Der Tod und die landsknechte (forgive me if I have fucked that up, German is not my strong point) is the project of former Absurd vocalist “Wolf”. On the fact of his inclusion alone, before you get to instrumentation (although that too contributes), it is easy to compare Der Tod… to Absurd, particularly the 2000s era in which Wolf was main vocalist. This album contains the same bouncy yet morose folk-like riffs that Absurd proliferated…

Really cool and interesting hardcore / punk with a big undercurrent in the “oi” style (without really falling into that genre at all). Highlight of this thing are the riffs, which are pretty powerful. The drumming is fantastic and the vocals are gruff and in your face. A fucking solid 20 minutes.

Fucking excellent, super under-rated black metal. Reminds me of a mix of the first Peste Noire record, War 88 and Deathspell Omega, if I could be so bold. The songs on Všehorovnost je porážkou převyšujících managed to be both cold and clinical as well as produced with a warmth and a balance that makes this intense and uncompromising black metal record almost a pleasure to listen to. Highly recommended.

This shit fucking slaps, if I can be permitted to use a term that the kids are “down” with, Granted, it sounds like complete shit, but in the same endearing way that a lot of black metal or grindcore sounds like complete shit. Feel like I’m sat in some grotty shit heap of a house; people are dancing; I’m 8 cans into some horrible cider; someone, somewhere has smoked some crack and the place fucking…

Hummingbird Of Death (such a brilliant name) absolutely do not fuck around. This record is a stunning example of how to perform lightning fast grind/powerviolence with a DECENT production and still blow people’s fucking heads off. Yes, there are moments of sludgy, head-nodding riffery, but for the most part this is complete sonic destruction at break-neck speeds. Totally fucking awesome.

As many have noted before me, the legendary status of such a composition makes it rather difficult to talk about. Each name in the running order – a mere footnote in the playlist here, is instead a whole epoch of extreme metal history (yes, even the not-so-well-known ones towards the back). I would recommend this compilation to anyone who is new to underground metal and grindcore; the glory days of Earache are truly difficult to…

Nordland II continues where Nordland I left off, but my interest is not as high for this one. Perhaps it would have been different in “real time”, with a year or whatever between the two albums, but back-to-back these two feel like one bloated, overly-long record. It is also an unfortunate reality that many of the least interesting songs are placed here on Nordland II. Don’t get me wrong, I need to speak plainly in…

Nordland is something of a return to form after a series of what many perceive to be rather wishy-washy albums. I’ve enjoyed all of the various detours in the Bathory catalog, but have to admit that Destroyer Of Worlds was one of the weakest. It is with great relief then, that it’s follow-up, Nordland, starts off incredibly strong. Unfortunately, the record is somewhat top-heavy, with my interest waning as the record goes on. The first…

Entirely enjoyable yet also somewhat unremarkable EP from the controversial Graveland. I think some of these tracks are on Creed Of Iron (they sound familiar at least, but it is easy for me to confuse the various and multiple versions of Graveland songs / eras / album rerecordings and what have you). Production is probably “down the middle” as far as Graveland goes; not too disgusting yet also not too polished.

Not a patch on Longbow III. Raw as fuck, and with an interest concept in the crossover of themes from both oi and black metal, but not really all that great in execution.

Not much going on here. Not awful but absolutely zero flare or individuality.

Both bands are a variation on the same theme here. Thankfully, that theme is uncompromising trashcan-beating gorenoise concocted of thunder claps of nonsensical guitar blurs and intestine vomiting vokills. Play it for your gran.

A set of very interesting songs led by a prominant synthesizer which dominates the mix and the songwriting in general. Unfortunately, the record is let down by fairly underwhelming whispered vocals (think post-prison Varg but twenty times worse) which really detract from the overall atmosphere. I’m sure there’s plenty of people out there who like it, but personally I think this would have been better with fully clean vocals throughout (of which there are some)…

Fucking excellent black metal. Production is pretty shite, but not to the detriment of the record. The atmosphere conjured here is one that I hear many people talking about, perhaps overzealously, in regard to NSBM: triumphant. Blood Of Patriots is just that; an excellent balance of mystic, obscure black metal and “triumphant” melodies. Really good shit.

