brutality, while The lyrics articulate the dissolution of human construction and belief from seven perspectives, and tend to revolve around messages of ontological violence, cataclysmic revelation, corrupted sanctity, existential death, cosmic darkness, abyssal wisdom, pestilential chaos and the prophecy of some sort of oblivion messiah. {full review}
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DUMAL [United States] – The Confessor
The much-anticipated follow-up to The Lesser God album (2017). Straight up melodic USBM, which (like a shitload of other similar bands i.e., WORSEN, DEVENEROR, GRAVENCHALICE, VOID OMNIA, INEXORUM) doesn’t get nearly the hype that it deserves and is much better than *other* US bands that get a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons. Uncomplicated, catchy, groovy, accessible… it’s so simple, and so awesome in its simplicity. No synth, basic melody, no massive sound, no ambient textures, vox is nothing radical… no aspect of it is really overbearing, yet when it all comes together it’s just incredibly solid! KVAEN is to Sweden what YMIR is to Finland is what DUMAL is to the US this year.
Proclaiming that “they do not tell the story of the victorious powers, but the story of the forgotten”, Utopian Deception paradoxically takes on the role of the social dystopian Orwellian engineer and propagandist in the lyrics as a criticism in this album. So far, so good. Musically, it seems to be fairly straightforward but well-executed melodic black metal, maybe with a touch of ‘progressive’ thrown in. Nothing particularly mind-blowing but uncannily addictive, and I have come back to it over and over since it dropped.
With KRYPTAMOK, speed metal aggression yields to healthy doses of orthodox Finnish melodicism, which in turn pushes the envelope even further towards downright epic horizons. Pace fluctuates between what seems to be a baseline frenetic, driving bloodlust and a more measured predatorial malevolence all driven forward by blistering percussion while spearheaded by riffs to freeze your heart and a poisonous vocal delivery. Verisaarna also throws us an array of fantastic elements to an already accomplished timbre: war-horn brass, vaguely symphonic elements, choirs, bells or chimes, electric organ, etc. It’s not often that a progression can go from stripped-down, galloping, no-shits-given d-beat belligerence to classic Finnish snow-swept frigidity and then to the far battle sagas of Middle-Earth, but KRYPTAMOK pulls it off seamlessly and naturally.
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DOMMEDAG [Sweden / Norway] – Marburg
Man, this is just a hard-hitting, in-your-face, fast, violent, thrashy, riff-centered example of Scandinavian black metal orthodoxy, most comparable I think to the legendary TSJUDER. A clear example of when one should not judge a book by its cover, because I really think that the album suffers quite a lot from the gothic/darkmetal style choice of cover art. Marburg looks like NIGHTWISH, but it does NOT sound like it. At all. Give it a listen if you want a good pummeling for your false assumption. That’s what I did, and I’m happy I did so.
Out of all the albums on my list this year, this is the one that probably suffers from the biggest divergence between how much I love it, and how much I have “given” to it in terms of posts, shares, etc. It’s one that I should have done a full review for, but by the time I realized it, I was busy with other reviews, and that ship had sailed. Outstanding USBM which boasts the unorthodox quality of actually being somewhat… well… fun. Borrowing from rock and punk, the upbeat, wind-in-your-hair cadence of the tracks, fueled primarily by persistent and artful percussion, are augmented by phenomenally enjoyable, often harmonized guitar arrangements. The vocals, with lyrics which focus on struggle and perseverance, are probably the darkest element of the album, and are consistently growly, which is good because the aesthetic overall is so lite that softer vocals might have pushed it too far in that direction. Each track is well-crafted with memorable hooks and fantastic moments. Ha! To be completely honest, relistening to Moonlit Navigation again now at the end of the year, it occurs to me that one could label it as melodic death metal just as easily as unorthodox melodic black metal! Whatever though, this one makes the top of this list either way.
