Nattverd - I Helvetes Forakt

 

Ah now this is some classic Bergen black metal! Nattverd have been slowly crawling their way into existence since the 90's, finally debuting in 2014. Their latest offering though seems to see their sound crystallizing and the band finally starting to live up to the potential that its creators saw in the project all those years aog. This is a potent offering and one full of the classic Bergen tropes. Frostbitten and slightly terrifying, it's black metal done with a sense of the genres history and a crippling dedication to its distorted future. 

I Helvetes Forakt is a record that really reflects the power of its album art. It has the same almost monocrhomatic feel, and conjures up the howling of wolves and the hour of mankinds fall. IT's a record that pushes to ever darker depths and forces listeners to really reckon with the bleak unreality that this music presents when delivered at the harshest level. This all being said - Nattverd remain reasonably accessible, they certainly stray more on the melodic black metal side of things and fans of acts like Immortal or Dissection are going to have a lot of fun with what's being done on I Helvetes Forakt with all it represents. 

Nattverd have gone above and beyond on I Helvetes Forakt to leave listeners in awe with their execution and the terrifying threnodies they weave have reached new depths of despair. This is black metal done with a twisted vision and no hope for the future, but simply a grimly frostbitten present, a world where the wolves are coming and there's not much you can do other than hope to fight them off. This is Bergen black metal done right, an excellent evolution on the Norwegian school that while not reinventing the steel is certainly going to please old heads.

Pre-order the album!

https://nattverdofficial.bandcamp.com/

Mork - Dypet

 

Monochromatic. Unrelenting. Sublime. Such is the magic of Mork, and has been since their inception in 2004. There is a bleak poetry to their compositions and a power behind tracks their new album, Dypet that can't help but to engage fans and draw them into the wondrous layers of darkness that have come to shape the bleak unrealities that have made Mork such an engaging project for so many. This latest offering, the bands sixth full length is another testament to just how talented they are and how their vision has seen them grow with time. 

Mork's work has always looked back at the glory days of Norwegian black metal, with influences of artists like Taake and Darkthrone shining brightly onto the wolfs lair abyss that they create. Of course, Mork is creating with the benefit of hindsight and using those classic elements in order to craft something that is larger than life and strangely beautiful. Mork have found a way to capture the imagination with Dypet that hearkens back to the power of the genre in the 90's and the transcendence that they touch on with this record speaks to the bleak overarching vision they have been crafting for the better part of two decades now. 

In brief - I'm always going to get down with bands who are as obsessed with Darkthrone as I am, but Mork have found a way to really capitalize on that, adding to the legacy and conjuring up a sound that, while very reminiscent of the 90s classics feels firmly rooted in the 2020s. The group have been able to evolve what they've done for years now and refine it into something bleak and resolutely powerful. It's black metal that will capture your imagination and get you coming back eternally to the twisted sorrow found within.

Buy the album!

https://peaceville.bandcamp.com/album/dypet

Vulture Industries - Ghosts From The Past

 

Norwegian masters Vulture Industries are back with their most engaging and bombastic work to date. It's a record with gorgeous production and immaculate songwriting, an album that dramatically pushes the band to bold new heights. Ghost from The Past is a record that speaks to darkness of a sort that few of the bands peers could really match. It's emotional and desperately engaging, a release that demands spin after spin. It's a record that speaks to how exciting the Bergen scene is and which builds on so many of the bands previous visions from the darkside. 

Perhaps what strikes me the most about Ghosts From The Past is the scope of the work. While previous Vulture Industries records certainly were wide ranging, this one feels far greater. The band builds on some of their classic ideas in order to go to higher heights and plumb lower depths. The imagery on the album too feels like it's taken a second level, with song titles like "Saturn Devouring His young" and "Tyrants Weep Alone" just hinting at how much richer this release is lyrically and thematically. Vulture Industries with their multi tiered instrumentation and polished songwriting have crafted what is quite possibly their most accessible work to date. 

Ghosts From The Past seems like evidence that Vulture Industries will only get better. While not all the execution is truly perfect, on some level that comes with the territory for a band like this trying to do so much at once. The end result is a release that feels very human and wonderfully exciting. Ghosts From The Past is a release that paints images of a world forgot and a darker future that many of the bands peers can only dream of imitating. This is avantgarde rock music done with a passion and vision that is sure to entrance you.

Pre-order the album!

https://vultureindustries.bigcartel.com/

VoidCeremony - Threads of Unknowing

Now this one is a crusher. VoidCeremony have been favorites of mine for a while and their upcoming album, Threads Of Unknowing is simply building on the magic of their previous work. It's gloriously intense, skronky and vicious death metal full of visionary twists and turns that leave listeners and awe and which speak to the crippling assault that VoidCeremony have been able to unveil time and time again on their listeners. This is death metal done with a lust for blood and it is incredibly addictive to get lost in. 

VoidCeremony simply crush on this album. There are so many layers to the work and the end result is so wonderfully cerebral. It's thinking mans death metal, inspired by the likes of Atheist and Cynic, music for the death metal nerds who want to hear jazz influences and absurdly tricky performances combining together to make some wonderfully jarring and surprisingly effective music. While Threads Of Unknowing might not be an easy listen, it's certainly a record that is going to keep listeners excited for what more is to come from the death metal masters who seem to be able to conquer even the most technically challenging propositions with ease. 

Threads of Unknowing is a clear next step for VoidCeremony and an album that I think hints at all that is to come from a band who have this much raw talent at their disposal. Their is something wonderfully old school about their approach, despite all of the avant garde songwriting ideas. It makes for music that feels very real and is sure to engage listeners on a deeper level as they seek to connect with the bitter wolfs lair abyss that has been unveiled by VoidCeremony on this devilishly intense and slightly terrifying offering. 

Pre-order the album!

https://www.20buckspin.com/collections/front/products/voidceremony-threads-of-unknowing-lp

Imperial Demonic - Beneath The Crimson Eclipse

 

It's Friday so why not immerse yourself in some killer melodic black metal? Such is the magic of Imperial Demonic and their gut wrenching new album, Beneath The Crimson Eclipse. This is black metal taken to the nth degree, unrelenting and crushing, but full of bombast and a larger vision that is going to keep listeners enamored for spin after spin. Drawing very much from the 90s school with clear nods to Dimmu Borgir and Dissection among others, Imperial Demonic have unleashed hell from Northern Ireland and by Thor is it addictive. 

Beneath The Crimson Eclipse impresses because of the breadth of the vision and the quality of the compositions fueling the music. These are songs that feel larger than life and which have a sort of swaggering vision behind them that makes them that much more compelling. The crippling chorus on "Dawn Of The Infernal Age" has surprising sing along potential and speaks to just how hooky this record is. Imperial Demonic are making black metal in a way that is grandiose and obsessed with the past, but that's a huge part of what makes it so engaging and gives listeners reason to keep coming back ever more in love. 

Imperial Demonic have unleashed something here that is accessible and powerful. It's a record that is throat slitting in its execution and unrelenting in its assault. There is a melodic and addictive power that allows these tracks to really shine and which pushes listeners off the ledge and into the abyss. If you're looking for black metal that speaks to some of the most wonderfully epic sides of the genre and which doesn't get lost in too much modern age experimentation you could do a lot worse than the four on the floor pummeling of Imperial Demonic.

Pre-order the album!

https://imperialdemonicblacklion.bandcamp.com/album/beneath-the-crimson-eclipse