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 third entry covers as many 2024 releases (in alphabetical order) as I could process in a 24 hour period without wanting to die (more than usual.) This’ll likely be the last year which I attempt this feature in favor of working on end of the year stuff instead. // 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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This debut mLP from Australian musician Nightwolf (Runespell) does a fine job of introducing ANCIENT GUARD‘s romanticist atmospheric black metal intentions, managing four pieces in about a half hour which expand upon the artist’s dramatic style of composition. While his other projects took some time to develop their signatures as his skills developed I’d say Nightwolf‘s work is now up to a high standard across the board and the result is ‘Nightfall Enthroned’ may be a one-person show but the work is fully fleshed, well recorded (per reasonable black metal stylization) and conceived with a specific feeling in mind. Though these songs do have some of the expected rhythmic intrigue the work here feels right on the verge of post-black metal as we ride through, never quite getting there as keyboard/synth nods and sweeping arrangements keep the tone from hitting a maudlin place, instead which ranging from forlorn to empyreal. I’ve not yet hear the LP that he’d followed up after expanding into a trio just yet so for now I’m impressed that this debut EP managed to step into a new dreamlike headspace.

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A conjoinment of two finer muses from the renowned Finnish black metal underground ‘A Union of Spectres‘ is a worthy, substantive split LP which gathers the solitary duo of ghostly AETHYRICK with the reeling and rasping classicism of MARRAS, each contributing three songs per side. There is atmospheric fixation, a melodicism which sets the ozone of the sky on fire within Aethyrick‘s work and their side is of course up to their highest standard as these pieces carry direct parity with the developments found on their most recent LP (‘Death is Absent‘, 2024). Because I’ve been a longtime fan of the band who considers their work among the best in this increasingly specific style this split LP is essential for my own taste. Otherwise Marras is less familiar to me since we’ve not heard from them since their admirably stated second album back in 2021, a general 90’s style of black metal pervading their overall sound. The rasp of the vocals and the multi-layered guitar tone creates a ruthless sense of dread, violently loose grooves which scour the skull with their lung-emptying over the top wrath. Though the pairing of these two bands wasn’t immediately so obvious in terms of any outright similarity the full listen manages to share an otherworldly sense of havoc which suits both entities well.

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‘Kaksi liekkiä Saatanalle‘ is a one-sided split 12″ (or CD) featuring two songs apiece from Finnish black metal bands AESTHUS and SIELUHAASKA both of which’d spawned from solo projects formed in the late 2010’s. Of course folks might recall Aesthus and their debut LP a couple of years back for the sake of it cleverly balancing primal ferocity with melodicism for a sound akin to earlier Sielunvihollinen and you’ll still get that feeling stepping into opener “Vihasta Ja Verestä” though I’d say both of their songs here live up their reputation well. Sieluhaaska isn’t a wildly different beast on paper, each band represents the Finnish black metal underground in terms of a certain expected sound, but these folks take their time a bit more managing dare I say a less “ugly” instrumental wrack and instead allow the vocals to shriek and snarl over fairly typical anthemic fare. Of the two songs here “Abrahamin Raunioilla” is probably the more engrossing, raw ride overall. These two bands are well paired, each have their own rusty quirks but overall they’re of a similar species in how they develop a tune.

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Hesse, Germany-based progressive/post-black metal band AGRYPNIE return here for a seventh full-length album with ‘Erg‘ the latest in their hot streak of releases beyond 2018, each of which’ve upped the ante in some way. Now celebrating their twentieth year and leaning into a dramatic form of melodic metal I’m not sure this album is the exact follow-up to ‘Metamorphosis’ (2021) that I’d expected, now feeling a bit more like labelmates Anomalie in their overall voicing, but what we trade in complexity of forms we gain in a fluid, easy to approach listen. Though I am not the biggest fan of the post-black metal realm in general I think main composer Torsten H. (Nocte Obducta) has always had an interesting knack for the arc which travels through each album and I would say ‘Erg‘ deserves a bit of patience up front for how long it takes to work into its depth. For my own taste we don’t really get much more than mid-paced melodramatic bluster ’til “Entität”, the talk-paced vocal patterns and multi-layered vocals aren’t my thing at all or at least they land a bit typical otherwise. Not a bad album but one that’d taken me a few tries to finally press all the way through and appreciate.

