N.B.B.M.N. is Nothing But Black Metal November, a themed short reviews column which I’ve been doing since 2015 in various venues, initially inspired by friends of mine who’d often spend November only listening to black metal and generally catching up on the releases they’d missed throughout the year. This first entry covers as many October, November and December 2024 releases as I could process in a 24 hour period without wanting to die (more than usual.) // In an attempt to be more conversational these are more easygoing and casual than longform reviews, so relax and think for yourself. — If you find something you dig go tell the band on social media and support them with a purchase! If you’d like your music reviewed, read the FAQ and send promos to: grizzlybutts@hotmail.com

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Mississauga, Ontario-based black metal quartet PANZERFAUST have been hard at work on their four-part ‘The Suns of Perdition‘ thesis since 2019 using hubris, history and philosophy to contemporary black metal sounds be they jangling and dramatic muse or drifting occult black narrative. Each of the four parts of this series has its own voice to some degree and ‘The Suns of Perdition – Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion‘ is especially dramatic with its longer ~8-10 minute pieces as they focus on the terminus of life having spent three years illustrating the events leading up to this inevitable cacophonic endpoint. Somewhere between Kriegsmaschine, The Order of Apollyon and their own sense of roaring atmosphere this album manages to be a worthy grand finale and a notable event despite the first two parts of the quadrilogy not clicking with me back in 2019 and 2020 respectively. ‘Chapter III: The Astral Drain‘ had kinda brought me on board and I was happy that this album generally felt like it upheld some of the irreverence (see: “Occam’s Fucking Razor”) and surrealistic yet serious apocalyptic tonality. For my own taste this is the best release from the band to date and edges just above the accomplishments of the chapter that came before it.

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HJEMSØKT is a more recent black metal project from prolific Norwegian musician Peregrinus who you might recognize from myriad groups such as Solus Grief, Kvad, Heraldic Blaze, et. al and the various tropes of black metal each explores. In this case the focus of this band is the earlier folken/pagan-black of his region where the rawest ideas from Helheim, Taake, and especially Ulver are referenced within a simpler demo level undertaking. The pieces of this work are familiar in every sense though the combinations of elements keep things somewhat interesting as we find folken and veering sections bound by raw streaks of riff and claustrophobia inducing rasps and necro-level anti-production values. I’d found I prefer the slower atmospheric pieces, such as the title track here, from the artist as the more harried and aggressive pieces certainly had riffs but not much of an exciting direction when left to repeat and sink in. I’ve no incredibly deep notes to take from this one beyond enjoying the atmosphere, the subtle keyboards that creep into a few songs, and the droning quality of certain arrangements.

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Sydney, Australia-based black metal duo TYRANNIC use fairly primitive single guitar voicing to develop riffs much in the style of Darkthrone at their most Celtic Frost-exaggerated form, avoiding complete simplicity while still managing a kinda-thrashing Mortuary Drape-esque reach with their actual phrasing. The major focus of their work is the dynamic between the tension of the guitars and slower-paced drumming and in that sense this latest record is familiar but even more focused than I’d recalled their sound being. There is just enough of their own spin put on this type of sound, via wild vocal tirades and wide-strafing riffs, that it carries well through kinda long ~5-7 minute mid-paced pieces. If you’re a fan of a ruddy early second wave preeminence with a satisfyingly ranting, primitive streak ‘Tyrannic Desolation‘ should find the right groove and ride it well throughout its nearly fifty minute length.

