Utopia Platafórmica

  Dolmen Gate “Finis Imperii” (Independent, 2023) Heavy Metal, as a subgenre, is one I am not very fond of. Although we all – most of us, at least – started with Iron Maiden and similar acts, some of us “evolved” to different layers of the Heavy Metal universe. Nonetheless, and considering the genre lives, a lot, from imagery and fantasy, a figure that always had my admiration is Conan the Barbarian, and Robert E. Howard’s story telling. And here is where the Heavy Metal subgenre upgraded to amazing Epic Heavy Metal, and that, my friends, is a thing of beauty. Dolmen Gate lives in that layer of this musical universe, alongside epic acts like Cirith Ungol, Manilla Road, Ironsword, and many others. Dolmen Gate came, in a way, to fill the void left by Ravensire, a superb Epic Heavy Metal band from the Portuguese Heavy Metal scene. Well, they have their own thing, so “fill” might not be the correct word. I like that it is not an overly complex release. This is straight forward Epic...

  Temple Guard “Spear of the Revenant” (Eco-Defence  2022) Well, I might have arrived late for the party, but I sure am having loads of fun at these lads’ expenses! I did come across this band pretty late, and am surprised why that happen… Absurd, a this is amazing! In my defense, if you had shown me this in 2022, when it came out, I would probably set it aside, mostly due to its harder facet. I love Hardcore, and have a hard time in assimilating fusions, d’you know what I mean? And that is transversal to the music I listen to… my lost, I know. Temple Guard is a British Hard-Beat-Metal-Down band, and you got to love the label, c’mon! But, if you go into a true analysis of the band’s sound, I bet you can find bits and pieces of each one of those genres. And the level of quality these fuckers have is way up there! Very, very well. And the transitions? Bloody fuck, amazing! And what about the level of violence? Immense and straight for the jugular. However, not all is blood...

  Haren “Antisocial” (Mendeku Diskak, 2024) I could have written this review in Spanish, right? It would be more "precise", however, nor Spanish nor Portuguese are easily “shareable languages” on social media and internet, so let us lean into our dear, and always present, English language. Haren is a Spanish all-female trio from Murcia, and 2022 was their year. A 5-track Demo came out, and it just blew up. Haren’s Punk sound is a very simple and straight to the point music. No gimmicks, no fuck around, just Punk and Anarchy. The subject? I hear violence in their voices and lyrics, and I get it. The World is shit, why should we not spread the word about it? And it is sung in Spanish, which I love. Some of my go-to Punk albums, and bands, are from the Spanish geography (Eskorbuto and RIP, for example), and there is this special thing about the dialect that fits Punk Rock music. Fast forward to 2024, and Mendeku Diskak, a brilliant label from Euskal Herria, releases the band...

Existence - “Go to Heaven” (QCHQ, 2023) Still rocking the best that came out in 2023, and considering how behind I am in terms of posting on the Blog... we will be checking 2023's review for a big chunk of 2024. Deal with it. This is not my day job, sadly. Love you all, but love Existence a tad more. Paraphrasing Gordon Ramsay: Fuck me! I was not expecting such violence, but the hype is absolutely real, and well-deserved, if I may add. I had heard a few of these lads’ tunes a few years ago (“LP Promo”, perhaps, 2020), but this one takes it up a notch. Ok, it is very Slayerish, but most Nordic Hardcore/Punk has this Thrash scent to it, and most of the time it is Slayer. At least good taste is something that most definitely have. Nevertheless, and unlike much of what I read, they are not “another Slayer clone”; they have a very well-balanced fusion of Hardcore - hard style - and the best of Slayer. Not too fast, not too slow, just perfect. “Frozen Spirit” seems, at times, that it i...

  A sort of retrospective of 2023 End of the year lists are, most of the time, a hard task. I can hardly remember what I did yesterday, let alone recall a release that came out in January. I do believe does that do are amazing people and deserve all the best that the World has in store for them. Nah, fuck it! Nonetheless, I decided to go through some of the releases of 2023, most of them less known - to a bigger crowd, at least, not to the Trve Kvlt fans, of course – and write a few words, just to try to convince you to give them a go. And some Black Metal… I might be reviewing some other stuff from last year, so wait for more! Starting off with Angurvadal ’s “A Flame Immemorial...” . Angurvadal is form an unknown location, and formed by unknown musicians, so… very much Black Metal from the XXI century. Musically speaking, I find it superb. Pagan atmosphere without ever falling into those bottomless pits of bad taste. The sound is powerful and dynamic, ticking all the boxes in ...

