Monday 29 May 2017

Album spotlight: From Moonrise To Moonset - Torver / Arcane North


Taking a look back on what was an exceptional release back in 2015, yet one which may well have slipped under the radar for many, and that's the split album from Torver and Arcane North titled From Moonrise To Moonset. Two extremely promising bands made their mark with this one, providing a welcome addition to what is already an extremely strong thriving black metal scene here in the UK.

From Moonrise To Moonset is an atmospheric black metal album with "atmosphere" being the key word. This album is dripping with it, both Torver and Arcane North focus intensely on this, creating a dark, melancholic yet haunting atmosphere throughout with their music. Torver's side is particularly noticeable with this, among other things there's a heavy emphasis on clean, powerful vocals with an ethereal quality which really enhances the atmosphere. From Arcane North you can expect similar, a bit more subtle slightly more orthodox with clear influence from In The Nightside Eclipse era Emperor and Burzum to a degree. Their music though takes the key elements of these sounds and shapes it into their own creation, and again contributes greatly to the feel of this split album.

I think what makes this split work best though, is the synergy between both bands. They're doing their own thing, sure, but they complement each other incredibly well and while both bands are quite different in their approach and sound they fit together seamlessly on this release. As a result you've got something greater than the some of its parts, and an extremely cohesive album as opposed to the chimera you sometimes get with split albums.

Now I said when this album came out, in a review I wrote for Black Phoenix Rising forum, that this album would be "one for the ages", one you'll remember for years to come, and I stand by that. While it's only been out two years the fact it's still getting played regularly and will be doing for the foreseeable future I think shows at least a little just how much of an impression From Moonrise To Moonset leaves.

The CD was available through Blackwood Productions, I'm not sure if it still is, the tape version is though and you can also get From Moonrise To Moonset from Torver and Arcane North's respective Bandcamp pages, although you'll have to download each band's half of the split separately. You can also hear the full album on the Atmospheric Black Metal Albums channel on YouTube, and it'll be featured on the Dark Side Of Metal show in the near future as well.

- Demoniac









Tuesday 23 May 2017

English Steel - Forefather / Meads Of Asphodel split album


Two of the UK's most respected black / pagan metal bands, Forefather and The Meads Of Asphodel are set to release a much anticipated split CD very soon, titled English Steel and released via Godreah Records. It will consist of "Tales From a Cloud-Born Land" which has 30 minutes worth of brand new music from Forefather, combined with the Meads Of Asphodel's previously vinyl only "Taste The Divine Wrath" tracks released on CD for the first time, along with new exclusive cover songs.

As split albums go this is one to watch for, two songs from this were featured on the Dark Side Of Metal show on May 15th, which is still available on Mixcloud (check the Mixcloud tab at the top). You can also get a brief teaser of both bands here.



The CDs are being duplicated right now and pre-orders are being taken with Godreah Records.

Godreah Big Cartel (English Steel)

As for digital versions, these will be released individually via the respective Bandcamp pages, the Meads side is already available from Godreah's Bandcamp and the Forefather side has just been added to their own page, you can check those out via the following links.

English Steel - Forefather (Bandcamp)

English Steel - The Meads Of Asphodel (Bandcamp)

Sunday 21 May 2017

Welcome to the Sine FM Metal Zone

Welcome to the Sine FM Metal Zone, a new venture showcasing two great metal shows on Doncaster's community radio station Sine FM. It's a collaborative feature between Joey M, who presents the Metal Mayhem show and myself, Demoniac, who presents The Dark Side Of Metal, here we hope to expand on our work on these shows with content, features, reviews, interviews etc in addition to our radio broadcasts.

The site is a work in progress at the moment, expect additions, changes and tweaks while we get up and running, but we hope to be able to bring you even more awesome metal related stuff to add to what we do on the radio.

To listen to either show either tune in on 102.6 FM in Doncaster or visit the following links when the shows are on air, you can also listen to the previous show as a podcast here as well.

Metal Mayhem with Joey M (Mondays from midnight - 1am)

The Dark Side Of Metal with Demoniac (Mondays from 10pm to 11pm)