SHEWOLFF - We're All Gonna Fukkin' Die EP

 

SHEWOLFF - We're All Gonna Fukkin' Die EP

Dying Victims Productions

As far as the whole sub genre of Blackened Punk goes I've found myself being a staunch critic of it. Personally I think 90% of it sucks. Most of the bands wish they were Blackened Thrash but don't have the talent. But once in a great while I'll hear a band that fits the whole Blackened Punk sound perfectly. Belgium's SHEWOLFF is one of those bands. 

Starting out a few years ago SHEWOLFF was a solo project by singer / guitarist K. Von Shewolff. Afterwards it became a three-piece band with Jeffrey Andreka on bass and Liam Wyns on drums. So musically this trio are all into a more Punk version of HELLHAMMER meets G.G. ALLIN. Which is a given since the HELLHAMMER demos, the first BATHORY album and of course VENOM were favorites by people who were really into Punk & Hardcore back in the day. And of cause we liked G.G. ALLIN.

On here songs like "Fantastik Fukk", the title cut and opener "Eternal Night" are cool as fuck. But then again this whole six song release is a fucking winner in my book. But I wanna hear more by this band. A great start here is my verdict. 

https://dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/were-all-gonna-fukkin-die

WITCH PISS - The Devil Doesn't Burn review

 

WITCH PISS - The Devil Doesn't Burn

Ardua Music

Well with a name like WITCH PISS how could I not check em out. Now in all of my years I've never tasted Witch Piss. But I've certanly had my face into some Witch cunt. Be that personal acknowlegdement out of the way here we have the second full length by Belguim's WITCH PISS. They are a five piece Stoner Rock / Doom act.

 

Musically it all comes across as popular bluesy sounding Metal. If Belguim has a Grammy thing then this band would win. I'm joking on that point seriously with a name like WITCH PISS? But musically this band comes across like mainstream rock and it's very US oriented in sound. If I could pick an influence I'd say they like CORROSION OF CONFORMITY. 

If that floats your boat then here ya go. Great album cover which would be cool on a t-shirt. 

https://www.arduamusic.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://witchpiss1.bandcamp.com/album/the-devil-doesnt-burn

ENTHRONED - Ashspawn review

 

ENTHRONED - Ashspawn

Season of Mist

So if you're a long time fan of Belgium's Black Metal titans ENTHRONED then you might be inclined to agree with the following premise. This band has two eras. The first is their early days (aka: mid 1990's to mid 2000's) when Lord Sabathan was on vocals. I mean band membership flew by and by but they did have a handful of decent releases. At least two of em I'd call mandatory classics. 

Then when Lord Sabathan left the band in 2006 it was like OK what happens now? Well the new band with Nornagest now on vocals came out with 2007's Tetra Karcist which was a damm good release. Now since then ENTHRONED have continued putting out decent BM releases. But for me 2019's Cold Black Suns was a turning point for this band. 

On that release the band took a huge step forward into the present Black Metal day. The sound was brutal, sophisticated and down right menacing with it's atmosphere. Fast forward to 2025 and the band just took it all to another level. On this new one the lyrics and themes are helped by the band's collaboration with occult author Gilles de Laval. I mean this is some hellish, filth ridden sounding stuff.

Sound-wise this is a brutal punishment thanks to some amazing guitar work and an amazing rhythm section. Nornagest's vocals come across as his best blood vomiting, fierce screaming and hate filled beast like sounds which no human is supposed to achieve. 

The first time I played this release I knew it was cool as fuck. The second time it was on continuous play for hours because it was so hypnotic. Right now it's on never stop. In a personal way this is my third favorite album by ENTHRONED.

https://www.season-of-mist.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://enthronedsom.bandcamp.com/album/ashspawn

SICKRECY / BARREN split

 

SICKRECY / BARREN split 

Selfmadegod Records

OK give me a great Grindcore split release and it's about fuckin time. Readers of this blog (and frankly who isn't) know my love of grind. So here we have a worthy release by two bands I've never heard before. Let's start with SICKRECY who are a five piece act from Sweden. I'm looking at their line up since starting out in 2021 and seeing some familiar names. 

There's vocalist Adde Mitroulis who's also in BIRDFLESH as well as formerly playing drums for GENERAL SURGERY. So musically this is some decent standard grind which is cool on their six songs. But then there's BARREN who are a four piece act from Belgium who are totally death grind and who are more into pushing the insanity than SICKRECY. 

Their part on this split consists of nine cuts of insane ferocity, scream in your fuckin face death grind. Hellish vocals meets aggressive beat down rhythms with that crusty crushing sound. In the end BARRON wins this one hands down. 

https://selfmadegod.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://sickrecy.bandcamp.com/album/split-with-barren

https://barrenchainsawgrind.bandcamp.com/album/split-w-sickrecy

SERPENTS OATH - Revelation review

 

SERPENTS OATH - Revelation

Odium Records

Honestly when it comes to Belgian black metal I just pull out an ENTHRONED CD and blast the fucker. I've got their catalog so why the hell not. I consider them one of the best black metal bands all around anyways. But now we have a decent addition to that nation's under appreciated black metal scene.  

SERPENTS OATH are not newcomers per say when it comes to playing black metal. This is actually their third full-length since starting out back in 2020. But musically they nail the old ways down. If anything I'd say this five piece act is heavily influenced by the late 90's / early 2000's Swedish BM scene. 

Sound-wise you've got your fast tremolo picked arrangements which are icey to say the least. There's some melodic touches which are more toward the violent side of things. I think the vocals are amazing in that they're more into a gruff / harsh style. The musicianship is absolutely perfect. I'll say they've listened to some MARDUK or DISSECTION in their youth. 

Revelation is twelve cuts in around forty-seven minutes in length. Three of the cuts are instrumentals but they're short impromptu moments to say the least. If I was jaded, and I could be, then I could easily turn around and point to a shelf with hundreds of BM releases from the past which this band could've culled from. But I won't. 

SERPENTS OATH bring fresh life to a BM style that's classic in every sense to a fan of old. This is actually a perfect sounding album. Some young person is gonna hear this release and go apeshit crazy. And they should because the old ones are not around anymore at least most of em. So yeah this album rules in that early on it punishes you and in the end it's uplifting. To me that's damm good.

http://www.odiumrex.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://odiumrecords.bandcamp.com/album/serpents-oath-revelation

GATEWAY - Galgendood review

 

GATEWAY - Galgendood

Transcending Obscurity Records

This is the second full length by GATEWAY, a one man death doom act from Belgium. The one man is Robin van Oyen. Just some history for you. Robin started GATEWAY back in 2014. After one well received demo, Aeternae, which was three cuts. He followed it up with the self titled full length in 2015. After that well things got shortened. From 2016 to 2021 Robin released four EPs. 

So here we are in 2023 and the death doom Robin has produced is good and has been around for well over a decade or so. Finnish bands doing the same thing for a long time. Now with that said I have to say the production on here is immense. The bestial vocals are part cavernous part painful. The riff package consists of diabolical rhythms, pounding riffs and once in a great while some tremolo excitement. 

Like I mentioned before this is nothing new to anyone, yeah like me, into modern European sludgy horrific sounding death doom. And hey how bout what's come out of Australia for example over the past fifteen years. Be that as it may if this is the only album this year doing this kind of destructive mind fuck on reality then I'm in the dark dungeon with it's torture. Hails!

https://tometal.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://gatewayband.bandcamp.com/album/galgendood

BUZZARD - Gambler reissue review

 

BUZZARD - Gambler reissue

Dying Victims Productions

Of course the greatest thing about doing this blog is discovering cool new extreme metal. But on the other hand it's also cool to hear about something unearthed from the past. Case in point Belgium's BUZZARD who released this their only album back in 1984 on Atler Records. I believe Dying Victims Productions deserves major props for this reissue because this album rocks.

I've been stuck listening to this reissue for a few weeks now, yeah every day. I say that because it's pure sounding metal from 1984. It's got plenty of straight up rockers for example opener "Stone-Hard and Loud" which just grabs ya by the collar and screams "METAL" in your face. Yeah you've got great 80's era riffs, cool fiery solos plus real guy vocals. If there's one song on here that describes this band it's the album's second cut "We Are Heavy Rockers".

A quick history of BUZZARD is that the band started out in 1979. As is expected the band went through a fair amount of line-up changes over the years up to the recording of this album. And from what I've read it continued after this album came out. Prior to this the band did put out a demo in 1983 titled A Strange Gang.

I listen to this album and think OK sure it's from 1984 at a time when PRIEST, MAIDEN and DIO were kings as well as METALLICA and SLAYER were in the wings. But this album just fuckin rocks. There's a couple of melodic numbers but they're not ballads, thank you very much. The rest of it just fuckin rocks. And I say that with plenty of enthusiasm because I remember 1984 so well. 

So why did this band die after putting out something so great? Well the album was released at the end of October 1984. The following week their guitarist Steev Deceuninck was involved in a motorcycle accident and was in a coma for a week and a half, requiring three months of rehabilitation. When he recovered the band returned to doing shows. They did work on a follow up album but in February 1986, they decided to call it quits.

Be that as it may this is a hidden gem.

https://www.dying-victims.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/gambler

MONNIER - Self Titled compilation review

 

MONNIER - Self Titled compilation

Horror Pain Gore Death

There are two camps of people who say they like grindcore. The first one are the actual fans. These are the ones, whether they're new to the genre or have been into it the music ever since the sub genre crawled out from the late 80's hardcore scene, who will tell you the basics. It's loud fast music with someone screaming like a maniac. 

Now in the other camp, and I'll be nice, you have certain types of people who feel the idea of "loud fast music with someone screaming like a maniac" is below their status. They like to invent ideas and themes contrived only by themselves into the music which is just "loud fast music with someone screaming like a maniac". 

I'm part of the first camp aka: fan. I like grind to be loud and fast. I want to hear riffs that are fierce sounding as well as cranking heavy. I like hearing the drumwork as if it were being played by someone with bionic limbs. And of course I want a maniac on vocals. All of that can be heard from this band here. 

MONNIER is a two piece grind band who's members come from opposite sides of the globe. First off there's Jasper Swerts from Belgium who's responsible for the guitars, bass and drums. Jasper's grind style is bare basics but because the production is clean it all sounds fresh. The sound is absolutely old school and killer which is what fans want. 

On vocals there's Makiko Suda from Japan who's also in the death grind act FLAGITIOUS IDIOSYNCRASY IN THE DILAPIDATION. Ah yeah that's a mouthful. But anyways Makiko is an amazing screamer whether she uses her psycho voice, death grunting or those subtle sultry murmurs.

This compilation contains their first two EPs which originally came out in 2018 and 2020. There's sixteen songs with a run time of a little over twenty five minutes. Perfect for some getting ready for work tunes. There's always gonna be some decent grindcore releases to choose from. But every other year there's a standout one. And this is the year and this is the one.

http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/monnier

RITUALS OF THE DEAD HAND - With Hoof And Horn review

 

RITUALS OF THE DEAD HAND - With Hoof And Horn

Dunkelheit Produktionen

Time to kick back, relax and allow the sounds of atmospheric black metal to carry you to another plane of existence. Let me tell ya people that's exactly what I need after last fuckin month. Maybe you might need it as well. RITUALS OF THE DEAD HAND is the perfect prescription. 

This is the second full length by this Belgium three piece act. Their debut, Blood Oath, came out a few years ago. Musically overall this is death doom which has been thoroughly blackened. The atmosphere projected is gloomy with a touch of horror. There's a suffocating presence which runs throughout this release.

With five cuts, one of which is the opening instro intro, the band twists the soundscapes which are mostly mid-tempo into a blackened cult ceremony. Everything about With Hoof And Horn is sinister and definitely a late night listen.

https://www.dunkelheit-produktionen.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://dunkelheitprod.bandcamp.com/album/with-hoof-and-horn

SVARTHART - Awaiting the Return review

SVARTHART - Awaiting the Return

Self Released




Belgium's SVARTHART will not win any awards (yet) for their minimalist approach to death doom. But there is plenty here to grab onto for some sick enjoyment. They started in 2011 and put out their debut full length, Emptiness Filling the Void, in 2016. Originally a two piece act they've since grown into a four piece band. 


Now when I say minimalist approach it's not a criticism. For the most part the blunt, gravel throat style vocals take precedent in the mix. In a weird way it comes across as a narration while the music advances. By the way it's the twin guitar approach of steady and heavy rhythm riffs paired with fluid-esque KATATONIA like soloing that will catch listeners by accident.


SVARTHART pay tribute to the 90's era of the genre by leaving the bass oh so subtle, the drum work complimentary with the guitar and vocals being the stars. The only thing missing is the toning of a bell to bring out the dead.


https://svarthart.bandcamp.com/album/awaiting-the-return

https://www.facebook.com/svarthart/

SAQRA'S CULT - Forgotten Rites review

SAQRA'S CULT - Forgotten Rites

Amor Fati Productions




On a Saturday afternoon and I'm listening to some Belgium black metal. What a life I have and it's two hours before I go into work, yah! Actually I started listening to this band's debut full length early this morning. Like I said SAQRA'S CULT are from Belgium, play a mid to fast style of black metal that leaks in some atmospheric passages once in a while. They don't sound like ENTHRONED but they do like CELTIC FROST especially the Tom G. Warrior grunts.


On a whole Forgotten Rites is straight forward black metal. The vocals have a ghastly snarl to them which is cool. The opening cut, “Solemn Sacrifice”, starts out with an intro, the sound of a wind storm, and is long enough to keep you guessing before the maelstrom of blackened hate commences. Aside from the obvious genre takes I've mentioned, SAQRA'S CULT also adds some doom, gloom as well as blackened death style to their overall sound. Yeah this is decent but they won't be taking the Belgium black metal throne, just yet.

http://www.amor-fati-productions.de/

https://amorfatiproductions.bandcamp.com/album/saqras-cult-forgotten-rites

https://www.facebook.com/saqrascult/

INDEMNITY - Bloody Minded Bullet Headed review

INDEMNITY - Bloody Minded Bullet Headed 

Art Gates Records




Do people slam dance anymore? I mean really slam dance. I'm not talking about that pussy ass push and shove bullshit or that punching the ground shit. I'm talking about a real circle pit. I don't go to hardcore shows anymore for obvious reasons. People would look at me and think I was someone's grandfather. But I will be at DRI in August. Anyways I ask the question because if this band was around in say 87 or 88 then there would be a huge pit.

INDEMNITY hail from Belgium, have been around for a dozen years and this is their debut full length although they do have a few demos to their credit. Musically this is hardcore at it's base, late 80's era since their secondary stake is metal specifically thrash. Then again they do float in some metal core influence, ala old New York Hardcore, on a few cuts. 

I know it's not cool to say but it is the truth. Hardcore has become so one dimensional so generic it's boring. It wasn't always that way. Yeah I know "oh it was so cool back in the old days." Well yeah it was because you could listen to ten hardcore acts and all would/could be different. But hardcore died in 86, yes it did at least the original momentum. What followed afterward is up to interpretation as well as opinion. As long as you remember unless you were there then your opinion is limited. INDEMNITY, on here, offer twelve tracks in around twenty minutes of loud aggro extremism. They have all the bells and whistles of typical hardcore fan subjects. If you're into it then there you go. Nuff Said.

http://www.artgatesrecords.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Indemnityband

COLDBORN - Lingering Voidwards review

COLDBORN - Lingering Voidwards

Final Sacrifice Records




Wow, three quarters of an hour's worth of cold atmospheric black metal from Belgium in the middle of March. Thank you, I was getting a little tired of hearing Irish music for the past two weeks. (Please note I work at an Irish Pub/Restaurant.) Let me also add that while I wait for the new NIGHTBRINGER release to come out in April, this is kinda cool. Let me explain, COLDBORN is a one man project by a guy named Norgaath who also plays bass for NIGHTBRINGER live. Well he did and who knows what's up with that gig but there's the connection/name dropping saga. 

As far as this release goes it's not so solo since Norgaath also has a few guests like Menthor of ENTHRONED and NIGHTBRINGER fame on drums. He's also got A. Krieg of DARKMOON WARRIOR and Nocturus Horrendus of CORPUS CHRISTII (great fuckin band) as guest vocalists. It must be nice to have friends like that. Musically it's five long cuts of basic atmospheric black metal. That's not a bad thing in my not so humble opinion. Midway through the song "In the Absence of Light, Death Gazes" there's a slowly tremolo picked riff (ala IMMORTAL) that's so inviting and shall I say psych that it carries you into a very cool late night realm. By the way it's around 1:30 AM. The cavernous vocals help out as well.

