Cemetery Lament

Maybe I'm just a sucker for folk/Nordic inspired black metal, but when it's done as well as what Haljōrūna is offering who can argue with it. An interesting mix of clean and black metal vocals with a slow driving beat to the music really sets the mood for their entire Midvinterblot album.  Midtvinterblot by Haljōrūna By far my favorite track on the album is Urds Kjelde but the rest of the album isn't lacking in any regard. The marching beat of this track blended with the keyboards and drums is a perfect merger of folk and metal that few bands nail as successfully as  Haljōrūna. Head over to their Bandcamp page and give them a listen... The entire digital download is only around $6.00 (50 Sek) so be sure to Follow  Haljōrūna  and support them in any way you can!  www.haljoruna.bandcamp.com

On January 24th, 2020 internationally, The Sinister Flame is proud to present Aethyrick's highly anticipated second album, Gnosis, on CD and vinyl LP formats. Formed by Gall and Exile on the winter solstice 2016, Aethyrick's medium is black metal, methods uncomplicated and motives unknown. The Finnish duo proved their potency during the closing days of 2018 with their first full-length. Duly titled Praxis, indeed did it brim with a mysticism and magick that was simultaneously aeons-old and strikingly modern. A new classic in some circles but seemingly overlooked by the rest of the novelty-choked public, Praxis nevertheless laid firm a foundation upon which Aethyrick would most surely weave ever-more-grandiose spells. ATMOSPHERIC FINNISH BLACK METAL bandcamp - album - gnosis www.aethyrick.com

Words like mood and atmosphere get thrown around a lot these days especially when you are talking about black metal albums. In the early years of the genre it was pretty easy... evil and Satan ... But eventually, (unless you happen to be Dark Funeral) that subject is going to run it's course. Obviously over time bands have tried to explore other subjects, sometimes they succeed and sometimes they fail miserably. Creating an atmosphere or having a theme for an album means more than just writing different lyrics set to the same old black metal tropes that have been done a billion times before. Just because you are screaming about 16th century baked goods doesn't mean you have successfully conveyed the "mood" or "atmosphere" of your concept album about medieval pastry. Fortunately for all of us Geisterfels clearly understands that it takes more than just lyrics about medieval castles and ancient forests to convey a message... especially, (if you are...