Review by Sandre the Giant Long running Hungarian black metallers Sear Bliss first came to my attention of their beautiful 2007 record ‘The Arcane Odyssey’, and I was spellbound immediately. They have been crafting increasingly progressive, atmospheric black metal records for almost 30 years now, and their latest effort, ‘Heavenly Down’, has had some good press already, so I didn’t want to miss out. It is out now through Hammerheart Records. If you’ve never experienced Sear Bliss before, the appearance of a trombone in opener ‘Infinite Grey’ will probably melt your brain. It provides a surpri ..read more

Scribed by Sandre the Giant Saor are close to home and close to my heart when it comes to atmospheric black metal bands who have come to prominence in the past decade or so. Scottish and channelling the windswept, ice capped Highlands in their sound, it has been a sound that I’ve come to appreciate more and more recently since I visited Glencoe and further north this year. Their debut record as Saor, ‘Aura’ (one year after they’d changed their name from Àrsaidh and took that album ‘Roots’ with them), channels the ancient folklore and history of Caledonia and the atmospheric beauty of black me ..read more

Review by Sandre the Giant If there’s one thing that the Russian scene seems to be able to produce with an alarming frequency and quality, it is melancholic and atmospheric black metal. Drevorod are just that and their new record ‘Anthems of Soil and Stars’ is out now through Heidens Hart Records. Opener ‘Sunrise’ is a twelve minute epic, sweeping tremolo riffs gliding above a bleak and windswept soundscape of cold and evocative darkness. Drawing much from the Drudkh/Nokturnal Mortum school of black metal, Drevorod also manage to slip in an obvious folk metal influence too. Much more Moonsorr ..read more

Review by Sandre the Giant The Dwarrowdelf was one of the names for the dwarven kingdom of Moria in Lord of the Rings, and British atmospheric black metaller Tom O’Dell has taken inspiration from said fantastical kingdom to create a band that mixes atmospheric black metal, folk metal and even a hint of melodeath. You get the epic AND the darkness here on their fourth full length record, ‘The Fallen Leaves’, out now through Northern Silence Productions. The swelling synths of opener ‘Within the Ashes, the Ember Still Burns’ is a mere window dressing for the atmospheric black metal to come, set ..read more

This was a night I had waited for for a long time. I’d say almost twenty years to be honest, since the first time I heard ‘In the Nightisde Eclipse’ and finally GOT black metal. You know those genres where you just can’t quite click with it, then all of a sudden a song hits you and everything opens up like a spring bloom? ‘Into the Infinity of Thoughts’ did that to me when I was 19, and Emperor have been my favourite black metal band since. They haven’t played in Scotland since 1993, and I had never seen them live in any of their other appearances over the years becuase it was always London a ..read more

Review by Sandre the Giant Once more, the Australian underground kicks out another new band with great potential into the world. This time it’s Brisbane’s Stellar Remains, whose debut EP ‘Wastelands’ has been getting quite a bit of hype for its blend of progressive, atmospheric black/death metal. It is out now through Gutter Prince Cabal. The swelling, vibrant build of opener ‘Ceaseless Charade of the Living Dead’ feels like more than just an intro track, and it sets you up to be brutalised by the crunchy heaviness of ‘Obsolescence’. There’s definitely some of that atmospheric vibe here in th ..read more

Review by Sandre the Giant The start of the year is always spent as a time catching up on stuff you missed from the previous year, and I’ll be peppering in some of those this month. First, we’ve got the new record from Glasgow’s La Mer, an atmospheric black metal project whose ‘Tetrahedra’ release is out now through Godz Ov War Productions. The trippy, electronic start to ‘To the End’ was a surprise to me, given your usual atmospheric black metal expectations. Everything feels a little industrially tinged, with some ghostly keyboard melodies in there as well, but there’s still plenty of black ..read more

Scribed by Sandre the Giant French post-black metal turned blackgaze pioneers Alcest have been churning out stunning records of shimmering black metal with more and more aspects of shoegaze and post rock for a number of years now. I came across them first on 2007’s ‘Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde’, an album I was first drawn to by the fact it was a ‘black metal’ record with such a delicate and striking cover. The small girl with the flute/stick/something in her mouth, looking nervous and innocent, belied everything I knew about the genre. I was hooked in. 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of Alcest ..read more

Review by Sandre the Giant The new EP from German depressive black metaller Nargathrond is out this month through Bandcamp, and while they have worked on much in the way of experimental black metal, retro/horror influenced synthwave and extreme music records in recent years, ‘Mourning Season’ sees a definitive reinforcement of the atmospheric black metal core that started it all. ‘Nightmares Coming’ is a piano and guitar led opener, suggesting an intro but building into a depressive piece of melancholy in its own right with climbing, buzzing guitars and dramatic atmospherics. The title track ..read more

Review by Sandre the Giant I’ve been a sucker for much extremity coming out of Chile for a while now, as it appears to be the most consistent and high quality underground scene in metal at the moment and the debut full length from atmospheric black metaller Ecologist looks to reinforce this very positive stereotype I’ve created for myself. ‘Reinos y ecorregiones’ is out now digitally through Bandcamp and on cassette through Fiadh Productions. As you can probably guess from the name, Ecologist’s work is themed around nature and the environment, and specifically the nine bioregions of their hom ..read more