garas
Gary Grump
» Forum Profile
Contributor

Reviews 49
Soundoffs 1,125
News Articles 61
Band Edits + Tags 794
Album Edits 993

Album Ratings 2494
Objectivity 79%

Last Active 05-24-22 7:18 am
Joined 09-29-17

Forum Posts 30
Review Comments 7,176

Average Rating: 3.43
Rating Variance: 0.62
Objectivity Score: 79%
(Well Balanced)

Chart.

Sort by: Rating | Release Date | Rating Date | Name

5.0 classic
Abhor (ITA) Occulta Religio
Damn, I totally have not expected this to be *this* overhelmingly good! This a purely perfect theatratical black metal album. The atmosphere is so elegantly mysterious and sinister... simply nails my ideal in the genre. Fantastically well produced album, many bands could learn from this sound. Church organs, strongly heavy metal influenced (first wave-ish) black metal, and a beautifully pleasing and organic production... here it goes a 5.0!
AC/DC Highway To Hell
Aequorea Dim
I don't really give 5.0s after first listens, but this album is... perfect! DIM offers everything I carve for: the riffs, the atmosphere, the emotional tone; moreover it combines genres like doom metal, shoegaze, black metal and post-metal. All the four lenghty songs are exciting and have a dream-like flow, not to mention the album has a fascinatingly clean and dynamic production.
Alestorm Captain Morgan's Revenge
Amorphis Tuonela
Andavald Undir Skyggðarhaldi
Antestor The Forsaken
Oh well, I have to admit I love this album to death. Cheesy, riffs hard and they had Hellhammer behind the drumkit - the album speaks for itself. Unblack or not, this is definitely a standout release, and a unique piece of black metal with the Christian lyrics and concept behind it. Also: hey, it has a purple cover, which makes it instantly a great atmoblack album. Antestor rules. *casts Smite Evil for extra epicness*
Bathory Under the Sign of the Black Mark
Bathory Nordland I & II
Double albums means double effect. The Nordland I-II double LP stands as a perfect epitome of viking metal, which cannot be outmatched.
Black Sabbath Paranoid
Black Sabbath Heaven and Hell
Black Sabbath Sabotage
One of the best outputs of Black Sabbath.
Blink-182 Greatest Hits
Burzum Hvis Lyset Tar Oss
Burzum Det Som Engang Var
Burzum Filosofem
Burzum Hlidskjalf
Burzum Aske
Caladan Brood Echoes Of Battle
Candlemass Epicus Doomicus Metallicus
Candlemass Nightfall
Carpathian Forest Black Shining Leather
Carpathian Forest Defending the Throne of Evil
Carpathian Forest always stood out from the BM scene because of their uncanny self awareness, and with this one they created the heaviest (kinda symphonic) atmoblack album ever. Tons of crushing and massive riffs, majestic synths, and gruesome vocals. Thuggish, yet elegantly sinister.
Carpathian Forest Journey Through The Cold Moors Of Svarttjern
What a beautiful demo! I instantly fell in love with it: the atmopshere, the aesthetics, the melancholic melodies... simply perfect!
Carpathian Forest We're Going to Hell for This - Over a Decade ...
Celtic Frost To Mega Therion
One of the most influental albums in metal.
Celtic Frost Monotheist
Incredible work, Celtic Frost's most amibtious work. The overall twisted, dark, and liturgical atmosphere in unmatched, and putting a genre tag is technically impossible to describe what is this. But one thing is for sure: this is heavy, and not an easy listen.
Coroner Mental Vortex
Even the roadies of Celtic Frost make better thrash metal albums than most thrash bands... Jokes aside, the Swiss trio behind Coroner is a really talented bunch, and this album is amazingly good in any sense.
Darkthrone Under a Funeral Moon
Darkthrone Panzerfaust
Darkthrone Too Old, Too Cold
Darkthrone The Underground Resistance
Purest form of metal. Any rating on this under 4.0 is invalid. Sorry, I did not make the rules.
Deafheaven Roads to Judah
Deafheaven Sunbather
Deafheaven New Bermuda
Demolition Hammer Epidemic of Violence
This is among the most violent records I've ever heard. Fucking desctruction with endless riffstorms.
Depressive Silence The Darkened Empires
Depressive Silence Depressive Silence
Depressive Silence Depressive Silence II
The absolute pinnacle of dungeon synth music: epic, melancholic and magical. The best album I've ever heard.
Depressive Silence Twenty-Five Years
Dethklok The Dethalbum
Dio Holy Diver
Dodheimsgard 666 International
Dodheimsgard Satanic Art
Perfection. That's what i've been looking for years!
Dodheimsgard A Umbra Omega
Evilfeast Wintermoon Enchantment
Elegies of the Stellar Wind v0.5. If the subsequent album wouldn't be so perfect, this could also take the atmoblack crown. Gorgeous synth work accompanied by grim and frostbitten riffs and atmosphere.
Evilfeast Elegies of the Stellar Wind
No atmospheric black metal album can get any better than this. Period.
Fief IV
Fief I​-​IV
One of the shiniest gems in my collection. The title says it all: the whole Fief collection on double CD. Exceptionally good medieval ambient music, a must-have, an absolute classic.
Forest Silence Winter Circle
This the greatest example of black ambient. A dense, dark, and sinister atmospheric masterpiece.
Gustav Holst The Planets, Op. 32
Hellvetic Frost Misanthropic Devotion
Howard Shore The Fellowship of the Ring
Howard Shore The Lord of the Rings: Complete Trilogy
Immortal Sons of Northern Darkness
Immortal Pure Holocaust
Riffs cold as ice.
Immortal Battles in the North
Iron Reagan The Tyranny Of Will
This is THE pinnacle of crossover thrash. Mega fun, mega riffs, mega energy.
Isengard Høstmørke
Joe Hisaishi Princess Mononoke
Hard 5.0. As Starchild2242 has already pointed out, it is impossible to entirely separate the movie and the soundtrack from each other, especially if we are talking about such a perfect creation. But this soundtrack is really special, as I felt an intense emotional touch from even the very-very beginning. Unforgettable experience.
Joe Hisaishi Pom Poko
Johann Sebastian Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565
John Williams Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope
John Williams Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
John Williams Star Wars, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Judas Iscariot Thy Dying Light
I don't really do instant 5.0s, but this is an exception with a good reason, because this is among the greatest second wave black metal albums from the late '90s. The simple yet crushing riffs, the aesthetics, the super strong mid-tempo sections... everything is just right, nothing is overdone and the album flows nicely. Most impressed.
Kvelertak Meir
Lamentation As Shadow Kingdom Comes To My Sight
Mastodon Leviathan
Mayhem Grand Declaration of War
Mayhem Deathcrush
Megadeth Rust in Peace
Megadeth Countdown to Extinction
Morbid December Moon
Morbid / Mayhem A Tribute To The Black Emperors
An essential compilation album which immortalizes Per Yngve Ohlin/Dead's works. Even though this is an extremly bootlegged release, it's still the most precise collection of this set of songs from the best and trvest vocalist in black metal.
Mort Garson Plantasia
Necrophobic Darkside
Flawless meloblack (okay, sometimes still "just" blackened death metal) riff-strom album. Seriously, the riffs are just coming and coming endlessly. The variety within is most pleasing, the synth interludes are good atmosphere invokers, but man, the RIFFS!
Paysage d'Hiver Schattengang
Best Paysage album. Period.
Pentagram First Daze Here (The Vintage Collection)
"No band can sound as good as Sabbath did... Now hol' up!" An incredibly fun and great album, which embodies everything you may know about what is old-school. Pentagram rules m/
Pink Floyd The Wall
Queen Hungarian Rhapsody: Live in Budapest
Rage Against The Machine Rage Against the Machine
Return to Forever Romantic Warrior
Richard Strauss Tone Poem: Also sprach Zarathustra
Ah, it is so good. The ever-changing flow of moods and atmopsheres make this a 5/5 classical piece (for me).
Samael Ceremony Of Opposites
Satanic Warmaster Carelian Satanist Madness
Satanic Warmaster Strength & Honour
Satyricon Nemesis Divina
Satyricon Dark Medieval Times
Skarpseian Fragmenter Av Trolldom
Blending the past with the present, 'Fragmenter Av Trolldom' is another perfect album from the modern age of dungeon synth. Each song has its own aura, and the overall gloomy and magical atmosphere is simply perfect. *garas's seal of approval*, of course.
Slayer South of Heaven
The very best of Slayer.
Sunn O))) Monoliths and Dimensions
Thangorodrim Taur​-​nu​-​Fuin
The most magical Tolkien-inspired album you would ever hear. This album is full of charming, unforgettable and epic melodies.
The Rolling Stones Singles Collection: The London Years
Thorns Thorns
Tormentor Anno Domini
How do we deserve Tormentor?
Trouble Trouble
Is this doom? Is this thrash? Is this heavy metal? Is this stoner? Trouble's (second) self-titled piece is a classy mix of all of these, a very easily-flowing and brilliant album. Good time guaranteed.
Ulver Bergtatt - Et eeventyr i 5 capitler
Ulver Shadows of the Sun
Ulver Teachings In Silence
Ulver Silencing the Singing
Ulver ATGCLVLSSCAP
Vaa Ur sägen och hävd
AOTY contender neoclassical / dungeon synth. I have no words to describe how beautiful is this...
Wilson Tanner 69
Windrikje Frostland
This is it, the most perfect winter synth album ever made. The mysterious, ancient and powerful aura which fills the entire album is indescribable. Magical.
Zyklon-B Blood Must Be Shed
Aldrahn, Samoth, Ihsahn, and Frost in the same album... Mad riffs, machinegun drums, insane and terrifying lyrics, and haunting synths - all together, an uniquely evil atmosphere has been created. Essential BM demo.

4.5 superb
...and Oceans Cosmic World Mother
Outstanding atmoblack release. Thuggish, heavy, great synths, perfect runtime - everything is given. They kept a tiny little dose of industrial as well, but I liked this modern ...And Oceans more, I think. Cathartic 'til the end.
Acid Bath When the Kite String Pops
Akercocke Renaissance in Extremis
Amorphis Tales from the Thousand Lakes
Maybe the album's production is a bit flat, but the quality under the gorgeous cover is beyond fantastic. A captivatingly atmospheric melo-death album, which also riffs incredibly hard. You won't forget this album. Also there is nothing wrong with the clean vocals, focus on the vibe instead!
Amorphis Under the Red Cloud
Captivating and colorful - and the folk is especially strong in this one (= instant obsession). Fantastic album which will stuck in your ears for weeks.
Antonin Dvorak Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, B. 178
Anubis (Fr) Cradle of Civilization
Apoxupon How the Garden Grows
Archgoat The Luciferian Crown
More sophisticated, improved sound quality and production - Archgoat reached a new level with this release. This is a well-balanced, filthy riff storm, and I love it. Their signature style really shines in this release, and stands as an excellent example how to create a nasty black-death album in the old-school way.
Archgoat Worship the Eternal Darkness
Incredibly well-made release by the Finnish veterans. Only some minor changes (more synths, some doom or even grind and occasionally newer approach in vocals) were introduced to their original filthy black-death formula, and as a result, Worship the Eternal Darkness became the most mature Archgoat album to date. Turning to a more atmospheric approach had a great impact on the classic Archgoat formula: the album sounds brutal, menacing and evil. In Worship the Eternal Darkness the band showed clear signs of improvement and creativity in probably in 2021's best (old-school) black metal record. They aged just like fine wine.
Arcturus Constellation
Cheesy as fuck!! This contains just traces of black metal, extremly synth dominant album. Here and there it sounds "funny", but it is still manages to stay somewhat majestic. Very unique and so much fun. I love it!
Avox Desolate Land
Awesome (real) old-school dungeon synth album. Something is truly magical in this one.
Ball Like You Are…I Once Was…Like I Am – You Will...
This is what you get if you cross acid rock from the '60s, with some Black Sabbath and a little touch of blues rock. One of the most fun albums of 2020, an amazing fuzzy psychedelic rock journey.
Basil Poledouris Conan The Barbarian
A really memorable soundtrack. Even though it is impossible to separate it from the overall experience, but still an excellent piece.
Bathory Blood Fire Death
Bathory Blood on Ice
Bathory Nordland I
Be'lakor Stone's Reach
Finest melodeath album I've ever heard.
Beherit Bardo Exist
Another twist in Beherit's discography: another electronic/dark ambient album! And it is also among the best works of Nuclear Holocausto. Dense, dark and cryptic atmosphere, crispy textures, great analog synths and great vocals... looks like Beherit follows the Ulver-path now.
Black Anvil As Was
Still one of my favourite meloblack albums, and the way how much I find this an "easy listening" says a lot. The clean vocals are easily the most memorable component, and the way they insterted them into their sound is really original, and has an oddly "uplifting" feel time to time, meanwhile the harsh vocals and the more sinister (yet really heavy metal-ish) riffs bring a certain elegant vibe and atmosphere into the picture - and in my opinion, this makes it a very memorable, pleasant album, a rare kind of modern black metal release which really ages well.
Black Anvil Miles
Such an elegant, wonderfully diverse EP, excellent presentation of the band's talent: crushing/proggy black metal, bluesy moments, a great Merciful Fate cover... EP of the year.
Black Label Society Catacombs of the Black Vatican
Bloodbath The Arrow of Satan Is Drawn
Oh yes. The sound of HM-2 pleases my ears. m/ m/ m/
Botanist VI: Flora
Burzum Belus
Burzum The Ways of Yore
Burzum Thulêan Mysteries
Lots of familiar melodies and sounds, but still something new and exciting. The new (and probably last) Burzum album combined every strength of all the dungeon synth / ambient releases, making it Varg's best and strongest ambient output. A lengthy, but highly atmospheric release, which mostly builds on old-school synths and folk instruments. Fortunately this is lot more similar to "Yore" than "Sol austan", so it was technically impossible for me to not love this album. I wish songs like 'The Sacred Well', 'Gathering Herbs', 'The Ettin Stone Heart' etc. would be longer...
Candlemass Tales of Creation
Typical Candlemass-greatness. The guitarwork is legendary (I love the aggressive, fuzzy guitar tone a lot!), and the rhytm section, especially the drums, sound lot better than in the previous albums - a small change, but it means a lot. (But Nightfall is still their unbeatable masterpiece.)
Carcass Heartwork
Carpathian Forest Through Chasm, Caves And Titan Woods
Carpathian Forest Morbid Fascination of Death
Carpathian Forest produces awesome albums like it's nothing - yet somehow they're criminally underrated... I can't help it: I'm in love with this hard rock influenced style of black metal. And when the synths are involved...ah, sounds evil and sinister, which is fantastic! And as usual, there are some greatly experimental songs as well like "Cold Comfort" which sounds like Carpathian Forest-Ulver collaboration (if only...). And saxophones in black metal never sounded so good.
Celestial Bloodshed Ω
Fantasic album, and I totally didn't expect this greatness. It feels like this album mixes several styles of black metal together, like listening to Mayhem, Carpathian Forest, Gorgoroth etc. at the same time! The vocal performance is outstanding, and also pretty interesting as well - like fusing the vocals style of Per Yngve Ohlin and Attila Csihar together, which results a passionate, overwhelming and horryfing sounds - and I love it, Steingrim Torson was a fantastic vocalist.
Celtic Frost Morbid Tales
Conan Existential Void Guardian
This is a quite simple, yet very effective release: true caveman sludge/doom which will break your neck. The tempo changes, along with the super tight drumming and that sweet guitar tone are Conan's strength, and they brought the maximum out of it. "Eye To Eye To Eye" was especially fantastic.
Cosmic Wheels Cosmic Wheels
Craft Total Soul Rape
A pleasant total soul rape. An agressive, filthy black metal release fueled by hatred. While on paper this album offers literally nothing revolutionary, somehow this band clearly stands out from the army of similar artists through their very own style. I regularly spin this pure hate-flow on stressy days.
Craft Fuck the Universe
Craft Void
The slowest Craft, and "Void" rules in every aspect. Very creative, and their interesting take on the genre is more than satisfying. Sometimes it really-really sounds like mid-era Darkthrone, even the vocals sounds similar to Nocturno Culto's style. Pure of anger, and brilliant riffing.
Darkspace Dark Space I
It is SO good, enjoyed (almost) every minute of it, and I've just noticed: oh, the album has just ended. Super agressive riffs, and the grim, spacey, sharp atmosphere... the album offered everything I carve for; everything makes an atmoblack album outstanding. Also: this is the best Darkspace album. Period.
Darkthrone Sardonic Wrath
Darkthrone Soulside Journey
Deadwood Picturing a Sense of Loss
Sunny vibes. This is probably the best blackgazey album I've heard since Deafheaven's stuff.
Deafheaven Demo
Deafheaven 10 Years Gone
My "secondary-AOTY". Even though I know them "only" for 5 years, this was a very memorable compilation with a tracklist which has almost all of my most favourite songs by them. The dynamic, dreamesque blackgaze masterpieces flow perfectly together, and there is nothing to complain about. (Maybe the odd feeling when I've heard no pianos in "The Pecan Tree", but that's alright.) Listening to "10 Years Gone" is an extraordinary and great pleasure to hear/feel our favourite Deafheaven songs, and especially the pink noisy hug through the two songs at the end felt the most precious. Thanks for everything.
Desolate Moon Phases Heathenstones
Best drone album this year (so far). Interesting, it feels sci-fi-esque and ancient in the
same time...very-very atmospheric.
Devil Master Manifestations
Dio The Collection
Dunjon Magik Dunjon Magik
Brilliant. Exciting blend of modern dungeon synth and synth music from the '90s. The atmosphere is uniquely sinister and magical - true dungeon music!
Emglev Noz Veil
Mesmerizing work, a truly overlooked (and kind of hidden) dungeon synth gem. The atmosphere is exceptional, the synth sounds are gorgeous - I was really surprised when I found out this is from '96! Wonderful work, I fell in love on my first listen.
Erang Kingdom Of Erang
Absolutely beautiful dungeon synth. Rich, diverse, masterfully produced. Shame on me for overlooking it for years... very close to a 5.0. (Terrible album cover tho, haha!)
Erik Wollo Infinite Moments
Creating layers of oddly harmonic feelings, Erik Wollo delivers top quality drone ambient using only electric guitar.
Ethereal Shroud Trisagion
Not much I can say here. The gentle flow, the atmosphere along with a perfect production are the traits of true professional's work.
Exhumed Anatomy Is Destiny
Massive, groovy and has sick solos in it: I was sold almost instantly. It feels a kinda thrashy, but in the most positive way. "Anatomy Is Destiny" is one of the most dynamic goregrind album I've ever heard, with near infinite replay value.
Fief III
Fiendish Imp Fiendish Imp
Gaahls Wyrd GastiR - Ghosts Invited
Strong AOTY candidate for me. Fantastic performance, very creative (and progressive) songwriting,
and phenomenal vocals. And yeah, the drums are totally impressive. How dares this band to be THIS
good?
Gatecreeper An Unexpected Reality
Super fun mini album, and again: this band NEVER disappoints. Basically 7 short deathgrind song and one long doom riff fest (yes, it's pretty much doom). A perfect album to start a day with.
Gnoll Music for Dungeons
Gnoll Zargo's Lords
I have no idea how can Heimat Der Katastrophe put out so many awesome releases... I sense some serious magic behind this - especially about artists like Gnoll. The mysterious project's recent output is simply brilliant, top tier dungeon synth music. I simply can't get enough about this kind of fantasy-inspired releases like this, because these keep constantly blow my mind. "Zargo's Lords" is probably the very best what Gnoll ever released. The progression of each song is phenomenal, every melody and instrument is exciting, and the whole package flows like a dream. Just listen to this already, you'll understand.
Goatsnake 1 + Dog Days
Goblin Profondo Rosso
Simply top notch spooky progressive rock.
God Seed I Begin
High quality progressive black metal album. The dark, spiralling riff orcane and Gaahl's performance instantly sells it.
Gospel of the Horns A Call to Arms
This is how black-thrash should sound. This is one of those records, where you can certainly feel how much fun these guys had making this. Killer riffs and solos, simple and straight-forward songs. Unholy and old-school!
Gothmog (GER) Medieval Journeys
A subessential dungeon synth piece from the past. Gorgeous old-school synths and great variety within. For the hardcore dwellers.
Green Lung Woodland Rites
Grieve (FIN) Grieve
This might be the EP of the year? This is some top tier melodic/atmoblack, presented by an insanely strong lineup. Members of Horna, Satanic Warmaster and Vargrav? Most impressive what they could come up with together.
Hades Almighty Alone Walkyng
Hajduk Природа
This is 100% my taste in lo-fi black metal: strong folk and ambient elements, minimalist riffing, distant and grim atmosphere. Very nice. One spot in my year end list is taken. *garas's seal of approval*
Hallas Excerpts From a Future Past
This album is just simply fantastic. I see why does Fenriz love them so much. The 70s have been born again, and this doesn't sound any dusty at all. These guys are super talented - the proggy touch and those synths are fascinating. And I must confess: I fell in love with 'Star Rider' on my very first listen.
Hallas Conundrum
Another beautiful album by the Swede retro-band. Mesmerizing creation, exciting and adventurous! Wonderful album, and deserves lot more attention! Hällas rules m/
Hallas Isle of Wisdom
Consistency is the key: another 4.5 worthy album by the Swede adventure rockers. As they've finished telling the fantastical stories of the fictional hero, Haellas (from whom they've choosen their band name as well), a new chapter has arrived, and Isle Of Wisdom is more than a promising start for a "new era". New favourite songs: "The Inner Chamber" and "Gallivants (Of Space)".
Havukruunu Uinuos Syömein Sota
Insanely good Bathory-worship and Finnish meloblack... ON SPEED! Riffs after riffs, awesome shredding and a more folkish (kinda Ulver-ish) sound: all these together is just simply fantastic, Havukruunu leveled up.
Hexenwood Witchthrone
Fantastic fusion of ancient Hungarian folk music and crushing black metal. Pretty straightforward, insanely riffs and guitar tone, simple yet effective song-structures, the mix is spot on and the folk parts & lyrics are enchanting. Perfect score.
Hexenwood Regevándor
Another damned good album: perfect mix of the old Hungarian pagan folk music and the raw, harsh black metal. Only thing is a bit annyoing is the weaker mixing compared to the first album. But the riffs are just as crushing!
High on Fire Luminiferous
The very best of High On Fire. Heavy, exciting and offers nice variety. The trio of "The Falconist" + "The Dark Side Of The Compass" + "The Cave" is a phenomenal experience.
Hooded Menace The Tritonus Bell
This is some super easily digestible death-doom with hints of heavy metal. Sweet riffs and guitar tone, good production: I'm satisfied. Might be a grower.
Horna Envaatnags Eflos Solf Esgantaavne
A peak in the band's discography, Envaatnags Eflos Solf Esgantaavne is all about great melodic riffs in the spirit of the old-school ways. Songs like 'Kirous Ja Malja' are easily in the same league with Satanic Warmaster's best outputs.
Horna Sanojesi Aarelle
Punching riff-fest. Seemingly they aimed for writing longer tracks for this one, and personally I do believe it was a rather succesful approach, and it gave plenty of place to certain songs to "bloom out". Filled with raw energy, it was a simply fantastic straight-forward black metal release. Title track is easily among their best songs.
Horna Perimä Vihassa Ja Verikostossa
Mega EP! This is a purely massive piece of black metal release from the more meloldic branch of the genre. RIFFS!! I wish they could have recorded this in a better quality, because it is near-classic material.
Horna Kuoleman Kirjo
The "cleanest" Horna album ever, a drastic change from their raw BM style. I think this was a welcomed change with this album, because this more modern production could bring out so much of this concept. Don't expect less than the typical Horna greatness: endless waves of melodic black metal riffs - I was so right about Shatraug kept his best ideas for this band! The best second wave-worship album in 2020.
Immortal At the Heart of Winter
Immortal Damned In Black
Internal Rot Mental Hygiene
Simply mad, super massive riff fest. Absolute grindcore [2]
Iron Monkey 9-13
John Mayall Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton
Kasjchq / Siege Tower Split
Kataxu North
Extremly overlooked atmoblack greatness. Raw, very synth-dominant - that's how I like it.
Kate Bush Hounds of Love
The only reason I don't 5.0 this, because I found the B-side generally lot more exciting than the A-side with the so-called "big hits". The album has such an unique atmosphere...! There is so much thing going on, and I greatly admire her imagination. Like comparing my two favourites from the album ("Watching You Without Me" & "Hello Earth") is already odd enough, because they're so different, but still feel connected... by her voice and her fantasy. Ah, this is simply a fascinating release.
Kekht Arakh Pale Swordsman
Albums like this are the highest reward for the dwellers of the underground. I haven't heard a classic old-fashioned black metal/ambient release quite a long time. It has everything I love: the eerie melancholy, the contrastinc romanticism, the endless love for the sound of the early '90s, and of course: the riffs.
I'm really loving this.
Korhadt VTTCK
A slow, massively doomy and gloomy, horroric release. This is not an easy listen, very close
to what I experienced with 'Black One' by Sunn O))) - and this is just as heavy.
Krampusnacht Krampusnacht
Lunar Womb The Sleeping Green
Mastodon Cold Dark Place
Mayhem Live in Leipzig
Mayhem Wolf's Lair Abyss
Mayhem Out from the Dark
Mayhem De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Alive
Mayhem Henhouse Recordings
Megadeth Risk
Not really a 4.5 but since it has infinite replay value I gave it. If you have no expectations you can truly enjoy this album. They took risk, and I'm glad they did: each song stands well on it's own and pretty fun to listen to. The mix is great, the song length's are spot on, and Dave's singing is exceptionally good. I enjoy this a lot lately.
Metallica No Life 'til Leather
Mightiest Whatever Ground We May Roam
This is probably the one of the best black metal demos I've ever heard. Diverse, heavy, epic.
Mirthquell Return of the Ancients
I'm in tears of pure joy (I mean, literally). A dungeon synth greatness for sure, with a perfectly apt title. "Return of the Ancients" resurrects that specific epic and enchanting magic what Depressive Silence and Burzum conjured to this world in the '90s. By this wonderful creation, Mirthquell continued the tradition and blended just the necessary amount of modern elements into this album. And the results is a joyful and magical journey on the frequencies of high fantasy.
Monolord Your Time to Shine
Beautiful album, probably the finest stoner/doom record this year. The balance between the heaviness and the smooth melodies is true masterwork.
Mortiis The Stargate
Murgrind The Power of Yourself
Fantastic EP! Murgrind single-handedly created one of the best DS releases of the year with this one long track. Masterfully produced and composed, super exciting and inspiring, with strong LoTR vibes... the atmosphere is also spot on!
Murmuure Murmuure
Mycologia Assorted Mushrooms of New England
Exceptional album, both in style and concept: Berlin-school dungeon synth about various mushrooms in New England? A winner combo. Definitely one of the best DS albums this year.
Myrkur Folkesange
I really needed this. Beatiful nordic folk + Amalie Bruun's heavenly voice = pure gold. Productionwise speaking, the album is excellent, the instrumentation really matches to her singing, and all those uplifting melodies make this a perfectly relaxing album. Great year for folk music!
Mysticum In the Streams of Inferno
N'Zwaa Maha Kali
Unexpectedly fantastic blackened death metal (with some psychedelic and drone elements). Horror vocals, killer riffs and the production is spot on. (4.7)
Napalm Death From Enslavement to Obliteration
This slays. Brutal, savage, a napalm bomb of RIFFS. Also, this has a surprisingly great production (that bass tone is ultra thicc, not to mention the drums sound pretty tight as well). Definitely highest quality grind you can find.
Narsilion Nerbeleth
Necrophobic The Nocturnal Silence
Brilliant black/death album, a seemingly endless source of RIIIIIIFFS!
Null (USA) Hiraeth
Extremly long (110+ minutes!), yet consistently awesome atmoblack release. The production is outstanding, especially since we're talking about a one-man band. I loved the very melodic riffing style (which is sometimes steps pretty much into the viking metal territory), the tons of neo-folk infulences and instrumental sections, and the epic dungeon synth elements. Hiraeth masterfully blends these elements together, and the result is a charming and most enjoyable atmo-folk black metal album.
Old Sorcery Realms of Magickal Sorrow
Om God Is Good
Om Advaitic Songs
Oublieth À l'Ombre du Royaume en Cendres
Finally, this album delivers that specific feeling I fell in love with dungeon synth! The beautifully flowing, mystical soundscapes, eerie drones and an icy and cobwebby atmosphere...! I literally got the goosebumps.
Owls Woods Graves Citizenship of the Abyss
Super tasty black metal/punk served raw. Maybe it's not the best, but surely one of the most fun
albums of the year.
Paysage d'Hiver Im Wald
The best Paysage d'Hiver after Schattengang. This is a lengthy, a bleak and icy atmospheric riff blizzard accompanied by the typical dark ambient elements we all know and like. 'Im Wald' requires some patience, but still a very enjoyable musical experience. The aesthetics and the atmosphere are both satisfying, BUT: there are not enough lo-fi wind noises!
Paysage d'Hiver Das Gletschertor/Das schwarze Metall-Eisen
It was an interesting discovery how great these 'Schattengang' outcut songs are. Especially "Das scwarze Metall-Eisen" song was an exciting "new" side of Paysage d'Hiver: old-school battle samples, industrial elements, disco beats etc??. The atmosphere of this compilation is outstanding, most impressive.
Paysage d'Hiver Im Traum
Riffs cold as ice of a glacier, 'Im Traum' is something like an extension of 'Im Wald', where Wintherr managed to find something more - something haven't heard or not properly expressed yet. I think this EP outshined the black metal giant in certain aspects, and presents a more ethereal, cold and grim atmosphere thanks to the greater involvement of synths (choirs, pads, or maybe something more?). If you want to experience the "Im Wald-experience" in mini, then 'Im Traum' shall not disappoint.
Pentagram Be Forewarned
That's how one does make an outstanding doom album! Many bands could learn from this release. Simply awesome.
Pentagram Pentagram
'Pentagram' / 'Relentless', you name it, is an excellent old-school doom record. Personally I was surprised how Sabbathy it was (I didn't know this band earlier). Tasty riffs!
Pest [FI] Hail the Black Metal Wolves of Belial
Judas Priest goes to black metal??? Seriously overlooked and forgotten.
Peste Noire La Sanie des Siècles
*insert meme* This is something! 'Phalnes Et Pestilence - Salvatrice Averse' is a masterpiece, otherwise this is a very-very good album. Probably the best French black metal album I've heard.
Peste Noire Ballade cuntre lo Anemi francor
This is simply crazy good.
Peste Noire L'Ordure a l'etat Pur
Such a weirdo album. The variety (and the lolz) left me no other option than 4.5 this. I have no idea from where did Ludovic pull this out... mad.
Pig Destroyer Terrifyer
Oh yeah, this is heavy. Those riffs...! I especially liked the second half of the album, those songs are really punchy.
Rage Against The Machine Rage Against the Machine XX
Red Fang Red Fang
Red Fang Murder the Mountains
Sacrilegious Impalement III - Lux Infera
A shockingly overlooked and truly fantastic second wave-worship album. This riffs insanely great - constant rotation of classic arpeggios and killer thrash sections spiced with momentary psychedelia or DSBM-ish slowness (f.e. "For Sins of the Pigs" is really similar to the best Shining songs, and that's really something!). Also the production is very pleasing (I really love the guitar tone here), and not to mention: the vocal performance is really good, and quite diverse too. Most impressive work.
Sadistik Exekution The Magus
Fantastic. Hellish riffs covered in a thick evil atmosphere, coming from the deepest abyss. The
terrific vocals and the bass are in the spotlight, and the production is raw and tasty. Sadly, the
whole album is not even 36 minutes long... (recorded in '88!!)
Saidan Onryō II: Her Spirit Eternal
These riffs are fire! Riffs like on a top tier Finnish meloblack release, with some extry blissful blackgazy vibes and also some punk energy too. Strengths: many excellent major chord riffs and creative songwriting. "Kissed by Lunar’s Silvery Gleam" is one of the best songs of the year already.
Samael Blood Ritual
Underrated majesty. Samael's sophomore album is far more focused and well-planned than their other legendary album, Worhsip Him. With this album, they took a huge step forwarid in forging their unique groovy and doomy style. Definitely standing at the slowest end of black metal's spectrum, Blood Ritual delivers the finest riffs and salutes to the doom legends such as Candlemass or Celtic Frost.
Satanic Warmaster Fimbulwinter
Much clearer production, killer riffs, some acoustic instruments, beautiful synths - the not raw Warmaster also rules.
Satanic Warmaster Black Metal Kommando
Satanic Warmaster We Are The Worms That Crawl...
Collection of (almost) all the split appearances: an epitome of raw black metal. The cover greatly illustrates the album's overall sound. Every song is killer.
Sear Bliss Letters From The Edge
Secret Stairways Enchantment of the Ring
"Reflections on the Lake" is one of the best dungeon synth songs ever made. The perfect background album for reading and just for regular relax. I have to admit it took some time to finally get the charm of it, but now I just can't have enough of it.
Selvhat Den Svarte Tid
Shining (SWE) V - Halmstad
Skaphe and Wormlust Kosmískur Hryllingur
A spiralling sonical nightmare - blunt, but I can't really describe better how does it feel listening to this release. "Kosmskur Hryllingur" is a madly chaotic creation, which captures the listener's interest by an oddly captivating charm - no matter how malformed actually it is. Most impressive.
Skeleton Skeleton
Alright, I had no choice, but to 4.5 this bad boy. I loved everything about this album: the mixture of first wave black / punk / thrash sounds amazing, filled with raw energy! The production is nice and crispy, the mix is really well balanced (the drums sound is really sweet). Slayzzzzz m/
Slayer Reign in Blood
"Angel Of Death", and every song from "Jesus Saves" are absolute classics, which basically makes this the ultimate definition of a 4.9 album.
Slayer Show No Mercy
Sleep The Clarity
Sodom In the Sign of Evil
Splendorius From the Ashes
Epic, majestic, exciting and very well composed. This album was a great surprise - the best kind.
Stellar Master Elite Hologram Temple
Storm Nordavind
Summoning Oath Bound
Sunn O))) (初心) GrimmRobes Live 101008
Synth Bard Beyond the Crystal Cave
Taake Stridens hus
Taake Avvik
Hoest has released this and pretty much nobody noticed it... but they should! I don't mind compilation albums if they are [this] good. I was especially sold by the fantastic acoustic version of "Nattestid ser porten vid I" which was gorgeous like any song from Ulver's Kveldssanger (minus the vocals). The cover songs were pretty damn solid as well, just as Hoest's own songs.
Takatoshi Naitoh In The Forest
This album masterfully blends together (old-school) uplifting, dreamy synths and field recordings into a dreamy and beautiful musical journey.
Terrorizer World Downfall
Not much to say here. Ageless grindcore masterwork for darker days. Iconic.
Thangorodrim Gil-Estel
Thangorodrim The Darkening of Valinor
Finally, the lost album by Thangorodrim!! The distinctive aesthetics can be found here, and the album sounds just as wonderful as expected. Interestingly, "The Darkening of Valinor" has the most diverse atmosphere from the whole discography: it is like all the unique winter synth, epic old-school and medieval styles are mixed together - which is extremly exciting. Wonderful album.
The Devil and the Almighty Blues The Devil and the Almighty Blues
The Obsessed The Obsessed
Mighty gorgeous doom album. Full of charming and catchy melodies. Wino and co. put this together amazingly well. This is not a techincal record, but this has "soul".
The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers
The Rolling Stones Out of Our Heads
The Wonders Of Atomic Mutations Tunguska
Thorns Thorns vs Emperor (split w/ Emperor)
Thorns Stigma Diabolicum
Thorns Grymyrk
What an overlooked demo...I can understand why was it such a huge inspiration for Burzum & Mayhem
as well: one of the most important demos in the genre.
Thy Catafalque Geometria
Thy Catafalque Vadak
The complexity and the variance within is same in Naiv, but this less folky and Vadak riffs much HARDER. Personally I got nice Geometria vibes from this, which is was a very positive surprise. "Ml" is one of the best Thy Catafalque songs ever, hands down. Congrats to Ktai Tams and Co., you make me a very proud Hungarian.
Triptykon Requiem
This is far-far-far better than what I expected! A superb classical AND metal co-production. This is a really colorful and vivid creation, but it also invokes the desired dark atmosphere. By having Safa Heraghi as co-lead singer, they managed to blend a quite gothic vibe into the whole thing, which was also very great.
Tsjuder Desert Northern Hell
Ulvegr Arctogaia
Ulver Perdition City
Ulver Metamorphosis
Ulver Silence Teaches You How to Sing EP
Ulver Messe I.X-VI.X
Ulver Hexahedron
Here it is ATGCLVLSSCAP 2.0. These "live" albums from Ulver are the real treat. Very relaxing, yet still very dinamic and easy flowing release, with surprisingly tight production. A real pleasure for the ears, seriously.
Usnea Portals Into Futility
Vampirska Vermilion Apparitions Frozen in Chimera Twilight
This is a very-very good old-school meloblack release. Sounds like something straight out from the '90s, stylistically well-balanced (pleasantly groovy, melodic and straight-forward at once), and you can hear many resemblances to bands like Darkthrone, Satanic Warmaster, Judas Iscariot. Bonus points for the the a e s t h e t i c s.
Vindkaldr Enchantments Of Old Lore
Warmoon Lord Burning Banners of the Funereal War
White Death White Death
Fantastic album - and surprisingly this album offers literally nothing revolutionary, this is a completely orthodox release... But this is so catchy, so well-made, so well-produced and those riffs slap SO hard! A most-impressive second wave worshipping modern BM album. Especially the last song is a pure masterpiece, "White Death's Power" is the most perfect melodic BM song ever.
Wormsblood Bounds Beaten
What a demo, a raw black metal greatness! I'm impressed.
Xasthur Suicide in Dark Serenity