Now this is fukken thrash metal! Hyper speed, hyper energy, hyper intensity! Tracks like “Mother’s Day” and “Funky Noise” are basically just straight up grindcore, but the intensity doesn’t really let up for the whole record, even in the more sensibly-paced numbers. Production is nice and clear; bass is fantastic and super prominent without dominating the mix; the riffs are balanced well and the drums are hard-hitting as hell. Too many good tracks to mention…

Some decent morose riffs and some good vocals on top. Rigid drum machine programming makes there bare structure of the song very plain to see sometimes, but what it loses in atmosphere due to the drum machine it gains back with the excellent synthesizer work, which reminds me of Rob Lord’s work on Discworld II, of all things…

Fukken dirty ass HM2 blackened punk that sounds like it was recorded in Fritzl’s basement. I would highly recommend it to everyone, from my neighbour to my gran.

Imagine my suprise after realising I had gotten all the way to 2024 without writing about Frozen Corpse Stuffed With Dope. Sometimes, I take for granted how easy it is to write about new music where there is no attachment to it other than the experiences you have with listening to it that first couple of times. With something like Frozen Corpse, a formative grindcore album for me which I have heard hundreds of times,…

In the past Necro has mixed metal with rap and it has been uhhh, not so great. For some reason, on Death Rap, this combination seems to work rather well. There’s some respectable names cropping here. That said, I massively prefer the more straight up “hip hop” orientated tracks; the sound just lends itself to the depravity of Necro’s rhymes so much better than some random metal riffs. All in all, Death Rap is a…

Some great riffs and some excellent drumming, but for the most part Marasmus unfortunately fails to ignite any real excitement during the entire listen. It isn’t a bad album by any stretch of the imagination; but I’m not sure if it is the production or perhaps it is because the dreaded 00s Nasum-inspired deathgrind bubble burst long ago.

Heavy shit, savage shit. There’s a perfect production on this; the balance between raw and well made. It really helps the loaded powerviolence hit home. The whole EP is loaded with this infectious energy that just makes you want to move. Great 7″.

Vocals kill this one dead, fam. Expect similar excellent yet dirty keyboard from BSOD; the same that you would find in Grausamkeit or BB. Trouble is, man here be croaking over this thing like friggin’ Gnar Kill’s “Mustard Man”. Sounds like pure shit, I won’t lie.

Would it perhaps be too overblown to say that this is lo fi art at its finest? (No, I’m not just saying that because she has her baps out on the cover). Expect shaky, wobbly, messy keyboard and synthesizer pieces, augmented by flurries of barely audible programmed drums and screams buried in enough dust, wow and flutter to almost make them redundant. Folelse Dod truly is a record that is greater than the sum of…

For its place as a early 90s classic, Non Serviam has a very dry, almost artificial sound to it. It isn’t loaded with friggin’ VSTs of course, but it does have a bizarre robotic feel to it. Production aside, this is a fantastic set of songs. I love how when both guitars are going they just melt together into one entity, especially when the synthesizers kick in to complement them. Cutting a track or two…

Raw, punk-influenced black metal from Canada. To War is played with a looseness that no doubt will turn some people off, but if the messier / noisier end of the stick is your bag when it comes to hellish black metal then look no further than this disgusting 4 track demo / EP.

Beautiful, mesmerizing, magical – these are some of the words that I would use to describe the music on Darken Wood’s II. I know that dungeon synth is hardly the Superbowl of underground music, but I would say that this is a very underrated project lurking in the shadows. For the quality of the compositions here, Darken Wood definitely deserves more exposure.

Disc 1 is a “best of” collection so is pretty redundant to anyone even remotely familiar with Godflesh. The goodness lies with Disc 2, which is an odds and ends collection of other random shit. There’s some absolute gems here however, like “Love Is A Dog From Hell”, which is arguably one of the best Godflesh tracks ever. There’s also some club remixes from the 90s singles (which have aged better than I remember) as…

I see a lot of butthurt reviews for this thing, as if all these fucking Converge hipsters have never heard a grindcore / hardcore / powerviolence split before and are mad that the whole thing only lasts a few minutes lol get the fuck out of here with that shit. Converge bring the energy with “Runaway” – the production is massive and the drums sound fantastic. Dropdead sound as new and as fresh as ever….

Interesting set of covers from Warsore, of varying quality. Starts off awesome and devolves into live shit by the end (but still OK). Soil Of Ignorance stuff is incredibly well produced. Super vicious grind with precise stop/start bits that really get the blood going. Hard hitting shit that makes you wanna get up and mosh (but not too much, or you’ll make the needle skip).