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WAYFARER [United States] – A Romance With Violence
The Colorado black metal cowboys return for a much-anticipated 4th full length! Borrowing heavily from American West folk and country not only in terms of timbre, but also lyrical themes and visual stylization, WAYFARER have practically created a subgenre of their own. A Romance With Violence is noticeably and purposefully more theatrical than World’s Blood (2018) was and some of the latter’s grittiness of the production was dusted off for an album that is overall more elaborate, refined, and epic, much like the excellent earlier album Old Souls (2016). With everything from the saloon waltz of the intro to the melodic black metal riffs of ‘The Iron Horse’ to the doomier psychedelia of the epic closer ‘Vaudeville’, A Romance With Violence has a LOT to offer. {full collaborative review}
Joining the growing number of bands who are tapping into what American western and rock can offer to black metal, with this release JORDABLOD is even more upfront about it, and so much the better. TheCabinet of Numinous Song takes these influences and crosses it with somewhat of a semi-claustrophobic and more psychedelically unrestrained of the Icelandic (sounding) sound to fantastic effect. There’s even a track on there (‘The Beauty of Every Wound’) that features almost a dead-on black metal replication of the central riff from STEPPENWOLF’s ‘Born To Be Wild’. Sounds fucking awesome? You bet your ass it does. This was an early 2020 pick for me and hands down my favorite release in January.
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DZÖ-NGA [United States] – Thunder In The Mountains
This is a beautiful, expansive, epic, and accomplished atmospheric post/pseudo black metal opus with a focus on Native American folklore and auditory aesthetics. It features huge number of great highlights: pristine and sorrowful melodies, lots of clean female vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, violin, and amazing solos, while still maintaining more mainline BM elements like harsh vocals, driving percussion, thrashy moments, and hints of folk. FFO SAOR, SOJOURNER, SKYFOREST.
While lyrics focus on the synergistic elements of oxygen, water, wind, and mountains, gorgeous acoustic progressions and soaring lead guitar balance out with blustering riffs, scathing vocals, and a stripped-down, tumbling and charging percussive battery. The end result is a beautiful album which intentionally reflects the coherence of nature itself. FFO PANOPTICON, more aggressive AGALLOCH (ie Marrow of the Spirit, Faustian Echoes), ALDA, and NECHOWEN. [interview]
From nature-based, blackened melodic pseudo-folk aspects of first album Restoration (2012), to the more progressive, epic sound of Ascension (2015), to more traditional synthphonic black metal aggression of All Paths Lead to Death (2017) AMIENSUS have consistently refined their sound. Abreaction takes all of these styles and combines them into a cohesive unity, pulling the listener through an elaborate, seamless gambit of sonic and affective approaches, from the full-on post-rock/alternative intro to the epic, roaring and heavy black/death/doom closing track. Here we find layered harmonizing electric and acoustic guitars, an array of vocal approaches including plenty of cleans, a variety of keyboard additions from orchestra to organ to piano to brass, and soaring cello mixed perfectly into what was already an eclectic musical template. FFO IHSAHN, XANTHOCHROID, WILDERUN {full review and interview}
This debut album is a beautiful and haunting account of memory and dysphoria, frequently rooting sorrow and reminiscence in natural metaphors such as the moon, lakes, rivers, gardens and wind, and while it generally has black metal as its foundation, it sits on the fringes and defies many expectations of the genre. Musically DISMALIMERENCE proves to be a harmonious mix between the naturalist tendencies of Cascadian black metal, the warmly radiating melodicism of atmospheric post-black, and the raw emotional content and impact of DSBM. Clean production finds soaring guitar lead and rasping vocals taking center stage over full bass and driving percussion, accentuated by synth; a near perfect balance of musical aggression and tenderness as meandering, pensive, sometimes apprehensive sensitivity repeatedly succumbs to distorted anguish and/or rage and vice versa. {full review}
UNREQVITED consistently pushes the boundaries of what can be considered black metal proper, and typical descriptors such as “melodic” do not even begin to describe the immaculate, celestial magnificence of the project’s God-tier blackened cinematic atmosphere. Melancholic acoustic guitar, lofty choruses, and easy percussion repeatedly building skyward towards precipices and then cascade over into characteristically massive, widescreen waves of brilliantly layered synth, soaring guitar lead and distinctive, dejected screams, often with perfectly utilized double kick. The harsh vocals are characteristically removed from the forefront of the mix, distant, as if echoing from aloof vistas. Empathica is an exercise in radiant winter surrealism, a display of shimmering, brilliant soundscapes both pristine and vast, harnessing the particular elevating, epiphanic sorrow that only UNREQVITED can materialize. {full review}