4.0 excellent
0 (Null) Entity
Super heavy, post-DSBM with massive atmosphere and with lots of clean vocals - Iceland constantly produces excellent quality metal music lately, and this is no exception.
200 Stab Wounds Piles of Festering Decomposition
This EP is mega filthy. 5 tracks of ultra nasty, borderline goregrind riffs - this band fucking slays.
200 Stab Wounds Slave to the Scalpel
As the band's name indicates: their first LP is pure straight-forward fun. Who cares about technicality, if "less" is enough for the desired effect? Massively riff oriented work, and not a weak track on sight.
I'm impressed!
36 and Zake Stasis Sounds For Long​-​Distance...
Very-very good drone album with a minimalistic approach. As the title indicates, this is a concept album about space travel, and the album fits to the expectations. Ethereal pads, pretty phasing noises - ready for space travel!
A Compendium of Curiosities Heaven Feels Like Floating Around in a Golden City
Dreams embodied in marvelous synth music.
Abhor (ITA) I.gne N.atura R.enovatur I.ntegra
Great symphonic black metal release, and I totally fell in love with the synth section... sounds exactly like an old-school videogame, and matches perfectly to the album's atmosphere. The production is pretty dull, having the vocals as the sharpest component. But since the album has great variety within, alltogether I am very pleased with the overall package. I guess I have a new favourite band now.
Abhor (ITA) Vocat Spiritum Morti
Perfect atmosphere + I loved the drone ambient piece at the beginning, and I the Goblin cover songs.
Abyssic Hate Suicidal Emotions
That buzzsaw guitar sound in this is one of a kind... this atmosphere sends shivers down my spine~
Adrasteia Hymnes de Glaciers
Outstanding, highly atmospheric (raw) black metal / drone fusion demo, which elegantly mixes the two genre's best sides: ethereal and icy drones meet distant, sinister black metal tremolos and fearful shrieks. I loved the tiny experimentations with field recordings and (wintry) synths - I wish this would contain more of them. But I'm greatly impressed!
Adventum Diaboli/Donarhall Cemetery Of Hopes (Split)
Aeberassath Sphaera Aquae
Aerekaer Avindskjold
Afsky Ofte Jeg Drømmer Mig Død
Black metal with emotions.
Ager Sonus Mithra
Ahab Call of the Wretched Sea
Akercocke Antichrist
Akhlys Melinoe
Alcest Les Voyages De L'Âme
This is a lovely sonical hug for the soul. Best Alcest.
Alcest Kodama
Alcest Spiritual Instinct
Alestorm No Grave But the Sea
Alice Cooper Billion Dollar Babies
Amorphis The Karelian Isthmus
A fairly balanced, somewhat standard, but excellently executed death metal album. This delivers exactly what it supposed to do: killer riffs.
Amorphis Queen of Time
Lengthy but rewarding listen. A super creative and exciting album, which is definitely requires several listens to fully digest, but not due to the heaviness! Adventurous, and you simply can't get enough of Tomi's brilliant vocal performance.
Amystery Grim Satanic Blessing
Ancient Boreal Forest Where Dragons Dream
Magical and mysterious melodies with BM aesthetics - just how I love it. Also, nice Summoning and Thangorodrim vibes! *garas's seal of approval*
Ancient Boreal Forest/The Cold Domain In The Land Of High Fantasy
Ancient Mastery Chapter One: Across The Mountains Of ...
I like atmocheese. Perfectly balanced album, too bad it has only 4 songs in it.
Ancient Sword Ars Antiqua
Very-very good dungeon synth album. The combination of spacey drone and adventurous synth soundscapes works great; and especially the usage of some rless typical (sometimes odd) synth sounds makes this an outstandingly enjoyable album.
Antestor Omen
Anti The Insignificance of Life
A fantastic DSBM album - more on the traditional second wave side. The album delivers tons of fast, tight tremolo riffing accompanied by a superb guitar tone, somewhat standard styled vocals, and exceptionally good production (but with programmed drums?). The album has a very uniquely agressive atmosphere - and I loved it! The bonus track "Death into Life" is a crushing masterpiece.
Antlers (DE) Beneath.Below.Behold
Anubi Kai pilnaties akis uzmerks Mirtis
This is a very unorthodox release, maybe this is something which could be tagged as avant-garde? Not sure. Anubi's one and only LP is a really exciting listen, since this combines many different styles and genres, which makes this an extraordinary and original album. Very atmospheric, and surprisingly, a pretty much bass driven release, which is one of the least usual things in BM in general. I especially loved the folk elements (traditional Lithuanian, I guess?) and the very unusual synth sounds. This sounds like a wild dream, tbh.
Aornos The Great Scorn
Very strong atmoblack release - I might 4.5 it later. The production quality is spot on, nice and heavy riffing (the solos here and there are also very nice), the bass sounds HUGE which is fantastic, and the synths... ahhhh SO good! Hard to find a pinnacle, since the whole album is consistently massive and enjoyable. I shall grab it on tape as well.
Arcanist Poseidonis
Very good Berlin-school-inspired dungeon synth piece. It reminded me of the golden days of Jim Kirkwood, but with a different atmosphere (influenced by the American Weird Fiction movement). Very-well produced record, and if you're looking for gorgeous synth sounds - then it is for you.
Archgoat Whore of Bethlehem
Filthy debut, for sure. Simple and effective riffs (lots of Hellhammer and Beherit love) are truly memorable, such as the interesting and unique vocals. The production is pleasantly crispy, which might please the old-school fanatics. The heaviest songs like "Lord of the Void" were instant love-at-first-jams.
Archgoat The Apocalyptic Triumphator
Filthy mix of oldie black metal and death-doom, which means tasty riffs and excellent replay value. The OSDM-type of vocals seemed a bit odd at first, but by the end of the album I totally dug it. Their primitive approach is their strongest weapon (sweet Celtic Frost, Beherit, Darkthrone and general OSDM influences), and I was hooked by it right instantly.
Archgoat Black Mass XXX
Sick live album. Simply there is nothing to complain about: the recording quality is excellent, the crowd is barely audible and each instrument sounds crisp and alive. It is a super long set, but the track order and the general structure is very good- it is a pleasant jam. Headbanging guaranteed.
Arcturus Aspera Hiems Symfonia
It is pretty, and I loved the atmosphere - however not every song was that really memorable for me. But still I really-really liked this one.
Asattarn An Old Beginning
Ashes (POL) Ashes
Azaghal Omega
Azelisassath In Total Contempt of All Life
Azelisassath Evil Manifestations Against Mankind
B. Ashra Music For Growing
Another very pretty album. The constant, deep sine bass and the pulsating, ethereal pads together builds a calm and uplifting atmosphere... very hypnotic! And using wind bells as a percussion instrument is simply brilliant.
Balance Interruption Door 218
Ball Ball
This some real sweet '70s psychedelic rock / heavy metal worship right there! Catchy riffs, hot solos... this is out and out rock'n'roll!
Barbarian King Barbarian King
A terrible cover art hides great excellence: Barbarian King's debut is a very-well written and produced fantasy-inspired musical journey. Various instruments, and percussions and exciting melodies - this is all about.
Barbaric Frost Against the darkness
Baroness Red Album
Barrowmound Undreamed Worlds
A truly excellent dungeon synth album. A rarely pleasent mixed bag (thanks to the diverse instrumentation), but the real strength of the album is the perfectly captured essence of winter synth and the additional old-schoolish elements.
Basic Dungeon Perils in the slums scenario 1: the orcs commune
Bathory Nordland II
Bathory Katalog
This is a very odd compilation. Some songs sound better than the originals, and some others were the complete opposite... but generally the changes are on the positive side. However, this is a pretty decent compilation album - under that I mean a satisfying tracklist.
Batushka HOSPODI
Well, this is very different from the original Batushka, and I have to say: I enjoyed this one probably lot more than the others. I don't care about the story behind the split-up because I rcan't be 100% objective in this case. But again, this is a very-very good album. Hospodi is more on the post-metal side, very heavy, the mix is spot on, and I really enjoyed the the overall ratmosphere of this album.
Beherit Drawing Down the Moon
Pioneering work of the black-death branch, a some sort of a classic album. (The dilemma of keeping it at 4.0 or bumping it up to 4.5 is driving me mad!)
Beherit Engram
Behexen Rituale Satanum
"Here is the raw black metal album with massive riffs and throat-wrecking vocals you've ordered." Behexen's debut LP is always a good jam.
Beketh Nexehmu De Svarta Riterna
Belong October Language
Beltaine Rockhill
This is what I could call simply as: lovely. Very nice and jolly folk album. Am I the only one who gets happy late-summer vibes from this? Beautiful instruments, beautiful production.
Belzebubs Pantheon of the Nightside Gods
Beorn's Hall Estuary
Black Curse Endless Wound
This album ended pretty fast... *hits replay* Seriously, this is some nicely filthy death metal, which really deserves the attention. Well balanced, and most importantly: ~heavyyyyyyyy~
Black Label Society Grimmest Hits
Black Magick SS Kaleidoscope Dreams
Black Magick SS Rainbow Nights
The fuck did I just listen to...? And why did I like it this much? (Thanks youtube algorithm anyway.) Black metal and occlutism in psychedelic rock disguise?! This is sick, but actually the album sounds pretty great. Ah damn, those guitars and synths are tasty!
Black Sabbath Master of Reality
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath Mob Rules
Technically, every Sabbath album having Dio means instant excellency. Not as stunning as Heaven and Hell, but behind the bloody and brutal artwork there is yet another very memorable heavy metal-doom record.
Black Sabbath Born Again
All the hate aside, I believe this is an excellent album. Huge load of the good ol' Iommy riffage paired with a very interesting and sinister aura. It took me a few minutes to get used to Ian Gillan's vocals, but in the end I think it was a great match. Really nasty album.
Black Sabbath Headless Cross
A damn fine heavy/power metal album. Catchy songs, and the typical great Iommi riffs. Tony Martin deserves zero criticism, his performance is great and fits to this album.
Black Sabbath Dehumanizer
This riffs very hard, an aggresive album which was a surprising twist from Sabbath. Sometimes it felt more like on the Pentagram-side of doom/heavy metal, to be honest. But the production is great, the riffs and solos are spot on, and Dio's vocals are fantastic as usual. Too bad it was their last one together.
Bleach Birth Caesarean Tapestries
Blink-182 Dogs Eating Dogs
Blood Tower Clock Dreams
Excellent dungeon synth release. Clock Dreams delivered exactly what I hoped for: dense and mysterious atmosphere, interesting instrumentation & effects, and notable variety in ideas and styles presented. I loved it.
Bonobo Black Sands
Borg The Triumph of Spring
Spring inspired folk music. Very rich in sounds, 100% medieval / renaissance music. You don't hear something like this very often.
Borg Woodland
Another honest and beautiful medieval (neo-)folk album, by the Swede bard. I think there is some improvement from the debut, but it is hard to describe why. I just simply enjoyed this one more. The various instruments, various moods and melodies are astonishing and enchanting, but one thing is sure: it is lovely! So simple, so touching... this makes my heart melt.
Borg The Sacred Mound
Probably the best Borg album. Very well composed and more complex, with the typical lovely and magical aura.
Borgne Y
This is super massive. Heavy riffing atmoblack with nicely placed industrial elements... I'm sold.
Boru Kyth Wylag Felleyn
"Kyth Wylag Felleyn" was an interesting experience, and I definitely enjoyed it. This album can be described as mix of the psych-black sound of Mystískaos with a bit doomy post-metal, which is quite an instant win for me. The album flows slowly and heavily and they built a dark and captivating atmosphere, and maybe they could have recorded one or two extra songs. Bonus points for the excellent studio work and for the great vocal performance.
BowelFuck Appetite Comes With Killing
Savage, excellent quality grindcore. This offers the two most important factors I love to hear in a grind record: massive riffs (very satisfying guitarwork) and perfect production (the guitars sound huge, both the vocals and the drums are not overly loud). A bit more variety could have been nice especially on the vocal front, but still excellent stuff as it is.
Burzum Burzum/Aske
Burzum Umskiptar
Burzum Reh/Demo 91 (Demo II)
Cain [RUS] Child of Cold
Cal Tjader Fried Bananas
Cal Tjader Stretchin' Out
Basically a best-of Cal Tjader album. A super chill and relaxing latin jazz compilation by the greatest. (The typo on the album cover is pretty annoying.)
Camarde Camarde
Very nice lo-fi dungein synth release. Respetful to the old-school: melancholic and enchanting melodies recorded straight to tape (I assume) - and that's it.
Candlemass King of the Grey Islands
Noone could fully replace Messiah, but Robert Lowe did a pretty decent job. It has some really bad songs, but most of the time the album sounds excellent. The production could have been "fullier" but it's not bad this way either.
Cannabis Corpse Nug So Vile
This is so much fun, way better than what I expected!
Carach Angren Dance and Laugh Amongst the Rotten
Carbon Based Lifeforms Twentythree
Carcass Swansong
Such a weird, "go-as-you-please" death'n'rock album. It's great fun, and punchy too.
Carcass Torn Arteries
Through "Torn Artieries" Carcass gave us a lesson, how to make an entertaining and colorful modern metal album. The groovy, thick base and the momentary "softness" (like the solos in "In God We Trust") forms an interesting synergy, but each song and section focuses around nothing but melodies.
Carpathian Forest Strange Old Brew
Criminally underrated! This album really represents why does Carpathian Forest deserve a place among the very best black metal acts ever. Personally, I really enjoy their daring attitude for not giving a fuck about the genre's standards - next to the
fantastic Celtic Frost-ish black metal songs, they added several exciting tracks: "Thanatology" (slowtempo atmospheric BM masterpiece), "House Of The Whipchord" (JAZZ and horror music mixture with BM vocals - yes, you read it right!) or "Theme from
Nekromantikk" (something I would consider dungeon synth). All in all, this is an outstanding and exciting record.
Carpathian Forest Fuck You All!!!!
Carpathian Forest Bloodlust And Perversion
Castle Zagyx Doors to the Battlefields of Ertbe
Howard Shore plays Mount & Blade: the album.
Cattle Decapitation Death Atlas
Celestial Bloodshed Cursed, Scarred and Forever Possessed
Exciting and original: this is a typical Norwegian (somewhat standard) BM album with an interesting production. The theatrical and passionate vocals are the most original element in the package, which clearly stood out and I loved it. The additional chain sounds (for real) were pretty bizarre first, but it brought a very interesting element in to the album's overall sound. Not a revolutionary release, but the result is fairly memorable, a very enjoyable black metal record.
Celtic Frost Parched With Thirst Am I and Dying
Just great Celtic Frost songs thrown together. Isn't it all what matters?
Celtic Frost Emperor's Return
Chaucerian Myth The Book of Margery Kemp
Chaucerian Myth Chaucerian Legends: The Epic of Beileag, Part III
Chaucerian Myth Sir Orfeo
Level up. Chaucerian Myth just gets better and better with each release. This album is astonishing, and I think this is a huge improvement. Very classical music inspired style, accompanied by old-school synths - an enchanting combination.
Church of the Cosmic Skull Is Satan Real?
Church of the Cosmic Skull Science Fiction
Cirith Ungol Half Past Human
Good to see Cirith Ungol still kickin', and this EP was a very pleasant and fun listen. I don't care if it is "just" a re-recording session because I had great fun. The riffs in "Shelob's Lair" really kick ass!
Civerous Decrepit Flesh Relic
This is like Gatecreeper and Spectral Voice combined: brutally slapping yet very atmospheric death/doom with hints of black metal in it! "Spiral of Eyes" is pure masterclass (the psychedelic vibe in the clean section with the string instruments is majestic af). These guys have lots of potential!
Conan Horseback Battle Hammer
CO)))NAN. Incredibly heavy thick and low-heavy distortion surrounds everything in this record. Generally just a bit faster than a Sunn O))), but when they strike out from the sound monolith stage, it hits brutally hard. High volume, headphones on: bring it on!!
Conan Live at Freak Valley
A perfectly executed live-album: sharp and huge sound.
Coroner Grin
Super interesting album, where they took a huge step away from their tech thrash style and entered into the sinister realms of progressive/groove metal. 'Grin' has a very interesting aura, and had probably the best studio work from their whole catalog.
Coroner Punishment for Decadence
Simply excellent.
Corrupted Temple of Moss Demo I
Corrupted Temple of Moss ​Ancient Magicks Uttered by the Winds...
Cosmic Ground Cosmic Ground 5
Cowl Strange Divinity
Beautiful, simply beautiful. A very atmospheric old-schoolish dungeon synth release, with gorgeous folk and strong drone elements. "Strange Divinity" is a captivating and exciting release, which flows like a slow, melancholic and sometimes nightmarish dream.
Craft Terror Propaganda - Second Black Metal Attack
Craft White Noise and Black Metal
Crafted from hatred - tight riffing, fantastic production, evillllllll atmosphere. Small disappointment they didn't include a harsh noise wall track representing the white noise part, hahaha!
Criptadel Extended I
I'm greatly impressed about this EP. Very original sound, even though the sound of some instruments are a bit similar to other projects. Ah. I'm so into this atmosphere! A portal for the ears to transfer the listener to an underground fantasy world - at least, this is how I felt. Very strong focus on the ryhthm section, which gives a certain dynamism to the release. Similar to Mortiis, but lot more energic and "moving" - it's quite hard to describe. Alltogether, I loved this release because it really fired up my imagination.
Criptadel The Inverted Tower
Excellent, excellent, excellent. Exciting underground fantasy based dungeon synth with strong percussions and with a very original style.
Criptadel The Goblin Market
Underground dungeons, creatures of the dark tunnels, Criptadel's market: welcome to The Goblin Market. The percussion-oriented dungeon synth maester fine creation, exciting in any moment.
Cryptosis Bionic Swarm
This is some really tasty stuff, and finally: some good new thrash! They (perfectly?) blended some death metal, crossover thrash and bits of prog into this thing. The album really just flew by, and I caught myself constantly nodding to the rhythm. The album closer "Flux Divergence" really got me, I love it. (More Tom Araya shrieks, please!)
Curse Upon a Prayer Rotten Tongues
Now, this is an outstanding modern black metal release! This is heavy, theatrical and exciting. I'd say this is pretty similar to Shining's style, but with that "Finnish touch" on the melodies etc.
Curse Upon a Prayer Infidel
Simply awesome black metal release. There is some real intense vocal work, and my beloved Finnish melodic riffing too. Especially the second half of the album is outstandingly good, I loved the combination of thuggish, straight-forward black metal with dark acoustics, and the more experimental tracks as well. (And damn, this concept... this band has balls.)
Daoine Sidhe Daoine Sidhe
Dark Funeral Vobiscum Satanas
Ultra fast, killer and very solid riffs. It's not overcomplicated at all, a very "simple" meloblack album, but a very well executed one. Sometimes that's all you need.
Dark Funeral In The Sign...
Another very balanced piece from the gravediggers. Their own stuff is great as well, but their Bathory covers are awesome!!
Darkeater Иней чёрного рассвета
Darkeater Что помнит лес
Darkspace Dark Space II
Darkspace Dark Space III I
Heavy stuff. (Those Dodheimsgard-ish electronic beats were super cool addition to their sound.)
Darkthrone A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Darkthrone The Cult Is Alive
Darkthrone Total Death
Darkthrone Plaguewielder
Darkthrone Hate Them
Darkthrone Frostland Tapes
The full catalog of the early Darkthrone demos and live recordings: it is very interesting to hear the band's progression in time, how they experimented with styles and forged their own sound. Everyone should hear them once.
Darkthrone A New Dimension
Darkthrone Arctic Thunder
Darkthrone Old Star
This Old Star still shines brightly: the new doomy Darkthrone kicks ass.
Darkthrone Eternal Hails
Other than the expected "doomthrone" riffs, Eternal Hails turned out something really new. The Norwegian duo put together a very exciting old-school metal record, and induced some unexpected elements into their sound (bits of clean guitars and SYNTHS for example). But of course: riffs which will be remembered eternally.
Data Garden Quartet: Live at The Philadelphia Museum of Art
Exciting "plant-generated" experimental drone piece. Very elegant implementing, the album sounds gorgeous. 116 minutes of vibrating and ever-forming drone music, and I have to admit, that Schefflera plant on the bass synth did a fantastic job, haha! The only problem is that the two main tracks are a bit overlong and the composition gets a little bit samey after a while, maybe a few shorter tracks with different compositions could have been much better, but after all I can't really complain: this is art.
Deafheaven/Bosse-de-Nage Split
Death The Sound of Perseverance
Death Infernal Death (Demo)
Deorc Weg The Chateau of Unrest
I really liked this one, probably the very best by the artist behind Deorc Weg. It has a very modern sound, and perfectly demonstrates the latest trends within the dungeon synth genre lately - and moreover, it executes it with a very elegant way.
Departe Failure, Subside
Depressive Silence Medieval Demons MMXIX
Excellent live album. It was very odd to hear those familiar melodies in a modern context, but it was the same excellent quality like in the old days. Respect.
Desolate Moon Phases As the Dark Empire Burns Around Them
Even though how minimal it is, this album has a very dense and sinister atmosphere: like walking in an evil sanctum or a dungeon. Very cinematic.
Despondent Moon A Spectral Descent
Dethklok Dethalbum II
Devil Master Satan Spits On Children Of Light
DIM (CA) Compendium I
Like a second Fief! Mellow medieval melodies, which can take you to an another world. Simply excellent.
DIM (CA) Compendium II
Dimmu Borgir Inn I Evighetens Mørke
Dio Sacred Heart
Fine work, Sacred Heart is one of the catchiest Dio albums. One of those "just sit down and relax"-type of heavy metal albums.
Diplodocus Slow And Heavy
Dino synth... my inner kid is super happy right now, haha! Jokes aside, this is pretty good:
very atmospheric with a certain "ancient" vibe. Nice demo.
Diplodocus Slow And Heavy (B-side)
Discordance Axis The Inalienable Dreamless
Pure rage.
Dissvarth Between The Light And The Moon
This sounds like atmoblack but without the metal - but just because that's what I expected this to be. Very sweet cosmic ambient album, I loved it right after the first seconds... *garas's seal of approval*. Pretty interesting, since I can't really remember if I've heard something like this before...
The album is basically a combination of cheesy and ethereal synths, with some extra vocals and acoustic guitars here and there. And this combination works pretty well! (However, personally I would pair this type of sound instantly with some black metal, which would result probably a second Evilfeast project...)
Drachenfeuer Realm Of Light
Drastus La Croix de Sang
Dream Division The Devil Rides Out
Halloween hit us early this year... An exciting release with great variety within. Spooky atmospheres, great synths and textures and excellent production - perfect.
Drudkh/Paysage d'Hiver Somewhere Sadness Wanders/Schnee (IV)
Essential winter-season black metal jam.
Dungeontroll Labyrinth of the Golden Princess
Enchanting, beautiful and relaxing. The clipping in the mix is a bit annoying, but still: I love it.
Dust Drinker Sky Burial
Very cool drone/noise release, with interesting textures and samples. Also, this release has a noteworthy production, with its clean sound. Meditative, dark and exciting.
Eagle Twin The Feather Tipped the Serpent's Scale
Eagle Twin The Thundering Heard (Songs of Hoof and Horn)
Earth Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version
Elder (USA-MA) Omens
This could have been a strong 4.5 as an instrumental album. I can see myself jamming this frequently.
Elderflower Elderflower
Eldur Siggja
Elffor Dra Sad
Elffor Unholy Throne Of Doom
Tradition. Elffor never disappoints.
Elffor Condemned to Wander
Elffor is still unstoppable. The atmoblack overlord delivers constantly excellent material year by year, and Condemned to Wander is no exception. Riffs cold as ice, epic and cinematic synth-driven melodies: I was instantly sold.
Embryonic Slumber In Worship Our Blood Is Buried
One of the best cosmic/atmoblack releases of the year. The album runs at the slowest pace possible from a black metal album (but there are some blast beat sections, don't worry). Most interestingly the album is built upon the droney space ambient sections instead of the riffs, so it feels like every other element is just immersed into that. Next to the gorgeous droney synth sounds, the additional little instruments as tinklers and tribal drums also had a great impact in creating the album's thick atmosphere. I need more!!
Emperor Wrath of the Tyrant
Emyn Muil Elenion Ancalima
The better Emyn Muil record. The album flows really well, and even though the guitars are covered by reverb a bit too much, the overall atmosphere is great. A pleasant Tolkien-atmoblack album.
Emyn Muil Afar Angathfark
In the steps of Summoning, Emyn Muil delivered another enchanting album which sucessfully creates an epic, adventurous and in the other times mellow and pleasing atmosphere. The female vocals sounded especially good, along with the nice and clean production. Excellent album!
Encloaked Encloaked
Eos (CAN) Les Corps S'Entrechoquent
A worthy new member to the Mystískaos family. Les Corps S'Entrechoquent excellently presents the most interesting black metal psychedelia combined with sweet melancholia. A cold and dissonant metamorphosis.
Epileptoids Epileptoids
A full instrumental psychedelic surf rock EP? Yes please. A little bit spooky and that vibrato effect on the guitars gives an interesting "shaking" feeling to the overall sound. Also, the production is just simply perfect, very nice and light and every instrument sounds livid and sharp.
Eric Wagner In The Lonely Light Of Mourning
Let's have it at 4.0. The good: the instrumental side and the production is *phenomenal*, one of the best stuff I've heard in this year so far. Very best kind of old-school doom, so you can guess it: it comes with ultra thick riffs! The bad: some moments in Eric's performance. It really hurts to say, but I have to: he was sometimes out of sync... The conclusion: masterful songwriting and production, but not flawless.
Esoctrilihum Pandaemorthium
Esoctrilihum The Telluric Ashes of the Ö Vrth Immemorial Gods
Esoctrilihum Eternity Of Shaog
Best Esoctrilihum so far, not far from a 4.5. Weirder and more adventurous than ever, I love it. (Bonus points for the synths!)
Esoctrilihum Dy'th Requiem for the Serpent Telepath
More and more synths, violins and the usual crazy Esoctrilihum madness. Quite long but very rewarding riff-storms and mystical atmosphere. Also this might be the best album art of the year.
Esoctrilihum Urionhsol (Seven Demons)
I don't know if these are "leftover" songs or what, but this little EP slaps. Like the most concise version of the band's overall sound, Urionhsol is a very straightforward riff storm, with the typical otherworldy atmosphere. My personal favourite is "Zi Dynh Gtir", which is the most synth-driven Esoctrilihum song so far.
Eternal Champion The Armor of Ire
I've slept on this for quite a long time, but I'm glad I finally I've given this a listen... because this is an exceptionally excellent power metal release! I instantly fell in love with this because it contains top class and epic riffs (the guitarwork really outshines everything) - the vocals are a bit odd at first, but in time it's easy to get used to it. Amazing debut.
Ethereal Shroud They Became the Falling Ash
However I've missed the "original", I loved the new remastered version from the very beginning. Fantastic sound, perfect amount of reverb and I loved the "Summoning-vocals" as well. Great album.
Evilfeast Lost Horizons of Wisdom
Evilfeast Mysteries of the Nocturnal Forest
Evilfeast Isenheimen
Perfect balance between the ethereal synth pads and raw and wintry blackened riffs.
Evilfeast / Marblebog Isenheimen / Abyss Calls...
This is good split. The Polish-Hungarian cooperation was rather strong, both artist did an excellent work. I liked the coid and mysterious atmosphere, and the ratio of the dark ambient and black metal sections were just spot on.
Evilfeast / Uuntar Odes to lands of past traditions
Exhumed Gore Metal
This rips! Perfectly riff centered chaotic madness. I feel this is a grower, might bump up my rating later.
Falaise A Place I Don't Belong To
Fall Of Man Between God & The Devil
Fattyu Hagyaték
Fattyu Az Alföld sötét szíve
One of the most interesting albums of the year, a pretty doomish folklore-inspired black metal piece. I highly appreciate the variety within, and I really enjoyed the lyrical concepts and the production - the bass is super tasty! Currently one of the best Hungarian black metal projects.
Faustian Pact Outojen Tornien Varjoissa
Very interesting album, the rather unorthodox sounds/instruments made it a very exciting experience. You can hear female choruses, flutes, odd synths and many other rarely used sounds mixed into some classic second wave black metal. Sometimes it even sounds pretty... happy(?). Very unique stuff!
Fen Walker Sojourns in the Realm of the Undermoon
One of the most exciting releases of the year. Fen Walker masterfully mixes verious genres and influences together, creating a really unique fantasy-inspired Berlin-school electronic / dungeon synth / dark ambient piece.
Fen Walker The Totem Wilds Call Thy Name
Fen Walker Fare Thee Well Battle Winds
Another excellent quality album by Fen Walker as expected. Lots of dynamism, vareity and creativity can be heard from every minute of it. Maybe not that atmospheric like the previous one, but still very finely crafted release, with a gorgeous instrumentation. I loved listening to this while gaming and reading.
Fen Walker / Scrying Glass Behold! Visions From the Scrying Pool!
Phenomenal Berlin school (prog) electronic / dungeon synth release, with hints of new age elements. I dig the Fen Walker side a bit more (it's more "dungeon spirited"), but side Scrying Glass was also brilliant, especially in And the Ztheradox Watches... because it runs on a very similar "sound-set" as my beloved album, Plantasia (by Mort Garson). Gorgeous and playful tracks and flawless production: [garas' seal of approval]
Feral Spectre Crepuscular Evil
Great old-school sounding raw black demo: primitve, harsh and evil. These guys surely love the early Darkthrone albums!
Fief I
Fief II
Firienholt Beside the Roaring Sea
Very nice atmoblack/dungeon synth blend in a short EP, but a very high quality output. Nice Summoning and Caladan Brood vibes.
Foetus Flow
Forest Silence The Eternal Winter
Forgjord Ilmestykset
Forlesen Hierophant Violent
I might be a bit late, but it really worth the time to check out. An interesting blend of drone/ambient and (mostly) doom metal. The additional stoner and black metal influences also brought an interesting flavour into this, just as the female vocals - not to mention the awesome Alcest spice from the second song (yummy!) The mystical and kind of spacey (but still full in sound!) atmosphere was very captivating for me, and it was a refreshing experience as well. Bonus points for the good samples(?) and the stunning artwork.
Fostartaly Return of the Jani
Frederic Chopin Nocturnes, Op. 9
Frost (HU) Voices From Beyond The Gates
Frosten With Sigils and Infernal Signs
Really great work, and the diversity witihin is noteworthy the least. Great riffs, and even a full acoustic song, moreover: excellent production! Especially loved the bass work, nicely carries the rhythm section. Nicely done, Frosten!
Further Down The Zone Tapes
Gatecreeper Sonoran Depravation
Gatecreeper Deserted
Alright, this slaps. This band never disappoints. m/
Gehennah Hardrocker
"If you wear short hair you better beware
This is metal warfare
I'll make you bleed, that's what I need
I gonna crush your jaw just because I'm raw
Learn the metal law
Your legs I will chop, If you listen to pop"
m/
Genesis Selling England by the Pound
Very-very pretty album.
Ghost Popestar
Ghost and Tape Vár
Calming drone/ambient with a minimalistic, yet effective approach. Meditative and ethereal. I needed this.
gift of gods receive
Gjallarhorn Sjofn
Gjallarhorn Ranarop – Call of the Sea Witch
Glorior Belli The Apostates
Goatsnake Flower of Disease
Goatsnake Black Age Blues
Gordon Bok A Tune for November
Simple and humble - matches perfectly to my moody spirit. I need this on vinyl.
Gorgoroth Promo '94
Gorgoroth Instinctus Bestialis
I really liked this one. Atterigner's vocals really did fit into the overall sound, and this "prog/black" style (with death metal production!) was exciting through the entire album. This has grown on me a lot.
Gospel of the Horns Eve of the Conqueror
Great fun blackened thrash EP from the more melodic branch of the genre. Nice flow (blink twice and it is over!) and catchy riffs.
Grausamkeit Angeldestruction
This riffs! Super awesome lo-fi black metal demo with a dark and dense atmosphere. Primitive riffs, crispy production... yeah, totally garascore.
Grausamkeit Nostalgia - Okkultes Blut
Fantastic blend of old-school black metal and dungeon synth music. It has a quite raw production, and it is very synth dominant - technically these two aspects made me fall in love with this release. There were a few less great songs on the album, but whenever the synths step into the spotlight: it's magical.
Grave Into the Grave
*The* golden standard OSDM album from every aspect.
Graven The Shadows Eternal Call
Green Druid At the Maw of Ruin
A real mixed bag, but this colorful sound palette was this album's strongest advantage. Sometimes heavier, sometimes sometimes they go full funeral etc.-etc. Fun record.
Grol the Goblin King of all Goblins
Some very exciting stuff, but just only for those who are into the musical style of old-school video games, or are dungeon crawlers like me.
Grouper Ruins
Hallas Hällas
Beautiful proto-heavy metal (is this a thing?). Super retro, super fun.
Halm The Emerald Disk of Eternity
Diverse and has so much in it! I mean, it reminded me to lot of things, like videogame and movie soundtracks, other dungeon synth albums... so all in all, the overall atmosphere felt very mixed, but mixed from the best components, I'd say: a bit from everything, yet the combination is something new, fresh and adventurous.
Hammock Elsewhere
The sweet melancholy...the expected Hammock greatness and a bit more? Guitars, pianos and the strings are perfectly immersed into the very much ambient/drone focused atmosphere: and the result is magical. Perfect album to relax, think or just to slow down a bit and feel.
Harbinger (US) The Consecrated Barrow
Harbinger (US) The Convocation of Forgotten Gods
Haunted Realm Kingdom of Ages Past
I found this one surprisingly enchanting. It has a calm and melancholic, yet still cold and mysterious atmosphere, which I found very enjoyable. Very modern sounding samples and instruments, but this type of sound is what I also greatly enjoy. "The Knight and the Maiden" was a very pleasant highlight for me even though it kinda reminded me to the music you can hear in saunas or spas, hahaha!
Havukruunu Kelle Surut Soi
How the fuck did I sleep on this so far?! These guys are outstanding, even from the extremly tight Finnish BM scene.
Hellhammer Satanic Rites
You can't go wrong with Swiss black metal, especially with first wave stuff. Simple yet effective.
Hellhammer Demon Entrails (Remastered)
Basically: best of Hellhammer.
Hellripper Black Arts and Alchemy
Sick. Second half of the EP is exceptionally good.
Hermodr Vinter
Hessian Crucible Morbidity Demo
This is still a tasty death metal demo, with some awesome riffs. It was more than great hearing this again after a few years...
Hexenwood Bloodspring
Hiemal Winterscape
High on Fire Blessed Black Wings
Hell yes, this slaps hard! High On Fire never disappoints.
High on Fire Art of Self-Defense
One of the best High One Fire albums. These riffs are pure fire! I didn't know that Cletic Frost cover exists, so it was a very pleasant surprise.
High on Fire Death Is This Communion
High on Fire Snakes For The Divine
High on Fire De Vermis Mysteriis
High on Fire Electric Messiah
Hillsfar Jewel of the Moonsea
I greatly enjoyed this one. Despite the obvious and humble worship of the old-school DS, it also brings something new and unique without sounding generic and lifeless - and I greatly respect that. A bit more on the slower side of the genre, with serious atmosphere. Adventurious!
Hjelvik Welcome To Hel
I'm loving this. I didn't expect much from this album, but I just love how jammy it is. And damn, Erlend is a tricky guy! Inserting the "Necromansy" riff by Bathory (or in "War" by Burzum, you decide) in 'Kveldulv' really got me. Another excellent album which hides behind a very cheesy artwork, but the riffs and the solos speak for themselves. A super positive surprise, and I think it really has a good replay value as well.
Horde Hellig Usvart
Horna Kohti Yhdeksän Nousua
The perfect epitome how a second wave black metal album should sound.
Horna Sudentaival
(My rating is based on the 2017 remastered version) Super good riff fest, and especially the second half rules! It's not far from a 4.5 too. I love the artwork as well.
Horna Sotahuuto
Another riff-fest. This album was very close to the early Darkthrone sound, and personally I really loved it!
Horna Hengen tulet
Massive album, even though this is "just" straight-forward Finnish black metal. But this band just really feels it how to write good albums. 'Nekromantia' and 'Puhdas' are superb jams.
Horna Kuolleiden Kuu
Horna rules, and it was especially true with this EP, showing how strong they are if they aim for writing more mid-tempo material. I loved this. > "Captures of the essence of pure black metal without feeling like a rehash." [2]
Hostlov When Night Falls
Hovert Sol
A beautiful post-metal/DSBM mixture. The additional cello and clean vocals adds a lot to the overall atmosphere. I was surprised how good it was.
Hypothermia Självdestruktivitet född av monotona tankegångarIV
Ikotka Порча
I was a bit sceptical at first, but after a few songs in it became clear: this slaps! Slumbery atmoblack with a quite post-black edge, and builds up a dark atmosphere. The 5. song was the album's absolute pinnacle, but generally it is enjoyable all the way through. A bit less reverb could have been good (I personally think it was a little bit too much from the "bathroom-effect"). Also this has the creepiest album cover of the year.
Immortal Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism
Immortal All Shall Fall
Immortal Northern Chaos Gods
Slightly disappointed: half of the tracks are really great, and the others are just average. Not better than Abbath.
Impaled Nazarene Suomi Finland Perkele
Impaled Nazarene Absence of War Does Not Mean Peace
This was so much fun. Perhaps it is more thrash than black metal, but this riffs incredibly hard! Far more melody-centered album than anything from the Impaled Nazarene discography before, and it was a very welcomed change. The production is also far better than expected, and I especially enjoyed the guitar tone. Speaking of guitars, the various extra influences which come from trad. heavy metal and grind made this album really memorable. Very well executed album.
Impaled Nazarene Tol Cormpt Norz Norz Norz
One of the most interesting BM albums I've ever heard (even though a few songs are straight up old-school death metal). This is wild - more precisely: very wild. The most outstanding component are the vocals, which is simply madly...evil. Productionwise speaking, the album is very exotic: the typical first and second wave black metal aesthetics can be heard in the very same time, and oddly enough, there are obvious similiarities to the early Slayer, and Sadistik Exekution albums.
Despite the very short song lengths, the album feels very diverse, probably due to the highly experimental aspects. The album has a great riffs, and an uniquely evil atmosphere, so alltogether: this slayz m/
Impaled Nazarene Taog Eht Fo Htao Eht [Demo]
Now, this is one of the most impressive demos I've ever heard. Just pure old-school blackened death metal. Riffs after riffs, and the production is super sweet. And not to forget to mention the evil atmosphere!
Impaled Nazarene Goat Of Mendes
Hyped.
Impending Doom Baptized in Filth
Inoriand A World Frozen
Calm and ethereal - frosty dungeon drone just how I like it! Additionally, I think it is Inoriand's best so far.
Internal Rot Grieving Birth
Alright, this almost broke my neck... a very straight-forward massive riff-flow. Pure fury.
Internazionale Elegy for the Victors
Iron Reagan Worse Than Dead
Excellent album, cool riffs - maybe a little bit short. But the mix! Give the sound engineer a
cookie: every instrument and the vocals sound good!
Iron Reagan Crossover Ministry
Isegrimm / Ornatorpet The Heathen Kingdom
Wonderful and hypnotic split! Flows like a dream, it has exciting synths and percussions, and has a very adventurous feeling. Both artists really shines in this record.
Isengard Vinterskugge
Fenriz is such a great and talented songwriter! I love the great variety: folk/black, dungeon synth, old-school death metal, rock... he is a real deal, and this album is just another proof why he is my favourite.
Jan Grunfeld Music for plants
Very pretty and relaxing, and outstandingly great for a fully improvised album. The light and ethereal ambiance is a great base and the fusion with the slightly alt rock-ish and experimental elements makes this release especially enjoyable. Maybe it is just me, but I think the last few songs are somewhat similar to the modern Ulver's sound, especially to the live jamming in ATGCLVLSSCAP, for example. This *should* exist in physical formats too!
Jim Hall and Pat Metheny Jim Hall & Pat Metheny
Jim Kirkwood Master of Dragons
Jim Kirkwood Tower of Darkness
Jim Kirkwood Where Shadows Lie
Jon Hopkins Immunity
Joseph Haydn Symphony No. 93 in D Major
Judas Iscariot The Cold Earth Slept Below
Riffs cold as ice...
Judas Iscariot Dethroned, Conquered and Forgotten
Kaouenn On the Day of his Death​.​.​.
Kaouenn Secrets of the Stone Circle
Kataxu Hunger of Elements
Keygen Church ░█░█░░█░█░█░
I guess ???????????? stands for "Chiptune Bach and industrial metal". This is amazing.
Keys of Orthanc Dush agh Golnauk
Keys of Orthanc A Battle in the Dark Lands of the Eye​.​.​.
Khand The Sage of Witherthorn
Wonderful. A very-well composed and adventurous album. Very original sound and samples with an excellent production. Each song is very dynamic, which makes the album constantly "fluid" and dreamy.
Khemmis Deceiver
A dynamic and smoothly flowing heavy/doom record with occasional harsh vocals. A pleasant time guaranteed.
King Diamond Fatal Portrait
Mega solid album.
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Infest the Rats' Nest
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard L. W.
Ye, it was actually far better than expected, and I can see myself jamming this in the future too. *visible shock* Anyway, "K.G.W.L." is among the best K.G.W.L. songs, which is an oddly satisfactory discovery.
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Live In Milwaukee ’19
Very fun live recording! Great setlist, and the extra crispier sound of certain songs had a really good impact on the listening experience. Honestly, these guys sound actually better live. The thrash songs in the end were killerrrr, and generally all their older material became better in time.
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Omnium Gatherum
Connected by... the same weirdness. Omnium Gatherum is the Aussie chameleons' most diverse album so far, since there are no two songs in the same style after each other. Sometimes you can hear funky jams, sometimes their signature crazy garage-prog rock comes next, but in other times the album contains trip-hop(?) / weird '60s-'70s spirited psychedelic pop / (latin) jazz / rusty stoner-thrash metal songs too (Fuck yeah!). Interestingly, this massive diversity didn't hurt the album's flow at all, and even more interestingly: the almost one-and-a-half-hour-long runtime felt super light as well. Good time guaranteed, and a possible grower. (Give this a couple of spins, my dudes!)
Klaus Schulze Trancefer
This is... wonderful! Complex, yet Trancefer has such a smooth and easy flow, and not to forget: the gorgeous sounds of a Yamaha CS-80 is your guide on this kosmische sonical voyage. Only one complaint: the runtime is too short!
Kobold (IT) The village in the frozen mountains
A very pleasant and magical release. I love concept albums (and most of HDK releases are story-driven), because it gives a certain extra excitement to the listening - same case with this Kobold album, I really enjoyed this the adventure in the icy mountains of the Huk Valley.
Krampusnacht Superstar
Great album. But: not just Christmas songs - the self-titled was slightly better.
Krampusnacht Krampusferatu
Good to hear Krampus returned to the right path. Let us forget that awful trilogy, and enjoy the darkened Christmas melodies again. ("Coquito del Diablo" was really WTF track though. Latin music in DS?!)
Ksiezyc Ksiezyc
This could make a great soundtrack for a folk horror movie. Chilling, obscure and very original.
Kvelertak Kvelertak
Kyvon Frozen Grimoire
Slow, icy and chramingly beautiful. Kyvon's debut is a gorgeous piece, which builds upon the classic winter synth sounds, and adds a melancholic atmosphere which I really enjoy.
Lamentation Eine Symphonie Der Nacht
Lamentation Grabens Symphonie
Despite the plague, 2020 brought us some sweet compilation albums. Releasing the entire Lamentation discography on vinyl was a massively kind gesture from Werewolf Records.
Lamp of Murmuur Melancholy Howls in Ceremonial Penitence
You can find the full album here: http://mortuusinsomnis06.blogspot.com/2019/07/lamp-of-murmuur-melancholy-howls-in.html
Lamp of Murmuur The Burning Spears Of Crimson Agony
One of the best BM releases I've heard this year. Great riffs, sweet production and a crispy overall sound.
LEM Twelve Who Stole The Rain
Really great blackened death album, with some doomish vibes here and there. I love the variety within: tempo changes, cool interludes and acoustic sections, great vocals and heavy riffs (with a tasty guitar tone)... hats off, I loved it. It might me a grower too.
Les Abysses Reveal the deep
Licht des Urteils Demo 2019
Life's Question A Tale of Sudden Love & Unforgettable Heartbreak
Lemme slap a 4.0 on this. Shame, it's so short album, because this RIPSSSS! Super fun hardcore/crossover/sludgy thing. Kinda reminded me to the early Mastodon materials - at least this radiates the very same energy.
Limbonic Art Ad Noctum - Dynasty Of Death
Linkin Park Hybrid Theory
Linkin Park Meteora
Lord Wolf Darklands Of Hate
Lorgren Benirus Tome of Unlife
Lovi Kirmukarmu
Gorgeous album. A perfectly relaxing and interesting neo-folk/medieval ambient album which combines nordic folk with a living and charming atmosphere. Unique work, and great concept.
Lumiere Jaskółczy Niepokój
Calm and mellow, droney, and the field recordings are perfectly placed and aren't over-used.
Lycanthropus Lycanthropus
Magic Moss Volume 1
I demand more!! A super fun, uh... acid punk/psychedelic rock EP! I like the punkish vocals choruses, the organ is crazy fun, and alltogether: this is catchy AF!
Magnum Lost on the Road to Eternity
Majestic Mass Savage Empire of Death
Nasty and filthy, the bastard child of psychedelic punk and black metal. This was insanely catchy, dirty production with sweet and sinister organs for the right atmosphere... what can I say? I'm sold!
Malfet The Snaking Path
Another fine piece of dungeon synth which should have been known for many.
Malfet The Way to Avalon
Very strong release, even though I expected something more "wizardy" based on the cover and
the song titles. This album is very enchanting, and has a very folky side (sometimes like
early Fief), and I liked it a lot. But: too many field recordings to my taste since it's not
building mostly on atmosphere (this is much more melodic), and alltogether: I felt it was too
short. Still, one of the greatest DS releases this year.
Malfet Alban Arthan
Not far from a 4.5 by the Grumpy standards. The most well-layered Malfet record so far with top quality production. I have no idea what's the secret behind that choir sound, but it is one of the greatests I've ever heard within the DS genre. The spoken lines didn't add anything to the listening experience for me, and maybe the rainy/watery samples were almost too much, but I'm only complaining because I'm Grumpy. I loved the atmosphere, the medieval instruments etc. - I'm more than satisfied.
Manilla Road Crystal Logic
Such a cool album. The bit slower tempo, the riffs really were especially enjoyable. Too bad the vocals were often more on the "funny" side, but like in the 'The Riddle Master' they were just as how I could enjoy them.
Mannveira Vitahringur
Jaws dropped. A really heavy and disturbing album, yet another excellent creation from Iceland. Generally this sounds like the faster sibling of Andavald's masterfully executed debut - but this is not as emotional and shocking. However Vitahringur is an excellent dissonant and wild sonical experience, and deserves some more recognition.
Marduk Dark Endless
A super massive BM/DM cross album. Fantastic sound and the finest riffs - a true gem from the early '90s.
Marduk Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered
(Purple album cover always indicates excellent material!) Fast, straight-forward, moderately melodic and invokes a certain evil atmosphere (...it even contains a Mussorgsky sample!). Delivers exactly what I'm always looking for in black metal.
Marduk Panzer Division Marduk
Blink twice and you'll miss half of the album. Truly a black metal album on speed.
Marduk World Funeral
This death metal production really suits Marduk's style. I can't help it, I always prefer mid-tempo slaying riffs over the ultra-fast second wave assaults. However, if a band can fuse these two together in a release: that's a winner combo.
Mare Cognitum Solar Paroxysm
Nice space-black album. I wish the synths would be more dominant, but for example the blackgazey vibes from "Luminous Accretion" were a very cool surprise and I enjoyed it a lot. It was a refreshing listen, and I'm glad we have modern BM bands like Mare Cognitum.
Maria Warner Amanita Musicaria
Massacre From Beyond
OSDM, as I like. I dig every aspect of this album: the riffs (it has a kinda proto-BM edge, what I really love), the production (it is somehow enjoyably "rusty"), the dungeon synth interlude in "Chambers of Ages", and of course: the stunning artwork. Make more death metal album covers like this.
Master Boot Record C:\>DEFRAG
I really love this. It is mostly some really well-written synthwave, but with some really cool "distorted guitar emulations" which are very similar to the old DOS machine sounds. It has some really nice heavy metal inserted into it, but the more "classical" compositions are also really well flowing and quite rhapsodic, like what you'd hear from a Beethoven piece. Very creative stuff, you won't find something like this very often.
Mastodon Blood Mountain
Mastodon Crack the Skye
Mastodon Emperor of Sand
Mastodon Medium Rarities
It was a fun album, especially the mastering was great. Great variety within, and all the live songs sounded just as good as the studio recordings. Fun fact: they managed to play 'Orion' better than Metallica(!). And believe, everyone has to hear the full instrumental version of 'Asleep in the Deep'. Perhaps a bit unnecessary release, but definitely worths the time for a few listens.
Mayhem De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
Mayhem Chimera
Mayhem Dawn of the Black Hearts
Mayhem Life Eternal
Mayhem European Legions
Mayhem Daemon
Medieval Rites Prologue
Fief fans, assemble! This fills me with great joy. Beautiful and relaxing medieval ambient release.
Medieval Steel The Dungeon Tapes
Okay, this is catchy as hell. At first I wasn't a big fan of the vocals, but in the end I more or less liked it. If power metal would sound mostly like this, then maybe I'd dig it more often.
Megadeth Youthanasia
Megadeth Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?
Men I Trust Oncle Jazz
Merciless The Awakening
Tasty Swede death-thrash assault. Tight and fierce riffs, quite great production accompanied by the sweet old-school aesthetics which brings a certain flavour into the whole thing... I love it. Is it just me, or is it kinda similar to Morbid's "December Moon"?
Mercyful Fate Don't Break the Oath
Meshuggah obZen
Metallica Garage Inc.
One of the few Metallica albums which actually matters. Great jamz.
Metallica Jump in the Fire
Methadone Skies Different Layers of Fear
Mightiest & Depressive Silence Recreation of the Shadowlands
Mirkwood (AUT) Demo
Molis Sepulcrum Left For The Worms
Crushing and ultra thick-sounding OSDM. Impressive debut, and these guys slay live!
Mondfinsternis Lokabrenna
Wow. Some otherworldy high production right here! Cinematically atmospheric, easily outshines many movie's soundtracks. Fantastic quality... the vareity of styles blended together, the production and composition...very well done, I'm impressed. *garas's seal of approval*
Moonless Nights In Old Chambers Of Castle Wewelsburg (Album)
Morbid Saint Spectrum of Death
Pretty much what GamamJ said. Only the vocals are kinda not exactly my taste, but... the riffs man, the riffs!!!
Morbid Vomit Doctrine of Violence
Massive, groovy Finnish death metal - this album does not disappoint!
Mork Katedralen
Solid, and somewhat "standard" black metal album, but sometimes all you need is a consistently good album. The combination of Darkthrone and Horna type of riffage was most pleasant. "Morkthrone" rules.
Morketsvind Forest Ride
Morrigan Anwynn
Tastiest viking-era Bathory worship I've heard quite a while. Epic, atmospheric, and every Bathory aesthetical factor is present (even the not-so-great-but-oddly-charming clean vocals too, lol). Impressive.
Mortiis Ånden Som Gjorde Opprør
Mortiis Født til å Herske
Mournful Moon .​.​.​As Shadows Fall Over Zenitheaen
It is one of those albums I fell in love with within a few seconds. Despite being a Lamentation "copycat", this is a very sophisticated album with a charming atmosphere, which respectfully invocates the old-school era of dungeon synth. Beautiful reverby piano sections, melancholic and magical songs, and some black metal vocals here and there... everything is spot on!
Municipal Waste Hazardous Mutation
Municipal Waste The Last Rager
Murgrind Inheritor of the Forest Throne
Mutiilation Black Millenium (Grimly Reborn)
Very straight-forward and super solid raw black metal album. Nothing is overdone, it is just an excellent traditional release: great riffs, and sweet lo-fi(/low-budget) production - exactly in the same vein with the early Norwegian scene's output.
Mysticum Piss Off
Napalm Death Utopia Banished
A brutally punishing, killer death metal album. They really nailed this one for sure!
Napalm Death The Best of Napalm Death
Napalm Death Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism
A consistently good neck-workout. I loved the variety within, and the album just flew by: bangers after bangers, and even the "rest" songs like 'Amoral' were great. Moreover, the more experimental tracks like the industrial 'A Bellyful of Salt and Spleen' were simply awesome. I really liked the mixing and mastering as well, fits perfectly to the album's punchiness.
Napalm Death Resentment is Always Seismic...
The art of innovation; also a truly modern, truly progressive release. Other than Napalm Death's doing what they're known for, in this mini-album they expressed so much more, an absolute power play. Crushing, heavy and sometimes even: a t m o s p h e r i c ! The new noise, industrial, and the quite "liturgical" elements (the overall feel is really like Monotheist-era Celtic Frost was!) are very welcomed, and perfectly fit in.
Nargaroth Herbstleyd
Excellent atmospheric black metal. Also, probably the strongest Nargaroth album ever.
Nargaroth Rasluka Part I
Nargaroth Era of Threnody
Nargaroth Amarok
I had no expectations about this comp., and it really surprised me how great it is: a simple old-school black metal release + I loved the more experimental "style" of the band's early phase. Unique sound.
Necrodeath Fragments of Insanity
Massive riff-storm by the Italian black/thrashers. The production is very good, the album contains tons of heavy riffs. Slaps m/
Necrom All Paths Are Left Here...
Nice straight-forward OSDM from Ukraine with a quite punkish edge. I really liked the production here, especially the guitar tone they have chosen for this record (do you remember to Dethklok?). The slower and mid-tempo riffs are their biggests strengths, but I really dug the solos too! For a debut LP, this is most impressive.
Necrophobic Slow Asphyxiation
Killer death/thrash/black metal demo! Straight-forward, massively riff-centric, and it has that magical early '90s metal underground vibe.
Negativa (ESP) 04
Devilish spiralling darkness: yep, this is definitely a Mystskaos release. If you dig the Icelandic scene's sound, then this will most definitely click with you. Grim atmosphere, slowly flowing dissonant chords with a DSBM-ish edge and heartbreaking shrieks: yup, that's what I'm talking about!
Neptune Towers Caravans To Empire Algol
Neverlur / Sequestered Keep Under Nordljosets Straalar / Quests in the North
It was a great introduction to Neverlur's music for me, and I wasn't disappointed. Sequestered Keep was just perfect as always. Such a great, magical split.
Nicatas Drumer Impure Grandeur
Very-very good melodic (thrashy) black metal, thanks for the rec, park! I love when traditional black metal albums which are just simply good. Nothing is overdone, just what I needed: great riffs and the classic BM aesthetics.
Nico Georis Shirley Shirley Shirley!
Now this is a really outstanding experimental album: an album created from a plant's electrical biosignals converted into MIDI! This is an uplifting and mind-blowing experience, and the album has beautiful droney soundscapes and interesting melodies. An ethereal journey on nature's frequencies~
Nightmare Puppy Canal
Nightmare Puppy Nara Nara Voltsong For Shower
Super entertaining album. Thank you for sharing this with us, and hats off Johnny!
Nightwing Black Summer
Nirvana Bleach
Bleach contains probably Nirvana's greatest riffs, filled with desperate rage and darkness. This is heavy, so I love it.
Nirvana MTV Unplugged in New York
Nirvana Nevermind
Nite Voices of the Kronian Moon
Super fun blackened death metal which comes with great spacey production, tons of riffs and sweet solos (also the vocals sound exactly like Nocturno Culto's vocals covered with tons of reverb).
Nocternity Harps Of The Ancient Temples
Nordgeist Frostwinter
Cold as the Siberian winter, a very cool Paysage "clone". Very enjoyable album, where the combination of ice cold riffs, the well programmed drums and the shrieks recreates a very similar atmosphere to Paysage d'Hiverr's classic demos/albums.
Novembre Annoluce
Null (USA) Lore of a Sleeping Forest
Perfectly spot on atmoblack release from the more grim side of the genre. The production quality and the melodic riffing is outstanding, and I loved the overall mood of this album.
Obscura A Valediction
Real smooth. Obscura's latest is a truly virtuose and well-balanced release, with an exceptionally easy flow - despite the enormous amount of technicality. Really exciting, yet perfectly appreciable for any metal listener.
Obsequiae The Palms of Sorrowed Kings
Obtained Enslavement Soulblight
Woah, this is extremly cheesy - and I love it! Lots of melody (impressive guitarwork and synths), interesting classical music influences are inserted into a very grim atmosphere, which makes this band sound quite unique.
Octobeast / Synthosaurus Mega Clash of Creature Worlds
Holy shite, what a split! This is some really cinematic dino synth split, which sometimes kinda sounds like Fief... and hints of black metal.
Old Sorcery The Path Lies Hidden
Old Sorcery Strange and Eternal
Oldlands Source of Eternal Darkness
Outstanding lo-fi black metal demo from Brazil. The classic traditional lo-fi BM aesthetics are super sweet, and in my opinion, alltogether it sounds very similar to the early Norwegian releases, especially to the Euronymous-era Mayhem (it has SOLOS!). This slaps m/
On Graves All Must Go
Ontrothon, Saga of the Ancient Glass Ontrothon, Saga of the Ancient Glass
The artist behind Spectral Lore really proved his talent with this release: enchanting, calm yet exciting piece of medieval ambient mixed with dungeon synth. Maybe this could worth a better rating as well, but hearing the same VSTs again and again with so many artists is getting a bit boring... at least, the fusion of different elements in this release could create a different atmosphere. Also, this would be a great soundtrack to a DnD game too - which is always means some bonus points for me.
Opeth Orchid
Describing 'Orchid' with one word, I'd go with: elegant. I loved the old-schoolish (yet clear) sound, the slower sections, and the sweet guitar tone. I think it is a bit lengthy, but otherwise very pleasant album. Perhaps a grower?
Ossa Coronata A Candle
Dark, melancholic, spooky and dreamy. I love the atmosphere the album creates.
Ossa Coronata One With Weariness
Ozzy Osbourne No More Tears
Ozzy Osbourne Ozzmosis
Pagan Altar Pagan Altar
Pretty much the same case with Witchfinder General's debut, but with a different vocal style. Pure fun, good time guaranteed.
Paysage d'Hiver Paysage d'Hiver
Paysage d'Hiver Die Festung
This kinda has a Hlidskjalf-ish vibe, but with a different atmosphere... like watching droplets of melting ice through the ears. Ethereal, almost empty yet has a charming effect. (I don't know if it makes any sense.)
Paysage d'Hiver Geister
Harsh and wintry, but Project:Paysage took a bit different direction where Wintherr's most most punkiest riffs (early Carpathian Forest influences?) have been covered by freezing cold and thick snow.
Pentagram Day of Reckoning
Consistently massive old-school doom album. Pentagram rules m/ (A better production could have been nice though.)
Pentagram First Daze Here Too
I can echo exactly what DDD said. Too bad the great difference in the production quality between the two halves, but nothing dampens the fact: Pentagram rules. Personally I loved the Rolling Stones cover and 'Much Too Young to Know' the most. Pure rock 'n' roll / a bit doom 'n' roll, huh?
Pentagram Review Your Choices
Oh man, this RIFFS. Songs like 'Change of Heart' are phenomenal. Too bad, Bobby kinda feels out of sync sometimes, and I did not like the "rewritten" classic songs that much as the originals. Really good doom album, nonetheless with such an iconic album cover.
Pentagram Sub-Basement
First of all: I love the creepy artwork. Also, I think Pentagram just can't write a bad album. The guitar tone is incredible, and the riffing feels so "full". When the album goes really-really slow, it hits the hardest. Not far from 4.5.
Pentagram Show 'Em How
Funny album art hides an amazingly catchy album. Most of the songs came from their '70s material, and the result is a really fun blend between doom metal and rock.
Pentagram Last Rites
Powerful, energic and of course: riffs hard. Last Rites is clearly among the best albums in Pentagram's discography, even though it brought some steps away from the classic old-school sound Bobby stood out for a long time.
Perihelion (HU) Örvény
Perihelion (HU) Agg
'Agg' is their most cinematic work so far, and I'm glad they kept their artistic "bipolar" shoegazey style. I especially loved the lyrics, the droney sounds (not sure if synths or tons of effect pedals), and how good the bass sounds in the whole album. Maybe they could have gone a bit more heavier, and damn, Gyula's vocals were way too quiet in the mix! Also, the title track is amazing, probably the best I've heard from them. Excellent album, I'm a proud Hungarian!
Peste Noire Folkfuck Folie
French "sewer" black metal. Nice.
Pig Destroyer Phantom Limb
Yay, this is heavy as well. I don't know why, but I feel that the second half of the album was stronger than the other (- same case with Terrifyer)... Pretty straight-forward album, very well done.
Pig Destroyer Natasha
The creepy sludge/doom Pig Destroyer also slaps. Highly atmospheric piece, and this style worked for them surprisingly well. (The clicking bass drum sound is disgusting, though.)
Pig Destroyer Head Cage
Poems About The Forest Schwarzes Licht
Beautiful work from (very probably) the members of Depressive Silence/Mightiest. An enchanting, magical, and easily flowing 31 minutes long single track demo with the most beautiful synth sounds and great samples. Most excellent atmosphere, I'm glad I discovered this.
Poison (DE) Into the Abyss
Massive first wave black / thrash album, it has a killer sound. Great ideas, great riffs, and since it's old-school it means an instant +0.5 on my rating. (Thanks Fenriz!)
Power Trip Nightmare Logic
Power Trip Opening Fire: 2008-2014
Okay, this fucking RIPS m/ To be honest, I did not expect such a strong compilation about a bunch of B-sides and rarities, but looks like this band can't produce anything bad. Crossover thrash which melts your face off. Bonus points for the sick artwork.
Power Trip Live in Seattle: 05.28.18
E n o r m o u s sound from a live album!
Prurient Frozen Niagara Falls
An exciting many-faced record, which navigates you through ethers and hell in a noisy dream.
Psychonaut Unfold the God Man
Finally something great under the post-metal tag, not just another trendy hyper-annoying shoegazey boredom. The influences are all crystal clear, and I think they formed them into something, which is their own "flavour". Great jam.
Purl Form Is Emptiness
Beautiful drone/ambient album. This really represents my overall taste within the genre.
Quantic Magnetica
Queen Greatest Hits
Qwalen Unohdan Sinut
Good to see the classic old fashioned black metal spirit in action. A most impressive debut album from Qwlen hailing from Finland. Punkish elements combined with the good ol' black madness of the '90s resulted a really crushing album, and I fell in love with this material almost instantly. Bonus points for the really sinister throat killer vocals - most perfect combination to the instrumentals.
Rage Against The Machine The Battle of Los Angeles
Rammstein Untitled
Ausländer, Sex & Puppe on repeat, rest is great, but Radio was a mistake. = Strong 4.0
Red Helen Trading Past For Pathways
Redhorn Gate Demo I-II-III
Nice compilation of 3 raw demos: old-school dungeon synth done right.
Revelation Images of Darkness
This was a hell of a demo!! The riffs are amazing, a real doom demo which almost sounds like what is later known as blackened doom. I feel like this technically predicted the sound of the modern Darkthrone albums. (Damn it Fenriz, how did you find this??)
Rhandir Vagabond's Call
Rota Fortunae Hinterland
Alright DungeonBoy, you gave me no other option, so I had to 4.0 this beauty. " Instrumental dark folk, done just right" - Sunny said it right!
Rothadas Rothadás
Impressive old-school (doomy) death metal demo from a local band I don't know anything about, haha! The 'a e s t h e t i c s'! Ahhh, exactly how I like my DM. I'm definitely looking for some more in the future.
Rothadas Kopár Hant... Az Alvilág Felé
Simply excellent. 40 minutes of pure death-doom delight.
Rotting Christ Triarchy of The Lost Lovers
Gothic-era Rotting Christ #1: Very-well balanced, melodic and delivers the riffs. Excellent album, maybe a bit weaker on the production side, but it counterbalances it with the quality within.
Rotting Christ A Dead Poem
Gothic-era Rotting Christ #2: This takes the crown without a doubt. Fantastic riffs, not a weak song at sight, each one of them has its own flavour. I dig the production here as well, it really helped the guitars stand out, every other element "sits" on the album's melodic "spine". I really love this one!
Rotting Christ Sanctus Diavolos
Brave, yet very rewarding experiment. In this album, the Greek duo managed to present a very atmosphere-centric release, richly spiced with numerous elements. The braver vocal approach (far-far more diverse than on a regular Rotting Christ album), often accompanied by choirs and opera-like singing was very impactful on the album, often pushing it towards a quite liturgical direction - at least that's how I felt. The daring mindset is clearly observable on the instrumental factors as well. For example horror sample-alike, ambient and classical sections can be heard in most of the songs, and the guitarwork definitely falls into the experimental side of the genre too. It's very proggy, and perhaps bits of industrial elements can be heard blended into their signature blackened-gothic sytle.
Not an easily digestable record, but for those who enjoy such unorthodox black metal albums it'll be a gourmet snack for their ears.
Rotting Christ The Heretics
runescape斯凱利 runescape​.​wav符文風景骨架
What a pleasant surprise: this an excellenet quality dungeon synth release, despite the silly title and cover. It is highly atmospheric, has great melodies and pretty synth sounds. I feel a sudden urge to get this on tape sometime...
runescape斯凱利 runescape​​.​​wav2戰利品的戰爭
Enchanting harmonies and magical atmosphere. This a really excellent release!
Sadistik Exekution We Are Death... Fukk You !
Saidan Jigoku: Spiraling Chasms of Blackst Hell
Super strong riff-salad meloblack album with a melancholic edge. The production feels a bit blunt sometimes (let them guitars scream!), but they counterbalanced it with building up a sweet atmosphere (nice clean guitars). Also damn, the thrashier riffs really got me!
Saint Vitus Saint Vitus
Straight-forward and very simple doom record, but it does the trick!
Sakis Tolis Among the Fires of Hell
Not really different from Rotting Christ, even numerous melody fragments sounded familiar. However, this is a very-well executed album, safe play or not. It's more on gothic side than black metal, but for sure: you can hear great riffs and catchy melodies ("Ad Astra" is the catchiest of them all, that melody will stuck in your head for days) and all comes with pleasant production. 4.3
Samael Worship Him
Sanguine Moon What Shadows Once Hid...
Sarke Gastwerso
This slaps. The simple and heavy riffs, and the really exotic synths and guest vocals make this album very memorable, and I might bump up my rating later because I feel this is a grower.
The album is beautiful: the production is spot on, the songwriting is very intelligent and creative (somewhat proggy?) and the overall package offered lot more than what I expected.
The Darkthrone guys are just simply unstoppable!
Satan Cruel Magic
Satanic Warmaster Nachzehrer
Satanic Warmaster Revelation ...of the Night
Oh yeah, this is a max score on the trveness scale. Very solid album, the remastering did wonders with the songs: the biggest change is the quality of the vocals, which drastically improved. Furthermore, both the drums and guitars sound more sharp and agressive. (Fenriz would love the drum sound - so organiccccc!) The only problem with this album is a specific contrast between some of the songs presented: some of them are overlong and less exciting, while others are fantastic and one of Werwolf's best works. If all the songs could punch equally, then it could be a BM classic.
Still, the last (rare) song, "The Will" is one of the best black metal songs ever written.
(If you wouldn't want to listen to the whole thing, at least listen to only that song!)
Satanic Warmaster/Archgoat Lux Satanae
Saturne I
Satyricon Rebel Extravaganza
I had to re-rate this. To be honest, I never really got into this album, but today the realization just hit me: this is actually brilliant! These riffs are fire, the atmosphere is evil, and it is Satyricon! Especially good stuff when the synths kick in.
Satyricon Now, Diabolical
Satyricon My Skin Is Cold
Extremly overlooked, and way better than the average score! Except of the title track, you can find great songs from different albums presenting some of the best songs from the band's discography. And 'Mother North' performed with a backup orchestra is unbeliveably amazing - best version EVER.
Scary Larry Scary Larry
Scorpions Comeblack
Summer vibes. This comp. grew on me a lot and in the end I can say: I really like this band now. Tbh, the remastered version of 'Rock You Like A Hurricane' is just simply perfect.
Seax Speed Metal Mania
Secret Stairways Turning Point
Sermon of Flames I Have Seen the Light, and It Was Repulsive
Crushing black/death/noise beast, with lots of creative ideas within. I loved it from start to the end. Really heavy stuff, definitely not for everyone.
Serpent Column Ornuthi Thalassa
Serpent's Isle The Quiet Lakes
Shining (SWE) Redefining Darkness
Shining (SWE) Fiende
Show Me A Dinosaur Plantgazer
Finally, some blackgazey stuff which I don't feel endlessly boring. The solos were a bit meh - often out of place, but generally the album was enjoyable, especially songs like "Selva" were outstandingly great. More or less copycat sounding release, but I liked how it does sound.
Shum Lebegő klaszter
Really cool drone metal album. Interesting textures, additional instruments etc. Really reminded me to the " Void" and the "Prylocasts" album by Sunn O))), which is a great thing.
Skaphe Untitled
Spooky, evil demo. Not an easy listen, but very good.
Skaphe Skáphe³
Wild, chaotic and gorgeously distorted: the Icelandic formation's third creation has a really dense and dark atmosphere which flows in a very unpredictable manner - and I love it. It has a bit Dodheimsgard-ish edge I can't really explain (maybe the vocals?), but I'm certainly hooked.
Skarpseian Skygge Slottet
Skarpseian Tan Gil
Slayer Seasons in the Abyss
Standard Slayer greatness. Lyrically a step away from the previous albums, but still their super solid riffstorm. Hot take: Dead Skin Mask is not even the best song on the album.
Slayer Soundtrack to the Apocalypse
Soundtrack for a good time. The perfect choice for casual Slayer jams.
Slayer World Painted Blood
Sleep Dopesmoker
Sleep The Sciences
Slift Ummon
Finally, I can get behind the hype about something here (duh). This was a very cool psychedelic/stoner/whatever jam. Crispy sound, sweet Sleep influences etc. - well done!
Slytherin When the Darkness Comes
This is really good stuff. A great blend of dungeon synth and Summoning-worship black metal, inspired by... the Harry Potter franchise. The album flows really nicely, the riffs are spot on, and the synths are gorgeous. It was like an instant 4.0.
Sodom Obsessed by Cruelty
Fun and nasty old-school thrash attack.
Sol Distorsion Sol Distorsion
Sol Kia Zos Ethos
What the hell is this, and what have I become? Seriously, this is nightmarishly shocking, yet I'm enjoying this wild ride.
Solanum (GER) Spectral Poetry (Demo)
Exciting, and majestic album, just what I expected from B. S. (half of Depressive Silence).
Solanum (GER) Spheres of Time
Spirit Adrift Divided by Darkness
Oh hello doom-Mastodon, nice riffs you have there.
Splendorius Tearful Misty Woods
Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto Getz/Gilberto
Alright, here it goes another 4.0. It was lovely chill "jazz" album (I'm too noob for the whole bossa nova thing). It feels like the melody pulls the percussions with it, and the result is a calmly flowing album + interesting to hear the piano almost always in the "background". Too bad I don't speak Portuguese.
Sterbend Dwelling Lifeless
Stirge Stirge vs. Dungeon Altar
Stormkeep Tales of Othertime
Another disciple who outshined its master, Emperor. An extremly well-balanced and finely written album lies behind the gorgeous artwork. Simply there is no reason to complain about - maybe it is not so "captivating" like other atmoblack acts like Evilfeast, Vargrav etc., but it is excellent work as it is!
Strid End of Life [demo]
Good to know that the first ever DSBM recording was excellent quality material.
Strid Strid [7'']
Way too short, but awesome EP.
Stygian Ruin Sulfuric Vapour From the Depths
"Exotic" sounds and old-schoolish atmosphere. Stygian Ruin's debut is a very interesting and somewhat charming release, covered by some sort of weird magic which gives a certain spooky feeling to this release.
Summoning Stronghold
Summoning Dol Guldur
Summoning Lugburz
Sundrugs Low
Sunn O))) Flight of the Behemoth
Huge and earthshaking guitar drones and exciting noise textures: a behemo)))th indeed.
Sunn O))) ØØ Void
Sunn O))) Agharthi 09-10
Sunn O))) Pyroclasts
Sunn O))) Metta, Benevolence BBC 6Music...
The best Sunn O))) release since Monoliths and Dimensions, which is a really big thing. The album behind the terrible title is a truly gigantic slow-motion catharsis. Lots of experimentation, great guests (Anna von Hauswold should tour with them more often, and please invite Attila Csihar too). Prepare for a deep relax, and the usual high-volume brain-massage through the walls of drones and distortion.
Sunn O))) Meets Nurse With Wound The Iron Soul of Nothing
Sventovit Longing for the Past
Pretty little album, with a humbly magical atmosphere. Very relaxing!
Synth Bard Gold Box Renditions
Synthosaurus Gigantic Throne
Taking dino synth to the next level, 'Gigantic Throne' is a super fun album.
System of a Down Toxicity
System of a Down Hypnotize
Taake Nattestid Ser Porten Vid
Super groovy, melodic and has a very enjoyable crispy production. Hoest is a trve riff master.
Taake Hordalands Doedskvad
Taake Over Bjoergvin Graater Himmerik
Taake Taake
Taake Noregs Vaapen
Taake Kulde
Tarot (AUS) The Warrior's Spell
It was a very fun psychedelic / progressive rock album, with awesome guitar leads (+tone), Hammond organs and so on.
Tarot (AUS) Reflections
Taste Taste
Tenhi Kauan
Not far from a 4.5 - maybe more synths could have done the trick, but it is still a marvelous dark folk album. "Hallavedet" and "Niin Auer Hiljaa Vie" were my most favourite songs.
Thangorodrim Prologue
All the early Thangorodrim-works have been remastered, and the result is very pleasing, and really have been brought together. This is a more ripe, and fullier complex, which certainly has its own highs and lows, but alltogether this is a fine and valuable musical experience for all the enthusiastic fans of Tolkien's work, and the dungeon synth genre.
The Atomic Bitchwax Scorpio
Some kind of groovy heavy rock / stoner metal, which is extremly entertaining. Each song is catchy, energic and may stuck in the listeners head. I'm sold.
The Avalanches Since I Left You
Bar background music: the album.
The Cold Domain Barbaric Dark Ages
The Flamingo Jones The 5th Floor Of The Tree
Pretty awesome psychedelic rock collection. Most of this is just a huge live jamming, and you can really feel how much these guys love what are they doing.
The Gitas Garland
Grunge is rarely this exciting. I know this band quite a while, but the re-discovery of this album was a rather nice feeling, and I pretty much love all of the presented songs 'ere.
The Haxan Cloak Midsommar (Original Score)
The Kovenant Nexus Polaris (as Covenant)
Cheesy as hell, but damn this riffs mega hard. Also the heavy synth driven and bass heavy production, and Hellhammer behind the drumkit makes this impossible to not love. 'Planetary Black Elements' and 'Cariots of Thunder' hit all the right spots...!
The Moon and Saturn The Moon and Saturn
The Necromancers Servants of the Salem Girl
The Rolling Stones Their Satanic Majesties Request
The Rolling Stones Singles 1965-1967
The Spirit Sounds from the Vortex
That kind of meloblack I really like. Reminded me a bit to Antestor: constantly flowing riffs, even some solos too. Solid output.
The Sword Warp Riders
The Terrible Fates Pursuing Thaumaturges
Very diverse and exciting dungeon synth release. Tons of different styles and instruments can be heard through these 10 songs, each one tells a chapter from a tale. If you love the soundtracks of The Witcher, the Zelda games or many other RPGs: this album is for you.
The True Werwolf Devil Crisis
Werwolf showed again with this release he's still relevant and remained as a standard point, a pillar within the Finnish BM scene. Tbh, I don't know why did he release this under The True Werwolf because this is full BM album~ Slaps nonetheless.
Thorns Trøndertun
Thorr's Hammer Dommedagsnatt
Thousand Foot Krutch The End Is Where We Begin
Thunderbolt / Kataxu Beyond Christianity / North
Thy Catafalque Roka Hasa Radio
Thy Catafalque Meta
Thy Catafalque Naiv
What an exciting album! The variety within is incredible, and the albums feels really "colorful" - like serious Belus (by Burzum) vibes on the first track and nice Berlin school synths in "V�t�" or "A valóság kazamatái" for example. Great guest vocals and so on, and the lyrical themes are very pretty. I expected something more lot more folk oriented, but the result was something more: lots of styles blended together embodying something never heard before.
And I feel guilty about the fact that I didn't really enjoyed every song, so I have a bit mixed feelings about this, but absolutely dominated by the positive side.
Thy Catafalque Zápor
5 tracks reworked from 'T?n? id? trlat' - it was technically guaranteed this will be good, and yet I was surprised how much the re-master meant. Such a pretty EP! And the heavier songs slap too!
Til Det Bergens Skyggene Til Det Bergens Skyggene
Timothy Fife Transcommunication
Gorgeous blend of Berlin-school electronics and drone music, executed perfectly with a super sweet production. I loved the analog synth sounds, and how dynamic the album is...!
Titan (US) I
Tomb of Annihilation End of Time
Dungeons and Dragons in my death metal? Hell yes!
Tomusz Escape
Tormentor Seventh Day Of Doom
Treasure Seeker Quest for the Secrets Beyond Time
Very nice, I'm impressed. Great medieval ambient release, very playful and adventurous, with pleasant Fief-ish vibes.
Tribulation Where the Gloom Becomes Sound
Catchy gothic black'n'roll? Yes, please!
Triptykon Eparistera Daimones
I sense a potential grower. It took me perhaps way too much time to get into Triptykon, but this was a rewarding challenge. This is a different kind of monster, despite this runs mostly on the very same "hardware". Less liturgical and more "alien" than how Celtic Frost ended, and I totally understand why does Tom believe this is more close to what he has done with Hellhammer than CF. Basically this felt like a refreshed continuation of his musical path which deserves the admiration.
Trist (GER) Willenskraft
Tristengrav II - Nychavgé
Triumph (RUS) Triumph
Trouble The Skull
Trouble Psalm 9
Interesting and amazing album, a bridge between the Candlemass-alike epic doom's and the thrash metal's realms. For a debut, it is shockingly well executed, and contains tons of massive riffs.
Trvth Inordinate and Surpassing
Tsjuder Throne of the Goat (2018 Version)
Tsjuder Norwegian Apocalypse
Ulaidh Provincial Kingdoms of Éire
Beautiful debut from Ulaidh, I'm most impressed. Soundwise, this respectfully follows to the old-school traditions, but has a slightly modern edge - and together the album builds an enchanting and mystical atmosphere... Very relaxing.
Ulcerate Shrines of Paralysis
Ulk Ulk (demo)
Ulthar Providence
It is a really good blackened death metal album, it has a perfect runtime, nice riffs and production. And bonus point for those Immortal-vibes.
Ulver Kveldssanger
Ulver Themes From William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Ulver Vargnatt
Ulver Lyckantropen Themes OST
Ulver The Norwegian National Opera
Ulver Childhood's End
Ulver The Assassination of Julius Caesar
Ulver Sic Transit Gloria Mundi
Ulver Drone Activity
So Ulver stepped into the territories of drone ambient music. 'True North' was a rather weak track, but the album builds up itself nicely, and finishes with the brilliant and meditative 'Exodus'. It was a pleasant and interesting experience.
Ulver Scary Muzak
The Norwegian Wolves reimagined and modernized John Carpenter's iconic spookscapes from the '78 classic, moreover they've sprinkled some Ulver-esque studio magic onto the whole thing and dropped some of their own compositions as well into the cauldron. "Scary Muzak" perfectly blends the mysterious and pumpkin-spiced spook with their smooth and dancey synth-pop.
Umbria Follow the ghost hand
Urthrax Cantrips
Uruk-Hai / Burzum The Fighting Uruk-Hai / Wotans Verhängnis
Vader Thy Messenger
Vale Minstrel Warden Of The Vale
Very-very strong folk ambient debut album, I really liked it. The production is very pleasant, it has nice instrumentation (especially the flutes are the most lovely) and has adventurous but relaxing atmosphere.
Vali Forlatt
It takes me back, when little garas was learning the ways of acoustic guitar in the music school. Atmospheric and very-well executed (dark) folk album - the "dark" is a bit uncertain, as it's not so gloomy, and a some sort of hispanic impact can be heard in some songs. Excellent album, nonetheless.
Vampyric Desolation Wolf Howl, Blood and Nightfall
Exactly my taste in dungeon drone: mysterious and very atmospheric. I got those Amnesia vibes, perfectly spooky.
Van Halen Van Halen
Vandalorum Flagellum Dei
Vangelis Antarctica
If the artic atmosphere could be emobdied in one album, this could be a strong contender for that role. Lovely soundscapes.
Vargrav (FIN) Netherstorm
Vargrav (FIN) Reign In Supreme Darkness
Various Artists Back in Black (Redux)
We must have been really good this year, otherwise I don't think we deserve this miracle. I never thought an entire album of AC/DC covers can be so much fun. This is about nothing but pure fun! Red Fang's take on "Hells Bells" the best cover ever.
Ved Buens Ende Written In Waters
Veligor Shadow of forgotten Realm
Venom Inc. Avé
Vindland Hanter Savet
Vinterdvala Historien om de sju trollgubbarna
True to burzumish traditions. It's like the early Burzum meets the modern ambient albums, with some extra field recordings. Fantastic, what a gem!
Vitamin X About To Crack
Vlakolak Mekrevtrozmbreh
Despite the minimalistic approach, Vlakolak stands as a really effectively scary project within the dungeon synth scene. This type of spookiness is really original, and I was hooked by its dense and cryptic atmosphere instantly.
Voslaarum Spirits of Xavara
Wake Confluence
More of this please - whatever is it! Post-metal with some... uh, grind? Anyway, this EP with the weird Windows logo is great.
Wallachian Cobwebs Hearken to the Moon Whisper
Wampyric Rites Demo II
Wampyric Rites .​.​.​In The Desolate Forest of Eternity
Wampyric Rites Reflections Of A Frostbitten Moon
Warmoon Lord Battlespells
Warmoon Lord/Lord Vrajitor effortlessly made yet another atmoblack masterpiece, like it's nothing. Trve '90s worship both in style and in production. LOTS of synths and the finest riffs you can find... among the best atmoblack releases in this year.
Warmoon Lord / Vultyrium Pure Cold Impurity
Split of the year everybody. Two very similarly and consistently good projects found each other, and the result simply slaps. The slightly atmospheric, traditional second wave heavy-riffing yet melodic style worked really well for both of them, and the album doesn't leave you anything to complain about.
Wehmut Wehmut
Great DSBM album, which blend a little post-rock into the overall picture.
West End Motel Bad with Names, Good with Faces​.
White Stones Kuarahy
Great jam! I really dig the guitars, the overdrive matches surprisingly well to the album's old-schoolish style. Great riffs (the proggy parts are tasty!), great production.
White Ward Love Exchange Failure
Willie Colon Lo Mato
Wilsumnes Upon the Altar of Sacrificial Blood
Windir 1184
Super solid, riff-centric meloblack release with just right amount of synths involved.
Windir Sogneriket
winter woods Mountain Of Unknown Gods
winter woods Bewitched In Black Moonlight
Winterlandschaft L'obscurité
Witch Witch
Super fun stoner metal/droom record. Simply: a good time guaranteed.
Witch Tomb Witch Tomb
Witch Tomb Incantation
Witchfinder General Death Penalty
(Nice cover). Really fun blend of doom and NWOBHM, a good time guaranteed.
Wobbler Dwellers of the Deep
Wolves in the Throne Room Celestial Lineage
Wolves in the Throne Room Celestite
Wolves in the Throne Room Thrice Woven
Wolves in the Throne Room Primordial Arcana
Best Wolves In The Throne Room release, without a doubt. They managed to mix their earlier sound and their more modern sound, which resulted in a synergy. This turned out to a bit folkish, bit heavier (the similarities to the punchiest Scandinavian riffs are very obvious), yet a very modern-sounding release (hats off for the great production). However, sometimes it felt they could have cut some of these songs shorter and add one or two other songs, because in my opinion there were some clear filler parts in songs like "Through Eternal Fields" and "Underworld Aurora", for example. And as the most positive thing: the song "Masters of Rain and Storm" near perfection! Probably their very best song too? Also, I'm happy they closed the album with an enchanting ambient piece. I'm satisfied.
Wongraven Fjelltronen
Wraith (USA-IN) Absolute Power
Wretched Lament A Portrait of the Plague Age
The "plague synth" album of 2020. In the steps of Foolish Fire, Wretched Lament presented the perfectly depressed, empty, mysterious and "shockingly real sound" of a pandemia. Personally I loved the classical gregorian chant samples, they gave it a certain liturgical and sacred touch, plus the deep dones made this release somehow... doomed.
Xasthur Nocturnal Poisoning
Xasthur A Darkened Winter
Mysterious and haunting. Very impressive for a first demo.
YOB Our Raw Heart
Yoshiko Sai Taiji no Yume
Zake zakè (扎克)
Humble little drone piece, which greatly represents my overall taste in the genre. The light, spacey, dreamy tracks with minimal and pulsating textures make this a pleasant massage for the mind!
Zoltan Kodaly Summer Night & Concerto for Orchestra
It's been a while the last time I listened to Kodály, and it felt great to do that so. 'Nyári este' is especially awesome.

