SHADES OF BLACK: SORDIDE, PSYCHONAUT 4, AMYSTERY, ALTA ROSSA, APOTHECARY, CELEPATHY, ANCESTRAL CÂNTICO, SILHOUETTE, PAYSAGE D’HIVER

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  4 Responses »
Oct 132024
 


Sordide, photo by Jeremy Tiercelin

(written by Islander)

Over the past week I added an even 30 new songs or complete releases to my list of black and blackish metal that I wanted to check out in building today’s column. That was on top of how the list stood a week ago, already wobbly from its ungainly height.

As usual, I didn’t have time to check out all 30. In a handful of instances, I defaulted to previously proven names. For others, I had dependable recommendations. And for others, I went exploring, based on glimpses of one thing or another (artwork, lineup, location, conceptual framework) that I thought were interesting.

Here’s what came out at the end of the sifting, with the choices due in part to how the music fit together in my head, sometimes complementing and sometimes contrasting. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK: A COMMEMORATION OF THE DARK SOLSTICE

 Album Reviews, SHADES OF BLACK  No Responses »
Sep 222024
 

(written by Islander)

In the Northern Hemisphere today marks the autumnal equinox, the first day of fall and the point in which the Sun is directly above the equator and the hours of day and night are nearly equal (equinox is a Latin word for “equal night”). In the Southern Hemisphere, today marks the vernal equinox, the first day of spring.

From here on in the north, darkness will steadily increase, no longer merely equal, until we reach the winter solstice, which this year happens on Dec. 21, and then the process will begin to reverse.

I know you didn’t come here for astronomical info, and I’m confident that nearly everyone stumbling into this post already knew all that, but in a Sunday column devoted to black- and black-adjacent metal it’s hard to resist the observation that darkness now begins its reign once more, a coronation that doesn’t always fall on a Sunday.

To commemorate the ascending reign of darkness in our skies, here’s some dark music for you. Continue reading »