Ivan Tibos.

French act Aurvandil is a project that nowadays consists of forming member and vocalist / instrumentalist / lyricist / composer Aurvandil (the same guy who is active in one of France’s most impressive Death Metal projects Manipulator, acting under the hilarious name of Moil Of The Macabre Manipulation [I still need to laugh with this intelligently chosen nickname]; for the review about this project’s sole release, the MCD Voidbound, please check out the update on September 16^th 2012; see ‘Archive’), and,

Somewhere in the midst of the nineties, Ron Vento left Death / Black act Lestregus Nosferatus in order to form a new band. It meant the end for that band, but FYI, they reformed (without Ron) a couple of years ago with an adapted moniker, Le Streghe Nosferatus. But that’s another story…

There are a couple of reasons why Swiss band Hellhammer are considered one of the most influential bands for the whole Metal-community.

Night In Terrors is a new label from Tampere, Finland, and the first (and until now also the sole) release is the split-album The Perverse Worship Of Satanic Sins. Two projects contribute, i.e.

Hampshire, UK-based act Ageless Oblivion have never been my favourite Death formation, despite the enormous appreciation / influence / inspiration by so-called USDM-bands like Morbid Angel, Suffocation, Immolation, Nile, Hate Eternal or Dying Fetus. But with this album things do change.

First a short introduction, however, if you want it or not; I will just do so...

Despite a huge variety within the first and last efforts, I have always appreciated The Wounded Kings’ Doom a lot. Both first albums (Embrace Of The Narrow House and The Shadows Over Atlantis), as well as In The Chapel Of The Black Hand, do belong to my favourite Doom albums in the year they had respectively been released (i.e. 2008, 2010 and 2011). When it comes to the latter, it was the first one with a new vocalist, a female one this time.

Dutch horde Sammath was formed about two decades ago by Jan Kruitwagen. After a couple of demonstrational cassettes, Sammath joined forces with Folter Records, which did release four full lengths. I do appreciate every single one of them for its primitivism and nihilism, the underground attitude and the anti-trendy approach.

When talking / thinking about the Extreme Metal scene, we’re used to focus on the scenes from Europe, America (both North and South), and ‘modern’ parts of the Pacific (New Zealand, Australia, Japan and Singapore more specifically). However, more than once I got in touch with a release from a band that comes from a mostly ‘unusual’ country. I can enlist an impressive amount of bands, but I will not.

Adramelech are (were) a far-underestimated band from Finland, with members also known from their co-operation with, for example, Demigod, Torture Killer and Impious Havoc, a. o. The album Psychostasia was some kind of ‘break-though’ within the (European / international) Death Metal scene, if only it were because of the eccentric, characterising approach courtesy of bands from the Land of a Thousand Lakes. It originally saw the light in 1996 via major Extreme Metal label Relapse Records.

I was philosophising ‘bout a right introduction to this project, but I really do not know how to start. Reason: my eternal gratitude, devotion, passion for Californian act Twilight, one of the most eccentric, mysterious and unique existences ever…