[ aquarius records — Metal Black Metal ]

IMPORTANT (Please read to avoid confusion): Some items below may be tagged with a bold, red, all-caps OUT OF PRINT/UNAVAILABLE notice. This does NOT mean that all other items not so tagged are, in fact, in stock — or for that matter, in print and available, though there's a good chance they are. Some folks get confused on this point, and we can see why, so please read this for further clarification and other important before-you-order information. Unlike some mailorder websites, we don't have an electronic inventory system linked to our site, so you can't be sure of what we actually have or don't have in stock at any given moment without asking us — please email our mailorder department for availability status — or better yet, just go ahead and place your order using our shopping cart function and we'll get back to you with the status of each item. If you have general non-mailorder questions, email the store.

Showing results 1601 through 1650 of 2429.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

MPEG stream: Beneath Eternal Fire
MPEG stream: A Scream Ov Reason
MPEG stream: Morning Lament

Warehouse find! The 2006 debut full length from these Norwegian 'symphonic' UNblack death metallers, released on the EEE label, and like much of the stuff on EEE, so much more twisted and fractured and fucked up than the description above hints at, the 'symphonic' element is a swirl of synths, and choral voices, blurred into haunting smears, the music though, more like WOLD than proper death metal, the drums programmed, yet still stumbling, the riffing SUPER blown out, the distortion crumbling, the vocals an ultra processed bellow, the sound so in-the-red and so completely fried, that instead of sounding heavy, it begins to sound washed out and nearly psychedelic, a dizzying blackened swirl of crumbling chaos, peppered with brief bits of hazy shimmer and dreamlike drift, that only make the violent churn and buzz drenched stutter, that much more intense and bizarre, especially, when the two are mixed (which is most of the time), a backdrop of warbly melodic thrum and sweet synthy shimmer, barely audible beneath a garbled grind of cacophonous crumbling crunch. AWESOME. This is OUT OF PRINT. We have 3 copies and then this is gone for good...

MPEG stream: Beneath Eternal Fire
MPEG stream: A Scream Ov Reason

It's been four years since we last heard any new material from Russia's mighty Old Wainds, and while our ravenous hunger was slightly satiated by the recent domestic reissues of their Religion of Spiritual Violence and Scalding Coldness albums, we were going crazy wondering what the band was up to. Now, as spring rolls in, the Wainds prolong winter a bit longer by unleashing their furious fourth record, Death Nord Kult. In accordance with the band's reputation, the album mirrors the frozen climate of their homeland in a way that only the truest of the true could produce. It is cold, harsh, and completely relentless. Pretty much all the ingredients you want in a black metal record. This band captivated us from day one, based on an ability to bring to mind many of black metal's greats while still managing to sound unlike anything else. They possess a sound that is not "weird" or "avant garde", but one that remains striking nonetheless, and while their earliest material sounds totally bizarre and not of this world, due in large part to the atrocious/awesome lo-fi recording quality, Scalding Coldness was an absolute black metal masterpiece, merging super thick guitars and titanic low tuned drums with a keen attention to structure that seemed to link the songs together as one gigantic movement. Death Nord Kult is the logical progression, finding the band now a duo, along with "permanent session drummer" Izbor of the similarly asskicking NAV, and the overall sound is thrashier and more immediate than before. Sonically, it is the band's thickest and most polished (not Cradle of Filth polished, don't worry) album to date. The fairly straightforward production pretty much gives you the feeling of being in a room with the band as they lay waste. With a more substantial presence in the mix than on past releases, the drums pound ferociously, while strained, guttural vocals croak over dense walls of seasick riffs. Saving a few brief moments of murky ambience, the album continues with this manic intensity right to the end. The riffs are hypnotic and full of melancholy, and the throat shredding Russian vocals provide a strange, uncomfortable feeling that could as easily come from another planet as Hyperborean Russia. Indeed, this band's foreignness is definitely one of the coolest things about them, and while many black metal bands go to cartoonish extremes to prove how evil they are, Old Wainds lyrical themes, here thankfully translated, focus on what they know: bleak, unforgiving wilderness. Like the lone figure crossing the frozen terrain on the cover, Old Wainds are able to masterfully convey a sense of isolation and hopelessness under the crushing power of nature. In a world of petty scene politics and half-assed posers, they are as real as it gets. Establishing the mood of the album with opener "Storm-Whip", Old Wainds launch into a lightspeed assault that quickly switches to a midtempo gallop with crunchy, muted riffing and queasy thrashing moments. "Cruel Black Dead" features classic thrash riffs that are played with such speed and fury that they unlock strange harmonic tones as occasional dual vocals create the awesome chantlike effect (which, call us crazy, at times sounds almost like Tuvan throat singing) utilized heavily on Scalding Coldness. "Bloodstained" is a bit like being forced to endure the most unpleasant rollercoaster ride of your life, throwing you around like a ragdoll over the band's punishing attack, stopping for a few seconds before heading into one of the best metal moments of the year, a midtempo breakdown that gradually builds in intensity with insect riffing, noticeable clean bass (whoa, actual bass presence on a black metal record!), HUGE drumming and tortured demon howls. It's moments like this where you realize how absolutely unstoppable this band is, a notion that is carried on in "Born on the Freezing Dark", an impossibly fast trip through the desolate Russian wilderness with Old Wainds as your nefarious guides, churning out thick layers of puke-sounding guitar riffs (think Craft) over unbelievable drumming. Once again, these Russians have effortlessly showed us how things are done. Though the staunchly underground Old Wainds may not be the first band to come to mind for many metalheads, they should be. They're one of the best, something that is only further reinforced by the unqualified triumph that is Death Nord Kult. Those lucky enough to hear Old Wainds will no doubt realize that when you write songs this devastating, your status is secure: you're ETERNAL.

MPEG stream: Storm-Whip
MPEG stream: Bloodstained
MPEG stream: Born On The Freezing Dark

As of the writing of this review, it's the day after Christmas, and as is befitting such a holiday, this list is HEAVY on the black metal, our little way of helping those black hearted souls and accursed spirits out there celebrate in their own demonic way. But what that also means, is we were down near metalled out. There's only so many ways you can describe something that is black and buzzing and grim and brutal and frosty and kvlt.... But the second we threw this one, none of that mattered. This was the only black metal there was, virtually erasing all that came before, a sound so powerful and unique and YES, black and buzzing, that we were immediately reinvigorated and filled with sinister black glee. If glee can in fact be either sinister or black. Since we first reviewed Old Wainds a while back, people have been obsessed, and as we mentioned in the other reviews, OW are one of the few bands that virtually ALL other black metal bands seem to worship. Whatever it is abut these mysterious Russians, they've tapped into something magical that no one can seem to get enough of. For a brief period we had all the Old Wainds records, but gradually it become harder and harder to get them back in stock. Until now. Finally a US label has taken up the mantle and embarked on a comprehensive OW reissue program, elsewhere on this list you'll find the mind blowing Scalding Coldness, reissued, and WAY cheaper, and almost more exciting than that, this record right here, their first full length from back in 2001, Religion Of Spiritual Violence, was the only one we had never been able to get. So for a lot of you, this will be the first time you'll get a chance to complete (or begin!) your Old Wainds collection, and needless to say for fans of all things buzzing and black, this is IT. It's really hard to put into words exactly what makes Old Wainds different than the hordes of other BM outfits, they definitely have an old school Darkthrone vibe, sort of punky, but they're just as likely to explode into a burst of impossibly fast blasting blackness a la Immortal or something. The vocals are super strange, less a demonic howl and more a sort of evil croak, and the lyrics are in Russian which makes it even cooler. But the music, while no doubt indebted to other BM bands, manages to sound like nothing else. Swirling chaotic riffing, strange mathy drumming, the cymbals super loud in the mix for some reason, as are the vocals, almost like the buzzing guitars are just a sheet of fuzzy blackness, a backdrop for the satanic invective and the barrage of crashing cymbals. This is indeed grim and harsh stuff, whether churning along in a midtempo Burzumic pound or spraying black fury within a flailing blast, the sound is just so NOT normal, on the surface it sounds like 'black metal', but it's twisted, cracked, infused with a harrowing anger, with a utterly bleak worldview, with a unfailing misanthropy, which leaches into the sounds, and beyond all that, as with any black metal that demands repeated listening, there's tons of stuff going on, including a ton of hooks, sure they're bent and blackened and buried beneath layers of grit and grim and buzz, but they seep out, some of these riffs are as catchy as any pop song. Just listen to the sound samples, read the other reviews for more about the band, their records, their sound, but odds are, like us, you'll be forever in thrall to the grim black majesty of Old Wainds, a convert to their Religion Of Spiritual Violence.

