I’m obsessed with the Zeal and Ardor album. Devil is Fine felt like a proof-of-concept, but it got me interested. Stranger Fruit is fully realized and evocative. I only wish they were on the top site so I could write a full review!

Norwegian band OVÁTE debut s/t album on Soulseller Records is out now

https://soulsellerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ov-te

The band members are scene veterans, who employ 5 different vocalists (1 per track), including Hoest, V'gandr (Helheim), and Eld (Gravdal, Aeternus). The result is a highly accomplished and exceedingly good offering. More than worth your time.

I've read interesting and positive reviews about that album. The debut wasn't my thing at all, and I thought it only garnered attention due to it's "slavery" theme. I'll check this out, but I'm not expecting much.

Has anyone checked out Solitary Men by Refuge? It's basically Rage, but for whatever reason they chose a different name comprised of almost the same letters. This isn't Soundchaser or anything, however it is still a lot of fun and should appeal to any fan of Rage.

Nice to hear some black metal this year!

dusty, atmospheric black metal with very satisfying Drudkhish production. It has that desert dynamic, full of windswept tumbleweed builds.
A thick haze blows in from the west and enrobes the plains in dusk.


https://wayfarercolorado.bandcamp.com/a ... ds-blood-2

I've been really enjoying (Canadian) The Blood of Christ's new album Unrelenting Declivity of Anguish. Really nice death metal, like a fusion of Sinister and Suffocation with a little Deicide thrown in. Really, I might have passed it off as another decent but unremarkable death metal release if not for the vocal performance...he doesn't do anything super special or unique, but what he does do - he fuckin' owns, it's extremely brutal and intense, reminds me a lot of Frank Mullen's performance on Pierced from Within. Apparently, this band has been around since the early 90's but I've not heard of them until right now (only the Ohio band of the same name). Kind of curious to hear what their first three albums sound like.

The new Varathron is by far my favorite bm release of the year. Their best since Walpurgisnacht.

This completely blew me away, love it. Listening to their previous album now, damn I have been missing out!

I haven't noticed anyone post about NONE's album "Life has gone on long enough".



Depressive Black Metal release out of Oregon, USA. Nothing genre breaking or re-inventing, but the songs really great. The drum production is more like epic doom than the usually DSBM.

Due to the way the band logo misrepresents their name, I will never not refer to that band as No Ne.

Well the Hoth album is out now and, surprise, it fucking destroys.

Two I am really enjoying are

A new Bloody Tyrant album. Based on this I wish their other albums were more available. Eastern Tinged Folk Melodic Black Metal
https://bloodytyrantband.bandcamp.com/album/hagakure


A debut ep from an Iranian Post Black Metal band. https://forelunar.bandcamp.com/releases

DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN just released an album today. It's definitely worth a spin. It has Dave Ingram on vocals!
Bandcamp - https://downamongthedeadmen.bandcamp.com/

Garganjua – Through the Void



This album har four tracks of progressive doom. And this could easily fit in the top ten album of 2018. I find the four songs absolutely stunning. This, along with the forthcoming Khemmis album will probably be the two top doom albums of 2018.

I think this is the same guy behind Etheraldine and Erancnoir - the latter of those I quite enjoyed. Seems to be very active.

Thanx, I will have to check his other two bands out.

Enblood - Cast to Exile
https://enblood.bandcamp.com/album/cast-to-exile

This is really good. Haven't been this excited about a DM band from Portugal since Genocide in the 90's.

This Hoth album is God.

I don't quite get the hype for this Hoth band. Their new album is basically The Forest Seasons with worse songwriting.

I don't either. It decent but not much more.

Could you elaborate on that at all? I find very few similarities between the two albums. Each song on The Forest Seasons is unnecessarily long and repetitive, and Astral Neromancy is basically the opposite.

Changing topics, Coldbound's latest album is awesome. It's Finnish melodeath/doom metal to the very core, similar to Insomnium, Wolfheart, etc.

Hoth's songs aren't as long, but are also repetitive (in fact, I think more so), and the riffing style and vocals are very similar. The highly consonant melodies and very clean production with a slightly murky/clouded guitar tone also strike me as similar. I suppose Wintersun's album is also more ornate, which can be seen as a good or bad thing.

