Today we’re premiering “A Slow, Weary Wind,” which concludes the record and comes with a sense of beleaguered endurance to match. Like a traveler drawing close to the end of a difficult journey, it comes with reflection, regret, and exhaustion, all expressed through the lens of sorrowful black metal.

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Immerse releases March 20th via Amor Fati and Extraconscious Records.

Anyway, you probably might want to know what I’m looking forward to next year. Well, the new Vemod is pretty spectacular, and there is a rumored record from Spectral Voice (which was confirmed after I initially wrote this and it’s very good). Chapel of Disease are back, and the new Volahn album should probably happen sometime in 2024. Spectral Lore (not to be confused with the aforementioned Spectral Voice) is finally, finally releasing IV next year, too. German death metal stalwarts Drowned are also releasing their first album in a decade, which is pretty neat. I composed the intro track for the upcoming Celestial Sword album, which is stellar, and on that topic I have a bunch of records coming out through various projects on a selection of labels. You’ll just have to keep your ear to the ground.

Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn’t include some fun demos released this year:

Behemoth – Unreleased Demo Album 1994 (Zombi Danz Records, Brazil)
Bogside Sniper Squadron – Demo 2023 (Independent, USA)
Boreas – Gnostic Chants from Sempiternal Void (Death Prayer Records, USA)
Fuinäehot – Secrets Of The Godhead (Forbidden Sonority, USA)]
Hekseblad – Promo MMXXIII (Independent, USA)
Mroczna Wieża – Mroczna Wieża (Forbidden Sonority, USA)
Nocturnal Effigy – Bloody Dusk (Independent, USA)
Oerheks – Landschapsanachronismen and Valkengebed (Babylon Doom Cult Records, Belgium)
Orlok’s Mourning – Embraced by the Light of a Vampyric Moon (Hammer and Flail Recordings, USA/Canada)
Púca – Demo (Moonworshipper Records, USA)

Now go on, champ! Go and get mad that I didn’t include something you liked in my list! You’ve earned it!

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Honorable Mentions:

20. Corrupted – Mushikeras (Independent, Japan/USA)
19. Laster – Andermans mijne (Prophecy Productions, Netherlands)
18. Krieg – Ruiner (Profound Lore Records, USA)
17. Mycorrhizae – The Great Filtration (Big Bovine Industries, USA)
16. Thantifaxath – Hive Mind Narcosis (Dark Descent Records, Canada)
15. Moonlight Sorcery – Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle (Avantgarde Music, Finland)
14. Malokarpatan – Vertumnus Caesar (Invictus Productions/The Ajna Offensive, Slovakia)
13. Majesties – Vast Reaches Unclaimed (20 Buck Spin, USA)
12. Woe – Legacies of Frailty (Independent/Vendetta Records, USA)
11. Lightbreaker– Annihilation of the Annealids (Independent, USA)

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Gates of Dawn – II

(Death Hymns, USA)

Though I am a longtime El-Ahrairah fan, it took me a little longer to check out T.N.’s solo project for reasons still unknown to me. Featuring a beautiful fusion of Soviet Bloc-inspired black metal and krautrock-infused psychedelia, T.N.’s vision is at its clearest here. It might be a little difficult to find a copy of this album this late in the game, but it is imperative that you hear this thing on vinyl. A tape would be nice, too!

Listen here.

Austere – Corrosion of Hearts

(Prophecy Productions, Australia)

Oh, do I love Austere. I love them so much that I wrote a literal book on them. I missed this band a great deal, their last album (2009’s To Lay Like Old Ashes) remaining a steadfast inclusion in my listening habits in the years that followed their initial demise. Now back and, dare I say, more mature this time around, Austere’s desperate depression is more palatable and less unbridled. As Desolate and Sorrow have grown over the past fourteen years, so has their once-more-unified musical vision. Austere is “depressive black metal,” but in a more realistic and dismal sense rather than the self-destructive extremeness of the past. Corrosion of Hearts is still a stirring listen, however, and Austere pick up right where they left off.

Listen here.

