| 2017 |
| Wintaar Nightchants | 4.0 |
| Raw, tortured black metal with great vocals. One of W/Wintaar's best yet. |
| Nortt Endeligt | 3.0 |
| Eternal Valley The Falling Light | 3.5 |
| Loth Apocryphe | 3.5 |
| If you enjoyed "Avifauna" and "Two Hunters," this is for you. |
| Eskapism Lost Land | 3.5 |
| F**K this is a good single, and the cover is sweet too. |
| Grafvitnir Keys to the Mysteries Beyond | 4.0 |
| Band is so consistent with relentless, gnarled black metal goodness. |
| Halphas Dawn of A Crimson Empire | 3.5 |
| Evilfeast Elegies of the Stellar Wind | 4.0 |
| Morke Sirens | 3.5 |
| Eldamar A Dark Forgotten Past | 3.0 |
| Noctem Aeternus Winter Spells | 4.0 |
| Morbid Angel Kingdoms Disdained | 3.5 |
| The Howling Void The Darkness at the Edge of Dawn | 4.0 |
| A great step forward in songwriting and atmosphere. The vocals fit the somber mood well and the album as a whole feels shorter than it is. |
| Ofdrykkja Irrfärd | 3.5 |
| Haive Iätön | 4.0 |
| Converge The Dusk in Us | 4.0 |
| VVilderness Devour the Sun | 4.0 |
| Ne Obliviscaris Urn | 4.0 |
| Bell Witch Mirror Reaper | 3.0 |
| Amenra Mass VI | 3.5 |
| Arkhtinn V | 3.0 |
| Production is kinda terrible and the songwriting is a step back. |
| Xanthochroid Of Erthe and Axen: Act II | 4.0 |
| Enslaved E | 3.5 |
| Wintaar Wintaar | 3.5 |
| Wolves in the Throne Room Thrice Woven | 4.0 |
| Mastodon Cold Dark Place | 2.5 |
| Kalmankantaja Routamaa | 4.0 |
| Myrkur Mareridt | 3.5 |
| Squalus The Great Fish | 4.0 |
| Battle Dagorath II - Frozen Light of Eternal Darkness | 3.5 |
| Malum Night of the Luciferian Light | 3.5 |
| Celephais Monad | 3.0 |
| Tales Of Gaia Hypernova | 4.0 |
| I will defend this album with my dying breath, just as it would do for me. |
| Botanist Collective: The Shape of He to Come | 4.0 |
| Nyss Princesse Terre | 4.0 |
| Drudkh/Paysage d'Hiver Somewhere Sadness Wanders/Schnee (IV) | 4.0 |
| Der Weg Einer Freiheit Finisterre | 4.0 |
| Sacred Son Sacred Son | 3.0 |
| it's better if you ignore the album cover. too much cognitive dissonance, even if it's funny. |
| Leprous Malina | 3.5 |
| Xanthochroid Of Erthe and Axen: Act I | 4.0 |
| Cormorant Diaspora | 3.0 |
| A Pale December The Shrine of Primal Fire | 4.0 |
| Eneferens Eventide | 3.0 |
| Serpent Column Ornuthi Thalassa | 3.5 |
| Tchornobog Tchornobog | 3.5 |
| Ye Banished Privateers First Night Back In Port | 4.0 |
| A great concept with some terrific and fun songs. Definitely too long for its own good, but I'm very glad to have found this. "Annabel" is one of the best songs of the year.r |
| Beltez Exiled, Punished...Rejected | 4.0 |
| Arctos A Spire Silent | 3.5 |
| Soundtrack (Film) Baby Driver | 3.5 |
| Mavradoxa Lethean Lament | 3.5 |
| Fleet Foxes Crack-Up | 4.0 |
| Katy Perry Witness | 1.5 |
| Progenie Terrestre Pura oltreLuna | 3.5 |
| Hermodr Hädanfärd | 3.5 |
| Sorrow Plagues Homecoming | 4.5 |
| "Irreversible" is one of the best blackgaze songs I've ever heard. |