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Basel, Switzerland-based black/doom metal solo act ASHTAR began as more of an oaken, sludged post-metallic duo years ago but over time began to lean aggressively toward ancient black metal sounds. This evolution has been fully taken over by main member Askahex who has a taste for a variety of black metal sounds infused with slow and creeping doom. This makes a lot of sense as an evolution beyond ‘Wandering Through Time‘ (2023), an album which I’d reviewed favorably, as their sound continues to degrade down to stripped-back, deeper underground wandering. This was a tough record to review for the sake of most files repeating each song twice, giving me the impression the album was over 90 minutes long when it is in fact a reasonable ~45, leaving me to guess when any given song was over. I’d normally just delete the whole submission and move on quickly but I enjoy this project quite a bit and overall think her path is righteous. The Samhain cover at the end is rad too, plenty of attitude.

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‘Primal Judgement Manifesto‘ is the debut EP release from Swedish solo black metal project ASPERNAMENTUM which comes by way of Swedish musician Daniel Johansson the former longtime drummer from melodic black/death metal band Wormwood. Their work is primarily concerned with Satanism and preaches their point of view via gnarled and ringing black metal pieces at a cutting pace, melodious but not flowing with outright sweetness so much as fiery accost. Production values from Sverker Widgren @ Wing Studios feels classic and punishing even when we hit upon the more melodic, lead driven directive of “To Pledge Allegiance To The Void Beyond”. Though I am not sure where they would carry this sound on a full-length album this contained showcase of four pieces is especially fine work, all of it captivating enough and admirable for its thematic focus. I particularly appreciate the treatment of the bass guitar tone in developing the pace of each song as well as gilding certain melodies (see: “Vessel of Enlightenment (Black Flame Manifestation)”. If their performances continue to speak this wildly and compositions retain the serious, gritted austerity I think there is a ton of potential here.

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The melancholic dreariness of black metal project AZKETEM comes from the mind of Berlin, Germany-based artist Azken who’d developed a navel-gazing, almost ethereal form of dark metal/gothic metal inspired atmospheric black metal beyond a series of demo tapes over the course of about six years. Now two full-length albums in this self-titled record feels like a full flex upon that directive, a morose and almost nauseated slow step through this obvious knack he’s nurtured. The effect is shoegazing, almost Jesu-like in its drift but the actual fixation and presence of these songs avoid the tropes of post-black/blackgaze identity in full… in fact one could maybe argue against this being black metal on a functional level, at least nothing so typical. With clean, fairly modest vocals and steadfast pacing throughout the whole of ‘Azketem‘ is bleak but ethereal and this stands out for the first several pieces yet never evolves. The fixation of it is unique and ultimately pretty pleasant as an experience, the one thing that Azketem does is rad, though I’d wanted to see what else he might throw in to break through the drone it creates.

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Providence, Rhode Island-based trio BLACK SORCERY split the different between the mid-90’s semi-melodic rampages of Gorgoroth and the austerity of USBM a la Grand Belial’s Key depending on the song (see: “Hour of the Wolf”). On this latest EP we get a pretty quick swipe through three songs and about ~20 minutes of the band basically at thier best with the first song burning through their default intensity, the second showing their talent for the riff, and the third most-involved piece creating a chaotic ~9 minute jam through their best traits. The way that these ideas flow is satisfyingly erratic in that “Without Reflection” kept me guessing for half the EP’s length but they’d still given me a big hook of a riff on “Hour of the Wolf”. While I liked their LP last year I appreciate how well these three songs showcase Black Sorcery‘s best traits and tendencies.