3.5 great
Heaume Mortal Solstices
(DOLCH) Yggdrasil...Nature...Anthems
...and Oceans The Symmetry of I - The Circle of O
36 Music for Isolation
The title says it all: this is a simplistic, and comfortably melancholic drone album. And I think it captured really well that certain mood the artist aimed for.
77 Bright Gloom
A Compendium of Curiosities The Resting Place of Dreams
A very pleasant chiptune dungeon synth. I kinda sensed both old-school and neo-medieval elements in this album, which is a great thing.
Abandoned Places The Funereal Call
Abbath Abbath
Abehrum Ineffable
Abime Échos de Gloire
Abul Mogard Above All Dreams
I love the minimalist conception, the great textures and the ethereal sound.
AC/DC High Voltage
AC/DC Live at River Plate
Aequorea Tellurian
Pretty good mostly instrumental-centric album. Tons of solid riffs, but "not quite there yet".
Ahriman Osko
Alestorm Curse Of The Crystal Coconut
Not their best one, but I had great fun so there is no way I could give less than a 3.5. "We are the pirate metal drinking crew, F*CK YOU!"
Alloch Nathir The Emerald Grotto
Very calm and relaxing forest synth. Worked perfecty for reading, and I think it is a great match to any other activites as well to lift up a tired spirit.
Alloxylon Still and Sombre Death
Alluste Electric star
"Let's turn on the arpeggiator and hope for the best". Quite minimalistic, has a quite melancholic and bittersweet atmosphere, and perfectly avoids turning into purple-neon cheesiness - solid Berlin school release.
Alpha Chrome Yayo Spectral Hands
When retrowave, jazz, dark ambient, electronic, classical and dance music meet... the result is this album.
Alphagohm Oneiros
This is not an easy listen. This is like an atmospheric horror soundtrack. Deep; very well done.
Amorphis Halo
Under the Red Cloud 2.0, but less colorful and meant to be too "safe".
Ancient Svartalvheim
It was a great atmoblack album. Not flawless, but presented some good ideas and contains some really good riffs. It's a good jam time to time.
Ancient Trolltaar
Ancient Eerily Howling Winds [Demo]
Ancient Boreal Forest A Relic From The Sands of Time
So the second release of ABF this year is another great piece even though it follows a different concept, more of a medieval and black ambient mixture... still exciting one, though.
Andariel The Coldtears of Monolith
Arapaima North
An interesting, noisy, haunting soundtrack of a nightmare.
Arcana Liturgia Follow the old path
God bless Arcana Liturgia for still making great dungeon synth... This album is a well composed and polished piece of magic for the ears.
Arcane Voidsplitter Voice of the Stars
Archgoat Heavenly Vulva (Christ's Last Rites)
The Archgoat EPs are slightly less fun compared to their full-lengths, but otherwise it is still a great jam.
Archgoat Eternal Damnation Of Christ
Short but sweet jam. A few more song could have been better, though...
Ard Take Up My Bones
A quite unique post-doom record which blends a huge amount of Ulver worship into its sound: very interestingly, you can hear some elements from both Kveldssanger AND Shadows of the Sun by Ulver here, which might be a bit risky thing, but I'm really digging it. Let's start with a 3.5, but I think it's a grower.
Armus Valley of Shadows
Athame (HU) Hódító (Conqueror)
Audn Audn
It wasn't that really atmospheric, to be honest. More of a very enjoyable kind of post-black metal, and I'm really glad it exist. The self-titled track was clearly my favourite, but the whole album makes a generally strong release (the production is really nice and clear, big like for the audible bass) but it's not exactly my thing. Great debut, nonetheless.
Audn Vökudraumsins fangi
Axeman Arrive
Aylwin The Arch Holder
Pretty impressive stuff, despite it is just one 30 minutes long track. It is a "simple", yet effective, a very sweet listen - but that's all.
Azarath Diabolic Impious Evil
Bad Magick Superstition
It was a pretty fun hard rock EP, and damn, 'Cold Trip' was an extremly catchy song! I really hope these guys will come up with an LP soon, because they have great potential.
Baerdcyn Naegling
Lovely neo-folk stuff. Half improvised, half composed. It's really relaxing. If you dig Borg, you'll dig this too.
Baerdcyn The Bard's Fireside Tales
A really good instrumental neo-folk album, with strong medieval infulences. Colorful and immersive, 10/10 would jam this during D&D sessions.
Bagg Tussa баґґтусса
Baptism V: The Devil's Fire
Great riffs, and the clean vocals here and there sounds especially good - however the overall package package lacks something which would make it really memorable. Still, this is a great modern black metal release.
Basalte Vertige
Basmu Infernal Circles of the Sabbat
Bathory Bathory
Bathory Hammerheart
Bathory Twilight of the Gods
Batushka Litourgiya
Batushka Raskol
A pleasant surprise, I'd say. On the slower side of the genre, and the modern edge is still in Bathuska's sound since their member-split - and personally I enjoyed it. Hospodi was more exciting in my opinion, even though I can't say it was boring or anything, especially because the vocals sound pretty interesting all the way through due to the different styles, but the overall atmopshere was great also.
Batyushka Апостол
Begging Palm Accursed Abnormal
Beherit Electric Doom Synthesis
Beherit At The Devil's Studio 1990
Filth.
Behexen By the Blessing of Satan
Besvarjelsen Frost
This is a pretty fun band. A female singer with strong soul elements combined with psychedelic doomy rock is a surprisingly great combination. Not bad-not bad, but I think they can do better too.
Bewitcher Cursed Be Thy Kingdom
Cursed Be Thy Kingdom is a quite pleasant record, it offers a slightly bluesier/playful take on the usual sound of black-speed metal. Great production, good riffs and solos and tons of fun. It really-really reminded me to Gehennah sometimes, which is a great bonus.
Bill Fisher Mass Hypnosis and the Dark Triad
Very nice doomy stoner rock album, which sometimes blends heavier tones into the overall sound. However, not every song hits that hard, but generally it is a pleasantly heavy jam, and presents Bill Fisher's other creative side - proving he can write "more metal" riffs as well. Solid bobbing material.
Black Breath Heavy Breathing
Black Label Society Stronger Than Death
Black Magick SS Panzerwitch
Black Magick SS The Black Abyss
With a better production this could be easily another solid 4.0.
Black Sabbath Vol. 4
Black Sabbath Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Black Sabbath Live Evil
Great jam, "Live Evil" is a generally great live album. (Hearing Dio singing "Paranoid" was a really odd experience, but most of the time he performed the Ozzy-era songs well.)
Black Usurper Shadows Of The World
Blasphemy Fallen Angel of Doom
FILTH.
Blissful Stream Dead Religious
Blood Incantation Timewave Zero
Sci-fi vibe? Check. Good flow? Check. Drones and textures? Check. I really dig the quite "winter synth"-ish slow and somnolent flow. ("Ea: Third Movement" is especially great.) Good for relaxing, or just simply played in the background for mild activities.
Blood Lord Unwelcome Guests
Blut Aus Nord The Mystical Beast of Rebellion
Blut Aus Nord Hallucinogen
Bo Hansson Music Inspired by Lord Of The Rings
It was so relaxing I almost fell asleep. Interesting jazzy prog rock/electronic/ambient/whatever album.
Bone Awl An Obelisk Marks the Line
Boru Inertia
Botanist Ecosystem
Brii Sem Propósito
When you want to listen to a minimal techno, a black metal and a psychedelic rock album at once. It doesn't make much sense, but actually it kinda does.
Burzum Daudi Baldrs
Burzum Draugen - Rarities
Burzum Burzum
Burzum Fallen
Burzygory Burzygóry
Very mixed bag, but sounds very nice! Some mellow folk here and there, more epic soundscapes and sinister sections - Burzygory's self-titled has them all! A bit short, but the variety within is exceptional.
Butcher 666 Goats Carry My Chariot
It was fun. Especially the title track slaps hard. Sometimes felt a bit samey, but it was nice to hear the good ol' speed metal spirit alive.
Cain [RUS] Notforgiven
Cairdeas Fala Sons of the North
Pretty coold Scottish (/Australian?) black metal, which somewhere in between atmoblack and midtempo second wave stuff. It's pretty good, however a few songs feel a bit long and samey after a while, but it is surely a the better kind of BM.
Calderum The solace path
Pretty good punkish raw black metal / old-school dark ambient album. Great riffs, dense atmosphere.
Candlemass Candlemass
Less exciting than their first few, but alltogether this is HEAVY as fuck. Messiah was the best singer of Candlemass.
Candlemass Ancient Dreams
Carpathian Forest Rehearsal 1992
Carpathian Forest Likeim
The clean Nattefrost also rules. Despite the general strong criticism about this short EP, this is still a nice output. Heavily hard rock influenced BM, which always highly appreciated by me.
Casimir Liberski Cosmic Liberty
NES soundtracks meet some sweet jazz. Great stuff!
Castellan Demo I
A dungeon synth album which embodies exactly what I do love in dungeon synth. Very well done.
Caustic Wound Death Posture
100% what Bedex said. Not far from a 4.0 though.
Caverna Passages of the Endless Quest
Droney soundscapes and bits of Berlin-school electronics: I really like this branch of dungeon synth. Finally some original sounds, and the result could work well as a soundtrack for an RPG videogame (very garascore!). I didn't like the mastering, because everything was unnecessarily quiet for some reason - but on higher volumes this sounds very-very good.
Celtic Frost Into the Pandemonium
Great riffs and all, but there is way too much filler on this album.
Cepheide Les Echappées
This is definitely among the better kind of blackgaze releases. Les Echappées is a quite colorful album with plenty of atmosphere. While it suffers from the typical post-metal-boringness a little bit, but fortunately the album balances that flaw with great dissonant chords (Mystískaos worship?), deep reverby production (also synths! and not to mention the very pleasant flow, and good drumming. The album closer, La Nausée, is an especially great blackgaze piece.
Chaucerian Myth The Canterbury Tales
Chaucerian Myth Troilus and Criseyde
Chaucerian Myth The Faerie Queene
Chaucerian Myth Chaucerian Legends: The Epic of Beileag, Part II
Chaucerian Myth St. George and the Dragon
A bit back to the eariler style: more odd synths and neo-classical themes. I didn't like "The Dragon" that much as the other two compostions, but it was still a pleasant album. Good to see that Chaucerian Myth is still active!
Chihei Hatakeyama Minima Moralia
Very well made ambient album, which could help me relax a bit in very stressy times. I especially liked the involvement of real instruments, and many other artists should do that, imo. I couldn't pay full attention to it, but I think I will eventually bump up my rating in the future.
Cholosus Way Of Life
Cirith Ungol Forever Black
This was pretty exciting! Too bad that the vocals and the drumming is a bit boring after a while... But the riffs, gentlemen, the riffs!!!
Conan Monnos
Slow and really heavy. Conan's debut is a really slow sludge/doom record, which sometimes steps into drone metal territories too. Risky direction, as this might feel very boring for many listeners (and honestly in some moments it is kinda boring). Not perfect, but still an enjoyable album.
Conan Blood Eagle
Concubia Nocte Mohyly
I love every moment of this EP: starts with an old-school dungeon synth song, and turns into a fantastically well-flowing second wave BM worship. Shame they split-up according to Metallum.
Conqueror's Mourn No More for the Battletrance
Dungeon (synth?) music, especially focusing on real instruments and various samples. Through the modified/stretched/whatever sounds this project's mastermind managed to present an exciting and very unique product. Personally No More for the Balltetrance meant a very refreshing listening experience even though it contains melancholic tunes most of the time. A very nice farewell album.
Converge Axe to Fall
Coroner No More Color
This kinda fell in between the others, and didn't hook me that much as Mental Vortex, for example. However, the closer track ("Last Entertainment") was one of their most phenomenal works - atmospere and riffs.
Coroner R.I.P.
This was great fun. Not their strongest, but still a mega solid tech thrash album. (I loved the opener so much! More ambient, please!)
Cream Disraeli Gears
It was great, literally. I wouldn't say it was the very best from what I've heard from Clapton, though. (It'll be a great background album when some friends come over.)
Crimson Tower Aeternal Abyss
A really great quality debut, with some shockingly fantastic songs. Especially I mean "Witching Me" and "Candelabrum" - the melodies, the riffs, that medieval folk section in the former and the super fun vocals...! It sounds a bit cobwebby and bit low-budget, but the album offers is pure FUN. Whenever they'll enter the studio, I'm sure their next creation slay - still, very-very promising debut.
Crippled Fox In The Name Of Thrash
This is some real fun crossover thrash. Perfectly straight-forward, spiced with weird samples, but most importantly: these guys riff hard!
Criptadel / Toadlickers Tabernaculum
Finally, one of my favourite dungeon synth acts is back! Exactly those vibes I really hoped for, the same satisfying "underground" music with goblins and trolls! 5/5 barf at the end of the title track. But man, this was too short!
Crowbar Zero And Below
At first this seemed to be a strong 4.0, but the second half of the album was less memorable as expected (except the closer track, that was great!). Alltogheter 'Zero And Below' offers a really strong package, it just comes with a few hit'n'miss tracks, but hey, this got the riffs!
Crypt Master Reign of Decay
Cult of Luna Cult of Luna
Curse Upon a Prayer The Three Woes
Modern black metal rarely sounds this good - but this "theatrical" sound convinced me.
Dahlia's Tear Through the Nightfall Grandeur
Damaar Triumph Through Spears Of Sacrilege
Filthy, unlimited anger. Listen to this instead of Revenge, dudes.
Dark Cavern Dungeon Of Solitude
Dark Fortress Spectres from the Old World
Good stuff, the similarities to the Blasphemer-era Mayhem's and Mastodon's style are nice. Not bad!
Dark Funeral The Secrets of the Black Arts
Very consistent, "you get exactly what you wanted" type of meloblack.
Dark Funeral Where Shadows Forever Reign
A well-executed Dark Funeral album, with some really good songs, such as "Unchain My Soul" or "Beast Above Man". Another proof that the "blue era" albums are better than the "red ones".
Dark Vestige Songs From Saint Andrews Chapel
This is a dark, yet somewhat relaxing and highly atmospheric release, and I especially liked the medieval and middle-Eastern influences.
Dark Watcher Dark Watcher
This is pretty cool. Americana and black metal? I did not expect this could work so well together.
Dark Watcher Hymns Of A Godless Land
Normally americana is not exactly my thing - but Dark Watcher did it again: presenting it in the form that I can truly enjoy: black western! The clean(er) guitars always deliver the targeted "spice" (I am a big fan of that), and of course: this riffs! Grab your hat and your revolver, because things will get serious!
Darkspace Dark Space III
Darkthrone Transilvanian Hunger
Darkthrone Ravishing Grimness
Darkthrone F.O.A.D.
Darkthrone Circle the Wagons
Darkthrone Thulcandra
Darkthrone Sempiternal Past - The Darkthrone Demos
David Edren Music For Mimosa Pudica & Codariocalyx
Great plant-insipred electronic release! Greatly dinamic, a very enjoyable listen.
Deadlife Monotonous Sounds of Sadness
Death Scream Bloody Gore
Death Individual Thought Patterns
Demolition Hammer Tortured Existence
It's a nice thrash album, but isn't that exciting as their masterpiece from '92.
Demonaz March of the Norse
Dengue Dengue Dengue Siete Raices
Dethklok Dethalbum III
Devil Master Ecstasies of Never Ending Night
Interesting to note their singles were the least interesting songs on the album. It's still fun, especially the last three songs were my favourites, but in my opinion the observable tendency of getting more and more "polished" isn't the right path for this band. I miss the gritty, cobwebby raw spook like what was in the Manifestations demo compilation.
Diablery Candles
Really diverse work from the Greek black metallers. Lots of influentes can be heard, organized into a very straight-forward meloblack attack. Bits of melodic bridges, bits of dissonant chords, bits of folkish chants, bits of solos and a somewhat great production. However, it's a bit too long as well (above the one hour runtime) so it felt tiring after "The Piercing Ice".
Dio Lock up the Wolves
Dio Dream Evil
Dodheimsgard Supervillain Outcast
I had to re-rate this thing, since I've neglected it for so long. After some years, I believe this is far from their best outputs, but still a damn fine work: especially speaking about riffs. The tech-black-thrash-industrial side of the album is amazing, fast and furious. Kvohst on the vocal front wasn't entirely convincing - without those clean sung interludes the album could have been far-far better. And a few words about the bonus instrumental songs: they are fucking amazing!
Dodheimsgard Monumental Possession
Great album, but somehow I feel "less could have been more".
Dohlmen Dohlmen
Yes, some great doom! The obvious Sabbath, Pentagram etc. influences are clear from the very beginning, however the vocal front really stood out for me, because it felt so thrash metal-ish, but it worked out well with this style as well. Good production and generally I liked their style. (But stuff like jumping between minor and major chords f.e. in the first song was not gusta.)
Dracula Black Wings Over Transylvania
Sweet heavy metal EP, sounds exactly like unreleased Mercyful Fate stuff.
Dragged Into Sunlight Terminal Aggressor II
Super sinister noise/doomblack combo, whichwas a bit too short (even though it is 28 minutes long)! I could listen to some more, tbh. Anyway, it was definitely an interesting listen, and I'll keep an eye on these guys in the future.
Dream Division Legend Of Lizard Lake
Your soundtrack for a casual dungeon-dwelling AD&D campaign is here.
Drowning the Light A Gleam in the Eye of Set
Druad Vast Beneath the Skies
Druadan Forest The Loremasters Time
Dubioza Kolektiv Happy Machine
Dwalin Sorcery & Might
Tbh, this is the first Dwalin album I enjoyed all the way through. Basically the album sounds like Summoning, but just only the percussions and synths - and I really-really liked it!
Earthencloak Commune of the Gnomes
Edoras Lands of Shadows
It may seem very boring, but I really liked the minimalistic perspective of this album.
Electric Wizard Dopethrone
Emperor In the Nightside Eclipse
Emperor As the Shadows Rise
Empyreal Forest Divinations
The resemblances in style and in aesthetics to Depressive Silence made me like this instantly. Feels really old-school!
Emyn Muil Túrin Turambar Dagnir Glaurunga
Enforced At The Walls
Arh, this breaks my neck!! But it was basically: *Enforced:* "Can I copy your homework?" *Power Trip:* "Yeah just change it up a bit so it doesn't look obvious you copied."
Enforced Kill Grid
Super solid riff storm, with tight production. However, I felt this didn't really have outstanding songs, which in some way means it is consistently great, but in the other hand, it also means a certain "boredom" encoded in the album's DNA. Great fun, though.
Enslaved Yggdrasil
Erang Tome I
Erzebet La Ira del Infierno
You don't hear black metal albums from Columbia really often, but it turns out: Erzebet is a great band, which deserves some attention. Nice raw black metal EP with a really '90s-ish sound and great riffs.
Esoteric A Pyrrhic Existence
Estve Az enyészet ajtaja
Nice raw black metal demo, especially the "passionate" vocals are somewhat extraordinary. Generally, this band has some potential!
Eternal Champion Ravening Iron
Fun, but far less energic than the previous LP. Still worths to give this a few spins, because the guitarwork is excellent (=tons of tasty riffs).
Eternal Fear Ancient Woods
Europe War of Kings
Evilfeast Funeral Sorcery
Evilnox Songs Of Oblivion
Evilnox's latest is an exciting, strongly folk-oriented dungeon synth release, and I liked it. Lots of interesting folk instruments, deep drones and sound samples from old videogames... I bet it was lots of fun making it!
Evoken Antithesis of Light
Excilibrius Haunted Lands
Good stuff, it has that lovely Fief-ish vibe, but with more dynamic and dramatic / kinda cinematic sound. If there is an album which wound be perfect for a Diablo-copy, then this is it.
Exhumed Slaughtercult
Less fun than the debut, but still a damn solid goregrind album. The last songs slap really hard!
Exhumed Worming
That "Heartwork"-alike riff and guitar tone in the beginning... awesome! Fun little EP, but that's pretty much everything I could say about this. Go and make an LP instead!
Exhumed/Gruesome Twisted Horror
Eximperitus... Sahrartu
Unlike other bands with such "meme" names, this is actually fairly entertaining. Also, the "atmospheric death metal" tag is pretty accurate: it has some slower, ambient/doom moments, which fires up the usually boring chug-chugs, like in "Inqirad". Surprisingly good stuff.
Expander Neuropunk Boostergang
This sounds like punk, prog metal mixed together having Bryan Giles on vocals from Red Fang. It was fun, and definitely some original material, but in the end it gets a little bit too samey - especially because each song uses the same formula. That crust punk riff in the s/t track slaps so hard...!
Fabled Black Rider In The Garden Of The Wizard
A short yet very interesting release. Very minimalistic: two tracks of super chill synth music, and the rest is like some form of "music ASMR" - perhaps some xilophone/marimba-like instruments with noises made with some sticks(?), I'm not sure, but it was a very relaxing experience.
Falls of Rauros Patterns in Mythology
False Figure A Promised End
Fattyu Ritu Paganorum
Fief V
Fiendish Imp All Hallows Eve EP
Firienholt The Crownless
Firienholt By the Waters of Awakening
A very relaxing atmoblack journey to the unknown lands. The Tolkien-inspired Firenholt's debut is massively synth-driven, has a gorgeous, uplifting and magical atmosphere, with bits of Summoning and Caladan Brood-worship.
Flail Snail Spring Awakening
Fluisteraars Bloem
The cover art tempted me to check this, and was no disappointment. I liked the interesting mix having the bass so loud, and the post-black-ish vibe fortunately did not blunt the listening experience. One last note: personally I feel a little bit more gain could have been better on the guitars.
Foetus Nail
Great album, not that weird like what I expected. The full instrumental songs were the best imo (the opener was SO great!), and I liked the rest of it too, however I found one-two songs a bit annoying and overlong. The vocals are nice and wild, fits very well to this style. And the various samples sounded simply awesome, nice work!
Fogweaver Fogweaver
Fogweaver Spellwind
The comfortably melancholic atmosphere which fills the album is very captivating, and personally I found it very relaxing. A rather slow dungeon synth release, which even tough is very well composed, suffers from being a bit too samey.
Foolish Fire Grief as a Passion
Foolish Fire The Culture of Loss
Very moody, melancholic and depressing - yet an enjoyable listen, has a very unique atmosphere. The "plague synth" tag is very accurate.
Forest Altar Contemplation
Forest Shrine Forest Shrine
Very relaxing dungeon synth (and a bit of atmoblack) release. It was a very enjoyable listen, I liked the production but most especially the overall (kinda old-school) atmosphere of it.
Forest Silence The Third Winter
Forest Wanderer A Tribute To Burzum
Forgotten Woods The Curse of Mankind
FossaDelRumore Tafari
This was a very interesting album, very unique: a shady mix of classic drone music with industrial elements, with a strong rhythm section which is very close to tribal music. The whole thing is a pulsating, hypnotising mixture. Very interesting.
Frost (HU) Deathtree Mystery
Frost-Rimed Iron The Fire of Conquest
This sounds exactly like the soundtrack of an old-school RPG. Each instrument brings back that special vibe of the early 2000s, and that's the only down-side of the release as well: it gets a bit samey after a while. (One extra note: some instruments sound a bit tweaked reaching higher octaves, which was weird.)
Frozen Winds Necromantic Arts
Funeral Tears The World We Lost
Fustilarian All This Promiscuous Decadence
The example for a well-executed modern-sounding black metal release. The riffs speak for themselves, while the production is very-very tight and clean. A very straight-forward work, so don't expect atmospheric passages or whatsoever. A noteworthy debut!
Gaahls Wyrd Bergen Nov '15
Gargoyle (IT) Hail to the Necrodoom
Great blend of Devil Master, Mortuary Drape and Darkthrone. Bits of death rockish, bit punky black metal-kind-of-an-album.
Gatecreeper Gatecreeper
Gatecreeper Sweltering Madness
Gelure The Candlelight Tomes
This is a fine dungeon synth album. I have heard better and worse, but the essential magical aura is present. I had a very odd feeling listening to this, like a constant deja vu, as it felt I've heard this previously but I certainly didn't.
Ghost Opus Eponymous
Ghost Infestissumam
Ghost If You Have Ghost
Ghost Meliora
Ghost Impera
Let's start with a 3.5. Impera is a very two-faced album: it's either very good, or embarassing, but definitely the good side weighs more. When the '80s worship is in action (where you'll hear classic heavy metal, hard rock and pop rock) the album delivers ultra catchy melodies, and re-creates that sweet old-school vibe. But there is the bad side... other than "Call Me Little Sunshine", the singles are shit. For real, those songs are not great at all. Also there is "Darkness at the Heart of My Love" which is a shockingly cringe pop song and totally feels out of place. Not to mention, the James Bond soundtrack wannabe classical sections totally broke the flow as well. If this could have been an entirely "'80s magic worship" album by Ghost, then there'd be nothing to complain about. But when it's good, it's *very* good!
Ghost Veil Sleeping Garden
Glass Sigils Self​-​Titled
Glistening #38 'Half Empty'
Glory In The Shadows Glory In The Shadows
Gloryhammer Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards
Gloryhammer Legends From Beyond the Galactic Terror.
Gnipahalan / Evilfeast Split
Raw atmoblack 2021 edition. Previously, I never heard about Gnipahalan eariler, but in this split I think I have a good reason to find out more. Evilfeast presented another fantastic and majestic piece with strong riffs and splendid atmosphere. (Please release a new LP already!)
Goblin Priest Dank Vision Sewer Crawl
Super good chiptune dungeon synth release, probably one of the bests I've heard. Sounds exactly like an old video game soundtrack. Very energic and the old-school aesthetics are spot on.
Gorgoroth Pentagram
There is a quite big contrast between the two halves of this album: personally I found the first half quite boring, meanwhile I greatly enjoyed the second half - more variety, especially in tempo and simply better riffs. However, Hat's vocals were solid all the way through.
Gorgoroth Destroyer
Standing between 3.5 and 4.0, Destroyer... is a very standard black metal release, which combines pretty much all the stereotypical traits of black metal. Still an enjoyable release which sometimes gets really heavy through delivering some really solid riffs.
Gospel of the Horns Realm of the Damned
Great LP, but interestingly I found the EPs more exciting and fun than this. Great jam, though.
Gravebomb Rot In Putrid Filth
Graven Perished and Forgotten
Green Lung Black Harvest
Super fun stoner album, however it's not that great as their debut was since it feels a bit samey and personally I hoped for some experimentation. Black Harvest offers some great jams though, such as "Graveyard Sun", and the album's last two: "Doomsayer" and "Born to a Dying World". Tom Templar got some extra points from me, as his performance was simply excellent, I really liked his singing in this one.
Gris Il Était Une Forêt...
Gruesome Twisted Prayers
Guild Of Lore Winterstead
Guild Of Lore Leaving Winterstead
Guild Of Lore Storm Haven
Guild Of Lore Autumn Macabre
Guild Of Lore Wandering Tales
100% the typical Guild Of Lore quality.
Gullinbursti Mythical Metallurgy
Nice album, sounds like the mixture of Fief and Criptadel. I kinda prefer the latter in this specific concept, but this is still a very enjoyable album!
Hajduk Свобода
Hasperim Here Lies A Kingdom In Ruins
Hath Of Rot And Ruin
Have Mercy (MD) Armageddon Descends
Havukruunu Kuu Erkylän Yllä
The old and new unites. "Kuu Erkylän Yllä" pretty much showed the entired Havukruunu's spectrum as in it they presented the band's earlier sound with additional elements which were introduced in ""Uinuos Syömein Sota"". Enjoyable release, but due to the possibly high expectations (yeah, ""Uinuos Syömein Sota"" was something really special) this might feel "a bit out of breath". However, this EP also contains some typical fiery Havukruunu riffs, so there is no reason to complain.
Hedge Wizard More True Than Time Thought
Helheim Rignir
Great blackened viking prog rock, I'd say. Great riffs, great vocals and great ideas. One or two songs were a bit dull compared to the others, but generally this is a very good album with an interesting melancholic atmosphere.
Hell (USA) I
Diabolic filth. The overall atmosphere is so heavy in this one - this hits like falling stones, which can push you under the nine hells. I liked the huge sound, and the "very well dosed chaos" (-I can't word this feeling better). This kinda reminded me to Sunn O))) (feel the distortio)))n!!), also I think some Sleep influences can be heard in here.
Helleruin War Upon Man
Finally, some good old-fashioned black metal. Simple setup, but the riffs speak for themselves. I can't highlight any specific element why is it so great - it's simply very-well made. Noteworthy debut, I hope we can hear more stuff like this in the future.
Hellhammer Apocalyptic Raids
The remaster is such a sweet listen, but I kinda prefer the grittier sound of Demon Entrails over this. Still an iconic release, with near infinite replay value.
Hermith Dernier souffle
Dungeon synth with an immersive atmosphere: I felt really inspired by this. Like soundtracks for deep catacombs or emotional scenes etc.
Hexelwir Honey Moon And Blackened Stars
Great, strongly folk-medieval oriented dungeon synth album. A bit lengthy, but very-well composed work.
Hiemal Best of Hiemal
Hiemal Afterglow
Hiemal The Long Road Back
Hiemal Wanderings Within Forests of Despondency II
Hiemal Arcane Ruins Become Spruce and Moss
High on Fire Surrounded By Thieves
High on Fire Bat Salad
Title song is a huge jam, the covers are great fun. Alltogether very fun EP. (Plus I love this
artwork!)
Hiidenhauta Noitia on Minun Sukuni
Hiroshi Yoshimura Green
Great ambient/electronic piece, with pretty old-school synths and with a gentle touch of field recordings. Alltogether the album has a rather slower tempo, which makes it very pleasant for reading, studying, relaxing etc.
Hirsi These Foreign Shores
Hobbit Places In Middle Earth (demo)
Holy Fawn The Black Moon
Super chill shoegaze EP. If the right amount of ambient music is involved, then it makes everything better - and that was proven true, again. I greatly enjoyed it, too bad it was just 3 songs long.
Hope Drone Void Lustre
Horna Pimeyden Hehku
Horna Musta Kaipuu
Horna Askel Lähempänä Saatanaa
The first half wasn't that memorable, however the second half is amazing. When they go mid-tempo... ah, that is really punchy! Alltogether it was a great experience, definitely would revisit it later.
Horna / Peste Noire Horna / Peste Noire
Horna / Pure Split
Hostlov Til Sorg Tar Oss
Hostlov Perpetual Darkness
A bit samey, but it has some real banger songs! A pretty good early-Burzum clone.
Hour Of Thirteen A Knell Within The Crypt
Hulder Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasantry
Pretty cool black metal album, with some synths here and there and an overall demo-ish sound. Not enough clean singing though!
I Am A Lake Of Burning Orchids Innocence
A great mixture of noise and ambient music, definitely not a prosy album. The high contrast between the rough and harsh noise and the eeire (and kinda light) ambiences is very exciting, and combining them was a brave attempt, but it turned out very good.
Ice Golem Quest To The Ice Castle
Igorrr Spirituality and Distortion
It has its highs and lows: for example the (gated) drums are getting a bit annoying after a while, since they sound pretty much the same... and yeah, way too modern for my taste. But the experimental side of the album is pretty fun.
Immortal Blizzard Beasts
Immortal The Seventh Date of Blashyrkh
A very enjoyable live album by one of the greatest black metallers from Norway. Pretty nice sound and recording audio, Abbath is funny as always, and the setlist is beyond fantastic.
Impaled Nazarene Ugra-Karma
Impaled Nazarene Nihil
Fairly standard black metal album which runs on high tempo from the very beginning until to the very end (so pretty much like an Immortal album). Quite melodic and they even did some fine solos too. Moreover, this had some really De Mysteriis-alike moments, which was a huge improvement from the previous few albums. Alexi Laiho was great (RIP). I have no idea why did they include "Assault The Weak", because that song was simply horrible...
Impaled Nazarene Vigorous And Liberating Death
Crazier album cover = the better type of Impaled Nazarene album. Cool black-tharsh release, which is fortunately more melodic than many of the previous albums. They should finally accept the fact: this is the direction they should follow (the main riff of the title track is so damn good!) Also, I'd like to give some extra bonus points for the sick bass lines and tone, more BM albums need that.
Impaled Nazarene Eight Headed Serpent
One of their better ones. They more or less turned back to their more grind-ish sound - and because of that, the album runs on reeeeeally high speed. Good studio quality (the drums sounds really tight!), and tons of riffs = I'm satisfied.
Impending Doom Death Will Reign
Inoriand The First Warm Day
Irithyll The Foreshadowing​
Iron Reagan Dark Days Ahead
Iron Reagan/Gatecreeper Split
Isengard Traditional Doom Cult
11 minutes of pure fun representing why is Fenriz one of the greatest blessings for humanity ever. Especially the second song "The Fright" is the special: Fenriz went full death rock in that one!! I must get this vinyl sometime...
Isengard Vårjevndøgn
It was super fun album, and surprisingly: not even a single black metal song at sight! Death rock, heavy metal, punk and even an indie folk song in the end... just woah. The Pentagram/Sabbath worship songs were clearly my favourites, but generally it was a very pleasant old-school mix of various styles and influences presented by Fenriz.
Izmor Лютовѣй
Jaaportit Kauan koskematon
Jackyl Jackyl
Jim Kirkwood Tenebrae​-​A Presence of Light
I'm a little bit disappointed. The album has a gorgeous sound, but probably due to the very long runtime I became less and less interested. However, the more droney sounds and sections brought great new "colors" into the overall atmospere - and to be honest, I loved them the most. Still a very nice Berlin school dungeon synth album.
Jo Wandrini Governor Of The North
Joe Hisaishi Howl's Moving Castle
Joe Hisaishi My Neighbor Totoro
Joe Hisaishi The Wind Rises
Jon Hopkins Music for Psychedelic Therapy
Lit and incense, lay/sit down and enjoy these frequencies. Jon Hopkins' latest offering is a very lovely, slow meditating album, building from excellent ethereal drones, vocals, pianos and samples. The title says it all. The only weaker part is the talk in "Sit Around The Fire", but that's just nitpicking from my side.
Judas Iscariot To Embrace the Corpses Bleeding
Kanonenfieber Menschenmühle
Pretty cool post-black release with an interesting WW1-oriented theme. It is generally great with a great production, but a bit varied in quality - but that's just my personal taste (like sometimes the vocals feel too much etc.). Oh, and sick WW1 sound samples too!
Karmiciel Wszy Torre Bert
Kate Teague Kate Teague
Kawir Father Sun Mother Moon
Kawir Adrasteia
Kayo Dot Moss Grew on the Swords and Plowshares Alike
When the vocals are not terribly annoying and totally out of place... it is actially a quite pleasant album.
Kekht Arakh Night & Love
Kkht Arkh's debut LP is quite muddy atmoblack album, where the ambient sections are the real treats. Outstandingly calm and enchanting synth melodies, and great samples. My favourite was the song "Love" which feels like listening to a melting glacial and frozen heart...beautiful.
Khull Call to Arms
Pretty cool epic-ish dungeon synth album from the more neo-classical oriented vein of the genre. Not groundbreakingly good, but still delivers the desired vibe.
King Diamond Abigail
King Diamond The Dark Sides
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Live in Sydney '21
It was a very cool set, and sounded pretty damn tight. Even if you're not so interested about it, at least check "K.G.L.W." live, it's awesome.
Klanen Yours Is the Light by Which My Spirit Is
Finally a non-potato-kvlt release by this artist = basically the only listenable one, which is actually pretty cool. Sharp-sounding riffage, I wish more USBM bands could write something this potent.
Klaus Schulze Moondawn
Knell of Dawn We Are Made Of Stars
Kriegsmaschine Apocalypticists
The better Mgla and/or Deathspell Omega. At least this doesn't suck.
Krigere Wolf Infinite Cosmic Evocation
Krolok Your Soul is Mine / Towards the Duskportals
Whenever I see Bla Lugosi on the cover = instant like.
L'Acephale L’Acephale
Interesting album, but sometimes gets very boring. The last two songs are superb, I'd like to
hear more like those!
Labored Breath Dyspnea
Pretty good psychedelic black metal / drone mixture, in a Wormlust-alike style. The more melodic sections were really good additions to the overall soundscape, and it could elevate the listening experience. Pretty short work though, I'm curious what comes next.
Laetitia In Holocaust I Fall With the Saints
Great modern-sounding black metal EP. I really liked the overall sound the excellent riffs plus a pleasant production. Also bonus points for the stunning artwork.
Lamentation Fullmoon Over Faerhaaven
Lamp of Murmuur Cursed Deambulations of the Nocturnal Entities
It was great, the artist behind LoM showed us he can write some really good dungeon synth if he wants to.
Lantlos .neon
This is cool.
Lathliss Demo II
Leander A Journey Lost to Time
Sweet, relaxing fantasy-inspired release. It was kinda like a soundtrack from a long-lost old-school videogame (or movie?) mixed with lo-fi ambiences and a tiny bit of classical music. I can highly recommend it as a background music for reading.
Lichmagick Lichmagick
Limp Bizkit Still Sucks
Guilty pleasure album of 2021? The first half is unironically pretty damn good, and the lyrics genuinelly made me laugh sometimes. All these + that certain nostalgia factor kinda sold it to me.
Living Colour Vivid
It was such a nice album. Funky hard rock meets '80s metal? Whatever, this was great. The gap between the big hits and the filler songs was huge, but the better songs will stuck in your head for sure.
Lord Lovidicus Autumnal Winds And Times Of Yore
Lord Mantis Death Mask
Ah~ this is filthy. Pretty heavy and unique, but I think it is not exactly my taste. I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Lord of Pagathorn Age of Curse
Another great band from Finland. Tight riffing and a good time, in the vein of the faster branch of the genre - I sensed some Immortal and perhaps Havukruunu (the less folky) in here, which is nice.
Lothric Adversarial Light
Madball Set It Off
Nothing amazing but its not mediocre either. [2] Yeah, alltogether the album was a great listen, but nothing really stood out for me.
Madball Hardcore Lives
Magic Lantern (DS) Skeleton Key
A pleasantly melodic dungeon synth piece, which strongly builds upon 8-bit music elements. Anyone who's into old-school videogame soundtracks may like this as well.
Malauriu Morte
Strong release - from the beginning to the end. Sadly, it's way too short...
Malokarpatan Krupinské Ohne
That stolen Scorpions riff in the "Na černém kuoni sme lítali firmamentem" is the most fun thing ever I've heard in black metal. Very mixed bag, and I really enjoyed the various influences presented, but somehow it kinda lacks some punch. Bonus points for the great samples, and for the Carpathian folk elements (plus on the cover).
Marblebog Kietlen
Rather slow and melancholic, 'Kietlen' is a pretty good BM release with obvious early-Burzum influences.
Marduk Plague Angel
Especially good on vocal front (new vocalist, Mortuus) which sometimes gets really Aldrahn-ish here and there, which is quite an achievement. More slower, mid-tempo riffs are really great, but I kinda miss the death metal production from World Funeral. This could have been on the same level in quality or even better(?)
Marduk Frontschwein
It's pretty good, however I think it's a quite unbalanced release: it has a few outstanding tracks (like the fun disco-beat fueled The Blonde Beast), while the rest is like a collection of typical Mardukian speedrun-black-metal songs.
Master's Hammer Jilemnický Okultista
Some songs are a bit too monotonous, but alltogether it was a fun album! I love the cheesy synths. Pretty nice old-school first wave BM stuff, especially the last two tracks were my favourites.
Mastodon Once More 'Round the Sun
Mayhem Psywar
Mayhem Esoteric Warfare
Mayhem Live in Zeitz
I feel this could be a grower, since compared to the other live releases with the legendary lineup, this sounds arguably the best. Very "reverby", but despite that I think this is a very enjoyable one.
Mayhem Atavistic Black Disorder / Kommando
It was pretty fun. The first part was a pretty logical continuation of Daemon, and the punk side brought more speed into the whole thing. It was gret to hear Maniac and Billy again, both of them sounded great!
Medieval Rites Norse Mythology: A Viking Saga
A heartwarming piece of medieval folk music with ambient vibes. Great producion and pretty melodies. This is one of those albums you want to play in the background when you're about to read a book.
Megadeth Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!
Megadeth Cryptic Writings
Megadeth So Far, So Good... So What!
Megadeth Dystopia
Meshuggah I
Metallica ...And Justice for All
Metallica The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited
Midieval Midieval
Midnight Odyssey Forest Mourners
Pretty good atmoblack release. More or less reminded me to Summoning and to the early Xasthur releases.
Misertus Outland
Misthyrming Söngvar elds og óreiðu
It's a good album, but not as shocking as expected. The riffs are fine, and the ambient interludes were a great addition as they gave more depth to this creation.
Mizmor Cairn
Moaning Shadows From The Darkest Heritage (EP)
Moaning Shadows Between the Lines
Monosymbiosis 1
Slow, dense, deep and sinister. Very good horror drone!
Mooncitadel Moon Calls to Wander the Winter's Majesty
Moonless Nights In Old Chambers Of Castle Wewelsburg
Moonsorrow Suden uni
Is this Alestorm in black metal disguise? Damn, those pirates! Jokes aside: this is just some harmless fun. Not that memorable as expected, but definitely fun.
Morbid Carnage Glory To Satan Soldiers
Mork Eremittens Dal
Morketsvind Storhet av Morke
Super fun D-beat EP with a little touch of dungeon synth. 100% garascore.
Mortiis Blood And Thunder
Moukeprabbeli Bogs And Frogs And Nightly Fog
This sounds VERY-VERY similar to Krampusnacht, but with a different concept. (Same artist, maybe?) Anyway, I loved the atmosphere (which is a bit creepy, but playful at the same time) and simply the sound of this release.
Moulderyawn From Whence the Woods...
Mr. Bungle California
Entertaining album, for sure. I get it why do people *love* it, but that's why I "just like it". Playful and exciting, but maybe it's a bit too much at once. I can totally see myself returning to this time to time, but it won't become a regular jam for me.
Mulla جن
I dig this exotic / Eastern take, and in general this album has an interesting atmosphere. Raw and angry and has surprisingly cool bass lines. The stunning artwork caught my interest, and I'm glad I stayed for a complete listen.
Municipal Waste The Art of Partying
Municipal Waste Slime and Punishment
Mutiilation Remains Of A Ruined, Dead, Cursed Soul
This was pretty bad at the beginning, but it got drastically better from the second half of the album.
Mutiilation Vampires of Black Imperial Blood
It's pretty straight-forward BM as it is. Super raw, but in the best way. Personally I dug probably the vocals the most.
Myrkur Mareridt
Mythmaker The Hero's Journey
Despite the dungeon synth tag on Bandcamp, I won't count this as a DS release. This is basically programmed folk/classical music, exactly what you hear in modern video games, or movies. And this is a very good release! The production is spot on, everything sound nice and clean. Exciting themes, dense cinematic atmosphere - kinda reminded me to the good ol' Gothic's soundtrack (the videogame).
Nachtjaeger Night Hunters
A short, calm and melancholic dungeon synth release. Maybe if it'd be longer then I could give it a better rating.
Nameless Mist Nameless Mist II
This is some real good DSBM, which delivers the expected emotional tone along with great riffs and the sombre atmosphere.
Nanowar of Steel Stairway to Valhalla
Napalm Death Harmony Corruption
Nasty death-grind album, which falls most of the time to the territory of in-yo-face type of death metal.
Napalm Death Apex Predator - Easy Meat
It's all over the place, but still riffs mega hard.
Nargaroth Black Metal Ist Krieg (A Dedication Monument)
Nargaroth Geliebte des Regens
Neckbeard Deathcamp White Nationalism is for Basement Dwelling Losers
I'm not even mad, but this surely has some cool riffs, and better than tons of lo-fi bm bands.
Necrophobic Mark of the Necrogram
Entertaining, but significantly unbalanced release. The better moments on this album are on masterclass level, while the rest isn't bad, but far less memorable than the good parts. TSAAAR BOMBBBA!!
Nifheldhur Of Wolf and Battle
Strong debut, and I don't really get the '90s-vibes despite what's written in the project's description on Bandcamp... The overall sound is like an exciting mixture of Olgerd + Murgrind + Thangorodrim, which is very nice.
Night Foundation Way of Life
Night of the Vampire Eternal Night
This demo really has some style. It's an ultra tasty mixture of black metal, post-punk, gothic and darkwave! Yes, for real, all that once!
Night Tapes Dream Forever In Glorious Stereo
Nimbifer Demo I
Nimbifer Demo II
Great second wave worship demo, it has everything what makes a release stand out from the other boring BM albums on Bandcamp: good riffs and the aesthetics (cover, lo-fi production etc.).
No Point in Living Last Promise
Great atmo-DSBM album with some original attributes. The additional string intruments and the groovier riffs blend together surprisingly well.
NONE Life Has Gone On Long Enough
Nthng Shine
Really nice stuff. I especially loved the first song, "Shine". Such ethereal (aquatic?) ambient pieces are my weaknesses, I just deeply love 'em. The rest was also good! I wasn't really aware this kind of techno exists, so it was a nice surprise for me. The additional noises added a nice texture to the whole thing, but those reverby pad synths outshined everything.
Obituary Obituary
Odd Person The flowers of arcadia
The cover art catched my attention, and the music turned out to be pretty good as well. A nice, playful experimentation with the effects on tape loops and small keyboard melodies.
OLD (US) Modern Scum
Old Sorcery An Inkling of Void
A rather slow, dreamlike, and I think pretty winter synth-ish EP. A perfect choice for a gloomy day - a relaxing experience.
Old Tower The Rise of the Specter
Old Wizard Old Wizard II
Medieval ambient and charming atmospheres: the second Old Wizard album delivered everything I needed.
Olgerd Dagor-Nuin-Giliath
Orkenblut Mysteria Arkana, Bd. II
Deep, dark and mysterious. Orkenblut's second release is a very interesting one with odd sounds and noises with an omnious atmosphere.
Ozzy Osbourne Blizzard of Ozz
Pagan Altar Mythical & Magical
Panzerfaust The Suns of Perdition - Chapter I: War, Horrid War
Pathway Песни смерти
Pentagram Curious Volume
It was basically the only album in the band's discography I did not like that much - and it is surprising, since it contains Bobby's better performances. Unlike in Last Rites, Curious Volume's more modern approach isn't exactly that exciting, strong heavy rock influences aside. Interestingly enough. I had the exact same feeling with the latest Candlemass albums as well: there is nothing particularly bad about this, simply the overall package lacks some sparks - the lack of more doomy songs like "The Devil's Playground" leaves this album more...empty. It's an enjoyable album for a few listens, though.
Peste (IT) Peste
Peste Noire Le Retour Des Pastoureaux
Smells like Camembert cheese? Le Retour Des Pastoureaux is a wild ride, but that's the default option for a Peste Noire album. The result is a less black metal, but more post-punk-with-a-rooster-vocalist oriented release - which sounds KINDA thrash-ish or post-rock-ish or even shoegaze-ish in certain moments. I can honestly say I can't understand shit, but I still dig Famine's riffs.
Pierre Schaeffer Cinq études de bruits
This is amazing in a very weird way. Doing this stuff in '48 more than revolutionary!
Pig Destroyer The Octagonal Stairway
It was great! The Pig Destroyer dudes created another more experimental EP, with a fresh and exciting sound. The first half contains more typical grind tracks, including their latest singles, accompanied by a huge punch in the second half which contains lots of noise, drones and sound samples - hats off, Blake Harrison!
Precious (USA) He Has Abandoned Us
Profanum Vulgaris 2009​-​2012
Profecium Socialismo Satánico
Hesitantly, but here it goes a 3.5. This sounds great: tasty black/thrash metal riffs, and oh my, that beautiful old-school bass tone!! Hats off to the guitarist and the bassist, they sounded exceptionally good in this record. *But the biggest problems are: the vocals are very-very weak, the synths are a bit annoying and I can't take these guys seriously... just have a look on the album's title or the antifa lyrics... and it sounded pretty funny in Spanish*. But I love old-school stuff BM, so alltogether it was a very great listen.
Pumpkinlord Tricks 'N' Treats
Pupil Slicer Mirrors
Solid work, I like this. Despite a few forgettable songs, the whole package is quite slappy and was an interesting listen. The "Husk", "Vilified", "Worthless" trio and the closer, "Collective Unconscious" were my absolute favourites from this.
Rabor Боги и Герои / Gods and Heroes
Red Fang Only Ghosts
Rings of Saturn Dingir
River Tiber Indigo
Rivers Ablaze Blood Canvas
Pretty cool progressive... blackened death metal kind of thing! It has atmosphere, it has the riffs, it has the modern and old-school elements too... yeah, this is just simply great, enjoyed it.
Riviere de Corps Tout est chaos
It was some super cool noise / ambient album, with an interesting punkish attitude. Unique stuff.
Rotting Christ Khronos
Solid post-gothic-era Rotting Christ album, which runs on a moderated tempo and focuses most of the time on the melodies - quite similarly to their modern-era approach. The guitarwork is really good here (pretty jammy!), but the flat production dampened the overall experience for me.
Rotting Christ Genesis
Very solid record, but they were "not quite there yet". The more thrashier Sanctus Diavolos - alpha version.
Ruin Dweller Brasov
Runeshard Dreaming Spire
Running Wild Under Jolly Roger
Great album, I really enjoyed it. Maybe with a better production this could have punched harder, but since I have no info about how the album was made, I accept it in this way. The vocals were very interesting to me, because sounded like a mixture of Dave Mustaine's vocals presented in Summoning'a style and it worked really well in this record. 80s heavy metal never disappoints.
Running Wild Gates to Purgatory
This album is the perfect example of what "great" (3.5) means.
RuYYn RüYYn
A great black metal release with a clear modern edge (which falls close to being post-black without being post-black, got it, huh?).
Rvbbervvitch Mastvrbations Malveillantes
This is among the most diabolical and horrifying albums I've ever heard - like an audible anxiety attack. Madly sinister and noisy atmosphere... but from the very similar elements what elevated Paysage d'Hiver or Darkspace to a legendary status. But this is FAR more terrifying.
Sabbra The Sun​,​The Moon​,​The Stars
It took me too much time to realise why did I find it so odd: no guitars. Interesting
technique, and the result is great. This is punky, this is black, and...this is very short.
Slightly under 4.0.
Saint Vitus Born Too Late
This was reeeeeeally slow! Wino's singing was a cool change. I'll drop a 3.5 on this first, but I think it will grow on me later.
Saor Forgotten Paths
Satan Earth Infernal
It offers plenty of great riffs and good ideas, but I feel less impressed by this compared to Cruel Magic. The reason behind this might come from the lengthier songs, shorter runtime for them could have been more fitting, in my opinion. Still a very entertaining NWOBH album though, and might be a grower too.
Satanic Warmaster Opferblut
Satanic Warmaster Revelation
Satyricon Volcano
Satyricon Intermezzo II
Pretty cool EP, with lots of experimentation. The last industrial/dark ambient song is one of the most among of the most exciting stuff the band ever released, and tbh, it really sounds exactly like a Thorns-song...
Satyricon The Shadowthrone
Satyricon The Age Of Nero
Satyricon The Forest Is My Throne
Satyricon Live At The Opera
Fancyricon: The opera album.
Satyricon Deep Calleth Upon Deep
Scary Larry Demo 2
Scorpions Rock Believer
These guys are ageless, especially Klaus Meine's vocie. Incredible! Steady rock'n'roll album with some really catchy songs and some less interesting ones too. If only the cover wouldn't be so damn ugly... lol.
Seeds of Iblis Anti Quran Rituals
Pretty simple yet enjoyable black metal release. It has a charming old-school vibe with a certain exotic aftertaste. Also bonus points for the classical piano sections.
Selvhat Gjennom mørket famlende
Sequestered Keep The Vale of Ruined Towers
Sequestered Keep Magic Amidst the Falling Leaves
Serment Chante, O Flamme de la Liberte
Great atmoblack release with great production and Cascadian-vibes (a bit).
Serpent Column Invicta
Serpent Column Mirror In Darkness
Serpent's Isle Archaic Oceans
Serpent's Isle Tales of Frigid Waters
Seth La Morsure du Christ
Good atmoblack stuff. It kinda lost a bit of steam in the end, but it is still a perfectly executed release. Might be a grower.
SevenSins Legends Of Kazakhstan
Strong, but a bit short (33 minutes) debut. This rather thrashy BM was the very first one I've heard from Kazakhstan, but it definitely won't be the last. I expected some folky interludes or something, but sadly there wasn't any. Anyway, the riffs are solid, so I can't complain.
Seventh Circle (US) Cycle of Violence
Ahhhh, this is a filthy beast and I love it! Really heavy death/doom with hardcore elements. Shame it is just 3 songs long...
Shadowland (RUS) A
Shield Roar Single Combat
Very nice old-school black metal and dungeon synth EP. The ambient pieces are very atmospheric and I pretty much enjoyed them, however the black metal songs are pretty great as well - they have that certain early-Burzum vibe and style I really like. More of this, please.
Shining (SWE) X - Varg Utan Flock
Even though this is considered a "safe" album, this is far better than countless of others. Songs like 'Jag r Din Fiende' are solid jams.
Sick Puppies Dressed Up as Life
Sidereal Fortress The Hermit's Hole
Nice concept album, I found especially the atmosphere captivating, and the folk parts are very enjoyable as well. These more simple compostions fit better to this project, imo.
Sign Of Evil Psychodelic Horror
Pretty fun death rock/black metal album with exciting sound samples. Even though it masterfully captured that certain atmosphere what (usually) can be found at similar bands, but it was a little bit too short for my taste and a few songs were rather weak.
SiJ Floating Clouds
Skeleton Pyramid Of Skulls
Sick demo. It is more punkier and generally less exciting than their s/t LP, but also riffs hard.
Slayer God Hates Us All
Soltri The Rising of the King Arthur
Soltri XV. Atra Mors
Soraksan When tigers smoked pipes...
Sorcery (US) Sinister Soldiers
Interesting mixture of heavy metal and proto-doom with a pleasant psychedelic rock flavour. And the fact it is from '78 is crazy!
Spectral Castle I've always been here, as far as I remember​.​.​.
Spectral Lore and Mare Cognitum Sol
Pretty cosmic black metal album (maybe a bit blackgazey?) The amount of reverb in the mix was a little bit too much for my taste and the second song was a bit weaker than expected. Around 40 minutes in, I felt the album is getting a bit overlong. The long space ambient song in the end was very pleasing though, finishing the album with great elegancy.
Stara Rzeka Cień chmury nad ukrytym polem
Very mixed bag of experimental sounds, which somehow forms a coherent picture. It offers interesting electronics, post-rock and even bits of metal, so if you want to try something weird, Stara Rzeka is for you.
Steel Bearing Hand Slay In Hell
Nasty and punishing speed-death album with incredible guitar tone. They perfectly inserted the speed metal into old-school death metal. The tempo changes and some of their riffs kinda reminded me to Darkthrone as well, but anyhow: this is a great album. Not the most exciting thing you'll hear this year, but surely you can have a good time with this.
Stirge Stirge
Stirge Stirge II
Stone Axe Stay of Execution
Easy to digest, lightweight but greatly entertaining hard rock release. You will hear some Sabbath, Lynrd Skynyrd, AC/DC here, so you can expect riffy, ballady, and bluesy stuff within and everything in between. Nothing extraordinary here though, just some careless fun.
Stone Marrow Messiah, Deceiver
Stormkeep Galdrum
Very-very nice "atmoblack" album - like in having 50-50% of dungeon synth and black metal. They kinda riff for sure, but I think the synth-play was far nicer than everything else. Also, it was a way too short release, in my opinion.
Striges Verum Veterum
Everything about this screams "this is a Shatraug project!" - which is a great thing. However, I somehow feel he kept his best riffs for Horna, and he gave less effort into this band. The production is very modern, and to be honest I liked it, and most importantly each song flows well. However, alltogether the release feels a bit overlong which dampens the listening experience, and aiming through a 5 minutes longtime per song was also a bit overconfidient. Needless to say, this is a very enjoyable album, and anyone who enjoys the more traditional second wave direction filled with melodies shall like this album.
Sulphosfurous Solitary Key
Great first-wave-ish black metal with strong stoner and black'n'roll influences. Great jam.
Sunn O))) The Grimmrobe Demos (Demo)
Sunn O))) White2
Sunn O))) Dømkirke
Sunn O))) Oracle
Sunn O))) Solstitium Fulminate
Sunn O))) Life Metal
Sunn O))) and Ulver Terrestrials
Sunsunmoon Demons in Medieval Times
Svaltvinter Hädangången
Somewhere between 3.0 and 3.5, but decided to give the better for the riffs. And this album really reminded me to an other one, but I can't remember which band was it... anyway, solid work.
Svarograd Magical machinery
Svartheim Black Metal Finland
A noteworthy debut, which was an excellent background music-material, where the old-school vibes and the wintry atmosphere triumphs. It reminded me quite a lot to Selvhat-type of DSBM through a very specific melancholic and cold feeling, whick hooked me instantly. It offers nothing groundbreaking - it is "just" a very-well crafted black metal release. Sometimes that's what I need!
Svrm Розпад
It mostly just flew by. Basically, the album has a very consitent flow and atmosphere, with nearly zero "pinnacles". So, yeah, very good for atmosphere, but for me it lacked something "punchy"(?). Perfect background black metal album.
Synthosaurus Rise of the Synthosaurs
Synthosaurus Reptical Wrath
Synthosaurus Secret of the Lost Land
Synthosaurus Metalosauric Crush
Synthosaurus Prehistoric Gods
System of a Down Protect The Land/Genocidal Humanoidz
Good to hear them again, Genocidal Humanoidz was clearly superior (a black metal-ish riff?!) but both songs felt emotional enough for me. I'm just glad they're back. (...but I feel kinda sad too. Best wishes to the people in Artsakh, 2020 is very rough for them.)
Szivilizs Ds Tagtroumschtärbä (demo)
Taake Kong Vinter
Taake / Deathcult Jaertegn (Split)
Great split, Hoest is awesome as usual - and surprisingly, the cover songs were the real treat! Deathcult didn't really convince me, but their Beherit cover sounded awesome. Nice jam! m/
Taake / Helheim Henholdsvis
I really like how this turned out. Both sides showed what are they all about, and especially the Helheim side meant some surprises. Cool stuff, but due to the short runtime, I can't give more than 3.5.
Talog Ukleta Kotlina
Tangorodrim Justus Ex Fide Vivit
Tar'Goraan Hollow Hearts
Tardigrada Widrstand
Some really fine DSBM. Interestingly enough, I liked the shorter tracks more, especially songs like "Leere" - where some ethereal synths can be heard in the background, giving the album a certain atmospheric depth. If it would be less reverby (why blunting the riffs this much?!), it'd be a solid 4.0 too.
Teen Daze Four More Years
Temple of Void The World That Was
Yup, this is good. I dig the vocals, pretty standard but fits to the whole thing pretty well. The riffs are good, (yes it chugs m/), but I felt the guitars get a bit boring after a while... these solo-kinda-things weren't that great, tbh. But I'm glad it has some pretty synths in some songs, great addition to the sound!
Tender Defender Tender Defender
Thangorodrim Towers of the Teeth (Demo)
The Cursed Cold One The Hag Of The Sea
Great diversity in a quite short release. Lots of very good ideas, and original sounds - especially the percussions.
The Future Sound of London Yage 2019
The House of Capricorn The Rivers and the Rain
The Mothers of Invention One Size Fits All
It was...quite fun. When it got prog, jazzy and bluesy I really liked it. The rest was...okay.
The Noisy Freaks Straight Life
The Obsessed Sacred
The Police Reggatta de Blanc
~Sending out an SOS~ The album is mostly super catchy, and the bass is incredibly good, tbh: one of the greatests I've ever heard. The second half of the album lacks some spark, shame... but alltogether this is a great and light album, relaxing background music for working and so on.
The Rolling Stones Aftermath
The Rolling Stones Blue and Lonesome
Back to their roots, and it sounded very good. If you got bored by this, then you have problems.
The Sisters of Mercy Vision Thing
Solid gothic jam.
The Soviet Space Dog Project History of Radio
The Trees Community Christ Tree
The True Werwolf / Druadan Forest Split
Thokkian Vortex Thy Throne Is Mine
Pretty diverse release, especially in the second half. The riffing is absolutely follows the "typical" Norwegian style, and some melodies sounds really familiar (not recycled though!). The non-BM songs are fun and/or pretty - good addition. And I think they definitely made this album more memorable than otherwise.
Thornwing Solitary Madness in Crystalline Caverns
Thule thule Under the spell of
Thy Darkened Shade Liber Lvcifer I: Khem Sedjet
Alltogether this is a great black metal album, but I couldn't rate it above 3.5. The reason is simple: even though I dig the riffs, the overall album gets a bit samey and overlong after a while. The chanting vocals are great addition, but the harsh vocals are very-very boring. And despite the fast speed, somehow it wasn't "snappy" enough.
Trvth A Galvanizing Derivation
Trvth Process of Adaptation
Great black metal from the Captain, as usual. "Acceptance" is one of my most favourite Trvth track.
Tsjuder Demonic Possession
Just slightly under 4.0. Tons of heavy riffs (some are pretty DM alike) -so the usual high quality Tsjuder. The only problem is the mixing: the vocals and the drums are chocking the guitar, and the bass is nearly inaudible.
TSM aka This Soft Machine On & On / This Place Was Meant For Me
Ulver Wars of the Roses
Umbria Demo
Umbria The Sleeping Wizard
Pretty, dinamic and enchanting work from Umbria - less folk/classical oriented than the previous LP, more on the fantasy synth side. And I sensed some similarities to Mirkwood, and Chaucerian Myth, which is very welcomed. Also: bonus points best artwork of the year, so far.
Unholy Vampyric Slaughter Sect Order of the Rose Cross
Uppstigning Heros (An ascension in 4 chapters)
Pretty good, and really massive dungeon synth album (9 songs, and like the half of them are over 15 mintes long). A slowly flowing, meditating and operates mostly with the old-school sound palette. The longer songs get a bit repetitive after a while in my opinion, maybe cutting a few mintes down on them could have been better. A relaxing listen nonetheless.
Ur Pale Sea Synth Ensemble
Ur Pale Water Tombs & Crimson Horizons
Urrnil Killer of malevolence (demo)
Urrnil Fabularum
Utred Forest
Utred Citadel
Utred Tribute
Uuntar Voorvaderverering
Nice atmoblack album, really reminded me to Evilfeast but these guys have a bit different style. This release a bit "blunt" sound, putting the guitars more into the background was a bit strange at first but I think it work really well in building up the atmosphere. The album has a pretty nice, organic drum sound and the chanting type of vocals sounded also great. Talented band, took me some time to get into their sound.
Vader Dark Age
Vaelastrasz Adventures of the Red Whelpling
Vagtazo Halottkemek A semmi kapuin dorombolve
This is really wild stuff. Ethno-punk/shaman-punk or whatever is it, one thing is sure: this band has a very unique sound. Not an easy listening, (especially if you don't get the lyrics...) but this is an unforgettable experience. The album slowly crawls inside your head if you give it the required patience...
Vampyric Tyrant Das Schwert Der Sterne
1: Second wave worship done right. 2: Black metal album cover done right.
Vangelis The Dragon
The Dragon is like listening to electronic, psychedelic, folk and ambient music at the same time. It has an interesting atmosphere for sure, and it's just simply hard to describe these tones. However, the result is quite charming.
Various Artists (Ambient) Healing Sounds II: A compilation for those in need
Varvitos Forbidden Lost Lore
Finally something noteworthy greatness. Built on sonical atmosphere of the old-school and hints of medieval melodies - eactly what I like in dungeon synth. This also reminded me a bit to the soundtrack of Gothic (my favourite RPG of all time), so the additional nostalgia factor also had an impact why did I like this.
Velnias Scion of Aether
Album is a continous proggy doom riff-fest, with a small amount of black metal influences. Great jam!
Venom Hell
Vetur Vist
A pretty black metal/folk release - but a hard riffing one! Iceland's output is super massive lately.
Vile Haint Ol' Hatchie Haint
It was pretty cool! The (kinda) lo-fi production generated a thick atmosphere, and I really enjoyed the riffs as well - I believe some of the more experimental Mayhem albums were impactful influences for this band. However, personally I found the vocals way too oppressive in the mix, which was quite tiring after a while. They should have cut back from the volume and there was no need for this kind of enourmous reverb as well. All in all it was great, an impressive debut.
Vitamin X Age Of Paranoia
Very-well made hardcore release, not exactly that good as "About To Crack" was, but still, this is a heavy and fun album.
Vlad Tepes War Funeral March
Exactly what Scuro said. It is some more great and original raw BM.
Vltimas Something Wicked Marches In
It was a definitely great album, but looking at the overall package: it has its downsides. Especially the often mentioned vocals, which was clearly the weakest aspect in my opinion. It just felt simply out of pace a little bit, maybe a different vocal style could have been a better option. Also, I'm still not a big fan of these modernish drum sounds, but fortunately Blasphemer's insanely good riffs outshined everything.
Void (BRA) The Realms of the Unreal
Vorga Striving Toward Oblivion
Not bad, not bad! Very straight-forward Mardukian ultra-fast riffages, (so it kinda lacks peak moments), and this is a very-well balanced release. Maybe "Fool_s Paradise" stood out the most for me, that song is a mega banger.
Voslaarum Secrets from Darklight Tower
Voslaarum Immortal Blood
Vulthum Shadowvoid
A surprisingly good album. It could be summarized as "the Brazilian Immortal", showing clear resemblances to Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism for example.
Wake Devouring Ruin
Whatever is this: this is heavy. The different songs lengths are pretty odd, I feel some songs could have been shorter.
Wampyric Solitude Carpathian Melancholy
I'm a simple man, and I do really enjoy these kind of ethereal drone/ambient albums!
Warlock Triumph and Agony
Heavy metal bands with female vocalist tend to be terribly boring, but it's good to find some exceptions time-to-time. Quite entertaining hard rock/heavy metal mix, with some truly earworm melodies included. Not shockingly exciting, but I could totally dig this on occasional jams or as background music on a summery afternoon with beer in hand.
Wasted Space exsanguination
Weather Report Mysterious Traveller
It was a surely nice and lovely album, but it felt a little bit "hollow" to me. But it still had a nice impact on my mood while working, though - so it stays as a pretty background music for me.
Werendia Werendia
Werendia Småland
Werendia Folkvandringen
A kinda "one trick pony" type of band, but they perform that trick very well. I love these rather slow and melancholic atmoblack releases, and Werendia is very good at it. It was the best one (so far) from all the 3 releases, slightly more varied and interesting than the others. Pretty calm, and it was great background music for working. Great band!
Whispering Mirrors The Stuff of Old Dreams
It was really nice, but some songs (I assume both sides are seamless mixes of several songs) felt a bit out of place = less inspired / magical. However, this is an interesting album which mixes old-school and modern sounds.
Whitesnake Slip of the Tongue
The cheesiness and the catchiness of this album is fantastic - I liked it.
Winter Into Darkness
Nasty sound, depressing aura. Funeral Hellhammer?
winter woods Adirondack Evil
winter woods Adirondack Evil 2
Witch Claw Summoning of the Heksevin
Witch Haunt A Full Moon Shone On Hallows Eve
The best halloween dungeon synth album of the year award goes to Witch Haunt!
Witch Tomb Lord of Blizzards
Witchsteel Mountain of the Red Flame
I'm a bit disappointed. I'm a big fan of the artist, since he brought many great releases into the scene - but this is a straight-up Thangorodrim "copy"... and the spoken lines are quite meh. However, the album's aura and the aesthetical elements are damn fine and enjoyable. Plus I love the artwork.
Wode Wode
Great mix of heavy metal and melodic black. Very pleasant listen, the guitars have some extra, making this band sound original.
Wolves in the Throne Room Diadem of 12 Stars
Wooden Memory The Lost Stories
Wydraddear The Castle Above The Mist
Slowly flowing, grim and melancholic and most importantly: unique. Wydraddear's debut is something else, a dungeon synth album which built covered itself with an atmosphere I haven't heard before, and built it from old-school-ish sounds. It's not easy to capture what is it exactly by words, you have to experience it by yourself.
Xasthur Telepathic With The Deceased
Xasthur Subject To Change
Xibalba Años En Infierno
I was tempted by the sick cover, stayed for the riffs.
Yellow Eyes Rare Field Ceiling
Yith Passage
Imagine a slower, much doomier Paysage d'Hiver with hints of sludge, yet still operating with a similarly cold and grim atmosphere: this is that album.
YRRE Luhlae x The Witch
Pretty good black ambient album with some extra sludge, and of course spiced with a really dark atmosphere.
Ysengrin Parergon
It was a great dungeon synth release, the overall sound perfectly imitates the old-school aesthetics, so generally it sounds like something from straight out from the '90s. A bit repetitive, and not each song is that exciting, but definitely worth the time.
Zakk Sabbath Vertigo
Exactly what manosg said. His take on 'The Wizard' is: a w e s o m e.
Zmyrna Zmyrna
Very cool debut EP. A trvely old-school sound, and cold atmosphere - I'm curious what comes next.
Zombi Shape Shift

