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On their sophomore full-length "La Masquerade Infernale" (1997), ARCTURUS took their musical experimenting three ambitious steps further. The Norwegians succeeded in wedding a devilish concept loosely based on the characters of Faust and Mephistopheles with an eclectic range of surreal sound elements into an album that is rightfully considered a prime example of what later came to be known as avant-garde metal. From quoting Edgar Allan Poe in operatic paraphrases by frontman Garm (ULVER) or the additional high notes from the unmistakable I.C.S. Vortex (BORKNAGAR) via the spaced-out electronic samples, classical instrumentation, and an even increased use of psychedelic guitar riffage alongside more "traditional" black and death metal elements. Brilliant guitarist Knut Magne Valle replaced Carl August Tideman, which brought stability to this position of the band's line-up. ARCTURUS aimed dangerously high with "La Masquerade Infernale" – but remarkably pulled off the extremely difficult feat of forging such widely differing elements into a wildly fascinating, over the top listening experience that has stood the test of time and surely deserves to be labelled a "masterpiece".

Opening with a charnel blend of doomy riffs and cavernous drum work, the band draw once more from the spectral vein of old school death metal with their own crushing blend of slower moving extremity. Those lurking riffs that change angle rapidly into ever-evolving depths of ferocity meet a busy and incredibly able drum performance, aided by monstrous vocals to ensure the entire band has a monolithic sound of pure obliteration. To balance such unfathomable musicianship with a tendency for catchiness and groove ensures one receives an expansive and unforgettable experience that will not only destroy but also stick with the listener long after the album finishes. There is a definite progression in instrumentation here as warped bass lines underline the venomous riffing and bombastic drums in a manner that can only be described as otherworldly. While A Nexus Of Teeth was a blunt force trauma of pure death metal hammering, this recording is razor sharp, though holding onto all of the great characteristics of its predecessor, they have not been afraid to experiment and embolden the flavour of their sound.

For nearly eight years now, the defiant warlord otherwise known as Baptist has put forth a stark, austere style of black metal under the MAVORIM banner. With a couple demos, splits, and then two albums 2018's Silent Leges Inter Arma debut album and 2020's Axis Mundi - through PURITY THROUGH FIRE, MAVORIM has swiftly come to define the new breed of German black metal that hearkens back to the old guard: Teutonic to the bone, harsh and harrowing yet heralding triumph.

And while 2020 did see the release of Axis Mundi AND two splits with comrades TOTENWACHE and AD MORTEM, Baptist wastes no time keeping the conflagrating momentum going with MAVORIM's third full-length, Non Omnis Moriar. No more but definitely no less, Non Omnis Moriar is definitive MAVORIM through and through: cold, cutting, and martial but breathing passion and poignancy at every twisted turn. Whereas the preceding Axis Mundi saw Baptist exploring more epic and atmospheric textures, here does MAVORIM kick up the intensity once again, fully locked-in and reeking of bloodlust - BUT that insanely catchy songwriting that's come to earmark the band has been carried over here, and given a palpitating shot of adrenaline. And even with a runtime of 48 minutes, the ten songs comprising Non Omnis Moriar seem to fly by in a flash, and you're left licking your wounds on the battlefield...if you survive Baptist's berserker fury.

Since 2011, ÚLFARR have stood for uncompromising, antisocial UK black metal - or, under their own banner of Cumbrian Black Metal. Helmed by Dominus, AKA Hrafn - who counts the equally prolific THY DYING LIGHT amongst his activities, as well as fellow labelmates NEFARIOUS DUSK and MORTE LUNE - ÚLFARR released a couple demos its first few years and then a split album with comrades Hrafnblóð. Another demo followed in 2014, followed by, uniquely, two live albums. Then, in 2019 did the band's debut mini-album at last arrive, bearing the all-too-fitting title Hate & Terror - The Rise Of Pure Evil. Swift and scything, ÚLFARR stoked the flames of traditional black metal in the vein of classic Craft, Darkthrone, Mayhem, One Head One Tail, and Death Cult.

Now, after two more years of silence, ÚLFARR return to stoke those flames again with The Ruins of Human Failure. Another apt title, The Ruins of Human Failure encompasses a four-part title track that spits venom and vitriol for miles around, dumping further fuel on the bonfire of humanity. No more and no less, ÚLFARR hold tight to their sound and hone in one dark, dismal energies inspired by the desolate landscapes of their homeland, the unrelentingly bleak climate, and a shared disdain towards humanity in the overpopulated wastelands of modern Britain. At times more primitive than its predecessor and more headbanging at others, you don't so much as listen to The Ruins of Human Failure as FEEL it - and it still hates you, too.

