More Info - Free MP3 - BUY NOW: GANZMORD "Monolithic In Darkness" CD EDM "Lord of Nightmare" CD DODSFERD "Desecrating the Spirit of Life" CD DODSFERD/GANZMORD "Doom And Destroy" CD

FOMORII / WIATR SPLIT CD BLACKMETAL.COM RECORDS www.blackmetal.com Fomorii and Wiatr are both side projects of members of Canada's Pagan Black Metal horde Geimhre, but, unfortunately, that's about all I can find on these guys. The split here sees 7 tracks from each band, released on the formidable Black Metal Records. Fomorii open with one of the most beautiful intros I have ever heard. It is very folkish, but in a slower, more epic way. Most of the rest of their songs are mid-to-fast paced raw heathen black metal. The music is very well executed, and is definitely better than most of the shit coming out of the woodworks lately. The only real complaint I have is the vocals on track 3 - 'Comhla Chun Bas'. They seem strained, gargly, and detract from the actual music. I wish they had stuck with the same vocal style as on the other tracks. However, this one low point is not enough to subtract from the many strong points, including the instrumental 'The Curse of Macha' and the split closer 'March of the King of Laoise', which is a perfect compliment to the opener. Wiatr's side starts with some beautiful acoustic music, backed by natural soundscapes. Very October Falls-like. However, the black metal itself is incredible. Intersperse that with some fantastic acoustic guitar, and you've got yourself one hell of a split side. Wiatr even covers Temnozor's 'White Thunder Roars', and does it quite well. In all honesty, this is some of the best black metal I personally have heard in quite a while. If this side was by itself I would still recommend getting yourself a copy. This has definitely become one of my favorite black metal splits ever. Both bands bring it all to the table, and blow you away. And at 73 minutes worth of music, it is well worth your money, trust me. March 3, 2007 By Ormr 9.5 of 10 FOMORII / WIATR SPLIT CD BLACKMETAL.COM RECORDS www.blackmetal.com Two obscure heathen bands appear out of nowhere and get one hell of a fantastic release among a long line of fantastic releases from Blackmetal.com. Fomori relies heavily on Irish folklore, and there is plenty of well-composed traditional atmosphere to complement their tribute to their homeland. Wiatr on the other hand is pretty minimalistic, a raw and primitive one-man project that even graces us with a cover of Temnozor's "White Thunder Roars". Together, they offer a sacrifice to the atavistic ways of Europe before the dark shrouds of Christianity, communism, and the EU all raped the continent of any of it's individual nations' identities and pride. It's good to see bands waving the banner of more "sensitive" material and ramming a fist down the throat of apologists and guiltmongers. Take that, you whiny scum! --(Fatherland Almighty)  Fatherland Almighty c/o Dirt Culture webzine REVIEWS - SOD ISSUE #24 GOSFORTH Hornlust BlackMetal.com 9 Skulls Hailing from Italy but definitely influenced by the Norwegian style of Black Metal, Gosforth (an English village known in part for its ancient Viking ruins, including the Gosforth Cross) joins the orthodoxy of Viking-styled Metal. Hornlust begins with "A Dead Soul Lays in My Flesh," and immediately a bombastic style of Black Metal slaps you in the face, complete with epic-styled structures, tolling bells, droning guitars, and Luxitan's raspy shrieks. "Eternal Curse" turns up the dissonance, with E. A Zorath's (Arvind) guitar sizzling while C. Zorath's concussive bursts draw blood from the ears. The title track slows things down a notch to evoke an eerie atmosphere, "Morbid Suicide Desire" applies some dense guitars that add menace into a cocktail overflowing with a sense of the majestic - there are invocations and choruses thrown in for good measure, and "Thee . . . We Adore" begins with some chilling narrative/effects that build into a blistering fury of epic Black Metal. For some reason, "Temptation Chalice" has muddier production, giving it a touch of the old-school approach, but the closer, "From Fetus to the Coffin," begins with some captivating acoustic guitarwork that infuses this track with a sense of elegance. As a collective, Hornlust will impress those into orthodox Black Metal: no keys, plenty of ambiance and lots of epic dissonance. (OR) MORTUUS CAELUM Macto Interitum Mundi Blackmetal.com 9 Skulls Hailing from Greece, Mortuus Caelum (Latin for "Dead Sky") makes it debut with Macto Interitum Mundi (Latin for "Praise the Destruction of the World"). The band has a definite old-school feel, influenced by the Nordic style on the guitars: it's a muddy but intense dissonance that fans have embraced for many years and is certain not to disappoint. Gareth (Diabolical Principles and Unholy Ritual) is the centerpiece of Mortuus Caelum, his six-string assault resonating from track to track while his raspy spews punctuate the grim proceedings well. Drummer Geegor (Infernal Wrath and Unholy Ritual) plays that old-school style of tinny-driven percussion (the chish-chich-chish sound) while session bassist Drakhon (Unholy Ritual) fathoms a rumbling style that is extremely thick in its execution. Tracks like "The Glorious Battalion" (complete with an artillery-like