CD

What one could describe as resolutely nihilistic Black Metal, fueled by the layered experiences of its contributors, is based on the cold pronouncement of an undeniable truth: all is vanity; all that exists is doomed to fade into naught.

Thy Killing Hand, a faceless Polish duo, wields Black Metal stripped to bone and rust. Their debut full-length, "Infernal Commands", follows two tape-borne warnings - "Scarlet Ceremonies" (2023) and "Ixaxar" (2024) - and distils those impulses into a heavier, more oppressive form.

After a first trilogy that left a searing mark on the death / black metal scene and seven years of silence, Mylingar rises again from the abyss with the first volume of a new trilogy, Út.

Despite what certain archives may say, Mylingar are an anonymous band from an anonymous location. And thankfully, after that silence, the quartet have lost none of their bad manners: their death metal remains putrid and vicious, giving pride of place to dissonance. The inhuman vocals, one of the band's defining strengths, dominate this suffocating, morbid whole and herald a new trilogy that reeks more than ever of sulfur, chaos, and death.

Út is clearly not an album for everyone; it is an outlet for sonic violence, where morality, common sense, and order are trampled underfoot by four diseased minds whose hibernation has had no calming effect. Beware.

Handnumbered

Amazing album of German black metal with hysterical voices. Lots of tracks on this album that grew out to become classics for the band.

Issued in a standard jewel case with clear tray and an 16-page booklet, housed in a slipcase.

"Respirium" is an instrumental track.