The Infernal Sea: "The Crypt Sessions"

The mix between old and new that works out just right

Black metal as a genre never quite got the same hold in the United Kingdom as it did in the neighboring countries in Scandinavia. Sure, a few well known bands sprung up here and there - primarily in the more melodic spectrums of the genre. But in recent years the British scene has begun to flourish in a way that it arguably hasn't previously, with bands like Winterfylleth, Wodensthrone and Fen garnering much attention and many positive reviews, and bands like Written in Torment and Nordland (Nordland & The True Cult of the Earth) crawling around as well.

Aurora Purpurea: "I"

Musical poem, the brilliance of which lies in contrasts

Introducing a band about which there exists little to no information is a hard thing to do, at least from a factual stand point. Aurora Purpurea hail from Italy, and in 2008 they released their sole album, titled simply I. That is all. So let us instead let the music of Aurora Purpurea speak for itself.

Distress of Ruin: "Predators Among Us"

Variation be damned, a monolith of groove in itself

Distress of Ruin is a Finnish bastard child of melodic death metal origin, fused together in a grotesque form with copious amounts of metalcore tendencies. Five man strong, the band from Joensuu presents itself with a classic lineup of two guitars, lead vocals, backing vocals, and a strong rhythm section courtesy of drummer and bassist Sami and Riku.

Forestfather: "Hereafter"

Boundless admiration that would have been an immense recording if released at the right time

Forestfather, a band of Chilean descent, has its origins in the 1998 band Eternal Winter. Since its creation at the hands of Kveldulf Bjalfason, the debut - Hereafter - has been underway, awaiting the completion of the lineup in 2012 with the addition of drummer Jared Moran and vocalist Michael Rumple (of Desiderium).

The band "met" through the Metal Archives forum, and as such the band's reach stretches from Chile in South America to both Mississippi and North Carolina in the US. Many may already be acquainted with Moran's drumming, as he has performed in somewhere around 40 bands.

Void Meditation Cult: "Utter the Tongue of the Dead"

Musical necromancy at its finest

Let the dead be ressurrected and once again walk the Earth so that they may behold the rotten fruit of a 5 year long wait. Half a decade would pass before we would finally hear another release from Ohio's Void Meditation Cult. And the wait has been worth it.

The previous 8 tracks - 4 from Sperm of Antichrist, the band's previous incarnation, and 4 from Void Meditation Cult proper - have barely been enough to keep the black metal withdrawal symptoms at bay. With Utter the Tongue of the Dead, the time has finally come to once again hear their noxious sermons.

Amnion & Balmog: "Grim Repulse of the Southern Lodge"

Spanish duo in collaboratory split release

In 2013, two Spanish black metal bands - Both with a history exceeding a decade of active music making - got together to create the split Grim Repulse of the Southern Lodge. The bands Amnion from Zaragoza and Balmog from Galicia aren't exactly polar opposites of each other, but at the same time they are quite different. 

Ragehammer: "War Hawks"

Unrepentant songs of war from Poland's finest

Poland's Ragehammer don't waste any time, having existed only for a short period before unleashing their beastly debut demo War Hawks in 2014. If any band has the right to call themselves blackened thrash metal it's Ragehammer. That being said, they aren't your garden variety D666/Desaster clone. Among the clusters of their fast-paced riffs and blasting drums there is left just a little room for something different - Something that definitely underscores and defines the entire sound of Ragehammer.