MPEG stream: Thrown Down And Crushed
MPEG stream: The One Holy Dead
MPEG stream: Flaming One

We love Old Wainds. So does Leviathan, Xasthur, Crebain, Draugar, Nachtmystium, and every other black metalhead we know. And as we mentioned before, there is really no better way to discover amazing bands than by discovering who your favorite bands' favorite bands are. Knowing that, Russia's Old Wainds are truly the black metal elite. Very few bands with such limited distribution, no official releases in the United States, and records that end up on eBay more than in shops have managed to make as huge an impression as these guys. And rightfully so. This is absolutely some of the most glorious buzzing blackness we have ever heard. And finally, we've managed to track down three of the four proper Old Wainds releases!! We got a whole bunch but we have a feeling they won't last long, and we're not sure how long it will take before we can get more (or even if we'll be able to at all). Before now we had been been on a never ending quest to track down every single recorded second of music these guys have spewed forth. So much so that one aQuarius employee who shall remain nameless (ahem...Andee) spent an embarassing sum on one of these discs on eBay!! But for now, you are spared that same fate. We have a bunch of copies of Old Wainds' second full length Where The Snows Are Never Gone, the split with fellow countrymen Nav, and this, their most recent release, Scalding Coldness! Which we also managed to get on vinyl!!! So what is it about Old Wainds that has the grim hordes all in a tizzy? And why is Scalding Coldness one of the best black metal records of all time? Hard to explain exactly. If you were standing right here, we'd just play it for you. And it would only be a matter of seconds before you understood. And you can go ahead and listen to the sound samples, it should have the same effect, but we might as well try to put into words what it is that's so amazing about these guys and this disc. With any metal, it's all about the riffs, black metal maybe moreso, because with black metal, it's pretty much entirely about the riff, no matter how buzzy the sound is, how evil and atmospheric the music is, without killer riffs you are NOTHING. Needless to say, Old Wainds whip up some of the catchiest buzziest riffs around. Swirling, snarling, dense and slightly off kilter, definitely in the great Norwegian tradition but with their own unique twist. Crunchy and insectoid, with strange little trills and unlikely chugs, haunting arpeggiated chords... The vocals too, guttural and growly, but not really shrieked or grunted, it's about as close to actual singing as black metal vocals can get. Still harsh and hateful, but more sort of gruff and raspy. And then the songs, epic and majestic, almost cinematic at points, but at the same time grim and frosty, buzzing dronescapes of bleak blackness, infused with a surprising amount of melody. And then there's the weird stuff, the chantlike vocals, the guitar leads that surface here and there, the strange pulsing ambient interludes, the weird breakdowns, ultra dramatic intros with bizarre drumming... but none of those things define the band, they are just part and parcel of Old Wainds' twisted black universe. The perfect blend of Xasthur, Immortal, Leviathan and Darkthrone. Sort of. Take your favorite bits from each of those bands and then smear in some desolate Russian winters, and twist it all up into some black shape that while sort of familiar is unlike anything you've ever heard before. And you'll be getting close. Absolutely essential. In the AQ black metal hall of the elite, atop a mountain wreathed in fire, beneath a sky as black as pitch sit the black metal elite, Satyricon, Emperor, Darkthrone, Burzum, Immortal and the rest, but it's looking like someone just might have to scoot over and make room for Old Wainds at the table...

MPEG stream: Scalding Coldness
MPEG stream: Freezing Winter Breath
MPEG stream: ...In The Glance Of The Dead

Finally, full length number two (of three) from Russian black metal legends Old Wainds. We're still trying to restock their most recent, 2005's Scalding Coldness, but for now,�Where The Snows Are Never Gone is probably more grim frosty bleak blackness than you can handle. But that shouldn't deter you from trying.� Originally recorded back in 1997 and released on cassette, reissued on cd in 2003, only finding its way to AQ in 2007,�Where The Snows Are Never Gone is another epic frostbitten slab of relentless black buzz. It's easy to hear why Old Wainds is the black metaller's black metal band. Wrest from Leviathan, Ancalagon from Crebain, Hildolf from Draugar, pretty much every BM misanthrope we know counts Old Wainds as one of, if not their absolute, favorite metal bands.� Old Wainds are not damaged or demented, lo-fi or fucked, this is epic and majestic, the riffs are amazing, the drums a skull caving bombast, the production is massive, a swirling buzz that could swallow you whole. It's hard to know what else to say about these guys that we haven't already said over and over and over. To read more of our Old Wainds raving see any of the other OW reviews on the AQ site... Needless to say, if you're already a fan and don't yet have this, BUY THIS NOW. If you've yet to discover the hellish joys of Old Wainds, this is as good a place to start as any, in fact it just may be our favorite of the bunch.� More in line with the primitive thrashing buzz of bands like Darkthrone and Beherit, this is fast and blown out and black, relentless and furious, frosty and so so so grim. The vocals are a Popeye like croak (not all that far removed from Immortal's Abbath) and the tracks are peppered with strange explosions and sonic drop outs, the guitars go from lightning buzz to chugging crunch, the drums sounds like they're being fired out of a gun. Minus a couple intros, this record does not ever let up, even for one second. Until... The final track, which is absolutely gorgeous, definitely the prettiest thing Old Wainds has ever recorded. An endlessly loping minor key midtempo groove, arpeggiated guitar, a sort of sea sick rhythm, motorik drumming, the guitar a warm glistening buzz, vocals a chanted moan, repetitive and so utterly dreamy (in a grim, cvlt, black way of course), until the very end where the song seems to buckle and the band stumble back into action obliterating any traces of loveliness in an explosion of brutal black fury.� As with every single Old Wainds recording, totally essential.�

MPEG stream: Unholy Norland Fire
MPEG stream: Winter Warriors
MPEG stream: Gods Gazing From Beyond

We once mentioned that the best way to discover the most amazing music in any genre, is to check out what other musicians are listening to. Never has that been more true than with black metal. A genre predicated on bands' underground status or level of grimness, how cult or frosty they are. Which means, some of the best bands aren't often heard outside of tiny circles, many times just other bands and close friends. Limited tape releases, cd-r's, demos. You have to be super tenacious to really be on top of the latest greatest grim horde from Bolivia or Paraguay who only have a single cassette release, and it was limited to 10 copies, each one doused in the band's blood. Such is the case, although not quite so dramatically with Russia's Old Wainds. Ask any of the BM elite. Ask Wrest from Leviathan, Ancalagon the Black from Crebain, Hildolf from Draugar, Azentrius from Nachtmystium, and any one else you can pull from their blackened crypts, who their favorite black metal band is, and odds are all or most of them will tell you Old Wainds. And we might have to concur. The frustrating thing is most of the Old Wainds discs are only available on eBay at totally exorbitant prices. But you know what, it's completely worth it. Old Wainds play some of the most primal, furious, gloriously buzzy black metal we have ever heard. Although it might be better to start here, with this normally priced cd reissue of the bands Withers Of The Wainds demo. Each track a blast of cold black winter winds, swirls of murky buzzing riffage, thrashing drums, and super insane vocals, that are strangely processed / affected so they sound like some strange death rattle, drenched in reverb, like the battle cry of some pterodactyl / rattlesnake hybrid. So completely alien and harshly harrowing. But perfect for the bleak buzzing blackened landscapes below. Killer riffs (you can pretty much boil ALL metal down to their main component, the riff), a murky production that swaths everything in a gauzy black veil, and those insane over the top vocals, all whipped into an impossibly furious black attack. Absolutely and utterly essential black metal. We'll do our best to track down the rest of the Old Wainds discs that are available (not many? none?), and we'll wait patiently for the out of print ones to be reissued (or reissue them ourselves, if Andee can get in touch with the band), but for now, hails to Arma Diaboli for reissuing this disc and saving us all $50, and allowing us the opportunity to finally bask in the unearthly black glow of Old Wainds!!

MPEG stream: Thy Dream
MPEG stream: Fog
MPEG stream: Nazgul

We've long been shrieking and demonically howling the praises of Russian black metal horde Old Wainds, but until recently, we had been unable to track down any of their releases. One of their old demos was re-released (Withers Of The Wainds) which was much easier to get, and then slowly but surely we managed to track down the rest of their releases. We reviewed the godlike Scalding Coldness a few lists back (we're still waiting for our restock, thanks for being patient) and this time we've got a killer split, between Old Wainds and their fellow countrymen (and Old Wainds offshoot) Nav. We reviewed the full length lp from Nav a while back but were unable to get their cd (we're still trying) so for lots of folks this may be your first chance to hear Nav. Anyway, like we've said in the past, a true measure of a band, is who is listening to them, especially when it's other bands, so when we say Old Wainds is EVERYBODY'S favorite (and we're talking Crebain, Leviathan, Xasthur, Nachtmystium, Andee!!) that's pretty high praise indeed. And not at all unwarranted. Old Wainds are the Blizzard Beasts of the East. A howling buzzing blast of frosty fury, so intense and relentless, a completely epic black buzz, but with incredible riffs, amazing arrangements and some seriously intense vocals. Not as bizarre as they were on the Withers Of The Wainds demo, but much harsher and hellish than on Scalding Coldness. Through The Chaos To Eternal Winter (Old Wainds' half of the split) is 18 minutes of unbridled brutality, black beauty, so gloriously heavy, recorded way back in 1999, this sounds as heavy and intense as most of the bands peddling their black metal wares today. Three blasts of buzzing black brilliance, the fourth a haunting ambient folk drift, complete with dirgey downtuned guitar and disembodied minor key piano, and harsh reverb drenched vocals. Perfectly matched, and in some ways maybe even better than the Wainds (gasp!), are Nav, the project of Old Wainds drummer Izbor and featuring at least one other Old Waind in its ranks. The sound is similar, grim and frosty, but somehow the buzz is bigger, thicker, with even less melody than Old Wainds, and more blast, the vocals are distorted and buried in the mix, the songs are peppered with bursts of lurching midtempo Burzumic buzz, but Nav spend most of their time buzzing along at hyperspeed, the blackened buzz so thick and relentless, it becomes a fuzzy drone, mesmerizingly blurry and blown out. the drums so fast they are like another layer of sonic fuzz. But it's not just buzz, the riffs are killer, the melodies are there, and are catchy as hell, just completely suffocated by the icy black buzzing of the relentless guitars and nonstop blasting beats. The final track begins with some reverb drenched acoustic guitar, quite lovely and dreamlike, before being engulfed by a strangely melodic and dramatic minor key black blast, almost like a black metal Godspeed, epic and keening and oddly enough, really really pretty. Absolutely essential, as with all things Old Wainds (and Nav for that matter)...

