Although I can't say I'm fully acquainted with the band's back catalogue yet due to the painful fact that time is limited and there is always so much other stuff to explore in the realms of underground black metal, I do consider Forteresse as one of the most intriguing black metal groups hailing from Canada. Pagan Hellfire might be my favourite churner of the uncompromising Canadian black arts, but Forteresse is perhaps a serious contender for that title as their sound has interestingly ranged from a harsher approach (Métal Noir Québécois) to an entirely atmospheric affair on last year's Par Hauts Bois et Vastes Plaines which was like an utter ambient record, only played with black metal instrumentation.

So into which category should their newest offering, Crépuscule d'Octobre, be pigeonholed? Admittedly, I've only heard bits and pieces of their pre-Par Hauts material, but I'd still definitely say that this upcoming effort is a tad more traditional black metal compared to the minimalist last year's album. Don't get me wrong, Forteresse still revels in a lush atmosphere of echoing, vast sounds, and a song like ”Mon Esprit Rôde Toujours” could almost fit into Par Hauts' soundscape, but the truth is that overall the album incorporates a lot more blast beats and general aggressiveness in relation to its predecessor. And though the sound is hence slightly different, I still find my mind wandering into barren landscapes, forgetting my surroundings and just sinking into the sound, just like with Par Hauts. Mission accomplished, Forteresse's atmosphere here is top notch.

I'm not sure exactly how much longevity these reverby, simple tremolo picked lead melodies have in the long run, but at least at the moment I'm greatly satisfied. Beneath the overbearing, high-end guitar notes is a steady rhythm guitar line that backs up the main melodies, and the album wouldn't be the same without it even if it's so quiet compared to any other instrument. Drums have a very natural sound to them, effeciently creating a natural feeling, especially the breathing snare drums. The vocals are your general black metal rasps which fit in like a glove, and I have nothing to complain about – not about the vocals, not about the whole album, really. Crépuscule d'Octobre might not be mindblowing but still a really successful journey in authentic black metal that should appeal to other fanatics of rather simple yet atmospheric black metal as well. Plus, just take a look at the front cover! It's brilliant, going hand in hand with the previous album's natural theme.

[ http://www.vehementconjuration.com/ ]

Tasmanian black metal rings immediately a certain bell, that bell being nobody else than the infamous Striborg, but that part of the world seems to offer something else as well, and of that Thrall takes care of on their second full-length titled Vermin to the Earth, a seven track feast on evil intentions. The deal is pretty simple: Thrall fluctuates between rocking black metal - where power chords meet the drums that partially almost groove - and a bit more modern, dissonant black metal.

The further one explores the sinister tunnels of Vermin to the Earth, the more it becomes evident that the main focus is on the latter: meaning a lot of menacing discord manifested through mid-tempo plucking. The strings ring with ultimate darkness while the drums steadily blast a tad quieter. The vocalist is a poison spewing snake with his high-end rasps that convince. All seems good from the very first seconds into the eponymous first track and its impressive rhythmic pattern. Speaking of which, the band rules when it comes to overall musicianship. Individual songs don't really raise their heads and the band would probably need somewhat more surprising compositions to impress (as this style of black metal is so damn quotidian at the moment), but Vermin to the Earth is, nonetheless, an enjoyable experience that just happens to lack proper standout moments. ”Plague of Man” tends to be my favourite of the bunch with its foreboding, apocalyptic and desperate tremolo leads, but other than that I can't name proper highlights. The production deserves a mention: it is not lo-fi yet not crystal clear. It's just about enough dirty and fits the songs very well.

All in all, I find Vermin to the Earth a good package that is just in a need of more unique elements to make a truly great impression. Fans of underground black metal in general can't go hundred percent wrong with the newest Thrall, but how much the album actually grabs the listener, making him/her want to listen to it again and again? I can't imagine very many but, then again, I could be terribly wrong. In the abundance of all promo material that just keeps coming in daily, it is not easy to differentiate from the mass, so from this perspective my opinion might be biased.

[ http://www.vehementconjuration.com/ ]

It is easy to notice how much Drowning the Light has developed throughout the last few years. Lately I've been listening to their (or back then, his) 2007 albums, those scruffy sounds and cheap drum machines of e.g. A World Long Dead and To the End of Time, and when compared to such late efforts as their brand new Ocean of Eternity, the difference in quality is tangible. While the embryonic material has its own charm, the 2011 version of the band is heaps better when it comes to the compositions.