Bergfried – Romantik II

(Fiadh Productions, Austria)

I had high hopes for the Romantik I EP’s followup, and musician and songwriter Erech Leleth’s continuation of the Bergfried story is just as exciting, if not more, than what came before it. Bergfried are “traditional” in the sense that there are rocking riffs and sung vocals, and yet there is a lot more going on here. Dokken-esque sleaze, folk metal, black metal, and other influences collide in Romantik II‘s peculiar and infectious metal/rock hybrid traverses the musical landscape with a unique playfulness. Erech Leleth has proven through other projects like Ancient Mastery, Carathis, and Narzissus that he is a master of black metal, but Bergfried reveals that he was an ’80s metal nerd the entire time. Go ahead and revisit Carathis–tell me it isn’t ’80s guitar hero metal!

Listen here.

Lamp of Murmuur – Saturnian Bloodstorm

(Wolves of Hades/Not Kvlt Records, USA)

Lamp of Murmuur’s departure from the raw black metal world was an unexpected and unannounced one, and it left a lot of babies whining about “sounding like Immortal” or “not being the same.” The most exciting artists, my friends, try new things, and Lamp of Murmuur’s heavy/black metal approach on Saturnian Bloodstorm is by far the most exciting material M. has released to date. In an interview I conducted with him for Decibel Magazine, M. expressed a sense of accomplishment and ego concerning this release, having overcome many obstacles to get to this point, and the pride felt here is palpable.

Listen here.

Harp – Albion

(Bella Union, USA)

Midlake’s The Courage of Others was an earlier foray of mine into the world of the “indie” offshoot world of folk rock rather than my more metal-oriented neofolk and neoclassical “folk” taste. That was, sadly, Midlake’s last album with singer Tim Smith, who chose to leave Midlake and start this band, Harp, in 2011. The most upsetting part of Harp’s birth was the loss of two years of Smith-fronted Midlake material–the band decided to simply abandon the work they’d done together and start again from scratch. Though Harp’s long-long awaited debut album Albion, having first been announced in 2015, has the occasional metaphysical nod to the material Smith left on the cutting room floor, this material is a definite departure from Midlake’s more American approach. With stylistic nods to the English folk revival movement, Albion is a subtle, warm album. Smith’s voice, a welcome return, is as smooth and soft as ever, and his ear for harmony is even stronger than the Midlake days. If it takes another twelve years for Smith to make another album like this, the time will have been worth it.

Listen here.

Urfaust – Untergang

(Ván Records, Netherlands)

So, first off, RIP Urfaust! I remember listening to this band in high school, and it’s amazing how they’d followed me into my 30s. Nothing lasts forever, unfortunately! At least, and it is really to our benefit, Urfaust went out on an incredibly high note. Featuring some of their strongest material in a very long time, Untergang shows this Dutch duo at their most powerful and harrowing. Urfaust was always about that–power (well, that and getting very, very drunk)–and this final album, their very last statement as Urfaust, is a reminder that they will always be the best at their craft, even when they have left it.

Listen here.

Katatonia – Sky Void of Stars

(Napalm Records, Sweden)

Katatonia is probably my favorite active metal band. Yes, even the nu-rock stuff, and Sky Void of Stars is probably their strongest Jonas Renkse-written material–their frontman having taken over songwriting around the City Burials era. Renkse’s melodic pop sensibilities meld with the band’s overall heavy, proggy rock and metal stylings, making an album which is both immensely heavy and very, very catchy. “Opaline’”s hook has only two notes. Two notes!

Listen here.

Miserere Luminis – Ordalie

(Sepulchral Productions, Canada)

I waited a long time for the followup to Miserere Luminis’ self-titled album, originally released in 2009. Initially conceived as a live concert project and collaboration between Quebecois black metal bands Gris and Sombres Forêts, I didn’t really expect anything to come from this band beyond this effort, but a semi-recent reformation as a live band gave me a little hope. Well, that and Neptune telling me about the album a year before Ordalie was released, but I digress. Though Ordalie is a black metal collaboration through and through, I hesitate to actually call Miserere Luminis a black metal band this time around. Leaning heavily into post-rock and post-metal, the lush and heavily orchestrated Ordalie is a sort of rebirth for these two sorely missed bands, who are generally known more for their presence in the black metal underground. By the way, when are either Sombres Forêts or Gris going to give us proper albums on their own? It’s only been a decade since we’ve heard new recorded material from either band (the Gris album topped my best of the 2010s list, so you must know how dead serious I am about this).