3.0 good
0 (Null) Null & Void
It has its moments, but somehow it lacks a consistency. The atmosphere is alright, but time to time it loses from the magic and becomes a bit boring. However, it was a very promising debut. (And I'm glad to see the improvement in their first LP.)
1914 Where Fear and Weapons Meet
It's... okay, but didn't really impress me that much.
A Monumental Black Statue Aere perennius
A Swarm of the Sun The Woods
It was good, I liked the dark atmosphere, but the album did not offer anything extraordinary. The vocals were really awkward, which is a huge minus.
Abbath Outstrider
Abysa Searemony
Ethereal, calm and relaxing. I can't get enough from these aquatic-inspired droney releases!
AC/DC Black Ice
AC/DC Power Up
Adiaphora Nebra
The reason why was this tagged as dungeon synth is a mystery to me, however it was a pretty chill guitar-centered ambient release, which varies between calm ambiences and darker atmospheres.
Agnes Obel Myopia
It's alright.
Akercocke Words That Go Unspoken...
Akerius Arcanum Hermeticum
It was nice, the album flows very nicely but I always had that certain feeling of "did I hear this somewhere before?".
Alcest Écailles De Lune
Alcest got better later.
Alcest Shelter
Alestorm Black Sails at Midnight
Alestorm Sunset on the Golden Age
Alpha Drone Alpha Drone
Amiensus Restoration
Amn Lands of Intrigue
I loved the analog synth sounds and effects, but this album was too hollow for me... Very nice concept (please, more Faern-based dungeon synth!), but the some of the song titles sound more exciting than certain tracks, and I'm quite sad about to say that.
An Old Sad Ghost Speertraeger - A Rotten Compilation
Ancient Det Glemte Riket
Ancient Boreal Forest Grim Ages
Ancient Mastery The Chosen One
This was still fun, especially the cheesy synths are simply perfect. But I can't understand the change in the production... bass full, no mids, low high? RIP guitars :[
Archgoat The Light-Devouring Darkness
The only sligtly worse Archgoat album. It also delivers their signature styled riffs and flith, however this felt their least memorable work, in my opinion.
Archgoat All Christianity Ends
"Let's travel back in time to when they have released The Light-Devouring Darkness!" A pretty fast and heavy riffing, and quite unnecessarily raw EP... It's good - for once. Their '21 LP was far-far better.
Archosaur One Million Years B​.​C.
This was an okay-ish concept-demo, but hey: more dino synth is always good.
Argol Six Spells
Arkham Hearse The Starry Wisdom
A dungeon synth LSD trip? It was a wild one, but pretty interesting.
Arnaut Pavle Arnaut Pavle
Ars Magna Umbrae Throne Between Worlds
Not exactly that original, but it's still a good disso-black album with hints of psychedelia within.
Arthuros Ithildin
Arthuros Goddess
It's nice, I guess.
Asagraum Dawn of Infinite Fire
Nice second wave worship, but forgettable. Each song stands very well on its own, but the overall package is very-very samey.
Ashmadai Symphonies for the Kings
Augie March Sunset Studies
Azusa Loop of Yesterdays
While I acknowledge these guys talent and great ideas they showed in this album - but I did not enjoy this as much as I expected. I might be way too eclectic, but... I have no intention to change about this, haha! The riffs and the song structures are fairly interesting and exciting ("Kill / Destroy" is a great jam m/), but on the other side I'm not entirely satisfied with the vocals (I mean the harsh vocals, I loved the clean sections), and with the production. (Those "clicking" and overly compressed drums are the most horryfing thing ever in modern metal...)
Balrog [FRA] The Dark Tower
Barad-Dur Druid's Grove
I expected something greatly different (because the project's name in the first place), but I liked this. A pretty neo-folkish ambient piece.
Bathory The Return of the Darkness and Evil
Bathory Octagon
Bathory Destroyer of Worlds
I gave this another spin, and mos surprisingly: I felt I must re-rate this, because it was actually so much better than how I remembered. Too bad the atmosphere was gone after the 3 songs, but at least the heavy riffs remained. With better vocals, this could have been a very good record.
Batushka Panihida
Beartooth Aggressive
Behexen My Soul For His Glory
It has few weaker songs, but still a pretty solid black metal release. Closer track is mega good, though.
Belliciste Deathsworn (demo)
Nothing extraordinary, it is just a trad. black metal demo (kinda copies Satanic Warmaster). Good for a listen.
Beneath Ancient Branches Demo 1
Berdische Demo
A charming little piece of dungeon noise. I loved those old-school Yamaha synths from the very beginning, and the minimalistic percussion (which sounds like it was sampled from some cans or I don't know) was oddly cool.
Bibio Phantom Brickworks
Pretty. The piano wasn't always a good addition though.
Big|Brave A Gaze Among Them
Bill Fisher Hallucinations of a Higher Truth
Interesting change after the heavier stoner metal album. Entirely psychedelic/soul focused work, where the piano and the vocals rule over everything. Next to some cool "covers" of Church Of The Cosmic Skull songs, this offers a handful of mega chill tracks, which I found quite relaxing. And that's quite the downhill as well, since I nearly fell asleep during the album, hah! Not exactly my territory, but I can totally see the appeal of this release.
Black Altar Black Altar
Black Flag Damaged
Black Wound To the Endless Depths (demo)
Filthy sounding death/doom, but they're still clearly in demo phase. This needs some polishing, as it is not "memorable enough" yet. This has some potential, though.
Blackmage Baader-Meinhof
Well, this is not bad at all. I expected an epic failure from Ghostemane, but this is in exactly in the same league with the hordes of one-man BM bands on Bandcamp. Only the last track stood out for me, but it was nice.
Blink-182 California (Deluxe Edition)
Blood Incantation Hidden History of the Human Race
Bloodbath Nightmares Made Flesh
It is tasty, but somehow the second half feels drastically better than the other half, which made me lower my overall rating.
BLVCK CEILING THRONE
Borg Ugglor i Mossen
The "darker" Borg was enjoyable as well, but it wasn't that captivating for me like the others.
Brutus Greenshield Sharpened Buds Like Lances
It was more of an experimental electronics album than dungeon synth... it had dungeonish elements here and there, but I wouldn't say they had anything more in common. It has nice textures and a very melancholic vibe, but after a while it was a bit tiring for me. It was good for once.
Burzum From the Depths of Darkness
Burzum Sol austan, Mani vestan
Burzum Balders Død (Dauði Baldrs demo)
Cabaret Voltaire Micro-Phonies
This didn't revolutionized my music taste, but this is pretty nice. Those synths are tasty!
Candlekeep The Death of the Gatekeeper
It was lovely, but I think it wasn't that exciting to deserve a 3.5. Hopefully the next release shall have it!
Candlemass Green Valley
Good to seem them still kickin', but I'm a bit doubtful about its replay value. It's a good listen, and the hardcore fans will enjoy this anyway.
Captain's Lair Weird Travels
Like the half of the album is really interesting, while the other part is unexpectedly unspectacular. The old-school synths were still enough to satisfy me.
Cara Neir Portals to a Better, Dead World
It's fine I guess. The last two songs were probably the best, but the opener was so awful that almost made me skip the entire thing. And I really disliked the guitar tone in the whole album... NOT ENOUGH GAIN! But the more audible bass melodies are nice.
Celestial Conjuration Demo I
Celestial Conjuration Demo II
It's alright. Nice lo-fi atmoblack, but too short and lacks some fantasy. Good for one listen, but that's all.
Celtic Frost Vanity/Nemesis
Surely very far from being the best album in the Celtic Frost discography, but Vanity/Nemesis is a... kinda good album. A more of a mixed bag in terms of quality, but let's focus what came afterwards.
Chainmail Chainmail
Pretty cool debut with a lovely old-schoolish atmosphere.
Chelsea Wolfe Birth of Violence
Children's Book When Fate Was Fair
(Terrible band name.) It's an okay dungeon synth album. I liked the overall sound of it, but the songwriting is all over the place, there is no driving concept or theme within plus most of these tracks are way too short, so it gives almost no opportunity to get into the atmosphere.
Church of the Cosmic Skull Everybody's Going to Die
Well, it is clearly their weakest. Not bad, but the songs are way less exciting and memorable like in the previous albums. Nyeh. I think it could have been much better if they would give more time for this record to "polish" these songs a bit more.
Still, this is a very good classic psychedelic rock album.
Church of the Cosmic Skull There Is No Time
It was sooooo unbalanced! Far less exciting than their first two LPs, but fortunately it has its great moments too. The album's opener seemed like a great start, but it was quite a downslide... but the last three songs totally saved it from being a disappointment. Especially Last Words of a Dying God impressed me, with its elegantly omnious atmosphere (bit like if ABBA would meet early Ghost) (Oh that choir line could send down shivers down your spine..!) Generally not bad, but sadly far from their best outputs in terms of entertainment (...and grooviness. Give us more distorted guitars!)
Cisza If It Is True What the Prophets Write
Clown Core Toilet
Clown Core van
It was rad. Their typical weirdness is still entertaining. I sensed some improvement: more and better sax solos, and very nice "rest" songs, like 'tears of god' and 'end' - the latter was especially very sweet for me, because I love such ethereal drones. Alltogether, the experimental grind-jazz-whatever duo still makes interesting music, but I don't see myself jamming it very often though.
Coffin Moth Night Of The Witch
Coldworld Melancholie²
Coniferous Myst Forest Rehearsal 5​.​20​.​19
Conjurer (UK) Mire
Corpus Hibernus As The Blood Freezes In My Veins
Count Raven The Sixth Storm
While it has some really cool moments, most of the time The Sixth Storm fell way too often into the hard rock territory for my taste. Moreover, it had some songs which were simply really boring.
Count Shirintsu Welcome home, Count Shirintsu
Count Shirintsu Spirit of the Earth
Cult of Frey By The Blood of Odin: Part 1 - Midgard
A traditional viking metal album with pleasant old-school vibes, but a little bit cheesy.
Cyhyraeth (UK) Cyhyraeth
Nice little old-schoolish DS EP, very harmonic and peaceful. But way too short to have a strong impact on me.
Dagor-Nuin-Giliath First Age
Dark Ages Chronicle of the Plague
Dark Funeral Attera Totus Sanctus
Slightly above average. Not great, but definitely not bad either.
Dark Funeral Diabolis Interium
Tight, but gets very samey after a while. After the super consistent and sharp 'Vobiscum Satanas', this is a bit disappointing. Less variety, but at least it offers great bangers too. "Thus I Have Spoken" is awesome (and again, their cover songs are very fun too - see: bonus tracks).
Dark Funeral We Are the Apocalypse
"Hey, I've seen this one!" Please greet "Where Shadows Forever Reign 2.0." - this is pretty much the continuation of their previous release, even the song structures seem very familiar. Nothing extraordinary here at all, just brutal drumming (I really don't want to be their drummer, that is a killer task!) some very casual tremolo-centric riffs and Heljarmadr's ultra-audible vocals (I mean, you can hear out every single word from the lyrics, that's quite rare in black metal). It's definitely not bad, but not great either. If you don't expect much from this, then good time guaranteed.
Darkthrone NWOBHM
Darkthrone Dark Thrones and Black Flags
Darkthrone Land of Frost
Darkthrone Cromlech
Dead To A Dying World Elegy
Deceiver Legion Varjoissa
The riffs are good, but the fillers aren't. The unnecessary noisy parts / weirdo vocal experiments really broke the flow of the album. Still, this riffs hard, so I can't say I didn't like it.
Deepforest Blackvalley
Deftones Ohms
It was a good listen, but I don't really think I'll come back for this more than a few times.
Delmak-O Cerulean Tomb
Nice Berlin-school/drone mixture album. I especially liked the concept behind it, but alltogether the music wasn't that exciting to me... Bonus points for the awesome cover, though.
Demolition Hammer Time Bomb
I think it's quite good, and I would never call it an ugly album. But it is a definite "one-trick-pony" though, since it lacks variety. However, it kinda riffs but it's far from their best works in terms of quality. But: I dig this more groovy/hardcore-ish sound.
Deorc Weg The Sleepwalk Sessions
Dethklok The Doomstar Requiem
Digre (SWE) Saint Moses the Black
DIM (CA) Compendium III
A very different DIM album. It's more grim and has an interesting sound which accompanies the regular medieval ambient sounds - not really dungeon synth-ish in my opinion. It was a pleasant listen though, nothing is wrong with it, just not my style.
DIM (CA) Compendium Reliquiae
A sligthly disappointing (farewell?) album from the Canadian bard. It just often felt "hollow", as manosg already said like something is missing. But fortunately, in songs like "To Look Back Upon a Stony Gate" the classic medieval spirit was still present! Relaxing medieval ambience with hints of melancholy. Thank you everything, Dim.
Disciple of Dagon Demo
District Unknown [Anatomy of a 24 Hour Lifetime]
Dodheimsgard Kronet Til Konge
Donny Benet Mr. Experience
The 5.0 album art. + Damn, this guy is the master of the bass. I love those cheesy synths... too bad the vocals are a bit lame, however the choruses are very catchy.
Dream Widow Dream Widow
Other than the last two songs, this barely entertained me despite it's not bad at all. Maybe the movie will be more successful.
Dungeon Altar The Hunter
Quite good little EP - anyone who likes chiptune dungeon synth would enjoy this.
Dungeontroll Journey through the Forest of Uzohr
Even though this was made as a joke, to form the "epitope" of those shitty 11 minute dungeon synth demos: this is good one. Just some minimal, well composed melodies.
Dungeontroll Tales from the Northern Chamber
Dungeontroll From the Shining Kingdom of Uzohr
Dvne Etemen Ænka
It's alright, I guess.
Earth Machine Clad in a Forest of Dark Fir
I definitely enjoyed this DS demo from the modern branch of the genre. The techno-ish elements are odd, but sounded nice.
Ecdelegost Erebor
Quite good Tolkien-inspired release. Not really outstanding, but noteworthy.
Edoras Doors of Moria
Ekthelion Under A Mournful Moon
It is pretty and has an uniquely interesting atmosphere, but tends to be very boring after a while...
Eldamar The Force of the Ancient Land
Eldritch Archways Twilit Woods of Yore
My only problems with this release is that every song sounds like an interlude or intro before something "extra", so it is a bit "hollow" but the melodies and the instruments are all good, so it's not bad.
Elffor Kaosaren Mendi Odoltsuetan
Not the most exciting Elffor release... I had the exactly the same thoughts about this as manosg: solid yet unspectacular.
Elgra Forest Kingdom
Ellende Triebe
A somewhat better kind of post-black release. The production is nice, but this EP lacks... soul, something exciting what could make me listen to this again. Boring wouldn't be a good word for this, but kinda it is the case.
Elminster MIDIeval
How to make sure your dungeon synth albums sell out immediately in two steps: 1. make it sound like Thangorodrim and Fief at the same time. 2. profit. Done.
Eminem Kamikaze
Emperor Emperor
Emperor Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk
Empire of the Moon Έκλειψις
A "standard" black metal release, with slightly more exciting riffing.
Empyrium Über den Sternen
I wasn't really my thing - however it had some potential. While the album had some *really* excellent moments, the overall package coulnd't impress me that much, despite all the key elements were given for my likings. Real shame, but it happens sometime.
Enid Enid
Ente (MEX) Vida y Muerte
Erdstall Caverns of Endless
Erykah Badu New Amerykah Pt. One: 4th World War
Eternal Axe Endless Fantasy
Nice little demo. I liked the old-schoolish vibes and the atmosphere.
Eternal Axe Wizard odyssey
Pretty diverse, and atmospheric - too bad some tracks were a bit too flat and boring compared to others. The last two neo-folk songs are outstandingly good though!
Eternal Valley The Falling Light
Ex Eye Ex Eye
Exhibito In Nobis
Very interesting album, the overall sound and atmosphere is something what an alien spaceship-centered horror movie could have. Otherworldy sounds, dungeon noises, pulsating synths + impossible to predict where it goes, however the album flows nicely and kept me interested all the way through.
Fanebaerer Fra Hånd Til Jord
Fantomas Delìrium Còrdia
Foglord Celestial
Forgjord Laulu Kuolemasta
Forlorn Citadel Ashen Dirge of Kingslain
Fornicus Sulphuric Omnipotence
It's alright. Bonus point for the sick cover art.
Frayle The White Witch
Frozen Crown Winterbane
I expected something far-far-far-FAR worse, so it was a quite pleasant surprise. This... actually riffs (the cute lead guitarist chick is pretty good), and surprisingly this doesn't annoy me to death like most power metal bands do. They still have to kick out their singer, because her performance is extremly boring.
Fugitive Wizard Obscuri Æternum
Pretty solid EP/demo. The synthwork is especially noteworthy, while the black metal parts were inserted well. Interesting listen, but I don't think if I'd come back to this later.
Gaahls Wyrd The Humming Mountain
The Humming Mountain offer some really good moments, especially where Gaahls and Co. turned back to their exciting progressive black metal jams like what they presented in their debut LP. "The Dwell" and Awakening Remains - Before Leaving" are killer tracks, while the rest was a bit forgettable, chill Saruman-vocals aside.
Gabestok Én Gang Rådden, Altid Rådden
It was pretty fun fusion of black metal and heavy metal. A bit Mercyful Fate-ish, but it is mostly that kind of nasty death-rockish thing which riffs pretty well. The production was intentionally muddy, perhaps a bit too much muddy because I felt I could have enjoy the sweet guitar tone more if they could have sounded cleaner, in my opinion. Interesting stuff, good jam.
Galdur Age of Legends
Garadrak Loremaster
Garadrak Cyclopean Sorrows
Light and melodic, but not charming enough for me. It's good for a listen, but I'm a bit disappointed.
Genocide Pact Genocide Pact
Not bad, but definitely not a very exciting record.
Germfood Night Of The Consumers - OST
It was pretty fun. The great soundtrack was a key factor in the game's succes for me, because it is not just kinda creepy but respectfully evokes that special atmospere I love(d) so much in old-school video games.
Ghost Seven Inches Of Satanic Panic
Glemt Animus (demo)
Gnipahalan Vannalosa Urskepnader
Goatsnake Breakfast with the King b​/​w Deathwish
The 10/10 guitar tone. Pretty nice EP, I definitely enjoyed it, but it's barely more than nothing...
Goblin Contamination
It was nice. But except a few songs, it wasn't really memorable.
Gonemage Mystical Extraction
I'm a bit doubtful about the "synergy" here, but inserting the old-school arcade video game soundscape into black metal is a noteworthy effort the least. Weird stuff, but for me it offered far less enjoyment than the classic method of mixing (true) dungeon synth into atmoblack. Interesting experiment, but that's all I could say.
Gorgoroth A Sorcery Written in Blood
Goropsy Drawing Pictures in the Dark because I Miss You
Grausamkeit Christenschmähung
Gravetemple Ambient / Ruin (demo)
Green-House Six Songs for Invisible Gardens
It is good, but nothing really outstanding or noteworthy. A handful of chill ambient/electronic tracks about plants, but that's all.
Grey Aura Zwart vierkant
Pretty okay avant-atmo-black-kind-of-thing. It had some cool Ddheimsgard-alike moments, but personally I felt the album really just flew by. It wasn't a bad one, but couldn't grab maintain interest that much.
Hajduk Кръв
Halfling Rune Squire
Hayley Williams Petals for Armor
Hey, it wasnt't half as bad as I expected. It has some pretty nice and catchy songs but there are pretty awful ones there as well. And oh my... some lyrics are soooo AWKWARD! Oh, and the nice bass lines worth some bonus points! But minus point for the overlong runtime.
Hellvetic Frost Towards a Distant World
Herbie Hancock Head Hunters
I liked the "slower" sections the most, and sadly I can't rate this higher than 3.0 since I did not like the two songs in the middle. So it is literally a "good" album.
Hiemal Cathedral Rocks
Hiemal Haze of Old Valleys
Hiemal Yukon
Hiemal Wanderings Within Forests of Despondency
Hiemal Empyreal Woods
Highland Spokesman Sounds
Pretty ethereal drones.
Hirotaka Shirotsubaki slowdance​,​lowtide
It was pretty and relaxing, but that's all. So, here it comes yet another 3.0 rating~
Hole Dweller flies the coop
Hole Dweller Returns to Roost
A better Hole Dweller album, but I'm still not particularly excited about this project... it is nice, but I don't want to jam this repeatedly.
Holokaust 2001 A Death Odyssey
So, the drummer from Slstafir made a DSBM/black ambient album? It's alright, and has its moments, but it's not the most memorable album I've ever heard.
Homselvareg Catastrofe
Horna Haudankylmyyden Mailla
A surprisingly rather forgettable album, but at least it contains many great riffs. But the weakest vocal performance in the band's history is a huge minus. Shame.
Horna Viha Ja Viikate
Horna Hiidentorni (demo)
Hornwood Fell Damno Lumina Nocte
Hour Of Thirteen Feast And Flame
Human Tetris Memorabilia
I'm not really into post-punk, but I liked this. Perhaps I was just in the mood for this, or I don't know~ The darkwave elements are the best.
I Should've Been A Lighthouse Keeper You Will Be Forgotten
ian b. dead space demoes vol. 2
I'm no expert in this type of music, but my dude Ian wrote some really nice beats (with ambient and techno vibes). Maybe some work on the vocals for fuller sound could help, but it is still good as it is!
Igorrr Savage Sinusoid
"So, what genre do you play guys?" ... Basically, YES.
Illusory Gates Dusk in the Old​-​Woods
Illyria The Carpathian Summit
Impaled Nazarene All That You Fear
It's good for a listen.
Impaled Nazarene Road to the Octagon
It was good, I think their thrashier side is far better, and the songs where they built upon that more felt superior. It's not bad, but a bit far from their best works - it is still a fun listen, though.
Impending Doom Hellbent
Yeah, it was good. The second half was especially strong.
Inferno (NO) Utter Hell
Pretty standard old-school thrash album. Sometimes it gets a bit samey, and I felt some songs are overlong. However, it had its moments where the great riffs could really kick in.
Inoriand Touch Of Frost
Irithyll Frozen in Time
It's a calm and easy listen, I found it particularly good whilst reading.
Iskandr Vergezicht
When the folkier parts could shine, the album got that certain warm melancholic vibe as Ulver's Bergtatt does. However, the black metal parts didn't really offer that much excitement. It is still a pleasant album though!
James Knott Tantamount
Joe Hisaishi Spirited Away
Joe Hisaishi Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
JOFI Lafcádio
Jorvvik Jorvvik
Judas Iscariot Heaven In Flames
Judas Iscariot An Ancient Starry Sky
Kaleidoscope (UK) Tangerine Dream
Sweet psych pop/rock from '60s. Kinda "one-trick-pony" album with a handful of outstanding songs.
Kalmankantaja Nostalgia II: My Kingdom
Somewhat better than most of the Burzum copycats I've heard, especially the synths are really close to what you can hear in Varg's albums - someone did some research, eh? The riffs are very-very similar, sometimes almost the same, to some Burzum riffs, probably just a few changes here and there to make it different. Furthermore, the vocals sound extremly close to the iconic Filosofem-type of sound, so hats off, someone did the homework right. But allogether, I can't give a better score than a 3.0 because it wasn't really original and the lack of progression is getting boring after some time - but the aesthetics are spot on, which is this release's only, but notewrothy strength.
Kathaaria The Complex Void of Negativity
Pretty good proggy black metal, with especially strong instrumental sections. It is surprising to see that it was released in 2008... they were kinda ahead of their time!
Kauan Ice Fleet
Good album, but I didn't feel entirely hooked by it. (Despite the fact I loved the firt two singles, but sadly they've already unveiled their best shots with 'em.) To be honest, I think I'd be more excited about the RPG book they released with this one.
Kensington Rivals
Kensington Control
Kensington Vultures
Kill Your Idols This Is Just the Beginning
This riffs. m/ The vocals kinda drags it down, though.
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Nonagon Infinity
The high average rating was a bit misleading, because I don't think this would be the best KGTLW album. But it's good, I guess?
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard K.G.
I had to re-rate and re-phrase my opinion about this... because it is actually quite good. It has some really forgettable/annoying tracks (*cough* Some of Us *cough*), but it has some excellent and clever compositions as well. Honey is especially interesting and surprisingly catchy.
Kormorg Dungeon myths
Korog Mumus
Korpituli The Ancient Spells Of The Past
Other than the title-track (which had really good riffs and notably great vocals), this album meant no more than just some mild entertainment. It is literally just "good" since it doesn't offer much excitement, but still riffs.
Krallice Demonic Wealth
The only Krallice album I did not hate, which is: something. The synths are cool.
Krolok Flying Above Ancient Ruins
Kvelertak Splid
I'm disappointed. Most of the tracks turned out pretty lame... "Br�tebrann", "Fanden ta dette hull!" & "Delirium tremens" were outstandingly awesome. But the rest? Uninspired (and not black enough!!!!) - pretty much the same case like it was with 'Nattesfred'. And this really saddened me because I'm sure they still have the potential to write something like the self-titled or 'Meir'. Also, I'm satisfied with the new singer, he's a fuckin' awesome screamer (but please, do not try to sing...).
Lantlos Lantlos
The first three songs didn't really impressed me, but 'Kalte Tage' and 'Ein' delivered exactly what I previously expected from this album.
Legend of the Seagullmen Legend of the Seagullmen
Limbonic Art Promo 1995 [Demo]
Linkin Park Reanimation
Lobby Boxer Eugene's Preference
Longsword Longsword
Lord Einsamkeit A Most Certain Death
Lord Einsamkeit Intolerant Tyranny
Lord Einsamkeit Eternal Suffering
Lord Orots Latzineko Erresumaren Itzulera
Lumiere Pieśni Miłosne i Żałobne
Lunacy (US) Melancholic Invocations
Nice atmoblack/black album, this band has some potential.
Lustre (SWE) A Glimpse of Glory
Lycanthropic Depression On Wings of Bats
It was surely something interesting, but not exciting enough for more than one listen. The atmosphere is spot on - like how I'd expect it from a black ambient album - but even as an EP is is very-very short, and with a slightly more effort it could have been much more and much more exciting. But I dig the aesthetics and the main concept.
Lye The Imprisoned Plague Dance
Magnum The Serpent Rings
It's good for a solid jam, but it is kinda punchless and not really exciting or "atmospheric" enough to make me want to jam this repeatedly... + their previous one was lot more catchy than this.
Maladia Demo
Maletum Reckless Age
The strong neo-classical and medieval ambient vibes are nice, but for me the more epic and adventurous song, "Hearth", was clearly the best (awesome Thangorodrim vibes!). No bad for a debut.
Maletum Chosen
Malignant Altar Realms of Exquisite Morbidity
It's alright, some fairly good riffs, but the album's biggest strength was its murky and rusty atmosphere. Definitely not bad, yet it got pretty samey after a while despite the ambient sections were perfectly placed.
Mammoth Grinder Cosmic Crypt
Marblebog Ermitus
A grim and moody black metal/ambient release. In production and riffs this EP shows a strong similarity to the very early Burzum demos/albums, which is something I always enjoy. The vocals are completely not my taste, though...
Marillion Fugazi
Good stuff! Maybe not really my taste (especially the vocals), but it was enjoyable! Pretty synths, and guitars. It is one of those albums I'd use as background music when some friends come over.
Marrasmieli Between Land And Sky
Nice folkish BM, and a pretty strong debut. The second half of the album was especially good (the songs: "Karakorum" and "The Ardent Passage"). I'm not the biggest fan of the production and the drumming though: the whole package sounds flat. Blast beats over blast beats with some extra blast beats, oh and the bass is barely audible - and probably programmed. But the rest is cool: great riffs, the folky stuff is alright, so definitely not bad.
Mastodon Hushed and Grim
Well, it is definitely a Mastodon album. Shame I found it only momentarily captivating, most of the songs just flew by.
Mayhem Pure Fucking Armageddon
Medieval Rites Epic Viking Battle
Not that epic, but still a nice bunch of medieval-inspired "battle" tracks.
Medieval Rites The Celtic Tavern
I expected more positive vibes. Not really tavern music...
Menace Ruine Cult of Ruins
Mercury Rev Yerself Is Steam
It was an interesting one. I'm not the greatest fan of it, because I didn't like especially the first half, and some of these songs were a bit too long for my taste. One other thing which lowered my final score is the vocals... too much false notes, man. The slower, mellow sections were pretty enjoyable though, and that made it a quite relaxing listen while working.
Meshuggah Immutable
Well, this was a Meshuggah album for sure, but to be honest: Milo's review is far more enjoyable than the album itself. Not bad, but I doubt if I ever want to give this a re-listen. Minus points for the disastrous album cover.
Metallica Beyond Magnetic
Mgla Age of Excuse
Well, this is: ... ... ... ... ... standard black metal.
MHOR Vichr v haluzích
Midnight Farewell to Hell
Heavy great riffs and all, but this is rather forgettable than revolutionary.
Mimico It's Dead
A greatly interesting debut EP, pretty diverse and has lots of interesting sounds - but it makes it hard to judge because there is a huge contrast between songs - and there is only 4 of them. I'm curious what comes next.
Misotheist For the Glory of Your Redeemer
It was alright. A very-very standard modern BM release which really reminded me to the Polish scene's output - so nothing really new and not that memorable, but at least I enjoyed it more or less.
Misthyrming Algleymi
Mol Diorama
It is... enjoyable. At first I thought this is something like listening to Sunbather and New Bermuda together, but in the end the satisfaction factor was a bit dulled. Diorama is a really well-played blackgaze album without sounding the exact same way like most other bands do. It offers a good listen, but it didn't affect me so much.
Moon Panda What on Earth
Ultra chill, slow and groovy. 10/10 would jam this in a bar.
Moonless Nights Reaching for divinity
Morbus Chron Sweven
I have mixed emotions about this one: I liked half of the album (more or less), but the other half was basically boring or average. I think this is overrated.
Morgal Nightmare Lord
It is a quite fun rippingly fast black metal album. The riffs are great, but the overall album lacks some "fantasy". It gets very samey after a few tracks.
Morketsvind Wandering to Nether World
Mors Certa The Ever​-​Turning Wheel
Mortiis The Song of a Long Forgotten Ghost
Mortuary Drape All the Witches Dance
Motorpsycho The All Is One
Muknal CN-22
Pretty standard blackened death metal.
Mullbeck The Boy And The Demon
It was alright, but projects like Fiendish Imp are far better in this style of dungeon synth.
Myrkur M
Myrkur Juniper
Mysticum Wintermass
Nahadoth The Trial of Oda Thahn / Dathonah's Prescription
Started really well, ended up pretty meh... shame.
Nameless Hero A Gothic Tale
Napalm Death Scum
Decent. I think that says a lot if I say "You Suffer" is the most essential part of it.
Nargaroth Rasluka Part II
Nargaroth Prosatanica Shooting Angels
I'm not entirely satisfied with this release, but it has its moments. The title and song titles are horribly bad, and the lack of bass guitar is a bit distrurbing. However, the production is really pleasing for those who might be into the lo-fi aesthetics. Especially the guitars sound pretty good, and in some songs they sounded just as perfect like they'd be taken from the legendary Unholy Trinity - and that's quite an achievement. The tiny bit of industrial elements and additional sound samples are nice, but they feel a little bit forced and unnecessary, however the more ambient centred tracks sounded really great.
Nature Morte Messe Basse
"Mom, can we have Sunbather by Deafheaven?"
"We have Sunbather at home."
Sunbather at home:
(not bad, but not great either)
Necrot Mortal
It was good, but did not became my all time favourite death metal album. A bit samey.
Nocturnal Departure Cathartic Black Rituals
Not evil enough...
By the way, this is a solid raw (a bit punkish) black album. The slower/midtempo parts are
super massive, but as the tempo jumps up it becomes much less interesting and quite boring.
Nocturnal Effigy The Moonlit Branches of Powder
There are some good or interesting tunes in this album, but alltogether it was rather flat. However, I really liked the old-school production, he nailed that tone perfectly - it made me pleasantly sleepy.
Nocturnal Graves Titan
NONE Damp Chill of Life
Good as DSBM, very boring as atmoblack. The lower tempo, and the depressing mood is in the same vein with the genre's other artist (especially the US line) and works well, but on the other side... it really failed building an atmosphere: way too repetitive, and sounds thin and hollow. The album represents a specific mood, but I really couldn't dive into this, so basically most of the album just went by without delivering something extraordinary.
Nothing Dance On The Blacktop
Odraza Rzeczom
If Mgla and Peste Noire would have been mixed together. Too bad it sounded mostly like Mgla - so let's slap a generous 3.0 on this. Note: the vocals were mega good.
Oh Bellissima The Light is Ever So Futile
Old Nick Flying Ointment
Somewhat nice (super) lo-fi black metal release. The toy keayboard here and there was a bit funny, but alltogether it was okay. Reminded me to the Satanic Warmaster demos.
Old Sorcery Dreams of the Old Kingdom
Old Tower Stellary Wisdom
Old Tower Seelenasche
Fairly safe output from Old Tower - I don't mind minimalism, but this was barely more than nothing... the atmosphere was awesome though.
Om Pilgrimage
One with the Riverbed Absence
Some chill post-(atmo)black-kind-of-thing with lots of additional post-rock elements in it. Not exactly my type, but it was a rather enjoyable album, which served very well as background music for working. The closer song outshined the rest of the album through the more varied guitarwork in it, so I really dug that one.
Ophidian I Desolate
It was... good.
Oranssi Pazuzu Mestarin Kynsi
After the first listen, well, I wasn't really hooked at all. On the second run though, I liked what I've heard, but especially from the third track. This is pretty, highly atmospheric, but I don't know, it didn't really grab me for some reason...
Order Of The Sacred Light Meditations in Lemuria
Orkenblut Mysteria Arkana, Bd. I
Ornatorpet Vid Ett Berg Uti En Dal
Ornatorpet Vid Himinsenda
Ozzy Osbourne The Ultimate Sin
Ozzy Osbourne Ordinary Man
The songs in the middle of the album are all really good jams, but the rest is below average. (Especially "Straight to Hell" and "It's A Raid" were extremly awful compared to the others.) The album is a very mixed bag, quality-wise. The title track, "Under the Graveyard" and "Eat Me" are showing Ozzy still got it and are outstandingly good, but on the other side most of the other songs are screaming the opposite: they're boring, and the enormous amount of auto-tuning makes them kinda irritating to listen to. I'm still giving a 3.0 to the album, because it is pretty strong output from a 71 old man and, as I mentioned, the songs in the middle are all great hits and personally I can see myself jamming those a lot in the future. Hats off, Prince of Darkness, and best wishes. Ozzy still rocks m/
Paramnesia Paramnesia
Pathworn Pilgrim Beauty Of The Bitter Coast
It's literally what the rating says: good. The production is superb, yet it kinda lacks that spark which could have grabbed my interest. Good for once, or essential for Elder Scroll fans (I'm not).
Paysage d'Hiver Steineiche
Pelican What We All Come to Need
Pentagram When The Sreams Come
The bad recording quality really drags it down...
Pentagram (CL) The Malefice
It's good, kinda Slayer-ish death/trash album. It's heavy, has good riffs but it gets a bit samey after a while - at least, in my opinion. Otherwise the production is good, and I like the riff-centered approach and the old-school influences.
Pig Destroyer Prowler in the Yard
Piva Fragments of Nights
Interesting Depressive Silence-wannabe-styled dungeon synth combined with bits of Burzumish elements. The sampling wasn't entirely perfect, but hopefully in the upcoming release(s) that could be fixed.
Poppy I Disagree
Post Malone Hollywood's Bleeding
Pretty bad lyrical expressions and the half of the songs are bloody awful. But the album has some great hits, songs which I pretty much enjoyed, so altogether it was good and definitely worth the time to listen to
this. And Ozzy is still killing it!!
Pumpkin Witch Hovel of the Pumpkin Witch
Quest Master The Twelve Castles
Radioactive Mausoleum Radioactive Mausoleum
Ramihrdus The Sorrow of the Evergreens
Pretty alright melancho-atmoblack album. Very-very similar to the Russian project, Darkeater, which was more than a welcomed surprise.
Realms in Exile Anghabar: Iron Delvings
Really enjoyable fantasy drone album. Deep drones and minimalistic percussions: perfect background music for working.
Rem Poklade
Rings of Saturn Lugal Ki En
Rotting Christ Thy Mighty Contract
It was a soldi debut, but generally it was a bit too "hollow" to deserve a higher rating.
Rotting Christ Sleep of the Angels
Gothic-era Rotting Christ #3: This wasn't that solid like the others. Quite similar style on guitars like in Triarchy of The Lost Lovers, but the overall result isn't that strong. It has some amazing songs though! "Der perfekte Traum" is definitely a classic piece in their discography, for example.
Runecaster The Sleeping Sword
The diversity in this release is outstanding: all the 12 song has its own sound and atmosphere! I greatly respect albums like this, because it really helps me to get into the artist's concept. I especially liked the slower and more droney songs, but each one is great and the kinda old-school sound is also very pleasing. Sadly, most of the songs are very short, and here and there feel a bit unpolished.
Sacred Son Sacred Son
Sacrilege (UK1) Behind The Realms Of Madness (Reissue)
It was a fine experience, but nothing really stood out for me. But: the riffs were fine!
Sadistik Exekution Fukk
Sanguine Eagle Storm Mysticism
Sanguisugabogg Tortured Whole
Even though I love this kind of straight-forward nasty death metal, it was kinda boring after a while. But in small "doses", this band rips.
Satanic Warmaster ...of the Night
Satanic Warmaster Black Katharsis
Scary Larry Sounds of Isolation
Scorpions Love At First Sting
Secret Shame Dark Synthetics
Sequestered Keep The Fortress in the Timeless Fog
Serpent Column Endless Detainment
Serpent Column Kathodos
It was interesting, but I think I enjoyed this one the least from the Serpent Column discog (so far). The noisier and wilder direction could have been great, but some songs were clearly "hit and miss" for me, and I felt indifferent about some others. It had some real slappers though, like 'Pathlessness' and 'Offering Tounges', but alltogether I don't think I'll jam this very often. And 'Desertification' was a very bad joke...
Serpent Column Katartisis
I still miss the "Ornuthi Thalassa" form of Serpent Column. It's not bad, but I doubt if I want to return to this in the future.
Serpent's Isle Legends of The Ancient Bay
Sickness (Finland) Nidus Diaboli
Sidereal Fortress Racconti Del Focolare
Siege Tower Siege Tower
Sielunvihollinen Ruhonkantaja
Silvanthrone Forbidden Pathways to Ancient Wisdom
Generally speaking: this was alright. Sometimes the guitar duos were a bit wonky, but alltogether it is a good second wave worship album. It's good for a few listens.
Skillet Unleashed
Slayer Hell Awaits
Hell Awaits is the bridge between the oldie Show No Mercy heavy metal/thrash era and the "classic Slayer sound". Personally I believe this is the least good album from the Slayer catalog in the '80s.
Slidhr The Futile Fires of Man
Slime Golem The Short But Touching Tale Of Slime Golem
It was a good concept album, with this swampy, hypnotic theme. But I can't say it is among of the best releases this year.
Sodium Seconal 6677713
Harmless little instrumental psychedelic rock album. Nothing really extra, and most of the songs are quite short, but I'm not going to lie: I was tempted by the cover, but I'm glad I gave this a listen.
Sodom Bombenhagel
It's okay. Pretty harmless little EP.
Sol Tenebra The Inevitable
Solitude Aeturnus Beyond the Crimson Horizon
I'm not sure if "power doom" is my thing...
Sombre Arcane Sombre Arcane (Demo)
Spectral Lore and Mare Cognitum Wanderers: Astrology of the Nine
Great continuation of their previous split, and I liked the improvement in the production. Otherwise, the album is an interesting cosmic BM piece, which has stronger (Venus, Jupiter) and not-really-good songs (Saturn, Uranus) as well. Personally I think the albums suffers from its length, because it gets a little samey after a while - even though each song has its own theme and melodies, but well... I simply felt some songs just went by.
Spectral Voice Eroded Corridors of Unbeing
Spectral Wound A Diabolic Thirst
Very solid blackness. Consistently good flow, great riffs and good performance, which was sadly somewhat dull in a few aspects. First of all, the album feels waaaaaay too short (barely hit the 40 minutes runtime), so perhaps keeping a few tracks running longer could have been more effective delivering the desired effect. Additionaly, these 6 songs were way to similar to each other, and I cannot name any pinnacle from the album since it mostly "just flew by". Even though I greatly enjoyed the riffs and the production, this didn't really hook me as I hoped for.
Sperm Angel Life is Poison
Despite the most horrible band name... this EP is actually pretty good. A jammy mixture of black metal and heavy metal - with shireking vocals and rusty sound samples.
Splendorius Norfaragell​-​Thul
Stillness My Snow Princess
Stirge Stirge III
Stone Garden Existential Futility
Sumerlands Sumerlands
Summoning Minas Morgul
Sunken Grove Binding Branches
Nice old-school-ish dungeon synth release. Quite enchanting sound, but perhaps it is a little bit dull for me - however, I really enjoyed the atmosphere it captures!
Sunken Totem Ox Eye
Sunn O))) Black One
Sunn O))) White1
Super Snake Leap of Love
Synthosaurus Dino War
Taake/Whoredom Rife Pakt
I did not know Whoredom Rife from eariler, so his side was new to me, but I'm impressed. The standard Taake song and the cover were very good, but alltogether it was a good listen for once and that's all.
Taur Nu Fuin The Mountain Path
Telepathic Moon Astral Elegance
Tempte Urðr
Thangorodrim Akallabêth
The 3rd Attempt Egocidal Path
The Beatles Please Please Me
The Crevices Below Below the Crevices
It's pretty, but not that exciting I hoped for. "Whispers Of Sorrow" is pretty cool, but it is also an example how annoying some additional vocals can be.
The Crippled God Deadhouse
It was quite good. The album is a really mixed bag, as it mixes the sound of old-school video games with minimalistic ambient music (where the piano dominates the melodies). It is well written, however I wasn't entirely hooked by this.
The Devil Wears Prada ZII
This takes me back. Pretty alright, but not that overwhelming I hoped for. It was good to hear some synths!
The IXth Key Dungeon
The IXth Key Moon
The Noisy Freaks The Sixth Sense
The Police Outlandos d'Amour
Not bad for a debut, but I didn't enjoy the first half of the album. Nor 'So Lonely' or 'Roxanne' are that really memorable.
The Rolling Stones Bridges to Babylon
This is good.
The Sorcerer (IT) Echoes of Distant Times
Threshing Spirit Into The Light
An alright ambient/lo-fi black metal demo(?), but the overall package isn't that captivating. The (bit droney) ambient pieces are good though, I liked this minimalstic yet effective approach.
Toad Sage The Long Forgotten Realm
Interesting release, but I'm not that particularly hooked by it. It was sure fun listening while gaming, but I'm afraid that's all.
Torchlight Haunting Dreams for the Dying King
Torgeist Time Of Sabbath
Torgeist Devoted To Satan
Triptykon Shatter
It was good, but a bit far from the debut LP in terms of quality. Both Celtic Frost live songs sound totally different than how we know them, but I'm not sure the change was for the better... Fun little EP though.
Triptykon Melana Chasmata
Unlike Triptykon's impressive debut, Melana Chasmata has far less excitement to offer. I can't say it is not any good, because Tom G. Warrior rarely wrote anything boring. This album just doesn't have that spark, that spirit what I expected. Other than songs like "Altar of Deceit" and "In the Sleep of Death" this was a rather forgettable experience.
Trvth Black Horse Plague
Uhtceare El Genocidio Primordial Llevará El Nombre Infinito
Ulcerate Stare Into Death and Be Still
(Shrines of Paralysis is still lot better.) I found the little bit more "melodic" sections the deepest, but overally this is a perfectly standard Ulcerate record. The enormous hype probably damaged and dampened my experience, because I think it's not worthy for the average score. Still a pretty heavy album, though.
Ulfberht Vikingr
This is not the best dungeon synth release of the year, but a very memorable one: full of samples from battle ambiances taken probably from movies and videogames, and interesting lo-fi synths which mostly focus on building an atmosphere rather than playing any melodies.
Ulver Nattens Madrigal
Ulver Blood Inside
Ulver A Quick Fix of Melancholy
Ulver Flowers of Evil
"Oh, a bad song. Oh a good song! Oh, another bad. Wait, another good!" [repeat this] To be honest, I'm somewhat disappointed, this wasn't *that* new I expected it to be, more like an Assassination B-side album...? It wasn't hard to sit through, but I don't feel I want to have this on an infinite replay. Last track was clearly my favourite - bringing back those Shadows Of The Sun vibes (for a short time) caught me totally off-guard.
Umbria Farwalker
Upyr The Four Seasons
Ur Pale Crystal Waves Orchestra
Ur Pale New Dawn
Urn Iron Will of Power
Ururdhagaz När Mörkret Tog Över Makten
Sounds awkwardly similar to Thangorodrim: both in sounds and melodies. I wouldn't mind it, if it would be similarly good as well, but this one sounds kind of "hollow" and less exciting... Not bad, but the comparison is unavoidable.
Utred Gothic
Valtyr Töframaðurinn og Mærin
It was a pretty good. Some serious Burzum-worshipping was going on here, which was mostly a pleasant and easy listening. However, nailing the Burzumish secret of nailing the repetitive and hypnotic magic doesn't work for all, and that was the case here: some songs became too samey. But I think there is a great potential in this project.
Vault Of Horror Chapter 1: Vintage Horror
Veilburner Lurkers in the Capsule of Skull
It wasn't as wild as expected. It has a good flow though, but it rarely lured my interest to listen to it more actively. Sometimes it felt like it is Aldrahn behind the mic, because of a perfect imitation. It was good for once, but that's all for me.
Vindalv Æptir Pushende Ar demo
Vindkaldr Their Ships Sail from the Moon
Vindkaldr Sword Of Moss
Vomir Claustration
This is probably my weirdest rating I ever gave...
Voronmrak Battles of Winter Winds
Voronmrak Silver of Winter
Voslaarum Forgotten Vale
Voyages of the Old Oak Home
Very interesting album. Not exactly that medieval folk ambient I expected: this is much more: very unusual/odd songwriting, instruments and melodies. There are song which are like some folk metal programmed in MIDI(?), I'm not sure, except the fact that I liked this release.
W.E.B. Colosseum
It's good for once, since it has some really immersive moments and pretty decent riffing. (If you can overlook their lyrics...). This is pretty much like a bit chuggier Dimmu Borgir and but more symphonic like Cradle Of Filth - which is still better than anything CoF ever made, lol.
Wall Painted Black Ache
Weeping Sores False Confession
West End Motel Don't Shiver, Your're A Winner
Windrikje ... Des Waldes Ruh
Wine Drinkers Warmth
winter woods Forest Of Mysterious Evil
winter woods Cavern Of Obscure Sacrifice
Wintercry Swords and Magic
Winterfylleth The Reckoning Dawn
It's okay. Tbh, 'In Darkness Begotten' was the only really memorable track here. The album is consistently alright, it worked nicely as a background album, but nothing really catched my attention. The production was nice, though.
Wintermoon (FIN) Reh. Demo 1/1995
Wolfbrigade Run With The Hunted
Wolfsschrei Rise Dead Ember
Wolves in the Throne Room Two Hunters
Wolves in the Throne Room Malevolent Grain
Wolvhammer The Monuments of Ash and Bone
worms as blind as dirt worms as blind as dirt
Wulkanaz Wulkanaz
Wurdulac Dungeon Lord (demo)
Xathristis All Hope Has Vanished From This Heart
Xibalba Itzaes Ah dzam poop ek
Ygg Ygg
ZAUM Eidolon
Zeke Hellbender

