So the single just dropped on spotify.


And this is exactly everything you'd expect from Akhlys. As fucking good as ever. Crushingly good.

Meh.

This band has always been rather blown up in the metal media, when they just have the same tricks up their sleeve as a whole slew of dark ambient BM bands that actually utilize them, instead of just hinting at the possibilities. That intro was uneventful and not drawn out effectively and we were off to the usual blast-beaty races. Riffs aren't distinctive enough and the "atmosphere" is just a crumb of melodies in the distance with everything rushing all over it.

Also, if you've put the album title as your subject, the least you can do is provide the full info that includes track list, artwork, release dates et cetera. Did you just join the forum?

I loved The Dreaming I, but don't listen to this guy anymore. Anyone you recommend who is similar, but better?

Awesome track! I feared that after Melinoë they couldn't hit the right notes again, but damn how wrong I was.

I've read the same stuff about Inquisition this year. How they do the same stuff, same riffs, same everything and how other similar (and similarly not named, because non-existent) bands do it waaaay better. The morally superior types gonna come next and tell how awful people who only enjoy the music are, because of how awful the artist they listen to are. And they gonna do the mental gymnastics to explain how listening to music somehow makes me a supporter of idiotic opinions and ideologies I don't give a shit about. Nihil novi sub sole.

Just like Inquisition do their stuff best in the world, so do Akhlys, which is supported by the number of views and listens on the known platforms. It seems a lot of people enjoy this music regardless of all the non-music stuff and still come back to them even though there are "a whole slew of dark ambient BM bands that actually utilize them, instead of just hinting at the possibilities". Did it cross your mind, that it's those hints and traces that fans like? I don't want any dark ambient tricks dominating my feverish-nightmare-black metal-experience. I like it the way it is. And this single delivers exactly that.

And yes, I didn't bother to add any additional stuff as it's already been added to the archives and most people here are not retarded and are going to find it without me copy-pasting everything from the archives. I've just shared the cheerful news, that the single dropped and it's amazing. If it's a rule to add all the details, than I shall edit my post, so it complies, if it's not a rule, than you're just passive-aggressive shitpicking.

Try Aoratos, it's just as good

Damn dude you’re so cool.

EDIT: I didn’t actually super care for Aoratos when I did listen to Naas. If I remember correctly, it seemed like a less developed Akhlys and just didn’t grab me. I remember at the time thinking that I’d wished he’d worked on the album a little more and just released it as a new Akhlys album.

Cool that it’s still good stuff if he is putting things out.

Sharing the band's info including artwork and release dates is not coddling anyone on the forum, it is to generate conversation, spark some enthusiasm and get a discussion going. Strange that anyone has to spell this out for you if you've seen an upcoming album thread before.

Upon second listen, this song is even more nondescript than the novelty of that first fresh listen. So once again, "Meh".

It was a nice surprise to see this announced a couple of days ago. Fine song, they've really nailed that oneiric/nightmarish atmosphere without actually sounding like anybody else on the scene. Looks like another winner, wouldn't also mind a new Nightbringer album when we're at it.

Amazing !!!!!!!!!!!

I've never been interested in ambient stuff much but Akhlys is absolutely amazing to me when they're ripping things up. It's fascinating how music hits people differently, for me Akhlys is a great example of very distinctive riffing and I genuinely can't think of other bands that are similar. Naas Alcameth is wildly underrate to me, and has an understated creativity that makes for a really expansive sound. It sounds like people are hinting at some controversy and I almost don't want to know. Damnit. Can't us Americans have solid black metal bands that don't do dipshit stuff?

You know, I was talking to some stranger at Maryland Deathfest in 2022 about this when Akhlys was supposed to play but dropped because that when the online uproar was at its height - he was supposed to play that fest but was dropped because of it. I said to that stranger that he's genius enough to make some really good material, but he's too stupid to keep his fucking mouth closed when he needs to. He could've just as well as easily not put that fucking Evola sample on that Nightbringer interlude and none of this would've been a problem.

I'll probably be checking this out when it drops. Will I buy it? That's a different story.

He also recorded a song titled "For Blood and Soil" with Rhune. Can't exactly hide that, dude is just sketchy as fuck and it's a shame because Akhlys is fantastic.

Yeah, he's probably one of the few sketchy artists whose music is actually pretty great (DsO, Mgla). I can live not listening to that Arghoslent snooze fest or shit like Judas Iscariot which is pretty bad but Akhlys are actually cool.

He has a recent interview with a well known neo Nazi (Bardo M) claiming he is disgusted the guards at prison though he was a white supremacist when he was in, which is kind of ironic.

If there were similar bands we'd probably talk about them and enjoy them. Even the similar bands section in the archives has no single band that actually sounds anything like Akhlys.

Only similar band, when it comes to that dreamlike, nightmarish style would be Ulcerate, but that's an entirely different genre.

