In episode 201, Nik and Keefy tackle Mastodon’s crazy concept album “Blood Mountain!” We explain the intricate meaning of the album and every song, pondering werewolves, one-eyed Sasquaches, Griffins, tripping balls, killer Minotaurs crossed with Bambi, Biblical apocalypses, volcanos, rivers of blood, imposter syndrome, and the monomythical hero archetype! We also make LOTR references, David Duchovny, and as always the View-Askewniverse reigns supreme! “You’re so caustic!”Continue reading
On Labyrinthe, (Self-Released) prolific, anonymous, French genre-defying duo Non Serviam lean into their Goth-Noise tendencies with a lo-fi collection of ghostly, ghastly gloom and dread.
Originating as a solo project ten years (or more) ago, it was once they became a duo (and released debut full-length Le Cœur Bat) in 2021 that Non Serviam really got going. Continue reading
Darkthrone has been long associated with being “True Norweigan Black Metal” but has not made any attempt to adhere to this expectation of them since 2004’s “Sardonic Wrath”. Instead, the band has circled its wagons around crust punk and wandered off Celtic Frost worship. “It Beckons Us All…” (Peaceville Records) finds the band perfecting the traditional metal path they first embarked on with “The Underground Resistance”. Now 11 years later the duo of Fenriz and Nocturno Culto are done obsessing over their record collection and have focused on writing headbanging anthems that cold a touch of melody and mystery.Continue reading
Formed in the forest hills of Norway, Coffin Storm comprises long-term friends Leif Nagell (aka Fenriz from Darkthrone), Jørgen Moe aka Apollyon (Aura Noir, Lamented Souls), and Olav Knutsen aka Bestial Tormentor (Infernö/Lamented Souls). Having known each other since the eighties, one of the most baffling things about this Kolbotn collaboration is that it’s taken so long to actually happen. But then again, when does Doom Metal ever feel the need to hurry?Continue reading
After much teasing on social media Darkthrone has announced they will release a new album soon. It Beckons Us All, the bands’ 21st album since 1988, is coming April 26th, 2024, and pre-orders are live now at the link below. You can also watch a trailer from the album below. Continue reading
If you can rely on one thing it’s that legendary Norwegian twosome Darkthrone will continue to not give a flying fig about convention or what people think about them until the day they die. No live shows since 1996, an early decisive leap from death metal to black metal, a total lack of adherence to any kind of rule book, and a succession of albums which basically read as unadulterated love letters dedicated to the music on which they grew up. If you don’t get Darkthrone by now then you never will.
Darkthrone has announced their new album to drop this summer, dubbed Eternal Hails from their label Peaceville on June 25th, 2021. Although we don’t have new music yet, this is one of the years’ highly-anticipated releases on the strength of their stellar career and banger of a recent album in 2019’s Old Star (also Peaceville). New music and full pre-orders should follow soon, but you can pre-order the digital version now at their Bandcamp. Check out the artwork and the full tracklisting below.
This review was brought to you by many things, but mainly sleep deprivation. It seems the new Darkthrone album, Old Star (Peaceville), is such an objet désiré that it could only be reviewed via a stream released the day before the album hits the shops. So, if I start weeping, and cross-reference any talking squirrels, take some comfort that I am doing all this for you. Continue reading
Classic old-school Black Metal band Darkthrone, led by metal tastemaker Fenriz, will release their new album Old Star via their label Peaceville Records, due out on May 31st. Long in the works, the album will usher in a new age for the band and their fans. Fenriz has promised an album deep-rooted in classic Black and Death Metal influences. Old Star was recorded at the band’s Necrohell 2 Studios, with engineering and production duties carried out by vocalist/guitarist Ted “Nocturno Culto” Skjellum, mixed by Sanford Parker (Voivod) at Hypercube Studios, & mastered once more by Jack Control at Enormous Door. Cover art by Chadwick St John, titled “The Shepherd of the Deep”. Pre-orders are now live for the album at the link below. Continue reading
Hype and all that comes with it is a curious mistress to any fandom. It can take an unknown band in a tiny European country and create a global music phenomenon. It also can help eat the subject of it from the inside out. This is not only a microcosm of the rise of first-wave Norwegian Black Metal, but also the movie Lords of Chaos directed by Jonas Åkerlund (Gunpowder Sky, Vice Media/Insurgent Media, 20th Century Fox, Scott Free Productions). We’ve heard about this movie for so long, that I’m sure that some have very high expectations for this film. The film also has its many detractors as protectors of their genre, and those who never wanted to see this film made. We’re not going to use this review to retell the story we’ve all seen and heard before, but rather rate the merits of this film. Continue reading