2.5 average
A Wandering Spirit Lost And Forgotten
Abigail Williams Walk Beyond The Dark
Absolute Hell Rememberance
Ad Nauseam Imperative Imperceptible Impulse
I guess it is good, but I'm just not hooked by it. I sensed some Esoteric Warfare era Mayhem in this through the sinister, dissonant and slow chords - too bad I did not like the tech-death parts that much.
Agalloch The Mantle
Allegaeon Damnum
Almofar C'est la Peste! Sauve Qui Peut!
Anfortas Far Below the City
Anthene Long Formations +4
Arcane Cavern Sorcery of Chaos
Arcane Hand Hohe Bäume
Arcturus My Angel
Arthuros Kosmos
This kinda bored me. Nice Depressive Silence aesthetics, but that's all.
Arvernien Plenilunio
Arxura Delving
Astrophobos Malice of Antiquity
At The Altar Of The Horned God Through Doors Of Moonlight
They forced this way too much... it has great ideas, but it has an extremly lame production, and most of the chantings etc. are just simply boring and not inspiring at all.
Attila Chaos
Aura Noir Aura Noire
Baazlvaat The Higher Power
Sadly, "The Higher Power" is an average release even if I feel less grumpy and more generous than otherwise. Where the album tried to turn towards the BMSS, Assassination or Edelweiss alike psychedelic-black-punk direction, the result was far more convincing than the rest and managed to offer some fairly enjoyable moments. However, the whole creation smells like cheap glue: it feels like a cheap copy version of the aforementioned bands and bit like Burzum at certain moments (the vocals really sound similar to young Varg here and there, I had to admit that). Moreover the recording quality is way-way too sloppier than it should be - I get it, recording on a half-rotten potato is "kvlt af", but after a while it gets really ridiculous and dampens the experience. (Even Judas Iscariot could record a better quality audio in the '90s...)
Barak Tor Silent Passages And Hidden Realms
Bavingr Warrior Bard
Bavingr Bycirce
Beleriand February
I really wanted to rate this higher, because it is actually well-produced and the atmosphere checks out, but... the opera singing really killed the mood for me. It's like the Amnesia:Machine for Pigs soundtrack was inserted into an atmoblack album. Some may like it, and some other don't - I'm from the latter group.
Berghof Fount of Life
Besatt Anticross
"Did I hear this before?" - this is not a bad album, but too boring to my taste.
Big Black Songs About Fucking
Black Brunswicker Hidden Amongst the Trees and Foothills
Black Label Society Doom Crew Inc.
Other than "Gospel Of Lies", this is a really soulless and very boring album. Real shame... Zakk is better than this.
Black Mysterium Demo I
Blaze of Perdition The Harrowing of Hearts
Blogmal Blogmal
Blue-Ghost Coral Sea
Bogwitch A Tale of Vengeance
Borknagar True North
Bosque Cleansing
Lifeless and boring lo-fi funeral doom. Throwing a few good riffs into the bowl didn't work for me.
Bosse-de-Nage All Fours
Brendan Wells Plant Music The Right Side of the Grass
Sadly it was very disappointing. Half of the song sounded very flat and boring, and the rest is was just some lame Mort Garson-copies. Shame...
Brendan Wells Plant Music Music For People & Their Plants Vol 1
Candlemass Death Magic Doom
Unlike its predecessor, Death Magic Doom doesn't have that spark what was expected. The whole album generally feels a bit flat, even Lowe's performance too. "The Bleeding Baroness" and "Clouds Of Dementia" are clearly the best songs in the entire thing, but I doubt I'll re-visit this album again.
Candlemass Psalms For The Dead
This kinda riffs, but everything feels recycled. Boring album - real shame!
Candlemass The Door To Doom
Carach Angren Franckensteina Strataemontanus
Disappointment of the year. 'Franckensteina Strataemontanus' is the most forgettable Carach Angren record, which wasn't really interesting at all. Each song suffers from being too flat and uninspired, filled with terrbily out of place synth sections and the final result doesn't really feel "heavy" at all. There are some nice riffs here and there, but the overall songwriting is all over the place and the album feels very incoherent despite the clear concept - and that's very frustrating. Additionaly, even though the production is clear and nice, and the vocals are still very-very good, that awfully overcompressed drum sound ruins the listening experience, because it feels very negligent and uninspired, and that disturbingly bad "clicking" bass drum simply makes me mad...
Castillo Castillo
Cauldron of the Sun The Passage Home
Celebdil The Tower
Chaucerian Myth Chaucerian Legends: The Epic of Beileag, Part I
Claire Cronin Big Dread Moon
Converge Bloodmoon: I
Damn, I really lost it at "Lord of Liars". This simply doesn't work... This is Converge AND Chelsea Wolfe - both sides are seemingly play and focus on their own stuff with minimal overlap. The result? A very all-over-the-place album, which constantly shifts between Converge's and Chelsea Wolfe's side, with just a few kinda good songs, and with more some really annoying/boring ones.
Cradle of Filth The Principle of Evil Made Flesh
Cradle of Filth Cruelty and the Beast
Cradle of Filth Bitter Suites to Succubi
Cradle of Filth Existence Is Futile
Just no.
Crypt Sermon The Ruins of Fading Light
Cult of Luna A Dawn to Fear
Dark Funeral Angelus Exuro pro Eternus
"My Funeral" is really dope, but the rest was kinda meh... too safe, too sterile.
Dark Sanctuary Royaume Melancolique
Deafheaven Ordinary Corrupt Human Love
Deafheaven Infinite Granite
The good: Great Mass Of Color, Villain, and the second part of Mombasa (RIP that climax, though. Nice try.) The bad: Everything else. The awful: Lament for Wasps. Final words: it is good once, but not surprised it was worse than Ordinary Boring Human Snoozefest.
Death Worship End Times
Deathspell Omega Paracletus
Deathspell Omega The Furnaces of Palingenesia
Departure Chandelier Antichrist Rise to Power
Der Weg Einer Freiheit Noktvrn
Real shame that I only liked the song "Morgen" from this... next to that song, the rest was just the regular mega boring post-black with the typical "emotional tone". I'm not impressed.
Destroyer 666 Call of the Wild
Devilgroth Svyatogor
Perhaps I'm just not feeling it... feels like the album (or the songs) are just not going anywhere, which led me to feel very bored. It has sometimes an avant-garde-ish edge, but it's not interesting enough.
Dimmu Borgir Eonian
Diocletian Doom Cult
Dodsferd Suicide And The Rest Of Your Kind Will Follow II
It has everythig what a regular DSBM album could offer, except that little extra what could make a band interesting. Very boring album.
Dunkelbot Angerbach
Ecdelegost Old Souls
Edelweiss Nomen Est Omen
Ekud Tun Ekud Tun
Elador Drowned Dreams
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou May Our Chambers Be Full
Dull sputcore stuff.
Enslaved Hordanes Land
Enslaved Nema
Erang Imagination Never Fails
Erang presents: "The Leftover Album". Personally I was disappointed, because I feel this lacks consistency, and feels way too random. I miss that charming atmosphere I know the genius behind this project could cast otherwise... Despite that, I liked this concept (and cover art), but it was more of a missed opportunity.
Erdstall Temple of Ancients
Erferis Hyena Queen
Erythrite Throne / Seregost Black Order of Vampyric Blood
This is INCREDIBLY BORING. Side Erythrite Throne is flat and lifeless, but at least was side Seregost was better yet still not really captivating.
Etchings Wound Demo I
Evanescence The Bitter Truth
It was a quite painless encounter, but still very-very boring.
Fantavras Down Below
Feminazgul No Dawn for Men
The music itself is totally average, but the idea behind it is retarded. It's just waste of time... So it has everything be be worshipped on sput! (Avoid it at any cost!)
Fimbulwinter Servants of Sorcery
Flaekingur Fairy Tales
Fleurety A Darker Shade of Evil
Flughund Shimmering Figure Of The Black Lake
Foal Denu of Wind | Tome of Old Winter
Forest Temple Twilight Within The Ancient Wood
Forgotten Passage Demo
Forgotten Sword Funeral Castle
This is not bad at all, but I couldn't name any highlight from the album, and this kinda lacks some spark. The old-school soundscapes are really nice though.
Forlorn Kingdom Distant Apparitions
Some good ideas, and I liked the lo-fi aesthetics, but every song gets very boring after a few minutes.
Fraudort Dark Dungeon
Fulador The Realm of the Great River
Gaerea Limbo
"Gaerea challenges the archetype of black metal" Pffff, my ass. Just throwing some post-metal into their sound doesn't revolutionize anything. This album is a simply boring and forgettable.
Garadrak A Questing Knight
Gatewatcher Blind Eternities
Gavella Glan A Silent Vigil for Oncoming Plagues
It was just unexpectedly boring.
Gehennah Too Loud to Live, Too Drunk to Die
Ghost Prequelle
Glistening #37 'Dying'
Glistening #36 'Fragments'
Godspeed You! Black Emperor G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END!
It was so boring.
Also I still believe these are two Crinoids on the cover:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crinoid#/media/File:Crinoid_anatomy.png
Gondar Sword of Gondar
Grandma's Cottage Grandma's Cottage
Grelin Greenclan Grelin Greenclan
Grieve (FIN) Funeral
Very disappointing. After the very promising EP, they completely abandoned the atmospheric approach and turned towards a 100% pure second wave direction - which kinda riffs, but the result is very boring.
Grima Rotten Garden
These post-black bands sound so unoriginal... at least, they added accordions as a kinda interesting extra instrument - too bad I wasn't hooked by it at all. Call me a gatekeeper, whatever, but this is most generously a 2.5 album. Except the accordions, literally nothing stood out for me.
*yawns*
Gronoc Sanctuary Chronicles vol. 1
Grot Donker
Haemorrhage We Are the Gore
Harrod and Funck Live
Herman Frank Two For A Lie
Even though this contains numerous good riffs, the overall result is a really tiring and unexciting hard rock/heavy metal album. It'd make good background music in a rock pub.
Hexengrab Schrei der Sirenen
Hiemal Siberian Horizons
Hiemal L'Exil
Hiemal The Illusion of Permanence
Hoppo Frogs & Diamonds
Horna Aania Yossa
The only Horna album which didn't reach my expectations. It was simply forgettable, and too generic. Some tasty riffs flashed here and there, but otherwise it was a rather unsuccesful release for me.
Horrendous Idol
Illuminator In Ictu Oculi
Ilsa Corpse Fortress
Immolation Acts of God
This is pretty boring, ngl. I'm not familiar with the band at all, but this album didn't really impress me at all. Just some pretty regular death metal here that I will probably forget after a week.
Impaled Nazarene Pro Patria Finlandia
Impaled Nazarene Rapture
Impaled Nazarene Latex Cult
It's very far from their greatest, and this album suffers from the low production (however, the bass still sounds pretty cool), and being too samey.
Ingvarr The Hopeless Resistance Of Emberdrin's Army
Inoriand Howling Wind
Inoriand Frozen Memories
Inoriand Wintermagick
Inoriand Bringer Of Cold Winter
Inoriand Dwelling In Frost
Inoriand Winteridyll
Inoriand Till The Winter Comes Again
Integrity/Krieg Split
Jared Hart Past Lives & Pass Lines
Kalmankantaja Nostalgia I: Bones And Dust
Keygard Arboreal Swamp
Keys of Orthanc Unfinished Conquests
I greatly respect Dorgul's work in black metal, but honestly this dungeon synth album is not even close to the first LPs... uneventful, hella lot and boring percussions and pretty samey songs. I'm disappointed.
Khandra All Occupied by Sole Death
Another snoozefest post-black album.
Kharon (GR) Kharon
There is potential in this band, but we have to wait for it to bloom out.
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Butterfly 3000
"but it's an improvement over KG and LW." Lol, what? Butterfly 3000 was a really weird ride, and some parts of it were pretty nice, but the most of it felt boring - "shock factor" aside. "Interior People" was the album's pinnacle without a doubt.
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard Made in Timeland
King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard: The lo-fi dance / disco music album.
Klaneth Liberate The Moles
Knife Wizard Dark Mountain Peaks
Knight of Pluto Chamomile
Kommand (USA-WA) Savage Overkill
Korhadt demo 1
Krallice Crystalline Exhaustion
Not feeling this at all... Only the synths (=title track) saved it from a 2.0 rating. Terrible flow, doesn't feel coherent.
Kroda Навій схрон
Kvelertak Nattesferd
Lamp of Murmuur Thunder Vigil and Ecstasy
Lares Towards Nothingness
Soundwise, this is the "most-2020-metal-album". The space theme is cool, otherwise this bored me.
Le Code White
Linarian Sigil Promo 2020
Lookfar Tales From The Disc
A very generous "average" on this one. Not that irritating as the previous one, but I can't understand why is it again a best-selling dungeon synth release...
Lord Einsamkeit Ancient Oak
Lord Einsamkeit Ancient Oak Part II
Lord Moth Demo I
Loth Apocryphe
Magusai Roy Bowers Servitor Magusai Roy Bowers Servitor
This ambient albums is not bad, and the "average" word it totally inaccurate for describing this album - for me, it was just a mixed bag of ideas and sounds, I liked some parts and I didn't others...
Marblebog Csendhajnal
Marduk Rom 5:12
Marilyn Manson Heaven Upside Down
Matt Elliott Farewell to All We Know
Oh no... the vocals ruined the whole thing for me :[ Otherwise it would be very nice acoustic album with nice production. But damn, I really hated the vocals...
Mayhem Deathrehearsal
Medieval Rites Attila the Hun
Mefitis Offscourings
I don't like this. The whole thing feels like a mishmash where they tried to mix way too much ingredients together. Checking out this "tech-black" thing was at least an interesting experience, but this is not for me.
Megadeth United Abominations
Megadeth Super Collider
Mesarthim The Density Parameter
Metallica Live at Grimey's
Metallica Six Feet Down Under Part II
Metallica S&M2
Tbh, this sounds pretty good without Metallica. It's good for one listen, but it is the most unnecessary release of 2020.
Mgla Exercises in Futility
Minneriket Gjennom Meg Går Ingen Til Hvile
I'm not really feeling this. It's cheesy but definitely not my favourite type.
Monster Magnet A Better Dystopia
This is not really good... It was a fun idea though.
Moongates Guardian Cold Waters Of Anduin
Mora Prokaza By Chance
One of the weirdest albums of 2020... This is like a crazy mixture of black metal, hip-hop and trap music - and the result is something like a blackened Igorrr. It kinda riffs, but the electronic elements are more vibrant, and the vocals are the most dominant - which sounds very odd: super fast BM vocals and some clean lines here and there, but it is not that good, tbh. Bonus points for the "shock value".
Morbid Angel Altars of Madness
This really bores me.
Morrow (UK) The Quiet Earth
This was a very underwhelming and quite forgettable release... I pass.
Mortiis Spirit of Rebellion
High hopes - big disappointment. Come on Mortiis, that's all...?
Mountain Warlock Malefic Wizardy
Mutiilation Majestas Leprosus
Nargaroth Jahreszeiten
Natasakaa EP01
It was alright, but it was too short and the lack of vocals did not work for me.
Nifelheim Nifelheim
No... In an Illusion of Happiness
Nocturnal Depression Four Seasons to a Depression
Nodding God In A Foreign LandScape
Numenorean Adore
OLD (US) It's Called Murder
Ondal's Wisdom The Forbidden Lore of Arcane Magic
This is not going anywhere... I like the synth sounds, but I believe I miss something. *sad noises*
Ostrogoth Feelings of Fury
It could have been a pretty nice album, but the extremly generic and forced vocals ruined the whole thing for me... the riffs couldn't balance that out...
Outer Heaven Realms Of Eternal Decay
Pafund Til rigets ende
Pagan Spell Demo MMXIX
Pale Knight Heathen Kings
Pallid Bloom / Withering Presence Their Verdant Reclamation
Panopticon The Scars of Man on the Once Nameless Wilderness
Path of Giants Path of Giants
Pepper Proud Water
Peter Laws The Lonely Tower
Poison Ruin Poison Ruin LP
Somewhere between a 2.5 and 3.0. This has its moments, but this is a rather disappointing attempt in general. The vocals sometimes really killed the mood for me.
Power Paladin With the Magic of Windfyre Steel
The band name, the cover (it's so bad, it's almost good), the title... yes, it is another power metal album. It's cheesy as fuck (not in a good way), it is unnecessarily fast sometimes, and yes, it has ballkicked screams as well... Talented bunch, but I don't see how would it be any interesting.
Primitive Man Immersion
*fuzz* *beat* AUHGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH [repeat] Sorry, but it was a nope for me.
Pulling Teeth Vicious Skin
Puritas Virginum Black Arts
Quin of the North True Might
I have an odd feeling I've already heard most of these songs somewhere... Are the half of the songs transported from an church's song book to MIDI? It was okay with Krampusnacht, but it is a nope for me. The rest is fine, but nothing outstanding.
RaevJager Raevult!
Rammstein Zeit
Nicht so gut... Zeit is not bad, but sadly it's far away from being good. The previous untitled album was better in every aspect, especially since it contained numerous grandiose songs, while Zeit... doesn't have any. Most songs are quite forgettable, or quite uninspired, maybe "Zick Zack" and "Giftig" were the best ones, but they're not flawless either. Und oh mein Gott, what the fuck were those autotuned vocals? (Fortunately not much, but those were questionable moments.)
Red Fang Whales and Leeches
Red Fang Arrows
I'm disappointed. As a band, they evolved and discovered heavier and more dissonant territories, but due to the quite annoying production and of course the change: this didn't turn out any great. A few good songs aside, "Arrows" is more of a mess. Their most colorful and heaviest record so far, but sadly this doesn't offer that much fun as their previous releases.
Rhinocervs RH-08
Rings of Saturn Gidim
Way better than 'Ultu Ulla' was, some great ideas here and there, otherwise sadly this album tends to be boring. Basically 10 song of "guitar flexing". The last instrumental track is still very great, as usual.
Robin Goodfellow Elphame's Wood
Roly Porter Kistvaen
It's been a while the last time when I heard something I felt so divided about: part of me liked it, other hated it. The more ethereal and spacey sections felt really nice, but when it got more noisey I often felt it was too much. It sensed the potential in this, however I couldn't enjoy it that much I hoped so.
Rotting Christ Theogonia
Definitely not a "regular" black metal album, but it contains way too much uninspired songs, which really killed the mood for me.
Rowen Ashen Spirit
This is somehow terrible and somehow amazing at the same time...
Ruohtta Reetessä
Weid post-rock/experimental/black metal mixture, with a very unique atmosphere. But what's the problem with this? It lack coherency: the EP flows very badly. The badly inserted ambient / (too much) spoken word sections totally ruined the experience, but I still want to give a cookie for the interesting atmosphere. Maybe next time.
Sarcofago I.N.R.I.
Sargeist Satanic Black Devotion
It was disappointing.
Satanic Warmaster Luciferian Torches
Satyricon Megiddo
The only real interesting one on the EP is the first song, 'The Dawn of a New Age', which sound like something Ulver would do: weird noises, trancey beats, odd vocals and experimental synths... it's a pretty exciting song! The rest is very forgettable.
Satyricon All Evil
Scary Larry Demo 1
Schammasch Hearts of No Light
Scrying Glass Wyrmhole
I'm not vibing with this at all. I like Berlin-school, but the instrumentation of this release is real mood-killer.
Shelter Ov Shadows Within the Halls of Oblivion
Shining (SWE) Submit to Selfdestruction
Sidereal Fortress Bogatyr
Sidereal Fortress Odissea
"...one of the best dungeon synth releases in recent memory" according to the Bandcamp Daily, August 2019.
LOL and hell no. Extremely average.
Sidereal Fortress Advanced Steel
It was simply boring and some track were really annoying.
Skin Tension Machinic Impulses Of The Hyperreal
Skogsguud The Spirit of a Thousand Lakes
Sojourner The Shadowed Road
Sol Peregrin The Inevitable
The atmosphere was pretty nice, and I liked the overall melancholic mood, however the solos were disturbingly bad... terrible, so it really dragged down my general rating.
Solefald The Linear Scaffold
Solus Ritual Solus Ritual
Sombre Arcane Realmsong
I really wanted to like this (and not just because I'm a Dungeons and Dragons nerd), but it... didn't do the trick for me. It had some pretty good tracks like "Moon Sphere of The Dancing Court" or the closer, but the rest was either boring or really bad.
Sorry... Failure Years of Neglect Apathy
Spire Temple of Khronos
Spirit Adrift Angel & Abyss Redux EP
It's alright, a chill little jam - however, it couldn't deliver much more...
Spirit Of The Old Wood Spirit Of The Old Wood
Stangarigel Na severe srdca
I don't see the point for starting yet another band by those Slovakians, if it'll sound almost identical to their other ones... Also the irritatingly blunt production really kills the mood as well.
Sturmgeist Meister Mephisto
Stygian Ruin The Blackened Temple
Stygiofilia Barren Crops of Heavenly Deception
Sunn O))) Kannon
Svartar N/A
Talog Objava Sablasne Tiranije
Talog Drakulin Sud
I guess this is an official soundtrack for a vampyric crypt.
Talog Ona Kojoj Tama Se Klanja
Tamas Madhyandina 1
Tau Cross A Pillar Of Fire
Telaestheticist Roter Tod
Temple of the Fractured Light Psychadelic Witchcraft (And the Groovy Occult)
Interesting psychedelic ambient album, but sadly like the half of the songs were very uninteresting and "hollow". The synths sounded very sweet though, so I believe this project has a great potential but it definitely needs some polishing to make it more interesting. And bonus points for the cover art, I love it.
Terrortron Orgy of the Vampires (Original Soundtrack Recordin
Thangorodrim Dagor Bragalloch
Tharmazegethuzan Revelations Of The Necroglyph
The Atlas Ghost Silent Hill
The Motion Mosaic Avant-Garbage
Dry.
The Obsessed The Church Within
It is a very forgettable release. Despite the cool guitar tone, the riffs etc. this feels really lifeless compared to their debut.
The Oscillation Droneweapon
The Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet
Damn, it was probably the worst Stones record I've ever heard. What's this average score...?
The Skaldic Fungi Apparition Parallel Realm and Deeds of Ethereal Heroism
The Sway of Mountains All the Colour Stains the Light
Interesting decision to make a 100% instrumental death/prog(/post) metal album, and I'm not entirely convinced about it. This way, this is not much more than background noise, and the production is quite flat too.
Theodor Die Prinzessin und der Troll
Theory of a Deadman Savages
Thorgnyr Depths
Thou Heathen
It was building up slowly, until reached "Clarity", but right after that song it went downhill very fast... and the album's length was terrible.
Thou Magus
Thousandth Cave Ancient Hearsay
A not really convincing Vindkaldr-wannabe project, despite the creator of this release (Colin Marston) is a really talented person. It's okay, but nothing really extra or noteworthy here.
Throne of the Ice Goblin Descending Into Black Hypnosis Through the Ritual
Tiny Mouse The happiest mouse alive
Tomhet (SWE) Tomhet
Tool Fear Inoculum
Tsjuder Throne of the Goat
Turment Nocturn Sense Misericòrdia
Started well, ended up boring.
Uada Cult of a Dying Sun
Un Sentiment
Started very well, but in the end it became very samey. They had an unique touch on funeral doom, but in my opinion this album needed far more variety - especially some additional tempo changes could have looked well. Not bad though, but was a bit too boring for my taste.
Undeath It's Time...To Rise From the Grave
Definitely not bad and has its moments... but it's a surprisingly boring album.
Unholy Vampyric Slaughter Sect Canticle Bound In Spirit-Faith In Vampyric Blood
This is some very divisive stuff: mostly I hate it, but: the ambient part in the middle is something I enjoyed a lot. Otherwise I don't get noise music at all...
Ushangvagush Mntu
Shut the fuck up. The constantly present really lame vocals pretty much killed my patience after the 6. song. No, noone likes it, that is not the key element of making an atmoblack album "emotional". I was struggling to sit this through, despite it had some good moments, but generally it is very tiring.
Valar The Arrival Of The Dragonlord
Valtyr Draumar Baldurs
It was alright, but every second song felt painfully long. However, the overall sound is pretty nice, but it became boring and cutting those songs shorter could have been lot better...
Vanha Melancholia
Vanhelga Enfin Morte
Not a big fan of this, I do not enjoy this kind of vocals (...especially if there are so many sections filled with them). The artwork lured me, sadly it was a hit'n'miss.
Vehemence (FRA) Ordalies
This band isn't that good as the hype suggest it... Ordailes is an okay-ish album, but most of the time it really just bores me.
Vermicide Violence The Praxis of Prophylaxis
Vindicator Dog Beneath the Skin
Nice speed metal comp. album. Even though the music itself wasn't that really exciting, but listening to songs in different "settings" (studio-demo-live) is kinda cool.
Vindkaldr Stone as Flesh
Violet Cold Empire of Love
This is definitely a post-metal album. Personally this really bores me, and perhaps the "hype" didn't help me enjoying this, since I've seen this cover pretty much everywhere. Ye-ye, brave and whatnot, but sadly this is just another post-metal album which is could be a good only as background noise.
Vonlaus Röð Slæmra Ákvarðana
Voronmrak Glares
Vreid Wild North West
A meloblack album in the style you probably have heard numerous times before...
Vrorsaath Moonlight's Wrath
Wallows Spring
Watain Trident Wolf Eclipse
Wiegedood There's Always Blood at the End of the Road
While I liked the vocals quite a lot, the rest was way too repetitive and uninspired. Especially the drums... literally just blast beats. Ultra lame.
Wilderun Epigone
I almost stopped it after the first two songs, they were horrible. I don't mind cheesy stuff, but it wasn't really good. Not big fan of the vocals here at all, and the smoothness doesn't well with the heaviness, even if it tries to be catharctic, it becomes flatly predictable. Only the first three Distraction songs + the second half of Distracion Nulla hit my expectations, the rest was ultra meh.
Wintaar Deathentrance
Solid riffs, but unspectacular result.
Winterblood (IT) Foresta impenetrabile
Winterhearth (US) Beneath the Stars
Not bad, but due to the super short length it is hard to really get into this one. But I see potential in this project.
Wolves in the Throne Room Black Cascade
Wyldpfad 1931
Wynter Myst Frore
Xanthochroid Of Erthe and Axen: Act II
Xasthur Defective Epitaph
Xavlegbmaofffassssit.... Gore
Xuthal The Reclusive Dynasty
Yablonya Звёздный зверь
Okayish post-black EP. Bonus points for the gorgeous cover art - too bad, the EP itself wasn't that good. The second song, a cinematic dark ambient piece, was probs the better part of it.