MPEG stream: Face Of Madness
MPEG stream: Dead Eyes Of The Dark
MPEG stream: Hymn To The Cold Silence (Part 1)
MPEG stream: Warriors Of Glacial Desert

We discovered the 200mg label via their recently released No Skull Left Unturned retrospective, which covered all the various Man Is The Bastard offshoots, the music of course was amazing, but it was also incredibly packaged, with multiple discs, patches, pins, books and booklets, so over the top. We decided to dig a little deeper and discovered a whole slew of strange and mysterious dark sounds, from ambient drone to outsider blackness to noise, everything we heard we dug, so we decided to dig a little deeper and list everything we could get. This release, from an entity known simply as Ondo, comes to us from Sweden, and is one looooong 40 minute track, of deep metallic dronemusic, thick shimmering layers of distorted sound, reverberating buzz, and smeared streaks of electronics. The sound is creepy and ominous, very cinematic, it's not hard to imagine some long tracking shot of an old graveyard, huge black birds soaring overhead, a dilapidated old house, a rusted out car in the yard, a tire swing barely shifting in the afternoon breeze, the sort of sloooooow shot that builds the suspense, that readies you for whatever horror might lie in wait. That's what the music of Ondo sounds like. Long drawn out tones, deep resonant notes, thick crumbling corrosive rumbles, bits of feedback and snippets of voices, everything dripping in effects and oozing with menace. This is definitely dark ambient music, but it's not all that ambient, it's active, some strange lifeforce inhabits these sounds and propels it forward, along with the listener, drawing us ever closer to some inexorable doom. Awesome. LIMITED TO 101 COPIES! Packaged in a cool oversized screenprinted cardstock sleeve, inside a 12 page printed black and white booklet on thick cream colored paper, packed with cool creepy old woodcuts.

MPEG stream: Alliansen

The return of Swedish black metal masters, Ondskapt , who alongside blackened brethren like Funeral Mist, Deathspell Omega, Watain and the like, keep the black fire burning, but unlike the weirdly melodic classic metal of Watain, or the gnarled and twisted blackness of Funeral Mist and DSO, Ondskapt are something much more raw and primeval, primitive and TROO, their sound still hewing closely to the classic BM sound, the buzz and the blast, the howled monstrous bellow, the epic riffage, the frantic frenzied brutality, but where Ondskapt truly shine, is in their ability to conjure up atmosphere, to create a sound that evokes horror and misery and grim blackness, sure the riffs slay, and the band is brutal and punishing, but their sound oozes with a black spirit, an abject hopelessness that black metal is meant to embody, and that ambience, while not always overt and obvious, finds its way into every note, and every riff, the sound becomes more than black metal, it becomes blackness ITSELF, the buzz and blast just a mechanism for delivering that true grim blackness. The tracks here are epic and intense, veering from relentless blasting black metal buzz, to woozy lumbering doom, to pounding midtempo dirge, the riffs are epic and melodic, the melodies majestic and soaring, the drums powerful and crushing, the vocals hellish, but again, it's less what the various elements are doing, and more HOW, it's like these sounds are some sort of conjuration, a grim black ritual, moaned clean vocals, spiraling warped Burzumic buzz, depressive melodies and intense sorrowful ambience, all woven into a more traditional black metal framework, the sum a magical and mystical sonic spell that imbues the sound with an atmosphere of utter dread and black grimnity, and makes Ondskapt blackened high priests of black dread and demonic sonic evocation, and Arisen From The Ashes is their gospel.

MPEG stream: Ominous Worship Of The Divine
MPEG stream: A Graveyard Night

This is another one of those record we've been trying to list for ages but only just now managed to get enough of. This latest offering from Swedish black metallers Ondskapt will fit perfectly right there on your shelf next to your Deathspell Omega, Funearl Mist, Watain and Nortt records (that is assuming you don't alphebatize). Super reminiscent of old Mayhem (circa De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas) this is black metal in the classic style, buzzing and furious, epic and majestic. Few modern bands can pull that stuff off and not sound like second rate clones, but Ondskapt sound straightr out of the early nineties EXCEPT for their strange penchant for doom! Amidst all the buzzing and blasting, there are all sorts and manner of doom, litling, loping, seasick bits of midtempo doominess with creepy arpeggiated minor key melodies over simple pounding drumming, droning, buzzed out slow motion dirges with Iron Maiden-ish leads over the top, stretches of doom-flecked Burzumic buzz, all wrapped in black and surrounded by brutal bursts of black metal and occasional stretches of droning near-ambient malevolence. Then there's the vocals as well, which are pretty bizarre, veering from sort of shouted, through a bullhorn, politcal rally sort of vocalizing to full on throat shredding howls, demonic shrieks bordering on total hysteria a la Weakling. That's sort of what makes Ondskapt so cool and weird, a definite homage to the classic sound of Scandanavian black metal, but mixed with a heaping helping of depressive doom, and then all that sort of weird stuff, strange vocals, obtuse riffing, convoluted song structures and creepy ambient interludes, all mixed into a bizarrely brilliant black whole!

MPEG stream: Djavulens Ande
MPEG stream: Feeding The Flames

A grim, dank blast of fetid subterranean buzzing blackness from these Satanic Swedes, originally released in 2003, Draco Sit Mihi Dux was Ondskapt's debut, and found the band channeling a black frenzy similar to other Swedish groups like Watain, Ofermod and Funeral mist, mixing murky midtempo dirges with gnarled bursts of frenzied buzz and epic black metal majesty. The sound simultaneously raw and grim, dense and thick, a tranced out discordant dissonance, that while distinctly Swedish, seemed to owe much to the French as well (Deathspell, etc.), the tracks epic and serpentine, with the guitars slipping from doomy churn to atonal grind, the drums booming and echo drenched, mathy and complex, with some seriously dizzying stretches of wild double kick, the songs epic and ever shifting, moody and murky, the vocals tending toward guttural growls, only occasionally slipping into more hellish shrieks, or even more strangely, warped, clean crooned, almost operatic vox that give the proceedings a bit of an unhinged vibe. But for all the howling blackness and churning riffage, the atmosphere here is key, suffocating and fantastically tense, ritualistic and ominously grim, with much of the record devolving into thick sprawling expanses of droned out dirgery, laced liberally with blast and buzz, but even at its buzziest and blastiest, the sound still retains much of those slower parts' inherent bleak miserablism and dense sonic murk. Awesome. Reissue comes in a swank digipak with a big booklet, all printed metallic gold on black.

MPEG stream: I
MPEG stream: II
MPEG stream: III

Third & perhaps best (yet) album from this Swedish band worshipped the world over for its combination of heavy death/black metal and epic progrock (i.e. they're no strangers to ten-minute plus song lengths). Note title derived from a Comus lyric!

People have been waiting for this record like it was the new Star Wars movie or something. And, why not? After all, their last record, 'My Arms, Your Hearse', was a masterpiece. Probably the best mix of black metal, '70s progrock, and just plain awesome songwriting; riffs, melodies, power, that record had it all. Now the new album is finally here, and it too seems destined for similar acclaim. The basic formula remains, a complex, oh-so-skilled mixture of might and beauty. Like all Opeth releases to date, this one will take a little time to digest! Impressive. And, needless to say, definitely better than that lame Star Wars movie!

Sometimes you can tell what you're gonna get just by an album cover. Rarely is that more true than with metal records, and the stern looking bearded dude with the winged helmet on the cover of I: Redbad is a pretty good indication of what lies inside - furious, overblown pagan black metal that buzzes and rages like a fucking war. Ophidian Forest is a trio with members stationed in the Netherlands, Croatia, and right here in San Francisco - imagine that. They conceive their music through file swapping online, and the liner notes explain that the three band members have never communicated through phone and wouldn't even recognize each other in person. So how are the results so amazing? Dark forces are surely at work with this one, not only is the music way more "natural" (not to mention totally awesome) than you might expect from such a lack of formal communication, but it may even work in the group's favor; with nothing to focus on except the creation of thrashing metallic glory with an extra heaping of mythological nihilism, the project has taken on a greater meaning than if it would have been defined in the traditional sense of what a band should be. Obviously these three are connected on some higher plane in the realm of black metal, because I: Redbad is a perfectly realized vision, a take no prisoners onslaught of filth and transcendental power. It's also a well thought out concept record focusing on the life and times of the Frisian King Redbad (c. 680-719), who in true metal fashion resisted the Christian onslaught of the Merovingian dynasty while maintaining the pagan ways of his people, who lived near the North Sea extending along the borders of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark. But this is hardly just for you history buffs out there. The guitars remain firmly in the red, the drums keep things blasting relentlessly, and the atmospheric keyboards add a nice touch of otherworldly ambience. And then of course, you get the singer's hateful, distorted screeches, adding a nice witchy element to the affair. Things are as filthy as you could hope for in a metal band, but the songs are also so punky and catchy that you might be surprised to find these sticking in your head for quite some time. To top things off, the band members all look like nefarious forest dwelling wizards, which certainly adds to the mystical vibe they have effortlessly obtained. One can only hope these guys keep up with the collaborations, because this stuff definitely covers everything we love about our black metal.

MPEG stream: A Herald On Silver Wings
MPEG stream: Savage Day Rising
MPEG stream: Shamanic Visions

Record number two from this intercontinental pagan black metal horde, and like their first record a pretty impressive feat, considering the drums were recorded in California, the guitars and basses captured in Croatia, and the keyboards laid down in the Netherlands, but somehow, all of the elements came together to form this epic, sprawling, super complex, super frenzied collection of blackened grimnity, and indeed epic it is. As well as strangely melodic, the pagan element more pronounced this time around, and the keyboards higher in the mix, as well as some seemingly way more intricate, almost mathy arrangements, but other than that, the blown out heaviness and frosty blackness that defined the first record are in full effect. The first track makes that abundantly clear as it explodes with some Scandinavian style buzz, and a little pagan melody, a frantic soaring bit of black metal majesty, peppered with stuttery start stop breakdowns, but always slipping smoothly right back into more blasting insectoid buzz. Throughout the record, the vocals are garbled and monstrous and harsh, the drums dense and pummeling, the keyboards ethereal and unobtrusive, but adding lots of atmosphere and subtle melody, the tracks are expansive and almost proggy, the riffing super tranced out and droney, in fact, lots of the parts seem to blur into a sort of droned out psychedelia, cyclical, repetitive and totally hypnotic. The vibe somehow manages to be raw and crusty as well, and a little punky, hooks and melodies woven deftly into parts that would otherwise be more like black blurs, the result is some surprising catchiness, alongside some super intense black brutality, and lots of unexpected and seriously -A- typical black metal elements: ultra twisted and convoluted drum parts, lush layered guitars, some gnarled off kilter riffage, warped keyboard melodies, all wound up with the more traditionally blackened elements into a constantly evolving, ever shifting, dizzying barrage of awesome twisted blackness. LIMITED TO 400 COPIES. Comes housed in a half sized dvd style clamshell case, with a metallic silver printed cover, and an insert with lyrics/liner notes. [And don't miss the secret hidden track, a super cool, weridly poppy black metal jam that we were convinced had to be a cover...]