Honky Reduction era (so bare bones Hull and Randall) ANb hits like a steel girder to the side of the head. You ain’t getting up from this one, homie. 7 tracks in 4 minutes: classic ANb in top form (and the sample here is amazing, I use it IRL too often tbh). Gob are an interesting one. They have the energy of “looser” powerviolence outfits like Spazz or Man Is The Bastard but there’s another…

This is a small EP that came after Utopia Banished and has the same death metal influence yet raw and loose production. Super intense, super overwhelming, super fucking heavy. This one can slip through the cracks very easily, but the tracks are well worth your time, especially as two are exclusive to this release.

Think, heavy, disgusting Carcass worship mixed with that old school Agathocles-style mincecore stomp. Yeah, it’s like Reek and Razor Sharp Daggers in a blender, but Malignant Tumour have their own vibe and their own super brutal and sick take on the goregrind genre, that I would consider their demos, whilst not the most original, as super important to the gestation of the genre.

Starting a grindcore comp with a band of the “slow and heavy” variety is a bold move. Irritate come across like the slower, chunkier moments of 90s Agathocles material (which may or may not be a coincidence since the two bands have split with each other). Murder Company sound like a death metal band on crack cocaine. There’s a fathomless heaviness to proceedings, helped along nicely by the overpowering drumming and low guitar tuning, not…

A stunning document of absolute chaos, both musically and in reality. This semi-official (I guess) debut from this seminal but messy project is one that every fan of war metal / raw death metal should check out. The sound is not the greatest but the guitar tone is fucking fantastic. Features Pete Helmkamp on bass and vocals, who some of you may know from the early Revenge records.

Not sure what to say about this one. It really does need to be heard to be believed. Expected fractured collages of sound and introspective atmospheres.

A strange mix of tracks from Combat 84. Comes across more like earlier Discharge than it does anything more Oi-related. Couple that with half of this being live tracks, and it’s hard to not feel underwhelmed by the first C84 “full length”. Once you’ve gotten over that, what’s here is actually pretty good.

Short, sharp shock! Songs about capital punishment and Barry Prudom (like, what?) make this short 3-track a bit more of an eyebrow raiser more than anything, but damn this shit hits hard. Combat 84 had this knack of bringing such ferocity to quick, catchy songs. Good shit.

Great collection of tunes on one short EP, which hits the mark with both the energy as well as the catchiness of the songs. Production is nice and clear. The drums really pack a punch. Every song is a banger but “Skinhead” and “Violence” are the standout songs IMO.

I’ve been trying to let this one take its time to grow on me before I make any decisions around whether I like it or not, but Call The Devil has failed to make a significant impression on me. This started with the chosen singles, which are dreadful (truly they are), but you can’t judge an entire album by its singles. To Mushroomhead’s credit there is a lot of different vibes and ideas here. This…

An interesting entry into the Wolf / Unhold years in that it is devoid of Unhold. This gives a slightly different vibe than usual but the overall RAC / punk / folk march that drives Absurd through all eras is still here. Drums are a little thin production-wise but the drummer himself is really great actually. The riffs are as good as usual and Wolf’s vocals are excellent as always.

Pointless release containing some of the better tracks that would later appear on Grabgesang, consigning this to fodder for collectors and completionists only, it would seem. Still sounds pretty fucking great, though.

Doesn’t reinvent the wheel but expands upon the “Goatmoon-worship” beginnings of the Moosegut project. Production is still thin and drastic, but the compositions are very very good indeed; drumming is excellent, and the layers of folk music and synths blur so well with the “core” of the black metal. Interesting and evocative, and more is revealed to you on repeat listens.

Einsatzgruppen is serviceable (pretty sure there’s another split knocking about that I heard recently that was a bit better than this). It’s a one speed / one gear kind of affair, which is OK I guess if you’re into what Einsatzgruppen is doing, otherwise this is gonna get old real fast. Sunchariot is useless, unfortunately. Trying to wring even the tiniest redeeming factor out of this session is impossible.

Short but sweet demo / single from this short-lived Dutch death metal outfit. We have the usual drab death metal production, but things still have a nice balance to them all the same. The drums and bass in particular sound fantastic, underneath the more typical (sorry) guitar and vocals. The final track, “The Prophecy” is the highlight here, IMO.

