Tag: viking metal

Impossibly difficult to categorize into any nice, neat genre, Norway’s Drottnar originally formed as Vitality, in 1996. They began playing death metal, but changed names when their sound shifted towards black metal. The band’s sound continued to evolve more and more, incorporating progressive and technical elements into something more avant-garde over time, while still retaining elements of black metal, death metal, and other extreme sounds. It is this level of experimentation and excellence that both sets them apart from their peers musically, and simultaneously makes their music less accessible to the general populace of listeners–even amongst fans of heavy music.… Continued →

Metal act A Hill To Die Upon just released a new single to all digital networks and Bandcamp titled “Left Handed Wizard (My Eyes Look West)“. It’s a slight departure from the usual metal but I’m guessing this is just a piece of a larger puzzle which will be their new album on Rottweiler Records. I think we are all going to be amazed.… Continued →

Ukraine’s Holy Blood formed in 1999, originally playing hardcore, before turning to death metal and eventually settling on a folk/black metal fusion. The band has released 6 full-length albums and an EP since 2002, with later releases featuring a strong folk influence. Waves are Dancing is their sophomore release and features a near-perfect fusion of folk metal and extreme metal, with elements of melodic death metal, thrash, and black metal. Most of the bands albums have been released in English versions in addition to recordings in their native Ukrainian tongue.… Continued →