Bloody Valkyria – In Our Home, Across The Fog (2025) – Review

Bloody Valkyria - In Our Home, Across The Fog - Album Cover

Early 2025 seems to turn into the year of the Valkyries. The RMR crew already had some earlier. A flamboyant platter of moods and flavors served with an underlying vampiric Victorian flair. But here, things are moving seriously North. To the places where the sun either gets stuck in the sky for months or won’t shine at all. But it is also to places where true metal excellence happens more often than not.

So, the question here is: Will Bloody Valkyria and their somewhat unwieldingly structured piece In Our Home, Across the Fog really cut the dense Scandinavian mustard? There’s … [...] Click to raid more!

Ethereal Shroud – Trisagion (2021) – Review

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RockmusicRaider - Ethereal Shroud - Trisagion - Album Cover

Atmospheric Black Metal is indeed a popular genre. Ethereal raspings on a cosmic scale, surging towards you in an abundance of sounds and colors. Towering tsunami waves of riffs and monumental samples that will work overtime to create atmosphere. And those records often originate from the fantasy folks, to the earthy nerds, over to the rebels in the realm.

But unfortunately, the genre garnered so much notoriety that the posers and copycats started to crawl out of the scorched woodwork. So, there’s also a dark side. Many times, the offerings contain overloaded, even overwrought constructs that indeed freely feed on … [...] Click to raid more!

Caladan Brood – Echoes of Battle (2013) – Review

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Caladan Brood - Echoes of Battle - Album Cover

Looking for stellar Atmospheric Black Metal? An epic battle of forces unknown? Morrowind on steroids? The 2013 debut album, Echoes of Battle of the startup Caladan Brood, cuts you right down the middle, chews you up, and spits you out again. Straight into the grand Epic Atmospheric Black Metal landscape they portray, mixed into this here black magic potion.

Okay, you purists, admitted! They cruise (very, very) dangerously close to the abominable crime of copycat, sounding like Summoning in a way that is – almost exactly like them. And they indeed take the typically Chinese art of plagiarism a little far. Just look at the [...] Click to raid more!