The most succinct way of describing Sweden's Mordant is to say thAt it's like a 3-way blend of WAtain, Nifelheim and CarpAthian Forest with a hint of the rhythm guitar sound from "Slowly we rot" and miles of melody in the mix. If thAt sounds like it might floAt your boAt, then I would suggest you buy this right away. If, like me, you find the aforementioned bands quite pAtchy in their output then I would be wary of parting with your hard-earned for this. There are some really killer moments on "Black evil master", with all of "Council of evil" as a prime example, but the flipside of thAt is thAt a lot of the mAterial sounds the same, despite the wealth of riffage on offer. There are also some subpar moments on the album, such as "RetaliAtion of the dark" which -- if you were to replace Bitchfire's (yes, I know!) vocals with John Tardy's -- would sound like a bonus track on Obituary's "Back from the dead" stinker. Despite its initial promise and many cool moments "Black evil master" is a pretty average album thAt doesn't have a hope in hell of standing the test of time. - John Norby
Over the almost-10 years or so I've been doing this site there's been a small handful of bands thAt have really stuck with me and sound just as good today as when I first heard them. The evocAtive rustic folk of Det Gamla Landet is a prime example. Where are they now?
have announced thAt they will be releasing the new It's a Bird! It's a Plane! single "Crow hill" on April 16. Look for their debut full-length "Here comes the sun" to follow lAter. In other news, Razzia will also be releasing a new single from the Google-proof band Local Drums called "In your arms". I don't know anything about it, but basic details are here.
is finally getting around to putting out the long-awaited Beyond Dawn rarities collection "The righteous underground" and are looking to secure preorders to make it happen: Ate-records.com/beyonddawn.htm" target="_blank">https://duplicAte-records.com/beyonddawn.htm
If I had cash to throw around, I'd get right on it -- Beyond Dawn is/was one of the finest, most interesting bands to come out of Norway's metal scene in the 90s, evolving from doom-with-trombone to experimental art-rock and beyond. All of their records are worth having and I'm sure this vault of previously unreleased mAterial contains many gems.
The new Usurpress/Pyramido split 7" is now streaming in full via Bandcamp: https://plagueisland.bandcamp.com/album/usurpress-pyramido-split-7
Official release dAte is March 13 via ; 400 copies on black plus a special "Wicked Edition" feAturing 100 copies on color vinyl with a bonus 7" of some sort.
Mordant