Starer "Remorse Defines Me"

    Even though this new release from Starer only features three tracks, there is still plenty to take away from the immense sounding landscapes and captivating atmospheric elements. “Remorse Defines Me,” is another strong offering from this one-man atmospheric black metal project that has continued to demonstrate a passionate drive for composing majestic and haunting sounding pieces of music. 

    Starer’s approach on this EP is very similar to previous releases with its mixture of harsh sounding black metal and mesmerizing atmospheric touches. I would say that there is a balance of heaviness and melody, which I believe allows the listener to be lulled away into this fascinating world of endless possibilities. On each track you are able to hear an artist transcending the norms of what most people have come to expect from extreme music, however the experimentation is not done in a halfhearted manner and the music has the ability to appeal to wide range of music fans. 

    The first track, “Five Minutes Before Dawn,” is a great example of how Starer blends together these melancholy atmospheric keyboard arrangements with very harsh sounding chord progressions. As the distortion rings out over the haunting landscape, the vocals provide an even darker touch of chaotic ambience that continues to evolve with such sinister grace. At times the transitions can sound a bit choppy, but for the most part you feel as if the music is very compelling and the overall sound takes on this cinematic like vibe. 

     The second song on the EP, “Coiled Around the Sun,” picks up where the first track left off, but I felt as though that the guitar parts on this track conveyed a more aggressive sounding tone. Also, the fearsome sounding arrangement towards the end of the song definitely grabbed my attention as the music continued to march onwards with a thunderous edge. The last song on the EP, “The Flickering,” is an extremely emotionally charged piece of music with a  monumental rush of raw sounding atmospheric black metal. I thought that the layering of the keyboards was executed extreme well, especially in terms of how the keyboards complimented the guitar effects used in certain riff sections. 

    Anyone who is a fan of atmospheric black metal should check out this new EP by Starer, because the quality of the compositions and the intense emotional joyride on each track is rather impressive. Listeners will discover that once you start listening to this EP, you really do not wish to tear yourself away until the very end. I have always felt that when it comes to atmospheric black, artists should never settle for subpar sounding arrangements. So many musicians fail to recognize this and end up writing forgettable material. I believe that with each new release Starer continues to explore the thresholds of extreme musical creativity, and the dedication to writing dynamic sounding compositions really makes each new release worth checking out. 

Check out the song "Five Minutes Before Dawn" : 

Album comes out September 2nd and is available through Snow Wolf Records:

https://snowwolfrecords.bandcamp.com/

Telesterion “An Ear of Grain in Silence Reaped”

    I have always enjoyed artists that are willing to take a step outside the norm and experiment with a plethora of unique sounds. Telesterion is an act that recently reached out to me asking if I could review their ambitious sounding debut EP, “An Ear of Grain in Silence Reaped.” The band’s sound can be described as post-metal with some progressive metal/rock elements, along with some melodic doom touches. One thing for sure is that this band is very committed to creating massive sounding atmospheres where the guitars establish this dynamic layer of heaviness and mesmerizing tranquility. 

    The EP’s overall theme is based on ancient Greek rituals known as Eleusinian Mysteries, which I found to be rather fascinating and definitely strengthened the band’s approach to composing each track. When it comes to concept albums some artists get carried away, or have a hard time presenting a coherent sounding release. Luckily I did not hear any of that on this album, especially due to the fact that the overall production is rather solid and the musicianship is very tight sounding. There are moments where the riffs can become a bit repetitive, although the experimentation with different tones and guitar effects at least breaks up the monotony when needed. 

    The EP contains four tracks, “Things Done,” “Thing Shown,” “Things Said,” and “The Rharian Field,” all of which fit together like pieces to a puzzle. From the first track you find yourself walking into this massive sounding musical dimension where the band hammers away at a monumental sounding riff. I would say that the first song conveys a more doom like presentation, yet evolves into a more calming progressive metal landscape towards the end. One area of the album that I believe really stands out and impressed me the most was the ghastly sounding melodic vocal parts. For example, on the second song, “Things Shown,” the contrast between the cataclysmic instrumental arrangement and the soothing vocal delivery was something I found to be very creative. Also, the album takes on this transcendental like quality, which can most vividly be heard as the album reaches the very end with the final track, “The Rharian Field.” 

