The atmospherics of Haallucinählia, for example, flit between divine heaviness and spine-tingling delicate sections, all of which work perfectly. Play this album on a good sound system, turn it up loud, and you will be stunned. Stunning in the literal sense as well as the metaphorical. Hallucinogen sees them on stunning form once again. This French outfit isn’t comprised of mere musicians: they’re sorcerers of sound with a knack for discovering jaw-dropping combinations of melody, harmony, überheavy riffage and otherworldly vocals. Each one takes the listener’s mind on a journey to places (s)he didn’t know existed. They’re vast soundscapes of beautiful heaviness. To even call them tracks seems inadequate.

They don’t follow any prescribed pattern at all. BAN tracks don’t follow the usual intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-widdlyguitarsolo-chorus-end pattern. Since hearing Blut Aus Nord’s debut album, Ultima Thulée, I’ve been hooked on this band. Another gesamtkunstwerk from one of the best and most underrated bands on the planet. Vocals are for the most part clean, although there’s plenty of guttural growling for good measure. The guitar work alternates between mellifluous Queensrӱchesque refrains and awe-inspiring riffs. I’ve enjoyed all their albums since the band’s inception, but 2014’s Mach Dich Frei! was a quantum leap forward. It’s dark, sweeping, beautiful, loaded with atmosphere and full of surprises. Finsterforst – Zerfallįinsterforst’s music is the perfect sonic expression of their home turf: the Black Forest in Germany. Another phenomenal record from masters of their craft.

Heart Like a Grave is loaded with the cold wintry metal that Insomnium has pioneered for 20 years. The prospect of new music from the band always excites and worries me (worry that the new material might fall short of the exceedingly high bar set by their previous work). Their 2006 recording Above the Weeping World is my equal-favourite LP of all time. Insomnium albums have topped my charts several times in previous years. Anyone can make a noise, but only Rotting Christ can do it like this. It isn’t easy to combine extreme heaviness with inspired melody. Also like Rituals, there’s a strong religious theme (anti-religion is a religion in itself), with greater use made of choral backing vocals – like chants of the darkest Satanic monks. In the same musical vein as its predecessor Rituals, this is epic, riff-laden metal driven by Sakis Tolis’s untamed growl, which would send the faint of heart scurrying for cover.

Manegarm fornaldarsagor mp3 buy