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  Dystopia “De Verboden Diepte I: Veldslag op de Rand van de Wereld” (Immortal Frost Productions, 2024) Dutch Black Metal never ceases to amaze me. The way they look at the genre, bend it, cut it, add X and Y to it, show they are always outside the box, and never stuck to old and established lines of thought. Well, I have no issue with that, honestly, as I am still a big fan of older bands, and newer bands playing the old sound, so… Nonetheless, it shows a group of musicians that have no issues with adding A to B, even if A and B make no sense together, and merge them into something that does make sense. Curious. I was not aware of Dystopia, which is not new, so I dwelled into their latest opus, released on Immortal Frost Productions. “De Verboden Diepte I: Veldslag op de Rand van de Wereld” is quite an interesting piece of music. It is definitely Black Metal, but something else at the same time. Their music has a very nice characteristic: dynamics. Tracks are not too short, nor to
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  Gurthang “Martyrium” (Immortal Frost Productions, 2024) Another release by Belgium label Immortal Frost Productions, a label mostly associated with Black Metal in its ancestral – although contemporary at times – form, that has the courage to risk outside the “defined” lines of what is, and what is not, Black Metal. This time we have the pleasure to listen to Gurthang, a band that is not new to the scene, but new to me. From Poland they come, and since 2010 they have been blasting their way through the Underground with their blend of Black Metal with Doom and almost Drony moments. A detail that I quite appreciate on the band’s work is their ability to balance melodic and delicate guitar parts with aggressive atmosphere, giving it this dynamic and enthusiastic sonic experience. It is quite interesting that they work the vocals as a very present instrument. Do not get me wrong, as I do know how this works, but I truly enjoyed their approach, and it does give the music a darker and h
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  ThanatoSchizO “Turbulence” (Misdeed Records, 2004) I have always looked at this band as the flagbearers of Heavy Metal up North, in Trás-os-Montes, as the sign that our region was not dead! Well, a lot more band live up North: Insalubre, Eremites, Preeminência, are just 3 examples that are close to the genre I listen to, but a lot more have come and gone, giving the region a very solid background in terms of Heavy Metal. And of course… Eerie Litanies, from Bragança! Back to ThanatoSchizo. The band started out in 1997 as a Death Metal band, slowly evolving into a more complex and elaborate outfit, adding Doom and Progressive details to its previously well-structured machine! From this point on, the progressive side of the band grew… a lot… too much, in my opinion. Their previous album, “Insomnious NightLift”, already showed moments where you could see the band wanting to depart – a bit more – from their Death Metal persona, to a more Floydian one (risking it all by mentioning Pink
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  Psychonaut 4 “… Of Mourning” (Immortal Frost Productions, 2024) Psychonaut 4 have been spreading their specific human condition for several years now, 14 to be more precise, and only now have I contacted their sound! The name was well-known, but the music was not. I have never been a fan of the more depressive side of the genre, and these lads live inside that sphere; thing is, their sound has small details that sound differently. There is a different dynamic in all their sound, an almost progressive and psychedelic approach. No, not a Floydian one, ok? They have guitar solos that sound quite cheerful. Wait… are they not on the depressive side of the globe? Maybe they are… The more you listen to this record, the more you are able to hear the different moments the band has crafted. Several emotions and stages of existence. Funny how their sound has these 2 opponent personas: sadness and joyfulness. Well, I can hear and feel moments of clarity and clear skies. But sadness does not
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  Blockage “Berlin Takedown” (DBNO Records, 2024) Ah, shit! DBNO Records is fucking great, and all they release is epic as Hell! The end. We could just leave it at that, right? Cannot be any clearer about the quality of their releases, but I feel I need to talk a bit more about this specific one. Blockage is a German quartet that plays Old School sounding Hardcore with an immense nostalgic feel to it. I get an absurd Agnostic Front feel from this one, Old School Agnostic Front of course, but also UK and all that. It even has some Oi thrown in there! It sounds really killer, and it has been on a fucking constant loop! They sound very much like something I cannot name at the moment. It is like you are hearing a specific tune but cannot name that tune. I just hate when that happens. This is a pretty short release, but we got used to Hardcore being short but effective… and killer! Blockage has me hooked, and I cannot wait for what is coming next. Destruction and Rage! Opposition “A
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  Ars Veneficium "The Lurking Shadow of Death" (Immortal Frost Productions, 2024) To Belgium we fly, shall we? Easily would hop on a plain and indulge myself in all those amazing beers they have. These lads truly know how to craft beautiful Trappists. But music is the subject of today’s writings. Ars Veneficium, former quintet and now reduced to founding members Ronarg (Antzaat, Bloedmaan, Ronarg) and Surtur (Immortal Frost Productions, Hammerstorm). “Usurpation of the Seven”, their last LP was released in 2020, and it was “just” the confirmation that their sound is very solid and a guarantee of excellent Black Metal. What mostly struck is how reminiscent of old melodies their sound is. Ars Veneficium is, at heart, a Melodic Black Metal band, but the overall melody is immense! I dare say this is their best album to date, and that is saying a lot, considering their previous releases.   At times you get a 90ies feeling, completely a 90ies feeling. The melodies are never c
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  Kvaen “The Formless Fires” (Metal Blade Records, 2024) I became acquainted in 2022, with the release of “The Great Below”, on Black Lion Records, and immediately was blown away by the melodies. It is a Swedish project, which means that melody is a very important element of their overall structure; but at times you can feel it overly technical and this, I believe, probably comes from Jacob Björnfot’s association with Progressive Metal project Ghost Ship Octavius, and Melodic Death Metal project The Duskfall. Nonetheless, this is a very cool sounding Black Metal project. This is their 3 rd release, and it was released by Metal Blade Records. A cool upgrade, right? I believe their previous one, “The Great Below”, was – and still is – a very good Melodic Black Metal album, and this one goes along the same lines, which is great! The Swedish have a special touch for melody and Extreme Metal, and their ability to create the darkest release with the best melody, the greatest solos, and
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