    Overall, this is a very solid release and the execution of the band’s vision I think will really hook listeners who enjoy dynamic sounding music that blends heaviness and melodic atmospheric elements together. I believe that, “An Ear of Grain in Silence Reaped,” is a great starting point for further exploration and it allows the band to determine how they wish to proceed on future releases. The album is expected to come out June 16th, so I highly recommend checking the album out once it is released. Plus, the band is teaming up with Snow Wolf Records to release the album on vinyl and cassette, so if you want to add the EP to your collection do check out the link at the bottom below the video. 

Check out the song "Things Said" below: 

Link to Snow Wolf Records Bandcamp:

https://snowwolfrecords.bandcamp.com/album/an-ear-of-grain-in-silence-reaped

The Language of Thunder : A Benefit for Tornado Victims of Southern Kentucky

    This past December severe storms devastated certain parts of the United States with Kentucky being hit the hardest. Snow Wolf Records and Unsavory Records have joined forces to create a compilation album featuring thirteen metal bands from Kentucky as a way to raise money for those who were impacted by the tornado. 

    I truly believe that this compilation is a great way to help an important cause, while also providing an opportunity to promote some extremely talented local metal bands that care about their communities. Some of the tracks on the compilation are previously unreleased songs and demos, which I find will give listeners a perfect glimpse into what these bands are capable of offering. Some of the bands on this compilation I have heard of before since Snow Wolf Records has sent me promos in the past, but for the most part this would be my first time hearing a lot of these bands. 

    Also to point out, there is a fair amount of diversity when pertaining to the representation of the various metal subgenres, so I find that metal fans will be able to hear an abundance of musical creativity throughout the album. If you are a fan of bloodthirsty raw black metal, sickening old school death metal and even just solid classic heavy metal music, then this album will have you covered. Hell, you even have an act like Pulse diNura which dives into this heart pounding hallucinogenic blackened electronic industrial sounding world with the song, “Drinking Tyrants’ Blood from a Paper Cup (Pardon the Fangs)." 

    I did notice that the album showcases a fair amount of black metal bands, although I cannot complain given the auspiciously sinister sounding quality of the recordings. To start, the band Brood in Black (Not to be confused with the wrestling faction known as The Brood) contributed an inhumanly vicious track called, “Vampyric Lust.” The song conveyed a massive amount raw sounding dark energy, which reminded me a lot of Satanic Warmaster by creating a very haunting and abysmal atmosphere. Fornicus, Bihargam and Starer, all bands that I have encountered before listening to this compilation, each contributed spectacular sounding songs. Starer’s track, “The Flickering,” is a breath taking piece of atmospheric black metal music highly worth checking out along with the band’s previous releases. Another band that caught my attention was, Black Knife, a very no-nonsense unapologetic sounding black metal artist which contributed a short yet blistering piece of corpse ripping music titled, “Satan’s Wolves.” 

    Two bands that I felt stood out from the rest of the crowd were Blood Curse and Thumos. Blood Curse is a band that I definitely want to hear more of going forward as the band has a very strong classic NWOBH sound that reminded me of certain iconic metal bands such as Witchfinder General, Satan and Angel Witch. The catchy guitar riffs and feverish lead guitar parts really hook the listener from the beginning of the song until the end. In the case of Thumos, I believe listeners who appreciate instrumental progressive metal will really find the band's song, “Mysterium Cosmographicum,” extremely fascinating. The band pulls you in a variety of directions with these vibrant sounding dynamic compositions, thus creating a very atypical musical landscape.

