ATMF

  • Midnight Odyssey – Firmament (2010)

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    Hailing from Australia today we review Midnight Odyssey’s debut full-length album “Firmament” which in fact is a reissue of their 2009 demo of the same name but with different cover art. This band plays Atmospheric Black Metal and does a fine job at creating a very eerie release, but falls short in terms of originality and diversity.

    Dis Pater is the mastermind (and only member) behind Midnight Odyssey. The album features over an hour of haunting hymns dedicated to despair and darkness. Like we mentioned this release is neither original nor diverse, but it has interesting individual features, like the use of some beats in the programmed drum track and some nice ambient melodies.

  • Militiae – Nyseius (2010)

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    Hailing from France, this month we get a taste of great Black Metal in the shape of “Nyseius” from the one-man band Militiae. This release features a perfect combination of traditional Scandinavian Black Metal with more symphonic Avant-garde elements that give this release the edge needed to be noticed in the super crowded BM scene.

    If you are looking for ‘cult’ Black Metal, you might check this release out since it features the traditional blastbeats and tremolo picking sections that we all love. The release also has a very grim and raw feeling to it at (the beginning of Les Symboles de la Catharsis song), but it never lacks production values.

  • Svarti Loghin – Drifting Through The Void (2010)

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    When I first started listening to this album and the intro song “Red Sun Sets” was over, I thought I had the wrong promo on my playlist since the band’s music sounded like a demo tape for a Coldplay/U2 song. The guitars were rough and the percussions were too calm from what I expected from a BM band, then minute 1:50 hits and there are some weird Bono style vocals that made me double check that I was listening to Svarti Loghin and not some shitty U2 album that somebody sneaked into my computer.

    After the initial shock, I went to the band’s myspace and found out that in fact that is how the album starts. If I would have waited 30 seconds more I would have heard the shrieks and all I would know I had the right album. As you can expect, Svarti Loghin plays a very interesting sounding Black Metal that will surely shock a bunch of people if you are expecting furious blastbeats and incontrollable shrieks for desperation.

  • An Autumn For Crippled Children – Lost (2010)

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    With an extremely interesting (and messed up) name, I was very intrigued by this band. After reading the release’s press information I got even more excited, since they claimed that the band mixes Atmospheric Doom Metal with Black Metal and Post-Rock, a combination that on paper sounds heavenly but in practice can be a total failure.

    So being both excited and skeptical about An Autumn For Crippled Children (AAFCC for short), I decided to dive in and take a swing at this release. Let me tell you, this album is all that it was hyped to be and even more, the music is both dense and haunting creating a tick atmosphere that will immerse you into AAFCC’s demented world since the first minute of “Lost”.

  • Semen Datura – Einsamkeit (2009)

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    Hailing from Germany, Semen Datura displays very promising qualities in a Black Metal band, they have a very (and I mean very) diverse style that ranges from old school Celtic Frost in some parts, to Satyricon, to Darkthrone, to Secrets Of The Moon, etc.

    “Einsamkeit” is the band’s 3rd full length album and has made me try to dig up their latest releases so I can see how their sound has evolved (no luck so far in finding their first albums). This album features 10 tracks of pure hellish black metal that will surely please any fans of the genre.

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