http://www.bardomethodology.com/articles/2018/10/08/akitsa-interview/
This is kind of a fun interview. A lot of discussion of the extreme metal scene in Montreal in the 90’s.
Album’s not half bad, either.
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Here’s the latest stuff I’ve enjoyed.
Sweeping Death is a slightly proggy thrash band from Germany. Marina called them ‘Castlevania metal’ and, on one hand, no, come on but on the other hand, that’s kind of hard to argue with lol. (Especially considering the aesthetic of their music videos)
I forget how I came across these guys but
Valkenrag is a Amon Amarth-clone from Poland and, yes, that would usually get an eyeroll from me, but they’re trying to be Once Sent from the Golden Hall era Amon Amarth and that’s pretty cool.
Orkan is an atmospheric black metal band from Norway and this album is just really solid. Plus it has a deer on the cover! It’s a side project from Taake’s live guitarist. He is not the guy in Taake who did the swastika thing, but head’s up depending on how far you go to avoid Nazi’s in metal.
Slægt is a band from Denmark who plays tradition heavy metal with just a touch of black metal. It’s really good! The above is an older album because their current album (which has cleaner production to its detriment imo) isn’t available to listen for free. Also, look at these beautiful men:
Ok, yes, I clicked this because Castlevania, but Solipsismo is tech death from Ecuador and they’re just a lot of fun, which is what I want out of tech death. I-
…Wait
And on to the funner side of my weekly metal trawling
American pagan metal that’s… ok? How have I not heard of these guys before? I-
oh god I’ve seen them live multiple times
…and I’m seeing them next month
This is not a good sign, guys
Haha, fuck yeah, rodents
You guys, bats aren’t…
…
You know what, you do you. Forget I said anything.
How can I NOT give an album a listen with a band name like that?
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Dungeön Hammer, huh. There is no point to this post, I just wanted to write that out once
It really is
…something
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Dun jee-on Hammer
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haven’t paid attention to this band for only-god-knows how long, but i actually like this. . . whatever it is
I like this kind of metal because it’s got a lightness to it that’s fun. I can feel that. It reminds me of Iron Maiden and classics like that. I guess what I’m saying is I don’t like heavy heavy metal? Just light heavy metal
Here’s your recent metal update. The theme of this update is album art.
Selvans is Italian folk melodic black metal. I don’t know what it is about Italy, but they have a lot of really good folk metal? Faunalia is a bit more folky than their earlier stuff, but it’s all good. Easily one of my favorite discoveries this year. Also, solid album art.
Italy’s VISCERA/// has gone through a lot, but their current sound is probably best described as a more avant-garde Agalloch. It’s real good!
Also, this album art is very good
IMO, bands on a small budget should generally go in the direction of just taking a nice picture and not putting a logo or an album name on it. It’s much preferable to be blank than to have a canned font.
See their label mates Seventh Genocide’s album art, which is how I came across Viscera
Decent post-metal, too, if you’re into that sort of thing
Japanese avant-garde black metal band Sigh has an album coming out this week which is very exciting and they always have good cover art:
Polish black metal band Outre put out an album last month and it’s good!
Cover art is a step down from their debut
BUUUUT, their logo game is on point
Spanish dungeon synth fixture Elffor has a new one out. It’s got a little more actual black metal than most dungeon synth. Sounds wayyyy closer to Summoning than most actual Summoning clones.
They also have a killer logo and it’s very charming when you’re on bandcamp and you see album art that’s clearly intended for cassette tapes
Death metal from Colorado, Glacial Tomb put out their debut recently and it’s really strong. Cover art is eh, though, and god, the canned font. Just don’t write anything! It’s ok not to have your name on the cover!
Exxxekutioner is death thrash from England and it’s pretty much what you’d want from that; more-fun death metal.
Cover art though, wow
I wasn’t that big of a fan of Canadian atmospheric black metal band Paths’ last album, but they really stepped up both their music and their logo game for this year’s. Album art is eh, though.
Trollheims Grott is an old industrial black metal band I’ve never heard of, and they put out their first album in 15 years on Halloween and it fucking rips. Expect to see it on my ‘best of’ year end list.
Four Stroke Baron is a band other people on SB might actually like (!!!). It’s prog metal with… new wave vocals. It’s weird! But it works better than I would have expected and I was really surprised at how much I ended up liking them.