storm) and "Under the Crown of Sin" bring with them a majestic feel, whereas tracks like "Deep Nostalgia" (love those eerie wolf howls - the children of the night) and the standout "Segregate World" are more straightforward skullsmashers. Macto Interitum Mundi comes with a video track of "Segregate World." If you are an orthodox fan of Black Metal, then you should heed the call of Mortuus Caelum. (OR) SKYDOM Under Krigen Blackmetal.com 9 Skulls Norwegian for "disease," Sykdom channels another slab of Viking-styled Black Metal, complete with majestic choruses, symphonic structures (although keys are not used), and dissonant guitar riffs. This time out, mastermind Herr Sykdom, who handles all the instruments, recruits vocalist Eldur (Curse and Potentiam), who uses both guttural rasps and clean vocals, the latter applied to the choruses. Percussion is light and pushed to the background, so the plodding guitar rhythms carry most of the tracks. Formal guitar solos are sparse, with Herr instead creating vignettes of sound layered one upon another. The minimal nature of the instrumentation works well, bestowing an ambiance of ethereal grimness. Lyrically, Sykdom explores various mythologies, in addition to the Norse legends. For example, "The Epic of Enkidu" deals with the Sumerian myth of a wild person raised by animals. This being is perhaps best known for his appearance in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Fans of slow, harsh, and cold Black Metal with a dose of the majestic should seek out Sykdom's Under Krigen. (OR) CURSE Slaughter of the Stars Blackmetal.com 8 Skulls As primordial as the land this collective comes from - Iceland - Curse has been conjuring its particular brand of Black Metal since 2001. Curse's latest endeavor, Slaughter of the Stars, channels a bit of early Emperor in its structures, although the band does stand on its own. Vocalist Eldur (Potentiam and Fortid) once again turns in a stellar performance, his blighted voice augmented by clean vocals that bring out certain eerie qualities - these clean croons make tracks like "Breeding with Succubus" hauntingly melodic and concurrently disturbing. Guitarist Faun (Withered) follows in a similar vein, his guitar riffs darkly ambient but nevertheless powerful. Drummer Mistur is a master of subtlety, using the blasters at key moments and relying on the kit to create intricate patterns of force. Rounding out the outfit is bassist Maddi, who shadows Faun most of the time. Word-wise, Curse looks toward the haunted spheres in the sky for inspiration - the result is a world without recourse, where shadows are but a beginning. (OR) Gromm/Endless Blizzard In The Glare Of Black/ Beyond The Frozen Gates Blackmetal.com reviewed at: http://www.digitalmetal.com/ Although this record is a bit of a one-sided split, with only three cuts from the better-known Ukrainian Black Metal Warriors Gromm and eight full cuts worth of debut material from the one-man Californian torrent Endless Blizzard, fans of black and white curiosities hailing from the dark side will revel in this record's adherence to cult ethic and ambience. The triad of blasting hymns to obscurity delivered by Gromm are each relentless, chaotic and without remorse. For lack of a proper Ukranian character set, the song titles themselves cannot be properly transcribed in this review, but suffice to say that each of the tracks is appropriately intense in the manner proscribed by the most elite of Black Metal knights. The "cut-hot" production ensures that the vicious attack of Gromm is right in your face. If you have not yet discovered these hate-filled warriors, this is a good place to make a point of doing so, as their works displayed herein easily surpass the still ample onslaught of the duo's previous release, "Happiness...It's When You're Dead." Meanwhile, Endless Blizzard opts for a Burzumic approach, melding lo-fi blasting with creepy interludes on the keys. "Last Frost" delivers an unsettling aura of iniquity, while the anti-harmonic strain of "To Crepuscular Decay" drones and drifts with a sustaining presence of pure, bleak evil. Here, the substance is almost akin to that of Sunn o))). Clearly the Southern Lord camp is breeding spawn upon the West Coast. The benefit here is dual-fold, with the harsh, overpowering nature of Gromm and the distant, cold presence of Endless Blizzard making for a good combination, especially for fans of the infancy of the second wave in this merciless Black Metal war. -- Erin Fox Gromm/Endless Blizzard In The Glare Of Black/ Beyond The Frozen Gates Blackmetal.com reviewed at: http://metal-rules.com/ The fine folks at Blackmetal.com have put together an underground assault of shrill Black Metal heathenry here. GROMM hail from the Ukraine, and have a majestic, plodding buzzsaw feel to them. Loud and vital-sounding, they will undoubtedly hold a good deal of kvlt appeal to the robed and warpaint-wearing fans of the genre. Its best features are its worst; this is strictly love it or hate it, especially production-wise. Guitars buzz and whir with aplomb, while the fierce (but standard) drums kick the whole mess brazenly forward like a frozen corpse. The vocals are similar to USBM act Harkonin, and actually pretty decent. There is keen sense of melody exhibited now