I had only listened to about half a Hoth song before the new album and I wasn't hyped or expecting to even like it. I decided to give it a chance and ended up just loving it. It's got a perfect mix of badass-ness, beauty and mysticism and it just keeps chugging along. I enjoy the lyrics and vocals which are 100% understandable, I think it's just a great "escape" album with an overall uplifting feeling. I listened to it during my last 3 workouts and they were 3 of the best workouts I've had in awhile. I guess the album just works perfectly for me.

the new hoth is very good, but i do prefer oathbreaker over it - altho' i guess that might change with subsequent listens, but i doubt it

not really among the very top albums for the year, but it's a hell of a lot better than the forest seasons

Wombbath - The Great Desolation



So this is the year that OSSDM has its revival peak or what? These guys has been around since 1990 and this year they release this monster album. Impressive! Well I haven't given this too much time yet, but I like it and when I quickly read some reviews, it seems like a lot of other people like it as well. Give it a spin!

Deathstorm has put out a hell of a soul crushing Death Metal album with The Unfathomable. There's a lot of variance between the songs that I'm discovering something new to appreciate every time I listen to it.

Yeah this album is pretty good. The title track in particular is very stirring actually.

A peak would imply that it's not going to get any better later on, or something to that effect. The only way to know is in retrospect, so I don't know if that's what you're really trying to say or not...

Morfina - Deathrasher


Along the lines of stuff like Bulldozer, Sarcofago, and Bathory. Blurs the lines between black/death/thrash really well.


Wallachia - Monumental Heresy


Excellent Norwegian black metal that has great use of melody.

I got the new Torture Rack CD today, "Malefic Humiliation". It's nice and simple, old school death metal...kind of sounds like a fusion of Barnes-era Cannibal Corpse with classic Autopsy. Not super original stylistically - very meat & potatoes, but there's a really cool dark, kind of 'barbaric' vibe to the music, that sort of 'caveman' approach that Jungle Rot are famous for but a lot more savage and 'evil' sounding, which helps it stand out.

I also got Ghastly - "Death Velour". This one is a bit harder for me to pin down. On first listen, I can tell it's Autopsy-ish death metal with an occult/psychadelic tendency, not too far removed from the gods Morbus Chron (R.I.P.), but altogether it feels pretty unique. Very weird lyrics as well, not sure what to make of that...I expect that it'll take a few listens before I really digest it, but so far color me impresed.

P.S. that new Skeletal Remains is still fucking god-tier, holy shit does that album ever smoke!!! Better with each listen!!

As far as modern dsbm goes, these guys are about all thats left for me. I agree they're nothing spectacular, but should please anyone of the genre. Nice to see someone still chugging along the dsbm flag as most have disappeared.

At first I thought comparing Hoth to Wintersun was asinine, but when I thought about it I could see some faint similarities. In any case, I still love the new Hoth album, and I think it's better than their previous two (which I enjoyed well enough but not to any sort of special degree).

I liked the new Now Everything Fades album pretty well, about on par with the None one I would say.

I'm really enjoying the debut from Gaerea. Really solid piece of black stuff.

I haven't had a chance to hear the new Hoth yet, but I definitely made a comparison to Ensiferum on Oathbreaker so by extension it probably makes total sense that this new one sounds a bit like Wintersun as well. Doesn't mean I'm gonna hate it though, Oathbreaker was a monster so my hopes are high.

Found them browsing the archives advanced search checking random things, otherwise never heard of them, but Eunoë put out a really cool black/death/accoustic/folk metal album this year. Very Mexican sounding, of the pre-Columbian vibe that is popular with latin american post-black lately, but this album has an almost greek first wave bm vibe to it with the free mix of black, death, and heavy metal riffs, the thin, airy production, and the rockisms here and there. According to MA the members aren't in any other bands and their pictures look quite young and amateur. Very cool, creative work for these up'n'comers!

Available on bandcamp: https://eunoemexico.bandcamp.com/album/ ... yaocuicatl for 60MXN, which is only a couple bucks USD.

Another +1 for Hoth. Album is great. Also really enjoying the new Khemmis.

Those of you in for the Dungeon Synth / Black Metal crossover works and who are fans of the niche created by Summoning all those years ago, behold:



Out now on Wolfspell:
https://wolfspellrecords.bandcamp.com/a ... e-trumpets

Responsible for the mastering on this is apparently none other than Henri Sorvali (what a legend, by the way - he helps out a large number of underground outfits of similar stature).

In my view one of the better examples of this style, of which I am admittedly a dedicated fan. This particular project is heavier on the DS side of things but everything is very, very competently done. I know there are a few of you here who will dig this one.

For me personally, dsbm is very much alive and well. In my top albums so far this year I have 11 albums on there that are dsbm. I don't see dsbm at all waning.