Listen here.

Tenhi – Valkama

(Prophecy Productions, Finland)

Another album for which I waited a long, long time. Finnish progressive folk band Tenhi’s last album, Saivo, was released in 2011, then… nothing! At least, until I interviewed member Tyko Saarikko in 2020, where he first made mention of the album that would become Valkama in his first public chat in years. The anticipation killed me. It really did. With such a drastic amount of time dedicated to one album made by a consistently incredible band, Valkama had to approach perfection. It just had to… and it does. Saarikko and bandmate Ilmari Issakainen’s approach to folk music (not quite neofolk like so many declare them to be) is tender and quiet, but heady and complex. Featuring Issakainen’s most complex drumming in years, Tenhi’s once-again mobile selves (when compared to Saivo‘s stillness) capitalizes on their newfound activity and makes what could be their finest album. Somewhere between Kauan‘s raw songwriting talent, Maa​ä​et‘s verdant orchestration, and Airut:Aamujen‘s delicate touch, Tenhi’s Valkama is not only a survey of their most memorable moments, but an expansion upon them, as well. Tenhi spent a lengthy amount of time on this album, and it shows in this album’s more subtle moments. With quiet counter-melodies, interesting syncopations, and a general appreciation for the art of the groove, Valkama quickly entered my listening rotation and never left it.

Listen here.

Listen to our lengthy podcast interview with Saarikko and Issakainen here.

Dødheimsgard – Black Medium Current

(Peaceville Records, Norway)

What’s that? Another eagerly awaited album? That’s right, “DHG” spent an eight year span crafting this album. Frontman Vicotnik’s songwriting acumen–taking songs from breakneck black metal to prog epics and electronic soundscapes with grace and thought–is at its strongest here. Songs can wander through disparate ends of the musical universe and guitarist/songwriter Yusaf “Vicotnik” Parvez twists them carefully so that they make sense together. Opener “Et Smelter” finds its way from guitar ambiance, through a sea of black metal, and finds itself closing as a progressive rock masterpiece. It really is compelling, full of “blink and you’ve missed it” transitions and the tiniest of details placed in exact spots for the most effective response. An avant-garde black metal album in the most classical sense of the genre, Black Medium Current is also an apex of it, as well. Featuring Vicotnik on vocals this time, replacing previous (and original) vocalist Aldrahn, we find a more varied and emotive performance, ranging from softly sung vocals to the harshest of shrieks, and a cornucopia of other sounds that pair with Black Medium Current‘s wacky, colorful void. Having been around for thirty years now, Dødheimsgard have rendered themselves inimitable in a sea of pretenders, crafting the perfect version of what was at one point referred to as “post-black metal.” Also, yes, this means this album is better than the one with Fenriz on it.

Listen here.

Listen to our lengthy podcast interview with Vicotnik here.

Listen to Aube cannibale in full ahead of its release date below.

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Aube cannibale is out November 23rd via Sepulchral Productions.

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From the band:

Into the Water is a song that’s been around for awhile, for whatever reason never finding its way onto an album. If you find yourself reminiscing of our older material, this is the “new” song for you.

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TOUR DATES with Black Cross Hotel:

11/30/2023 The Annex – Madison, WI
12/01/2023 The White Rock Lounge – Saint Paul, MN
12/02/2023 Livewire – Chicago, IL
12/03/2023 Black Circle – Indianapolis, IN
12/13/2023 White Water Tavern – Little Rock, AR
12/14/2023 Come And Take It Live – Austin, TX
12/15/2023 Hi-Tones – San Antonio, TX
12/16/2023 1810 Ojeman – Houston, TX
12/17/2023 Siberia – New Orleans, LA
1/4/2024 Sanctuary – Detroit, MI*
1/5/2024 Lost Horizon – Syracuse, NY*
1/6/2024 The Kingsland – Brooklyn, NY*
1/7/2024 Big Room Bar – Columbus, OH*

*Chrome Waves Only

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Follow Chrome Waves on Bandcamp and Instagram.

