1349: The Infernal Pathway (2019)

1349 is a throwback to the time when black metal was truly extreme and chaotic.  The band is essentially frozen in time in the early 1990's, still dressing in spikes and chains and Satanic images and still wearing corpse paint in concert and in pictures.  The music too is much more similar to the sound of Norwegian second-wave black metal. 

This is the band's seventh album and, for the most part, they have never messed with the formula that has gotten them here.  I say "for the most part" because there was Revelations of the Black Flame when they took the rare step to try to go for a more atmospheric sound.  That was roundly criticized and they went back a year later.  A 1349 album is supposed to be utterly chaotic.  Luckily, this one is.

This is true, evil black metal with lightning fast riffs and blasting drums.  The legendary Frost beats the skins for 1349 and he is absolutely peerless.  His fills, blasts and time-keeping are simply incredible, and have been for as long as he has been going.  Elsewhere, the vocals are delivered in a typical blackened shriek.  1349 utterly annihilates anything in their path, only occasionally stopping for a few short, lighter interludes, but those quickly lead into more pummeling brutality.

Most of the time, one knows what to expect from 1349.  And yet, each time, the album is well worth it.  The band has long ago learned not to mess with the formula.  The result is yet another terrific throwback to when black metal was truly dangerous.

Cloak: The Burning Dawn (2019)

Cloak is a band who I heard for the first time when they were opening for Uada along with Wormwitch.  I was incredibly impressed the first time I heard them and grabbed a vinyl from the band at the time.  I still have not gotten around to reviewing that one, because it's harder for me to get time to listen to those.  Not exactly portable.  Anyway, this is the band's second album and I am going to once again spoil things.  This was my runner-up to the Album of the Year.  So, I kind of like it.

Cloak's sound is sort of unique.  It is a mix between black metal and rock with some definite Southern rock influences.  The songs are all catchy as hell with infectious hooks that keep the listener coming back for more.  The frequent, smoldering guitar solos are the primary Southern influence.  One could easily imagine a band like Corrosion of Conformity or Down playing them, if not for the freezing cold vocals that call to mind former tour-mates Uada.

Seriously, check this album out, this is well worth it.  Every song on here is amazing.  All killer, no filler.  This band should be barreling toward stardom right now.

Urn: Iron Will of Power (2019)

Okay, how the hell could I not jump at an album with a cover that looks like that?  Urn is a blackened thrash metal band from Finland that I am somehow just now hearing about, even though they released their debut full-length album way back in 2001.  And any time a band's sound gets compared to Deströyer 666, I am on top of it.

The album kicks off on a high note with the raging opener "Downfall of Idols".  After a short melodic intro, it lurches into high gear before the singer shouts "On your knees!" and we are off and running.  Urn's sound is caustic and hostile, built on speed and ugly riffs.  It is a primitive and animalistic sound, and yes it does call to mind Deströyer 666's Cold Steel, though it never quite reaches the same heights that album did.

The songs here are catchy and energetic, with some great hooks to keep interest going and spell-binding solos.  The instrumentation is tight and balanced without any instruments overshadowing the others.  Songwriting is a strength of Urn's.  "Funeral Oath" is particularly impressive as the song builds into an absolute frenzy that refuses to wane.  There are moments where the band slows things down, such as the instrumental interlude "Gates to Hyboria", which keeps the album from being one-dimensional. 

I am not sure Urn is quite up to the same level of quality as a group like Deströyer 666 honestly.  This is a very good album, but not to that level.  I would place them at the same level as a group like Bewitched though and that band is probably a more accurate comparison anyway.  I am a big fan of this style of metal and Urn is a very good example of it.  This is a worthy release.

Drudkh: Microcosmos (2009)

Here is another band it seems like I have been reviewing a lot lately.  Drudkh is of course a Ukrainian black metal band whose sound tends toward the atmospheric side of black metal, instead of the more aggressive sound. 

