Dark folk is an all-around enthralling genre with a wide range of well-known names, from Vàli to Ulvesang, but recently, what especially has been catching my attention is the new release from Xasthur – namely Disharmonic Variations, out via Lupus Lounge. Specializing in Black Metal and avant-garde releases, the label has worked with various names of note, including Nachtmystium and Austere.Continue reading
Eye is the new project of MWWB (formerly Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard) frontwoman Jessica Ball and Dark Light marks its debut following MWWB’s 2022 album The Harvest. Joining Ball in her latest venture are keyboardist Jonny and Drummer Gid Goundrey (Gulp/Ghostlawns/Martin Carr). Continue reading
Anthesis (Napalm Records) is the second full album from Australia’s Suldusk, originally the one-women project of vocalist/guitarist Emily Highfield, but now expanded into a full-band lineup including a violinist and three guitarists, plus a bass player and drummer.Continue reading
Ghost Cult Keefy caught up with Anatoly Pakhalenko, one-half of the Siberian Husband and Wife duo NYTT Land! The Dark-Folk music group has been rising on the strength of their original music and their inventive covers. Anatoly discussed the origin of the project, their recent album Torem (Napalm Records), the training and experiences he and his wife Natalia went through that shaped their music, and what the future holds for them. Continue reading
Ex-SubRosa leading member Rebecca Vernon embarks on a solo project journey four years after SubRosa’s disbandment under the moniker of The Keening, presenting a full-length consisting of Gothic Chamber Doom elements, accompanied by the feature of a handful of instruments, being flute, strings, harp, French horn, piano, organ, and hammered dulcimer – creating a vast multitude of echoed soundscapes.
Nytt Land rip the balls off a Siberian tiger (no wild animals were injured for the purposes of this review) with the adventurously ambient, spirited and spiritual Torem (Napalm Records). Elemental, wild and ancient. Throat singing, Finno-Ugric languages. The kind of old-world wisdom the new world craves.
German singer/songwriter has dropped a new single and video for the song “Hickhack.” The selection is the new preview of the artist’s impending German-sung Wahn Und Sinn LP and poetry book, nearing release through Exile On Mainstream on October 13th, 2023.
Since the music of Baroness has been unlike any other band to me, and more akin to a spiritual experience since I first got into them in 2007, I set the mood for myself before listening. I turned the lights down low, cracked the window open to get a nice breeze going, and heard the sound of large late summer raindrops filling my ears. The city’s heartbeat in the deep background was the only other sound besides my breathing. I just stared at the new album artwork for five straight minutes. At peace for a change, in the still and calm of myself, and by chance, present in the city of my birth for a few days, I hit play on the promo and then let the first notes hit me.
On Troll (By Norse Music) Drott draws from Scandinavian folklore to create a soundtrack for the listener to inhabit a dank, murky forest, with the eponymous troll close enough that you can smell it, delivered via dark, slightly campy electronic rock soundscapes that would feel totally in place in a (not too scary) fantasy/ horror movie. Continue reading
There is a rich tradition of Doom musicians releasing stripped-back acoustic affairs as the likes of Scott Weinrich, Tony Reed, and Mike Scheidt can attest to. Windhand‘s Dorthia Cottrell is no exception and Death Folk Country (Relapse Records) marks her second solo effort to date following a self-titled debut in 2015.