Dimmu Borgir is celebrating 25 of baptizing the world in darkness and fire, and with it being 7 long years since the release of their most recent studio album ‘ABRAHADABRA‘ you should be elated to know that Dimmu Borgir has finally broken the soul torturing silence and confirmed that their 10th studio album titled ‘Eonian’ is set to be released on May 4th, 2018! Continue reading
When it comes to something dark, sinister and macabre settings Norwegian dual powerhouse SATYRICON are at the helm for driving things forward. Wading through the misty, grim and cold winters SATYRICON have paved a long way of terrifying black metal ever since it was formed in 1991 in Oslo. They are till this date one of the prime and most important black metal bands in the world to have come out of the unholy grounds from up north. As they inch closer to three decades of hard hitting black metal, the duo are ready shroud the entire United States with black clouds on their final US run this spring in support of their latest studio album, ‘Deep Calleth Upon Deep‘.
Recently, I had the great opportunity to interview Noor, the lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, and co-founding member of LA-based, black metal band, NorthWind Wolves. After reviewing NWW’s latest album, ‘Dark… Cold… Grim…‘ and being impressed by their music, I was honored to be able to speak directly to the man himself. He graciously opened up about everything including his own personal musical journey and influences, the origins of the band, and even helped clear up some misconceptions and rumors floating around the internet.
Noor’s story is definitely an enthralling one, and one that really speaks to the drive of a musician’s passion to pursue his art. With a deep look into the mind of a true black metaller, and without any further hesitation, please enjoy this riveting interview with Noor of NorthWind Wolves: Continue reading
NorthWind Wolves is a black metal band originating from sunny Los Angeles, California with a sound that feels deceivingly like something conjured from the iciest, deepest regions of Scandinavia. Their aptly-titled, second full-length studio album ‘Dark… Cold… Grim…,’ released on Sweden-based, Black Lion Records in 2017, is precisely as advertised – dark, cold, and grim. What first draws you in to the record is the excellent cover artwork consisting of a mist-engulfed, moonlit, gothic castle which effectively serves to immerse you, as the listener, into this world. The musical style is symphonic or folkish at times, gritty and nasty others, but overall is firmly rooted in an old-school, melodic black metal sound. Continue reading
“[T]he Scour thing was something that just popped up, and it’s something that I think I can kill, something I can lay it out…it’s predominantly, in my ear, modern-ish black metal sounding, thrash black metal type stuff. I’m going to put my own spin on it. I don’t have to sound like your boy from Gorgoroth (laughter) to get my point across, man. There’s other ways of singing over that style of music, and I shall employ many styles” – Philip H. Anselmo talking to hellbound.ca
Just kill it? – too tame! The US extreme metal supergroup Scour, the brainchild of Philip H. Anselmo (Pantera, Down), John Jarvis (Pig Destroyer, Agoraphobic Nosebleed), Derek Engemann (Cattle Decapitation), Chase Fraser (Animosity, Decrepit Birth), and Adam Jarvis (Pig Destroyer, Misery Index) have absolutely annihilated it once again with their ferocious new ‘Red’ EP out this Friday 3rd Nov via Anselmo’s own Housecore records label (physicals including CD, LP and merchandise orders here, and digital available here). The ‘Red’ EP offers a punishing 16-minute mix of pure modern black metal with pulsating grind and thrash which will leave you ‘seeing red’ with an insatiable bloodthirsty appetite for more – not that that’s a bad thing, existing fans of Scour are waiting heavily in anticipation for a full-length and if this EP is anything to go by, it will be an absolutely formidable aural battery full, pioneering the new chapter in US Black metal!
