Tag: black death metal

Agos – Irkalla Transcendence [2015; Ill Damnation Productions]

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Opening with a powerful chord slam, this debut mini-album from the two-man Greek group of Agos packs three full-bodied tracks (plus a bonus pair on the CD version) of black death metal.  Furious drumming, rasping yells, and tremolo guitar bash out fast-moving rhythms and accentuations, but the band tends to get stuck on one beat for too long, with the trigger-drumming really sticking out at times, and the songs, which each run 5 to ~7 minutes, end up feeling a bit bloated and lacking in direction despite the sharpness of the playing.  Those flaws aside, it’s a strong start for the group, showing ambition and technical skill, so as long as the song-writing can be tightened up and some more variety put into the longer songs, their first LP should be a good one.

Here’s the alternate cover art.

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Suncross – Cailleach Storming at the Gates [2016; self-released]

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In this one-track single, the most recent from the two-piece Canadian black death metal group of Suncross, the band infuses a bit of folk by way of a flute intro before jumping into the hammering drum-beats, twining guitar riffs, and snarling vocals.  The hooks are deployed well, with the guitar’s tones standing out clear and loud, and the six minutes or so of run-time gives the band room to play around with variations on the main theme, while also being compact enough to avoid wandering too far, and it wraps with a firm finish drawn naturally from the rest.  A solid song, and hopefully not the last to come from the group.