Review: Åskog's upcoming debut album "Varþnaþer"

Black Metal band from Sweden Åskog, are releasing their debut album Varþnaþer, on the 12th of May, on CD via Grind to Death Records, and digitally via Leviaphonic Records. A vinyl and cassette release by Corrupted Flesh Records might come out around the same date but could be delayed by a few weeks.
For those who don't know, Åskog released a demo last year, called Varg.
So, what can you expect?
It is very furious, very fast, very full of rage. Touches the traditional lines of the old Black Metal, reminding, at times, Marduk and other great bands of the sort.
Varþnaþer has 8 tracks, all full of fury and anger. Everything falls well and into the right place.
You can tell the musicians are extremely talented and professional. It is not just a Black Metal album, it has a lot of quality. It is indeed a very good album. So good that I am going to listen to it all over again just now.
Although the sound isn't totally original, it brings that fresh air feel that we all need sometimes.
As I said before, 2021 is already being great year, regarding Black Metal music, and Varþnaþer will certianly be on the top 10 list.

News: Discarded Self

In the end of January, Lachryma Christi shared with you that Discarded Self had released a song from new self-titled album of the band, scheduled to be released on the 30th of April, through Sarcophagus Recordings.

So now, they just released another song, Dead Upon the Dead, and you can liste to it here:

https://discardedself.bandcamp.com/track/dance-upon-the-dead

This song is notoriously more sludge/doom with less Black Metal influences than the previous song Orbitoclast . However, if you listen to the voice, it is right there.

Jarret Beach, the perso Hoen behind the one-man-band that is Discarded Self has this to say about the song Dance Upon the Dead:

“I’ve been watching a lot of serial killer movies for I don’t know, the last 25 years haha. I used those types of films for the inspiration of this song. This song was written coming from the perspective of a husband or father of a victim of a serial killer. It is clearly a revenge song, and describes the hate and rage that would be felt by the families of the victims. It’s a disgusting dive into that reality, and ends in a way that quenches the thirst of pure revenge.”

Pre-orders through the band's Bandcamp page are available now, with other pre-orders opening soon through iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Napster, Deezer, Tik Tok and Tidal

Read more in:

https://www.facebook.com/discardedself
https://www.instagram.com/sludge_worshipper/

Review: Lebensnacht's upcoming album "The Realm Beyond"

German band Lebensnacht is back with a new album called The Realm Beyond, which is set to be released on the 28th of March, through Naturmacht Productions.
It will be the last album of this era for Lebensnacht, since Robert Brockmann is relocating to Lapland.
If you have heard their albums before, you know that Lebensnacht play an old school Black Metal music, with atmospheric sounds and very strong singing.
The Realm Beyond is no exception. It has 6 tracks, filled with emotions. It sounds short, you want more afterwards. Or at least, I do.
With keyboards that take us around 20 years back in time, it is very powerful and even brings you a sense of nostalgia, although the album is still to come!
The sound has the normal Black Metal fast blast beats, but also the ballad bits, which we don't find a lot nowadays, unless we are listening to something with more symphonic influences, which is not the case.
The guitars bring a whole feel to the music, whether they are in acoustic or distorted mode. The riffs are very melodic, and it suits perfectly.
My favourite track might be Ravens Flight to the Realm Beyond, which starts with an owl sound, and then evolves into very intense, melodic, full, fast, impressive music.
The Realm Beyond brings memories of some 90s Black Metal. It is melancholic, introspective, emotional, with some good sadness attached, if we can say it that way.
So if you are into this kind of Black Metal, don't miss out. It is beautiful work.