Honningbarna's Soft Spot's first tracks blew me kinda away. The transition from the intro track to SCHÄFER really prepares you for something and the band doesn't disappoint. I really enjoy that buildup and overall the screams are a blessing to my ears.

AMOR FATI is my absolute favourite on this one. That main guitar riff is so addicting - combined with that climax that's just a drug I wanna take in everyday.

I like that they try to break up the high tension with ... read more

One might ask themselves: What happened to black midi? I don't fucking know. But I think since they're on an indefinite hiatus, we have a new contender for batshit crazy music that doesn't care for your breath.

Stratford Rise just gained a new fan with their insane selftitled debut EP that really leaves no room for questions except: WHEN DO WE GET MORE?

The pacing of this EP feels well thought through, each song is carefully structured they keep balance even when in chaos. The ... read more

How to kill an album online (fast) - The first song starts pretty solid with nice synths and strings, for me not the catchiest buildup but still great to create atmosphere and you really just wait for the tension to be released. Ngl I was pretty surprised that it went this heavy. After three imo bad single releases Look To Windward had a good chance of becoming the first song of this album I Like. And then they threw everything over board. WTF. PLLLLLEEEAAAASSE STOP WITH THESE RAP PARTS. They ... read more

Well, it's almost always those albums with a different mixing approach. Working somewhere between Darkspace and Vampyrotheuthis Infernalis (for those not knowing, yes these are bands and they are great!) Blood abscission has produced another great black metal album. While staying minimalistic, Blood abscission does spice up their tracks with melancholic melodies, unintelligible vocals (that sound great in the mix tho) and interesting tempo swtiches and powerful synths that really emphasize ... read more

Just... wow. Never having heard of either of the two I went completely blind into my first listening. THE FILM is an amazing piece of expressionist art. Working with pivot words to combine layers of emotion and vision and really deep lyrics deconstructed from rap and hip hop, Moor Mother offers one of the greatest vocal performances I have ever heard.

Sumac's instrumentation is great. Creating a dystopian atmosphere with low and harshly distorted guitar tones, various staccatos but also ... read more

I feel like this year can become one of the best for black metal. There have been some high quality releases already and Amimia's Eigengrau is not far from being at the top.

Starting atmospherically, the album gives you the classic transition that erupts into an energetic blackgaze fire. Over the whole album, Amimia works with tempo switches, interesting drum work (loved it especially in the track EIGENGRAU) and even experiments with some electronics that in my opinion fit in perfectly. ... read more

GOING THROUGH MY LIBRARY 005

I heard way too much black metal in 2023 and this album was on top of my most listened albums that year. The third album of the swiss band started off a bit weak but got exponentially better at the third song 3. Malphas then portrayed their amazing skills with raw speed combined with great momentum, sick riffs and great solos. Fr Malphas' solos are simply unforgettable. Also liked that little Black 'n Roll section in REIGN OF DEATH.

The closer is the ... read more

LLLLOOOONDOOOOOON has done it again. The Orchestra (For Now) is an enchanting new act coming out of the windmill scence. The singles as standalones are really good but for me they have some issues put together in the EP. It feels like the momentum is always picking up in the right moments only to bet let down way too early.

The Orchestra (For Now) has huge potential and I wanna hear more of them asap. WAKE ROBIN is one of - if not the best - song of the year so far. And now it's time to ... read more

THEY ARE BACK OMFG

Still being one of the most interesting Black Metal projects, Deafhaven keeps sparking attention with influences outside of the usually true-kept genre they managed to produce yet another amazing album. LONELY PEOPLE WITH POWER sucks you right into a healing state of melancholia. It literally has everything you need: Typical black metal blasts, riffs and screams combined with clean and amazing atmospheric parts.

Deafhaven is in my opinion one of the most important bands in the (black) metal ... read more

Allegaeon is back with Ezra Haynes! The tech death outfit portraits a mix of old and new ideas in THE OSSUARY LENS. The technicality is executed as tight as always while combining it with great melodies and refreshing moments that keep the album interesting.

The weakest song on here for me is definitely the closer but that doesn't make the whole album bad at all. The whole album is filled with headbangers and never got boring for me. I wouldn't say it's their best album to date ... read more

One of the tightest and most insane metal albums I have ever listened to. How the fuck does one even come up with these ideas? I get the point that it feels a bit repetitive but I don't really get tired from destroying my neck on here since there are many moments and ideas that really break up the rather consistent riff-structures.

Also, I am a really big fan of the storytelling on this record. Really makes the album memorable imo. But I don't really understand why the last song had ... read more

This 50 hurts. I really like OBJECTS OUTLIVE US. That song is worth at least an 80+ Rating. Sadly THE OVERVIEW can't match its momentum and greatness. It feels dull and a bit boring filled with choices I don't really understand: handclaps, 2000s video game main menu music with female narrator telling me something about sizes of interstellar objects, giving up the built up atmosphere in the first song and the intro only to pick it up in the outro again...

OBJECTS OUTLIVE US has a ... read more

New Prog Metal Outfit Dissocia really surprised me with their debut single EXISTENTIALIST. Interesting arpeggios combined with some dark synths that turn out to be the key melody of the album with phrases of it being repeated or interpreted differently throughout.

And yet I feel like something is missing in order to connect the first three tracks and the last four. The first three have something interesting, something special and they feel really tight. The other four kinda loosen up the ... read more

STUDYTIME LETS GOOO

Das Seminar's first album - or first lesson - offers electronic music with some NDW influences (I think pls correct me here if I'm wrong lol). Sadly most of the songs were published before and I expected more than just two new songs and three fillers that act as intros. But all in all I find the whole concept and the way they managed to put the songs into a logical structure pretty neat.

The first lesson has some great moments, cool and funny lyrics and just ... read more

There are like one, maybe two solid riffs on here and my god these lyrics are beyond bad. They're awful. I did not have any fun listening to this album. It feels like Schlager with NDH influences. I think these songs can work live in concert but god no they don't work as a studio version.

Zeitgeist literally has to be the song with the worst german lyrics since wap bap - still few miles to hit that - but there were moments I just wanted to throw away my headphones and scream.

Also: ... read more

Beautiful instrumentation and I love the different atmospheres in each song. It's definitely an interesing album but I have to be honest: I am not a fan of the vocal mixing - it feels like the harsh vocals don't really belong in there - also the growls feel a bit poorly executed sometimes (especially on Pink)

But other than that the album offers great unique moments that stay in your head for some time.

Favourite Track: Blue

I hear BCNR, Black Midi and Maruja influences all over this album. It has lots of beautiful, chaotic, absolutely wild and sexyschmexy moments on it. It's hard to comprehend what the fuck just happened after on listen, but you just want to dive deeper into Hesse Kassel's soundscape.

This album has been crafted with lots of love. Give it the love you get from it.

Favourite Track: Americana

Finally some good fucking food. Whitechapel's newest release is some delicious Deathcore recipe and would taste amazing if they didn't forget the salt and would have added too much cheese.

Hymns in Dissonance is great, but here and there it feels a bit much, a bit too cheesy, a bit flavorless. But you know what they say when there isn't enough salt in the food: Just add it yourself. The album is still pretty damn good and enjoyable. There were many minutes my face had to rest in ... read more

cool cool cool (thanks for not stopping the solo after 5 seconds, I almost had a heart attack)
the breakdown is pretty neat, didn't expect getting it slammed with snares on every beat in my face. cool cool cool