SHADES OF BLACK: CODE, DOLDRUM, ESOCTRILIHUM, NIHTSÎN, GNOSIS, VITRAIL

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, SHADES OF BLACK  6 Responses »
Mar 282021
 

 

We had a rare Sunday premiere earlier today, but fret not, Shades of Black has not been forgotten.

I enjoyed figuring out how to arrange the music I picked for today. The music of the first three bands seemed to complement each other, so I started there — and then made a hair-pin turn in the road with the full album stream that follows them. And, given how chilling and unearthly that album sounds, I decided to follow it with a couple of tracks that will give your adrenaline levels a sharp kick in the ass.

CODE (UK)

As usual, I owe some of today’s picks to reliably tasteful friends. I would have eventually discovered this first one on my own, but listened to it a lot faster because of the enthusiastic message I received from Rennie (starkweather). He called this new song by Code “fantastic”, and possibly his “favorite song of theirs since the first album’s ‘Brass Dogs.'” Continue reading »

AN NCS ALBUM PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): GNOSIS — “THE OFFERING OF SEVEN”

 Album Reviews, Premieres  No Responses »
Sep 132018
 

 

Ancient evil lives within The Offering of Seven, the new album by the Floridian black metal band Gnosis. The band twist their music into different cruel and often frightening shapes, through changing cadences and accented in different ways, but the atmosphere of the album is persistently and powerfully sinister.

The music is atavistic in more ways than one. It not only triggers primordial moods and primal reflexes, the music harkens back to the Greek black metal of the early ’90s, inspiring memories of such influences as Varathron and Thou Art Lord, as well as Mortuary Drape and Mystifier. And we have a full stream of the album for you today. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: ERRAUNT, DEATHCODE SOCIETY, SODOMA, GNOSIS, DROUTH, and PORTAL AT MDF

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  7 Responses »
May 272015
 

 

This is a collection of music I discovered over the last few days, most of it recently released. Most of it also wells up from the ichor-filled aquifers of black metal, though as usual for this Shades of Black series, no two of the bands sound alike.

ERRAUNT

Most of the new music included in this collection consists of complete EPs or albums that deserve full reviews, but I’m afraid I may never find the time to write them. Rather than risk saying nothing at all, I at least want to offer some brief descriptions and strong recommendations. This debut by the one-man Chicago band Erraunt falls into that category. Continue reading »