Sep 232025
 

(We are delighted that Vizzah Harri (South Africa born and Vietnam resident) has returned to us after some time away, and has brought with him a typically distinctive review of Sour Risk, a new album released in September by Cemetery Trip, preceded by typically distinctive reviews of all the Cemetery Trip releases that have preceded it.)

There are times when we just want more of the same, stuff of old that we grew up with or last year’s best but perhaps by now worn out overplayed. We are all creatures of habit and we can all fall for the trap of thinking deviating from course would be less fruitful than staying it. In metal lore there are the supposed big shifts of note when bands take an avant-garde or post-ish turn, perhaps they stopped growling or even using riffs for that matter! Gasp, the horror.

There was a time that I was appalled by the idea of change. Continue reading »

Sep 172024
 

(In this article our Vietnam-based contributor Vizzah Harri brings us four reviews of four unusual albums from blackened realms — albums created by Skeletal Augury, Cemetery Trip, Conifère, and Xw​î​n.)

The following 4 albums have been on my to-do list for months. You won’t find a slew of reviews on their Bandcamp pages sharing the praises from bigger media outlets. I couldn’t even find many reviews of the albums themselves out there. And partially this could be because of it being one hell of a year for black metal, but isn’t that just every year?

If you like black metal, you’re bound to love at least one of what I’m sharing with you today. The only order here is chronological because I don’t have a favorite amongst them and their styles diverge violently. There were more albums which I will hopefully be able to get to soon, but 4 is a nice number for its tetraphobic propensities in East Asia. The number 4, you see, signifies shaking hands with Elvis (I only learned that slang phrase for death today). Continue reading »