and then to remind the listener that they do know how to do that sort of thing...but simply choose not to--because they're evil or something. Endless Blizzard has a whole different feel, meanwhile. The production has a warm analog sound to it, as if it were remastered from a cassette-only release. Compared to the multi-channel overdrive of GROMM, Endless Blizzard sound almost tame in comparison (even though they're probably the heavier of the two acts). Less epic than their Ukrainian disc-mates, this USBM act rides along on a familiar-sounding sense of groove, with an odd gothic ambience to them. A bit punkish in the Carpathian Forest sense, but wit a keener knack for diversity, the band clearly has a wider range of influence than the standard domestic torchbearers. While some may argue that it would detract from the bands overall grimness, I would venture to say this band could be a solid force to be reckoned with, given a bigger production budget. Moribund, take note. Bands like GROMM benefit from their hardcore-esque lo-fi necro surroundings, and will no doubt please acolytes of that school; conversely, bands like Endless Blizzard are stars waiting to burn - give these guys a budget, and they'll rock the icicles off any grim and frostbitten winter abode--the potential is there, waiting like Cthulu to devour. -- Gabriel C. Zolman

REVIEW - LUNAR HYPNOSIS Ganzmord / Dodsferd Doom And Destroy Blackmetal.com Records - 2007 Ganzmord returns in 2007 with another malicious piece of callous American black metal misanthropy, paired alongside the work of Greek black metal solo act Dodsferd. Just like all previous material from this dark entity known as Ganzmord we are dealing with some very under produced mostly brutal black metal here with some ambient, doom, and drony parts as well. Even as Ganzmord's music is raw and brutal there are still plenty of melodic riffs, which is something that is sorely lacking in most if not all current raw black metal bands. Honestly though I hate even using the term 'raw black metal' when describing Ganzmord simply because I think that term conjures up images of old Darkthrone right away and personally Ganzmord doesn't sound anything like Darkthrone to me. Another aspect that continues to impress me about Ganzmord is the vocals. The vocals this guy unleashes are plainly some of the most impressive tortured screams you'll ever hear. Try and imagine a mix between Ihsahn's vocals on the Emperor demos mixed with someone like Silenius from Abigor and you'll have some idea as to how intense his screams are. This is another thing where so many black metal bands fail today. They just want to sound like Nocturno Culto rather than forming their own identity like Ganzmord has. As for the actual songs on this release I honestly can say they are really impressive and may in fact be some of his best songs composed. 'Under a Shadow of Evil' is filled with interesting guitar work the whole way through and vocals that absolutely send shivers through my body as I hear them pass through my speakers. I can't imagine Ganzmord's throat feels too comfortable after recording music. I also found 'Grim to the Grave' to be excellent. This one opens with a spoken sample and then shifts to a quiet acoustic melody with a mostly indistinguishable spoken passage and then the words 'there all dead' being repeated over and over again, each time being screamed even more intensely. The other three songs mostly carry on in the same vein as Under a Shadow of Evil and are excellent the whole way through. If for some reason you haven't heard this band yet, then this split release is certainly a fine place to start, and remember try as they may no other current raw black metal pretender holds a fucking candle to Ganzmord! The second half of this split comes from the Greek solo act Dodsferd lead solely by Wrath. My first experience with this band was last year with the debut 'Desecrating the Spirit of Life,' which I found to be really just an average black metal release. These newer songs though took me by surprise. I should also mention that although four songs are listed for Dodsferd only three actually appear on the album. At least that's the case with the version I have. These three songs are quite good though and in fact each song is a different type of black metal. 'Dead Amongst Us' sounds like something from Bathory's debut or 'The Return' albums, so great old school sounding black metal here. 'Dodsferd' however is a more lengthy (almost 9 minutes) song in the slow misanthropic vein of Xasthur and similar artist, while 'Pale Forest Sing for the Dead' features both the sound of the previous song, but with some much brutal/raw tendencies. When the dust has cleared and the bodies lie dormant 'Doom and Destroy' is clearly a very enjoyable split release from these two black metal musicians. And as I had mentioned earlier this would definitely be a fine place to start if you haven't heard Ganzmord or Dodsferd before. February 19, 2007 By JJM 8 of 10 REVIEW - SOD #25 Uvall October Turns . . . Ruined BlackMetal.com 9 1/2 Skulls In my opinion, the best Funeral Doom resonates like polished obsidian, and that's what Uvall (perhaps a corruption of Vual, the Duke of Hell) has crafted with this latest release. At times despondently Doomy, such as