melodic black metal

Album Review: Uhtcearu – “Madness & Creation”

Josh2 Comments

Uhtcearu - Madness & Creation

It’s a thing of true joy when bands do unexpected things or further explore smaller nuances of albums past and actually stick the landing. And while Uhtcearu’s direction on third full length, Madness & Creation, is more subtle than Lord Dying’s recent about face, it is a bit of a different look. This time out melodic black metal takes a backseat to the band’s progressive side as well as a more straightforward black metal approach and as a result we’ve got ourselves a different, more well rounded, and stronger version of Uhtcearu. Continue reading →

Album Review: Inexorum – “Lore of the Lakes”

Chris3 Comments

Inexorum - Lore of the Lakes

When you see the phrase “melodic black metal” you’re probably instantly reminded of something – it may not be actual music from a band but an impression, a sense of presence conjured up in some Jungian archetype to give meaning to the words.  For me the phrase elicits icy, bright melodies that fly against stinging blast beats, lines harmonizing and coming apart in frenzied bursts of power.  In other words, I pretty much hear what Inexorum beautifully executes on debut album Lore of the Lakes.   Continue reading →

Profile: Kevin De Leneer of Saille

ninecirclesadmin1 Comment
Saille
Saille

Belgium’s melodic black metallers Saille (pronounced sahl-yeh) will be releasing their fourth full length Gnosis this week via Code666. Saille was formed in 2008 and over the course of their previous three albums the band has grown and matured exponentially to what we have in front of us now on Gnosis. Their original goal was to create melodic black metal with an “epic and threatening feel” and they’ve done just that since the beginning but here the fruits of their labor are fully realized: the brute force of “Prometheus”, the sweeping scope of “Magnum Opus” and the british heavy metal meets epic power feel of closer “1904 Era Vulgaris” proves the point beyond any question. Being inspired previously by horror literature and HP Lovecraft themes each album features a different concept and Gnosis is no exception as the band explores the Promethean ideal and its Luciferian counterpart (aka striving for knowledge and the consequences thereof). But they also lightly touch on Aleister Crowley’s Thelema — huge themes for a band to tackle but Saille does it with ease and makes a believer out of the listener with their skilled songwriting and musicianship. We recently got the chance to ask drummer Kevin De Leneer our set of Profile questions, see what he had to say after the jump. Continue reading →

Album Review: Imperium Dekadenz – “Dis Manibvs”

Tenebrous Kate2 Comments

imperium dekadenz-dis manibvs

One of the elements missing from a lot of the writing on black metal is an acknowledgement of the nostalgia that underpins much of the genre. Whether it’s a yearning for a lost golden age of one’s culture, a disgust with modern conventions, or an invocation of a more primal, naturalistic state, black metal sets its gaze towards the past. Perhaps no culture has a greater understanding of the psychological complexities of nostalgia than the Germans. Their language contains words untranslatable into English, like weltschmerz (an emotional exhaustion brought on by knowing that the world can never live up to the promise of the imagination) and sehnsucht (impossible yearning for something achingly familiar that may not actually exist). With this in mind, it makes sense that German black metal amplifies the genre’s already-present nostalgic quality, creating a uniquely identifiable sound that’s both mournful and epic. Continue reading →

Album Review: Marsh Dweller – “The Weight of Sunlight”

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marsh dweller the weight of sunlight album cover

Even before you’ve heard a note of Marsh Dweller‘s debut full-length, The Weight of Sunlight, there’s a good chance you’ll have it figured out. (And no, that’s not a slight against it.) The album depicts a blurry, snow-covered forest on its cover, and boasts guest appearances from members of Obsequiae and Nechochwen. In one of his other projects, mastermind John Owen Kerr plays alongside none other than Panopticon’s Austin Lunn. Connect the dots, kids: you’re getting 40-odd minutes of melodic, folk-tinged black metal, and you’re going to like it. (And yes, that is a statement of fact. This thing’s quite good.)  Continue reading →