This article has been updated to reflect Zion Meagher’s current status in the band.

This album reveals Meister Tekel’s grasp of black metal’s more ambiance-forward side coming to the proverbial head–Tämpelskläng‘s dense atmospheres and unique riffing slightly recall other acts, but there is an element of mysticism and Antiquity which pervades this album’s melodic sense, no doubt a result of Meister Tekel’s own Tanakh studies. Yes, Judeo-Christianity plays a part in this album, but not in a religious fashion. Meister Tekel’s personal interest in spirituality plays a large role in Tämpelskläng, but not as a belief system and more a vessel for his own spirituality, about which he expounds in an interview which can be read below.

Listen to Tämpelskläng and read an interview with Meister Tekel ahead of the album’s release below.

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How does Ophanim fit into the greater Helvetic Underground Committee narrative?

There is not really a narrative in our circle in the sense that each band must follow a specific idea or philosophy. There’s only one requirement and that is that the music must be “authentic”, it must convey some unique atmosphere or tell a story that hasn’t been told a million times. Obviously, you can’t be highly original in everything you do but I have come to the realization over the years that you must at least strive for it. It’s not that I didn’t do that before, but I’m doing it more consciously now. creating music to “also create music”, replicating an existing thing over and over again is pointless.

In my attempts to translate this album’s written aspects, I’ve found that there aren’t direct translations in modern language. Did you use an older dialect for this album?

No, it’s simply Swiss-German, my own language/dialect. With Ungfell I’m using Swiss-German because it fits the themes and the whole Ungfell-universe so to speak. This is not the case with Ophanim. Here I just resorted to my native tongue because it felt right. 

Though Tämpelskläng deals with Judeo-Christian mythology on a surface level, it is said that this album deals with personal themes. What parallels did you find when exploring these themes together?

I have never been a religious person and I’m not to this day. However, I do think there’s an inherent need in every human to have some form of a “higher power” in one’s life. In my view, we’re currently still battling the realization that there is virtually nothing in the universe that has meaning. The gap that god left within us is being filled with alternatives that are not necessarily seen as religion but they basically possess the same mechanic. I’m talking about all sorts of political radicalism, capitalism/consumerism, the belief in technological advance and so on. For me, it has mainly been the arts where I seem to have found some sort of vessel, capable of being a home to my need for spirituality. The act of creating music is oftentimes coupled with a euphoric or even ecstatic feeling for me. When everything falls in place and you, the creator, are in a state of “flow”, there’s a feeling of oneness and harmony with your surroundings. I think you can absolutely draw a comparison between the described feelings and the ones you’ll find in religious texts about, let’s say, the unio mystica. So, for me it was clear that Ophanim is not “religious” in that it reflects a specific religion but more so a specific state of mind. A state of mind which probably led people to invent religious narratives in the first place. That’s why it made sense to me to seek inspiration in the lowest common denominator of the most powerful religions today: the Tanakh. 

While this is an ethereal and airy album, Tämpelskläng remains an enthralling and captivating listen. What did you do to achieve this balance between these two halves of the “Ophanim sound”?

As I have just tried to explain, the creation of this album wasn’t founded on what you could call “conscious” songwriting, so it’s hard for me to answer this question. I do feel though that there is an immense power in the spiritual potential of humans, regardless of this being a positive or negative thing – it’s probably the latter. But I guess I somehow managed to implement both sides of the same coin into the album: aggression, fury on the one side, calmness and ethereal peace on the other. I would like to ramble on by saying that I personally feel that there’s not enough emotional ambivalence in this genre, especially in atmospheric black metal. I think this particular genre is incredibly stale. It’s almost like there’s only one vibe considered atmospheric and all the bands (surely not literally all of them) are just rerecording the same album. So if you detected some ambivalence in this album I couldn’t hope for more praise. 