A brand-new entity that sounds positively/negatively OLD, AVSKRÄDE hearken to the most ancient days of Scandinavian black metal, both in Norway and their native Sweden. The duo delivered a demo earlier in 2021, but now arrive from the coldest, purest past with a 36-minute full-length titled Det stora tunga sjuka. Right from the album's opening seconds, there's no mistaking that AVSKRÄDE play nothing but traditional BLACK METAL Exclusively. From the classic "Peaceville trilogy" of Darkthrone to Malicious-era Gorgoroth on to the early works of Sweden's Craft and Armagedda, Det stora tunga sjuka invokes a nostalgia for grim, glorious times. Indeed, to arrive at its rustic sound, the band recorded the album during primitive conditions in the very north of Sweden, where it is cold and dark most of the time - something they endeavored to transfer to the music itself. And accomplish that they did, as Det stora tunga sjuka is authentically vintage black metal, even down to the Grieghallen-esque guitar tone. HAIL DEATH!!!
 

At the dawn of 2021, CAESTUS burst from the void, fully formed, with the first demo Nordic Luciferian Discipline. Aptly titled, CAESTUS indeed branched both the old and new, the traditional and the unconventional, with their black metal. That this new horde was born so auspiciously should not be a surprise given that members currently do time in the esteemed likes of Blood Red Fog, Odiosior, and labelmates TO CONCEAL THE HORNS.

Unshackling themselves further from the usual classic Finnish black metal sound, CAESTUS now make their full-length debut before the year's end: The Undoer's Key. Another apt title, The Undoer's Key continues CAESTUS' strive toward their own black metal sound where the old mood meets more "modern" twists. And twist it does, spanning nine songs of pure wrath where not a single note of keyboards was played this time and tremolo leads were kept to a minimum - and even then, only to serve a purpose. Thus, here you will find no artificial "atmosphere" but, rather, strong 'n' stout riffs with layered guitar patterns, prominent(ly filthy) bass, similarly storming drums, and their most violent vocals yet. Suitably, form matches content, as the album's lyrical themes cover classic anti-Christian declarations accompanied by a misanthropic warrior mentality and spitting on modern-day plagues.

A brand-new entity from Finland's ever-fertile black metal underground, KRIEGZEIT are as nasty and twisted as the warfare fro, but then upend familiarity with an alternately agonizing / sublime angularity that somehow retains the latent catchiness of classic headbanging black metal. However, do not linger under the assumption that Hateworship is some type of "party" black metal record; no, KRIEGZEIT are deadly serious in their devotion to darkness and the taboo, but likewise do they retain a devilish sense of mischief. All that's writ large - and FILTHILY - across the wild & wasted Hateworship. Put another way, take one look at the psychedelic-nightmare cover art and you should know what KRIEGZEIT sound like.

CORAXUL hail from the ever-fertile Finnish black metal underground. Although brand-new in name, the quartet's members hail from the well-regarded likes of Licht des Urteils, Curse Upon a Prayer, and labelmates SACRIFICIUM CARMEN and RIIVAUS. Staunchly traditional, expect no grand deviations from the timeless Finnish black metal archetype on the band's debut full-length, Vihavirsiä Aamunkoin - but within that staunch traditionalism lies a bounty of mysticism and melody. CORAXUL thus combines Satan worship, nature glorification, and traditional Finnish folklore in the vein of Finnish national poet Eino Leino, and that melancholic mélange bears bitter fruit across the album's taut-yet-expansive 40-minute runtime. It's warmly familiar but freezingly cold as quintessential Finnish black metal gets, fondly recalling the late/great likes of Noenum, Vitsaus, and Prevalent Resistance rather than the usual suspects. But with the blanching passion and palpable physicality on display across Vihavirsiä Aamunkoin, CORAXUL are indeed their own masters. Besides, black metal doesn't need to "be" anything more than it already is.

When FLAGG burst from the void in June 2020 with their debut album, Nothing But Death, the veil of secrecy had yet to be lifted. Which mattered not, when presented with black metal of such sterling quality: both ancient and ageless, old yet new. Their attack was immediately intense, exhibiting a restlessness that's roiling and raging, always moving but always with a target in sight. Eventually, it was revealed that FLAGG hailed from Finland and was the work of selfsame multi-instrumentalist Flagg, who was a part of reanimated old Finnish cult Annihilatus, and vocalist Tyrant, whose hordes include the esteemed likes of MALUM, Infernarium, and Kalmankantaja.

With that lineup thus set, FLAGG return little more than a year later with their second full-length, Cosmic Chaos Manifest. An immediately harsher spin than its not-inconsiderable predecessor, Cosmic Chaos Manifest duly lives up to its title through a shapeshifting style of ultraviolence that retains a unique gleam, one that's paradoxically grittier for all its seemingly on-the-surface clarity. As ever, FLAGG's songwriting strikes true through a skillful balance between burning fire and nightsky melodicism, here actually sounding more richly 1990s - specifically, the oft-overlooked late '90s - than the comparatively modernist grime of Nothing But Death. But, just like that bolt-from-the-blue debut, FLAGG understand archaic expressions, the Old Language of Black Metal, where medieval atmosphere and ghostly portent informed even the most straightforward forms, rendering an air of aristocracy to that of belligerent bravado; now, they're just rendered in more restless, dizzying form.

Mörk Nordisk Minimalism by Sir S./Ancient Records