The record well exceeds expectations that were already set high after 2016’s debut ‘Grey’ EP, which reached an unprecedented #4 on the iTunes top 100 heavy metal albums just 2 days after release. The ‘Grey’ also saw release via Anselmo’s own Housecore label, just before their crushing performance at Hellfest Open Air festival featuring the Pantera classic “Strength Beyond Strength”. Continue reading
Two and a half years ago in the good wintry month of February, me and my cousin happened to witness one of the best prog extreme metal bands, who were pretty much new to my taste buds. A month before that gig, I started jamming their songs religiously and it instantly struck a chord in my heart. I remember my cousin weeping in all his happiness midway their set when Tim Charles started to move the bow to and fro on his violin strings, thus resulting in the harrowing yet beautiful ‘Painters Of The Tempest(Part I): Wyrmholes‘. I remember asking him “Dude, why the fuck would you cry in a metal concert?”. Yes I know, I was pretty stupid back then and probably didn’t understand the catharsis music leads you to. It actually lead me to some long time contemplation, how could someone be reduced to tears with such heavy and intense sonic atrocity.
*This is a part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured state*
This month’s state is Alaska!
Hey metalheads of the pale blue dot! I am back with another State Of The Art write up this Monday to shoot some energy in you, so that you don’t have to whine about how this specific Monday is more boring than the previous one was. Anyways, let’s cut to the chase, and let me have the honor of presenting you one of the very promising bands from the extreme north of United States, battling the cold, dark and grim weather. Let’s give it up for MALSUMIS people! Hailing from the largest city in Alaska, Anchorage, MALSUMIS are a black metal band spawning from the misty, cold and bleak wintery landscapes of America’s Northern most state, just a year ago in 2016, and they successfully have garnered a lot of attention already, while still in its infancy. Mad props to them on that!
The Norwegian Black Metal duo SATYRICON have announced that they will be live streaming the album release show for “Deep Calleth Upon Deep” tomorrow, 9/22/2017 from their hometown of Oslo Norway at 9 p.m. CEST. The show itself we be held for an extremely lucky crowd of 300 people on top of the KLP building in the middle of Oslo. Front man Satyr states “I always thought the Beatles gig on top of the Apple building in London, 1969, was such an intriguing thing and it really feels like a privilege to be able to do something like this ourselves. In our hometown too! Since this is to celebrate the release of “Deep calleth upon Deep”, we don’t want to exclude those who can’t be there with us that night, so I’m glad it’s being streamed worldwide. We’ll play the whole record and we’ll do it in style!” So pull up a seat, grab a drink and swing by SATYRICONS facebook page to watch it all unfold. Along with this special live stream, don’t forget that their album “Deep Calleth Upon Deep” drops tomorrow (9/22/2017) Continue reading
I’m going to be perfectly blunt: American black metal bands aren’t supposed to be this damn good. While black metal is a dark, brooding, and relentless musical style that has cultivated a reverential following in Europe, it’s also a genre that truly lacks a thriving North American music scene that is comparative to bay area thrash metal or Floridian death metal, and great American black metal bands are few and far between.
Thankfully, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM is one of those rare and exceptional black metal bands from the good ole US of A who have attained a level of excellency rivaling that of their European counterparts. After over a decade since releasing their punishing yet atmospheric debut ‘Diadem Of 12 Stars’ in 2006, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM have unveiled their newest record ‘Thrice Woven’: an album that is a masterpiece of thematic musicianship that intellectually moves the listener into a spellbinding trance from start to finish. Sure, it’s not necessarily news to say that WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM have crafted a truly excellent album (again), but even at just five tracks in length, it still needs to be said that vocalist/guitarist Nathan Weaver, vocalist/guitarist Kody Keyworth, and drummer Aaron Weaver have created an album of the highest quality.
I am in a lot of facebook groups and I have seen a bunch of bands while scrolling through them but A Scarlet Gospel instantly stood out from the others. Their ability to combine deathcore with blackmetal is something I haven’t seen before and when I found out that they will be releasing their first EP ‘A Speaker Of Damnation’ I got even more excited. It will be available via Putrescene Records on the 30th of September but 2 tracks have already been out for a while and they are top notch!
