I’ve been playing guitar for 21 years now, and I’ve recently decided that I need a refresher. I’ve fallen out of regular practice, so my skills have fallen off a bit. But all musicians will relate to this feeling: I just need more gear, and I can justify it to…
Few things are as enjoyable as a debut record. No matter how bad or good the record eventually turns out to be, the excitement that stems forth from that unabashed enthusiasm is invigorating, like a new car smell. This first impression is amplified by the absence of expectations, where every…
Since this is my first review of the year, it’s a good time to mention one of my annual music resolutions. I try to evolve my listening habits with a new focus come Jan. 1, with this year’s theme being to cut down on my “Lazy List.” With all the…
For a six-year run leading up to and through The Ark Work (2015), Hunter Hunt-Hendrix’s output as Liturgy made him public enemy number one in the black metal community. Some of this wasn’t entirely his fault, namely the unexpected “indie seal of approval” bestowed on Aesthethica (2011). The album’s response…
Thrash-turned-black metallers Blackhelm have been building a name for themselves amid the Melbourne underground for some time. The band, who started off under the name Metalstorm, already have a series of impressive EPs to their name, but last Friday saw the release of their debut album, Dark Clouds of the…
There’s been so many good albums this year it’s easy for some to slip through the cracks, even ones that you’ve already listened to. When I first heard The Chemical Mind’s Beneath the Shadow It Casts, admittedly I listened to a couple of songs and sort of just dismissed it…
Earlier this year we ran an article about “what we’re looking forward to in 2019” where I highlighted my excitement for what the sub-genres of blackgaze and post-black metal would have to offer this year. I noted concern of a growing trend to just replicate what those before them have…
*prognotes breaks down and analyses your favourite metal and progressive concept albums lyrically and musically. Read other entries in this series here. The last few years have yielded an incredible bounty of fantastic new music and 2016 was chief among them. Schammasch’s tremendous triple album, Triangle, was no exception as…
September was a damn good month for all things frostbitten and evil. Showcasing the genre’s insane breadth of style and influence more than in any month in recent memory, black metal showed up in a big way as the multi-faceted beast we’ve always known it was. The releases featured here are in majority some of our favorite of the year, and we hope you will share that sentiment. So feast your eyes and ears on the ridiculous bounty that was the month in black metal.
Black metal has reached a critical point in development and rapid expansion through the past decade that introduced interesting sonic experiments to an otherwise insular and esoteric genre. Artistic waves came and went, and what was once avant-garde became commonplace in the genre. For instance, Deathspell Omega’s dark and twisted approach…
