Metal-Adjacent · 02/06/2024
This is a personal blog after all, so today I am feeling obliged to write something personal. It is my birthday. I am turning 39. Really bad age and to be honest, I don't feel like celebrating. I haven't celebrated my birthday for years and if I have the choice, I prefer to be out of town for my birthdays. I hate the fuzz about this day, I hate being the birthday girl and yet it makes me sad when certain people forget my birthday. Welcome to my very twisted mind full of social insecurity....
Concerts · 19/02/2024
Oh boy, I am all over the place. What a weekend. I went to see Skálmold in Bremen last Saturday, which is exciting in itself. But it was also the first time I went in a semi-official capacity for Stormbringer. And because having to write about a concert isn't enough, I also set my mind to taking pictures. Great idea. Did I have any ideas how to take pictures? No. Did I have a camera? Of course not. I was lucky enough to have very supportive people in my cirlce of friends and could actually...
Doom Metal · 08/02/2024
On to another metal sub-subgenre I haven't yet explored: Funeral doom. Doom metal comes with its own set of stylistic divisions like Black-doom, Death-doom, Gothic-doom, Epic doom, Progressive doom, Sludge doom, Stoner doom or Drone doom. Emphasis on the doom here. Characteristics of doom metal are slow tempos, low-tuned guitars, repetitive rhythms and a lyrical focus on, well - doom. Funeral doom in particular is a form of death doom. Very slow, dark ambience and mournful vocals, often growls....
Black Metal · 03/02/2024
Hellripper aka James McBain is currently touring with Abbath and Toxic Holocaust. He was in Hamburg just a couple of days ago. Had I listened to this album a bit earlier, I might have gone and bought myself a ticket just to see the support act. Hellripper is a one-man band from Scotland formed in 2014. Since 2014 McBain has released three studio albums, two EPs and various splits. His third and latest studio album Warlocks Grim & Withered Hags was released in February 2023 and met with...
Post-Metal · 24/01/2024
Agalloch from Portland doesn't fit in any genre easily. Their music has been labeled as atmospheric folk/doom/black metal or post-rock/post-metal and their style differs on their various releases. The first album I've picked up was their second studio album The Mantle, released in 2002 and for me it fits nicely in the post-metal category together with Alcest and Sólstafir. Formed in 1995 by John Haughm, Agalloch has been active with a more or less stable line-up from 1995 - 2016. Until 2004...
Death Metal · 12/01/2024
Cattle Decapitation. Sounds about right for my vegan self. I have to admit, I'd come across this band's name a couple of times already while reading up on other bands or genres and the name alone was so offputting for me, I never looked closer. Turns out, Cattle Decapitation is as pro-vegan as you can get in extreme metal. While none of the band members are indeed vegans, their music and their lyrics deal with animal exploitation and animal rights. Among other things. Formed in San Diego in...
Heavy Metal · 20/12/2023
Seriously, 2023 has flown by. Two years ago, I started this project and it is still on. I didn't post as regularly as I would have liked, but let's take a look at my metal year 2023 anyhow. What was going on?
Spotify Wrapped was a bit of a mystery again when it came to my top genres. Alas, Metal in first place, Rock in second (a lot of Pentagram and 69 Eyes), Black Metal in fourth. That sounds about right. Top artist was no surprise as well. To be honest, anything else would have outraged me.
Black Metal · 18/12/2023
I sometimes find myself shying away from writing articles about certain music. Mostly music I am not sure how to describe. Totally the case with Nocturnal Depression's album Reflections of a Sad Soul. But as I've listened to this album on repeat for over a week now, there is now way I cannot write about it. So here we go. I came across Nocturnal Depression when researching the black metal subgenre Depressive Suicidal Black Metal (DSBM). DSBM is an umbrella term for an arrangement of metal...
Concerts · 20/11/2023
Sólstafir - one of my favourite bands. Since I've discovered them, I have devoured all of their albums. I listen to Sólstafir when I write, I listen to them when doing chores, I listen to them on long drives and I listen to them when I don't like sitting in quiet. When I heard they were coming to Hamburg on November 19th, I got my tickets immediately and I had been looking forward to this day since June. This was my first concert without my husband accompanying me. This made the experience...
Black Metal · 17/11/2023
This is a difficult article to write, because it is a very sensitive topic and yet I felt the need to write it. I started this blog nearly two years ago and while I have recently mostly written about certain albums I enjoyed or concerts I've been to, I had originally looked into the history of metal as well. And as I've been listening to various black metal bands in the last year, there is one topic that kept creeping up on me. As much as I've tried to push it aside, it needed looking into and...