MPEG stream: Fenrir
MPEG stream: The Eagle
MPEG stream: The Frozen Plains

Brand new split from these two black metal outfits. There's the intercontinental trio Ophidian Forest, who have gotten much love on the aQ list in the past, one third of which is in fact the man behind eco-terrorist drums-and-dulcimer black metal one man band Botanist, who are teamed up with a San Jose one man band called Haeresiarchs Of Dis, who we've yet to review on the our list, but who some aQ metalheads have dug for a while. The split, titled Darkest Origins, is in fact, just that, early material by both bands, unreleased until now, which as you might have guessed means more raw and lo-fi, which is just fine with us. Ophidian Forest are up first, and while the production is a bit more rough, their sound seemed to be already essentially fully formed, classic almost traditional black metal, shot through with some weird woozy melodies, the occasional almost carnivalesque keyboard, the vocals so raw and raspy, they sound like blast of staticky hiss, the overall sound washed out and a bit blurry, but in a way that really suits the sound, giving everything a tranced out vibe. OF dip often into a sound more midtempo and atmospheric, especially on the final track, which has a melody in the background that almost sounds like a Christmas carol, but when wedded to the shriek and blast, the buzz and howl, it pushes the sound toward something approaching almost choral, take the drums and vokills away and we'd have some seriously blissed out gauzy ambience, but fused to the black buzz, it becomes something pretty cool and weird. From what we'd heard of Haeresiarchs of Dis in the past, his sound was a furious unrelenting, almost dizzying onslaught of lightning fast black buzz, furious and frantic and frenetic, a relentless blasting fury, shot through with all manner of warped melody, and constantly shifting texture, super dynamic, peppered with swaths of swirling synth, and some seriously insane vokills. And all of that is definitely evident here, although again, in a slightly more lo-fi version, with HoD slowing things down now and again, for some serious chugging, and more punkish pound, the vocals augmented by strange samples, the whole thing laced with some surprisingly melodic classic metal sounding melodies, not to mention the occasional bit of piano driven atmospheric ambience, or psychedelic swirl, or creepy static drenched Caretaker like drift, but all of that weirdness if woven into the overall blackened buzz.

MPEG stream: Densest Green
MPEG stream: Verschiegenheit
MPEG stream: Black Prophecies
MPEG stream: Chaos Plague
MPEG stream: Manifestation

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Now, it's difficult to believe that the same guys responsible for the absurd Vondur are also involved with the much more serious, epic, doomy black metal of Ophthalamia, but they are. A Long Journey" is a re-recording of the band's debut from several years back, original titled A Journey In Darkness... improved production and more capable band members being the main differences. The Vondur and Opthalamia albums also represent It's last efforts in black metal, as he recently quit all his bands (these two plus War and Abruptum), sold all his black metal paraphernalia (midget-sized chainmail anyone?) and moved away from Sweden...

A nice reissue of this cult classic Swedish black metal album, another one of those things that it seems that we should have reviewed when it first came out, but didn't, probably 'cause back in 1995 the AQ "list" was just getting started. And we were also only just then getting into the black metal as well, come to think of it. But we did love this album, and still do. It's especially majestic, melodic, quite unusual black metal, on the slower side, with epic progressive atmospheres reminding us of early Opeth perhaps, and also Dissection, with which this band has some connection. The winding guitar lines are what stands out for us, as played by none other than the infamous "It", also a key member of Abruptum, Vondur, and War. Unlike those other band of Its, this isn't so primitive and noisy. It's more about the guitar, which weeps melancholically over martial but sorta jazzy drumming, playing insidiously catchy, sorta folky riffs that are woven into doomy, sorrowful, and sinuous compositions. What we really like is when it gets kind of frantic, as in the middle of "Slowly Passing The Frostlands/A Winterland's Tear" (all the songs have the two-part names, by the way), all twisted and tangled, and the song starts to sound a heck of a lot like a Black Flag instrumental or something from one of Greg Ginn's first two Gone albums!! Raspy vokills and weird whispers factor into the mix as well, along with a "practice space" production vibe, making this sound more black metal than it might otherwise, given that the herky-jerky, never ending guitar riffage also sounds more like rollicking '70s heavy rock on occasion. Making sure there's no question about it (and It) being black metal, though, if the band's medieval/gothic/ridiculous painted portraits weren't enough, along with their pedigrees in other bands (Abruptum, Marduk, Pan-Thy-Monium, Swordmaster, etc.) this ends with a bonus track (as did the original cd), that's a cover of the great "Deathcrush" by Mayhem. Ophthalamia made several albums, but this - their second, strangest, and we think most memorable - is our favorite, and also one of our favorites among Its entire discography. Glad it's back in print, a great reminder of all the fantastic, original albums we were discovering back in the '90s coming from the Scandinavian metal scene...

MPEG stream: Black As Sin, Pale As Death/Autumn Whispers
MPEG stream: Slowly Passing The Frostlands/A Winterland's Tear

Space rock collides brilliantly and violently with blackened post metal on this third bleak transmission from an exploding alien nebula (otherwise known as Finland), courtesy of some of its weirdest astral wanderers: the incomparable Oranssi Pazuzu. Valonielu is at once a contradiction - cosmic yet organic. Simultaneously lost drifting in the stars and seemingly mired in the moss, brandishing gibbering secrets both ancient and interstellar! Oranssi Pazuzu aren't a band that's easy to compare to any other. The easiest quick description is Hawkwind meets black metal, but that descriptor doesn't really do 'em justice. There's a similar overwhelming extraterrestrial dread as Voivod, but without any of the technicality. The more psychedelic moments of Nachtmystium or Ancestors might be a good reference point, if this weren't so much weirder. Maybe if Jean Michelle Jarre were commissioned to score a black metal soundtrack to Event Horizon? Yeah, that's pretty close. On the surface the music is minimal - simple riffs layered with atmosphere, drenched in otherworldly affects. The vocals a bleak and emotionless rasp, but delivered with precision and authority (think Immortal, Deathspell Omega, Inquisition...) But that's just another contradiction, because the listening experience is anything but minimal. This album is dense and entirely overwhelming. The album opens with the dissonant pulse of cosmic synths above dizzying repetitive riffing recalling Hymns-era Godflesh. There is an immediate sense of hypnotic vertigo - a sort of warm fascinating nausea. But Oranssi Pazuzu only up the psychedelic ante as things progress. Tribal bonfire drumming alternates with a militaristic snare shuffle. The bass seems to float above the earth - a cyclical ascent and descent - while the guitars echo like the pings of a submarine's distress call. Stuttering palm muted guitars remind us that what we're experiencing here actually is a METAL record, although not much like one you've ever heard. Elsewhere in "Uraanisula" unsettling clean guitar drifts along a disquieting new age breeze before a wash of low end distortion and the sound of metal grinding against metal ushers in a minimal thrusting groove. It's 11 minutes of driving outer space suffocation before building and finally decaying into a wash of doomy crashes swathed in ambience, seeming to crash to the planet's surface like a lost satellite - clattering and rolling before finally slumping into its eternal lonely resting place. On the instrumental "Reika Maisemassa", we're met with the slow motion plod of timpani over insectoid clicks - like something from King Kong in negative focus - before the cosmic murkiness sets in and the track takes on its own nocturnal alien form - slithering and jerking like a leech. "Olen Aukaissut Uuden Silman" is as close to black metal (in the traditional sense anyway) as the record comes - guitars buzz and grind over disco drumming and the cyberorchestral hum of horror movie strings, before erupting into a section of blasting that sounds like something from Transilvanian Hunger, if Darkthrone might have taken that brown acid everyone was avoiding at Woodstock. The 15 minute "Ympyra On Viiva Tomussa" closes things out, starting off with a lazy creeping loungey menace, sounding like something from a French B-movie horror film, complete with delicate plucking and softly rolling toms - bringing to mind a barely clad 1960's vampiress stalking the alleyways by moonlight - before building headfirst into some seriously mountainous Neur-Isis post metal riffage, once again swathed in that ambient piercing of laser echoes that drenches the entire record. Valonielu is black metal in the most literal sense - the sounds from a colorless void, the crushing airless vacuum of a black hole, the last terrified scream from a doomed spacecraft - oxygen levels at 10 percent and dropping.

