Review: Morwinyon's upcoming album "Wastelands"

Today, Lachryma Christi brings you a review to Wastelands, the second album of Italian Atmospheric Black Metal band Morwinyon. Wastelands, is scheduled to be released on the 24th of February, through Naturmacht Productions.

What is Wastelands about? Wastelands is about the pain the human beings inflict in Nature. The cover reflects that well. What about the music, does it? Yes, it does.

Wastelands is a very introspective algum. 5 lengthy tracks, that even if you don't know what they are about previously, they'll make you think a lot anyway.

It is more in the realm of the Atmospheric, than that of the Black Metal, but the influences are all there, undoubtedly. 

The 5 tracks are very intense, and they really drag you into a very introspective journey, where you end up pondering over everything and nothing.

The voice has quite a distortion, which adds more strength and depth to the whole album. 

There is a very strong soundtrack style element to Wastelands.

So, if you are into atmospheric, intense, emotional, powerful, somewhat sad and introspective music, with everything that it entails, including very melodic and very present dreamy keyboards and slower rhythms, Wastelands is for you.

I liked it. I confess it is not entirely my cup of tea, but can't say I didn't like it. I liked it, and I recommend it, if this is your style of Black Metal Music. Even if it isn't, it really is worth to check it out.

My favourite track is An Agonized Look. It has some interesting and unexpected turns, it also shows really well how good Morwinyon are at what they do, and it left me with goosebumps.

Review: Høstsol's debut album "Länge Leve Döden"

So, have you heard the album Länge Leve Döden by Høstsol?

It came out last month, more precisely on the 13th, and what a masterpiece. Sadly, I only had the chance to listen to it yesterday, but better late than never. And this album is just so good, I would hate to know I had missed it altogether. 

So today, while listening to it again, I decided to write some lines about it.

Høstsol formed in 2020 and Länge Leve Döden is their first full-length. I'm sure you know all the musicians from other bands and projects they are or have been part of. And they are Cernunnus (Manes), Kalmos (ex-Barathrum), Rainer Tuominkanto (Amarrada) and Niklas Kvarforth (Shining).

I'm quite pleased. I had no idea what I was about to listen to, and as soon as I heard the first track As Seen Through the Eyes of the Prophet, passed the intro bit (a long bit in fact, which sounds like a choir of beautiful dissonant voices and sounds, bells included, and atmospheric sounds, finally blending with the actual song), my jaw dropped.

It is, no doubt, very old school Black Metal music. And you can tell in each song, how experienced these musicians are, and how they really gave everything in the composing and recording of the album. Not that only old school style Black Metal is good, but that it can still be very good, even if made now.

Länge Leve Döden has only 5 tracks, and long, all of them phenomenal. Can't chose a favourite track.

The whole album is so full of feel, melody, aggressiveness, anger, sadness, and so much pain. If you close your eyes you can feel it too. Everything, from the intros to the continuation of each song, is so perfectly arranged and aligned. There is a very dark and deep and emotional vibe, it is absolutely beautiful. The vocals are stunning, and so full of suffering and darkness, and sometimes even a feeling of emptiness, if this makes any sense. Kvarforth really outdid himself this time. And at the same time, these vocals pair perfectly with everything else, even with the most melodic and deep riffs. 

Länge Leve Döden sounds very genuine and is very addictive. I could listen to it over and over, all day long. It gives me that kind of vibe I'd never want to get rid of. 

It's possible to tell when a group of musicians can make very good music, but this is beyond very good music, it's perfect. I don't like the word perfect, but can't really find a replacement right now. It is just so bloody good.

News: Dark Essence Records reveals details and track of Tilintetgjort's upcoming album

Norwegian Black Metal band Tilintetgjort are releasing their first album In Death I Shall Arise through Dark Essence Records, on the 31st of March.

Today, Dark Essence Records released a track from the upcoming album, called Mercurial, and you can stream or download it from a few different services, which you can check here:

https://link.darkessencerecords.no/Tilintetgjort_Mercurial

You can also watch the video here:

Tracklist: 

1. Kvikksølvdrømmer

2. Sannhetens Søyler

3. Mercurial

4. Vinter Og Høst

5. Hex

6. Dommedagsmonument

In Death I Shall Arise will be available in CD, Vinyl and Digital formats and can now be pre-ordered from:

 

Webshop: https://darkessencerecords.no/kar244-tilintetgjort-in-death-i-shall-arise/

Bandcamp: https://tilintetgjort.bandcamp.com

US webshop: https://darkessence.indiemerch.com/

Read more in:

Tilintetgjort on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tilintetgjortnor

Tilintetgjort's Website: https://tilintetgjort.no

Tilintetgjort on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tilintetgjortnor/

 

Dark Essence Records' Website: www.darkessencerecords.no

Dark Essence on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/darkessencerecords

News: Fagus release single "Neptun I" from upcoming album

German Black Metal band Fagus just released a single from their upcomig album Enter.

