Entry 1532 - Thangorodrim - Towers of the Teeth

Style: classic dungeon synth

Primary Emotions/Themes: Tolkein, orcs, Narchost, Carchost

Thoughts: Mordor. The land where no light dwells. A place where all things go to die. The land of the disciple of Morgoth's greatest disciple: Sauron. 

Above the Black Gate, the infamous entry way into the accursed land lay two towers. Narchost and Carchost watch over the black gate as faithfully as the ever watching eye on top of Barad Dur. Stolen from the armies of men in the early part of the Third Age, what was once a testament to the might of men now mocks them as their armies lay in ruin and their fortresses surrendered to the enemy of light. These are the Towers of the Teeth.

Two songs, two compositions, two epics for two towers. Each one of these fifteen minute epics contains some of the finest dungeon synth written outside of the classic era of the genre. Each composition is named after one of the two towers.

The music contained within these two songs is the stuff of legends. The melodies resonate with the ether of the world, channeling the spirits of the first, second, and third age to rejoice in their profound glory. 

In a practical sense this is dungeon synth pure and simple. The melodies are introduced once after the other and are often simple in nature. That said they have a majesty to them that few other releases have. They recall both the glory of past times in Narchost and the evil that is to come in Carchost. 

While the music is simple it never feels lacking. There are only a few instruments playing at any singular time but they are divided in such a way that they compliment each other and fill out the musical palate exceptionally well.  

Unlike many of these lengthier dungeon synth songs there is some consistency to the Towers of the Teeth. Instead of multiple smaller compositions stitched together the entire length of both the tracks feel like they are the same throughout. They feel like an evolution of the original theme and melodies rather than casting it aside for new concepts later.

Thangorodrim is an artist that I did not care for the first time I heard their music. I don't know what it was but somehow it did not click with me. It wasn't until I revisited them much later that I found the absolute majesty of their music. Towers of the Teeth is a testament to all that is good within the genre of classic dungeon synth, and it has become an essential release for those who would partake. 

Entry 1531 - Lhaäd - Beyond

Style: atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: the depths beyond

Thoughts: A theme can sometimes turn into a gimmick, a crutch for a band to rely on because they have no other ideas to lean into. Gimmicks work sometimes, but often I grow tired of them before the album ends. Themes are a band treading in dangerous waters.

Lhaäd is a band themed around the unknown horrors of the depths of the ocean. Their previous album managed to tread the line between atmosphere, melody, the violence of the depths exceptionally well. I was curious how the follow up would fare. 

I am pleased to report that Lhaäd's third album maintains the quality of the second. The atmosphere is just as dense as the previous with the guitars maintaining the perfect mix of melody and dissonance. Keyboards are sprinkled in small amounts to add accents throughout each of the songs on the release as well. They are never overbearing and only do exactly what they are meant to do: add just a pinch extra to elevate the song to the next level.

The vocals again follow suit from the previous album. A deep menacing howl that draws inspiration from the horrors at the bottom of the brine of the sea. They ebb and flow with the music in ways that most vocals do not: they bellow when required, they invoke deep seeded fear when the music calls for it, they even back off and allow the atmosphere to envelop the listener completely. A clear highlight of the album, and a core strength of Lhaäd's sound.

Through the seven songs on Beyond the band swallows the listener and drags them into the riptide of their riffs and aural violence. The theme of the ocean is ever present but it never becomes a gimmick, the band focuses on the music first and refuses to compromise its integrity. 

Themes are dangerous territory for bands, however it can also be a fertile land for the birth of an excellent album. Fortunately, Lhaäd finds themselves in the second category. Beyond is a fantastic album that never overstays its welcome. A great album for when atmospheric black metal is required.

Entry 1530 - Shagor - Lyksalver

Style: black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Darkness is everywhere, instead of fighting it why not embrace it

Thoughts: I bought this album without listening to it. The debut from this band was so strong I didn't feel like I even needed to vet this release before owning it. That may have been a misstep on my part.

The debut from these guys was full of killer riffs, dense atmospheres, and a deep vitriol in nearly every note and word spoken. Nothing original or that I hadn't heard before, but it was so well done I had to give it it's due. It was a breath of fresh air in a saturated black metal field.

The follow up is none of that. The riffs are derivative, the atmosphere is lacking, and all the venom and hatred from the debut is absent here. What on earth happened? I'm not sure but I do know that I don't like this album nearly as much as the debut.

I've often heard that the criterion for a middling album is if you would prefer to listen to silence or the album that you are currently listening to. With that in mind Lyksalver is just barely above a middling album. It's slightly better than silence, but not much. The album is simply generic black metal with none of the spunk or fire that made the debut so enjoyable. 

The riffs repeat too long and don't really have any sort of intensity or urgency. The vocals are a longing howl or cleanish shout throughout the album. They fit the music but again, there is no passion in them. The bass and drums do exactly what you would expect them to do, nothing more, nothing less. It really feels like the band wanted to release new material but simply couldn't bring themselves to put any effort into the release.