Bedehuis starts off with some straightforward melodic riffs which begin to lift, careen and sway before the powerful, shouting vocals begin to push the listener under. Soon the beauty of the depths become evident as the vocals explore a variety of different modes, and aggressive punk-laced beats sustain even as the song evolves back to blacker melodic riffing. Bass is audible throughout, which provides a nice strong undertow to the swirling, churning currents which plunge into post-black melodic progressions, intoxicating vocals soaring above the surges. The closing track hits like a flood, a veritable torrent of massive, ambitious, beautiful waves of sublime, epic black metal reckoning. Bedehuis is a rich, fluid, roiling offering with a myriad of complimenting, varied features that are just as apt to overwhelm you under the crushing tide as they are to hold you buoyant above the eddies. {full review}
Corps Fleur is a combination of traditional melodic black metal and more atmospheric post-black, but it would be more accurate to describe the album as starting out in the sunnier realm of the latter and moving towards the darker, more assertive edge of the former. The aggression is definitely kicked up with “Solace” and “Lament” (my two favorite tracks), and although it is perhaps most readily noticeable in the percussion, it’s really due to the overall songwriting. It is worth noting that it is not just the amalgamation of DSBM, post-black, and more classic BM rancor which makes the album stand out… equally important is the tight musicianship, skilled and effective technique exhibited by all involved, and also an incredible production and mix. {full review}
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MINI ALBUMS / EPs / SPLITS
(11 selections)
STORMKEEP [United States] – Galdrum
Galdrum is a blatant, unashamed ode to the 90’s era of symphonic black metal both visually and musically. The cover art is fucking stunning, but also have you seen the band’s promo photo and art? Candles, swords, dragons, spikes, axes… it’s just perfectly quintessential. Would almost be cringy if it didn’t seem so fucking authentic, and now that I can really comprehend the music, they hold their own in that department too. STORMKEEP taps into that Scandinavian nostalgia while still maintaining an identity of its own and stands well above most relevant contemporary acts, and alongside THE KRYPTIK and VARGRAV. Everything is top-notch, every element crafted together in such a way that I think Galdrum achieves exactly what it is trying to achieve: classic symphonic black metal euphoria. {full collaborative review}
ALMYRKVI marches forward like the steady, otherworldly stride of some planetary giant, footfalls heavy enough to shake the earth but with a crown amongst the stars. There is a measured and incredibly effective industrial aspect threaded throughout, giving the Icelandic contribution a sense of posthuman aloofness. Layers of dense melodies, grandiose to the point of celestial, creates a sense of being helplessly witness to something that is both cosmically transcendent and vaguely technological, with the gravitational inexorability of blackened monolithic power, a God of such prowess that humanity cannot help but plunge into the hypnotic depths of reverence and worship. Enter THE RUINS OF BEVERAST. The increasingly ecstatic chanting and steady pseudotribal cadence fantastically captures a tranced veneration encircling the deific monument which ALMYRKVI introduced. The impenetrable, crepitus bass seems to crackle like the black energy of a central locum of power while the rest of the elements meditatively, intoxicatingly, ritualistically cavort ‘round in a possessed doom orbit. The devotion to dark idols develops towards an increased tempo, enthusiastic groove, and soaring two-minute guitar lead, impressing concluding notions of a more elated yet violent elevation… rapture. {full review}
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MAQUAHUITL [United States] – Con Su Pistola en La Mano
Hard-hitting, galloping, cutthroat southwestern bandido black metal. It’s practically impossible to not mention WAYFARER (since they too put out a release this year), but best as a contrast: Con Su Pistola en La Mano is faster, harder, more focused, more aggressive, and more *black metal*, and would be better compared to something more orthodox like SKAN or GLORIOR BELLI, yet allowing an even more cross-cultural elements to permeate the music, with Latin guitars, wind instrumentation, and cumbia percussion! The burn through three tracks on this EP with reckless abandon, leaving me wanting mucho, mucho mas.
Eschewing the pitch black, frigid, subzero atmospherics harnessed by a plethora of typically Scandinavian acts, Winter Contemplations adopts a more overtly post-black sunniness while still projecting distinct wintertide. The album eases in with the whistling wind before settling into an easy pace of plodding percussion, thick melodic strings, and somewhat monotonic yelling vocals. Soon we see where SOUL DISSOLUTION shines: when those elements are combined with warm, almost bluesy guitar lead which twirls and plays amongst the other instruments, mid-paced cadence, and lovely acoustic guitar progressions. Majestic synth puts on a pristine display as electric lead guitar foretells the heaviness of the nevertheless casual percussion. We catch the full cascade towards the end, all musical grandeur ecstatically conjoining atop torrents of rapid double kick before the album concludes in epic fashion. {full review}
Comprised of efforts from the hyper prolific SadVoice (INNER SUFFERING) on music and the vocals of Imber (ALUDRA, ex-SYNODIC, PALUS SOMNI [tba]), ANCIENT HOSTILITY specializes in mid-paced, ruminating, slow-churning black metal. The music has a slight industrial edge, as well as an element of unnerving, almost haunting dissonance, while the scathing vocals convey unbridled, red-hot hatred. Anthropophagy succeeds in transmitting a sense of dread with tracks of haunting, anxiety provoking, smoldering malice.