The track is called Neptune I, and you can listen to it here:

Or on a number of streaming platforms here:

https://orcd.co/neptun-i

Enter is the first album of Fagus, and is scheduled to be released on the 10h of March through Silent Future Recordings.

On Neptun I, the band commented:

 

"Outer space is often associated with a repellent and bleak infinity, suffering continuous decay driven by the rules of mathematics and physics. The song “Neptun I” is a counterargument to this, telling a story of fellowship and bonding in a seemingly lifeless cosmos. The fact that everything comes to an end – the main theme of “Neptun I” – is set by a melancholic and mid-tempo instrumental arrangement, starting and ending with the billowing sounds of the intro and outro."

 Tracklist:

1. Aurora

2. Neptun I

3. Tyche

4. Jenseits des Höhenzugs

5. Zerfall des Lichts

6. Et In Arcadia Ego

You can pre-save or pre-order Enter here:

https://silentfuture.se/product/fagus-inter-cd/

https://orcd.co/inter

Read more in:

Web: https://silentfuture.se/artist/fagus/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Fagus.Metal/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fagus.official/

Bandcamp: https://fagusofficial.bandcamp.com/

News: Nargaroth is reissuing some of the releases in limited edition vinyl

Black Metal one-man band Nargaroth is reissuing the following releases in limited edition vinyl, through Season of Mist:

Herbstleyd (1998)

Black Metal ist Krieg (2001)

Jahreszeiten (2009)

Era of Threnody (2017)

These releases are scheduled to be reissued on the 24th of March, and you can pre-order them here:

 https://shop.season-of-mist.com/list/nargaroth-reissues

Review: Ciemra's upcoming album "The Tread of Darkness"

Black Metal band from Belarus Ciemra, are releasing a new album called The Tread of Darkness through Avantgarde Music, on the 25th of February.

Ciemra formed relatively recently, around 2019, and this is their first full-length. Although I haven't heard anything by Ciemra before, The Tread of Darkness, is very much up my alley. I liked it from the first seconds of the first song, which has the same title as the album.

And the more familiar something is, the more difficult it is to describe it. So this review is quite a challenge.

So, The Tread of Darkness brings us proper black metal music, with a ton of melody, but not as melodic as what you'd call melodic black metal, if that makes sense. It is not raw either, but it is pretty cold, fast, full of anguished riffs and vocals. The vocals are just so angry and desperate, bringing a very strong atmosphere to the whole thing. Even the clean ones, although unexpected, so fitting.

There are some almost acoustic bits, making some bits sound almost like ballads, quickly shifting into the proper aggression you'd expect from this kind of music. All the songs are beautifully made and put together in an order that is perfect, leading you to listen to the album over and over again. 

It is heavy and speedy as it should be, but also has some groovy bits and solos that fit so well, and not many bands use. Some Northern European bands do, some of them come to mind while I listen to Ciemra. But that doesn't matter right now.

What matters is that I am astonished by their music, really. You can tell there is a lot of experience on the composing and performing, everything so perfectly executed, and this is one of the best albums of 2023 for Lachryma Christi already, for sure. 

Review: Enisum's upcoming album "Forgotten Mountains"

Black Metal band Enisum from Italy, are releasing a new album called Forgotten Mountains, through Avantgarde Music. The album is scheduled to be released on the 17th of February. 

Enisum have been around since 2006 and they have released quite a few releases along the years.

Forgotten Mountains is so atmospheric. Everything about it shouts "nature". From the music, to the artwork. Which, I guess, is the idea. 

It is so emotional, I've been staring at my screen without words to describe it. Trying anyway, I find it very powerful, angry, but I also think it brings a feeling of deep sadness as well. And what's better? I like it. I like this feeling.

Forgotten Mountains is full of melody, dragged vocals also with some clean voices here and there, and very heavy and deep rhythms, filled with melancholic riffs. It is so fast at times, and so dragged at others, however, with perfect balance.

I don't think I'll ever see a mountain the same way after listening to this. And I mean it in a good way. If I close my eyes, I can imagine myself deep in the woods, with just silence and mountains around. 

What does Forgotten Mountains remind me of? That's the thing. Nothing. It's unique. It's beautiful, full of feeling, full of thoughts, full of energy. So full you can almost feel that energy with your hands.

I like it. Enisum make this kind of music perfectly, I can't tell one thing I don't like about this album. And it stays in your head. In your most trivial tasks, their songs pop in your head easily, working as a soundtrack.

So, it is around 45 minutes of sadness, melancholy, but also anger and fury every now and then, and a feeling of being surrounded by cold mountains and trees. I loved it.