TheSpirit
Brandon Scott
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Last Active 10-04-22 3:24 pm
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nothing but black metal november 2018

I group of friends and I are participating in nothing but black metal november this year, and I'm really excited! I will try and update this daily with the albums we choose and thoughts/rating on said album.
1Thrawsunblat
Great Brunswick Forest


I'm not really into folky black metal anymore, but this was pretty good! 3/5
2Sanguine Relic
The Essence of Eternity's Despair


Probably their best album yet! When your minimalism somehow loops back around to being epic, you're doing something right! 4/5
3Hate Forest
Purity


If you don't know this by now, you've fucked up. 4/5
4Arizmenda
Within the Vacuum of Infinity...


One of my favorite black metal albums ever. Completely defies the "cold" aesthetic while keeping the black metal spirit. 10/5
5Skagos
Ast


I used to not like this so much and now I do. One of the best bands to come from Cascadia. 4/5
6Devouring Star
The Arteries of Heresy


Very rumble-y Finnish black metal.
7Pantheon I
Worlds I Create


More technically inclined black metal with tasteful flourishes of atmosphere. 4/5
8Miserere Luminis
Miserere Luminis


A collaboration between the dude from Gris and Sombre Forets, and a truly underrated post/atmospheric black metal record. 4.5/5
9Panopticon
Collapse


Still my favorite Panopticon album 5/5
10Carved Cross
Futile Reflections of a Failed Existence


Perhaps one of the trvest incarnations of raw black Metal I’ve ever heard. You need patience for this band but once it clicks, it’s hard to tear yourself away. 4/5
11Dimmu Borgir
Death Cult Armageddon


The first black metal I ever purchased and one of the best symphonic black metal albums I’ve ever heard. 4.3/5
12La torture des tenebres
IV - Memoirs of a Machine Girl


Artful, nuanced, and female fronted black metal that is surprisingly evocative and gorgeous. 4/5
13Drowning the Light
From the Abyss


Drowning the Light's best produced and perhaps most dynamic album. The melodies on this jawn are stellar. 4/5
14Drowning the Light
The Blood Of The Ancients


Previous album got me on a kick. 4/5
15Lampir
The Alchemy of Cursed Blood


One of the best raw black metal albums of the year. Truly torturous. 4/5
16Clandestine Blaze
Falling Monuments


Clandestine Blaze has always been an impressive project that strikes at the essence of cold and wintry black metal, and Falling Monuments, to me, is their magnum opus. It exists in the nexus between raw and grand, dissonant and melodic, minimalistic and triumphant and uses it's contrasting elements to devastating effect. Underrated classic. 4.5/5
17Addaura
Addaura


This will forever be one of my favorite black metal demos. Their music evokes the mysterious and forestal beauty of the Cascades, and just like a walk in the woods, it's easy to get lost in their furious nature-based black metal assault. 4.5/5
18Vilkacis
Beyond the Mortal Gate


Mike Rekevics is black metal renaissance man, and Vilkacis is his latest in a line of many worthy and diverse projects. As probably his most straightforward, Vilkacis is pure blackened fury that like the greats, uses minimalism in a way that conjures epic magnificence. Highly melodic and consistently breathtaking, Beyond the Mortal Gate is EASILY one of the best USBM albums to come out this year. 4/5
19Cirrhus
Unimpeachable Madness


Cirrhus' self-titled 2013 album is one of my favorite black metal records of all time and any follow-up was guaranteed to fall under the highest level of scrutiny; luckily, Unimpeachable Madness lives up to expectations and expands the soundscape of the previously established Cirrhus cannon. A more atmospheric and "light" release, Cirrhus delves further in the mystical side of black metal to fabulous results. 4/5
20Svartidaudi
Revelations Of The Red Sword


I'm giving the benefit of the doubt that Revelations of the Red Sword will grow on me. The
band's hesitation to commit to either a wholly melodic or wholly chaotic sound stifles their
potential. It's not that they have to fully commit either, but there's a palpable sense of
uncertainty present, hanging over their tortured instrumentals just as much as the occult
atmosphere they're trying to curate. This is me being a bit harsh however, as this is overall a
very enjoyable listen. Guitars twist and wind at their own volition to create forms of diabolical
splendor while Sturla howls incantations of infernal damnation as if he were the mouth of Satan
itself. Despite its few flaws Revelations of the Red Sword is the soundtrack to calamity,
and a worthy follow-up to the ever-esteemed efforts of Flesh Cathedral. 3.5/5
21HWWAUOCH
HWWAUOCH


If Portal was a black hole where a horror film soundtrack played it's decaying tunes into the infinite nothingness of space, it would sound like HWWAUOCH. 4/5
22Elderwind
The Colder The Night


I wanted to like this more than I did. The keyboards and atmosphere perfectly capture the beauty black metal can evoke, but the actual metal instrumentation falls flat on it's face. 3/5
23Hermodr
A Realm Reborn


Though I've never been as spellbound by Hermodr as his growing troupe of listeners, I have to admit, A Realm Reborn often has me hypnotized in its beautiful atmospheric drones and melodic black metal dirges. As seen with other one-man black metal musicians, sometimes talent takes time to gestate before revealing itself, and based on this EP it may just be Hermodr's time to flourish. 3.5/5
24Majestic Mass
Savage Empire of Death


Acid-induced blackened psychedelic nightmare with swagger of crust punks. 4-4.5/5
25VOËMMR
Sombr Moebrd


Ritualistic and haunting black metal that may actually be incantations to summon demons. 3.5/5
26Sainte Marie des Loups
Sainte Marie des Loups


One of the best pure black metal albums of the year. 4/5
27Judas Iscariot
An Ancient Starry Sky


Unreleased 1998 album that proves how far ahead of the curve Judas Iscariot was even 20 years ago. 4/5
28CW Productions
Even Biology Is Revolting Despite ItsNaturalAppeal


CW Productions is one of my favorite black metal labels and while it isn't as active as it was maybe 5-6 years ago, it managed to release this awesome compilation featuring each and every one of the bands on its label. It's some of the rawest but best punk-influenced black metal you'll ever hear. 4/5
29Cantique Lepreux
Paysages polaires


The best case for frostbitten black metal to still exist in 2018. 4-4.5/5
30Zwarte Drakk
Demo I


Nuanced and powerful raw black metal 4.5-5/5
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