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Milan, Italy-based atmospheric black/doom metal duo BOLESKINE HOUSE make their first impression here sans any peripheral introduction releasing this somewhat short debut LP in ‘Miserabilist Blues‘ with a My Bloody Valentine cover padding out the second half. The inspiration taken from dark metal and gothic death/doom metal bands is clear enough as they begin striking away at their lead driven melodicism, so, you’d think that this album essentially felt like a peak Agalloch record, and their work does to some loose degree, but they keep it a bit closer to their chests. A fine example is the shorter, catchier drone of “Need” landing not that far from early Forgotten Tomb in terms of its roaring step and multi-layered, somewhat chaotic arrival upon lead guitar melodic voicing. The whole of the experience piqued my interest as a fan of melodic death/doom metal first and foremost, particularly some of progressive bits we find along the way (such as the bass guitar solo around ~8:55 minutes into “A Place to Mourn Forever”) which speak to the depth of their work and some freely built compositional ideas. Though I wouldn’t say that any given part of this record gripped the black metal portion of my brain there are a few parts of opener “Black House Painters” which seemed to veer more completely in that direct here and there. If you are a fan of sentimental, earnest and sorrowfully drawn out atmospheric black metal but also appreciate melodic death/doom metal’s melodramatic side there is some worthy depth to check out here.

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Amsterdam, Netherlands-based black/death metal quartet DEATHLESS VOID generated some serious interest with their first demo a couple of years ago largely for the sake of combining adventurous “modern” dark death metal sleekness taken within the context of bestial black metal streaks, ominous and sometimes psychedelia ridden stuff that kept its energy up. The interesting thing with ‘The Voluptuous Fire of Sin‘ beyond it delivering well within the bounds of those demo songs is that they’ve opted for more distinct black metal voicing than it does any sort of confrontational death metal proposition. This doesn’t mean the album lacks riffs or too copiously depend on atmosphere to carry the experience so much as the complete picture yields less of the expected bestial death metal result than I’d expected (“Vortex Climax” being a fine example) and more of a chaotic yet classicist black metal driven “guitar album” in some sense. Either way their work feels ominous, threatening and diabolic enough that it captivates in the moment without any particular aftertaste left behind. Otherwise definitely give this one a spin to appreciate the drumming which is uniformly appropriate and over the top at once.

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When I’d first encountered Trondheim, Norway-based duo GJENDØD and their somewhat prolific exploration via several albums, demos and whatnot beyond 2017 expectations were set low to start at face value. After seeing Osmose sign them and re-release each of their first four LPs I figured I’d jump in on ‘Livskramper‘ and I’ve not been disappoint thus far. Apparently this record is a bit of left-hand turn, a swing into something more bold and varietal thanks to the addition of a new drummer but for my own taste the big thing to latch onto early in the process of induction was the incredible presence of the bass guitar performances here which surprise and enchant with not only their placement but how well the tone suits the character of the music. The life-cramping edge of this record conveys much more than cold nihil throughout its eclectic venture a frantic, weird-rocking side of the band feeds a willingness to strike out into unpredictable spaces despite the familiar core of Norwegian black metal in hand, a feat akin to the best of Taake in some general respects. A sinister, slinking Virus-esque mutation to their movement is enhanced by the aforementioned prominent bass guitar tones where the the peak of this escalator kinda hits nearby “Byttingen”. The trio of more sombre pieces which paces out the final portion of the album help to balance out the wildness of the but it also takes some of the crazed edge off, for better or worse. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this frantic, inventive gig with its jagged treatment of the guitars and hard to pin down focus.

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Swedish quartet GRAVE HERESY only just officially formed this year but they sound pretty well seasoned to me based off of this above-average bestial black/death metal full-length debut and its readiness. Whether or not they’d managed to crank out ‘Incineration Victory‘ within a very short period of time isn’t all that important, though, this record generally has riffs and smokes throughout. Granted the style of music explored here is not deep at all, this is grindcore level war metal with all manner of of pick scraping, cacophonic aggression rippling through every piece. Their approach ranges from modern, ultra-cranked bestial death to a few pieces which remind me of early Beherit to some degree where both atmosphere and ruinous “slow-blasted” violence take turns as the main spectacle, they generally pack more than expected into each song. The high point for my own taste here is actually one of the slowest, doomed pieces overall in the title track (“Incineration Victory”) though these guys kinda start hitting the pocket hard in the transition over to Side B and the album’d quickly grown on me. This one leans a bit more more death metal in most regards, definitely has riffs and some big grooves (“Mass Death Proclamation”) which are far from pure black metal but either way I’d still felt this was the best place to recommend it.

