I do not know whether this band named itself after the (great) track by Naglfar (from the semi-legendary album Diabolical), but fact is that this German quartet recently released their debut Return From The Brimstone Portal. Brimstone Gate is like a side-project of Niflhel (when will they finally release something new?), yet somehow different in approach (despite some comparisons, evidently). This new project was formed in 2020, intended to be a studio-outfit only.
I have several reasons to explain the reason of this review, even though it was release almost one year ago: the community behind this project, the specific content (‘one year after …’), and of course the Aural Art. I’ll briefly explain these elements.
Cyclic Law, currently located in France, were formed in 2002 ‘to promote international musicians working in the field of Ambient, Experimental and Industrial Soundscapes’. The label gets run by Frédéric Arbour, who is the same mastermind behind projects like Visions, Instincts and some others.
The history of Stuttgart, Germany-based act Beyond Helvete goes back to the second half of the first decade of this century. At that moment, this project was the main outfit by Sven ‘Natrgaard’ Krause and could be considered a renewed direction on top of his (now defunct) outlets Nachtfrost and Zwenz. After some mini and full-length recordings, things went silent. An immense emptiness remained…
I did not know the band with the unpronounceable name H, even-though they were already formed in 2015 or so. But that can be, for they did not release anything official yet until now. This Italian act was ‘born with the idea to create something extreme that fits both their musical inspiration and tradition’. The main intention was to establish a concept based on John’s The Apocalypse - the biblical epos, if you want to - written by one of the ‘legendary’ evangelists.
In the meantime, in January 2023, Italian act Shamael did independently release a second album (Il Suono Di Mille Orchestre Parte I), but I would like to come back on the debut. That first album, Melancholie Der Engel, was actually released two years ago, but it deserves some additional support for sure. I never mind writing down my thoughts on material that isn’t totally new, especially when the quality of that material is worth it.
The multiverse of Aesthetic Death has no boundaries whatsoever. Except for some ABBA-compilation or a tribute to George Michael, I guess this label sort of investigates all angles within the sonic spectrum. I firstly wanted to mention ‘within the musical spectrum’, yet as from this specific release on… I’ll come back to this album immediately. The label houses bands and projects in many aural areas, especially Metal-oriented (Doom, Black, Funeral Doom, Sludge) and within spheres of Dark Ambient, Power Electronics, Esoteric Drone and Ritual.
[another short one, yet once again one that needs / deserves some (any) additional support by undersigned, despite being released – or better: re-released – a year and a half ago]
God Body Disconnect does it again: creating a soundtrack around confusing questions about mortality and anxiety, about the unpredictability of the consciousness, about the limitations of our being and of our grip on reality and existence. I’m lost. I can’t find who I am anymore. The threshold of sanity has been crossed so many times, I don’t know if I’ll ever make it back. […] I’ve been there before, and I don’t ever want to go back. But, the wolves of hell have been sent to devour me, and there’s no calling them off.
First, to avoid any consternation or confusion: ½ Southern North needs to be pronounced as ‘half southern north’. This said…
