Reviewed: May 2021 Released: 2021, WormHoleDeath Rating: 3/5 Reviewer: Demitri Levantis Gothic black metal is, in my eyes, one very underrated sub-genre and whilst some of the biggest names in metal like Cradle of Filth carry gothic elements, it’s bands who combine gothic metal and black metal well with overarching…
Norway
C., Hermann- Black Metal Media 1992-1994 (Book review)
Reviewed: May 2021 Released: 2021, Lohengrin Productions Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: JP It’s not too often I’ll buy a book I can’t really read but in this case I made an exception. I’ll explain more in a moment. Black Metal Media is a hard cover, coffee-table book that is not really…
Valdaudr-Drapsdalen
Reviewed: April 2021 Released: 2021, Soulseller Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: JP Dod is one prolific artist. The Norwegian guitarist boasts an impressive resume in many genres of metal from the melodic Scorpions influenced Big City to the fierce Scariot and of course his long-running main band, the old school Death Metal…
VALDAUDR – Drapsdalen
Reviewed [April 2021] Released [2021 Soulseller Records] Rating [4/5] Reviewer: Peter Atkinson Norway’s Valdaudr pick up the reins from the long-running black metal project Cobolt 60 that issued albums in 2002 and 2012, but couldn’t quite make it to its third decade. Guitarist Daniel “Død” Olaisen from Blood Red Throne…
Einherjer – North Star
Reviewed: March, 2021 Released: February, 26, 2021 Napalm Records Rating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: The Elitist Metalhead Einherjer, according to Nordic mythology, are the glorious dead. All those who died bravely in battle and were brought to Valhalla by the Valkyries to fight and kill each other by day, then to feast…
Åge Sten Nilsen and Trond Holter of Wig Wam on New CD Never Say Die – We Made Rock & Roll Fun Again!
Interview by Robert Cavuoto Norway’s Wig Wam have reunited and released the perfect hard rock CD, Never Say Die, via Frontier Music s.r.l. Wig Wam formed in 2001 and released their debut album, 667 … The Neighbour Of The Beast in 2004 and never looked back. That same year they…
Gaia Epicus-Seventh Rising
Reviewed: February, 2021 Released: 2020, Indie Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: JP When people think of Norway and Metal, I believe most people start to think of Black Metal. It’s understandable to a degree but there are any number of excellent Prog and Power Metal bands from Norway like Pagan’s Mind, Communic,…
Hagen, Ross-A Blaze In The Northern Sky (Book Review)
Reviewed: February, 2021 Released: 2021, Bloomsbury Publishing Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: JP The 33 1/3 book series of in-depth record reviews has had an arm’s length relationship with Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. For our narrow-minded Metal purposes, of the 153 titles published to date, only five titles (Black Sabbath, Slayer,…
Interview with Thomas Chr. Hansen of Gaia Epicus
Interview with Thomas Chr. Hansen of Gaia Epicus By JP Tell us a bit about the new album, SEVENTH RISING. You have some heavy firepower on this record in the form of Tim Owens and Mike Terrana! How did you recruit this talent? Mike Terrana is usually a very…
Utbyrd – Varskrik
Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2021, Petrichor Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Svetlana Likhacheva Norwegian black metal band Utbyrd, through Petrichor, are about to give their album Varskrik (which translates into English as Warning) a chance to see the world with the physical release. The digital version was released in the far 2017,…
Keiser – Our Wretched Demise
Reviewed: December 2020 Released: 2020, Non Serviam Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Kira Levine Norwegian black metal outfit Keiser released their sophomore full-length Our Wretched Demise on November 27th, through their label Non Serviam Records. The record’s lyrics deal with the concept of being at war (with one’s self as well…
Interview with Keiser
Interview with Keiser Mikael Torseth – guitar, vocals Interview by Kira Levine Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram Hello! Thanks for your time, hope that you are keeping safe and well. Please state your name and position in the band. Hello! Thanks, yourself also, it’s nice to speak with you. My…
Espedal, Tore E. (Ed, w. Ulver) Wolves Evolve-The Ulver Story (Book review)
Reviewed: November, 2020 Released: 2020, House Of Mythology Rating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: JP I feel a little bit like an outsider reviewing this book. I’m not the world’s biggest Ulver fan. Like many fans, their radical changes in sound and style from album to album have left me in the dark. …
666 (Norway) – 666 (Norway)
Reviewed: [August 2020] Released [2020 Nuclear War Now! Productions] Rating [3/5] Reviewer: Peter Atkinson If Mayhem were the literal and figurative poster children for early Norwegian black metal’s dead seriousness way back in the day, the ironically named and short-lived 666 were perhaps just the opposite. Despite the satanic connotations…
Black Altar & Kirkebrann – Deus Inversus
Reviewed: July 2020 Released: 2020, Odium Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Demitri Levantis Polish black metal institution Black Altar has teamed up with the Norwegian outfit Kirkebrann (“church burning”) to create a brand new split record stating how the metal sounds of both nations have not waned in the current state of…