SATANATH – METALLIZED ARENA ( Review by Varg The Mighty )

 

Today’s review is of Georgian Dark Ambient project Satanath’s album “Metallized Arena”, celebrating its recent reissue.

This reissue includes 7 bonus tracks, so it may be dense to experience in a single play for people that aren’t really into the genre. But for those who enjoy it, they may expect some Merzbow influences, with similarly unsettling auras. Some tracks also have a somewhat Martial Industrial feeling.

Some tracks have a consistent drum beat that adds some robotic and post-apocalyptic atmosphere, while others are calmer in a more purely Ambient way. It is definitely a unique full-length, and it has the same wide spectrum of different songs as many other Satanath albums. If you want something dark and dystopian that may fit well in your sonic background, you should check this out. My personal highlights are “Flesh Burial” and “Forgotten Destiny”.

I recommend this album to fans of Dark Ambient. My rating is of 8/10.

VARG THE MIGHTY 

 

ANNIHILATION RITE – WORLD BELOW (Review by Varg The Mighty )

 

Today’s review is of German One-Man Death Doom Metal band Annihilation Rite’s debut album.

This release consists of 4 long tracks of punishing Doom brought to its most obscure and cathartic extreme, which sometimes implements some chaotic auras that remind of Portal, with some parts approaching Black Metal too. This combination offers a cohesive mix of Metal’s darkest genres, invoking demise in a sublime way.

This hellish distortion and these repetitive riffs will lead the listener into a slow and excruciating death. The full-length’s approach is definitely one that begs to be further explored in order to produce more oppressive pieces of aphotic Extreme Metal. My personal highlights are “The Abyss” and the title track.

I recommend this album to fans of Death Doom Metal and Blackened Doom Metal. My rating is of 9,5/10.

VARG THE MIGHTY 

 

GVORN – KEEPER OF GRIEF (Review by Varg The Mighty )

 

Today’s review is of Russian Death Doom Metal band Gvorn’s debut album.

This release offers some hard-hitting and grief-struck Doom Metal that sometimes enters Funeral Doom territories, though it mostly takes a Melodic Doom approach. While most songs are slow and desolate, the band don’t fear speeding things up slightly to enter the realms of Death Metal in order to crush all bliss more effectively.

It’s also worth noting how the full-length has a smooth implementation of Dungeon Synth (especially on the title track) that feels perfectly natural despite its rarity in this genre. This whole mix has created something familiar that nonetheless has freshness and quality, intertwining different kinds of darkness into a desolate and aphotic opus. My personal highlights are “Sounds From The Crypt” and “Pass Of The Dead”.

I recommend this album to fans of Funeral Doom, Death Doom Metal and Melodic Doom Metal. My rating is of 9/10.

VARG THE MIGHTY