Tor Marrock-Destroy The Soul

Black Vulture Records
2013

Cellar Metal? That's a new one. But, that is exactly how West Wales' one and only Tor Marrock refers to their sound and on "Destroy The Soul" (their second full-length LP since first forming in 2005) it's sort of hard to argue against such an apt description! By combining modern metal with eighties rock and a fist-full of heavy metal's greatest hits (Doom, Black Metal, Thrash, Death Metal, Gothic Metal, Dark Metal and even Traditional Metal) this UK-based power trio gives off a ghoulish, almost otherworldly vibe and then seals the deal with strong songwriting and (even better) a devilish vocal delivery! Said deadly vocals come courtesy of Tor Marrock himself and with the front-man also handling guitars (with bass and drum duties falling on Tarran and Forseen respectively) "Destroy The Soul" is arguably one of the better UK underground gems to emerge from the darkness in some while! Tor Marrock captures the essence of utter despair while drawing the listener ever closer with it's respective spin! "Destroy The Soul" is at times a bit of an oddity while still remaining fairly consistent and (strangely) familiar. How any band can simultaneously bring to mind Samhain, Pentagram, Christian Death, Paradise Lost, Slayer, The Cure and Depeche Mode in one song is beyond me. What's even more of a mystery is how they managed to do all of that and make it sound so fucking fantastic! Tor (the man and myth!) and his cohorts pull it all off like a beast! "Destroy The Soul' was one of the best albums of 2013 and let it seems as if it passed just about everyone by like a thief in the night! If you can track this sleeper down then by all means necessary do it!


https://www.facebook.com/pages/TOR-MARROCK/161843921361

Skogen-I Döden

Nordvis
2014

Just one of several bands black metal bands to go by the moniker (because hey, that's not at all confusing or anything right?), the trio Skogen (which, in their native Swedish language means "the forest") will be dropping this (album number four since their formation in 2009) at the start of next month. On "I Döden" (In Death) the band does their utmost best though to prove that they alone deserve the title and that they alone should be heirs to the legacy that such a worthy moniker deserves! And I'll tell you what. If they don't manage to convince anyone else they've at least convinced me! This should be required listening for those who still insist upon viewing back metal as a blanket assumption (and I should know as I used to be in that exact crowd before having my frame of mind blown wide open thanks to adventurous black metal outfits like this trio!). We're talking about adventures in sound and texture, from dark and brooding passages to melodic, often-subtle interludes, as channeled from band that crawled forth from primordial slime and, upon staring upwards toward the night sky, realized their long road towards evolutionary perfection had to start with basic black metal but that it would end with a magically enchanted LP like "I Döden"! Whisper it with me, "This is perfection".    

Graveborne-Through the Window of the Night

Séance Records
2014


Helsinki-based Graveborne have been active since 2008. "Through the Window of the Night", which is due for release this upcoming Monday, January 20th,  is the band's second full-length release. With an additional EP (the group's 2009 debut recording, "Astride over the Grace") and a lone, 2013, 2-track single (the digital-release, "Burn the City of God" which features an exclusive track entitled "Temple Without Walls" that was recorded during the sessions for this album) this Finnish collective focuses their attention on 90's-era black metal and, without getting too carried away with descriptions like "raw", "bleak", "unholy" and "evil" (all of which would and do apply!), they do it well! I'm tempted to go rambling on about each and every track and the utter sense of despair and hopelessness that such music elicits, but instead I'll just leave this as a means of description (you are free to fill this one in with your own imagination). There are dreams that still haunt me...memories for which even the passing of time can never soften. Events that will forever remain buried within the darkest regions of my mind where they will lie in wait until they are forcibly exorcised from their slumber...which I fear more then anything. Graveborne's "Through the Window of the Night" could be, no, make that is, the soundtrack to that inner torment that I want nothing more than to be buried away and never addressed. Enough said.