Symphonic Black Metal - Tumblr Posts
Me: Let's find some nice walking music..
[why am I even sharing this? it's not like it's going to be anyones cup of tea.. it tickles my brain just right tho.]
Tribute to 2nd wave BM - pencil mid 2000’s
GB WANDERER
Evilfeast
Elegies of the Stellar Wind
Polish one man black metal band that recalls the sound of early Emperor. Tasteful synthwork with raw and unapologetic black metal, utilizing an unpolished recording sound, but with little detriment to the quality of the music. This is GrimSpirit's 5th album for his project, and a favorite release from last year.
If you enjoy traditional black metal or symphonic black metal, this is a satisfying release within the genre.
Carach Angren -Pitch Black Horror over North America Tour 2018
Dutch Theatrical Symphonic Black Metallers Carach Angren will be touring North America throughout October.
Support from Mors Principium Est and Wolfheart.
While not as big a fan of their earlier work, I found their newest album more focused and streamlined, avoiding some of the unnecessary plodding and repetition I felt was common in the earlier material. If you enjoy a good stage show and black metal in the style of Cradle of Filth, take the opportunity to see them.
Panegyrist
Red River Family Fest III
Their first live performance. Beautiful avant-garde ritualistic black metal with symphonic and folk elements and clean vocals mixed in.
Photos by blogger. Barracuda, Austin, Texas, September 28, 2018, Red River Family Fest Year III.
Panegyrist
Hierurgy
Avant-garde ritual black metal from Chicago, Illinois. This is their debut album, released just this year through I, Voidhanger records.
The avant-garde elements remind me a tad of Therion, but this is definitely still wrapped up in the black metal spirit. A ritual for the soul, this is not raw or aggressive, but rather spiritual and contemplative, with underlying grandeur and majesty.
My 2018 Album Of the Year List, pt. 1
This is a ridiculously long list, so its split up. Its still long. It might be overdoing it. I don't care. Believe it or not, I even left several releases off. I cannot emphasize it enough, there was a ton of superb music to be heard this year, and my goal is that maybe you'll find something new to enjoy. Read it or don't, just keep loving music.
75)IDLE HANDS - PDX- Don't Waste Your Time
- Heavy metal with a sort of goth rock bend to it that's just an enjoyable listen
74)IAMX- Alive In New Light
- electro goth rock of a sort. Still his own thing. The main single, Stardust, is fantastic.
73) Sniper 66- Annihilator
- Austin punk rock that gives no quarter. They just get better and better.
72)Lunaform- Lunaform
- absolutely beautiful debut prog/djent EP from the Dallas area.
71)Convulsing- Grievous
- Punishing, melancholic black/death metal hailing from the Land Down Under
70)YOB- Our Raw Heart
- I'm actually not generally a fan of loooong, plodding doom metal, but personal taste aside, this is probably one of the best metal albums this year. It is aptly titled, and emotionally rewarding.
69)Pious Levus- Beast of the Foulest Depths
-Grimey Death metal from some of Texas' finest, here to rip you open.
68) Marid-VVVVVVV
-Beautiful Saharan atmospheric black metal that makes me feel calm, so always a good thing.
67)Craft- White Noise and Black Metal
-Black metal to napalm your ears with. Just napalm. Burn.
66)Carn Dûm- Shadow and Fire
- Tolkien black metal that roars like a Balrog and hits like one too.
65)Whoredom Rife- NID-Hymner av Hat
- Yeah, Norway still makes excellent black metal. Enough said.
64)Cultor Noctis- Demiurg
- A great little black metal EP that jumped out at me on Bandcamp, looking forward to more.
63)Krigsgrav- Leave No Path to Follow
- These Texas fellows are back with a somber, weighty black metal outing that'll trap you like a quagmire.
62)Lifted Traces- Akira
- Seeing this performed live with the film might have resulted in bias on my part, but tackling one of my favorite film soundtracks with a superb interpretation is just amazing, so full kudos to the fellows at Switched On.
61)Morgengrau- Blood Oracle
- Roaring Texas death metal titans return to crush your ears. And ribs. And face. And soul.
60)Tamerlan Empire- Age of Ascendancy
- Symphonic black metal mixed with Middle-Eastern musical elements, without the overdone death metal aspects so many bands insist on having when doing this kind of sound. In other words- Heck yes!
59)Erebos- Peste Kommer
- While I ultimately enjoyed Faded Into the Shadows from last year more, this is still a mighty good black metal release that perfectly achieves Burzum synth worship.
58)Tvaer- Old Gods Whom Chaos Knew
- Raw melancholic black metal that I'm really hoping there will be more of.
57) Anders Manga- Perfectly Stranger
- Just stumbled on this darkwave project this year, very glad I did. Absolutely top-notch.
56)Dispirit- Enantiodromian Birth
-I really hope I spelled that right. The album is great and so was their performance at Red River Family Fest.
55)Therion- Beloved Antichrist
- Because why not just make a massive rock opera? Their skill never ceases to amaze me.
54)Elderfrost- The Beautiful Voice of Shadow
-If more dungeon synth sounded like this I'd listen to more dungeon synth. I wish more dungeon synth sounded like this.
53)Nocturnus Santurnus- Nocturnus Santurnus
- Immortal worship of the highest caliber, with so many riffs.
52)Magoth- Zeitgeist: Dystopia
- This didn't quite catch me the way last year's album did, however it's still a very solid album with more sweet riffs.
51) Immortal- Northern Chaos Gods
- A return that did not disappoint in the least, this album could freeze Hell its so frigidly raw.
50)Mare- Ebony Tower
- This is dark and beautiful and sucks you in so well.
49)Iskandr-Euprosopon
- Its mellow, odd, cold, and wonderful black metal, and should be given a listen.
48)Sargeist- Unbound
-Unbound is a good title for this, like a raging black metal beast set loose.
47)Spite- Antimoshiach
-Speaking of raging black metal beasts, yeah, this one too.
46)Cultum Interitum-Temple of Triumphant Death
-Dark, roaring black metal that I was quite pleased with, and definitely want more of.
45)Judas Priest- Firepower
- Bow to the metal gods, because they definitely still rule.
Part 2 & 3 incoming.
Classic Greek black metallers Rotting Christ released a "Best Of" album last year to celebrate 30 years as a band, and it's been finding heavy rotation in my listening of late. I've always enjoyed the band, but they've really struck a whole new cord with me over the past year or so.
I've really found them to sort of transcend black metal into a wholly spiritual realm. They do get some flak for their modern releases not keeping the classic raw black metal sound, which is a shame. The atmosphere they've learned to build and maintain is exceptional, and one of my favorite aspects of their music. And their growing experimentation with folk elements, world music, and inversions of traditional Christian music traits creates a powerful listening experience. I've never tended to feel very spiritual, but these days I'm finding more and more black metal that challenges that. And this band is at the top of that list.
Dare I call them "magical"? They certainly invoke some ethereal force within me, and I am most grateful for it.
I look forward to finally sitting down with their newest album in the coming week, once I wrap up my Master's Thesis, which has been a serious distraction. The singles I've heard are promising and I'm quite excited.
Emperor
US Tour 2023
Carach Angren 2/17/23
Come and Take It Live
Photos by me.
Erik's Lament
The Blessing Way
Symphonic black metal based on the Phantom of the Opera. It takes a narrative approach to song structure and utilizes numerous vocalists and vocal styles, giving it an almost manic sound, suitable for the source material.
The stylistic approaches vary from song to song, keeping each track unique and setting excellent atmospheres for the portions of the story being told.
It can be purchased from Bandcamp.