MPEG stream: Vino Verso
MPEG stream: Uraanisula
MPEG stream: Olen Aukaissut Uuden Silman

So on our last list, we were blown away by the arrival of new Aluk Todolo material, in the form of their Voix cd, which was an obvious, immediate, no shit Record Of The Week. But the Gods of cosmic hypnometal smile upon us, as we get the newest transmission from Oranssi Pazuzu, the Finnish space metallers, only a couple weeks after that disc of krauty French blackness! It is without question that Oranssi Pazuzu's Varahtelija rockets right out of the atmosphere and into our Record Of The Week spot as well. We've gushed over these guys before, for good reason. Along with the aforementioned Aluk Todolo, Oranssi Pazuzu have set the bar incredibly high for their brand of tripped out, intergalactic lysergic black metal. Oranssi's take on black metal has been refined and perfected - organic, dizzying, and crushing black metal that stands toe-to-toe with any of the greats, progressive but not overly technical. The psychedelia is similarly elevated, heady, cosmic, and heavy, like Ash Ra Tempel played through My Bloody Valentine's amp stacks. Blended together, both elements amplify each other and create a pitch-perfect take on psychedelic black metal that other bands have attempted with not-quite-as-great results. Have we dropped enough superlatives on you yet? Varahtelija is Oranssi Pazuzu at their peak, simultaneously cosmic and organic, cohesive yet chaotic, precise and catchy. It goes without saying that everyone who bought a copy of Voix NEEDS to hear this disc as well - most non-metalheads will also find this album necessary. Totally essential and a easy early contender for our favorite metal record of the year.

MPEG stream: Saturaatio
MPEG stream: Hypnotisoitu Viharukous
MPEG stream: Vasemman Kaden Hierarkia

Another brief blast of hate fueled fury from Norwegian black metal horde Orcustus (which just so happens to feature folks from Gorgoroth and Enslaved!). This is grim "anti human, anti life, true Norwegian black metal". Old school, buzzing squirming blackened thrash a la Sarcophago, Possessed and all that sort of stuff. Heavy and hateful, fuzzed out and fast as fuck. We only got a handful of these, limited to 1500 worldwide, on Southern Lord, you know the drill -- once these are gone, they're most likely gone for good, so act fast!

People give us a lot of shit for overusing the word 'buzz', but when you're describing black metal, very few words truly represent just exactly what it is about black metal that MAKES black metal what it is, yeah, it's riffs and blast beats and voKILLS, sure, but c'mon, without the buzz it would be, well, something else entirely. Plus you try and write almost 3000 reviews every year and see how many other words for buzz you can come up with. Anyway, this is the first proper full length from this already legendary third wave black metal super group, now a duo featuring the mighty Dirge Rep on drums (he of Gehenna, Gorgoroth, Enslaved, Aura Noir among others) and Taipan (from Norwegian thrashers Amok), but having previously included members of Gaahlskagg, Borknagar, Carpathian Forest, Krypt, Deep-pression, Desekrator, 1349 and others. This current duo offer up some seriously TRUE NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL, if those words get you going, then stop right there and add this to your cart, love Gorgoroth and old Emperor and Darkthrone and that sort of thing, not blasting or furiously fast, nothing especially fucked up or far out, more just pounding and thrashing and buzzing, black black black metal. Some killer riffing, awesome epic melodies and creeped out ambient bits, frantic chaotic drumming, classic sounding old school black metal vox, harsh and raspy, all wound around total vintage sounding classic Scandinavian blackness. Lots of hooks buried beneath the layers of buzz, and as mentioned some CLASSIC black riffs, every listen we dig this more and more, But then it's a sound that we, and we're pretty sure lots of you, are total suckers for. So if you're in the mood for some pure grim frosty kvlt old school black metal, this is definitely it. Incredible cover art, haunting and artful and a bit garish, with a thick booklet, mysterious artwork and lyrics. Cool.

MPEG stream: Coil
MPEG stream: Of Sophistry, Obsession And Paranoia

Brand new 7" of grim buzz from two mysterious Swiss black metal bands, neither of which had we ever heard of, and neither of which feature members of any other notable bands. Switzerland is of course the home of Paysage D'Hiver and Darkspace and Enoid among others, so we had high hopes for these two hordes. Wacht begin the proceedings with what almost sounds like a metal Star Spangled Banner, a sort of twisted guitar intro that soon gives way to a furious murky raw buzz, the drums and bass (if there is any) lost in a storm of relentless riffing and howled anguished vokills. Some killer riffs lurking in that roiling blackness, and the drums do leap out here and there, but for the most part it's like a heaving black cloud of sound, dense and hypnotic. The much less simply monickered Ordo Infandorum Rituum Occultus (or OIRO for short), offer up their own bit of frosty grimness, a much more stripped down buzzing blast, pounding almost D-beat style rhythm, grunted vocals, raw and old school, but with some strange stuff lurking in the details, maniacal screams, some cool gnarled riffage, layered guitars, that seem to drop in and out, giving the track a sort of dizzying vibe, at times almost like a more stripped down straight ahead Deathspell Omega. Definitely laves us dying for more from both bands, and as is always a good sing with a single, we've found ourselves flipping this over constantly and listening to both sides over and over again...

Debut blast of doom-ed orthodox blackness from this SF horde, a furious, and epic squall of frenzied guitars and furiously blasting drums, of demonic vokills, soaring melodies and grim ambience. This is another one of those records that ditches all of the experimentalism and avant-this and post-that of much of the metal we dig, and still pushes all of our buttons, offering up something true and pure, something beholden to the classics for sure, but with a sound that takes those varied influences and melds them into something pretty fantastic, moody and emotive, passionate and majestic, the sort of creeping blackened doom and depressive black buzz that we never get sick off, the songs slipping easily from frantic and furious, to lumbering and anguished, usually in the same song. Plaintive mournful melodies, draped over doomic dirges, drift right into explosive blasts of black buzz, inexorably linking the two. The fact that these guys are equally adept at both, only helps seal the deal. The sound too is a big part of it, managing to sound both raw and primitive, lush and expansive, infusing the brittle buzz of black metal with some serious doomic heft, and shading that melancholic doom with swaths of dark black miserablism. And beyond that, these guys can actually write a song, with many of the melodies here, the sort that end up stuck in your head for days. All of the songs here are pretty great, but the closer, the epic 12+ minute "By His Unflinching Hand", might be the best of the bunch, certainly the most unique, ditching much of the blackness in exchange for something moodier and more epic, the song lopes and meanders, the guitars unfurling darkly, the melodies mournful and melancholy, strip away the vocals and you'd be in serious Neurosis / Isis / Godspeed territory, a smoldering slowbuild epic of the highest order, one that creeps and lumbers, offers up some blackened skitter, before a cool super dynamic, stop/start passage, that we wish would have gone on WAY longer, and which leads into the haunting coda, all whipping winds and acoustic guitar, bleak and somber and the perfect finish to a pretty fantastic record.

MPEG stream: Nequaquam Vacuum
MPEG stream: Into The Gates Of Madness

According to Metal Archives, one of our favorite go to sites for metal info, there are at least 150 metal bands from Bulgaria!! Which is pretty amazing considering that Orenda are, as far as we know, the first Bulgarian metal band we've ever heard. Anyway, they may be from Bulgaria, but they sound Norwegian, or maybe Polish. On the surface this is furious buzzing black metal, not midtempo, but not really blasting either, just a super fast sort of harsh buzz. Relentlessly pounding drums, droning buzzy riffs, harsh vocals, but beneath the layers of buzz in each song, lurk all manner of strange melody and fucked up sonic weirdness. It's hard to explain exactly what it is that makes these songs stand out, it's pretty subtle, whether it's some cool seasick guitar melodies weaving back and forth beneath the surface, or some sort of bell chiming in the distance, or a stretch of feedback that sounds like the warning beep of a backing up truck, or mewing cat-like vocals, but more often than not it's just the structure of the song, the interaction between the main riff and the second guitar part, that allow unlikely harmonies to surface, giving the songs a strange emotional resonance that isn't immediately noticeable. Plus it helps that the riffs are killer, wrapped in a thick buzzy production, the relentless buzzing blackness peppered with blazing bursts of double kick drum, some super sludgy stretches of black doom, even some unlikely poppiness. Definitely recommended!

MPEG stream: Kargan Devastation
MPEG stream: The Shrine

The welcome return of these Bulgarian black lords, after their Back In The Grave debut from last year. And of course, after Back In The Grave comes The Funeral, an equally bleak and buzzy masterpiece channeling the sound and spirit of classic Norwegian and Polish BM into a swirling, droning black mass, a�funereal hymn�as furious and fuzzy as it is relentless and harsh.� Four long tracks, two black blasts, bookended by two midtempo buzzscapes, and as with Back In The Grave, the sounds on The Funeral are�super dense and thick, the guitars a weird lush, lustrous shade of black, churning out a cursed lament, while above�the fray, vocals gnash and howl, a cracked hellish croak, way up in the mix, like some monstrous beast soaring above the roiling blackness below. But this is not just raw kvlt black metal, the riffs here are strangely fluid and warm, emotional and intense, with an�almost sort of gothy vibe, like a way more buzzy and blackened Khold. And within Orenda's�black forest of buzz, cool melancholy melodies lurk everywhere, haunting arpeggiated guitars, and strangest of all, super dramatic, almost cinematic sonic swells, sounding a lot like some black metal Morricone. Even when the band is blasting at a furious clip, the chords are ultra complex and the various strands of melody tangle and intertwine in strange and unlikely ways, with the band often slipping back into a completely mesmerizing, seasick lurching black lope, but always lacing their blurry blackness with stretches of haunting ambience draped gauzelike over the black blasts and complex post rockisms buried within.�

MPEG stream: A Dead Colours
MPEG stream: The Funeral

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

As we've mentioned in other reviews, we're kind of obsessed with Chinese black metal. We've done our best to track down all we could, but so far that's only been three bands, Be Persecuted, Ululate (who we have yet to review on the list), and these guys, er, well, this guy, name of Evil Soul, who makes music as Original Sin. The last Original Sin record was raw and primitive and intense and furious, tons of buzz all wrapped around some seriously relentless black metal. But here, Evil Soul seems much more contemplative, at least on album opener "Silence Before Death", in fact not only is it midtempo, but there are lots of clean guitars, and drifty keyboards, the sound is distinctly lo-fi, very brittle and barren, with the harsh vox and buzzing guitar hovering at right about the same frequency, this is some serious tweeter metal, all hiss and whir, but man is it weirdly sad and pretty, moody slowly unfurling minor key guitars, those distinctly Burzumic keyboards, plinking out a strange melancholic melody, with the occasional little burst of frenzied double bass, the end of the song gets a bit more aggro, but the timbre of the sound is so odd, that even at it's heaviest it seems to flutter dreamily, albeit wreathed in buzz and blackness. The second track follows suit, not nearly as trebly, but still loping and sorrowful, with flute like melodies draped over a waltzy rhythm, the black metal more washed out and melancholic that grim and buzzy. The rest of the tracks drift from super spare skeletal clean guitar, to almost choral dirges, with woozy swirling vocals, and warbly whirring riffage, to galloping triumphant crunch to hushed almost post rock sounding reverbed guitarscape to the closer, which might be the heaviest of the bunch, but even then, it's laced with New Agey keyboards, and melodies so bittersweet, that the blackness and buzz is transformed into something much dreamier. Of course there are stretches of harsh vox and more intensive buzz, but those parts to hover over swirling synthscapes, the result being that no matter ho fierce or fast or heavy the songs get, they remain, pretty and haunting, and thus quite unique.