The real damning part here is that there are a few fleeting moments when the band shows the fire and atmosphere that I would expect from them based on the debut. Those moments are for a fleeting few minutes through the release - maybe ten percent at best. It's a damn shame because it shows me that the band still has it in them... they just seem to have lost their way.

Shagor is now on the precipice of a choice. They can continue in the direction that they have been on Lyksalver and completely lose themselves to mediocrity. Or they can reignite that fire and bring back that venom and hatred from the debut that made it so damn good. We'll see where their third release will end up, but as it is their second is likely not going to get many spins from me in the future.

Entry 1529 - Joe Hisaishi and Kenshi Yonezu - The Boy and the Heron

Style: orchestral movie soundtrack 

Primary Emotions/Themes: hope, fear, a chance at redemption

Thoughts: I always hesitate when it comes to adding a new Studio Ghibli soundtrack to my collection. The ones that I do have are perhaps some of the very best music that I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. They elicit emotions like no other music can. That paired with the beauty of the animation that Studio Ghibli brings makes this part of my collection truly special.

The Boy and the Heron is the latest film by the legendary duo of Hayao Miyazaki and Joe Hisaishi. The movie itself lives up to the legacy of these two esteemed gentlemen. It takes me on a magical adventure for nearly three hours and I am forever lost in it's enchantment when the movie is playing. The Ghibli experience is unlike any other.

The music itself once again is in the master class level. Being driven by a piano for most of the duration, the soundtrack effortlessly expresses feelings of wanderlust, mystery, and a deep sense of needing to know the truth. 

These emotions are primarily explored by how soft and subtle most of the soundtrack is. There are extended periods of silence throughout, almost to the point where silence is used as it's own instrument. In the hands of a lesser composer this would be potentially disastrous, but in the hands of Hisaishi it becomes a thing of wonder.

The music is so simple and elegant, doing exactly what is required to generate the wanted emotions. Nothing more, nothing less. This is the master at work. 

I hesitated for a long time to add this soundtrack to my collection. Could it live up to the legacy of Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and the like? In my humble estimation the answer to this question is a resounding yes. It may not be as bombastic or as instantly memorable as either of those other soundtracks, but my goodness this album is something special. For what may very well be the final pairing of this legendary duo, they go out with one of their finest moments. 

Entry 1528 - Moloch - Forest Kingdom

Style: dungeon synth

Primary Emotions/Themes: the kingdom of the forest and its denizens 

Thoughts: I want to sit down and be taken far away. Far away from the busyness of the city. Far away from the stress and constant bickering of people. Far away from concrete, from steel and the smell of burning tar. 

Take me to a place where there are rolling hills. Take me to a place where the air is fresh. Let me go amongst the trees and flowers. Let me step into the mossy grounds. Let me go to the hollows and the meadows. Take me away from all of this into the kingdom of the forest. 

Moloch's Forest Kingdom is dungeon synth pure and simple. There is nothing else that this could possibly be. The synths are droning and have an acoustic feel to them. They exemplify what the music speaks of: a simpler place where life is free to exist on its own with minimal interference from humans. 

It's this simplicity that drives the entire album. The melodies rarely have more than a few notes to them, and the songs rarely ever have more than a few measures or bars to the entirety of their construct. The atmosphere is full yet simple, much like a forest canopy shielding the animals below from the sun above. 

Music like this does not come across my turntable very often. Often times dungeon synth will be too active or too dreary for its own good. Moloch does not fall into either of those traps. Forest Kingdom has the perfect amount of repetition without feeling redundant, and it balances light and dark tones in the music to near perfection. 

I want to get away, I want to be away from civilization. I do not want to be where I am, but alas I am stuck. For some very brief moments though I can close my eyes and allow Moloch's Forest Kingdom to take me to places far away in my imagination. A place unmolested by humans, a place of peace.

Entry 1527 - Lömsk - Act I

Style: atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: war

Thoughts: Oh wow. Where did this come from? 

Lömsk play black metal, pure and simple. Their style revolves around simple riffs that are repeated and morphed throughout their songs. The songs are simple containing only a few ideas throughout their length. That description while accurate, hardly does this EP justice. 

What the band truly does is take a simple idea and iterate on it throughout the entirety of the song, building it up and tearing it down in ways that are unexpected but work utterly to the bands favor. For instance Shovels and Ropes takes a simple two note riff and build it into this incredibly massive orchestral piece that is so epic that it gives me goosebumps - from two notes!

This repeats in every song. The band takes a simple idea and slowly builds on it while keeping the core in tact. A keyboard added here, building drum beat evolving into blast beats there, whatever the song requires the band is able to produce. And produce exceptionally well.

Act I is something that I have been craving even though I didn't know I needed it. Every time I listen to these twenty five minutes of music I'm immediately smitten by how absolutely outstanding their song writing is. I can't wait for more from these guys.