O que é o Hardcore? From the start... De onde nasce esta ideia? Do mesmo spot de onde nasceu a ideia de fazer mais ou menos o mesmo com o primeiro número da fanzine, dedicada ao Black Metal: as mesmas questões, diferentes intervenientes. naquele caso, todos dedicados ao Black Metal, obviamente. Desde então, a ideia de fazer o mesmo, mas direccionado ao Hardcore, começou a borbulhar. Dessa forma, enviei algumas mensagens, não muitas, e obtive algumas respostas. Entendo que o pessoal não tem tempo ou cabeça para estas coisas, portanto trabalhemos com o que temos, all good. E para estrear esta secção peguei nas respostas dadas pelo Pedro Nevado, o boss da “No Borders, No Walls”, uma belíssima fanzine dedicada ao Hardcore e tudo aquilo que gira à volta deste. Ainda não viram? Go fast. De seguida, as respostas do Pedro às minhas questões. Desfrutem e regressem as vezes que quiserem. So long, bye bye. O que é o Hardcore, e de que forma entrou na tua vida? Não é resposta difícil, ...

  Ars Veneficium “The Reign of the Infernal King” (Immortal Frost Productions, 2016) Immortal Frost Productions is well known, on this side, for the music that they release. 2022 and 2023 are great examples of quality Black Metal, and hopefully 2024 will go down as a great year. The man behind the label, besides being a businessman, is also a musician, and Ars Veneficium his vessel. I had never – and still do not know why – up to this day, checked his music, and with so many daily releases one gets lost in all the music and this and that. Today, I have decided to have a listen to his 2 releases, and judge by myself if his music making quality aligns with his label signing qualities. First off, they have been around for almost 11 years! Bloody Hell, that is remarkable in today’s artistic reality. And very consistent they are in terms of releases: few, but solid. Their 2 nd release was a split with Finnish beast, Azaghal, who would later sign, in 2015, with Immortal Frost Pr...

Profanação “Negras Noites nas Catacumbas do Degredo” (Altare, 2023) The Portuguese Black Metal scene is mostly famous for its Raw Black Metal fringe. From Mons Veneris to Black Cilice, and a million more bands in between, we have gradually built a name for ourselves in all things Black Metal. In all honesty, people started noticing our scene a bit more when the above-mentioned names started spreading the disease beyond the physical boundaries of our country, and although I am not complaining… late they have arrived at the party, for we have been doing this for years and years. And what has been released this year – these past few months, at least – in Portugal, Black Metal related. Well, let’s find out. 2023 has been, in my opinion, a good year for Black Metal. The Portuguese scene released a few records, and I am still going through most of them. Please check Angrenost’s return. Back to this review. The rawer side of our Black Metal scene has, in my opinion, a particular sound. ...

  S ardonic Witchery “Wrath in Blasphemy” (Tape, 2023) & “Barbaric Evil Power” (LP, 2024) (Nekrogoat Heresy Productions) Black Metal, as a genre, is known for being very strict and maintaining older structures (one can always use the word “original”), which makes it, almost, a hermetic art form. Outside influences are seen, at times, as cancerous elements that infiltrate a pure system, eating it from the inside. Metaphors aside, I do believe this idea has a point, and it should be kept; however, I do not shy away from new things, new perspectives, and new creations. And although I may not accept some of those changes, I feel artists should experiment and follow their own path. I have said this before, but I whole heartly believe Black Metal is the genre with the broadest spectrum for experimentation. On the other hand, we have musicians that remain true to the genre after decades and decades of allegiance, and today, I tend to lean into those musicians for the sound I love....

  Short Hardcore Reviews Spirit Crusher “Dream World” (Triple B Records, 2023) Back to Short Hardcore Reviews we are, peepz! And to restart it off we head on over to Germany to welcome Spirit Crusher’s newest release, “Dream World”, a 2-song EP, through the magnificent Triple B Records! And what do we have here? Lads from today playing yesterday’s tunes. Amazing, in my book! NYHC inspired, with bits of Thrash – which makes sense when aligned with 90ies NYHC – and that manly Hardcore. Hard and punishing, going strong and heavy. Biohazard is in there as well, and that groove is bouncy as few! Jump up and down and smack stuff! Disposition “Predisposed to Distrust” (Independent, 2023) I have been seeing, more and more, Hardcore bands adding Beatdown elements to their music. I tend to take a step back in these situations, as the fusion is rarely done properly, in my opinion. Nonetheless, I gave these lads from San Jose a chance, and their percentages of Hardcore and Beatdo...

Bloedmaan “Castle Inside the Eclipse” (Immortal Frost Productions, 2023) 2023 was a very significant year for the label, from my perspective. Not many releases, but all very consistent and strong Black Metal records. Infinity, Azaghal, Deadspace, and Infernal Angels were the ones that truly struck the most, mostly due to their capacity to fuse melody and a well-balanced dose of aggressiveness. Well, Deadspace might be considered a differentiated “beast”, but how good was/is that release?! Another example of how broad the label is starting to become without “leaving” the genre. However, before the year ended, the label brought forth one final release: Bloedmaan. “Castle Inside the Eclipse” came out December 15th, 2023, and it is a superb Black Metal record. Ronarg (Antzaat, Ars Veneficium) gifts us with an amazing set of songs with a clear basis on Black Metal, although I do find some bits and pieces of other musical creations. In all honesty, the album artwork did not give me that ...