| Emyn Muil Elenion Ancalima | 2.5 |
| Alestorm No Grave But the Sea | 3.0 |
| Trvth Arcane Sages | 3.5 |
| Au-Dessus End of Chapter | 3.5 |
| Enslaved Roadburn Live | 3.0 |
| DragonForce Reaching into Infinity | 3.5 |
| Darkenhold Memoria Sylvarum | 4.0 |
| The Ruins of Beverast Exuvia | 4.5 |
| Havukruunu Kelle Surut Soi | 4.5 |
| Veldes The Bitterness Prophecy | 3.5 |
| Ice Giant Ice Giant | 1.0 |
| Enisum Seasons Of Desolation | 4.5 |
| Artificial Brain Infrared Horizon | 4.0 |
| Arkheron Thodol Thaw | 4.0 |
| Asira Efference | 3.5 |
| Inferno (CZ) Gnosis Kardias (Of Transcension and Involution) | 4.0 |
| Marunata Réminiscence | 4.0 |
| Mastodon Emperor of Sand | 3.0 |
| This isn't very Mastodon but it's pretty sweet anyway. |
| Falls of Rauros Vigilance Perennial | 4.0 |
| Orm Orm | 4.0 |
| Isenordal Shores of Mourning | 4.0 |
| Twilight Fauna The Year the Stars Fell | 2.5 |
| Heretoir The Circle | 4.0 |
| Slugdge The Cosmic Cornucopia | 4.5 |
| Sadness Leave | 4.0 |
| Ghash Goat | 3.5 |
| Fen Winter | 4.0 |
| Obituary Obituary | 2.0 |
| Kalmankantaja Demonwoods | 3.5 |
| Norsufraal Cyclope | 3.0 |
| Arkhtinn IV | 4.0 |
| Sarkrista Summoners of the Serpents Wrath | 4.0 |
| Keiser The Succubus | 3.5 |
| Deer Hollow Deer Hollow | 3.5 |
| Manetheren The End | 4.0 |
| Spectral Voices A Bleak Existence | 3.0 |
| Real good live show from these guys, though the material has room to grow. |
| Janvier Janvier | 2.5 |
| Dready, depressive black metal with good atmosphere but not many defining elements. |
| Opprobre Le Naufrage | 4.0 |
| Eskapism Tales of Elder Forest | 4.0 |
| The Great Old Ones EOD: A Tale of Dark Legacy | 4.5 |
| Dzo-nga Upon the Shimmered Bough | 3.5 |
| ROSK Miasma | 3.5 |
| 2014 |
| Unleashing My Demons Tran(ce)scen(e)dance | 1.0 |
| Earth and Pillars Earth I | 4.0 |
| Primordial Where Greater Men Have Fallen | 3.5 |
| Warren of Ohms The Wolf and The Fox | 4.0 |
| Ne Obliviscaris Citadel | 4.5 |
| Falls of Rauros Believe in No Coming Shore | 3.5 |
| Anaal Nathrakh Desideratum | 3.5 |
| Giant Squid Minoans | 3.5 |
| Abysmal Dawn Obsolescence | 4.0 |
| The riffs on this universally rule and the drumming is thunderous, if overproduced. Great stuff. |
| At the Gates At War with Reality | 3.0 |
| Obituary Inked in Blood | 2.0 |
| Revocation Deathless | 4.0 |
| Inter Arma The Cavern | 4.0 |
| White Empress Rise of the Empress | 4.0 |
| Kalmankantaja Ahdistus | 3.0 |
| Cannibal Corpse A Skeletal Domain | 3.5 |
| Myrkur Myrkur | 3.5 |
| Darkenhold Castellum | 4.5 |
| Unisonic Light of Dawn | 4.0 |
| There many not be any dynamite songs here, but everything is pro quality and it's a pretty fun listen cover to cover. Kiske's in great form and the three-way layering of his voice makes it really pop without noticeable studio work. |
| In Flames Siren Charms | 2.0 |
| Darkspace Dark Space III I | 4.0 |
| YOB Clearing The Path To Ascend | 2.5 |
| Neopera Destined Ways | 3.5 |
| Blood of Kingu Dark Star on the Right Horn of the Crescent Moon | 3.5 |
