Utopia Platafórmica

Baxaxaxa - Classic Entities Still posting what I have in archives, I give you Baxaxaxa, the German Black Metal entity. Not many bands are as tru to their roots as these lads from Niederwerm. Started in 1992, released their first Full-length in 2021... a superb pearl of Old School Black Metal. Baxaxaxa... It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to speak to you, even in writing! In a way, it makes perfect sense, since you are, in my opinion, one of the few bands in the 90s that keep that flame of Black Metal alive. And for that, my thanks. Moreover, taking advantage of the idea set out above, what is your opinion, in general, about the Black Metal that is currently being made? I am not looking for “A is Black Metal, and B is not Black Metal”, no! I ask, out of curiosity, if you identify with the genre these days. To be honest: We do not find us in the modern (Black) Metal scene. Of course, we appreciate that we are a part of it and we are fine with that. Nevertheless, our souls and our ...

Invultation – “Wolfstrap” (Fallen Temple, Reissue 2022) Today I read a post on Blasphemy, and the mixture of Extreme Metal subgenres. On this post, the writer mentioned Black Metal and Grindcore as the substance that composes the band’s sound. I do not disagree. Blasphemy’s sound is chaotically aggressive. I am not a fan of the band, and I have tried many times throughout the years, but was never able to get into their music… however, the Black / Death hybrid is not limited to 1 or 2 bands, which makes room for the possibility of me enjoying a band, or even a couple. Archgoat has to be, probably, my favorite one from the lot. Their sense of melody, beneath all that sonic violence, is not at the reach of all. But musicians persist in that chase and give us Invultation. From the USA, this beast of a record. The name says it all, I reckon; the cover artwork does help in guessing the genre; the sound is what I expected: aggressive, wild, a battering ram, a violent blow to the skull. In...

Morte Perpetua – A Continuous State of Death This is another one of those olds interviews I did a while back. Morte Perpetua, an act from the US with close connections to the Portuguese Black Metal scene ("Wander Through the Depths of the Void", with Insomnia Pálida, and "VIII Hymns Towards Intolerance and Satanic Immortality", with Injuria). Rotten to the core, melancholic and visceral… this is Morte Perpetua. Thank you for your time, and my apologies for the delay! Time does not stop, and it barely lets us breathe. This situation has been going on for about a year, and we do not see an end. How are you living it? Doing well so far just staying busy here, working on art and music projects never letting creativity halt, and as for this situation it needs to end we’ve had enough. First, may I ask you how the collaboration with Insomnia Pálida came to be? This is one of those projects that I am sad it does not have more visibility, essentially because it h...

Portuguese Black Metal  Reviews   All reviews written, originally, for Black Metal Daily. Mons Veneris – “Torches of Entrancement” (Signal Rex, 2022) We are not halfway through the year and the Portuguese Black Metal scene has shown us why it is one of the strongest, today. It is a pleasure, as you probably have read before in my writing, to be able to admire the quality of our Artists. Be it a Raw Black Metal, or a more Melodic Black Metal, Portuguese Black Metal musicians are a very particular breed. With that being said, we welcome one of the biggest names in the Portuguese scene: Mons Veneris is back. Using “biggest” I am far from including the Musician, and his Art, in any sort of megalomaniac sphere of Black Metal, where all is mainstream… and acceptable, and neat, and “by the book”. Mons Veneris has taught us well; we have been programmed to expect the unexpected from this mate. His Music is not linear, and after years of not being able to “dilute myself” into his M...

Moonfall – “Wings of Darkness of Adversary” (Independent, 2020 / Angel of Cemetery Records, 2021) Well, where should I begin? Finnish Black Metal is special. Of course, we tend to focus on Beherit, and we must! The band’s approach to the genre, and fusion with several elements from Death and Doom, as well as Ambient, and later Electronics (please, let us skip that event), led to them being revered by the most extreme Black Metal fans as quintessential for the more extreme fringe of Black Metal. Many have followed, but very little have, in fact, reached the level of intensity I personally get from the band. We could go on and on about the number of bands that decided to (try) emulate Beherit’s sound but let us talk about a band that took Beherit’s sound and went on from there.   This is an old release, for today’s human standards of time – 2020 – but it sounds so good, that I had to pick it up. That, and I only came across this duo, this year. And this sucks, for I have been fol...