Entry 1526 - Barshasketh - Antinomian Asceticism

Style: black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: the spiritual world, death, life, fatalism

Thoughts: A church bell rings, signaling the execution that is to come. The prisoner is marched out in silence and placed in the gallows, as the platform drops and the prisoner is sent to their death. This moment, the brief time between life and death is the realm that Barshasketh exists in. 

Barshasketh play a a style of black metal that is intense and unrelenting. The riffs take no pleasure in existing, in fact they insist on making the lives of those who listen to them less pleasant. They have an uncomfortable air to them that causes an uneasy feeling deep within me. 

This is not truly dissonant black metal, I'm used to that. This is something a bit different. Sure there is dissonance, but there is also this deep seeded unease and discomfort in each note that is played. They will stay in between a more traditional black metal style then suddenly and without warning switch into a dissonant direction only to go back to the more traditional style just as jarringly. Additionally the band will mix in moments of clean guitars and acoustic guitars with some of the most eerie production I've heard in a while. It's a harrowing experience.

The vocals follow suit. They alternate between this nearly goblin sounding high pitched shriek and a lower register grunt/howl that comes out every now and then. Sparkle in some incredibly odd clean vocals and you have the vocal palate of Barshasketh. 

The band seems to take great pleasure in the discomfort of the listener. There are so few moments on the album where things actually go the way that I expect them to. Rather, the band zigs when I expect them to zag. They weave when I expect them to bend. They truly are as unpredictable as you can get and still be within the well defined walls of black metal. 

Antinomian Asceticism is not an easy listen... in fact I would only recommend this album to those who are looking for something truly jarring and subverts expectations within the black metal genre. This is not a beginners album, this is an album for those of us who have heard a lot and need something fresh and unforgiving to cleans the palate. If that sounds appealing then this album delivers.

Entry 1525 - Gespenst - Den Sidste Faerd

Style: atmospheric black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: power, wonder, the human condition

Thoughts: Atmospheric black metal typically comes in one of two flavors: good and bad. There rarely is much in between. When it is done poorly the band tends to sound the same throughout the album with no tempo variation and let keyboards or full chords to the heavy lifting with the atmosphere. I find it dull and unimaginative and I've heard it more times than I can count. 

When atmospheric black metal is done well however it's another thing all together. The riffs are interesting and create the atmosphere on their own. The songs are more engaging and can often have that hypnotic quality to them that makes me lose track of all time as they swirl around me. This is the realm that Gespenst find themselves in on Den Sidste Faerd. 

The band alternates between faster and slower riff selections. The faster moments are fine for what they are, but it's the slower moments where the band truly shines. During the first half of Dødsfærd the band builds a hugely ominous atmosphere. The riffs churn and boil in a way that the music festers and lingers to the point of almost being uncomfortable. Combine that with vocals that sound like a gargling banshee and some tasteful keyboard melodies and you have the makings of a truly excellent song. 

The band only has five songs on the album, with one of those being an interlude - so really only four. The songs are greatly varied from track to track, emphasizing slower more melodic portions and contrasting that with faster more intense portions of the album. Where things truly shine though is when the band slows down to almost doom speeds and ramps the atmosphere up to the maximum. 

The one major deviation from the formula comes on the final track, Intethed. This track drops nearly all the metal and relies on keyboards to be the primary focus, creating a near dungeon synth atmosphere. It's dark and brooding and the perfect way to end the album. 

De Sidste Faerd is a short but excellent entry into the atmospheric black metal field. The band doe not mess around and takes every moment seriously. The combination of slower sections interspersed with faster moments and the dungeon synth outro makes this one that I find myself wanting to come back to more. It's a great way to spend half an hour.

Entry 1524 - Ethel Cain - The Preachers Daughter

Style: dark rock/pop

Primary Emotions/Themes: the church, sin, hypocrisy

Thoughts: This is not my normal kind of music. Typically I shy away from poppier, more mainstream type music. There are however exceptions to everything. In this particular instance what Ethel has done on her debut album is create an atmosphere so dark and gloomy that it instantly caught my attention and kept it for the entirety of The Preacher's Daughter.

The music here is slow, reverb filled rock that has an obvious focus on Ethel's voice. The album has many different approaches. We have full on pop with American Teenager, slow and somber with Western Nights, almost dark ambient with Ptolemaea, and an incredible delve into the darkness of the human mind on August Underground. 

The music tells a story as much as the lyrics do. The earlier songs are more cheerful and uplifting (even though they do have an underlying sadness to them). As the album progresses though the darkness begins to take hold and metastatic in the core of the music - growing like a cancer. 

I don't know the last time I heard an album quite like this. It masquerades as a pop rock album, but the core of it is much much deeper than that. It's a story of someone losing their humanity, losing everything that binds them to what is good and decent in this world. In it's place we get the perverted version of the world and the shell that many of us become in life after we are subjected to these same aberrations.

Ethel hasn't just created a great pop album, she's created one of the most striking and emotional albums in my collection. The slow and somber songs mixed with her ethereal voice is enough to give me pause - something that is truly rare. Whatever she does next I hope that it maintains the quality of this release, and even if it doesn't we still have this testament to what pop music can be in the hands of the right individual. 

