I had never heard of this band before, South-Korean based act Madmans Esprit. The bio included, kindly provided by A Sad Sadness Song (which actually is a sub-division of Aeternitas Tenebrarum Musicae Fundamentum aka ATMF), files this band’s stuff as Schizophrenic Dark-Black Metal, so I was quite virginal in mind when I listened to the album Nacht for the first time. The devirgination (aka defloration), however, was quite painful and horrific…
Canadian act Harrow were formed by Ian Campbell in 2009 under the Wraith-moniker. In 2011, Wraith became Harrow, and during those years the band (with new members, yet with Ian being the sole remaining musician from the original line-up) did record and release several mini and full length albums. In early 2014, Harrow recorded the Fallow Fields album, which was initially released on tape in early 2015 (via Broken Limb Recordings).
About one decade ago, Nicholas Onfray (think also: Black Moon, Ruined Sanctuary, Horns, The Last Knell etc.) formed the outfit Animus Mortis. He joined forces with vocalist Sid, and as a duo they recorded the demonstrational recording, called Desolate Landscapes.
Well well well, I thought this Italian band did split up a couple of years ago, but apparently it wasn’t but a temporary break. That’s fantastic news, but the best thing is: Absentia Lunae return with a new full length studio recording!
With From The Dead Villages’ Darkness, Sivyj Yar bring ‘songs about those who have gone into oblivion, the memories of whom has been lost’.
After two fabulous albums on the great ATMF-label, Arcana Coelestia return with the third full length, this time via Milan-based Avantgarde, a label I do follow for two decades, and which has become one of the most important ones within my musical spectrum.
Swedish band Ofdrykkja (it seems to be old Norse for binge drinking) was formed in 2012, but due to individual issues (mental hospital, rehab and jail, you see), it took quite some time before Drabbad, The Associate, Pessimisten and Bödeln were able to finish their first album. And it’s an album that, to my opinion, was created rather as a therapeutic expression for the members’ vision on / of life than as outlet for creativity.
Imagine my cosmic joy and happiness… I thought this Swiss band did not exist anymore, since their last album (Dark Space III) was released in 2008. But no need to mourn, because the trio (still the same line-up as in the early years) returns with their fourth album, called Dark Space III I (which sounds more original, let’s admit, than IV, isn’t it). Mind the space in between the first ‘III’ and final ‘I’, by the way…
France and eccentric Black Metal, I can sum up tens of bands that play unorthodox yet still very orthodox, and mostly unique, refreshing Black Metal, pushing limits and trespassing borders, without forgetting the core of their raison d’être. A young act that follows the very same direction is this one.
Honestly, I do not know that many interesting Doom / Drone projects from Poland, but (one of) my favourite(s) is, for sure, Echoes Of Yul, formed in 2008. This act debuted in 2009 with a self-called album, which did create new possibilities and directions within the international Post-scene. In 2010 we could enjoy an enjoyable split as well, with landmate colleagues Sun For Miles and Guantanamo Party Project.