The press release describes Ophanim as “transcendental sounds of total immersion.” Is this what you had in mind for this album–something immersive? Or do you want something more interactive and less “heady”?

Sure, immersion is the main aim in music in general, at least in my view. Punk is immersive too; it puts you in a certain state, a certain headspace. I’m not sure what you mean by “heady” but yes, I guess since I based the album primarily on my gut feelings and tried to compose without thinking too much you could really say that. I’d argue that it gets heady fast if you take this approach to composing and to art into consideration, too.  

For me, Ophanim’s sound can be traced to a few lineages, but I’m curious about your take on this project’s categorization and influences. How would you categorize Ophanim, and where does this particular sound come from?

I really don’t care about categorizations to be honest. As I alluded to above, I have always found “atmospheric black metal” to be mostly boring, apart from a few really great bands. So, I’m not keen on Ophanim being categorized as that. On the other hand, I guess it was somehow my aim to make an atmospheric black metal album that had more depth to it than what you usually hear e.g., to make an atmospheric black metal album that doesn’t suck. With my futile and cocky attempt to lead this genre to its glory in mind, you probably should call Ophanim “atmospheric black metal”. For me it’s just Ophanim. As for the sound: I have read and heard feedback about people saying it was too synth heavy. Well, I refute your criticism by declaring that there were almost no synthesizers used in the creation of this album. It’s actually just one guitar (with an octaver), one bass, a drum and obviously vocals. As for the riffs, I couldn’t tell you where they come from. It makes sense that they are pretty simple and convey something primal at times because, as mentioned before, it was my aim to not think too much while composing. Since I’m a lousy guitarist I just played what was possible for me. 

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Tämpelskläng releases November 24th via Eisenwald.

Boiling the duo’s debut self-titled album, which they released in mid-August, to its core components reveals the alchemic reaction between queerness, nature, and fellowship facilitated by black metal. Across three lengthy tracks, Henry and Holland employ languid tempos and fuzzy textures that snake and saunter, mimicking the uneven footing of a woodland trail. They rarely sprint in their tracks, remaining peaceful even when Henry ramps up the pacing with blast beats. Opener “Endless Rain” encapsulates their patience with the message that self-discovery is an enduring process. Earthen Altar’s other two tracks, “The Body of Yemo” and “Hymn of Cybele,” draw from ancient mythology as a larger metaphor for the duo’s aforementioned core values.

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“I’d like to stress that neither of us are super read on these things. They’re just sources of inspiration. You do find metal bands where the lyricists are academics or historians. For us, it’s artistic inspiration,” Henry says. These inspirations separate the pair from other black metal acts, especially in the Cascadian genre sphere, at least on the thematic level. In their own ways, the stories of Yemo and Cybele reflect Holland and Henry’s experiences. 

As Holland says, “Cybele and Attis were lovers, both immortal, but Attis fell in love with this mortal woman. Cybele found out and sought revenge. She later regretted what she did, so she turned Attis into a tree to preserve his being. That’s what I tried to write about because in my life, I feel like I’ve struggled in the romance department a bit, so maybe I was unintentionally writing about personal things without consciously thinking about it.” 

Yemo’s myth, meanwhile, is less traditional. To summarize Henry’s explanation, Yemo was never actually worshipped or even appeared in any ancient mythologies. They’re not a character from mythology. Instead, they are a construct from the theoretical field of Indo-European studies that examines mythology and linguistics. In Henry’s words, Yemo is “Based on comparing the actual written myths and the language in the myths, the roots of the words of the names of deities and what they mean. It’s not a story that anyone actually believed, but it’s our best guess at an average root mythology.” That matters because Yemo is an aggregation of trans and queer themes in mythology due to their status as a primordial hermaphrodite by some scholars.