As other more articulate listeners have already pointed out, From The Deepening Gloom draws a lot from the Finnish Steel Storm school of thought; terrible production, punky drumming and some rather sprightly jigs consisting of bouncy riffs, catchy synths and a raspy yelped vocal style. This is far from a carbon copy however, and stands quite nicely on it’s own feet. There is an air of mystery to this record, which coupled with the more…

You must understand that this review is from someone going in blind to the world and legacy of The Fall. At the time of writing I know them as a revered and extremely prolific British band that are held in quite a high regard. I Am Kurious Oranj is indeed a kurious listen and first impressions remind me of early XTC or even Killing Joke in some ways, but my comparisons are mostly trite, I’m…

I’m probably going to catch some shit for this but Space Ritual has always been one of those albums that I *thought* I loved, rather than an album that I genuinely loved. I have slowly come to terms with that in recent months. There may be some correlation between me accepting this and the lack of cannabis in my life for nearly a decade. Is there a chance that there is a correlation between the…

One of the most uncompromisingly heavy things ever recorded. Truly, madly, unrelenting goregrind(noise) is the order of the day. Everything about it is just so absolutely perfect. I first heard this when I was 16 years old and I really struggled to find something in the grindcore world that could beat it for flat out, straight up extremity. Everyone should hear this at least once.

Beautiful production, if one could say such a thing about a Gwar record. On top of that, musically, Violence Has Arrived is something of a return to form after the fever dream that was We Kill Everything (don’t get me wrong, I enjoy that one too, but I do understand why folks might not like it). I remember when I was a little kid getting into metal, Violence Has Arrived was the latest Gwar record…

Weird, dissonant and oddly hollow, yet inventive and engaging black metal from the same mind that brought you the (excellent) Ynkleudherhenavogyon. It is probably a very lazy / amateur summary on my part, but if you mixed the most grimmest, underground black metal with, idk, fucking Neurosis or something, then you’d get something like this.

If you can take one look at that record sleeve and resist listening to this thing then you are a stronger man than me. The guys are wearing “corpsepaint” but this predates most Norwegain stuff, which is kinda cool. I’ve been coming back to this thing on and off for a while, and despite its unsatisifyingly short run time (it is a single after all, I guess), I am hooked on the messy, uncompromising nature…

Edgelord subject matter aside, this is actually a really fucking good slab of black metal. The production is dim and lousy yet also rather coherent and lends itself well to the kind of riffing that does well “semi” buried in a wall of noise. The drum machine is far from offensive and the vocals are fantastic. Songwriting is fairly inspired, with lots of twists and turns and a generally interesting composition. Well worth checking out.

As with all of these kinds of things, once you get deep into the mire of “underground” (as in, “bedroom”) goregrind and or pornogrind, things can get messy very quickly. Thankfully, this fate does not befall the Tribute to Gut compilation, which manages to maintain a pretty solid and consistent level of quality throughout it’s run time. Yes, there are some absolute fucking stinkers here – primarly the “electro” infused cheap digigrind shite that clogged…

Einsatzgruppen (sigh) has some promise to it. Think Vothana meets Signeur Volund (if I’ve spelt that wrong that I’m sorry but I cannot be fucking bothered to look it up) but they are mixed together by the same dude who does all of Lymphatic Phlegm’s studio albums. TLDR: some great stuff, buried in muck and shitty drum machines. I’m being harsh though, the material is pretty good. Shadowgate are well, just not that great. Some…

Interesting vibes and songwriting, ranging from folk to the slower, more “traditional” elements of “pagan black metal” stripped down to its very core. This is another project of Alexey from M8l8th, but the star of the show here is his wife Ekaterina, who’s vocals breathe life into these tracks. Not my usual type of thing, but a pensive and enjoyable listen all the same.

Great warm sound and a smooth analogue production overall (at least it sounds that way – the way it should!). Vocals remind me somewhat of wolves yapping away in the woods but the guitar riffs and drumming are more than enough to keep my attention throughout. A solid side-project from M8l8th’s Alexey. So far, I’m far preferring KoenigsGrab to any M8l8th release.

The AI cover art probably sums up the state of this thing more than the band ever intended it to: yes, it’s not so bad, but the longer you spend with it the more you realise that it’s just a generic pile of nothing that goes absolutely nowhere. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever heard, but it seems oddly stifled and confined, even with a fairly big modern production and soundstage that allows the…

Solid riffs in all fairness, above average for sure, but that’s it. Vocals are not great, and the stock drum sounds used in the programming drag this thing down massively.