Attributing something so subjective in descriptive terms like invoking "a dreamlike, nightmarish style" as if it's an actual style of metal TO ONE BAND is so fucking ridiculous. So many bands are capable of such an effect depending on your taste. The Ruins of Beverast, Blut Aus Nord, Wode, Axis of Perdition, Autokrator etc can all be consulted for similar vibes. The hype for this band as if they are a sole embodiment of dreamy darkness is plain dumb.

That's fair to an extent, but subjectivity is also kinda how taste works. For me, the unique aspect Naas Alcameth brings to the table is the wild melodic swings in the riffs. Other bands just don't seem to jump from low to high in quite the same way while keeping a coherent melody.

I'm digging the Autokrator recommendation though, that's pretty awesome stuff. I can see why you made the comparison, thanks.

This is basically where I am. Unlike a lot of sketchy/fashy dudes he actually makes some genuinely excellent music so it's a huge bummer and really tests my own personal line of what I'll ignore just to hear great music.

Also pretty funny how I was gonna chastise MOTA for being so needlessly aggressive at the start of this thread because I know Akhlys has these beliefs/fans and it was kinda easy to tell that he was pre-emptively being a dick to OP simply because of who the band was even if he didn't actually spell it out. Then OP immediately fires back with defenses of how it doesn't matter if the dude is a nazi because the music rules and also I'm gonna bring Inquisition into it for no reason at all, lmao.

Guess Wily was right, and it applies to the fans as well:


I would've given him the benefit of the doubt and tut-tutted somebody on my own side if he would've just shut the fuck up and not triumphantly waltzed into such an obvious trap. When will you learn?

This track is great. I'm looking forward to this. Melinoe really grew on me.

We had exactly the same discussion in the Inquisition thread and this is as silly as the other one. Only Akhlys = nazi, Inquisition = pedo. If you don't get the parallel, then well, you're dumb. At the end it's all about the (lack of) ability to enjoy the art without caring about the artist and their views. Picasso was a terrible person, but his paintings are still valuable because of their artistic merit, not because of who created them. People have different levels of tolerance for separating the art from the artist. Some people won't listen as a rule, some will listen with some internal repulsion / uneasiness, and some don't care at all.

People should be able to enjoy art without being bothered by the artist's personal views - obviously that's my stance. If that makes me morally inferior in anyone's eyes, well I'm gonna live with that.

No, the guy from Inquisition is both a pedo and a nazi, not just a pedo.

Yeah, you got me there.

One major differences though is I can much more easily and directly put money in the pocket of people like Naas and other musicians with far right views than I can Picasso. I can buy their merch or albums, but can't afford a Picasso painting. And even if I could buy a painting or even if if I buy a print or other merchandise, little, if any, of that money would get back to the artist. It goes to the owner / licenser of the artwork.

I know what you meant here, but its funny to read this as if very little of the money gets to the very dead Picasso.

I think the more interesting part is when you take the financial considerations out how repulsion plays into it like alkostach noted. On the psychological level its a disgust reaction, where a musician has done something we find repulsive for some people their music has become effectively contaminated. You could almost build a questionnaire, would you leave an area Akhlys was playing, would you choose to listen to Akhlys, would you wear their merch if you got it for free, would you attend a live free show, would you shake hands with Naas, would you hug Dagon?

Hahaha. Yeah it's funny to re-read it now.

I can say I personally do feel uncomfortable listening to Naas's music enough that I just no longer enjoy it so I definitely have that disgust reaction. And it's so effective that I feel no desire to listen to any of their stuff since I've found out about his ideologies.

The production on this album is going to be a huge let down.

Another banger! Pure, unadulterated darkness. From the first blast beat a harrowing soundscape begins. Exactly what I've come to expect from them. This is two for two on killer singles. Ah! Akhlys and Ulcerate - what a perfect combination for the second half of the year.

These samples sound great.



Beyond his political works, which are mostly garbage by a noble trying to justify why he should maintain the reigns of power, Evola wrote a lot of good books on the esoteric and the occult. Introduction to Magic (which has contributions from Evola, some Fash, some Reds, a psychoanalyst and some other anonymous contributors) is one of the best works on practical magic of the last century. As is his book on Hermeticism (name escapes me at this time).

Given the subject matter Nightbringer and Akhlys deal with, it's likely this is why the Evola sample was chosen for "Lamp of Inverse Light".

Nuance is lost on a lot of people coming into black metal from hipster and punk scenes. They just want to pontificate and moralize. They don't have to listen to it if they don't want to, but getting shows cancelled and pretending like buying a Nightbringer CD supports neo-nazism is just bad LARP.

Sorry man - if that's why you think they like Evola or why these dudes suck, you're lying to yourself. But even if that were so, in today's world, there are plenty of other mystics and magickians they could have quoted. They chose Evola for a reason.

This is definitely shaping up to make it into my top ten