2.0 poor
Aindulmedir The Lunar Lexicon
I understand what was the main goal of this album, but the result is extremly boring.
Akercocke Rape of The Bastard Nazerene
Alice Boman Dream On
She wasn't even trying to sound any original or interesting.
Alkilith The Shores of Evermeet
I really hoped this will be good (I rarely see truly Dungeons and Dragons inspired dungeon synth), but it was rather disappointing. Like every second song consist melodies "played on the white keys" on the keyboard + some tape hiss... and that is extremly lazy, and I hate that attitude.
An Old Sad Ghost Fullmoon over Videna
I don't really get the hype around this... sometimes overly repetitive and generally has a bit amateurish feel.
Arvernien La Espada de Marak
Very-very repetitive and overused VST sounds. Nah.
Arxura The Sylvan Specter
Bathory Requiem
Behemoth A Forest
Beherit H418ov21.C
Beorn's Hall In His Granite Realm
After Estuary, they went downhills with this. Huge disappointment.
Billie Eilish dont smile at me
Bitter Old Wizard Southern Grim
Blink-182 California
Bonobo Fragments
This is very-very disappointing. I mean, it kinda does the job, but this is so BASIC (and...boring...uninspired...).
Bring Me The Horizon Amo
Calderum Calderum
Celtic Frost Cold Lake
This kinda riffs, but sitting through the whole thing requires certain amount of patience. Why did I hurt myself this way?
Cineastre Auwald
This could have been a pretty good album: nice Kveldssanger vibes and sweet folk instrumentation, but the vocals and samples are terribly annoying...
Cloister Garth Memories from a portal
I don't know what's worse: the overused and boring VSTs or the lame "experimental" songwriting... at least the black metal vocals in the end are superb.
Darkthrone Goatlord
Despondent Gaze Wish
Dungeons of Irithyll The Dire Pass...
Boring. I get it, it is Dark Souls-inspired, but sadly the album couldn't offer anything more than that...
Eishalle Alone
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou The Helm of Sorrow
Not again...
Emperor Call from the Grave
Empty (ESP) Vacío
Fallujah Undying Light
Finsternis Kloster der Verwüstung
Flesh Consumed Mutilate, Eviscerate, Decapitate
Folter The Aeon Of The Disembodied
Forest of Orthanc Forest of Orthanc
Forest Temple Spectral Threads Of A Cosmic Dream
It has some good moments, but most of the time it was either annoying or had zero direction in flow. Shame.
Freshwater Serpent Demo MMXX
Full of Hell Garden of Burning Apparitions
I don't get it.
Haken Vector
Haudh Through Forgotten Lands
Hiemal Hyperborean Rituals
Hiemal Celestial Odyssey
Space ambient does not fit to this project at all...
Hobbit Leaving the Shire (demo)
Horna Kun Synkkä Ikuisuus Avautuu
What the hell is this? It sounds like a totally different below average band... I'll pretend this never existed.
Immortal Immortal (Demo)
Impaled Nazarene Manifest
It has a very annoying production. Also, the lack of melodies and the overly repetitive vocals really killed the vibe pretty quickly.
In Autumnus Intrusiveless
Jess Williamson Sorceress
Jinjer Micro
Jute Gyte Mitrealität
When you want to be experimental so badly, your music ends up as a barely listenable creation. At least it is better than Liturgy...
Kendrick Lamar Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers
Klaaromtesterven Psychological Pain
Klanen I Command the Night to Fall
Korpiklaani Jylhä
Quite literally unlistenable.
Krallice Go Be Forgotten
Krampusnacht Trinity : I - The Father
Krampusnacht Trinity : II - The Son
Krampusnacht Trinity Part III : The Holy G​.​O​.​A​.​T
Lamp of Murmuur Heir of Ecliptical Romanticism
It was good, but most songs felt painfully overlong - maybe the title track was the strongest exception which was really enjoyable. The more death-rockish riffs were nice, but most of the album wasn't really memorable for me. Furthermore I'm not satisfied with the mix either - I simply don't care about the vocals this much, because they're not that exciting... it was too much. The demos were far better than this release, shame.
Lingua Ignota Caligula
Longsword Longsword II
Lord Rashnak Castle Of The Nameless King
Lore Liege A Break In A Harsh Storm
Machine Head The Blackening
Majesty of Oceans The Pelagic Eternal Light
Mayhem Ordo ad Chao
Meat Loaf Bat Out of Hell
Metallica Some Kind of Monster
Metallica The Unnamed Feeling
Metallica Freeze 'Em All: Live in Antarctica
James forgot how to sing, Kirk couldn't even do a decent solo, Rob choosed the poorest distortion
pedal ever, and Lars...well, he was just the usual. It might have been awesome to be there, but
listening now was almost painful. Plus, missing the opportunity to play "Trapped Under Ice" is
super lame.
Moulderyawn / Robes of Snow When the Last Forest Has Died
"Let us maximalize the volume on the vocal channel and put everything in the background, people love lo-fi screams the most anyway." Especially I felt this way at Moulderyawn's half, as it was extremly annoying (and the paper thin production didn't help it either). Robes of Snow sounded generally better, but those two songs also suffered from the overuse of vocals. In addition, the whole split feels really uninspired and mostly unmemorable. The closer dungeon synth / medieval ambient song saved the release from being a total mess, but it can't compensate the bad impression.
Nargaroth Semper Fidelis
Nirvana Madrid 1992
The Nirvana live album that noone asked for... shitty quality, and definitely not an outstanding performance.
OLD (US) Campsite
Old Path Forgotten Stories
Old Tower The Last Eidolon
"The Specter meticulously crafted his own style of medieval dark ambient." Pfff... The Specter should take back from his arrogancy, because this style is not original, and he wasn't the one who invented it... I'm not impressed, not at all. Usually, I really like this type of music, however 'The Last Eidolon' was a fairly lifeless album, and definitely not deserved the hype around it - one of the biggest disappointment of the year, tbh. I really liked the artwork, though.
Pontifferasmus Husk the mountains
I'm very disappointed. This is the most uninspired album in the otherwise unsullied catalog of HDK, which is a real shame. Boring, and lifeless.
Powerwolf The Sacrament of Sin
Psyclopean The Outsider
Pumpkin Witch Final Strike of the Pumpkin Witch
At least there are few decent songs next to the awfully bad ones...
Redig Narrow Gate
Revenge (CAN) Triumph.Genocide.Antichrist
"My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined."
Rings of Saturn Ultu Ulla
Satanic Warmaster Gas Chamber (Rehearsal Demo)
Satyricon Satyricon
Did Sigurd let his kids write this album or what? Just a few tracks have real punch ('Walker Upon The Wind' has some sweet riffs though for example), but songs like 'Trog og Kraft' are extremly disappointing. With 1.5x playback speed, the album sounds twice better than otherwise... The only really good song is (the probably filler) 'Natt', which has a beautifully melancholc and catchy melody...
Shahin Souri About This Time
Very unpleasant drone-ambient piece. Even though it has interesting textures, I couldn't even finish it, it was so frustrating to listen to this.
Slaegt Goddess
I wonder why did Century Media sign them... because this was shockingly flat. The production is ass, and it brutally dampened the listening experience.
Slipknot We Are Not Your Kind
Sonnov Goqzo
Source Vibrations Vibrational Growth for Plants
I somewhat doubt the efficiency of the intent behind this project, but one thing is for sure: this is very flat and boring.
Suffering Hour The Cyclic Reckoning
This is lolbad. The hell are these ratings...?
Svart Solace A Night at the Spire
Snoozefest.
Taake Manndaudsvinter
Tauregorath The High King of Azurreich
Taylor Swift Folklore
This is not folk? Dammit. At least she could have wrote the music by herself...
The Bloody Nun No Sleep 'til Walpurgis
The Darkness Easter Is Cancelled
The Knife Shaking the Habitual
I really don't like this one.
The True Werwolf Winternight - Demo VIII
Them The Angry Young Them
This Gift Is A Curse A Throne of Ash
Toby Driver and Nick Hudson Black Feather Under Your Tongue
Very forgettable experimental stuff. Started pretty well, but the the vocals killed the whole thing: I didn't feel the harmony between them and the instrumentation, and they were kinda forced. The idea was great though, but the result wasn't really impressive.
Trelldom Til et Annet...
Uniform and The Body Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back
Uppsalan Temple Shrine of the Elements
Vaelastrasz Hope's End
Vaelastrasz The Faint Whispers of Sinister Squashlings
Venom Storm The Gates
Wartoad Wrath of the Mighty Wartoad
Watain The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain
Way too much sloppy songs, and awful production. Listen to Marduk instead.
Winterblood (IT) Silenzio ghiacciato
Wizards of the Ivory Library Return My Body to the Ocean
Ye Banished Privateers Hostis Humani Generis
Very uninteresting folk album about pirates, and basically that's all. The dialoges and "field recordings" are super awkward - I get it they wanted to make this sound cinematic, but it felt more of a bad joke than something I'd want to dig. But the album itself is not horrible or anything, just very uninteresting - something what anyone could record by hiring a few drunken guys from an Irish pub. In my opinion, an album should stand well on its own without any visuals - but in this case it was an epic fail... maybe it would make a decent soundtrack for a pirate movie, but otherwise just: nah.
Zaaar Magická Džungl’a
The Amnesia:The Dark Descent soundtrack with saxophones and tribal percussion. It has an atmopshere, but sadly it doesn't move anywhere, and feels painfully long.

