The reason why these seem to come in roughly alphabetical order is that I batch upload them. Moving on... A Forest Of Stars' second album is good, certainly - it's not one I'd herald among the greats of odd BM, but it comes at the request of another author of this blog. My only real criticisms, however, are that there is not enough time spent with the meat of the issue (i.e. the black metal), and the album is too long.
This EP, which is available for free download direct from the band, is something of a surprise. Sure, it has Enslaved written all over it (they even steal their own riff from 'Kvasir Blod' in the opener), but one could call it more experimental than openly progressive, especially with electronic, droney tracks like 'Synthesis'.
Wold are often underappreciated, and this is a good album - though I haven't listened to it in a while, I recall it being a mix of black metal, noise and ritual ambient. Their black metal element has slowly dimished over the years, and this is therefore not advised for fans of recent Immortal.
N.B. This is an 'abridged' version which is missing the last two tracks.
Middlesborough residents The Axis Of Perdition's music is about as dirty as their streets. Heavily industrial, this oddity within black metal is also clearly influenced by modern French orthodox black metal. This, however, actually is scary under the right circumstances.
Although this is not Deathspell's best album, it is still excellent, and came well within my top 10 albums for last year. Although there is little deviation here from the style developed on previous albums, it is perhaps a little more accessible than previous efforts, in particular 'Fas...'. Also notable among DsO releases for its shorter length.
You don't really need to understand Latin to get the general gist of this EP's title (provided you have a solid grasp of a language of Latin descent); likewise, you don't need to hear a new Deathspell release to know it's going to be a cracker. One of the few 1-track releases I like this much, there should be no passing up on this gem.
Latin album titles are generally seen as one of two polar opposites: either awesome, cool, whatever, or pretentious. Whatever your view, there is no denying the quality of music on offer here. Even more 'out there' than 'Si...', this perhaps focuses more on Blut Aus Nord-esque chromatic progressions, but the variation makes this a more than worthy addition to Deathspell's canon.
Back when I first heard this, it scared me shitless. That said, I was still used to listening to all manner of -core mediocrity, and this didn't really seem to be music to me. A wonderful piece of modern black metal, even if it doesn't chill you to the bone.
This is some of the weirdest metal around at the moment. Truly in the avant-garde school, this relies heavily on dissonance and noise, certainly more so than melody and typical structure. It's a truly fascinating album, although maybe not one you'll want to listen to too often.
This is Code's most recent album from 2009, and it is also their best. With pretty much all of the DSBM tendencies dropped, this is no-holds barred experimentation, which equates to an album of songs. And I mean songs. Nearly every track on here takes the popular structure, with giant hooks in each one, but this is somehow seamlessly blended into the black metal template.
This is Code's debut album, and bloody hell, it's good. It features different versions of a few tracks from the demo, and a few new songs ('Cotton Optic' is a standout'). I love this album, and nearly every metal fan I've played it to has too. Get it.
Code are one of my favourite bands, and this, their debut demo, is a sign of things to come. Coming for from the DSBM end of the spectrum than the experimental edge of their later releases, this is a great demo and a release which I treasure highly.