This is not one of the albums that is typically mentioned when people talk about Drudkh.  Usually the first four or five albums are the ones most often referenced, and in particular, Blood in Our Wells.  The band had settled into a general sound by the time this, their seventh full-length, rolled around.  So this album does not really stand out much from the rest of the band's material.  That in no way is a bad thing, because Drudkh basically do what they do best on this album: atmospheric black metal that feels like the soundtrack to the fall.

The four true songs here are lengthy, lasting on average about ten minutes and they are generally built around a couple of sections.  The songwriting has gotten more complex on this release though and the bass has taken some huge strides to become a leading instrument in the riffing.  And there are some truly impressive guitar solos on this release as well that sound like traditional metal solos.  By and large, this album does make an impact, even though it is somewhat forgotten when looking at the band's career.

This is another quality release from a band that has made a career of them.  It does not quite rise to the level of some of the band's earlier releases, but it stands out amongst some of the band's mid-period releases.  I am still working my way through the Drudkh catalog, but this is a damn good album.

Abbath: Outstrider (2019)

Several years back, Immortal death panda Abbath formed a side project with other members of Immortal and Enslaved with the online search nightmare name of I.  The band was more of a blackened heavy metal band, featuring riffs that could have been found in releases by Accept or Judas Priest, but with Abbath's gravelly vocals.  I released just one album, Between Two Worlds, which I thought was a great release.  That seems to have been the jumping off point for Abbath upon leaving Immortal and starting his own eponymous band. 

Abbath has recruited three new musicians who have shockingly never served time in Immortal before.  He released his first album a couple of years back, named after himself of course.  I enjoyed that album quite a bit, and of course Abbath has always been one of my favorite members in Immortal.  The black metal Gene Simmons is completely ridiculous and it is hard not to find humor in most things he does.  But he also has one of the more iconic voices in black metal, so I am always willing to give his releases a chance.

Just as with the previous Abbath album and the I album, the style here is traditional heavy metal, with the occasional black metal riff.  Abbath continues to deliver his trademarked croaking vocals.  The band does an outstanding job of performing music that bears a resemblance to Iron Maiden playing Immortal songs.  The songs are generally short and compact, but with a lot of energy and power. 

This is one of the catchiest albums of the year.  Abbath has done it once again.  He continues to put out terrific music this far into his career, and even after leaving Immortal.  I will continue to check out anything he releases.

Gaahls WYRD: GastiR - Ghosts Invited (2019)

One of the most highly-anticipated and hyped albums of the year is the debut release from Gaahls Wyrd, the recently-formed band by former Gorgoroth vocalist and wine-drinking Satan enthusiast Gaahl.  The band previously released a live album, featuring covers of songs by Gaahl's other bands God Seed and Trelldom and a couple of singles to preview this album.

The album starts off with the traditional black metal stomp of "Ek Erilar" and one would be forgiven for believing that this was going to be just another Gorgoroth ripoff.  But things get weird and challenging fast.  "From the Spear" starts off fairly normally, but then Gaahl's vocals go from typical black metal shrieking to some impressive clean vocals, a thrash metal riff is thrown in and then the band heads in an almost Agalloch-esque post-black metal direction.  "Ghosts Invited" features some almost soothing, crooning vocals from Gaahl, a far cry from the style for which he is most famous.  And the offbeat sound continues through "Carving the Voices", which features some chanting vocals over surprisingly pretty melodies, sounding more like a black metal version of The Cure, before blowing everything up near the end. 

The second half returns a bit to more of a safe, traditional black metal sound with "Veiztu Hve", which is still kind of weird, but fits in well with some of the latter Gorgoroth material, though the group vocals near the end take an odd turn.  The Agalloch-isms return on the folky "The Speech and the Self" before giving way to the crushing riffs in "Through and Past and Past", which may be the closest the band comes to a speed metal track.  Finally, there is the sprawling weirdness of "Within the Voice of Existence" which is more of a mellow, plodding meditative track, featuring moaning and chanted vocals that could be saying just about anything.  Then a riff comes charging through and the chanting becomes more intense and frenzied, leading into the end of the song, and the album. 