Entry 1523 - アバドン - う​そ​つ​き

Style: vaporwave, glitch

Primary Emotions/Themes: a chopped up trip through various emotions

Thoughts: This album is a trip. At it's core it's vaporwave, but that's not the entire story here. It's chopped up in ways that you just don't see in vaporwave. It's glued together in ways that resemble Frankenstein's monster more than any musical concoction. It's jarring, it's edgy, it's all of the place, and I absolutely adore it.

The album's main concept is simple: take happy pop music, chop it up into a million pieces and paste it together in the most glitched out way possible - especially the vocals. The music feels happy... or at least that it wants to be happy. There are strong beats, poppy melodies, and great hooks throughout... but there's also this underlying sadness to the music that I just can't shake. 

This is further reflected in the vocals. They sound like they are trying to communicate but are being interrupted, glitched, restrained. Nearly every time they come up the voice is glitched out in a way that it sounds like a program just crashed on a computer. As this happens though, the music simply keeps playing as if nothing is wrong. 

The way that the music has these two competing elements is jarring to say the least. They compete with each other and often create an uneasy tension. It's this tension that taps into that hopelessness and sadness that I just can't shake whenever I listen to the album. It's trying to hide itself, but the emotions are just too strong that they bleed through more often than not.

う​そ​つ​きis the kind of music that gets me excited. Not many, if anyone else is doing this style. Listening to it tickles both my analytical and emotional brain. My analytical side wondering what they are doing to get all these different sounds. My emotional side trying to empathize with the emotions present. 

Is this something that I can listen to all the time? Normally I would say no... but this album is so different and so engaging that I think can honestly say yes. This is the kind of album that I can use for a mental reset. It's so out there that it draws me in regardless of my mental state. A rare treat of an album.  

Entry 1522 - Bersarin Quartett - III

Style: ambient, dark ambient

Primary Emotions/Themes: isolation, obscurity, that which was once ours but is now lost

Thoughts: Words are often not enough to describe how much I enjoy Bersarin Quartett's music. Some music moves me in ways that that it speaks directly to my soul. The simplicity of language is not enough to properly convey the purity of these emotions, in fact nothing truly can. I will however give it an attempt.

III is obviously the third record in the Bersarin Quartett discography. It differs slightly from the first two entries in it's approach. Whereas the self titled and II are staunchly focused on the darker moments in life. The points where hope is fleeting and life's importance fades with every passing moment.

III is slightly less dismal in its approach. While the darkness and morose moments of life are still prominently featured during the hour long album, there are just a few more moments where light is allowed to shine through. Brief glimpses at major scale tones... slight moments where the dreary depths of the weight of life is lifted.... but only for a moment. 

The thing about Bersarin Quartett's music is that is never has been overtly depressing. It merely acknowledges that life is inherently dark and in that darkness beauty can be born. Through the use of electronics and orchestral elements the Quartett is able to channel music that deeply resonates with my core. I don't simply feel the music, this music grips me and completely envelops me while it is playing. It shapes me and molds me to its dreary form. It dictates every aspect of my life as it plays, and lingers for long periods of time when silence takes hold after its completion. 

Bersarin Quartett is often described as cinematic ambient music. While I do agree with that assessment somewhat, I find that this music defies genre classifications. Sure there are moments of ambient music, but there is also electronic and classical in here as well. They are all molded and woven together in such a way that they are in perfect symbiosis - one cannot exist without the other. 

Life finds ways to move on regardless of my personal experience with it. I will be here for a short period and then it will be my time to pass the baton to the next generation. The thing with music though is that it lingers. It has a chance to resonate with generation after generation. I truly hope that future generations as well as current ones can enjoy this wonderful project's discography as much as I have. 

By staring into the reality of life and conveying those deeply tragic moments in this medium Bersarin Quartett has managed to create a chronicle of the human experience. This is why music exists. This right here. I would normally say that an album such as this is essential listening, but I don't think that does it enough justice. This is required listening for those who wish to glimpse into the depths of what it means to be human. This is required for those who wish to reflect on life and use those musings to make the world a better place. It is in desperate need of it.

Entry 1521 - Akai Ito

Style: video game music

Primary Emotions/Themes: death and the mental horror it brings, love, hope

Thoughts: There are some soundtracks that I truly enjoy. Some that stand on their own, especially when I have not played the game. Akai Ito has become one of those soundtracks.

Apparently the game revolves around one of the characters on the cover and their loss of a loved one and the horror that comes with that. Listening to most of this soundtrack I never would have guessed that at the start. The music is mostly bright and uplifting, slice of life type soundtrack. 

Nearly all the tracks have a brightness to them, either through a piano or an acoustic guitar. This brightness brings hope and joy into the music. It's simple. It reflects a time in life where things are not as complex as they were in the past... at least to start.

As the soundtrack progresses things become a bit more tense. The music slowly shifts from the slice of life sound to a darker, more mysterious overtone. The music reflects the horror that the main character is going through. The piano becomes more dissonant and eerie, the acoustic guitar gets phased out completely and the slice of life feel has been completely removed. 

