SHADES OF BLACK: SIGNERI, AMBULACRUM, LÁSTIMA, OLESIN, MÜTTERLEIN

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Apr 202025
 

(written by Islander)

I didn’t think I would do this column today. First, because yesterday I agreed to an emergency request for a premiere today in celebration of the high holiday. And second, because I didn’t go to sleep until 2 am this morning due to an alcohol-fueled reunion with old friends last night.

But so far I haven’t received what I agreed to premiere, and though my brain is very fuzzy I’m thinking some blackish music might clear away the fuzz. So, blaze and praise, here we go. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: NASCITURUS, SVART VINTER, NIGHTMARE BODY, ALUKTA, NVAGE, DERHEAD

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Apr 132025
 

(written by Islander)

Biting off more than you can chew: I came real close to doing that yesterday. All the songs by those 14 bands tasted so good, I had to bite into them, though I don’t know how many other people listened to them all, much less read all the words I frantically spilled out.

I guess my mental jaws were sore this morning because, after starting to get caffeinated, I stared at what I’d planned to do for today’s black roundup and backed off. I hadn’t planned an extravaganza on the scale of yesterday’s sonic storm, but it still seemed like a lot, or at least a lot more than I could manage without spinning like a top again, so I pulled out the paring knife and started shaving it down. (Man, that’s a lot of metaphors already and I’m still just in the intro!).

A painful process it was, deciding what to go with and what to leave behind. I hope the pain you’re about to experience below is only the kind of pain you seek. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: IMHA TARIKAT, ELEVENTH RAY, WALD KRYPTA, VARNHEIM, ANGLACHEL, GEMYND BEADU

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Mar 302025
 


Imha Tarikat

(written by Islander)

Today is my wedding anniversary (it’s a big one, with a number that ends in a zero). Today the Associated Press highlighted some other events that happened on this day in U.S. history:

  • In 1822, Florida became a United States territory.
  • In 1867, U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward reached agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, a deal ridiculed by critics as “Seward’s Folly.”
  • In 1870, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibited denying citizens the right to vote and hold office on the basis of race, was declared in effect by Secretary of State Hamilton Fish.
  • In 1923, the Cunard liner RMS Laconia became the first passenger ship to circle the globe as it arrived back in New York after a 130-day voyage.
  • In 1939, Detective Comics issue #27 was released, featuring the first appearance of the superhero character Batman.
  • In 1975, as the Vietnam War neared its end, Communist forces occupied the city of Da Nang.
  • In 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley Jr.
  • In 2023, a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald Trump on charges involving payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter, the first-ever criminal case against a former U.S. president.

Let’s celebrate! Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: MO’YNOQ, PATHS TO DELIVERANCE, ANCESTOR OF KAOS, SUM LIGHTS (AND A LOT MORE)

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Mar 232025
 

(written by Islander)

I had grand plans for this column. I had a big pile of picks, enough to mega-size it, just needed to do the writing. And then I did what anyone with any sense does on a Sunday (but not me because sense is always in short supply) — I slept late. I would have slept later except one eye stickily opened and I saw the time on the bedside clock. Yikes!

So the grand plans have fallen apart. Many times in the past when I’ve been in this situation I’ve thought about just stitching together a bunch of song streams and videos without commentary, like some internet-enabled DJ or “influencer”. It would be easy to do that but I’ve always detested the thought. You may wonder why. Here’s the why: Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: DROUTH, DÉMONOS, SVARTA HAVET, LUX INTERNA, AASH, MRAKOMOR

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Mar 162025
 

(written by Islander)

I’m afraid I have a self-imposed deadline to finish this weekly collection of music from the blacker arts so I can turn to other obligations, and so I’ll dispense with an introduction and dive right into all the quite varied music I’ve picked for your entertainment and edification.

DROUTH (U.S.)

To begin, here’s “False Grail“, a startling new song from a new album named The Teeth of Time by Portland’s Drouth. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: AMALEKIM, DERNIER SOUFFLE, FRYKTELIG STØY, SHEOL BLANC, KEXELÜR, AKVAN

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Mar 092025
 

I got a really good head-start on this column yesterday, so good that I thought I’d be able to post it much earlier today than usual. But of course the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley.

This mouse forgot that Daylight Savings Time would go into effect overnight, springing the clock forward. And then this mouse slept for 9 1/2 hours. Put those two together, and the morning was well underway by the time I turned to finishing this. Oh well.

What you’ll find below is an alternating sequence of songs from forthcoming records and complete releases, most of them head-spinning in different ways, but with a more meditative and deeply haunting experience at the end. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ОБРІЙ (OBRIJ), LHAÄD, FAUSTIAN SPIRIT, KOLDBRANN, TYHJÄ , ANONYMOUS SKULL

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Mar 022025
 

(written by Islander)

My computer tells me that my introduction to yesterday’s roundup of new music and videos was 1,502 words long. I obviously had too much time on my hands, though I don’t know why I spent it doing all that sharing instead of covering more music. But don’t worry, I won’t do that again today. Today’s introduction is 47 words long:

I’ve alternated today’s selections between complete albums or EPs and individual songs from forthcoming records. Apart from that, there’s no rhyme nor reason in how I organized the choices. I made these choices because, to quote the English poet William Cowper, “Variety’s the very spice of life.” Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: KARG, MATAVITATAU, SUTTUNGR, FINAL DOSE, LOW BEFORE THE BREEZE, DÉMONOS, LESATH, ANTROPOCENO

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  2 Responses »
Feb 232025
 

(written by Islander)

I’m hurrying to post today’s collection before I have to turn to much more mundane tasks, so I’ll spare you a wordy introduction and just say that I’m extremely proud of these choices, not only because I think all of them are excellent but also because they’re going to give you so many twists and turns, right up through the final choice. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: CHRISTIAN NECROMANCY, ЗАРЕЗНИЦА, FRAGDA, INOMIATUM KALOUNAPTHRAH, MIDRYASI’S KULT, ALDAARON

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, SHADES OF BLACK, SHORT BUT SWEET  1 Response »
Feb 162025
 

(written by Islander)

I hope you’re having a good day. I hope the following music will make it better.

I used roulette-wheel and craps analogies yesterday, and it’s even more fitting today. Without exception, I had never heard the music of any of these bands before, so picking them was a spin of the wheel and a roll of the dice. I did also land on some songs that didn’t bring much payback; those aren’t here, only the winners. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: VERHEERER, OSGRAEF, ANCINE, THE BLOOD MOUNTAIN BLACK METAL CHOIR, OFNUS, Обрій (OBRIJ)

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Feb 092025
 

(written by Islander)

Another Sunday arrives, and with it another brain-wrecking task of making choices for this column, a task made even harder than I was expecting when I woke up to find that Rennie Resmini had climbed back into the starkweather Substack with a bunch of new recommendations I hadn’t already discovered (more on that later).

It’s obvious (maybe painfully obvious to some of you) that I am prone to great enthusiasm about music. I know I’m less critical than lots of other listeners, and even other writers at our putrid site. I still use my own kind of filter, but it seems more porous than those of others. Or maybe I see more clearly just how much fucking creativity and talent continue flowering in the metal underground, week after week!

(Somehow my enthusiasm for music is unabated even though the country where I live is rapidly going down the shitter.)

Here’s a severely cropped snapshot of what’s enthused me in recent days from the blacker realms. Continue reading »

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