The hype was well worth it.  This is a remarkable album that never veers too far into safe territory before throwing the listener for a complete loop.  Every listen reveals a new wrinkle to the music.  And it never goes too far in a soft or meandering direction, maintaining interest throughout the entire runtime.  I have not frequently been a big fan of Gaahl, but his new band really intrigues me.  This is a truly impressive, unpredictable album. 

Enthroned: Cold Black Suns (2019)

For whatever reason, I have not really gotten too far into the music of Enthroned.  Despite owning their 2007 release, Tetra Karcist, I just never really went any further.  That despite enjoying the hell out of that album.  The Belgian black metal band has an interesting take on the genre that goes beyond simply rehashing ideas that have been done time and time again.

This is the band's eleventh studio album, an impressive number for a band whose geographical isolation in a scene dominated by the northern European countries, has led them to be often overlooked.  On the last album that I had heard by Enthroned, they were a fairly traditional-sounding black metal band, but there were definitely moments where they stood out from the crowd.  The band has released several albums since then, so I do not quite know where the evolution occurred that led to this release.

The sound on this album is markedly different from that prior album.  This time around, the band has adopted a much more avant garde structure, relying more on twisted melodies and dark atmosphere than on a more riff-driven approach.  The sound is much more like a straightforward Deathspell Omega or Sigh (minus the kooky weirdness).  The best song on the album is the dynamic closing track "Son of Man", particularly toward the middle when the band channels Alcest for a more post-black metal sound.

The Enthroned album is incredibly impressive.  I will have to revisit their earlier album I have, but I can say that it did not impress me nearly as much as this one has.  I will also have to look back at some of the band's other releases.

Saint Vitus: Saint Vitus (2019)

A lot of bands have a self-titled album among their releases.  Not many bands can say that they have two.  Saint Vitus can though.  This is the band's second self-titled album, with the first one coming way back in 1984.  That was the band's debut and is a landmark album.  Saint Vitus was one of the first bands that took what Black Sabbath was doing in the early 1970's and really ran with it, becoming one of the first doom metal bands in the process.

This album sees the second return to the fold by original vocalist Scott Reagers.  Guitarist Dave Chandler has been the only member of Saint Vitus to stick with the band throughout their history.  The band has featured the legendary Scott "Wino" Weinrich in the past, during times in which Reagers has not been in the band.

With the Sabbath comparison from before, one can get the impression of what this band sounds like.  Dark, fuzzy riffs and slow tempos with mourning, soulful vocals with a harder edge.  The band does sometimes lock into a rumbling, faster-paced groove which breaks up the slower songs.  The band sounds absolutely raw, like they just woke up from a massive hangover and rolled into the studio to record.  There is nothing pretty here, just whiskey-fueled mayhem.

The minor quibble that I have is the guitar tone on the solos.  I do not have a ton of experience listening to Saint Vitus, but my god, Chandler uses an ugly, squealing guitar tone on his solos.  It fits reasonably well with the music because it is not the kind of thing that a well-trained classical guitarist would play.  It is ugly and gritty and it definitely matches the attitude of the band.

Saint Vitus has been around for a long time and their sound is truly timeless, sounding like a band who has been through some hard times and learned some tough lessons.  It is gritty and dark, doomy and gloomy.  But fuck, if I don't love it.  Pass the whiskey.

Mayhem: Grand Declaration of War (2000)

De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is quite possibly the greatest black metal album of all time.  So the big question is: how the hell do you follow it?  Do you try to replicate its success?  Do you try to top it?  Or do you do something completely off the wall and weird?  Well, Mayhem tried the last one, releasing an album completely different than the previous album.