All of this comes full circle though, as by the end the music resolves this tension and returns to the simpler hope filled sounds of the early soundtrack. It's a musical journey, and one that I can tell the emotional arc of the character just by joining them on this musical adventure. That in itself is rare. The fact that it is done with this level of consistency and quality throughout the runtime is rarer still. 

Entry 1520 - Dolch - I and II

Style: atmospheric rock/metal, dark rock

Primary Emotions/Themes: the dagger

Thoughts: A slow hum fades into existence from nothingness. Over time Thus hum reveals itself to be a highly distorted guitar with reverb phased through every single frequency that it is uttering. The notes shift and a riff forms again from seemingly nothing. A distant and oddly eerie female voice starts chanting over the newly formed riff, and with this the very essence of (Dolch) is born. 

I & II contains the first two demos from this fascinating project. What I find curious though is that the music found within these forty minutes is a sound that is more developed than many bands that have multiple full length albums under their banner.  This slow, reverb fueled music treads the line of music and ambient all throughout both of these demo albums. 

The guitars often will not even register to my ears as guitars, but rather an element to drive the music's atmosphere forward. Take the song Hlob for instance. The guitars, while present, offer more of an unchanging backing sound than any sort of structure. There is a constant distorted noise floor that the song exhibits that never truly evolve from that. Rather the song is driven by the ghostly vocal track and some oddly placed percussion. Combined with the obscure production the song comes across as something we may hear out of a radio in a horror movie. It's quite the compelling sound, and one I have not heard much of in my musical journey.

There are of course more structured songs. Songs where the riffs are more defined, where the melodies have stronger hooks - but they are not the dominant force here. Rather the band will oscillate between these two styles and sometimes thrown in another curve ball for the listener. 

Towards the end of II, the band gives us Herz which drops all the distortion, nearly all the reverb, and gives us a minimalist track that is clear as day. After going through thirty five minutes of distortion fueled fuzziness this threw me for a loop the first time I heard it.  

I & II are a promising start to a fascinating project. I don't have anything else in my collection that sounds quite like this, and for that alone this will remain a curiosity. The fact that these demos are excellent is a nice byproduct. I will continue to see what the minds behind (Dolch) will release in the future, as their start is certainly one to take note of.

Entry 1519 - Ossaert - Bedehuis

Style: black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Darkness, death, and the world of blasphemy 

Thoughts: Black metal is my favorite genre. It has some of the most powerful music ever created to be held within the confines of its boundaries. Some of the strongest atmospheres in metal or really any genre have come from its humble roots. Some truly amazing bands... Ossaert is not one of those bands.

The four tracks present on this album are about as simple as you can get within the black metal genre. While there is a place for this there are specific things that are required of the music for me to find it enjoyable. 

The music must be well performed, the atmosphere must be top notch, and most importantly the music must be written with a raw primitive emotion that is not found in any other genre. Ossaert has none of this on Bedehuls. 

The music is simple and repetitive but the passion and raw production are lacking. The music has aggression but there is no real fire or vitriol to the supposed hate that is coming from the project. The music is executed well but it feels formulaic and has a black metal by the numbers type execution. 

I'm sure there are people out there that will enjoy this album, but I am not one of them. This is generic black metal with no real redeeming qualities and it's simply not something that I will spend much time listening to, now or in the future.

Entry 1518 - Arstidir Lifsins - Heljarkvida

Style: folk black metal, Viking metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Vikings, their kin, and the vast ocean

Thoughts: There is no band like this. No band on the planet that writes metal in this style outside of Arstidir Lifsins. I have had the absolute pleasure of listening to their music in several of their full lengths prior to this writing and I am always craving more... well I have now acquired more and the quality remains from their pervious works. 

What other band plays songs that are this engaging for this long? I can probably name a few individual examples... but to do it so consistently, for so many albums. I can't think of another band. 

What other band is able to have such an epic atmosphere time and time again throughout multiple full lengths and EPs? Again individual examples exist but nothing is as consistent or as compelling as these guys. The violin mixed with the deep booming spoken vocals transitioning into the insanely brutal Viking laced black metal is goosebump inducing. There's nothing quite like it.

On Heljarkvida specifically the band has produced two twenty plus minute tracks that embody the essence of what the band is about. Sweeping epic black metal that has tinges of folk metal and the atmosphere of a Baltic storm that has come to claim every long ship in its clutches. There is nothing like it. 

I feel like I could write a novel on how much I love this band, but I will refrain for now. Every release I have from them is exceptional and leaves me wanting more. Luckily for me there is a LOT more for me to explore from the band. Simply incredible music.

Entry 1517 - Shadow Dungeon - A Crypt of Mysteriis

Style: dungeon synth

Primary Emotions/Themes: the dead, their crypts, and the great unknown

Thoughts: There truly is something wonderful about the dungeon synth genre. No matter what iteration of the music I hear there is almost always something to like. 

