Black

Profane Oath – Unholy Hymns [Italy, Black / Thrash] (2020)

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Ancient Entity Records | 7-5-20

The more I spend time with this record, the more I love it. Profane Oath follows a very familar template when it comes to their approach to heavy metal. Surrendering to the style of black / thrash, Profane Oath has bought into the sounds, image, and general lifestyle of black/thrash with an EP that could make its idols blush with its dedication. This becomes apparent when looking at the cover with a guitar pretruding fromt he mouth of Christ and songs like “Possessed By Quorthon.” Unholy Hymns is not going to break any genre barriers anytime soon but for now it is a six pack and a party of a time and everyone should love being here.

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Winterstorm. – Demo II MMXX [Ecuador, Black] (2020)

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Self Released | 5-28-20

Even though the Bandcamp page for this demo lists this as “raw black” and even “lo-fi black” I am going to lean towards this being less noisy that maybe what people are expecting. Yes, there is a dissonant production with the instrumentation flung up against the shredded vocals. For as primitive as the recording however, Winterstorm (with the punctuation?) presents a clear presentation of icy second wave black metal that even has room for some woozy vocal effects. This is great as should be stored at a chilled temperature.

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KRAAPIDES NAHKA – MANIFESTATION I [Canada, Raw Black / Punk / Dark Ambient] (2020)

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Self Released | 5-26-20

From the cold lands of neverwhere, comes a cassette filled with icy black punk / dark ambient. Black / punk has always been a favorite of mine though the tone and style has always been scathing and alive. KRAAPIDES NAHKA takes the same idea of black / punk and buries it in a winter forest for a few decades before returning with a shovel. Through cracked ground and howling winds, Manifestation I is a haunted cassette of tortured memories and frozen emotions that hang motionless upon evergreens. This cassette just came out and it is currently limited to 2 per customer. I have no idea how popular this will be but I am in awe of its scope and effectiveness at being unreachable.

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Black Candle Wax – Crematorium [US, Raw Black] (2020)

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Self Released | 5-27-20

Here is a release that is actively trying to get you not to listen to it. I love the cult aesthetic on some of these releases. From having a tape only exclusive, to only releasing a title-less sample, to even pricing your sample at the mythical 666$, Black Candle Wax takes no qualms in saying you probably do not need this in your life. It is funny I am more intrigued to a release like this. For all of the fanfare that precedes this demo, Crematorium rips through the air like an angry ghost with 3 minutes of violent nightmares.

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Dkharmakhaoz – Proclamation ov the Black Suns [Belarus, Black] (2020)

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Iron Bonehead | 7-21-20

At this moment of writing, Dkharmakhaoz does not have a Metal Archives page and there is only one track available for streaming. The full album is not suppose to release for another few months and already I can feel the wave of hype building. This certainly comes with the support of Iron Bonehead as the label as well as the mastering by V. Kusabs who has lent his talent to numerous bands of high caliber both as a front man and as technical support. I can also foresee a time when I will have to copy and post this band name since I will 100% never be able to remember it. Add to that some cryptically dark album art and a more out of the way country like Belarus and you have a recipe for a wave of excitement.

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LVA – ΑΣ ΑΡΧΙΣΕΙ Η ΤΕΛΕΤΗ [Italy, Black] (2020)

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Ascension Records | 6-5-20

This release comes to us from Ascension Records which is based in Mexico with an Italian black metal act who seems to have figured out their visual identity. The cover for ΑΣ ΑΡΧΙΣΕΙ Η ΤΕΛΕΤΗ is a grand departure from the bands 2017 debut. Instead of a large white logo, the cover for ΑΣ ΑΡΧΙΣΕΙ Η ΤΕΛΕΤΗ is adorned with subtle black and red occultic imagery. This coincides with the black/red album cover trend which quite frankly works to give the music an ominous quality. While we are not given the full release quite yet, the sheer ferocity of the preview track is enough to make me wait for a few weeks until I can hear the rest of it.

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Foul Light – Blood Of Venomous Curses [Slovakia, Raw Black] (2020)

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Self Released | 5-13-20

I feel moments like these are reasons why I search for Bandcamp releases everyday as I feel I am starting to develop an attraction to certain aesthetics. Blood of Venomous Curses has an aesthetic that is not rooted in gore, evil, or anything immediate rather ancient misanthropy. With nothing to precede this release, Foul Light comes out of darkness with the force of a rain that feels like needles against skin. The shock of Foul Light, coning out of nowhere and with the aesthetics desired by a niche of fans, is something that is jarring and wonderful all at once. If you are only going to listen to one raw black demo this Spring to grate against your existence, make it this one.

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Afsky – Ofte jeg drømmer mig død [Denmark, Black] (2020)

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Vendetta Records | 5-12-20

“Tags: black metal, depressive, black metal, depressive blackmetal.” The previous line is not something I initially seek out though I feel atmospheric black is getting back to normal in terms of its output. For a little bit there was a glut of wood themed black metal that was almost indistinguishable from the next. Depressive black can be the same way which is why Afsky is intriguing for its cover depicting the social realist artist H. A. Brendekilde and his most famous painting Udslidt or Worn Out or The Martyr(1889). The use of fine art on covers is nothing new but not only does this painting circumvent the typical artists pillaged for covers but it also transcends the thematic trappings of depressive black with not a noose or suicidal imagery in sight. This is all talking about the visual components to a record that is stunning in its approach and is something that has the potential to be a crossover success among black metal fans and people interested but turned off by its pageantry.

Profane Congregation – Apocalyptic Visions [Finland, Raw Black] (2020)

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Morbid Chapel Records | 5-11-20

Full disclosure: This 25 minute full length was released in 2016 on Astral Temple with a tape run of 100 copies. This current distribution is a CD run at 500 copies on Morbid Chapel records. I do not know where to put this as sometimes I bump up the years for releases that never saw the light of day until the next calendar year with a larger distribution. This is a 2016 record but I am sure everyone is hearing it in 2020. If this sort of thing does not bother you and you are just here for longform shredding raw black that swirls like specters around graven monuments, then Apocalyptic Visions is for you. I know it is for me but I just dont know when it is.

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Axis of Light – Axis of Light [UK, Black] (2020)

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Self Released | 6-1-20

I remember first hearing Axis of Light on the Fallen Empire/SVN OKKLT compilation in 2013. Incidentally that was my first exposure to the type of raw black that I still appreciate today. The first three songs on that compilation were a shredding combination of Axis of Light, Witch in Her Tomb, and Death Fortress. Almost ten years old, Fallen Empire and the rest of its roster has moved on to other things with some of them being tremendous. Axis of Light’s newest EP gives me the same type of feeling I had in 2013 even though it is a new decade and we have both seen so much. With only one song shared, the harsh veil of noise is still present though with melodic and almost post black (?) hooks hiding in the back. The band’s page is directing all proceeds to charity and all signs are pointing to a great EP that is going to cast a net of nostalgic noise.

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