Bastard Altar –
“Struggling Beams of a Waning Moon” (Geistraum Records / Escafismo Records,
2021)
You probably heard of Bow Wielder
before, right? A Raw Black Punk Metal act from Virginia, USA. Well, the lad
behind this insane entity created one more of these insane entities, by the
name of Bastard Altar. Unlike its odd brother, Bastard Altar lives on a slightly
distinct universe. Wait, we still have powerful moments of rage and
aggressiveness, but Ben added an element that I have loved since I first
started with black metal: keyboards. Those small, very well-placed moments,
where the keyboard is the most important element in the song… it is amazing. It
is, indeed, a relatively short Demo, but a gigantic one at the same time.
2 songs, 2 instrumental moments (Intro
and Interlude). These moments where no voice is heard, are particularly
intense, in my opinion. Peaceful and slow, we get entangled in its webs, its
melodies that lure us into this black, bottomless pit, claustrophobic abyss…
this is Black Metal at its best. Call it Raw, call it Melodic, I have no
interest in labeling it, if I may be honest. It still holds aa bit of that rage
we get from Bow Wielder, yet it is much more controlled, directed if I may,
instead of just exploding, and hitting everything and everyone around.
Masterfully crafted, completely.
“A Glacial Tomb” ends the release, and
what an ending. Majestically, without a doubt. In line with the title, it takes
me to cold mountains and snowy days. The keyboards do help in giving it that
winter vibe. Nonetheless, it is a remarkable release, a very cold and beautiful
concept of Black Metal. Slow to mid-paced rhythm, melodic riff, hollowing
vocals, charging drums, all is perfectly aligned.
Invicta Reqviem Mass Seventh Gathering Well, hello there. Getting close to this year’s finest UG Black Metal gathering, are we? Oh yes, we are! I was quite curious about who would the lads in Signal Rex select for their 7 th Black Mass, and what a nice bill it say, I say. 15 bands will join forces in one of Portugal’s most beautiful, and Black Metal, cities. Porto, Cidade Invicta, will once again receive the label’s annual Black Metal gathering, and let us go through the bands that will be performing. While there is still not a daily line-up, let us almost alphabetically stroll down the corridor and look at newcomers and artists that will be repeating their attendance. So here we go! Starting off with an act composed of musicians from different geographic locations, Burial Moon . Austria, Estonia, and Switzerland, perhaps? If I may be honest, their location is what less interesses me. Musically speaking this is straightforward Signal Rex Black Metal. The hypnotic side of t
Marthe “Further in Evil” (Southern Lord, 2023) I was completely unaware of the existence of this project, and only today stumbled upon it while scrolling on a very famous Black Metal group on Facebook. While reading the description of a photo, I saw The Devil’s Blood and Mediterranean Heavy Metal influences mentioned, as well as Antifascism and Italy. Scrolled down a bit more and read Bathory. Went straight to YouTube and added Tiamat, “Clouds” era (vocals at times), to it. It might sound a bit strange and misplaced, but let me tell you: it bloody works. Marthe is composed of one single musician, Marziona Silvani – stage/artist name, Marzia – and she has been around for some time. From what I understood, Marthe started out while Marzia was still rocking the drums in Ancient Cult, an Italian Heavy Doom band that since then closed the doors on existence. That gave way for Marzia to move forward and blast it all out with Marthe! Marthe is a very curious entity. Sound-wise, it ha
Infernal Angels “Shrine of Black Fire” (Immortal Frost Productions, 2023) 2023 has been, so far – and we are almost done with the year – a splendid year for Black Metal. Strangely enough I have been focusing more on bands and albums that have a deliberate melodic approach to the sound, rather than going for the Raw Black Metal acts. Not that we do not have been infernally blessed with exquisite works of Art, but the well-produced records have been calling for me, and I have answered the call. Immortal Frost is a bit to blame for that. Surtur has released, so far, at least 2 records I believe will be considered some of the best I had the pleasure to listen to this year: Infinity’s “The Untamed Hunger” and Deadspace’s “Unveiling the Palest Truth”; an honorable mention to Azaghal’s “Alttarimme on Luista Tehty”, that shows a band still pushing hard! The label’s latest release is Infernal Angel’s “Shrine of the Black Fire”, and we’ll jump right into the fire to see what we got here!
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