Anyone with a general knowledge of Mayhem knows that a lot of things happened with the band after their landmark release.  Guitarist Euronymous was murdered by bassist Varg Vikernes.  Vikernes went to prison for his crimes.  The band was embroiled in controversy after controversy.  It is unsurprising that it took six years before the band was able to release anything new.  And of course by that point, for obvious reasons, the band looked significantly different.  Only Hellhammer remained from the lineup that released the previous album.  Blasphemer and Necrobutcher took over on guitar and bass respectively.  Maniac returned to the fold as the vocalist.  And with a new lineup, the band's sound changed as well.

The change is evident from the beginning of the album.  The music is slower and doomier.  The vocals are the biggest change and likely caused a lot of "What the fuck?" reactions.  There are some typical black metal shrieks, but they are mostly relegated to backing vocals behind spoken word vocals delivered in an almost campfire horror story tone and cadence.  These take the form of dramatic speeches about warfare and philosophy.  It takes some getting used to, but these are generally the better parts of the album.

There are some major missteps along the way.  "A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun" is almost completely worthless.  Featuring menacing whispers over an electronica beat, it sounds completely out of place with everything else that is going on in the album.  There are other moments where the experimentation goes off the rails as well.  The use of robotic vocals in a few places sounds ridiculous and off-putting.

Despite the weirdness, missteps and the unexpected general sound, this is a decent enough release.  It does not hold a candle to what came before, but Mayhem still put out an intriguing release.  Perhaps it is better to think of this as a completely different band, or to acknowledge that some bands are not content staying in one place musically.  That definitely seems to be the case with Mayhem after the issues with Dead, Euronymous and Varg.

Mystifier: Protogoni Mavri Magiki Dynasteia (2019)

Brazil's mighty Mystifier has been around for a LONG time.  Though they released their first demo in 1989, they have only released five full-length albums.  In fact, this is their first full-length album since 2001.  Nevertheless, they do not seem to have broken up at any point, though there has only been one long-lasting member.  Beelzeebubth has been the only consistent member, with a revolving door for the other members of the band.

Mystifier's sound is pure, unadulterated evil.  It is a very dark and ominous album that alternates between doomy atmosphere and high-octane Venom-ous riffs.  It is an incredibly dynamic album for a black/death metal release, with impressive songwriting and razor-sharp riffs, while the vocalists growl and wail over the maelstrom.  When the band is not shredding, they utilize creepy organs and chanted vocals in attempts to summon demons.  There is a lot of chemistry between the individual musicians, resulting in an incredibly tight and punishing album.

This is an incredible album that only gets better every time I hear it.  I am honestly not overly familiar with Mystifier's back catalog, but after coming out blown away by this release, I am planning to get into their previous material.  There is a reason that Mystifier is among the pantheon of essential Brazilian extreme metal bands.  Simply put, this album is incredible.  This album is a possible contender for Album of the Year. 

Altarage: The Approaching Roar (2019)

One of the more fascinating death metal albums of 2017 was Altarage's Endinghent, which showed some intriguing evolution for the genre.  It was dissonant and dark, sounding like the soundtrack to the void.  It was incredible.  And so, when I saw that Altarage was releasing a new album this year, I wanted to see where the band would go from there.

There is absolutely nothing pretty or melodic about the music of Altarage.  This album is ugly, abrasive, chaotic and absolutely crushingly brutal.  This is death metal taken to an absurd extreme cutting out all semblance of humanity and becoming a massive wall of sound.  There are riffs present, this is metal after all, but there is so much dissonance and distortion that the riffs sound murky.  Occasionally, there are softer moments, but those just highlight how brutally intense the rest of the album is.

There are vocals on this, but they too are often buried in the rest of the sound.  The vocals are delivered in a deep growl.  The lyrics deal with heavy topics like existential dread, horror and chaotic evil.  The atmosphere of the album fits in quite well with the lyrical topics.

This album does not fit in neatly with any well-known subgenres of death metal.  Rather, it sounds more like a cross between the genre-defying bands Ulcerate and Gojira, yet heavier and more intense than both.  It is a complete mindfuck of an album that should probably not be listened to in the dark for fear that it may just open a portal to The Void.  We wouldn't want that, would we?