MPEG stream: Silence Before Death
MPEG stream: Miserable World
MPEG stream: I Can Never Beat Depression

Ever since we discovered the band Be Persecuted, we've become just a little but obsessed with Chinese black metal bands, of which there are precious few. The Encyclopedia Metallum which typically lists hundreds of bands for most countries, only has 95 Chinese bands, of which we've heard of only three. Be Persecuted, Ululate, and now, Original Sin. Original Sin is one guy, named Evil Soul appropriately enough, and Misanthropic is his only record, released last year, and holy shit is it a killer. Raw and furious, intense and totally blown out, with a buzz that rivals even the buzziest of BM hordes. Nothing too freaked out or fucked up, just totally grim, blackened classic Norwegian style black metal. But it's a sound we can't get enough of. Sometimes we miss that fuzz drenched buzz, the sort of black metal that manages to be ultra heavy and evil, but weirdly soothing and trancelike at the same time. And Original Sin has that down, blasting maniacally, the buzz so invasive that the songs almost becomes pure dronemusic, and there are plenty of breakdowns, where the guitar picks out a super sad melodies and the buzz becomes like a warm blanket of sound, so sorrowful and melancholy. There's even a cover of Burzum's "Lost Wisdom" which is pretty true to the original, and if anything adds more buzz to the mix, some serious squalls of stuttery drum machine, and way more tortured vocals. The final track, the nearly 11 minute "Original Sin" flits back and forth between loping Burzumic buzz and lightning speed blasts, with some haunting breakdowns with chantlike clean vocals over softly shimmering minor key guitar buzz. The one thing we noticed songwise, was there were three tracks whose titles related to "The City": there's "The Black Cloud Upon The City", "Be Disgusted With The City" and "The Elegy Of The City", not sure if they're about the town the band hails from or something more abstract, but pretty interesting nonetheless. Way recommended for those in need of some serious grim buzz or some tranced out minor key blackness.

MPEG stream: The Black Cloud Upon The City
MPEG stream: Ruin All
MPEG stream: Be Disgusted With The City

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Creepy German folk-music band with industrial and experimental leanings. On Germany's Prophecy Productions label, who seem to specialize in this sort of autumnal dark pagan bombast and beauty (Tenhi, Empyrium, Gods Tower). Militaristic drumming, droning synths, male and female choir-style vocals, whinnying horses, doleful folk melodies, acoustic guitar, and weird surprises...lovely and doomful. Titles and lyrics in German. Equally for fans of World Serpent label stuff and black metal atmospheres (a la old Ulver). Andee and Allan both bought one.

DOOM. As per AQ tradition, we should throw some extra 'O's in there just to indicate just how doomy this is -- DOOOOOOooooooooOOOM! Not to get sidetracked, but Doom might be the only musical genre that you can deliberately misspell to indicate extra enthusiasm for whatever example of said genre you're describing. RRRRap doesn't work. Nor would you say Woooorld Music. And adding extra 'o's to Pop is a just bad idea, unless you're talking about pop you don't like. But doom, being all about being slow and low, just gets doomier when you exaggerate the spelling into doooooooooooom. The point of all this? That the debut disc from Spanish doom band Orthodox, needs, like, exponential 'o's to really get at its doominess. Recently and rightly hailed as an Album Of The Month on Julian Cope's psychedelic drone/doom/druid rock lovin' website Head Heritage, Orthodox's Gran Poder ("Great Power") consists of three looong tracks of gloomy, glacial heaviness mixed with more chaotically rockin' parts, with one brief piano-laced interlude seperating tracks two and three. These crushing compositions are almost symphonically grand, an often exceedingly slow grind of eternally doomed drone like Earth or SUNNO))), sometimes speeding up to rock out psychedelically in the style of Argentina's Los Natas, graced with heavily tremelo-laden vocals or utterly spaced out ambience that make us think of Thrones and Yob. Throughout this sludgey stoner soundscape, you'll hear feedback wailing like lamenting lost souls, the rumbling drum battery either nervously dodging the lugubrous riffs as they fall from the sky, or pounding in unison with the guitar and bass, sounding like the gates of an abandoned ancient cavernous cathedral slamming shut... over and over again. We imported a whole bunch of these direct from the label in Spain because we're pretty sure that fans of the likes of Corrupted (who also sing in Spanish, after all) and Yob and Sleep and UFOmammut and all the other extra-o's deservin' dooooooOOOOoom bands that we love would want this! And if for some reason you need further convincing, please look up Julian Cope's review on his site, where he references Flower Travellin' Band's Satori and the Mediterranean paganistic roots of Catholic ritual and "Rumble" by Link Wray and much much more, his incredibly enthusiastic review almost a call to arms for doom fanatics... and he also includes cool pictures of the black-robed band members he took on a trip to their land!

MPEG stream: "Geryon's Throne
MPEG stream: "Geryon's Throne
MPEG stream: El Lamento Del Cabron

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. We have only 4 copies of this, a super limited cassette tape release from weirdo abstract blackened doomscapers OS, whose Twelve Truths lp we raved about a while back. Besides being another sick slab of crusty creepy crawly black filth, the packaging is to die for, small, black-painted wooden coffins, each with a brass plaque affixed to the front, and each of course NAILED SHUT, inside is the tape, and a handful of tiny BONES! Pretty awesome. And CRAZY limited. Already out of print. We managed to get a mere FOUR copies from the band, and will not be able to get more. So if you're in the market for some howling, atonal, sludge-y blackened doom sprawl and lumbering chaotic caterwauling abject detuned black ambient heaviness, or even if you just want a killer coffin-cloaked bone-surrounded blackdoom cassette, well better act fast, cuz odds are these will be gone in no time...

We know very little about these guys, where they're from, who they are, in fact, even the front cover / logo is so abstract it took us a while before we even figured out they were called OS, which makes this all the more appealing, a mysterious murky slab of blackened doomic filth, pounding and ominous and harsh and downtuned and hellish, these guys traffic in a sound not that far removed from the black doom of aQ faves like Amort, Monument Of Urns, and Light, but with a definite nod to classic crusty doom of the past, not to mention a sound that also seems informed by modern dronescapers and noisemakers like Gnaw Their Tongues, Pussygutt and the like. Two epic sidelong tracks, the guitar unfurling huge slabs of rumbling grinding crunch, the drums a funereal plod, the vocals anguished and unhinged. The first side spends half its time plodding along doomily, fans of Monarch, Moss, and other monumental slowpokes will dig it big time, but gradually the sound gets more and more melodic, until the band shift gears completely, and spread out into a strangely pretty dirge, all clean guitars, over still pounding drums, and a backdrop of hellish wails and buzzing static drones, before finishing off in a tangle of slow motion mathiness. The flipside starts off similarly, a massive sprawling creep, but laced with some gorgeous melodies, the guitars ringing out, the distortion crumbling, almost more slowcore than doom, but still heavy heavy heavy, the vocals even more harsh and demonic sounding than before, the track is epic, and lumbers monstrously, building to another strange crescendo, the sound growing warm and more dense and strangely melodic, without ever shedding any of its doom or sludge. Fucking epic stuff, crushing droned out heaviness, that will definitely appeal to doomlords and dronelords alike, way recommended for anyone into Khanate, Wicked King Wicker, Habsyll, Thou, Fleshpress, Atavist, and of course Moss, Monarch and all the above mentioned heavies. Killer packaging, super abstract skeletal / logo cover, folded over to make a partial back cover, printed insert, each one hand numbered, LIMITED TO 400.