Shadow Dungeon is yet another entry into the classic dungeon synth realm. There are two long compositions that fall very much in line with the early Mortiis albums. That being that they seem to be a combination of a bunch of smaller compositions before being combined into the twenty minute long epic that they are in their album form. 

I'm not opposed to this style of creating songs. It forces the listener to take the entire side of the record in at once without skipping tracks - something I am naturally inclined to do regardless. There is a part of me though that would love to have individual song titles and track lengths, if nothing more than to see a bit more into the artist's mind. Song titles go a long way to seeing what the artist intended when they created the music. Though without them I am also allowed the freedom for my own interpretation.

So in the spirit of interpretation A Crypt of Mysteriis is exactly that; an exploration of the unknown, the dark depths of the earth and the realm of the dead. The album is - again - a collection of smaller compositions that range from small musings to epic sprawling opus'. The resultant album does indeed feel like a journey to some unknown destination... a dark destination. 

Perhaps we are searching for a lost relic. Mayhaps an heirloom. Or perhaps we are simply taking a stroll through the more moribund parts of the earth. Regardless the synths and melodies that Shadow Dungeon has produced on these two tracks are fitting for any of the above endeavors and a near infinite more. 

A Crypt of Mysteriis is a fine classic dungeon synth album. It falls in line exactly with what you would expect from the early black metal/dungeon synth movement. Even though this album was written 25 to 30 years after the initial movement the spirit remains the same. Not something that can be said about much modern dungeon synth.  

Entry 1516 - Winterblood - Waldeninsamkelt

Style: dungeon synth, dark ambient, wintersynth

Primary Emotions/Themes: the cold comes for us all

Thoughts: The night slowly creeps over the frozen waste land. Years of ice and frost have covered this tundra, undisturbed by the filthy hands of man. The spirit of Winter lies here peacefully in this tranquil yet inhospitable land. This is the land that Winterblood has created through their music.

The essence of Waldeninsamkelt come in the form of slow, drawn out compositions that range from twenty to forty minutes in length. A minimalistic ambience is the basis for all things that are to come. These solitary tones provide not only the backing but also the atmosphere for the entirety of this eighty minute epic.

Played one solitary note after the other, the basis of the album has a lonely almost forgotten feel to it. It paints not a grim picture, no - but rather a land that has been forgotten by time and more importantly unspoiled by human hands. Yes, there is isolation, there is loneliness... but there is also peace. 

The only accompaniment to these lonely tones is a bright and echoes melody. Melody is a bit of a misnomer here - for the music does not follow traditional melodic structure. Rather the tune is carried by a strikingly similar cadence to the lonely tones of the backing notes. The only differentiation is the brightness and tamber of these higher melodic notes to the more somber tones that came before. 

The melody acts more like a counterpoint to the backing tracks. Together they complete the picture painted of these frostbitten landscapes. Slowly painting a picture of loss and death... yet still maintaining tranquillity above all. Yes, there is sorrow. Yes, there was once suffering... but no more. Now there is only stillness, now there is only calm. 

Entry 1515 - Vrorsaath - Moonlight's Wrath

Style: dungeon synth with black metal elements

Primary Emotions/Themes: a tribute to the early days of the genre mixed with a tinge of blackened vocals

Thoughts: I've started to really dig deep into the dungeon synth genre the past few years. The deeper I dig the more interesting music I find. There are things hidden in these synth laden passages that I have not heard in any other genres. There are also new takes on old concepts that make them feel fresh again, and it's in this realm that Moonlight's Wrath falls.

Vrorsaath takes the dungeon synth of the early to mid 90's as the base to their debut album. To this basis we occasionally had distant guitars and quite frequent black metal vocals. There isn't enough black metal here for it to be the dominant genre, but it is an ever present force... at least for most of the album.

As with many albums Moonlight's Wrath tells a story through its music. The start of the album is decidedly darker and contains much more black metal. As the album progresses the black metal elements become less pronounced eventually ending up with the final track containing no black metal at all. The progression is subtle and I normally miss the inflection point where the album switches over to pure dungeon synth, and that is one of the primary drivers as to why I like this album as much as I do.

As I listen to Moonlight's Wrath I'm not just listening to an album, I'm going on a musical journey. A journey to a place that is far off from the horrors of this world, a place where fantasy rules supreme. A place where The Night's Dream, Vague and Pale comes to life with the ethereal synths that it brings. A place where the horrors of this world are no more and there is only me alone in nature. This is the place of dreams.

Entry 1514 - Aara - Eiger

Style: black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: cold unrelenting mountains

Thoughts: Oh man do these guys know how to write a black metal album. There have been so few bands in the last decade that have written music so consistently and so incredibly well as the enigmatic Aara have. 

After finishing up their trilogy the band has released their longest record to date. They have not only taken the lessons learned during the past few albums but they have expanded on them in directions I did not expect the band to go. Eiger shows all the power and intensity of the past few albums, but it also has this cold calculated precision to each of the songs that fits the theme of snowy mountains and their brutally inhospitable climates perfectly. 