1.5 very poor
Abbath Dread Reaver
It's hearbreaking to write this, but... Abbath, I think it's time to retire. This is not just bad, this is horrible! Feels like shockingly low-effort output, with horrible flow, disappointingly bad guitarwork... it's time to make peace with the others from Immortal, or stop beating this dead horse. I'm very-very disappointed.
American Pleasure Club Fucking Bliss
Astral Tomb Degradation Of Human Consciousness
Well... this was horrible. Sloppy mishmash death-doom chaos with near zero entertainment factor.
BABYMETAL Metal Galaxy
Block knight Block knight I
Carreghud Dungeon Tales
Cherubs Immaculada High
Disgusting Cathedral Adventurers Despised and Rejected
"Let's record some lo-fi mess and call it a day". Despite this release it has some interesting tracks which worth to give a listen, the overall package is terribly weak.
Dystopian Present The Legend of Mr. Pumpkin
Ecclesiarch Beyond the Lychgate
Ridiculous. I don't mind minimalistic dungeon synth albums, but this is just pathetic work.
Eternal Night Abandoned by Hope, Embraced by Night
Gorillaz Humanz
Grandeburgo XIV
Hayley Williams FLOWERS for VASES / descansos
This is not just boring, this album is extremly lazy. "all instruments performed by Hayley" how is that any impressive?
Hiemal Solivagant Ghost of Cimmerian Woods
Ibaraki Rashomon
Tagged as black metal and even death metal on bandcamp...? This was fucking embarassing.
Katie Shlon Play some songs to make the plants grow
Despite there is a great idea behind this, the album sounds terribly amateurish...
Keys of Orthanc Of The Lineage Of Kings
And I thought the previous album was bad... this was horrible. This goes nowhere, zero flow in the riffs, too much vocals, and a generally very low-effort feel. I'm extremly disappointed... how could a band fall so low who created such a fantastic album like Dush Agh Golnauk?! No words...
Klanen Coerced Into Desolate Eternity
Lana Del Rey Lust For Life
Lingua Ignota SINNER GET READY
Hot garbage. Why'd you want to torture yourself with listening to this for 55 minutes?
Linkin Park One More Light
Lookfar Beyond the edge of the world
How the f*ck is this among the best selling dungeon synth albums? This was nonsense, barely enjoyable, disgustingly overrated. Pathetic attempt.
Lothringen Penance and Spear
That's how do NOT make old-school dungeon synth.
Markarth Am Main Der Letzte Kreuzzug
Marsyas Zskin Echo and Narcissus
There is a few good tracks in this one, but the most of it sounds just like some randomly sequenced nonsense.
Metallica Six Feet Down Under
Moss Golem The Woods of Galdura
Serpent?s Sword Records nowadays just puts out the same stuff under different names...and gets away with it. Awful vocals also.
Nirvana Live in Rio '93
Not far from being completely unenjoyable.
Poison Path *YOU'VE BEEN POISONED*
Pumpkin Witch In the Frightful Gaze of the Pumpkin Witch
All the hype for this? I barely could enjoy a few songs.
Pyre of Black Roses Demo I
I don't get what's the point of recording an atmoblack demo to a rotten potato, intentionally... Lo-fi BM can have a magical aura, but when you rape your sound like this, that is unacceptable. Near zero enjoyment. Do you feel kvlt, soft shites?
Schatten Des Monds Blady sen
*lo-fi noise intensifies* The album offers nothing just loud lo-fi wind, rain, and other noises while someone playing major keys only on a synth. Zero progression and annoying mimicry of the old-school. Pathetic.
Stirge Malarian Winds
Talog Vladavina Vampira
The Audient Void Dying Flesh In Immortal Shape
This could have been somewhat good, but due to the poor mix (f.e. way too much reverb) and the unbearably awful vocals it was a disaster.
Troghetstillstand Winter Mist
Ulver Rehearsal Room 1993
Vintlechkeit Isete Skoger Frostskymring​.​.​.
Lifeless Paysage copycat.
Von Satanic Blood (demo)
It is simply terrible.
Xasthur Victims of the Times
It has a *very few* kinda good moments, but in general this feels like an extremly amateurish album. The guitars sound really detuned, horrible mic placements for the recordings and terrible vocals. This is somewhere between 1.0 and 1.5.

