Author Archives: Old Disgruntled Bastard

The curse of blanket assumptions

Posted on August 12, 2017

Blood overcomes flesh Sulphur overcomes silver Strictness kills mercy, And fire overcomes earth And when the sun sets, It’s red, you see An Omen for when the final dusk comes -Condemner, Omens of Perdition Sometimes, generalizations are made to serve … Continue reading →

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It is good to be human

Posted on August 12, 2017

A strange thing to say on a metal blog, very Biblical in its “…go forth, replenish and multiply, and establish thy dominion over all the fish of the water and the fowl of the air and everything that creepeth over … Continue reading →

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Retrospective: Horrified, Chemical Exposure, Altars of Madness, and I.N.R.I.

Posted on August 12, 2017

A fine test of whether you take yourself altogether too seriously is to stay locked up in a room and play the four titles mentioned in this post’s header. If you can’t contain yourself from running around with mad abandon … Continue reading →

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Fetishizing elitism

Posted on August 7, 2017

A 300 lb narwhale talks of war and Satan and 88 with cartoonish glee. A man-child with poor bone formation holds his fist up against the backdrop of Belsen concentration camp, in tribute to the gods of war metal, but … Continue reading →

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Why Blood matters

Posted on August 7, 2017

Death – a world of pain lies in this world Death – is eternal sleep Death – is a silent man, But he conquers everyone Every step in life is a step towards death Nobody escapes death if he hadn’t … Continue reading →

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Two promising demos from 2017: Sickness (Finland) and Moenen of Xezbeth (Belgium)

Posted on July 29, 2017

    Extreme metal should have always remained lo-fi, a sentiment previously expressed and one to abide by. In a technologically advanced age, however, a tendency such as this could be construed as mere gimmick if the grime doesn’t in fact … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Grindcore | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Phrenelith – Desolate Endscape (2017)

Posted on July 28, 2017

As Incantation slide further into impressionistic senility, Phrenelith appear on the scene seemingly well-equipped to carry the baton forward. Techniques from that school are found in abundance on Desolate Endscape, be it the scaffolding riff lines rooted in chromaticism, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Death Metal | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Perverted Ceremony – Sabbat of Behezael (2017)

Posted on July 25, 2017

Perverted Ceremony have taken the best trimmings from the primal black metal second wave and created an album which feels pulsing and dangerous even at this late date. Sabbat of Behezael is obviously influenced by the likes of Beherit, Von, … Continue reading →

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Engulfed – Engulfed in Obscurity (2017)

Posted on July 16, 2017

An absolute, instrumental death metal album and the changes which this shift in paradigm would necessarily induce in core songwriting remains fascinating to think about. Tonal consistency and eventual unity across the album, much after the manner of classical composition, … Continue reading →

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Spirituality in black metal and Highland’s Loyal to the Night Sky

Posted on June 15, 2017

D.A.R.G. left an interesting comment on a previous post which expressed my general ambivalence towards what passes for black metal today. According to him, “…what we want from black metal, is its capacity to transmit an experience of transformation, of … Continue reading →

Posted in Music Reviews, Thoughts | Tagged , , | 9 Comments