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…
I’m not exactly unveiling a deep or hidden truth when I say that the occult has been one of – if not the – most prevailing lyrical themes of metal music since its inception. In fact, I’m pretty sure being a metal band and not having at least one song about Satanism…
It’s pretty incredible to reflect on how much Kvlt Kolvmn has grown over the last couple years, especially when it comes to how consequential it’s been for Heavy Blog’s coverage of the vast web of metal subgenres. What began as an outlet for me (Scott) to occasionally ramble about my…
In metal, there is no combination with more potential than that of black metal and prog. Something about this blend just tickles all the right spots. The monotonous, raw energy of black metal is balanced by the experimentation and variety that prog brings. Enter Jarun, a Polish band who have…
Expectation can be a curious beast. From a band’s perspective it can drive the wheels of excitement accompanying the build-up to a new release, pushing them to new heights and allowing them to reach wider audiences. Yet, it can also hang over them like a pestilence, crippling them with fear…