I've said before that Aara play black metal with a death metal intensity to their riffs. There were stand out points during all of the previous albums, however on Eiger it seems like those moments are on every single song. These riffs are as massive as the mountains they depict. They are as brutal as the frostbite that comes from an ill prepared climber. They are as ruthless as an unstoppable avalanche. At moments they are even as tranquil as a gentle breeze blowing undisturbed snow. 

This album is possibly the best thing the band has ever created. The speed at which the band executes these riffs is blistering. The intensity that  Fluss delivers the lyrics is unmatched. Her voice pierces the air like a screeching bird of prey. The drums are so precise and so fast that they sound nearly inhuman. 

To top all this off the album is absolutely greater than the sum of its parts. The lasting effect that these songs have on me is incredible. It's the kind of album that I can close my eyes and get lost in its clutches. 

I've been reflecting on the bands discography the entire time that I've been listening to this album. I think outside of the debut record that this is indeed their finest moment. This is the perfection of the direction that they were taking in the Triade trilogy and adds both more intensity and tranquility to their already refined sound. For fans of black metal this is indeed one of the best releases to come out in the last few years. 

Entry 1513 - Kamelot - The Black Halo

Style: Epic power metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: Faust, divinity, the devil, and mankind 

Thoughts: I've listened to this album nearly a hundred times. I know most of it like the back of my hand, it is likely one of the best power metal albums ever written. It's been one of the greatest searches of my vinyl collecting career to find this at a reasonable price... and then out of no where Napalm repressed it. 

I immediately ordered it and waited. When the fateful day arrived I immediately put the record on expecting to jam out to March of Mephisto. What I got though was something I had never heard before... there was some distant talking and faint music, but no sign of the epic slow build that I expected. Did I have the right record? What was going on here?

After another minute or two the intro to the album faded and I was greeted by the expected march. I knew I had the right record, but what was it that I was hearing before?  Apparently the vinyl release has some extra interludes on the track list that were never included in the CD release. Who knew? Well now I do, and I enjoy the fuck out of it.

As for the actual album, this is Kamelot's finest hour. This is the perfect blend of theater, power, aggression, and melody. The band defied all my expectations with the opener, not once but twice now. The origional opening to the album I expected a scorcher of a track. Instead we get a mid paced march that rakes our emotions over the coals as we see the pain that the main character is going through. Expectations reset from the very start.

The second time was what was described at the start. The vinyl release starts off very quiet and does nothing to show you that you are in the right place until the song starts up two to three minutes later. It's masterfully done. Expectations reset once again.

This sense of defying expectations continues throughout the album. The band has their "mega hit" on the third track called Haunted. Even here the duet between Khan and Simone from Epica has an interplay that acts out more like lovers talking to each other than a metal song. Again, it's incredible.

There are of course typical power metal scorchers on the album, Soul Society being first and foremost amongst them. This song... oh this song. It encapsulates everything that I love about the band: the drama, the emotion, the speed, and the fury. It's not just that Kamelot play power metal, it's that they play it in such a way that no other band can match them (at least in this point in their career). 

Soul Society starts off with sirens and an orchestra playing one of the many melodies of the album. The guitars come in and slowly drive the song upwards in speed, melody, and power. By the time the chorus comes in the song is in full force. Khan's voice soars above it all in rare form even for him. The orchestra returns to compliment the guitars and drums... the whole thing is a testament to how there are always exceptions in every music genre. I typically don't like power metal... but I fucking LOVE this.

The band continues at this high level throughout the entire album. An hour plus of incredible music that I wish would never end. I've been a huge stickler lately about preferring single LP albums as they are nice and succinct. It takes something truly special for me to enjoy more than that... The Black Halo is just that and more. I wish that this album went on for two hours if it retained the quality that we have here.  

The Black Halo is the highest point in the band's storied career. The only other album coming close to this level of quality if Karma, and that one has not received a repress as of this writing.  Until that happens I'll be spinning The Black Halo and reveling in its darkly sweet tones. 

Entry 1512 - Dark Funeral - Where Shadows Forever Reign

Style: black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: ....satan

Thoughts: Holy fuck what an opener. 

Not sure I can think of another Dark Funeral song that starts out an album as strong as Unchain My Soul. In fact it's hard for me to think of many black metal songs that are as good of an opener as this song. The band has found the perfect formula on Where Shadows Forever Reign and they exploit it to maximum effect.

What is that formula you may ask? Well it's simple. Blistering fast riffs, blast beats, and incredibly well executed vocals. Except when its not. Some of the album is blisteringly slow riffs, well executed drums and menacing vocals. The band switches between these two throughout the whole album. 

What's that? It sounds like normal black metal? Yes, you would be absolutely correct in that assertion. This is black metal through and through. There is nothing original about this in the slightest... but there doesn't need to be. This is a classic case of a genre being executed to perfection - it's so good that it's impossible to ignore. 