    Overall, “The Language of Thunder,” is an album highly worth checking out and each band is unbelievably talented. I wish I could have gone through each track and given more detail, but I hope to maybe cover some of these artists in the future, as the amount of extreme metal talent is undeniable. Snow Wolf Records and Unsavory Records did an exceptional job putting together this compilation to help an important cause, so I have a tremendous amount of respect for both labels. Unlike when those douchebag celebrities got together and did a rotten cover of John Lennon’s, “Imagine,” the artists featured on this compilation actually provided killer sounding music for a good cause that did not make you want to vomit. 

Link Below to the Compilation via Snow Wolf Records: 

https://snowwolfrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-language-of-thunder

Entire Track Listing Below: 

1. Stonecutters - Creatio Ex Nihil  

2. Starer - The Flickering 

3. Black Knife - Satan's Wolves 

4. Fire Messiah - Stars of the Maniac Revival 

5. Blood Curse - Destitute  

6. Thumos - Mysterium Cosmographicum 

7. Moonknight - Weakhearted 

8. Ad Infinitum - Submerge 

9. Bihargam - Anti-Angel (demo) 

10. Brood in Black - Vampyric Lust 

11. Fornicus - One Mass Grave  

12. El Astronauta - Give Up the Ghost 

13. Pulsa diNura - Drinking Tyrants' Blood from a Paper Cup (Pardon the Fangs Remix) 

Snow Wolf Records “This Wretched Earth” (Global Black Metal Compilation Album)

    The world shall soon face the sinister wrath of a colossal black metal storm conjured up by Snow Wolf Records. “This Wretched Earth,” is a compilation album that brings together 16 bands from 14 countries, thus creating one great black metal heathen army to unleash chaos upon the global metal community. 

    I really like what Snow Wolf Records has done as of recent, and the bands they have included on this compilation are extremely talented up and coming acts. Some of the tracks provided by the bands are exclusive tracks and are not available anywhere else. From top to bottom, the album features some raw ritualistic sounding black metal, yet features bands that are able to step outside the generic extreme metal trends and offer up unique sounding recordings. 

    Even though we come from different countries, the passion for extreme music is a truly unifying force and one that has allowed people to share some unbelievably creative recordings. The album’s first track, “Black Metal Invasion,” by the Canadian band Spectral Dance, was the perfect choice to start off the compilation. The song has that primitive old school raw black metal vibe and reminded me of early Bathory. You hear a band ready to take on the world without any remorse and they have an amazing amount of venomous energy. 

    Throughout the album you will hear a variety of approaches ranging from straightforward raw black metal to haunting atmospheric black. Take for example, “Akvan,” a band that really caught my attention by constructing a track that contained a profound atmosphere and featured some mesmerizing guitar work. When it comes to production I felt that for the most part the bands on this compilation did a tremendous job recording and getting the music to have that certain quality needed to keep listeners engaged. Some of the bands are of course a bit more skilled than others, but the passion is definitely there from a majority of the bands. Gestorven from Malaysia was one act which I felt hammered out a killer sounding riff and capture the pure dark essence of black metal. 

    Some of the names on this compilation sounded familiar and sure enough one of the bands I reviewed before for this blog. Starer, a band that I reviewed back in January of this year, is an extremely impressive band worth checking out. The band’s solemn atmospheric black metal style is truly breath taking at times and features some brilliant dynamic arrangements. Another band that I felt composed a really impressive sounding track was Odyrmos from Greece. The song mixed together ambient dungeon synth with soothing atmospheric touches that reminded me a lot of Lustre. 

    So many of the bands featured on this compilation offered up some epic, blistering and blasphemous sounding tracks, and in the end all of them are worth checking out. Huge respect for Snow Wolf Records for putting this compilation together, and for bring together the global extreme metal community. We may come from different places, but all across the planet there are fiendish extreme metal fans and artists who share the same passion for this music and no matter what is going on in the world, we are united as one global extreme metal community! 

Snow Wolf Records Bandcamp (Compilation comes out August 6th on Cassette, CD, and Digital Download. Pre-Order now available!) : 

https://snowwolfrecords.bandcamp.com/album/this-wretched-earth