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Chambéry, France-based quartet HIMINBJORG have been around since the late 90’s spreading their own form of pagan/vikingr black metal in steady evolution for nine full-length albums and there’s no sense going in knowing what to expect. No two records from the group are entirely the same as their work can dramatically shift depending on line-up and interests, each carrying own uncanny folken feeling. In fact I’d go as far as to say whatever your favorite record is from these folks is you’ve likely not found a flat-out repeat in their discography. ‘The Fall of Valhalla‘ might have a bit of knowing polish to it but the whole of the recording is honest, fairly guitar centric in its compositions and able to waltz from pagan/melodic black muse to black n’ roll and all the way up toward a decidedly more ‘epic’ stance here. As much versatility they show, as resonant as their lyrics are in their purpose it does seem like this record has a certain flatness to it which side-steps the more elaborate work Himinbjorg have produced in the past for the sake of every song being a bit different from the last. If it were a shade more memorable as a whole I think it’d have stuck with me longer.

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Berlin, Germany-based duo KLANG SCHREIT NICHTS trace their magickal history back to the mid-2000’s wherein their conception of “avantgarde neogothic-black/folk” lead to a debut release circa ~2008 and a lot of silence ’til they’d returned in 2021 promising a new LP was readied. ‘Erbauliche Andacht‘ is a couple years later than expected but no less interesting as an expansion of their unique sound. This brother and sister duo combine various points of black metal extremity to their own style of folk-theatric vocal treatments none of which are rasped, growled. While I do not like “uneven” dual vocal harmonization used so frequently, finding it erases distinction when overdone, these folks manage enough of an eccentric touch that their work compels nonetheless. If you’re not convinced this is black metal inspired at the very least make sure you touch upon “Damm-Rissterie” at least where you’ll find that side of their sound more readily expressed and perhaps the more completely combined worlds of closer “Furio & Erbauliche Andacht” will make more sense. Unfortunately the vocal treatments here, all of them in very expressive and weirding German, were impossible for me to connect with on any level.

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The promise of doom loomed over my first listen of Brussels, Belgium-based trio KRVL per this sophomore full-length album having interest piqued by the “atmospheric black/post-doom metal” tag given. While this melting of sub-genres does ultimately play out on ‘Donkere Pade‘ in some sense the distinction to make is that their oft melodic take on post-black metal veers into slower tempos and spoken word/sampled speech when creating atmosphere for these songs to live within. This is also the main dynamic of the music, passing between various sub-genre delineated modes in smooth transition. Though I wouldn’t say that any of it sticks beyond the regular feed of tremolo-picked riffs and their generally strong intensity the effect of KrvL in motion is yet dramatic, obviously conveying something with appreciable intensity. Where they begin to lose me is in points of composition where there are two fairly obvious modes of movement employed, droning insistency and in light juxtaposition, though several of these songs have no real endpoint and simply continue transitioning between semi-related phrases. The feeling is there but I’d found the nature of the actual arrangements fragmentary in the long run. There are a few strong standouts nonetheless with closer “Het Onbegrip” being the most broadly representative.

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Swedish duo MORCAINT return for a second EP release a year later with ‘Mornië Utúlië‘ where their The Lord of the Rings inspired works point to classics of the 90’s melodic/epic black metal pantheon as their core points of vision. Of course I am a huge fan of Heruhim‘s project Blodtår so I was stoked to see what this group was all about and the focus here is fittingly serious, thickly set in its grand celestial yet oaken atmospheric values. That said I’m not sure I was expecting such a sentimental feeling ballad to kick things off with “A Pale Moon Rises” finding the tone curious enough but the vocals off. This was quickly remedied by the two songs that proceeded, particularly the Summoning-esque “Summons Dire”, where the general verve of the duo reveals itself more completely. There is a part of this whole idea that isn’t fully ready to belt out big, operatic epics that showcase their narrative just yet but I see the potential forming in the midst of this record sorting itself out. I generally prefer the ethereal black metal feeling of the record more than its clean vocal lead side but it’ll be interesting to see where they can take it on a full-length.

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