Surprisingly good old-school symphonic black metal! The simplicity and earnestness of the 2nd wave, with sustained orchestral synth atmospheres, scathing vocals, sufficient drumming, and some solid guitar solos. This sounds perfect alongside early EMPEROR, EVILFEAST, VARGRAV, KATAXU, and perhaps this year’s ELFFOR.
Heavy, thickened, black, almost meditative ritualism with hints of death metal, done extremely well and fully developed in every respect. I have been following this project for a while and every release just gets better and better. Blazing and monstrous, even for an EP. FFO (and I’m just gonna go a little crazy with the comparisons here because I love this particular sound so much): SCHAMMASCH, MEPHORASH, ORDER OF APPOLYON, GLORIA MORTI, THEURGIA, MESZAROTH, ANIMUS MORTIS, AVERSIO HUMANITATIS, TEMPLE OF BAAL, the newest PANZERFAUST, TEMPLE OF PERDITION.
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VITAL SPIRIT [Canada] – In The Face That Looks Through Death
A very cool combination of melodic black / post-black metal and, like several other releases this year (WAYFARER, MAQUAHUITL) Western/American folk aspects. VITAL SPIRIT centers their theme around Native American motifs, and although the cross-cultural aspect is a bit more subdued than those mentioned above, there are distinct moments where it really shines through.
There’s not much which I think can be legitimately called “technical black metal” but I think that TÓMARÚM fit the bill perfectly. Complex, melodic, and without the techdeath tropes that many bands try to pass off as “blackened”, Wounds Ever Expanding also includes some interesting things like clean vocals and keys. But, most importantly are the FUCKING AMAZING guitar leads. I’m extremely interested to see where TÓMARÚM goes from here and hopefully we will find out in 2021!
Ok ok, I know this was technically a 2019 release – but because it dropped on December 31, there’s no way that it could have made it onto my list in 2019, and it really deserves it. Also, I checked my posts, and I first listened to it on January 1, 2020, so it is certainly the very first list-worthy thing I heard in 2020! This is an addendum EP to the Impressions of the Morning Star (2018) album and has a similar timbre: an avant garde, blistering, murky, almost droning onslaught broken up by epic splendor… inhumanly aggressive and impossibly beautiful at the same time. ECC also came out with the Antica Memoria di Dis double EP this year, and that’s growing on me (Lethe particularly) but the sound changed somewhat, and although Innocence and Experience is somewhat of a bridge between Morning Star and Memoria, I just like the earlier style better.
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ORCHESTRA OF THE DROWNED [Russia] – Northern Aurora
Alright, so the little-known one-man act ORCHESTRA OF THE DROWNED put out an album in 2018 called Revealing the Arcane, which I immediately associated as somewhat of a lighter, more psychedelic variant of BLUT AUS NORD… essentially, it sounds more like BAN’s Hallucinogen than anything else I can find, except it came out *before* Hallucinogen did. Northern Aurora, on the other hand, steps a bit away from the more programmed/industrial aspect and moves more towards melody and folky epic composition, with the vocals reminding me a bit of Dani Filth. Its pretty damn good and great wintertime music!
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HONORABLE MENTION
ULCERATE [New Zealand] – Stare Into Death And Be Still
I won’t dwell too much on this because although it has some blackish elements, it’s really atmospheric death metal… buuuut although I didn’t really rank my list this year, but this would be somewhere in the top 5. Maybe top 3. Also, it’s sort of a situation wherein if you know, you know. Superior and absolutely compelling musicianship creates an impossibly complex, crushing hypnotism which does it’s best to achieve complete spiritual annihilation, both ruinous and transcendent. I can usually only handle one or two songs at a time but each time it is more and more devastatingly euphoric.
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