Seth first crossed our hawse back in 2021 with their powerful ode to a burned church called La Morsure du Christ. Seethingly powerful Black Metal that roars forth on gritty French vocals. A language that seems to soak up this almost poetically dramatic evil, as if it were predestined for such rough treatment. The devil must indeed reside somewhere in Paris and not in the Vatican, as was whispered for centuries. But I heard today that it might be the UK after all. We’ll keep on checking, of course. Satan’s prone to change locations all the time. Unsurprisingly, a … [...] Click to raid more ..read more

For some reason, Black Metal has become one of the strongest genres on RMR. The inherent mystique and ungodly debauchery with its deadly siren song always seem to draw us near that particular black fire. It’s like this irresistible invitation out of the dark void from the Vampyre. Or, the deal with the devil, if you will. The invocation of dark spirits and worse daemons of the kinds even the horrible Aleister Crowley dared not speak of. In short, the RMR crew sports a driving force of trve dark souls with that strange blackened inhuman hunger. Enter the Italians of … [...] Click to raid m ..read more

Rotting Christ, the band name from hell that haunted parents and religious bigots all over the world for the last 35 years or so. Yet, this band became a firm staple of this here zine. And we’re not done with it. The band just announced a new record for this Year of the Dark Lord 2024, and it’s thus time to get yet another look at the past. Old, tasty slabs of early Extreme Metal that we haven’t quite savored yet. Metal wisdom from a time when not too much metallic fare was available (yet). The 1997 piece A … [...] Click to raid more! The post Rotting Christ – A Dead Poem (1997) – Review ..read more

Hmm, isn’t that ironic? Just before attacking Vorga‘s last piece Striving Toward Oblivion, Corpus Diavolis’ 2022 piece hit. So, lo and behold, Beyond The Palest Star is on the menu, and what? The French black metallers just released their newest salacious opus. Go figure, the universe sometimes speaks to us, doesn’t it? The brutal transition from the writhing altar to space force is harsh, though. The RMR crew’s still fending off all them daemons whilst – suddenly – there’s urgency to dust off our old spacesuits. And already this thing wants to take off and lead us … [...] Click to raid m ..read more

RMR is rummaging about the metal underground yet again. And I mean some hardcore underground. Félonie‘s the name and De Sève et de Sang1 the game. Created by a one-man show that currently only sports a sparse number of followers on the band’s Facebook page and not much social media coverage at the time of writing this piece. Félonie is one of Marc Bourban‘s2 side projects that’s solely driven by the man’s very own ideas. It appears that his other outfits Tyrmfar and Wizards of Wiznan – allegedly – didn’t quite let the creative juices flow … [...] Click to raid more! The post Félonie – De ..read more

Avē barbarae! Gotland are one of these bands. They’ll release a record and wait for an inordinate amount of time to push the second out into the world. Nine years this time, to be precise. In the meantime, the band floated about the RMRsphereTM for a while with an offering here and there. And once the RMR reviewers thought them dead and gone, they suddenly appeared with grand tales. Or is it just a Fata Morgana of grandeur? So, here’s to one of the most traumatic defeats in Roman history. Three legions lost in the Teutoburg forest somewhere, the … [...] Click to raid more! The post Gotlan ..read more

Sarcoptes do like it dreary – and brutal to a fine point. Already their rough-hewn EP Plague Hymns was a friggin’ scorcher and it landed them straight on the 2020 Top 3 year-end list for EPs. And the band truly does like its themes, too. There’s no light or joy left in that dystopian and depressive end-of-world view of theirs. Grim topics such as disease, endless war, massacres, and catastrophes abound. That’s their daily rotten bread. All of that served with a mighty stew of gore and tribulation and an avalanche of energy to turn Anaal Nathrakh yellow1 with … [...] Click to raid more! Th ..read more

Sometimes nomen est omen. But for Frozen Dawn‘s new record, it’s actually two things. The name and the album art. And indeed, the band name already hints at abject, ice-cold, and razor-sharp harshness. But look at the cover and feel the cold howling winds of Kadath seep into your bones. This actually made me light a fire. True story, by the way. And it looks like we’re going to have a great run with Melodic Black Metal of different couleurs this year. Deviser and …And Oceans just issued pretty good records. And Sarcoptes should drop their newest piece later … [...] Click to raid more! The ..read more

Ah yes. Deviser. A band that’s been lurking somewhere out there in the outer Sphere ov Elusive Reviews for a long time. A well-known and darkly ominous Extreme Metal entity from Greece. A band standing proud alongside the likes of Rotting Christ, Septicflesh, or – again – Isolert. The RMR crew indeed waited forever and a day for that new album to drop. To the point that this started to feel somewhat like the Patrick Rothfuss1 experience all over again. So, here we are in the loveless2 and (as yet) very unholy year of … [...] Click to raid more! The post Deviser – Evil summons Evil (2023 ..read more

Well, who ever said that Black Metal oughta sound like those old masters down to the monotonous vile rasp and underground sound from back in the ’90s? Right, nobody. Apart from some purists perhaps that may still populate the smelly underbelly of the mighty metal multiverse. But I daresay, variety is sorely needed in this bloodied realm of undead things and unspeakable horrors. A genre that adores its traditions and doesn’t take well to change. Even if some veterans made laudable efforts to the contrary without leaving their sacred grounds of long-gone times. But there’s more on offer. Th ..read more