Maine atmospheric black metal duo Obsidian Tongue—Raymond Capizzo (drums/synths), Brendan Hayter (guitar/bass/vocals)—are preparing for the release of their upcoming EP, The Stone Heart, with a brand new video of the title track. “The Stone Heart” is a moody, slow burn that builds from clean, strummed minor chords to a full-on melodic and majestic black metal attack over the course of seven minutes. Guest vocalist Tanner Anderson (Obsequiae, Majesties) handles clean vocals in the first third of the song, adding a strong contrast to the harsh vocals that follow. The video is equally moody ..read more

French black metal artist Ouranos—a one-individual project created by the musician Silmar, who handles the guitar, vocals and synth duties—has created a memorable album for his sophomore release, Voir La Lumièr. A faint buzzing starts album intro “Apnée,” slowly joined by drums, vocals and foreboding synthesizers. At nearly eight minutes, “Apnée” feels like a test of Ouranos’ capabilities. The other four songs on Voir La Lumière up the album’s intensity, striking a balance between aggressive and atmospheric. The presence of synths is a major part of Ouranos’ sound, offering ambi ..read more

It seems fitting that the first snowfall of the year came just before the release of White Tomb Pilgrimage, the debut album from anonymous black metal outfit Winterburial. Despite it being the first release from Winterburial, the band already has a strong sense of identity, combining raw black metal with a sense of melody and atmosphere that conjures up mental images of snowy landscapes and freezing moons. Winterburial don’t use atmosphere as an excuse for lackluster songwriting on White Tomb Pilgrimage; each song has a clear identity with notable riffs, melodies and tempo changes, mixed in su ..read more

Ten albums, five EPs, a steady progression throughout all of this body of work into increasingly subtle and bittersweet, melody-ridden atmospheric black metal; and above all, a curiously elegant approach to the anonymity aspect of the band, which never felt like a gimmick with them… yeah, it feels like a good time to maybe stop and have a bit of a think about it, doesn’t it? That’s exactly what An Autumn for Crippled Children are doing with their new—and potentially last—album, Closure. “We definitely had a feeling that this is a turning point,” they tell us. And just to be clear, that pronoun ..read more

Today Germany atmospheric black metallers Downfall of Gaia release their sixth album, Silhouettes of Disgust. And to celebrate, the band have provided an extensive track-by-track breakdown of their new 45-minute epic. Read below and nab a copy of Silhouettes of Disgust here. 1. “Existence of Awe” “Existence of Awe” is a song about those inner demons and ghostly companions that many in this day and age are at the mercy of and have to fight against. In whatever form. A condition that one often carries around unnoticed on the outside, which is not immediately visible to many and with which one mu ..read more

Born as a solo project for Brooklyn musician and actor Alec A. Head, Ghostbound was originally a teenage curiosity named Timshel. After adding bassist Noah Shaul, the project has since expanded to a full lineup to materialize Head’s vision of lush, cinematic metal. In 2018, Ghostbound added multi-instrumentalist Talha Alvie (The D/A Method), and drummer David E. Richman (End of Hope, St. Bastard, Witch Taint) before releasing the band’s All is Phantom debut. Now Ghostbound continues their debut’s nautical theme on their new album, Extended Play For My Sweet Mary Thyme. Decibel Magazine is thri ..read more

French avant-black metal weirdo Vindsval’s Blut aus Nord project has been a forerunner in the strange and hallucinogenic for nearly thirty years now, and through that progression the project has seen many changes. From Ultima Thulée‘s frozen atmospheres to The Work Which Transforms God‘s industrial, bizarre looseness, it was 2019’s Hallucinogen which ushered in a new era for this long-standing project. Suddenly melodic and lush, Hallucinogen cast off Blut aus Nord’s strangeness in favor of something more digestible and focused. Though ultimately a very good album, Hallucinogen merely zeroed in ..read more

Austrian newcomers Gjoad create atmospheric dark rock that builds worlds instead of destroying them. Their debut LP Samanōn bristles with life while honoring the weight of death. The notes bloom in the sunshine before retreating to the shadows. It’s an album that feels like a film shot in cinematic wide-screen. The album is officially released on December 15 from Antiq. But Decibel magazine has an exclusive stream so you can take the journey with Gjoad early. Ten minutes pass before distorted guitars rise from the album’s soft soil. Amid a 14-minute opening track, distortion is a minor charact ..read more

My relationship with Noltem dates back over a decade and a half at this point, all fueled by a chance discovery on a small forum, a search fueled by a desire to hear more folk-inspired, dark, dreamy metal. Then the venture of sole-musician Max Johnson, Noltem’s demo Hymn of the Wood would become the band’s epitaph, the band itself fizzling out after a label fell through for the fabled Ashes EP in 2007. Noltem would eventually return (and with my help). I introduced Max Johnson to drummer and vocalist John Kerr (Pyrithe, Seidr, Yahar’gul, you get the idea), who together recorded the Mannaz EP w ..read more

Anonymity adds a certain flair to black metal. An added layer of mystery on top of tremolo picking and blast beats really gives arrangements a shrouded edge. Metaphorically removing the tangible elements—the flesh and blood—behind the music allows someone to engage with the album in any way they see fit. The music voids any preconceived notions from a creator because, on paper, there isn’t one. There’s magic in that. For the enigmatic sect, Koldovstvo, it’s bewitching black magic. Their name roughly translates to “witchcraft” from Russian. That’s not to assume the band is Russian, or even Euro ..read more