| DragonForce Maximum Overload | 3.0 |
| Fallujah The Flesh Prevails | 4.0 |
| Judas Priest Redeemer of Souls | 3.0 |
| Wolves in the Throne Room Celestite | 3.0 |
| Wolvhammer Clawing Into Black Sun | 3.5 |
| Slugdge Gastronomicon | 4.0 |
| Mastodon Once More 'Round the Sun | 3.5 |
| Musk Ox Woodfall | 4.0 |
| Arctica Annuminas | 4.5 |
| Dirty Loops Loopified | 4.0 |
| Saor Aura | 5.0 |
| Clouds (INT) Doliu | 3.5 |
| Hoth Oathbreaker | 4.0 |
| Casualties of Cool Casualties of Cool | 4.5 |
| Agalloch The Serpent and the Sphere | 3.0 |
| Swans To Be Kind | 3.5 |
| Alexandre Desplat Godzilla | 3.5 |
| Ifing Against This Weald | 4.0 |
| Spectral Lore III | 4.5 |
| Lord Mantis Death Mask | 4.5 |
| Grey Skies Fallen The Many Sides of Truth | 3.0 |
| The Great Old Ones Tekeli-Li | 5.0 |
| Paramnesia Paramnesia | 4.0 |
| you'll forget it's playing after like, 15 minutes, but your subconscious will be happy |
| Eismalsott Weißblendung | 4.0 |
| Raw, icy, surging black metal with super tight drums and crisp production. The barrage of Nattens Madrigal riffs is interrupted occasionally for Paysage-esque wind samples and eerie acoustic guitar. At 21 minutes, this EP is a great listen and well worth checking for fans of both Cascadian and Second Wave black metal. |
| Anette Olzon Shine | 4.0 |
| Cormorant Earth Diver | 3.0 |
| EPISTASIS Light Through Dead Glass | 4.0 |
| Gamma Ray Empire of the Undead | 3.5 |
| Thou Heathen | 4.0 |
| Animals As Leaders The Joy of Motion | 3.5 |
| Near Death Condition Evolving Towards Extinction | 4.0 |
| Gazpacho Demon | 4.0 |
| Barrowlands Thane | 4.0 |
| For real, this album is perfect for an Agalloch mood when you're out of Agalloch. |
| Nothing Guilty of Everything | 3.0 |
| Alaskan Despair, Erosion, Loss | 4.5 |
| BABYMETAL BABYMETAL | 4.0 |
| Moonlit Sailor We Come from Exploding Stars | 3.5 |
| Soreption Engineering The Void | 3.5 |
| Cynic Kindly Bent to Free Us | 2.5 |
| Helms Alee Sleepwalking Sailors | 3.5 |
| Indian From All Purity | 3.0 |
| Bruce Springsteen High Hopes | 2.5 |
| Hermodr Vinter | 3.5 |
| first time through I sorta lost track of songs since the album has two gears: slow harmonized acoustic guitars, and super-buzzy drone riffs with the aforementioned placeholder drumming. that's certainly not a dealbreaker, since those droney riffs create a great atmosphere, and feature some interesting chords and combinations. the vocals were spot-on, with the whispers in the title track standing out not only as great for the song, but a signature sound for Hermodr. the presence of bass is very welcome, and the two-part riffs clearly work with the bass in what sounds like fairly intricate composition even at a crawling pace. overall it's a very coherent album, and a well-realized one. I don't often indulge in the doomier side of black metal, but I feel like this album will be a grower for me. |
| Sivyj Yar From the Dead Villages' Darkness | 4.0 |
| Enisum Samoht Nara | 3.5 |