Vltimas: Something Wicked Marches In (2019)

Here we have a blackened death metal supergroup.  Only time will tell if this one will be a one-off like I or if it will be a long-lasting one like Bloodbath.  Vltimas is made up of three members, each from a very famous band.  On drums is Flo Mounier, primarily from Cryptopsy.  The guitarist is Rune Eriksen, better known as Blasphemer, from Mayhem and Aura Noir among others.  And finally, playing bass and providing vocals is David Vincent, the better-known singer for Morbid Angel.  That is quite the lineup.

With supergroups, you can never quite tell what kind of quality you are going to get.  Sometimes the group is able to call upon all the disparate talents and release something truly amazing.  Other times, the egos of the members get in the way and the result is a sloppy, overwrought mess.  There was some concern with this release, particularly with the outlandish personalities of the three members.  But even more than that, there is the sharp decline in quality of each of the members' main bands.  Cryptopsy has not been very good in years.  Vincent has been mostly exploring non-metal music with his outlaw country project and his involvement with Genitorturers.  Only Blasphemer has been putting out decent material, but with Aura Noir, not Mayhem.  So there were some obvious concerns with how this album was going to turn out.

Those concerns were wiped away the minute the album begins.  The band members each sound revitalized.  The drumming is absolutely insane with Mounier turning in his best performance since Lord Worm was still with Cryptopsy.  When he was at his best, he was one of the greatest metal drummers of all time.  This album sees a return to those heights.  Vincent's vocals are every bit as impressive as they were during his first turn with Morbid Angel.  He does not deliver his vocals in a standard death metal roar, choosing instead an articulate harsh yell.  He does pull out some of the deep ominous clean vocals as used on "God of Emptiness".  Even Blasphemer turns in some truly impressive blackened death metal riffs.  The members each bring out their own style throughout, rather than trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.  The chemistry is fantastic as they work extremely well with each other.

The album is mostly a mid-paced death metal release, with some more blackened tremolo riffs shining through at times.  This is not terribly shocking given the members involved.  While it would have been an interesting change of pace to hear the members completely let loose, the album is punishingly heavy, intense and evil as all Hell.  There are some faster moments here, but it never quite sounds like they have truly hit the limits of their abilities.

I was honestly shocked by how great this album really is.  It is a definite contender for Album of the Year.  Supergroups rarely go beyond being a curiosity, but Vltimas sounds like a band that has been performing together for years.  Seldom are supergroups so fresh and vital.  This is one of the best ones I have ever heard.

Rotting Christ: The Heretics (2019)

2007 saw Rotting Christ release Theogonia.  That album was my introduction to the world of Rotting Christ, though I had heard of the band previously, and I was absolutely blown away by it.  This blog did not exist at the time, but if it had, it is highly likely that it would have been my Album of the Year.  It was that good.  2010's Aealo made it to third on my Best Albums list that year.  The band had quickly become one of my favorite bands.

Unfortunately the last two releases have seen the band treading water, basically playing the same thing over and over again.  Rotting Christ has essentially been playing the soundtrack to a Greek action-adventure video game for the last several years.  So when this album was announced, I was not sure what to expect.  I was cautiously optimistic however when I saw that they had returned to the previous logo, a jagged script befitting a harsh black metal band instead of their more gothic take. 

The album is, more or less, a return to the Aealo form and is certainly their best full-length since that album.  There is still a fascination with playing overly drawn-out atmospheric black metal numbers that do not really go anywhere and the band overdoes the spoken-word sections that still give the impression that they are doing a soundtrack more than a full-length album.  Tracks like "In the Name of God" and "Hallowed be Thy Name", which are the two tracks that had videos made, are mostly boring songs that are too similar to the last two albums.

Luckily, most of the remaining tracks sound terrific.  "Ветры злые" features a scalding tremolo riff and terrific guest vocals of Irina Zybina of Russian folk metal band Грай (Graj) and "Heaven & Hell & Fire" has one of the most spine-tingling guitar solos Rotting Christ has ever recorded.  Ashmedi of Melechesh also provides guest vocals on "The Voice of the Universe".  This album did not immediately speak to me, but after a few more close listens it began to truly sink in.