1.0 awful
Automatonus Among the Ruins of the Basilica of Saint Synthetic
Billie Eilish When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Bring Me The Horizon Music to Listen to...
Music to listen to... *pukes all over this* Great example of lifeless plaza pop music. *pukes again*
Castle Ov Yester Echoes From Hobgoblin Ha'
Cetati dacice din Munzii Orastiei The Seventh Obsidian Fortress...
Two kids made some extremly low-effort recording with a toy piano. And the whole process took maybe 20 minutes from start to finish.
Dark Sarah Grim
Deathspell Omega The Long Defeat
Alright, that's it, I've heard enough. Not surprisingly: this album, and this band sucks... (they always did)
Draughash The Solar Order
One of the worst DS releases I've ever heard. Waste of time.
Epimetrius Mortal Feet had not Traversed...
Faron These Woods Which Turn Flesh to Bone
This was awful... My disappointment is inmeasureable, and my day is ruined. Seriously, this is some really upsetting waste of time, a 4 yo kid could come up with something better than this.
Grandma's Catacombs Grandma's Catacombs
Alright, perhaps it's time to abandon the dungeon synth scene... this is a fucking awful trend. Awful for a meme, and awful as it is.
Greta Van Fleet Anthem of the Peaceful Army
Himmelriket Guds Trone I Himmelen
Okay, this is just lolbad, hahaha. Randomly hitting single notes and playing with the pitch button ain't any good...
Liturgy Aesthethica
Liturgy The Ark Work
Liturgy H.A.Q.Q.
If this supposed to be revolutionary and the future of black metal then I'll quit. "HAJJ" almost made me cry how awful it is...
Liturgy Origin of the Alimonies
Waste of time. Ngl, the intro was kinda alright, but the rest... *painful* waste of time. Congratulations, the worst album and album cover of the year (so far)!
Longsword Longsword III
Nekrohobbit Bastard Sword
New Years Day Unbreakable
OLD (US) Gross
Slayyyter Slayyyter
Stahlijazhamur Storming At Sunset
Incredibly sloppy, awful potato-level lo-fi Satanic Warmaster-wannabe project from Sweden.

0.5
Old Tower The Old King of Witches
"Old Tower resurrects the dying breed of dark ambient with '90s deep electronics to conceive of a new form of DARK MUSIC" What the fuck are you talking about? This is among the most basic, uninteresting, amateourish dark ambient releases I've ever heard. ZERO depth, ZERO exciting parts. This guy is helpless... Spare yourself the time and avoid this. Forever.
FAQ // STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS // SITE FORUM // CONTACT US

Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Site Copyright 2005-2019 Sputnikmusic.com
All Album Reviews Displayed With Permission of Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy