FUATH - III review

 

FUATH - III

Northern Silence Productions

For some cool reason January always has some cool as fuck Black Metal releases. In just the past couple of weeks I've heard two amazing releases which will be remembered in December. Here's another one which needs attention. This is the third full length release by FUATH which is a one man band from Glasgow, Scotland. The one man is Andy Marshall who performs everything. 

Musically this is Atmospheric Black Metal in the same vein as early DRUDKH. In fact the four cuts on here are very similar to what DRUDKH has done. You've got two long tracks that bookend the release with two shorter tracks inbetween. Now with that said it is an amazing release as far as Atmospheric Black Metal goes. Andy Marshall channels DRUDKH through his Scottish lens. 

You have to appreciate the cascading and painful tremolo picked melodic riffs, harsh vocals and pummeling drum work that runs throughout this release. It's a renewed sound by someone else which fans from the past will congregate too instead of being jaded. All in all it's an amazing piece of work. One of the best of 2026 easily unless you're a jaded piece of shit. What's funny is I'm the 60 plus year old guy who's supposed to be jaded and I'm not. So yeah buy this one and then back track to this band's previous releases.    

https://northern-silence.de/en/

LISTEN HERE:

https://fuath.bandcamp.com/album/iii

PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS - Devil’s Hammer review

 

PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS - Devil’s Hammer

Northern Silence Productions

Just for the record as far as Australian black metal goes I have three favorite bands from that nation. They are DESTROYER 666, NAZXUL and PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS. I became a fan of PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS simply because Balam (aka: Luke Mills) was in NAZXUL. Mills started this band in 2003 and has been the mainman ever since, just keeping his blackened dream alive. 

I got into PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS back in 2009 with their In Memoriam Ill Omen full length. And from that release I've been a fan ever since. I've got all of their releases now. What I always liked about PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS is that they were more complex musically then what NAZXUL had done. Instead of being overwhelmed with blackened intensity. It's more of an invitation to cool sounding compositions which have you sitting back and going hell yeah.

Devil’s Hammer is the band's seventh full length and it just might be their best ever. The inclusion of guitarists Krvna & Mourn (both of whom joined the band in 2022) have definitely added to the total riff package be it cold cruel or melodic. Add to that from start to finish drummer John McLaughlin does an amazing job throughout. 

This album fills out with a fierce threatening gallop of tremolo picked riffs. The vocals come across like belligerent rants from a drunken priest. There's tons of discharge from melodic harmonies to full on assaults or atmospheric touches. The bottom line is that this release is a cool listening pleasure. My favorite black metal album of the year so far. 

https://store.northern-silence.de/en

LISTEN HERE:

https://pestilentialshadows-northernsilence.bandcamp.com/album/devils-hammer 

FATHOMAGE - Autumn's Dawn, Winter's Darkness review

 

FATHOMAGE - Autumn's Dawn, Winter's Darkness

Northern Silence Productions

The two times of the day when I like to write about music are late at night after work and mid mornings. Basically I'm winding down or getting wound up. Listening to this release from Australia's FATHOMAGE is a two fold. I could easily end my evening with it or wake my ass up to it. Obviously I've given up my hand to the thoughts I have on it. 

FATHOMAGE is a one man black metal act from Australia. The one man multi-instrumentalist is named Akul. Musically this is a black metal pantheon of beauty and the bestial. BM textures abound while melancholy guitar picking, whether it's acoustic or electric, take the listener on a atmospheric journey. Akul provides painful screams from some very depressive bowels. But then there are other times when he screams out with a terrifying banter. either way his vocals command attention.

Overall musically the introduction segments to these cuts, there's eight in all, really drag you in but a few drag on too much. I mean if I was high on drugs I wouldn't mind but I don't do that stuff anymore. I drink a bit but still not as much to assume I'm on an astral plane. Opener and title cut "Autumn's Dawn, Winter's Darkness" is amazing. Follow that up with "The Majesty and Beauty of a Fallen World" which is truly epic atmospheric BM. I love the keyboards on this one. 

A big surprise for me is liking the acoustic guitar instrumental "In the Twilight of the Night". It's a complete break from the BM norm and I think an album of this majestic BM attitude needs it. Carrying on "Light of the Eternal Dawn" is a beautiful ode to Norwegian BM.

It starts out ridiculously radical and harsh with some cool tremolo picked riffs. Then introduces some tranquil melody to cool things off for a minute or two. Next all hell rips loose with tremolo picked melodies. This is a total wall of BM fury which almost had me shifting to the outdoor speakers just to piss off the neighbors. The closing song, "We Wept Under the Moonlight Shadow" which is a fourteen minute plus epic piece. Good stuff all around on this one. 

This is the seventh full length by Akul under the band name FATHOMAGE. The first album, Portraits of an Illustrative Mania, came out in 2018. Here we are years later and Akul gives us a well balanced atmospheric black metal album. 

LISTEN TO and BUY IT HERE:

https://fathomage.bandcamp.com/album/autumns-dawn-winters-darkness

LOS MALES DEL MUNDO - Descent Towards Death review

LOS MALES DEL MUNDO - Descent Towards Death

Northern Silence Productions

Years ago I said black metal has no borders as far as nations go. That was pretty much a middle finger response to some elitists who believed only Scandinavian bands are true black metal. Yeah whatever, you're wrong and go fuck yourselves. History of the genre has shown to think that is ignorant. There are so many examples and this here is just another one.

Here we have the debut album by LOS MALES DEL MUNDO. Their name translates into English as "The Evils of the World". As far as last year and at present yeah we kinda need this. This band, a two piece act, hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Yes we're talking about South American black metal which means anything is possible.

Right from the twelve plus minute opener, "Falling into Nothing", you can hear that this band's influences are on par with early DRUDKH. We're talking majestic tremolo riffs with an avalanche of sounds whether through the powerful drum work or the harsh screamed vocals. 

The pattern continues throughout the five cuts on here in various degrees of atmosphere. There's beauty as well as brutality in this listening pleasure. The guitars have that layed texture quality. There's even some cool solo work going on. Even though most of the vocals are harsh. There is some varied styles tossed in as if this was a narration.

All in all I won't come out to say this is masterful. The overall style has been worked on before as well as copied numerous times. Decent it is especially if you're a late night black metal listening fan. By the way I tend to be that type of person. Nuff Said.

https://store.northern-silence.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://losmalesdelmundo.bandcamp.com/releases

HAN - Breathing the Void review

HAN - Breathing the Void

Northern Silence Productions

Hearing some damm good black metal from Switzerland is usually few and far inbetween. This band here is another perfect example. HAN started out back in 2009 but did not release anything until 2016 with their debut, Facilis Descensus Averni. That one was released by Northern Silence Productions as well and I might say falls into the category of damm good. So after a five year this five piece act returns with their long awaited second full length.

As far as this new one goes it's different from their debut. Facilis Descensus Averni was pretty much old school atmospheric black metal. This new one moves into a more melodic genre style with some cool headbanging grooves to boot. After a typical atmospheric keyboard intro things get rockin.

What comes next is 90's era melodic yet very abrasive black metal. Plenty of times the guitar sounds are like burning sheet metal being ripped apart. The riffs are thrashy especially the tremolo picked intricate ones. The vocals are filth ridden barks mixed with harsh antagonistic screams. Rhythm section, can't hear any bass, is fine with either blast beat madness or basic rock delivery. 

All in all this is another damm great release by HAN. The vocals come over as having that necro feel which the Finnish bands of the 90's had. Most of the songs have a galloping rhythm like on "Lost Souls" or "Breathing the Void" which carries you away like you're on a blackened hell-ride. In the end you just don't want it to end.

https://store.northern-silence.de/

LISTEN HERE:

https://han-northernsilence.bandcamp.com/album/breathing-the-void

 

ETOILE FILANTE - Magnum Opus Caelestis review

ETOILE FILANTE - Magnum Opus Caelestis

Northern Silence Productions




So the genre tagline for this band in the promo info was "cosmic black metal". My answer to that is NO, seriously no more weird out of bounds genre suggestions for sub-genres of black metal. Seriously years ago I actually walked up to some hiptard loser who uttered the words "transcendental black metal". He's lucky I didn't kill him. But seriously I'm really sick of bands/artists or whoever trying to separate themselves from the pack with a word or two when in reality they're not different at all from the established precedent. 


After giving ETOILE FILANTE's debut full length a few listens I come away thinking it's simply ambient black metal. In other words it fills a void in the background while I can do many other things while still listening to it. This band or act if you prefer are from France. I was not surprised by that since the French black metal scene of late have been purveyors in post blackened aesthetics more than others. And honestly they're quite good at it. Personally I prefer their early days of blasphemy than their adventurism in the avant garde but hey they're French.


With all of that said this is a four song outing. The opening track is twenty two minutes in length. They do shave the song times down as the release flows on. As far as the whole "cosmic" thing goes, well they add plenty of synths to add a prog supplement to a simplistic black metal style. I'll give em their due, if David Gilmore was into black metal then he would of arranged some of the guitar solos. But the tremolo picked melodies work well on here. The synth arrangements are well done and never sound like filler. The vocals are tortured which is good. 


In the end I keep thinking of BORKNAGAR minus the clean vocals and the Viking themes. But the progressive styles are in full on this release. While the opening long cut is an epic journey which is worth while to fold laundry to. I found the latter three shorter cuts to be the most interesting. For example "Koyaanisqatsi" is like blackened death doom with keyboards as the main melody maker. In the end this is what I use to call black metal to fall asleep to late at night. Turn it on, turn off the lights and pull the covers over.


https://northern-silence.de/

https://etoilefilante-northernsilence.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Etoile.Filante.France

BLOODBARK - Bonebranches review

BLOODBARK - Bonebranches

Northern Silence Productions




Some people like to look upon atmospheric black metal as they do with art. It's beauty is solely in the eye, in this case more specifically the ear, of the beholder. Ah yeah whatever. If the music is not compelling enough to hold your attention then it's boring. Case in point, here we have the debut release by BLOODBARK an atmospheric black metal act that's virtually a mystery. There's no info on them to be found (so far). According to their label "BLOODBARK is an anonymous project with no country of origin. The decision to remain anonymous stems from a desire to let the art present itself without any distractions." 


Personally I don't allow too much personal info on a band to distract me. But I can understand an artist who might have some baggage which could cast undo prejudice upon their music. Be that as it may Bonebranches gives us three long songs in the realm of atmospheric black metal. The basic standards are covered and upheld well. The vocals are in a style that's frostbitten and harsh (there's also some solemn spoken word parts). Musically there's a mix tranquil ambiance and tremolo picked melody which reminds one of cold desolate landscapes.


Sure what's not to like about all of that? Of course there's plenty of layering on with piano as well as string arrangements. There's also some variance in song structuring. But there's too much repetitiveness going on. Too many times a song could've closed but it's dragged on to a degree where it loses it's impact. The epic bombast is completely lost when one feels sleepy. There are times when I just don't get into an artist's concept at first. So I give a release multiple listens and walk away a fan. All this did was make wanna yawn. Mystery solved.


http://northern-silence.de/

https://bloodbark.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.facebook.com/Bloodbark

HORN - Turm am Hang review

HORN - Turm am Hang

Northern Silence Productions


Nerrath, the one man workaholic behind HORN with a sack of past releases to show for it, is back with this his seventh full length. As usual this is folk inspired blackened something or other and I should be drinking a beer while listening to it. Seriously HORN is sorta like Finland's KORPIKLAANI in that the music is upbeat folk metal albeit with the obvious Germanic flare. I might wanna play this during Oktoberfest just for kicks.




For a one man act Nerrath is a talented musician, songwriter and ah, vocalist? I'll leave that latter one alone. I mean he sings in gruff German. As for the rest of it yeah usually within this genre it takes a full band to pull off what this one guy does for fun. This is melodic and rousing for the most part. There's a couple traditional metal headbanging moments as well as folk inspired meloncholy towards the end of the release. The last cut Nerrath even breaks into clean singing. I thought I was listening to FOLKEARTH for a second. All in all another decent release from Nerrath.

Rating: 4.5

http://northern-silence.de/

https://www.facebook.com/HornOfficial

https://hornlichterlischt.bandcamp.com/album/turm-am-hang