Triple Grindcore Feature: Antigama, Marginal, Wojczech/Krupskaya

Menschheitsdämmerung: "Cleaver of Skies and Tenets"

With an instinct for majestic riffs and compelling material, the Belgian one-man army conquers most rivals

In an attempt to achieve unparalleled atmosphere in the name of depression and deep, dark forests, many modern black metal groups have taken to ridiculous amounts of distortion in what seems to be an almost deliberate attempt to obscure their own inability to write compelling material. Classics like Burzum's Filosofem had clear production with every instrument standing out, the compositions themselves easily holding their own regardless of sound. Xasthur's Telepathic with the Deceased may well be the album that for many people has incited this infatuation with thick shrouds of noise and an abundance of effects on vocals as well as strings, but even this modern classic has its obvious hooks and captivating passages.

Possession: "Anneliese"

Roughed-up and scar-faced metal brawl

In 2013 the newly formed band Possession hailing from Belgium released their first demo His Best Deceit, causing quite a rucous in the heavy metal underground. They were lauded for breathing some semblence of life back into deathly black metal with talented mixtures of high and low tempo cuts under the signs of death, black and thrash metal. Welding torch vocals cutting through a backdrop of drop hammer drums and hellishly sawing guitars aplenty, His Best Deceit sparked enormous interest in the band and the scene.