Frozen Moon is a long running Chinese weird folky black metal band and ooohh I like them a lot. Very strong testament to the appeal of like, not doing black metal shrikes or death growls but, just actually screaming in music. They used a canned font on their album which is weird because their actual logo owns
Their actual cover art is w/e, but the box the cassette comes in is pretty classy
New York’s Sarparast only has two songs out so far, but I’m going to bring them up because I think they’re pretty excellent. Female-fronted black metal about communism. Band’s bio is ‘Anti-Capitalist. Anti-Fascist. Anti-Racist. Pro-Woman’ and they happen to make excellent black metal to boot.
Another Remote find, thanks Remote!
And the odds and ends of my metal trawling:
Now Everything Fades is a pretty nothing DSBM band, but god they have a killer logo:
Not great death metal, but, Metal Gear! Ey!
I honestly can’t remember what album this is from but I found this in my image folder.
Oh my god please DO NOT
Armed Ark is Christian thrash metal from India and that’s a weird enough thing that I had to listen but I should have payed attention to the warning sign that was the cover art:
India’s metal scene is really cool, at some point I’ll do a post about it.
I want you all to know what it’s like out there, in the underground, so let’s do a album art round-up.
Oh my god the angled text what the fuck how could you think that’s better than no text
Power metal concept album about the band’s favorite Scifi movies. Yes, there is a song about Riddick. Also, Enemy Mine, of all things.
This albums description inexplicably announces that it’s the band’s first and last album and no further clarification is given. Good luck in your future endeavors, I guess?
What’s that? Did classic Norwegian black metal band Carpathian Forest
release a new album?
adjusts glasses
Oh, no, it’s…
Carpathian Frost a mysterious one-man metal band by this man
Who could not afford to buy a scarf with which to cover his face for anonymity reasons ;_;
Weirdly, the music is actually not terrible? And, when I went to grab that cover, it turns out he put out a second album in as many months and the cover art is
Get rip of the canned front and we’ll be good, dude. Onwards and upwards for mister ‘Vidarr’ I hope.
One last note. Reading this post, you may have heard the word ‘cassette’ more than you have in years. Metal is actually having a huge cassette tape revival and it’s… weird but kind of cute? Like, it can’t all be nostalgia. I’m 28 and I hardly remember cassettes, half the bands putting these out probably didn’t grow up with them. Anyways, I ran across the Mexican label Midnight Sorcery Tapes
And they have an interesting pricing structure on bandcamp:
That’s right, motherfucker! MST doesn’t care if you have a tape deck or not, you’re getting a fucking tape! (Hellcharger is a decent Mexican d-beat/black metal crossover band with a killer guitar tone btw)
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Very good shit
I promise I’m close to knowing how to properly write my requisite apology before talking about… metalcore and posthardcore God have mercy
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holy shit this rules??
i mean i’m only halfway through one song but
this rules
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I just found out that Selvans did a collaborative album with Argentinian band Downfall of Nur a few years back and holy shit it’s amazing:
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I’m slowly becoming a retro wave fan and now I just found something that combines that with metal influences. I like it quite a bit, so I might as well share it
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There’s a lot of crossover in fandom and musicians with metal and synthwave, although The Lion’s Daughter is the only band I’ve seen successfully combine the two.
I regret missing Dance With the Dead ealier this year when they toured here.
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Also, obligatory:
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I’ll check that out, thanks!
I haven’t listened to much metal lately, but I have a 
Bonus Round for everyone today. Invisible Oranges (named after the hand motions extreme metal singers do when they’re singing) is not my favorite metal website, but I recently came across two completely batshit interviews they’ve done that are worth a look if you have some free time.
Reverorum ib Malacht is a Swedish black metal band that’s famous for converting to Catholicism and thengiving a goofy interview about it.
It’s fun
I was looking them up when I discovered a more recent interview and, uh, the tone is a little different:
It’s all like that and it’s quite nuts. I’d almost suspect it’s a put-on if I hadn’t been reading black metal interviews for years. They spend a lot of time complaining about other black metal bands not being kvlt enough and making fun of their band photos, in an interview interspersed with their own goofy band photos. So, pretty much a normal BM interview but
more verbose and Catholic.
This lead to me discovered Invisible Oranges’ infamous interview with Swedish band Shining. If the previous interview is a pretty normal BM raised to new heights by the band, this one is a normal edgy hostile musician interview except the interviewer doesn’t just end the interview or push back, like in a normal interview, he just gets angry and tries to keep going. It’s kind of amazing.
(tw slur)
I’ve never read an interview that ends with the interviewer talking about wanting to beat up the interviewee before!
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‘Noise and several drums sounds are harmonized as one but it’s difficult what’s kind of music this is.’ melodic black metal, don’t get too excited
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