Interview with Asgrauw (2026)

by Brett Stevens on September 2, 2026

All things in life strive to survive and perpetuate. This applies to genes, peoples, languages, ideas, and as a subset of that, musical genres. Black metal is a palatte for discussing a naturalistic, Nietzschean and Darwinistic view of the world that also retains a Romanticist focus on transcendental meaning and the possibility of hidden worlds beyond it. Like the rest of metal, black metal has been struggling to survive since 1994 when the genre bloated and floated, but some rise to the challenge with a sense of delight and the curiosity of discovery. This came to mind when Asgrauw floated across the review queue with their impressive Solips. Luckily the band were game for answering a few of our questions.
(more…)

2 Comments

Tags: , ,

Death is the master of this world – Death is the master of this world (2026)

by Brett Stevens on July 25, 2026

Kaeck releases its sideproject Death is the master of this world in an attempt to reclaim the more atmospheric moments from Kaeck, Sammath, and Graveland in a mixture of metal, sampled backgrounds, and ambient guitar riffing more at home on a Swans or Carbonized album than in the somewhat rigid environment death/black metal has become.

(more…)

17 Comments

Tags: , , ,

Classic reviews:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z