The Internet has enabled some rather fascinating collaborations in black metal, and Acathexis ranks high among them. Featuring Jacob Buczarski of Mare Cognitum, the absurdly prolific Déhà, and Dany Tee (Seelenmord, Los Males del Mundo), the group put together their new album Immerse across three separate countries, but you’d never guess it from the finished product. Impressively locked-in, the trio execute atmospheric black metal with overbearing minimalism, avoiding extra layers in favor of weaving several compelling threads together. Déhà instills a complex mix of emotions into explorative l ..read more

Yet another entrant into Switzerland’s now established Helvetic Underground Committee (heretofore referred to as The HUC) circle emerges, this time as symphonic, “transcendental” black metal act Ophanim. Alongside other acts like Ungfell, Ateiggär, Kvelgeyst (more on them in the coming weeks), and many more, The HUC’s adventurous spirit drives black metal through the underground with various and unique takes on the genre. With Ophanim, the duo of multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Meister Tekel (otherwise known as Menetekel, Temenkeel, the list goes on) and drummer Voidgaunt, Ophanim adds an a ..read more

Are you “kvlt” enough to move to another city because of a black metal album? Evelyn Holland is. Inspired by her deep love for Agalloch’s The Mantle, she packed up her life in Minneapolis and relocated to Oregon in 2020, only to be met with global lockdowns. The illusive forestry that inspired other metal artists was all that remained consistent as the fabrics of socialization decayed amidst the pandemic. A year later, she posted a Craigslist ad searching for bandmates to create atmospheric black metal; more specifically, progressive Cascadian black metal with a focus on queer themes. Luckily ..read more

Writing a 45 minute long song is an undertaking. Granted, writing a 45 minute long album is, as well, but keeping a central idea and momentum going for such an extended period of time is laudable. Considering Ushangvagush‘s 10-track 2021 debut Mntu is just barely shorter than this new, single-song effort, sole musician D.’s longest effort yet is by far their most groundbreaking and distinctive. In an interview I conducted with Ushangvagush creator D. at defunct zine The Call of the Night, this artist referred to Mntu as something inward, referring to the album’s title, which translates to “dev ..read more

Atmospheric black metal greats Ashbringer dropped a new track from their forthcoming album, We Came Here To Grieve, out September 29 via Translation Loss Records. “Pages” gives us a taste of the melody and balanced yet psychedelic approach that the new album offers.  “As we began writing for this upcoming album, ‘Pages’ was the first track we put together,” the band say about the track. “It did not take more than a few weeks of us working on it to establish how exciting the rest of the process would be for us. “As we feel this upcoming album represents our ‘mission statement’ in terms of ..read more

Photo credit: Andy Meyer Minneapolis atmospheric black metal act Ashbringer return with a new song for their yet-to-be-announced new album to be released later this year on Translation Loss Records. “Rain” starts off chaotically and ends up as a great combination of disorder and tranquility, as evidenced by the split between the herculean Barney Greenway-styled gruff vocals and the ethereal cleans. The balance works well within the confines of the track’s three-minute length, as you get plenty of both while feeling satisfied by track’s end. If you like variety with your heavy, you’ll appreciat ..read more

Despite the fact that it’s been 14 years since Australia’s Austere last released an album, their depressive black metal remains evergreen, as their new single “A Ravenous Oblivion” proves. It’s the second track they released ahead of their return record, Corrosion of Hearts, which drops later this month. “A Ravenous Oblivion” shows that nobody can quite replicate Austere, primarily concerning how accurately they portray depression, which is impressive considering how black metal and shoegaze fusions have proliferated over the past decade. Band members Desolate and Sorrow collectively employ c ..read more

Ah to have been there, at the inception of depressive black metal (referred to in shorthand as DBM from here). To have been in the conference room with Malefic and the gang, to have overheard the exchange in which it was agreed that black metal, a good and venerable musical discipline, might actually be a bit… obvious? Its melodies too forthright, its subject matter too fantastical. To have seen teeth appear in the grinning mouths of the corpse painted assembly as new ideas were encoded, grabbing the sorrow and the mystery of the genre and driving it even further from sight, into calcified ca ..read more

Powerful, personal, and ecstatic black metal band Agriculture released their first EP, The Circle Chant, in April of this year, solidifying the band as a powerful underground force in spiritual black metal and yet another leftist counteraction to the right-wing, nationalist issues black metal still faces. Yet, while many bands are angry and upset in the face of such divisive times, Agriculture make it a point to be joyful and euphoric, celebrating with their music, even as it is dark and serious. We may have only heard one EP from the band so far, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as th ..read more

Change is a constant, and perhaps nothing on our planet is as constant as the change between seasons. There’s always things to mourn as the weather turns, but there’s things to welcome as well–even though fall will soon turn to winter here in Midwest America, the promise of glittering snow balances the world’s lack of color. Uamh‘s new EP Ràithean draws inspiration from the change of seasons and perfectly captures the combination of loss and potential that these transitions bring. Ràithean‘s atmospheric black metal rages, grieves, and sings of hopes to come. The Montana-based project’s last E ..read more