ALBUM REVIEW: Voidwards – Bagulnik


Voidwards are an enigmatic collective formed in 2005. Bagulnik (Aesthetic Death Records) is the first full-length in their career of almost twenty years. The record draws inspiration from a Russian teacher named Ivan Perfiliev and his writings over a century ago about a swamp that he claimed had supernatural properties.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: CMPT – Na utrini


CMPT weaves an impressive atmosphere on Na utrini (Osmose Productions). The Balkan black metal band sets themselves apart from the pack by not just going full blast in your face. Not falling victim to the sophomore slump, the band is assured in what they are doing here. The choked rasp of the vocals to the most prominent element to ground the band in his sub-genre. It moves along with an eerie creep.  It’s not until the second song that the drummer begins to push for more momentum, This restraint is their strength, as there is no shortage of Black Metal bands out there still trying to bleed blast-beats from the late nineties era sound, that find too much conformity coming from a misanthropic genre. Here the guitars tap into the trademark metallic buzz of black metal, but the band has already set the stage for a wider range of dynamics, making this a more well-balanced listen.Continue reading


CONCERT REVIEW: Eyehategod – Goatwhore – Flesh Creep Live at KKs Steel Mill


The rain is lashing down so hard this evening that floods are already heading quickly towards biblical proportions. The treacherous and occasionally completely submerged roads around the area certainly go some way to explaining the slightly lower-than-expected turnout at KKs Steel Mill tonight, which although still very respectable, is clearly not as busy as usual.Continue reading


GHOST CULT MAGAZINE TOP 75 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 2024


Last-minute slinky Norwegian jesters aside, our dedicated and awesome team of writers, photographers, editors, contributors, alumni, designers and what have you, have come together to work through our regular collaborative and demographic confirmation of those albums that tickled our collective pickle in 2024.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Hexenbrett – Dritte Beschwörung: Dem Teufel eine Tochter


 

Today on the block we have Hexenbrett. If you are a fan of guitar-driven Black Metal, look no further than this new offering. On their sophomore effort, we are treated to some super hooky riffage, mixed with enough ambiance and atmosphere to keep everything nice and evil. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Lord Sin – Confessions


Black metal is to thank for bringing the mystique back to music. This duo from Portugal cloaks themselves in black shrouds, we can assume they are not playing in, but instead of blast beats Lord Sin hits you with some creepy dirges on their sophomore album Confessions (Larvae Records). The graveyard stomp of the riffs allows darkness to possess their sound organically, rather than having to pull out all the Halloween decorations to convince the listener. Halfway into the first song, it’s easy to hear where they fall in the middle ground between doom and black metal. For a duo, they are cranking out a great deal of sound and care about writing songs, rather than just bashing out riffs.  Continue reading


FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Eindhoven Metal Meeting Kicks Off Today with Katatonia, Carpathian Forest, Dark Funeral, Alfanhanne, and More


The long-running great Black and Death Metal Festival Eindhoven Metal Meeting kicks off today at the legendary Effenaar venue in the Netherlands. Ghost Cult is honored to once again cover the fest, which we have supported for the majority of its history. Leading the stacked lineup this year are Katatonia, Carpathian Forest, Dark Funeral, Alfanhanne, and many more! The fest will start today with a warm-up party and follow up with full lineups on Friday and Saturday, with another round of killer bands. Last-minute combination tickets are still avaialble at the links below. Check out our day-by-day list of bands and the running-order time schedule as well, here. Continue reading


CONCERT REVIEW: Solstafir – Oranssi Pazuzu – Hamferð Live at Manchester Club Academy


“The Nordic Descent” tour must be carrying in its wake a touch of that famous Nordic climate as the UK is treated to its one light dusting of snow for the year. And of course as is tradition, once the first flakes touch ground all roads are rendered seemingly unusable which means our journey to the venue is inevitably delayed, throw in some minor confusion with passes on the door and we are unfortunately only able to catch the tail end of tonight’s opening act.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Mörk Gryning – Fasornas Tid


One of the foremost names in Swedish Black Metal, Stockholm’s Mörk Gryning is back with their seventh full-length studio release, the second since the band’s reactivation in 2016. Founded by multi-instrumentalists Goth Gorgon (aka Jonas Berndt) and Draakh Kimera (aka Peter Nagy-Eklöf) back in 1993, Gorgon has been at the heart of every record since the very beginning with Kimera only absent for 2005’s self-titled, seemingly swansong release.Continue reading