Suffering so you don't have to!
When I got Barathrum’s Überkill and read that this was a Finnish Black Metal band, all alarms went off at MER HQ. Panic and anxiety ensued! We called our contact in intelligence to run a background check on the band. Luckily, nothing sketchy came up! So, I could proceed with reviewing what many call the first Black Metal band from the land of a thousand lakes. Join me, and let’s uncover some hidden history!
In 2022, Devenial Verdict released Ash Blind, an album that was among the best I found that year. So, you can imagine that when I heard Blessing of Despair was coming out this year, I was more excited than the last time Transcending Obscurity did a “name your price” digital sale (I’m not hinting at anything for the future, of course! wink wink). Still, I also felt a bit nervous because we’ve had so much amazing Disso-Death this year that I started to wonder if there were any areas left to explore in the subgenre. Let’s see if Devenial Verdict has an answer for us!
Some things are certain in life: taxes, death, and that Wintersun will take a long time between releases. Honestly, I wasn’t sure we would ever get Time II until I saw the promo. There’s always so much anticipation when it comes to this band, and given how its last album received mixed reviews, my expectations were so grounded that I was listening to Wintersun with the same attention and “objectivity” (an absurd term to use in a review) as I would for any other promo in my email inbox. Having said that, you came here to find out if Power Metal/MeloDeath can offer something fresh as a sub-genre, right?
Concrete Winds is a strange name for a band. It even feels like an immediate contradiction. Perhaps that was the plan all along because the band’s sound is absolute musical debauchery. It’s as if you take The Dillinger Escape Plan and Pyrrhon. So, you know this is going to be unbearable for 99.9% of the human population, but you’re not normal. You’re a freak of nature who enjoys discovering the most extreme music that hell can provide, which is why Concrete Winds might offer something for you, lunatic. Time to find out!
It’s time to come clean. I’m a Saukkonen superfan. I think he’s Finland’s response to Dan Swanö, so you can imagine my level of respect for the man. Ever since I heard Deathstar Rising, I’ve enjoyed each one of his projects. However, I won’t lie, it’s been a while since Wolfheart blew me away (like making me so excited that I’d forget to take my meds). Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed almost everything this project has shown us, but I’ve been longing for some change. There’s so much more this formula has to offer. Can Draconian Darkness be the renewal the band needs?
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and that Finland will deliver interesting Metal every year. Here we have another debut: Beyond The Aeons. However, don’t make the mistake of thinking these are amateurs. OCTOPLOID is formed by members of Amorphis, Barren Earth, Swallow the Sun, and many more! This is the closest we’re going to get this year to a Finnish extreme Metal super band. However, I’ll stay sissu and show no apparent emotion until we listen to this carefully. Does it hold up to such high standards?
Metal Eclipse Reviews 