Tag Archives: Season Of Mist

Reviews, Various

(review) Abbath – Dread Reaver (Season of Mist)

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One of the icons and legends of Norwegian black metal scene is back. Yes, Abbath is back with his third opus and it is a blast. Former Immortal main man managed to defeat his personal demons and he is back strong and presenting strong opus of nine songs, one being Metallica cover. I can say that new record is more versatile than ever. Don´t get me wrong, Abbath didn´t start to play folk metal, it is versatile in extreme metal waters, with many influences of thrash metal in the song structures, also death metal in opener Acid Haze, but for me a nice surprise was involvement of something like mandoline melody at the start of one of my personal favorites being Dream Cult. Black metal roots are still there, especially in Abbath´s trademark voice that you are able to recognize anywhere and anytime. Also, Myrmidon is thrash metal influences aggressive anthem with wicked guitar solo and melancholic melody underneath it all. Cover of Metallica´s Trapped Under Ice thematically and musically fits perfectly to this album in case you wondered why Abbath covered Metallica. This album is high energy cold riffing, black thrash death metal at its finest and I can hardly wait to witness this live.

For sure one of the contenders for best releases in 2022 and we have just started.

9/10

Reviews, Various

(review) Nite – Voices of the Kronian Moon (Season of Mist)

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San Francisco has always been fertile ground for metal and many great bands come from the Bay Area and around this glorious city. Nite are relatively new band in the scene, formed in 2018 but the members of this entity are in no way new or fresh in the scene having played in many bands and projects. This is Nite´s second full length opus and it contains eight songs. The music of Nite is melodic heavy metal but done with blackened style. That means many melodic hooks and solos, anthemic guitar riffs and catchy songs, but vocals are way different giving the whole darkened atmosphere. Guitarist/vocalist Van Labrakis sings, well it is not really singing but a mixture of growling, whispering and almost spoken voice in some parts, giving special, almost Lovecraftian atmosphere to this opus, although it is a nod to all old school NWOBHM masters through metal´s vast history. My personal favorites are Acheron, Kronian Moon and Heliopolis. Lyrics deal with more sinister and fantasy themes this creating a mixture of beauty with melodies and unrest and dread with horror atmosphere. I am glad I discovered this band.

8/10

Reviews, Various

(review) Shape of Despair – Return to the Void(Season of Mist)

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Long time no doom metal to grace the pages of this zine. Now it is time to correct that, and what better way to do it than with new Shape of Despair record. Finns have been in the scene since 1998, even before that when there was a band called Raven. This band is featuring members and former members of Finnish bands such as Finntroll, Throes of Dawn, Impaled Nazarene, Tyrant, Barathrum…

What to expect on this record? This is band´s fifth full length and it has been seven years since the last album came out. This opus features six songs of despair, slow funeral doom with lots of atmospheric parts, melancholic melodies and sorrow mixed with partly aggression done in a way only Finnish bands can do it. Songs are long, with shortest being just under eight minutes but it does not get boring for a second. Quite the contrary, guitar work, synths and drums carry us to some other dark place, coupled with vocal interplay, courtesy of singers Henri and Natalie whose voices fit just perfectly in the whole picture. Death doom growls interwine with clean passages and melodic parts, emphasizing loneliness, misery, pain and futility of life itself. But, this record also gives hope. Why? Because, no matter how hard, hopeless it is, metal is still here and always will be.

8,5/10