Whereas Cybele reflects Holland’s romantic woes, Yemo is more closely held to Henry’s beliefs and transition. The myth is a creation story in which Yemo’s corpse gives rise to the first man, the valleys, the hills, and the trees. Nature has always been a guiding principle for Henry, particularly the flora that lies within Oregon’s state lines. “Being in Oregon and the PMW has been inspiring for me lyrically and musically. And transitioning too, because I hit a creative wall for a few years, and then the pandemic happened. It’s been slow getting back into things with everything happening in the world,” she says.

On the note of transitioning, Henry credits Earthen Altar as an instrumental piece of her journey. “For a number of years, I identified as non-binary or gender-queer, primarily. I wasn’t feeling like a woman or a man. I didn’t feel like being explicit about anything. It was a process of accepting who I was, which led to me being explicit. Not only do I want this (from a distance) to connect with transpeople, but I actually want to socially connect with trans people.”

The socialization aspect of the duo is incredibly important, as not only do they herald the record as a document of their growing friendship, but black metal as their way of socializing. This is a strange avenue to meet people, with the genre’s prevalence of independent, stubborn, and single-member projects and its history of excluding newcomers. Black metal has always been prickly, and as much as one may want to decry that’s because it’s just an edgy boys’ club, Earthen Altar show there’s another reason for that thick outer shell—to protect one’s identity while finding others with similar aspirations. Black metal is as much about preserving the most delicate pieces with oneself as it is about finding others who can relate to those pieces. They’re kept within a box, buried below radiator-hissing drums and tinny guitars, waiting for someone to brave that storm. 

“Music, even black metal, has become my main way of relating to people. That’s what my whole life is based around,” says Henry. Remember that Holland’s original ad directly referenced black metal. She knew who she was looking for. Henry was initially hesitant to commit too much to the act since she was involved with another group at the time and was still green behind the drum kit, but soon that trepidation dropped. Black metal was the underbelly of their friendship. During our interview, the two quibbled over whether certain bands were shoegaze or not, the merits of prog and nerdiness, and how much of an outdoorsy activity yoga is when you’re only a five-minute walk from luscious forests waiting to be hiked through. They’ve come a long way from cold-pitches on Craigslist. 

“This music is the basis of our friendship, to begin with. Our friendship was important for me to figure out who I was and to get back into the world after the pandemic and resocializing and both of us being trans metalheads where there is still some tension, even here, in the queer metal scene. Although, I think a lot of it was imagined in my head. But the process of the album had a lot to do with me becoming who I am today. I think Evelyn can say something similar. What I meant by that statement is that our friendship is really important to who we are and the album was the original spark or catalyst to that,” says Henry.  

And this socialization flows outwards. The inclusion of trans themes into Earthen Altar wasn’t much of a conscious thought. Henry and Holland were simply writing authentically. It would be impossible for them to separate their queer lens from their work because it’s the lens through which they see the world. It’s important to them, in the same way that camping, hiking, and black metal are. These ideas are all inseparable. What isn’t is their decision to be so forward-facing. Henry says, “We could’ve written these songs and not explicitly stated that we’re trans people and not made it evident in the project. But we wanted to connect with trans people, so we made it explicit.”

This returns to their search for connection. Holland also made explicit references to trans fans as a way of connecting with them and extending a branch into a world that is only now becoming more welcoming to queer people. In the liner notes for her Keys of Solomon album Transgression, she wrote, “For Fans Of Opeth, Agalloch and Emperor and my fellow Trans/non-binary people, You all Know this journey quite well.” Trans black metal fans are no longer as niche as they once were. Groups like Liturgy and Victory Over the Sun are just two examples of notable trans musicians in the space, and Henry says that well runs deep. 

“We’re both pretty lucky to be in Portland, which is the trans woman capital of the world. It still feels annoying sometimes in the metal scene, but we both went to Cascadian Midsommar this year and it’s probably the queerest metal festival I’ve ever heard of. It’s pretty natural here, which feels unique ‘cause of that. There’s also a sketch scene, but they don’t overlap. It seems like the sketch scene is more in hiding these days.”

