Lilyum - "Altar of Fear" (Vacula Productions, 2017)

Band: Lilyum
Title: Altar of Fear
Genre: Black Metal
Year: 29th August 2017
Time: 47 min
Rating: 81/100













Wow, this "Altar of Fear" is the fifth release by Lilyum reviewed on these pages! For who that know nothing about them, Lilyum is a prolific black metal band from Turin (one of the most beautiful cities of my country also because it's very artistic and full of gigantic squares, the mighty Piazza Castello in primis!) able, in the past, to release amazing albums as "Crawling in the Past" (rating: 94/100) but also some wrong steps like the disappointing "Nothing is Mine" (62/100), always offering a sound with creative ideas. Founded in the now far 2002 even as a groove metal band (!), Lilyum, since 2009, are mainly composed of the mastermind Kosmos Reversum and Lord J.H. Psycho, also if some albums were recorded without the contribution of the latter. Throughout the years, these two maniacs have been helped by other two people very known into the Italian black metal scene: the singer Xes (Infernal Angels, and active in Lilyum between 2011 and 2015) and the hyper-active Sicilian session drummer Frozen, now became a full-time member of this band (and it was finally time, I say!). You have to consider that the previous album, "October's Call", was recorded with a line-up reduced only to Kosmos Reversum and Xes, so this 7th full-lenght called "Altar of Fear", released by the Ukrainian label Vacula Productions, see the the welcome return of both Lord J.H. Psycho and Frozen (without him, Lilyum use a drum-machine in every case) and, in addition, since Xes is out, the vocals of the same Lord J.H. Psycho are finally back to torment your dreams! So, let's go to discover this new effort, that Kosmos Reversum sent to me 5 months ago circa in physical CD (said frankly, the physical copies are and will be always better than the digital ones, now a classic for the reviews).

The story of Proto-Speed/Thrash metal - PART III

1982 was an important year for the future speed/thrash metal movement that emerged within few years. In fact, it was just during in 1982 that bands like Metallica, Slayer, Exodus and Sodom started their own careers releasing also devastating demos as "Power Metal" (Metallica) or the noisy and obscene "Witching Metal" (Sodom). And we don't forget the fundamental contribution to the emerging speed/thrash metal given by the first two volumes (both edited, indeed, in 1982) of Metal Massacre, a series of compilations, released by the soon-to-be-famous US label Metal Blade Records owned by Brian Slagel, in order to spread the music of North American bands like Metallica (with their very famous song "Hit the Lights", then appeared in their debut album "Kill 'Em All"), Armored Saint, Cirith Ungol and many others. Finally, 1982 was the year in which many bands started to love the speed and the pure sonic aggression revolting also the way to conceive the heavy metal music.

Dig Me No Grave - "Immemorial Curse" (Satanath Records/Sevared Records/Wings of Destruction, 2017)

Band: Dig Me No Grave
Title: Immemorial Curse
Genre: Death Metal
Year: 15th June 2017
Time: 34 min
Rating: 63/100












H.P. Lovecraft! How many extreme metal bands took inspirations for their lyrics from the raving imagination of that solitary man? An endless bunch, you know, and the nice thing is that many other new bands continue to evocate untiringly the Ancient Ones and their cosmos full of unspeakable abominations ready to swallow your useless mortal bodies until to destroy your own souls. Well, Dig Me No Grave, from Russia with hate, are one of the new Lovecraft's worshippers. But they are new for me because I didn't know anything about them until few days ago. In fact, we are talking about a band that plays since 2009 releasing, for the moment, two albums from 2014 to 2017, and the last of them is the here reviewed "Immemorial Curse", edited by the prolific Russian label Satanath Records along with the US Sevared Records and the Russian Wings of Destruction.

Vessel of Iniquity - "Vessel of Iniquity" (Self-released, 2016; Xenoglossy Prod/Sentient Ruin Laboratories, 2017)

Band: Vessel of Iniquity
Title: Vessel of Iniquity
Genre: Noisy Black/Death Metal
Year: 25th September 2016 (self-released
19th January 2017 (Xenoglossy Productions/Sentient Ruin Laboratories
Time: 15 min
Rating: 73/100









Hi everyone! After a couple of weeks accompanied by diseases and depression, finally I picked up this brand new EP and I started listen to it...OMG...whatta fuck is that? this was what I thought right after I finished listening to this EP. What am I talking about?

I am talking about the debut EP of the UK-based one-man black/avantgarde/noise project Vessel of Iniquity. Let's see something about it.

Infernal Blast - "Wolves Elitism Speech" (War Arts Productions, 2017)

Band: Infernal Blast
Title: Wolves Elitism Speech
Genre: Brutal Black Metal with Bestial Black/Death influences
Year: 21st September 2017
Time: 17 min
Rating: 73/100















There are bands that seem to come from some hostile and obscure dimensions such is their hate towards mankind and its idiotic world. This is exactly the case of Infernal Blast, a one-man band founded in 2012 by a completely demented French gasmask demon called Will. L Dominator. If you are ready for the Ultimate War, then I think that his debut EP "Wolves Elitism Speech" may be the perfect soundtrack to end definitely the world!

Umbra Noctis - "Via mala" (Novecento Produzioni, 2017)

Band: Umbra Noctis
Title: Via mala
Genre: Black Metal with Rock influences
Year: 22th April 2017
Time: 47 min
Rating: 84/100











The Italian black metal band Umbra Noctis, through their singer Filippo Magri, sent to me, in September 2017, the physical CD of their second album "Via mala" ("Evil Way"), released some months before by Novecento Produzioni, a small and unprolific label from Italy specialized on black metal. But, when you will put their new effort into your turntable, you will discover a very particular and innovative kind of black metal!