Fans of atmospheric melodic black metal will be all over the latest album from Ukraine's svrm. Занепад mixes up its shoegazing folky black metal with some tasty riffing, recalling both Agalloch and Slavic folk art. [Name your price]
Cross-pollinating the Greek and Polish black metal scenes, Haxandraok takes the best of both and adds some idiosyncrasies of its own. The project's debut Ki Si Kil Ud Da Kar Ra is a unique amalgam of disparate influences, integrating eastern melodies, reggaeton-esque and speak-singing into a black metal framework. [€6]
Svarttjern may hail from Oslo, but one gets the sense that they'd feel more comfortable in the Bay Area. In its second wave black metal assault, Shame Is Just A Word displays a deep fondness for the frantic rhythms of classic thrash - a fondness that manifests itself with a cover of the Exodus standard, "Bonded by Blood." Bang your head as if up from the dead. [€7]
Emerging from the same mysterious Dutch collective that produced Solar Temple and Lubbert Das, Turia demonstrates a similar knack for atmosphere and melody. The third album under the project's name, Degen van Licht sticks to a more traditional black metal template, though at times it employs the hypnotic riffing that made the last Solar Temple album such a joy, along with some post-punk riffing . A premium blend of old school and new school. [€7]
