Ivan Tibos.

Country (for what it’s worth): Pakistan

Members: Faiq Ahmed (guitars), Daniyal Buksh Soomro (bass & vocals), Omair Soomro (live drums)

Recording: ShockStudio

Duration: 27:34

Genre: Thrash Metal

Country (for what it’s worth): Finland

Members: Janne Tuikkala (all instruments & song-writing) & Janne Partanen (vocals & lyrics)

Mix & mastering: Janne Tuikkala (at j.sound home-studio)

Artwork: Awinita Alm (link below)

Type: digital-only

Duration: 37:53

Genre: atmospheric & epic Melodic Black Metal

Recently I had the honor to be part of a jury within a contest / award organized by Unexplained Sounds Group’s chief Raffaele Pezzella. The most interesting thing was, of course, the ‘Music’ involved. I was trusted with several acts that contributed (for some of them I did write reviews in the past), others I just knew by name, and there were some projects I did not know yet at all.

Location: Sweden

Members: Linnea Hjertén (everything; also active in Shaam Larein) + samples by Ludvig Swärd (Forndom)

Production & mix: Linnea Hjertén

Mastering: Tore Stjerna (Necromorbus Studio)

Type: digital + CD (jewel-case + booklet)

Duration: 35:40

Genre: esoteric Nordic Folk

Location: East-Anglia, Albion, U.K. (Sacred Dominions) / Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. (Hadak urA)

Members: Shadows (song-writing & lyrics, instruments & vocals, mix; Sacred Dominions) / Koppany Geczy (instruments & vocals, song-writing & mix; Hadak urA)

Mix: Shadows & Koppany Geczy

Mastering: K (master-mind behind the label)

One of the most influential and notorious labels within the (Dark / Cinematic / Space / Drone) Ambient scene is, without any doubt, Oregon-based Cryo Chamber. It’s a label run by Sweden-born artist Simon Heath, whom you might know from outfits like Atrium Carceri, Cryo Chamber Collaboration, Krusseldorf, Sabled Sun, as well as Abnocto, Musterion or Za Frûmi, which he ran, all three of them, with Simon Kölle.

A short one…

Location: U.S.A. (New York City)

Type: tape (fully colored j-card, with download card) / black vinyl (poly-lined inner-bag, with download-card) / digital

Duration: 20:33 minutes

Genre: Anarcho-Hardcore / Quixotic Punk

Location: Japan

Members: Masami Akita

Mix & mastering: James Dunn

Remastered: Martin Bowes

Artwork: Abby Helasdottir

Type: double-CD, gatefold eco-pack / digital

Duration: 104:59 minutes

Genre: Japanoise / Harsh Noise

As (Black) Metal ‘fan’, one might recognize the name Admetos from the Greek projects Elegos (Epic Symphonic Black Metal; all instruments) or Faunus (solo; melancholic Doom-laden Atmospheric Black Metal). Admetos, however, also runs a non-Metal outfit, called Anglachel. It’s a productive project, inspired by Tolkien and this author’s immense imaginative worlds.

I’ll keep my introduction on the band brief and concise. Suffer Yourself were formed in 2011 in Kyiv, Ukraine, as a solo-outfit by Stanislav Govorukha. After writing some tracks, and the recording of an official demonstrational five-tracker, he joined forces with some other musicians. These original tracks got re-recorded and made it to the first full-length, 2014’s Inner Sanctum.