Under the needle

While Bathory may have been brought to an untimely end following the tragic passing of visionary founder and figurehead Quorthon back in 2004, the band’s immeasurable influence continues to echo and reverberate through every murkily cacophonous, frost-stricken and bone-scrapingly scabrous inch of the subgenre. And tonight, more so now than ever as we await the tremendously anticipated arrival of BLOOD FIRE DEATH - a meticulously orchestrated tribute to the staggering legacy o

Accomplishing in fewer than 24 hours what many firmly established festival giants struggle to do in the space of whole weekends, Incineration has long been something of a marvel in celebrating the innumerable different frostbitten, murkily obliterating and blackly entrancing iterations of extreme metal circa 2026. And from the ghoulishly transcendental conjurations of German black metal visionaries, Der Weg einer Freiheit across the vintage, crypt-scented savagery of Vomitory

With the gargantuan, sinew-shredding viscerality of Mayhem’s monumental headlining set still looming tangibly large as we awake to another day of prestigious, viciously engrossing sonic extremity, there’s no mistaking the proudly celebrated prominence of black metal bands operating within decidedly classic and quintessential territories this weekend. Yet, from the deathly, militaristic carnage of Kanonenfieber and the icily harrowing, undiluted catharsis of Bizarrekult throug

With the brutal, marrow-chilling grip of winter finally beginning to relent into the lush and verdant territories of spring, much of the western world is already awash with all the prerequisite, garishly commercial trappings of the season - a diabetes-inducing plague of painted eggs, chocolate bunny-rabbits and religious iconography inundating every imaginable corner of the continent. Here in the historic, strikingly grandiose environs of central Oslo, however, we find oursel

Whether it’s Satyricon selling out national opera houses or Emperor headlining major summer festivals, navigating the less-than-seamless transition from underground obscurity to the decidedly more public domain of globally celebrated fandom is no easy feat. Especially when your subgenre of choice is, by definition, purpose-built to alienate, bewilder and, in many instances, inspire abject horror in the average, psychologically well-adjusted individual. Yet this is something M

As far as death metal line-ups go, a headlining set courtesy of the immeasurably brutalising and influential Cryptopsy - coupled with some of the most vicious and intriguingly characterful new talent the genre has to offer - makes for a fairly unmissable proposition. And with this most recent, tremendously anticipated run of shows centring heavily on iconic material pulled from 1996 classic ‘None So Vile’, it’s no surprise that every inch of the O2 Academy Islington is soon p

Between Brexit, Covid-19 and the painfully prolonged periods of austerity that have punctuated the last decade, it’s hard to overestimate the immeasurable creative losses inflicted during this unprecedented era. As long-established record labels, iconic music magazines and cherished venues continue to fold under mounting pressures, underground black metal publishing group and label Cult Never Dies has achieved something remarkable: not merely weathering one of the most hostil

Whether you’re the newly signed talent that’s been relegated to a 10am slot on a stage the approximate size of a postage stamp, the...

Encompassing everything from the monumental, weightily pulverising grooves and icily visceral fretwork of national genre icons Satyricon...

On this momentous milestone of a 30th anniversary tour, iconic black metal horde Dark Funeral will no doubt perform on a scale infinitely...