I will always welcome the release of more archival Aphex Twin material. Between the themes in the art and the dulcet tones of the soundscape itself, this takes me right back to the days of Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2. The only trouble here is that it is so unbearably short that by the time you are into it, its all over. Repeat listens don’t really do it here, ambient stuff needs to be long…

Not at all like how I expected M8l8th to sound, not that this pointless piece of information has any bearing on whether others would enjoy them or not. The sound is oddly both a little thin as well as overcompressed, especially when compared to other MZ-affiliated artists such as My Skin is Multicam or Koenigsgrab, both of which excel when compared back-to-back with Reconquista. The art is dead cool, though.

An interesting mix of stuff. Anything djent-related usually is an instant turn-off for me but there is something about Multicam’s dissonant mix of super-downtuned chuggy riffs and electronic-led black metal. There is a lot of atmospheric work between the main “bulk” of the songs (being either in a black metal or djent style) which is also very nicely done and weaves the whole album together into a coherent whole.

ENT stuff is a roaring tide of aggression, which is exactly what you would expect, and the material is around the same kind of quality you get on the original Holocaust… record. Great shit. Filthkick are a variation on a theme. Leaning more towards the crust punk end of the spectrum, they kick you in the face (filthily, no doubt) with their rabid, grind-tinged punk attack. A venomous little split, and a classic of the…

I feel like the term “raw” is overused when describing black metal – if not by the metal world at large then absolutely just by me (haha), but “raw” is the perfect word to attach to Totenberg’s uncompromising assault. There is the smallest glimmer of melody present, but harshness – rawness! – drowns it out mostly. The playing is a little loose; that’s not to say sloppy, just that the carnage has a little swing…

Sinister, evil black metal with razor sharp, uncompromising riffage. Raw, but fully audible and dynamic production. Doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but doesn’t need to.

A clear yet balanced and organic production sets the stage for an excellent cache of songs, betraying of course (always!) the Finnish scene’s sensibility of melody underneath the racket. Drums, guitars etc. sound fantastic, and are very well played. Vocals are probably an acquired taste, if I’m honest, but it all works together nicely. Some more cleans like on the last track would go a long way to striking more of a balance. Good stuff,…

Any album with Akhenaten on the cover is immediately going to grab my attention, even if such a deep dive into ancient Egyptian history is fully expected from a band named Nile. On top of that, whilst Those Whom The Gods Detest is an improvement on the weak Ithyphallic, the production does a stellar job of homogenising what is can only decipher as an otherwise extremely excellent set of composed sounds. At first, it hits…

Excellent songwriting, slightly marred by middling production. You totally adjust to it all however, like going back and watching a 90s TV show that’s in standard def / aspect ratio. In fact, generally, Ashes Of Purification gets better and better as it goes on, with my least favourite songs being at the very start of the album. That being said, I don’t think I want to know whatever the fuck “Paedophilic Orgasmatron” is about, and…

A strange and perplexing effort, even for the weirdness associated with Mutiilation. Black Millennium has the odd distinction of getting less and less interesting as it goes on, being heavily front-loaded with such unholy invocations as “The Hanged Priest” and “The Eggs Of Melancholy”. Generally, the album has some very, how shall I say, unusual production choices, with a dense and bassy sound.

Very raw recording, it’s bizarre hearing just the first three albums and knowing that the rest of the stuff doesn’t exist yet (Seventh Star wasn’t even a twinkle in Iommi’s dilated pupil yet hahaha). Ozzy seems in a very good mood on this one, but it’s far from essential.

An EP of covers material, but excellent efforts from both bands, especially Drudkh who just have the perfect mix here. Not to shit on Winterfylleth, their Hate Forest cover here is pretty majestic, considering the pummelling / repetitive nature of the source material.

A beautiful pairing of songs. Old folk songwriting meets modern production and sound. Great stuff.

An interesting release from the excellent Old Tower. Lots of ambient noises, soundscapes and the like. Not to reduce it down to cheap descriptive tactics but it’s like a dungeon synth version of one of those spooky CDs you can get for Halloween, that is until the actual synthesizer work kicks in. Honestly, this invokes the spirit of the original “ds sound before it was a genre” in such a fantastic way. Truly brilliant playing.

I am dying of cringe.