Speaking with Henry and Holland reveals the authenticity and earnestness in their act. Black metal has always been performative and developed its own culture and characters, but it seems like the most natural fit for the pair. Their enthusiastic push to connect with the world around them, both with other people and the environment, are themes inherent to black metal, even if they’re been taken to their most heinous extremes in the past. But, it’s not as if Earthen Altar are putting on an act or manifesting where they want their will to take them. Aside from the desire to write about mythology because of pandemic-induced interest, everything else flowed from them naturally. They’re products of their environment, of the queer scene in Portland, and of their history growing up with Agalloch in an intersectional ecosystem. “That’s how I can put it succinctly; the music and the natural themes come from this deep desire to connect with the landscape we’re in and recognize our place within ecosystems,” says Henry. “We need to understand that we’re not above ecosystems, nor are we separate from them. We are always in them, no matter how much we try to distance ourselves from them.”

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Earthen Altar released August 11th via Fiadh Productions.

On new album Pestmo’qon, which translates to “starvation,” D. looks at the world at large, and it is starving. The Earth itself is starving at hands of humankind’s disconnect with nature, and a more incensed Ushangvagush damns the human world for its own self-destruction. This is reflected musically in a more aggressive, but also polar performance. The riffs are angrier and heavier, but the spaces between Pestmo’qon‘s furies are beautiful, sun-baked ambiance and post-rock. Considering D.’s pedigree, having once been a member of legendary 2000s screamo and post-hardcore band L’Antietam, this dynamics-forward songwriting comes naturally for this seasoned and varied musician.

Across its length, Ushangvagush blasts and melts into many different forms, but what makes this particular album so special is that it doesn’t feel as long as it actually is. Remaining exciting and interesting across its 45 minute stay, Pestmo’qon is a refreshing new entry into the ever-changing US black metal landscape. The world is starving, but so are we, in a way. Our callousness and carelessness got us here, and Ushangvagush’s blanket damnation of humankind’s own reckless self-centeredness is a brutal reminder that our time here is limited. Resources are finite, and we feel the consequences of our actions already. Soon they will be much, much worse.

Listen to Pestmo’qon in its entirety below.

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“As we began writing for this upcoming album, ‘Pages’ was the first track we put together,” the band say about the track. “It did not take more than a few weeks of us working on it to establish how exciting the rest of the process would be for us.

“As we feel this upcoming album represents our ‘mission statement’ in terms of what we are able to accomplish as a group and what kind of vision we have for the immediate future, this song would easily be considered to us as the ‘tag line.'”

Recorded last summer on the North Shore of Minnesota, We Came to Grieve represents a pivotal point for the band, who haven’t put out a studio album since 2019’s Absolution. The new album picks up where that one left off, but with a more nuanced and even heavier approach. 

Ashbringer will also be performing live throughout the midwest this Fall, and throughout several other parts of the country next spring.  

Follow @ashbringermusic on Instagram to stay up to date. Preorder the album here. 

Artwork by Andy Meyer

Minneapolis atmospheric black metal act Ashbringer return with a new song for their yet-to-be-announced new album to be released later this year on Translation Loss Records. “Rain” starts off chaotically and ends up as a great combination of disorder and tranquility, as evidenced by the split between the herculean Barney Greenway-styled gruff vocals and the ethereal cleans. The balance works well within the confines of the track’s three-minute length, as you get plenty of both while feeling satisfied by track’s end. If you like variety with your heavy, you’ll appreciate the dichotomy all the more.

The video is shot in black and white with multiple pans and angles of the band as they create a sonic maelstrom that is all their own, their nature themes reaching out through the screen to grab the listener and take hold over and over again. Have a watch of their very first video below, and keep an eye out for the new record later this year.

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Drummer Andy Meyer, who also helped direct and work on the cinematography for the video, had this to say regarding the upcoming album.

We’ve spent the last year working on something we think is very special, and we are excited to share it with you as things continue to unfold, starting with this video and our forthcoming tour, culminating with our new partnership with Translation Loss and our upcoming fourth LP.

Starting in 2022 we have been developing our fourth studio record to be released later this year in collaboration with Translation Loss. As we continue finalizing the record, we are excited to release our first ever music video, as well as hit the road with Dawn of Ouroboros in the next few weeks.

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