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Bavarian black metal troupe TOTAL HATE return with their sixth full-length album and the latest in a streak to enduringly carry the 90’s Scandinavian traditions to a wrathful yet stoic state of chaos and contemplation. Sure, a wordy way of suggesting you’ll hear a strong Norwegian slice through their riffs alongside some manner of Swedish black-tinged melodicism but also a successfully mournful mood which adds to the dramatism of their work which keeps ‘Forthcoming Age of the Reaper‘ from becoming too much of a rocking and grooving sort of record. “Coldest Wrath” has a bit of everything they represent in one package and does a fine enough job of showcasing the strong bass guitar tone threads through the whole record. In fact it might seem idiotic to some to praise sleek production values in reference to a black metal record but these guys consistently do a fine job of crafting a shining black blade of their sound and this time around they’ve gotten in perfect vicious without leaving any edge too glossy or raw. Because of this I’d felt like this record was easy to approach and generally a blast to sit with, no real complaints beyond it being largely heard-of, well explored in terms of style.

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The horizon expands doubly wide as Scotland-based atmospheric black metal wanderers SLUAGH add another work, their debut full-length album, to a growing vision of the highlands in sprawling ancient restoration. This isn’t your typical atmo-trip in any sense, though, as these folks from Barshasketh, Ageless Summoning, & Of Spire & Throne do a fine job of developing their own illustrative voice in depicting a realm treacherous as it is beauteous. The snarling malevolence of the vocals, the sporadic and heavily nuanced directive of the dual guitar threads, and the rattling follow of the drums all speak to nuance which settles in dark and continues to creep until the endpoint is pitch black. I’d appreciated that some aspects of this record are truly traditional in their step but taken to a crestfallen, starless state of exasperation ’til it makes sense to work in wilting leads and/or spikes of dissonance. I dunno if there are DSBM influences sparking up here and there or just their own sense of heightened rawness but either way they’ve kept this album full of twisted places to turn to as the intricacy of their motions seek points of reveal. Unnerving in effect and damned impressive when followed note for note in its stretch, I’d definitely recommend this one.

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‘Oorsprong‘ is the sixth full-length album from Netherlands-based black metal trio ASGRAUW and naturally one which further draws in folks interested in the perceived tenets of 90’s black metal given warmed compositional depth and more expansive production values. I’ve been following their work since 2018’s ‘Gronspech‘ and appreciate the fluidly melodic stretch of the main rhythm guitar voicing as well as the declarative “clean” vocal shouts which help bring something their own to their dramatic treatments. Featuring folks from Meslamtea and Sagenland there is some assumption that post-black or folken elements would eventually bleed deeper into this project as it takes off but to me their sound has a sort of Carpathian Forest sort of wretch n’ run movement to it beyond a bit of ‘Far Away from the Sun’ level theatre to the rhythms, which of course now temper and relish in more atmospheric keys as part of the rhythmic accoutrement. The cathartic and proud rhythmic weave of “Weeral” and “Eridu” are brilliant upon first impression though the album could’ve used more variety, more space to breathe for my own taste.

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U.K.-based progressive black metal solo act THE HOLY FLESH came out of nowhere with their debut LP ‘Emissary and Vessel‘ circa 2019 and despite it getting some notice for its weirding tread per broader physical releases in 2020 they’d chosen to self-release their second album without any fanfare in 2023. This makes it tougher to tread into ‘Advocate, Martyr and Redeemer‘ without catching up as I soak up two releases worth of muse at once. Separated into three roughly ~15-16 minute acts this record balances mid-paced, surreal stretches of dramatism with faster movement depending on the combination of any given 2-song chunk making for an even enough spread of technique and tonality. I’m not sure the overall voice of the artist is all that thrilling to me at this point but I’d yet found each of these songs built upon some manner of clever riff idea or arpeggiated intricacy that’d created a surreal moment or two. That said the push and pull between climbing epics, striding movement and clangorous surrealism was eventful and entertaining all things considered.