One time when the spoken word elements really worked out well though is "The Raven".  As might be guessed, this song features excerpts from the classic Edgar Allan Poe poem that is a horror mainstay.  The sections fit in quite well with the band's unique gothic take on black metal and it is one of the best tracks on the album.

I am thrilled that this album is so good.  I do not yet know if it is a contender for Album of the Year, though it may be up there right now.  It seems to get better every time I listen to it.  There are some weak moments on the album but they are outweighed by the great songs on the album.

Misery Index: Rituals of Power (2019)

Somehow, without me really paying attention, I have accumulated a number of Misery Index albums.  I just sort of buy them when they come out without even a second thought.  And I have been doing this for more than ten years now.  I must really like them or something.

Of course I like Misery Index.  Who the hell wouldn't?  The band hits that sweet spot between death metal and grindcore where it is just pure fucking brutality.  They never release a bad album and they keep to a fairly simple formula: make as much noise as possible.  Their last album, The Killing Gods was quite possibly their best, which is an impressive feat given how long the band has been active and how great albums like Traitors and Heirs to Thievery were.  And so, obviously I was going to grab their newest album.

This one seems to have taken a tiny step backwards.  It is still a fucking monster of an album, but something just seems a little bit off about it.  It was kind of evident from the beginning.  Opening track "Universal Untruths" just is not the kind of rampaging track that should be opening a Misery Index album.  It feels like it is supposed to be building to something, like the entire track is supposed to be leading into something absolutely enormous, and then it just does not get there.  Well, technically it builds into "Decline and Fall", the next track, but it definitely does not stand on its own.  From there though, the band basically returns to the sound that has made them one of the most punishing bands in metal today.  Songs like "New Salem" and "The Choir Invisible" are up there with some of the best songs the band has ever done.  Unfortunately, in general the band just does not reach the heights that they have previously hit.

This is still a damn fine album though the band seems to be a little less intense this time around.  It would have been very difficult to top The Killing Gods even if the band was on top of their game.  Unfortunately they just do not quite deliver it all here. 

Septicflesh: Codex Omega (2017)

Septicflesh is a band whose back catalog I have been exploring in depth this year.  I have been into the Greek symphonic death metal band for several years now and typically come on strong in my end of the year lists.  This release is no different.

Always at the forefront of the symphonic extreme metal genre, Septicflesh has managed to release what is quite possibly their strongest album to date.  And I say that as a big fan of the band.  They have mastered their craft after all these years, a seemless blend of brutality and beauty.  There have been a few missteps along the way, although they have typically confined them to individual songs, rather than entire albums.  But this is their strongest album overall yet. 

The biggest improvement in the band has been their songwriting.  It is harder to tell now whether this is a symphonic band incorporating metal elements or a metal band incorporating symphonic elements.  The songs are simply crafted so well that the elements of the band's sound blends together perfectly. 

I cannot stress enough that this is an excellent album by the band.  I have been a big fan for years and this year delved way deep into their prior releases, including demos and EPs from their early years.  This is the best I have heard from them, and that is a very high standard.

Ne Obliviscaris: Urn (2017)

Sometimes I like to take a chance on a band that I have no idea what to expect.  Sometimes that works out incredibly well.  Destroyer 666 is a very good example of this.  I picked up a CD in a used record store based entirely on once reading something vaguely positive about them.  And sometimes it backfires badly.  I can name a half dozen or so nu-metal bands, but the band that sticks out the most to me is Tribes of Neurot, a Neurosis side project that is a big reason why I still have not really checked out Neurosis.  And so here we have Ne Obliviscaris, a band whom I have never even heard of before deciding to check out this release.