These riffs have power to them. These riffs have purpose. The music energizes me like so few other things do. It's easily one of the most generic black metal albums I own, but that doesn't matter at all because it's easily one of the finest examples of how to write good black metal in my collection as well.

I love it when one of the classic bands in the genre create something worthy of their early works. Where Shadows Forever Reign is exactly that. This is up there with Secrets of the Dark Arts and Vobiscum Satanas. God I love this album. 

Entry 1511 - Ayreon - The Human Equation

Style: progressive metal, metal opera 

Primary Emotions/Themes: what makes us human? what happens when we are in a coma? emotions and coming to terms with mortality

Thoughts: I think I would normally write a huge epic summary for an album like this, I'm going to try and do the opposite. Simply put The Human Equation is the best metal opera that I have ever heard. The combination of singers gathered here and the depth of emotions displayed is incredible. I've never heard anything like it. For anyone that has ever enjoyed metal in any capacity whatsoever you owe it to yourself to listen to Ayreon's magnum opus. To do anything less would be uncivilized. 

Entry 1510 - Runespell - Verses in Regicide

Style: Melodic black metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: regicide, the destruction of authority 

Thoughts: Runespell. Likely the best black metal band I've found in the past five years. Certainly the best melodic band I've found in metal in that time frame. The way that these melodies cut through the air combined with the blasting and unmatched atmosphere is what drives this project from good to elite.

The first time I heard Verses in Regicide I knew that it was very much a continuation of the previous album. A huge amount of acoustic work mixed with the excellent melodic black metal with some minor tweaks from the Voice of Opprobrium: the songs are shorter and the album is more diverse than the previous opus.

For the most part nothing has changed outside of those two minor details. The album still blasts away at full speed while the melodies guide the music through all sorts of peaks and valleys. The acoustic guitar provides a great contrast to the constant battering of the metal and the vocals wrap everything together nicely with a raw reverb filled production. This is still very much Runespell.

What does differ though is the song order. It's not acoustic followed by metal followed by acoustic wash and repeat. The album flows a bit better, the acoustic sections are spread across the tracks less evenly, providing a bit more variety than previous entries into the Runespell discography. Nothing much has changed to the formula, rather it has been fine tuned to fit the music better.

Runespell remains one of my favorite modern black metal bands. I love how they seem to get better with every album yet never forget the sound that brought them to where they are. They are a testament to how black metal can still be engaging and interesting without resorting to gimmicks. 

Entry 1509 - Rapture - Silent Stage

Style: melodic doom/death metal

Primary Emotions/Themes: loss, grieving, life not being fair

Thoughts: There are a bunch of bands that I have enjoyed over the years. Most of those bands were forgotten to the anneals of time and unless a specific memory triggered a recollection of their music I wouldn't think about any of them. Rapture is one of those bands.

I found this band when they were first releasing albums twentyish years ago. I really enjoyed their three albums and the melancholy take they had on melodic doom/death. Silent Stage is their final album and it shows the most streamlined writing as well as being the easiest album to get into from the band.

If doom/death metal could be accessible, this is that album. The music has a ton of hooks, the melancholy is there but it's not crushing like so many bands in the genre are. The tempo is slow to mid paced but never once approaches funeral doom levels. The vocal interplay between Henri's harsh vocals and Petri's cleans are executed to near perfection here. As far as the genre goes this is easy listening.

That said this is still a metal album, a doom album, a death metal album, and above all an album filled with melancholy. Listen to the lyrics on The Past Nightmare.. they talk about witnessing a murder and the mental toll that it takes. The loss of meaning in everything. 

These types of lyrics combined with the overt melancholy of all the riffs and melodies are what differentiates this album from "poppy" metal. Silent Stage unapologetically treads in the mire of human misery - and it's a better album for it. 

Rapture's discography getting a vinyl release was not on my bingo card for any time period. I was shocked when I saw them for sale at an online distro. I grabbed all three full lengths without a second thought. Revisiting their discography has been a trip down memory lane, proving once again that music can trigger all sorts of memories - good and band. In the case of Rapture most if not all of them are great. 

Entry 1508 - Jessica Moss - Galaxy Heart

Style: neo-classical, ambient, noise

Primary Emotions/Themes: Abstract themes, musical variations, experiments

Thoughts: Jessica Moss' music is odd to say the least. I've quite enjoyed some of her earlier works as they were abstract ambient pieces with classical instrumentation. Galaxy Heart is a bit of a harder nut to crack though. 

Where this album differs from the earlier ones that I've heard is that the experiments seem to be less focused. One composition will be experimenting with feedback from a violin while the next feels like an abstract classical piece. Distorted guitars are used with industrial noodlings thrown in, droning tones are overlaid with odd vocal harmonies. It's all very strange... and not in a way that I enjoy.

There is a place for experimetnal music in my collection. However, sometimes that experimentation does not resonate with my tastes. I simply think that is what's going on with Galaxy Heart. I respect the music for what it is, but this likely will not be seeing much in thew ay of rotation on my turntable outside of this initial listen.