We were first turned on to this, the debut full length from one man black metal band Oskoreien, by another one man black metal band, Botanist, who was quick to proclaim this his new favorite black metal record. The awesome metal blog Invisible Oranges also included this in their year end picks, and once you hear it you'll immediately understand why. It literally took us maybe 90 seconds of the opening track to be just as smitten as everybody else. The cover is definitely misleading, an image of a figure, walking through a sun dappled glade, and no, not a dark forest, a gorgeous warm, verdant landscape, which had us imaging this to be some sort of shoegazey blackened post metal pop, a la Amesoeurs or Alcest. And while there are definitely some shoegazey elements, the sound of Oskoreien is much more black and buzzy, the sound thick, and distorted and blown out, but warm and layered and lush, super melodic too, but without losing any of its power or its black energy. Opener "Illusions Perish" begins with the sounds of crickets, and footsteps, beneath soaring keening minor key guitars, hazy and darkly lovely, we would have been way into this if it had gone on like that for ages, but a little burst of feedback signals the launch of the song proper, an avalanche of blasting drums, and crumbling super distorted riffage, howled vox, and soaring melancholic melodies, we can imagine people lumping Oskoreien in with Wolves In The Throne Room, which to a certain degree would be somewhat appropriate, but the sound of Oskoreien is something much more raw and melodic, dense and darkly melancholic, with some amazing not traditionally black metal guitar parts - whether it's dark atonal tangles, or soaring almost choral sounding high end, the song slipping from dirge-y lumber to transcendental slow build epic and back again, the sound laced with psychedelic shimmer, and a vibe that to these ears owes more to post rock than black metal. The vocals too, odd even by experimental black metal standards, slipping easily from a more traditional raspy demonic howl to a deep throaty dramatic croon, that comes super close to a slightly less over the top Urfaust, which is most definitely a very good thing. The record is super varied too, slipping easily from furious blast, to moody meander, the sound too drifting effortlessly from dense, black and brutal, to hushed and shimmery, peppered with gorgeous stretches of near Appalachian sounding clean guitars, as well as soaring streaks of softly psychedelic buzz, often the two combined to great effect, and for all the buzzing blackness and soaring epic heaviness, much of the record is in fact spent much more sonically contemplative, whether it's the dark forest folk of "Rivers Of Eternity", or the gorgeous solo piano coda that is "Ashen Remains", elements of both showing up within the more metal tracks throughout the record, Oskoreien is a master of mood, infusing the sprawling expanses of majestic metallic fury with a mournfully moody undercurrent, while transforming the more abstract movements into something much more ominous, and fusing the two into a single epic, ultra personal blackened songsuite, that is fast becoming one of our favorites too!

MPEG stream: Illusions Perish
MPEG stream: Entropic Collapse
MPEG stream: Transcendence

We've gone on and on in the past about how much we love French black metal, a list of our French faves should definitely speak volumes: Deathspell Omega, Spektr, Peste Noire, Mutiilation, Alcest, Aurvandil, Arrival Of Satan, Blut Aus Nord, Hell Militia, Diamatregon, S.V.E.S.T., Wolok, you get the picture, so how the hell did we miss out on these guys? With a seriously killer sound that falls somewhere right between classic Norwegian style blackness, and modern French Industrial black a la Spektr and Blut Aus Nord, as well as creepy album covers, bad ass song titles ("Hoax-Virus-God", "Cloning The Divine", "The Hulk Of Conviction And Faith") not to mention their awesomely and blasphemously titled debut Fuck God-Disease Process, anyway, better late than never, thanks to the suggestion of an aQ customer, we can now revel in the glorious black filth of these agents of Satan (although lyrically, they are equally concerned with quantum physics!) and glorious it is. After a creeped out, seriously grim almost industrial intro, all black noise, and looped riffs beneath harsh hateful vox, the band launch into the record proper, a brief bit of mechanical blast, and then into a strangely psychedelic stop start thing, before exploding into frenzied furious blackness, that never lets up, until the sound shifts into a doomy lumber complete with classic metal sounding leads, and some surprising melodies. The follow up is a black industrial blow out, with some of the fiercest vokills ever, and woozy detuned guitars, a lurching warped midtempo lead in, to yet another stretch of blurred black buzz. The record is a relentless onslaught of gnarled Deathspell like riffage, tangled almost psychedelic leads, mysterious samples, buzzing black drones, martial percussion, strange field recordings, some seriously awesome angular warped guitar crunch, super dense flurries of frenzied blastbeats, spaced out atmospheric droning doom, grinding industrial black fury, and lots of abstract black sonic weirdness woven in. Needless to say, we're doing our best to make up for missing out on these guys the first time around, by listening to this pretty much nonstop. A contender for black metal record of the year quite possibly, and thus obviously recommended to anyone who likes their black metal grim and mechanical, fucked up and furious, frantic and FRENCH! Alos includes a short film / music video!

MPEG stream: Cloning The Divine
MPEG stream: Worship Industrialized
MPEG stream: Hexameron

The good news, is that this disc will be absolute heaven (or hell if you prefer) for the doom obsessed, for those who NEED utter and extreme heaviness, who thrive on massive walls of sludge, of creeping crumbling downtuned riffage, of skull splitting rib cage rattling drum pound. And the fact that this disc contains exclusive tracks from four of THEE heaviest and THEE doomiest bands around. The bad news though, is that somehow, this disc is already sold out at the label, so this could very well be the last we see of Four Burials. We did get a bunch of these, but since so many of the aQ faithful are of the doomier persuasion, odds are these will disappear in no time. So most doomlords will see the above names and that's all it'll take, four exclusive tracks, LONG ones, from Loss, Orthodox, Mournful Congregation and Otesanek. For avid readers of the aQ list, you too are probably familiar with 2 or 3 of those. But just in case, we'll give a quick rundown of the bands / tracks that make up the Four Burials here... Otesanek is up first. Last heard from splitting a disc with Japan's Coffins. They are definitely doomy, obviously, but might also be the heaviest of the bunch, a sort of Eyehategod meets Moss thing going on, and one of the few bands this slooooooow, to also fuck things up big time. Super strange arrangements, ultra dynamic, lots of weird starts and stops, angular riffs, crazy vocals (both male and female, both super intense and harsh). Definitely for fans of Khanate and Bunkur and all that sort of ultradoomdirge, but weirder and more fucked up. Definitely dying to hear more from these guys. Next up is Loss, whose approach to doom is much more classic and melodic, beginning with some unnerving samples, woven into a spare doomy plod, the band slip into some seriously melodic post rock, all clean guitar and sparse drumming, eventually morphing into a sound majestic and massive, a bit like old My Dying Bride, impossibly loooow vocals, super mournful melodies, very dramatic and miserable. The song weaves back and forth between that classic doom-ic crush and the melancholy loping post rock, eventually somehow fusing the two. Then comes longtime faves Orthodox, from Spain, whose sound, especially here, is way more spacious and spare, very minimal. with long stretches that are practically inaudible over the daily din of the store (this is headphone doom for sure!). Chanting, monk-like and somber, clean guitars drifting and shimmering, simple stripped down drumming, some wailing dramatic vocals, the sound an abstract mysterious slowcore that seems to get more and more strangely psychedelic, without ever getting overtly heavy. Really strange, but fans of Orthodox will already be well used to their, umm... un-Orthodox approach to all things doom. Last up, legendary purveyors of true doom, Australia's Mournful Congregation, whose sound is sad and sorrowful, melancholy and miserable, a gorgeously epic lugubrious crawl, super melodic, but totally washed out and painted in sweeping shades of black and grey. Think Skepticism, Thergothon, Esoteric, Asunder, the sort of dark, slow motion, soul stirring creep we could listen to forever.

MPEG stream: Seven Are They
MPEG stream: (To Pass Away) Death March Towards My Ruin

After a protracted legal battle over the name Gorgoroth, various members went their separate ways, with Infernus keeping the Gorgoroth name, and recently releasing a decent slab of black metal under that moniker. Meanwhile former Gorgoroth guitarist King Ov Hell and vocalist Gaahl went on to form the oddly named God Seed, but before the duo could release a record, that band fell apart, resulting in the formation of this group right here, Ov Hell, which finds King (now sans the Ov Hell) teamed up with Dimmu Borgir vocalist Shagrath, along with a pretty serious supporting cast: Frost from Satyricon, Ice Dale of Enslaved and Teloch of Nidingr and 1349! But initial reports had been grim (and not in a good way), with a pretty much across the board dismissal of the new record. So we were prepared for the worst, which could be why we find ourselves digging this so much. It's not groundbreaking or revolutionary (then again little black metal is), but it's also not terrible, in fact, it's pretty dang good, and not that far removed from what you might expect from the various contributors. Plenty of the record is blasting blackness, all furious beats and insectoid buzzing, and Shagrath's demonic vokills, but the record is surprisingly varied, with some cool warped dirgier numbers, with strange samples, and tangled spidery guitars, some definite grooves, gnarled riffing, epic melodies, all under a seriously glossy modern production, and every song that seems to be on the surface some sort of a throwaway black metal by the numbers jam, has a lot more going on than meets the ear, and there's plenty of awesomely twisted, blasting and brutal tracks that stand up pretty well to any of the bands in Ov Hell's pedigree. It takes a few listens, definitely, and if you were hoping for some sort of return to classic Gorgoroth, you'll probably be disappointed, but every spin we dig this more and more...

MPEG stream: Devil's Harlot
MPEG stream: Post Modern Sadist
MPEG stream: Hill Norge

An odd matchup indeed. We weren't sure whether this was a joining of convenience, since both bands are now labelmates, or if it went deeper than that, considering the two groups are sort of iconoclasts, Markus Popp and his Oval project constantly reinventing himself and following his own idiosyncratic path, and Liturgy, whose 'transcendental black metal' has been known to ruffle a few feathers, and whose frontman Hunter Hunt-Hendrix has been outspoken in his academic/spiritual approach to black metal, which seems to be at odds with the true grim hordes, not to mention his distinctly UN black metal pretty boy appearance. Regardless, these two definitely make a good team, at least in terms of splitting a record. We were secretly hoping this was in fact a collaboration, but this is the next best thing. Popp's Oval has definitely moved on from those beloved skipping cd underwater dronescapes we love so much, his return heralded a move toward manipulating acoustic instrumentation, and the tracks here continue in that direction. The main song here is a sort of glitchy electronic flecked post rock, sounding a bit like a more warped and abstract Tortoise, all manner of squiggles and squelches tangled up into the loping rhythm and melancholic strum, the result blissed out and melodic. The following three tracks are brief bits of experimentation, solo guitar it seems, processed buzz, transformed into distinct melodies that sound less like guitars and more like thumb piano or gamelan. Liturgy subvert all expectations and come out with some seriously chugging churning math rock, repetitive and droney, looped and mesmerizing, it's pretty compelling, a sound we love, and these guys nail it, it's not until about halfway through that any black metal riffing comes in, but instead of launching into it, the track slips into something way more minimal, a haunting, pulsing electronic ambience, so gorgeous and hushed, until FINALLY, the song does explode into that soaring and majestic transcendental black metal we love so much, but even here, the blasting is kept to a minimum, the rhythms more midtempo, seemingly a sonic extension of the math rock opening. Great stuff. Definitely has us chomping at the bit for the new full length, and hoping for more of this transcendental math rock! This too was a Record Store Day release, and thus was extremely limited, so not sure if we can get more once this batch sells out. Includes a download coupon as well.