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Athens, Greece-based duo BLOODMOON ECLIPSE offer a simple enough premise for their debut full-length album, ‘old school’ black metal in the early second wave Norse sense wherein they point directly to (black metal) debuts from Darkthrone, Gorgoroth and Dødheimsgard for examples of raw and groove-ridden riffcraft with a spaced sense of moment. This particular project comes from Ungod (Obsecration, Sad) and K.C.H. the bassist from Lunar Spells and their aim and implementation is so straightforward that there is barely enough to talk about here outside of the actual quality of the raw black metal riffcraft on offer here, which is actually pretty sharp as we ride through “Servants of Anti-God” and “Embodiment of Christ’s Lamentation” where we find bigger thrashing breaks, bent-chord grooves and some heavier chugging all keep the variety and mood of this record from simply droning on into the background. A few of these songs do just drone on (see: “Drowned in Eternal Desolation”) and reflect the broken wristed runs of the aforementioned Norwegian groups and while this is admirable enough it doesn’t stand out more than the average underground black metal troupe. Nothing mind shattering at the end of the day but not a bad album either thanks to a few songs that’re packed up with decent riffs.

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You might recall I’d had great things to say about obscure Swedish melodic black/death metal band Hydra‘s full-length album ‘Phaedra‘ back in the An Exhaustive Study days and it turns out the spiritus of that band had never fully died so much as been tormented by false starts, conflicts and such over the years. This newer project from guitarist/vocalist Flame aka Anders Eriksson has since revived and embodied that intent bringing second Hydra guitarist Titan into the fray alongside drummer Fredrik Andersson (A Canorous Quintet, ex-Amon Amarth) and bassist Per Lindström (ex-Beastiality) to round out the line-up beyond their impetus in 2018. No doubt they’ve gotten better at finding the right mode for their Swedish melodic black metal sound over the course of five records in the span of six years, bringing more folks on-board in order to improve each and in this case the addition of Titan has helped the dual guitar set compositions ring a bit more true in the old ways. That said their focus is not squarely upon the 90’s style of black metal that’d inspired them all of these years since but rather a modern sense of abstract and atmospheric black metal helps to shape these songs into loftier pieces (see: “The Black Crow and the White Swan”) which includes a tendency toward dynamic pacing, be it slower battle dirges (“Revel in Tragedy”) or upshot, anthemic pieces (“Superior to None”). Though I’d gone into this album expecting more of a classicist approach the dire atmosphere and fuming pace was no less entertaining, there is an acrid volatility here that balances out the prettier aspects of their craft in an appreciable way.

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For their third full-length album Wrocław, Poland-based black metal quartet DEUS MORTEM return almost completely changed by the five year interim between their celebrated ‘Kosmocide‘ release back in 2019. This time around former drummer Stormblast (Infernal War) has been replaced by Antigama‘s drummer and the style of the band now includes inspiration take from heavy metal, speed metal and hard rock in developing the sound of ‘Thanatos‘ which makes sure you’ve gotten the full rub of their change within the first few songs. I’m not sure I’d got as far as to call this album a death n’ roll shift since we are blasting through whole songs by the time “Resurrecting the Pillars of Fire” hits but rather that they’ve gone out of their way to bring bigger, less predictable hits into their fuming and breakneck sound. So, don’t let the first two songs become the whole first impression as the back half of this album can only get more interesting from there. If you can’t hang with goth-tinged guitar hooks, kicking rock beats, and punkish (almost d-beat inspired at times) twists in their rug this might be a total culture shock compared to what came before. From my point of view it sounds wild and instantly stands out within their realm, managing a few incredible surreal pieces which characterize the full listen more than the straight forward bits.

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Eight tales of death by hubris and folly come from this collaboration between Niklas of Horn (Germany) and drummer Tempestas of Halphas both of whom have some long-running history with their traditional doom metal band Cross Vault. ‘Eight Led to the Beam‘ of course has the songwriting hand of these folks in their black metal modus as if by muscle memory but SPERE feels like they’ve already found a point of fixation upon somewhat epic feeling pagan metal songs with clean-sung choruses, similar but not directly comparable to more recent Horn material in terms of style. There is a clear focus on the song here with a folken, striding basal step but even more fist-raising and with uniquely set guitar tones which to me have a very grunge-era Bathory or newer Primordial (via a different context) sort of endpoint. Very inspired work with an appreciable bardic temperament expressed throughout.

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