Ensiferum are the folk metal band that everyone is exposed to at some point or another. Typically when you think of folk metal and the sonic aspects of it, Ensiferum is the first band that’ll comes to mind. While the band has been steady with their releases in the past few years, they always manage to resurface just as you’re beginning to wonder where they went. Following that trend, the band have revealed their new album, Two Paths, is on the way.
There was a point in the first episode of Netflix’s Castlevania where I saw a dead child, torn up by demons unleashed upon the Earth. Going in nearly blind to this new series and knowing the property based on the name alone, that was one of the few surprises to be found in this short season, meant to show that this wasn’t an animated show that was going to hide away from going to dark places: the show is the dark place and you’re in it nearly right away.
Greek symphonic death metal act Septicflesh are no strangers to their own craft, and fans should know what to expect by now. However, that doesn’t change the fact that a new Septicflesh song should catch you off guard on the first listen. That’s exactly what the band have accomplished again with “Dante’s Inferno.”
Chelsea Wolfe, the doom-oriented songwriter embraced by the metal community, announced this morning her newest album, Hiss Spun, will be released this year. Having found success in the metal community with her appropriately titled fourth album, Abyss, her forthcoming fifth album will be her third release on the Sargent House record label.
This is a bold statement, but Violet Cold should be the next big black metal act. With the post-black metal craze still going somewhat and bands like Ghost Bath and Deafheaven pushing the gendre’s ironic boundaries, it’s only logical for bands of this style to come forward with something different. Yet that rarely ever happens. Violet Cold’s Anomie seems to be the peak of that, though. While albums like Sunbather and Moonlover are definitely influential on modern black metal bands, Violent Cold goes the extra mile are even draws from the likes of Panopticon and Saor to compose post-black metal that’s refreshing and might be telling everyone to get their act together.
It’s no secret that we enjoy Marvel’s Netflix series. While their films are in their own right great, the Netflix series (For me, at least) captures what I love most about the concept of superheroes. Since the initial announcement of the Marvel-Netflix deal, every season released has been building up to The Defenders, in which the Netflix heroes team up and fight a threat bigger than any of them individually. Finally, it seems we’re getting close.
It seems like forever since the last Dimmu Borgir album. While Abrahadabra was not the best received by the fans, it still helped Dimmu Borgir become the powerhouse of a symphonic black metal act they are known for being. Its been five years now and the band has been working on a supposed follow up album for some time now. Breaking the silence momentarily, Dimmu Borgir are now releasing an album to help tide fans over.
Y’know, I have this thing with music where I want to hear something fresh and adventurous. Not like the new Suicide Silence where they just aped another band’s sound and an aesthetic from twenty years ago, but where bands evolve their sound in a mindful and interesting way that abide by no rules but their own. Poland’s Disperse do exactly that and have only the boundaries they set themselves. With their third studio album, Foreword, Disperse are experiencing musical freedom to the fullest.