Now, I am not the biggest progressive metal fan in the world.  It is a style that I enjoy a few bands (Opeth, Symphony X, Fates Warning, Queensryche), but typically do not go outside those parameters to check out other groups, unless I hear something extremely positive about a band.  I heard no such thing about Ne Obliviscaris.  But they may be able to join those other prog metal groups in terms of checking them out in the future because this album is amazing.

Ne Obliviscaris is an Australian band.  Now, Australia is not really well-known for melodic metal styles.  So this is another surprising aspect to the band.  The band features two singers, one a harsh vocalist, and the other a clean vocalist.  The clean vocalist also plays violin, which is featured prominently in the band's songs as well.  The songs are expertly crafted, with extremely beautiful sections countering harsher sections.  The vocalists play off each effectively as well, giving the band the ability to do pretty and ugly in alternating moments. 

This is absolutely a contender for the top albums list.  Every time I listen to it, I notice something I had not noticed before.  It is easily the most impressive melodic metal album of the year and is a lock to make it somewhere on my end of the year list.

Carach Angren: Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten (2017)

Despite the fact that groups like Dimmu Borgir and Emperor were among my first exposures to black metal, and later checking into groups like Luna Ad Noctum and Limbonic Art, I quickly grew out of symphonic black metal.  But when a band comes as highly recommended as Carach Angren, I have to at least give it a shot.  So, recently when picking up some random albums from Season of Mist, I decided to take a flyer on the latest from the Dutch group.

I did have to get past a couple of things in order to check this one out though.  First of all, the cartoonish cover art looks like a particularly twisted Scooby Doo episode.  Secondly, the name of the album does not exactly sound like a black metal band, but much more like the kind of band Hot Topic-loving mallgoths think is edgy.  So there are a couple of issues with this release that almost made me not check it out.  But I always hear such good things about Carach Angren that I decided to take a chance on the album despite the obvious problems.

It starts off in fairly predictable fashion, with an eerie piano melody, before delving into the true songs on the album.  The subject matter of the songs is mostly ghost stories and hauntings, and the use of strings amplifies the sinister tone of the album overall.  One song deals with the legend of Charles Francis Coghlan, an actor whose body supposedly went missing for seven years after dying in Texas to be found swept away by a storm near his actual home thousands of miles away.  Some of the songs sound a little cheesy, with ridiculous lyrics, such as "Charlie", but for the most part, they are effectively spooky.

What does set this band and album apart from other symphonic black metal bands is that the symphonic elements do not feel tacked on.  The songs are crafted with the string flourishes and rhythms written in.  That aspect makes the songs feel much more cohesive.  It also gives some of the songs an epic, bombastic feel, particularly "In de naam van de duivel" and "Three Times Thunder Strikes". 

This is an impressive release.  I am not sure where to rate Carach Angren among their symphonic black metal brethren, but it is a pretty good album.  Unfortunately, I just think I have outgrown this genre, at least for the more cartoonish groups like this one.

Nightbringer: Terra Damnata (2017)

American black metal is kind of an odd beast.  There just are not that many long-lasting black metal bands from the U.S.  Certainly not many that have made a huge impact on the black metal genre.  Absu is about the only one that I can name off of the top of my head.  Many bands have been able to blend black metal with death or thrash metal for example, but very few great pure black metal bands have come from the U.S.

Well, Nightbringer is definitely a high-quality American black metal band.  Emerging from the harsh, desolate landscape that is Colorado, Nightbringer's sound is absolutely fucking hostile.  This is actually the band's fifth full-length album, though it is my first exposure to the band.  Things start off with a bang, with the highly caustic "As Wolves Amongst Ruins".  From there, chaos is the name of the game throughout the album.  There is absolutely nothing pretty or soothing here.  Even when the pounding drums and crashing riffs are not ruling the sound, the lead riffs or keyboard lines are ugly and foreboding.  And of course there is no respite with the vocals which are often delivered in a typical black metal harsh rasp. 

Nightbringer is proof that there is some incredible black metal coming from the United States.  The band's newest release is an eerie and cruel album.  I love it.