MPEG stream: Kreak
MPEG stream: Untitled

We don't know too much about this strange Italian black metal band other than we fucking LOVE them. One of our new favorite BM outfits for sure. This is no ordinary buzzing black metal, although it does buzz and is most definitely BM, Ovskum, do some sort of midtempo, near ambient blackened plod. The guitars are huge and thick and seem to be crumbling into pieces, the drums are a midtempo trudge or a relentless martial march, the riffing is sometimes sludgy and thick, other times, angular and jangly, often both, a swirling slithering low end beneath keening upper register guitar skree and howled vocals. It's almost weird to call these guys black metal, they sound more like some super chaotic ambient noise rock, or spacey black sludge, or dreamy noise rock doom, all definitely fit... melodies are angular and obtuse, the drumming is sort of stumbly and simple, but the sound is HUGE, thick and swirling, raw and atmospheric, guitars are gnarled and convoluted, bits of melody and keening droneguitar are whispy streaks above the roiling fury below, some tracks forego the drums completely, and become these haunting abstract riffscapes, drifting and throbbing and crawling along malevolently... it's all so intense and dark and so so so good. No cds yet as far as we know, so needless to say both this and the s/t cassette are absolutely essential. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!

Finally, the first proper vinyl release from mysterious Italian avant black metal horde Ovskum, presented by the just launched Obscure Origins label. Atto III is the first in an Ovskum reissue campaign that will hopefully also include a cd on Andee's tUMULt label. Bu for now, let's just revel in the blackened musikal actions that make up this amazing collection of haunting and otherworldly blackness. We don't know all that much about Ovskum, but one thing we do know is that we fucking LOVE them. One of our favorite BM outfits for sure. For the uninitiated, this is no ordinary buzzing black metal, although it does buzz and is most definitely BM, Ovskum, conjure up some sort of midtempo, near ambient blackened plod. The guitars are huge and thick and seem to be crumbling into pieces, the drums are a midtempo trudge or a relentless martial march, the riffing is sometimes sludgy and thick, other times, angular and jangly, often both, a swirling slithering low end beneath keening upper register guitar skree and howled vocals. It's almost weird to call these guys black metal, they sound more like some super chaotic ambient noise rock, or spacey black sludge, or dreamy noise rock doom, all definitely fit... melodies are angular and obtuse, the drumming is sort of stumbly and simple, but the sound is HUGE, thick and swirling, raw and atmospheric, guitars are gnarled and convoluted, bits of melody and keening droneguitar are whispy streaks above the roiling fury below, some tracks forego the drums completely, and become these haunting abstract riffscapes, drifting and throbbing and crawling along malevolently... it's all so intense and dark and so so so good. This deluxe vinyl version, comes in a plain black sleeve with a sticker on the front of the jacket, as well as a front cover insert, along with a massive printed booklet of original artwork from Morte404, the mysterious woman whose creepy line drawings have accompanied all the Ovskum releases. III collects all four actions from the 2006 s/t tape on Insikt as well as a track from Ovskum's split with Necrolust. LIMITED TO 490 COPIES!!!

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. We don't know too much about this strange Italian black metal band other than we fucking LOVE them. One of our new favorite BM outfits for sure. This is no ordinary buzzing black metal, although it does buzz and is most definitely BM, Ovskum, do some sort of midtempo, near ambient blackened plod. The guitars are huge and thick and seem to be crumbling into pieces, the drums are a midtempo trudge or a relentless martial march, the riffing is sometimes sludgy and thick, other times, angular and jangly, often both, a swirling slithering low end beneath keening upper register guitar skree and howled vocals. It's almost weird to call these guys black metal, they sound more like some super chaotic ambient noise rock, or spacey black sludge, or dreamy noise rock doom, all definitely fit... melodies are angular and obtuse, the drumming is sort of stumbly and simple, but the sound is HUGE, thick and swirling, raw and atmospheric, guitars are gnarled and convoluted, bits of melody and keening droneguitar are whispy streaks above the roiling fury below, some tracks forego the drums completely, and become these haunting abstract riffscapes, drifting and throbbing and crawling along malevolently... it's all so intense and dark and so so so good. No cds yet as far as we know, so needless to say both this and the Atto I - Atto II cassette are absolutely essential. LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. While we wait patiently for the long awaited first proper lp release (reissuing some of the previous cassettes) from Italy's obscure black metallers Ovskum, coming soon on the newly launched Obscure Origins label, we're graced, or cursed perhaps by what is essentially a new full length from these masters of mysterious blackened mood music. Four tracks, nearly 40 minutes, of a sound that really can hardly be compared to any other black metal groups. A gorgeously blackened languid doom, abject and miserable and suicidal, but also hauntingly pretty, the guitars clean, seemingly floating over a bed of buzz, tangled minor key melodies, the drums a barely there pound, the whole sound so weary and woozy, the vocals appropriately anguished and howled, but way back in the mix, it's the guitars that weave the magic here, lots of harmonics, spare almost post rock guitar lines, the sound not so much loping as sort of slowed down and dragging, like listening to Make A Change Kill Yourself, with someone pressing the finger down on the vinyl, lethargic and warbly, black, and sorrowful, and haunting and almost otherworldly. A bit like a less distinctly doomy Skepticism, or maybe like a black metal Mazzy Star or something. That same sort of gauzy shoegazey quality, but not the way most bands use that quality to get all blissy, Ovskum take that sound somewhere much more abstract and dark, a truly creepy, haunting, mopey blackened slowcore. So fucking great.

Two of our favorite WTF black metal oddities from the late nineties, available again thanks to the weirdos at Ormolycka, and listening to these records again all these years later, they still sound as ridiculous and confusional as they did back in the day. Not at all what we were expecting from a former member of At The Gates, but we're guessing this could very well have been the reason for his departure, cuz Oxiplegatz is some sort of post black metal, avant power metal, rock opera electronica? Sounds confusing, that's cuz it IS. 1998's Sidereal Journey, the group's last record, is all programmed drums, buzzing riffage, dramatic female vocals, equal parts weird anime soundtrack, Dodheimsgard B-side, and over the top power metal cheese, but all filtered through Oxiplegatz's cracked outsider metal lens, the resulting epic is just geniusly absurd, right down to the band name, which comes from a Donald Duck comic, this sci-fi metal opera is dizzying and epic, totally over the top flitting from spacey ambience, to churning grinding blackened metal crush, to fuzzy girl pop weirdness and back again, with most of the (super brief) tracks some tangled collision of all of the above. Metalheads will likely HATE, but if you like fucked up sonic ridiculousness, albeit expertly constructed, and brilliantly performed, this will definitely hit the spot. And if your taste in metal runs toward the silly and completely baffling, well, this is definitely for you. Sidereal Journey is paired with 1996's Worlds And Worlds, which while still sci-fi, and epic, is much less demented, a furious blackened buzz drenched power metal, that swirls and soars, progged out and super dense, but still extremely METAL. It is however far from straight up black metal, fear not, there's plenty of synthy goofiness, those female vocals (supposedly his girlfriend, whose computer generated naked body is also featured on the cover) all over the place, bombastic dramatic male crooning too, faux strings, symphonic, orchestral, electronics, even what sounds like electronic accordion, crazy stuff for sure, and goddamn if it doesn't sound as cool and crazy all these years later. Packaged in a double cassette case, full color J-cards, one tape bright green, the other lavender, and of course, super duper limited!

MPEG stream: A Black Hole Is Swallowing The Sun
MPEG stream: They Learned Of Its Existence
MPEG stream: For Persistence
MPEG stream: So It's Our Final Hour
MPEG stream: The Light From The Perishing Sun
MPEG stream: Aftermath
MPEG stream: Quest

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

On The Path To Triumph is full length number five from this long running (since 1996) Canadian black metal one man band, whose only appearance on the aQ list, was in the review for the Eight Acts Of Origin split lp, which featured Pagan Hellfire, alongside such aQ faves as Ash Pool, Akitsa, Woods Of Infinity, and a bunch more. We described PH's track thusly: "Another blast of brittle lo-fi black metal, plenty raw and buzzy, with a cool loping bridge, and some crazy wheedly guitar shreddery". But much has changed in the seven years since, the sound of Pagan Hellfire is still plenty raw and buzzy, but way less brittle and lo-fi, the production pretty heavy and thick, the guitars lush and layered, the songs rife with melancholy melodies and not much shreddery to be found, instead, it seems the Pagan Hellfire of 2013 traffics in something much more moody and melancholic, a little bit depressive, in fact, the record opens with some downright pretty midtempo blackness, that wouldn't be out of place on an Alcest or Amesoeurs record, and even when the song splinters, and explodes into something more blasting and buzzy, the melodies remain, woven into the texture of the song, infusing it with a surprisingly gorgeous dark energy. And that dark energy continues throughout, the overall feel of the the whole record a sort of mournful, wistful blackness, the sound drifting from frenzied grim black buzz, to swoonsome melodic blackness and back again, with most of the record existing right in between. Classic black metal, epic and majestic, frantic and furious, yet rife with haunting melodies and subtle sonic shadows. Really fantastic stuff.

MPEG stream: Only Death's Call
MPEG stream: Of Wind And Storm
MPEG stream: The Fire Of A New Dawn