Interesting and progressive sound compared to Mediator… which had a bit more focus on the heavier aspects, as well as the more tribal drumming etc – Machine Messiah instead flexes its muscles a bit and goes a bit more “out there”, for Sepultura, at least. There are some moments that do not really inspire me but there are always equally as many that are quite clever and definitely engaging. It’s never going to top the…

This later solo effort from J (in the ICP timeline) seems to be held in fairly high regard amongst the juggalos but honestly I’m struggling to see what all the fuss is about. It’s well produced, and fun, but nothing really stands out, much like the later “second deck” jokers cards. A good effort and some great guest spots but it’s never gonna be spun again over the classic ICP stuff.

Peste Noire continues to entertain at the least, with the ongoing twists and turns of his – or their – uh, music. This one contains a lot of dancey industrial beats, which was not what I was expecting, I’ll be honest with you. Again, as I’ve said a few times now regarding Peste Noire, when it sticks to the black metal, that shit is fierce and incredible. And I’m not one to piss and moan…

I appreciate the innovation and experimentation present in this release, in fact I find it more enjoyable than the previous three Peste Noire albums (but it does not hold a candle to my sweet, sweet love that is La sanie des siècles). Moments of flat out, uncompromising black metal are rare, but when they hit, they hit hard. Otherwise, this thing comes on like some mad French painter throwing shit at a barn wall, or…

It may have been rerecorded 5000 times but this, the original, you cannot argue with it. Comparisons to Napalm Death are of course apt, but ENT have their own raw punk energy that is propelled along with flashes of absurdly fast d-beat from drummer (here, at least) Stick. The record has surprisingly good production too, excellent levels of clarity for something so filthy and soaked in piss and cider.

I didn’t think it would be possible to “mature” a sound like that which is played by SROM, but Supreme Malicious Necro Terror is proof that it is totally possible. Like hanging meats for drying, or cheese for aging, SMNT is a brilliant extension of the sickess found on Goreblast. The production, whilst still raw, is just, well, disgusting to be honest. It reminds me of old Impetigo or LDOH, but with the trademark “dinner…

Came to this because the art was so fucking cool, but my god this is fucking deplooooorable. Ok, maybe it’s not that bad, but the vocals are all over the place, back and forth between this whole My Dying Bride / Paradise Lost thing, and the more standard black metal approach. I never know what’s coming next and the whole album is a mixed bag of random tropes of “pagan shit”, like you fed a…

I enjoy Pungent Stench but don’t come back to visit them all that often. Been Caught Buttering, which is the band’s sophomore album, walks a tightrope between concise, clear music and production, and on the other side, wallowing in a pit of disgusting gore. There is also the matter of the band’s purile sense of humour, which compliments proceedings nicely, of course. Pungent Stench play with the discipline and tightness of a death metal band,…

Veles stuff here is stuck under some sort of murky swamp or bog deep in a dark forest. As long as you are aware of the subterranean sound before you enter, then you’ll be fine. Good stuff but not as great as the full lengths. Legion on the other hand is particularly unhinged, at least in the vocals department. Sound is generally a little clearer than Veles but they make up for the sonic clarity…

Nothing of note to really report. Slow, plodding doom in various forms is the uhh, order of the day. Notable for being one of the first 10” records I ever but it never got many spins from me and I sold it years ago. Coming back to it now I can see why. Not bad, but pretty nondescript.

Whilst not reaching the dizzying heights of the magical debut, Emptiness x 3 is a fabulous neofolk record with some wonderful songs and atmospheric passages. Speaking of the latter, perhaps “Algir Naudir Wunjo” and closer “Reficul” do not need to be quite as long as they actually are, especially the latter, but they are still great all the same. Very chill, very mystical, very (refreshingly) not fashy lol – a decent sophomore album.