on "These Plague Infested Swamps," while at others hideously Black, such as on the title track, Uvall paints a bleak picture, one filled with desperate angst sure to contaminate even the most optimistic soul. Master-of-arms Lord of Storms turns in one hell of a performance, his guitars thick and juicy, his bass trembling like leaves subjected to a snowstorm, his vocals screechy and eerie, and his keyboards subtle but effective. Helping out are M. A. Rotella, who flavors the proceedings with some acoustic and electric guitars, and drummer Chris Donolan, whose restrained performance speaks volumes. Desolate, minimal, despondent, and at times strangely compelling: All these things, and more, does Uvall bring to the slab. Be sure to haveplenty of needles on hand while spinning this one. REVIEW - LUNAR HYPNOSIS: UVALL "October Turns... Ruined" CD blackmetal.com With the pleasing debut album 'Obsidian Torment' behind them, Uvall returns in 2006 with their second and even more engaging 'October Turns... Ruined.' Much like the last album, Lord of Storms is still the sole mastermind behind the project and plays almost all the instruments (guitars, bass, vocals, synths, samples) except the acoustic guitars on track 5 are performed by M.U. Rotella, and the drums on this album are performed by Chris Donolan. So a small change, but nothing major here. The music on the other hand seems to keep up with Uvall's trademark old school black metal sound but with a few songs sounding rather influenced by the likes of Xasthur, Leviathan, and Sapthuran. The difference however is where these three bands have a deep suffocating production that I can't stand this album is much more properly produced and adequately audible. Uvall takes a lot of that dark doomy slow black metal sound from Xasthur and Leviathan and adds the acoustics of Sapthuran to the mix. Once again Lord of Storms manages to come up with some outstanding riffs that are just boding with evil and send shivers through your body as you listen. There's even some guitar solos on a few of these songs, which is something I don't remember being a big part of on the last album. Not to forget the vocal performance, which is definitely as strong and sinister as ever. Furthermore as for the acoustic guitars, they are just brilliant, especially the already mentioned 'A Corpse in Ravens Lake,' which is simply beautiful sounding. There is not clear cut favorite off the album since the whole thing flows so well, but I do believe the title track, 'Melancholy,' and 'Beckoning Death' are the moments where Uvall shows the most promise that this band is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the near future. And as such you owe it to yourself to hear this fantastic album while Uvall is still but lurking in the shadows. November 1, 2006 By JJM 9 of 10 ASCHMICROSA "incubus black metal" CD Blackmetal.com reviewed at: http://cp05.ionhosting.com/~joelh/ Score: 10 of 10 The Type O Negative of black metal. A sense of humor, impeccable musicianship, soaring melodies, ecstatic female vocals, ethereal keyboards and a Slovenian accent that'd make even Pete Steele weak in the knees. It's so like a black metal re-interpretation of Type O there's even a bit of punk/thrash influence clunking around beneath these majestic conflagrations. There's no song longer than 3:49 on the album, so it's all very "Wham, bam, thank-you-ma'am." The female vocals are exquisite in the mix. Very Sarah Jezebel Deva-like, but with a bit of Diamanda Galas thrown in for good measure. Nice! Production is dizzyingly cavernous. 'Really a pleasure in headphones. Every sound is huge and wet and infinitely expanding. Fans of Black Sabbath, Type O, and black metal will likely find this intoxicating. Purists, of course, will be pissed. --Ginnie Moon November 26, 2006 CURSE "Slaughter of the Stars" CD Blackmetal.com 9 of 10 reviewed at Lunar Hypnosis webzine ...Basically the whole album is stunning, but I really like 'Breeding with Succubus' a lot, and it's certainly not because of the sexy sample in the middle of the song or the fact that I have a succubus tattooed on my left leg (Well maybe a little, hehehe). The song opens with a very dark sentiment and Eldur singing in a creepy clear operatic voice shortly thereafter the song picks up with some of those melodic riffs I spoke of earlier. Some acoustic guitars enter the song soon enough and then that sexy sample I mentioned before pops up, which in case your wondering is most definitely the sounds of Succubus sex. But right after that this song kicks into full gear with a totally killer thrash riff that comes out of nowhere and closes out the song perfectly. I'm also rather fond of 'Six,' 'Wheel of Torture,' and 'Legacy of Dying,' but as already stated the whole album is eye-catching. I do believe if you find yourself enjoying bands like Taake, Sykdom, Vinterriket, Borknagar, Massemord, and the early recordings from Emperor, Ulver, and Arcturus, then you're definitely going to want to add Curse to your playlist. This is some of the best eerie mid-paced melodic blackened metal I've heard recently, and as such you can only better yourself and your music collection by adding this album to it. September 22, 2006 By JJM / Lunar Hypnosis

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