Other cuts of interest are the title cut which is about as epic and majestic as a depressive cut could be. Then there's "Withered" which starts out like a black metal version of the STOOGES'. It's the riffs there people. Albeit still in a body of grimness which the cold icy following riffs accelerate towards and a melodic interlude that follows. Hey like I said, it's basic but comforting especially late at night. I wouldn't be surprised if Moribund Records re-releases this later this year.


https://coldborn.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.facebook.com/Coldborn

BLACK BLEEDING - The Awakening reissue

BLACK BLEEDING - The Awakening reissue

Nihilistic Holocaust




It's getting to the point where I should change the header for the blog to Home of the Reissues since I've been reviewing a lot this month. That's fine of course because then you and I would miss out on past gems that for some reason didn't get their due respect or at least some recognition that fans would want to know about. Case in point right here, BLACK BLEEDING, a blackened death three piece from Belgium but considers themselves a Belgian/ French band. 

The band is not new in fact they've been around since the late 90s and have three full length albums under their belts to show for it. Their most recent was A Bright Future which was released in 2014. This one here, The Awakening, was a demo they put out back in 2005. It was originally released on tape by Nihilistic Holocaust back then. But now the original label has re-released it with new artwork, layout and basically making it look like a semi-decent package. Trust me if you've seen the older cover art then you'll be glad at the upgrade.

Of course I had to go listen to their last two full lengths (the previously mentioned A Bright Future from 2014 and it's predecessor The Great Satan from 2009) to get some feeling because this one predates those two. The Awakening is five songs of which I believe the band was in the midst of a re-branding in order to see where they were headed. The albums that came after this are more melodic which is why this is interesting because on here the songs all have an old school feel, yeah there's melody but also more experimentation. 

This thing opens with "The Sleeper has Awakened", and uses a soundbite from the movie Dune as well. A good send off with savage blackened death riffage, both cavernous and shrieked vocals. After a barrage of sound the band knows how to throw a segue in before the soloing and blast beat attack commences. That same theme carries through on the next three cuts. I'd say " Lord of the Worms" is a punisher. Then we get to cut five, "Demonic Quantum Boundaries" where the band starts off with some psych blues rhythm and whispers but then kicks into overdrive with a hellish assault. The thing ends almost hypnotically with a jam out and them a atmospheric keyboard outro. 

Rating: 4/5

http://nihilistic.shost.ca/Label/moreinfos/moreinfos_blackbleeding3.htm

https://www.facebook.com/beerbleeding

https://blackbleeding.bandcamp.com/

ANDE - Het Gebeente review

ANDE - Het Gebeente

Self Released


One man black metal projects have always been hit and miss for me. In the late 90's every kid in their bedroom or basement wanted to be BURZUM. Soon after they all wanted to be XASTHUR and so on. Years ago I asked myself why are these guys so depressed? If it wasn't for all of this modern technology they'd still be writing in diaries. Now be that as it may I think the past five years have been good for all of the do it yourself black metal projects. They've expanded their themes, the production values have risen and our acceptance has broadened.

Case in point here's ANDE, aka: Jimmy Christiaens (WARNING: if you look up this guy on Metal Archives and see his photo you'll have question marks floating in your head, just saying. Hell it looks like a DMV photo.) But anyways Jimmy or Jim is from Belgian and ANDE is his one man black metal project which he started back in 2015. This is his second full length. I saw something in the promo material peeked my interest. According to Jimmy or Jim, ANDE is his personal way to honor black metal that was, is and will be. Really? Ya mean like in borrowing someone else's creative vision and repeating it?

The only thing Het Gebeente has that stands out is the production quality. I'll also toss in that not all of this is generic atmospheric black metal. On the cut "Oud en Vet" the guy actually breaks out into some black & roll. He must of been having a good day during that recording. The opening keyboard intro track is self indulged garbage, generic and boring. The outro is synthesized earth fart type hypnotic horror psych. Please, Varg did it better with a Casio keyboard. "Leeg" is a decent blackened doom cut that Jimmy or Jim just rips apart with blast beats and a good tremolo picked riff to end it all. 

Even with good production values Jimmy or Jim does keep some rawness. His singing voice sounds like his throat is made of sandpaper, that's a good thing. Although if you take out the intro/outros you'll left with four tracks. All of which are not huge standouts that make your imagination wonder into blackened realms. Hell I wouldn't even fold laundry to it. I guess that's why there's a huge difference between honoring black metal and creating it.

Rating: 1/5

https://andeband.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Ande-1656865081244578/

https://ande-be.bandcamp.com/