The sound is, however, still really lo-fi, the guitars and steady blast beats like a distant waterfall, so Drowning the Light hasn't really done any compromises; in fact, the production is more lo-fi than on An Alignment of Dead Stars. Oceans of Eternity continues in the vein of the latest full-lengths, this particular style in which they embarked on on The Blood of the Ancients two years back: largely melancholic and epic, at times almost melodramatic, underground black metal that momentarily gets into harsher, menacing sections. On this newest effort, things start familiarly with ”As the Shadows at Dusk Reach Our Enemies Throat” and its tremolo laden epic guitars as well as choral synths. The following title-track includes the first properly aggressive riffs but only for a while, and then ”The Cataclysmic Cycle of Renewal” and ”Oppression & Tyranny” get the mood back to the melodic, familiar soundscape. The latter is a particularly depressive and rather slow-paced piece.

Just when things could easily turn into dullness due to the repetitive nature of the songs, ”The Key Still Not Found” brings something new to the table. It is comparably a more haunting piece, and especially so when the ending part kicks in with its Atra and Ill Omen esque graveyard atmospheres: rotting, ghastly black metal! This highlight of the album does not lose at all to ”The Lunatic Tide” that also incorporates a tad deviant riffing from the usual Drowning the Light scheme. ”Drifting Away in a Sea of Sorrow (Part II)”, a peaceful interlude pays homage to its first part from An Alignment of Dead Stars and serves as a welcome breathing moment until the last black metal pieces of the album, ”The Poison Kiss” and ”The Runes Are Thrown & the Bones Are Spread (A Hymn to the Apocalypse)” start, these two ending the album in similar compositional style as the journey began: climatic choral synths atop the ringing, beautiful melodies and Azgorh's trademark rasps.

In all aspects, Oceans of Eternity is your very traditional Drowning the Light album, but heck, I can not deny the power of these riffs this time. There's been plenty of fillers on previous efforts, but this album seems like a really concise whole of thoughtfully chosen material. I find the album to be quite a perfect example of well-done underground black metal, a fist to those faces who claim that black metal requires something essentially new and refreshing to be good.

[ http://www.vehementconjuration.com/ ]

Judging by the cover and overall aesthetics, my initial impression of Vuohi's The Rising Era of Goat was that it would be a feast on cold, northern black metal, hailing the second wave to maximum, so it is somewhat surprising to hear how much there's also death metal and grindcore within this mix of utterly violent extreme metal that barely lasts over twenty minutes - albeit including ten tracks in total.

Vuohi's proper black metal appears infrequently. The first three swift pieces are full of thick, buzzing death metal guitars and grindcore tempos, and it is not until the fourth track "Flame" that is almost a 180 degree turn into melancholic, mid-tempo black metal à la Baptism or some similar native act of the blackest arts. After this certain track, the Impaled Nazarene esque barbarism is back on "(In the Name of) Ultimate Humanity", but black metalish nuances can still be spotted from various different corners of the album. But for the most part, it's the death metalish chaos, sickness and decadence that holds its grip the firmest throughout the songs.

As can be expected, the compositions don't blossom in originality, but it can not be denied that the band does play very tightly. There isn't really anything I could complain about in the instrument nor vocal department (the latter nicely fluctuating between higher pitched screams and low growls, reminiscent of Belphegor). It is just that this kind of race of speed is not hundred percent my thing (hence tracks like "Flames" stand out), even if there's nothing actually harassing or wrong in it. Also, the production is nicely somewhere between clear and dirty, which is good. So why wouldn't I give my recommendation to The Rising Era of Goat, if this sounds like your thing? Go ahead and check it out, these guys know what they're doing, and it is evident.

Although Profanatica has a long history dating back to the very early 90s, the band’s second full-length Disgusting Blasphemies Against God is my introduction to the their music, and a very sweet one it is. The deal here is rather simple: morbid, rotten death / black metal that mocks every possible aspect of Christianity.

Covered in a layer of cavernous bass guitar - which works as the driving force of the record in all its overpowering - the compositions on Disgusting Blasphemies Against God differ little from each other. At times the tempo might be a tad slower and doomier while at times it’s sheer blast beat crushing all the way through, and a song like ”Covered in Black Shit” incorporates some doom bell samples; similar little special features can be spotted from many corners of the album, but they are nothing major. The low-end frequency atmosphere that dominates on the record is probably the best feature of the album whereas the songs themselves might lack all originality. When this muddy menace is combined to the harsh, deathly screams, the result is pretty damn working.

In the end, it’s up to the listener if he’s up for a feast on primitive and uncompromising blasphemy and whether the mere overall sound and atmosphere is enough for enjoyment. I personally really like the filthiness here, and such dominance of crumbling bass guitar isn’t something you hear on many records. Disgusting Blasphemies Against God might not lure for repeated listens on a regular basis, but every now and then this morbidity does invite. I might not have dwelled in a plethora of depictions and details here as I review this title but I think that everything necessary has been said, and everyone knows by now whether these 'disgusting blasphemies against god’ will appeal to him.