On today’s episode of black metal that sounds suspiciously like goregrind, we have the first (I think?) Hate Forest demo, Scythia. I have always appreciated Hate Forest’s super heavy low register vocals and uncompromising approach to black metal, but that approach is pared back to its most base and inferal core here on this debut. Frenetic drum machines act as a backbone to a sludge of – let’s be fair, quite melodic – riffs, topped…

Kommodus – for better or worse – has become one of those Goatowarex darlings that people end up snapping and braying like wild animals for trying to get copies of the latest vinyl drop, or what have you. I can safely say however – whilst without wanting to really understand that level of hype for absolutely anything, i’ll be honest with you – that I can see why people think that this shit is really…

A truly magical and stunning experience that is fully deserving of its reputation and legendary status. Recently I have been checking out the reissue which has the additional mixes from Steve Wilson – nothing that’s going to blow your mind with the insane differences or what have you but all the Wilson mixes that I’ve heard of TD stuff thusfar have been brilliantly done and this is of no exception. On the note of the…

I gotta get one thing out of the way: I appreciate what they were going for, but hooooollllyyyy shit the drumming on this thing sucks ass. Man be dropping mad beats like Pantheon are the Dillinger Escape Plan of NSBM. This blows, really really hard. Have you ever been sat there listening to a wanky tech death album and have thought to yourself: “hmmm, this would sound really cool with zero triggers and also if…

Frosty, icy, thin production that is so brittle it sounds almost hollow. If it wasn’t the for excellent blanket of orchestral / keyboard elements slathered over the top, this would be a pretty poor release, but the two almost conflicting elements work surprisingly well together. The vocals are of the Darken / Abbath / Dagon “frog” stock but not really as ridiculous as any of those I’ve just listed. An interesting demo, for sure.

A really beautiful piece of work! A tapestry of fantastically woven riffs lead this mesh of atmospheric harmony. The synth work is second to none, especially when it goes all out on record closer “Victoria Solis”. There is excellent cover art to boot, the only complaint I have is that it’s only 26 minutes long. Alas, there is always more Bilskirnir. A brilliant release.

Some excellent moments, but others which have a really weird slant to them, almost sounding completely artificial like a fuggen pornogrind band or something. Nevertheless, the compositional quality is very good. I’m gonna give Wolfnacht the benefit of the doubt on this one.

Only the trvest, most intense vampires need apply for this one. It seems almost mandatory that you listen to this one on the shittiest pair of earphones ever, or with a chewed up cassette copy complete with wobbles and surface noise. It is however to these gent’s credit how they conjure up such fantastic paranormal atmospheres from what is essentially a very basic template. The drums are truly abysmal, and the vocals aren’t better. The…

An interesting pairing of songs – long, of course, in the true “epic pagan metal” style of later Graveland. Production is probably in the middle on the Grave-o-meter, half way between “kvlt as fvkk” and “clear as day”. Great stuff, but not all that much can be said about two songs. Good if you just want to dip your toes in, as it were.

Good, but fairly “middle of the road” and – odd for me to say despite the name and content – fairly inoffensive black metal. Some of the Der Sturmer stuff is fantastic, but this isn’t it.

I love “alternative timeline” listens like this one. Abominations Of Desolation is, if I’m not mistaken, Morbid Angel’s original canned debut album, which didn’t come out, and instead we got a much more buffed up version in the form of Altars Of Madness. Abominations is well worth your time however, not only for the alternative takes on favourite songs, but also for the historical significance of a band as important as Morbid Angel is to…

I seem to be in the minority here but I think the Absurd stuff here is some of their best. The drums, for quite possibly the first time in their original run, are incredible. The vocals here, seem extra rabid and angry and disgusted with the world. Like someone took the Totenlieder sessions and injected some steroids into them. Gourmet Burger Kitchen are the weakest band here, easily, but even their session has grown on…

Quite possible one of the greatest live releases of all time? I had this 12” and I sold it because I’m an idiot, I used to enjoy listening to this thing at full volume. Danzig’s voice sounds absolutely fucked and Henry Rollins clearly doesn’t know the words to “We Are 138” but it’s worth it for the churning, unforgiving monster that was the sheer brute force of 80s Misfits. An absolute classic!

Interesting split, from two bands I never thought I would see together on one release. Fistula stuff seems culled together from various sessions, but what the fuck do I know. For downtuned, sludge-loving sleazeballs exclusively.

Absolute fuggen carnage is afoot on Blood’s debut album. They have not quite perfected their death metal / grindcore blend yet but the template is surely there. Expect messy, nasty grindcore with sick downtuned riffs and absurd vocal experimentations. Even in this “proto” form Blood sound fucking fantastic.

One of the greatest black metal releases that I have ever heard, and I am not exaggerating. It is easy to throw scorn at Vothana’s approach to black metal. You can argue that once you’ve heard one album or demo then you’ve heard them all, but the devil really is in the detail here. There is a track at the mid-way point, I think perhaps “Mồ chôn tập thể / Mass Graves” which just has…