1. Eldrig - Everlasting War Divinity (5 stars)
Everlasting War Divinity uses highly structural, narrative composition with layered melodic stylings. The approach here is distinct from Fanisk in that it is driven by the guitar, through melodic variation and free-flowing phrasing, and polyphonic overlay. This gives the album a driving force, like the heavy metal of the 1980s, but it escapes the recursive limitations that were common in that sub-genre. Synth is used to layer the songs, and at times provides momentary peace or refrain, creating spaces of reflection or suspenseful build-up, from the vigour of the guitar. This album succeeds in that it creates a cosmic energy whereby massive cosmic battles can play out in the listener's mind as melodies progress, subside, return and ultimately clash in what seems a battle of wills. Perhaps surprisingly for an artist with a background in National Socialism, the music transcends feelings of hate, instead having a nature based on aspiration, and is even playful in some moments, especially in the interaction between the keys and the guitars.
2. Dødheimsgard - Supervillain Outcast (4 stars)
Supervillain Outcast is themed around the apocalypse, an apocalypse brought on not by natural events such as asteroids or plague, but by humanity itself, tearing itself apart from within, drowning in its own filth. The music itself has that blackness of the Black Metal of the past, but it comes from a different place, it is a void not from the traditional ‘evil’ but from the entanglement of the individual present in late capitalism – a humanity realising its ‘values’ are meaningless and having itself consumed by the virtualisation and mechanisation of its approach to life.
Dodheimsgard's major strength is their ability to create an experience based on the feelings of chaos, eeriness, paranoia, mental disintegration, and absurdity. All of those moods/themes that sum up the experience of living in the modern world so perfectly. A time where all concrete meanings (traditions) of the past have decayed and all that remains is a mass of ever-changing images/symbols, of which are echoes or simulations of something else, estranged from their former reality.
3. Furze - UTD (4 stars)
UTD basically spits in the face of any talk of the traditions or blueprint surrounding how Black Metal should be played and written. Initially this sounds like a hyper-speed, sprawling mess, indeed an album without any method or form of coherency whatsoever. The music itself is quite angular in its construction, with frequently changing time signatures and full of choppy, experimental tremolo riffing.
One of the keys to decoding the ideas found within UTD lies in the use of the bass guitar as the pivot point from which the guitar moves around. The role of the bass is to provide not only the main melodic foundation for which the music is based, but it also ties everything together in terms of rhythm, groove etc. much in the same way as a bassist in certain forms of jazz music (not to say that there is any jazz found here except maybe outside of similarity in structure). The nature of the bass playing lets the guitar jump endlessly in and outside of the general melodic flow of the music, improvising over or contradicting the 'main melody.' The allows for a free-flowing, completely decentralised approach to song-writing and aids immensely in Furze's ability to explore and re-arrange the foundations of not only (Black) Metal music but rock music as a whole.
4. Eldrig - Kali (4 stars)
Compared to Everlasting War Divinity, Kali is much more ambient based in its approach and makes greater use of repetition and minimalism, both as a way of creating tension and suspense within the music and also spaces for philosophical reflection. The major three pieces are a meditation on the Hindu goddess Kali, who was symbolic of both destruction and creation, and their representations as inseparable in the process of life. Major melodic themes are often repeated in different contexts or slightly altered across all three of the longer songs, giving the music a feeling of continuity and progression.
5. Hour of 13 - Hour of 13 (4 stars)
The best part about Hour of 13's self-titled debut is the utmost sincerity of the whole package. It's traditional Doom Metal that is inspired by a large diet of Black Sabbath (there is nothing new there) and it has massive occult vibes. There is nothing new there - lots of heavy metal / traditional doom metal bands have played occult themed music, singing of evil, candle-lit rituals, killing the weak, imagery of skulls and evil spirits - but what is different about Hour of 13 it genuinely feels like they mean it all. There is a dangerous vibe to this music, and at the end of the album when he sings about sacrificing the little girl he has kidnapped, it all culminates with such a violent, threatening, evil tone that does not leave you quickly.
6. Evoken - A Caress of the Void (4 stars)
Evoken are not your standard run-of-the-mill Funeral Doom Band, and whilst they do use a crushing low-end attack that creates massive reverberations, and a generally plodding pace reminiscent of a lumbering behemoth, they have always been a bit off the beaten path for their sub-genre. Whilst many of their genre peers used mournful, languid synth and sparse guitar setups, Evoken took the simple low-end, abrasive attack of Celtic Frost (and later Winter), made it slower, uglier (if that is possible) and fused it with desolate, anguished arpeggio patterns. There is a deep, melancholic greyness here, like a mass barrage of threatening storm-clouds circling angrily overhead. However, occasionally like all nasty weather, patches of light sometimes seep through the gaps overhead. And when they do it's beautiful to behold. In this sense Evoken are the masters of contrast, avoiding the monotone bleakness that befalls many bands of this style. It's that inhumane moodiness found in nature and the cosmos in general that makes this special.
7. Worship - Dooom (4 stars)
Like Last Tape Before Doomsday before it, Dooom is music based on the theme of catharsis and transcends similar artists with 'depressive', 'suicidal' themes because of its brutal honesty. Instead of pivoting around weak themes such as 'self-pity', Worship transform pain and suffering into a dark journey that prepares the mind, body and soul for inevitable death. Of course there is the initial wallowing, and flinching from facing the end - but ultimately self-sacrifice and the act stepping away from cowardice prevails. Not an easy listen, but a rewarding one if you can find the lucid beauty that lies past the outer ugliness.
8. Nifelheim - Envoy of Lucifer (3.5 stars)
What impresses me most about Envoy of Lucifer is that is is (Black) Metal made in the old way - it has a certain old-school roughness and evil vibe about its atmosphere. Nifelheim are not afraid to use elements and melodic patterns from Thrash, Speed and Heavy Metal to assist in creating a relentless maelstrom of agile riffing and boundless energy.
9. Slough Feg - Hardworlder (3.5 stars)
True to their career to date, Slough Feg create heavy metal versions of folk tales (both old and invented) in their own charismatic and uplifting style. Their strength lies in their ability to craft short glimpses into fantasy worlds and fuse them with generous amounts of adventure - and more importantly in such a rousing and positive manner - honestly some of this stuff is so swashbuckling that it is hard not to have a smile on your face as the beautiful dual guitar melodies and superb vocals sweep over you.
10. Inquisition - Nefarious Dismal Orations (3.5 stars)
Nefarious Dismal Orations take a foundation of early Immortal (mostly Pure Holocaust) and turns it into a rampaging, unrelenting slab of pure black ritual madness. Inquisition were never a band that were overly concerned with big dynamic contrasts in their music and this is basically hellish and flat-out from start to finish. Fortunately the band excels at keeping the momentum in their music with their ability to roll out potent riffs with ease.
Honourable mentions:
Drautran - Throne of the Depths
Profanatica - Profanatitas de Domonatia
Reverend Bizarre - III: So Long Suckers