Comprised of members from Aosoth, Antaeus, and Temple of Baal, France’s The Order of Apollyon aren’t the joking type. You won’t find jokes about gurgling menstrual blood-both for supper or day trips to the epicurean gynaecologist—that’s saved for the group’s gore-grind project, cutely named Genital Grinder. Instead, The Order of Apollyon are solely focused on flat-black darkness and the evil that swirls menacingly within.

Click below to view their blasphemous video:

They turned — and decapitated — heads opening the 2014 Decibel Tour, they “defiled” the Flexi Series, and their debut was our ninth favorite record of 2013. Now the teenage thrashers of Noisem have graduated to Decibel‘s cover, and they’ve revved up a worthy successor in Blossoming Decay. We chronicle the Baltimore quintet’s fast ascent…

Poland’s one-man, one-woman (and thus, probably Church approved) blackened frost-treaders Mornië Utúlië offer one of those perfect blends of intent, image and music.  Calling a black metal record Sny (Polish for “dreams” and, coincidentally – thanks Google Translate – Afrikaans for “cuts”) and draping the cover in a field of stars certainly sets up expectations that this might be a toothless, undistorted bliss-out, but Mornië Utúlië’s adventures into the void turn out to be way more Darkspace roar than Alcest sigh.  Like the subtle merging of Nosferatu and nebula on the cover, Mornië Utúlië throttle up the terror in in their yawning darkness and never settle for mere atmospheric meandering.

We asked Bartosz Brożek, the man behind the music, about his journey and his newest creation, so you can read all about it after the jump while you stab through the cosmos with Sny and a video for the late-album cut “W Nocy Płynie Chłodny Wiatr” featuring gal-vocalist Ewa Kleszcz.  If you dig, be sure to head over to the Mornië Utúlië’s Facebook site or Bandcamp page, where the album lives.

Live long, prosper, eat the weak and fear your dreams! 

Metal is falling deeper and deeper into a retro-obsessed morass. As such, folks will forever debate both sides of the ‘should they or shouldn’t they be digging out old treasures/does the old school crowd care about the new school stuff/does the new school crowd care about the old school stuff/should the band in question have broken up years ago’ arguments. Tonight, and this tour as a whole, is a solid indication that everyone on all sides of all arguments is both right and wrong. The Dark Roots of Thrash tour demonstrates that the entire span of a given band’s career means different things to different groups of people and everyone is valid in expressing their love of whatever era of a band they happen to love.

Read the rest of the review (and retro commentary) after the jump.

Last week we featured “Bastards Burn” from the new Psychomancer EP Inject the Worms. If one song wasn’t enough for you, good-guy record label Orchestrated Misery is giving away FIVE copies of this bludgeoning EP. Email us at [email protected] with just what exactly you think a Pyschomancer is, and we’ll pick five lucky metalheads to…

While Royal Thunder‘s sophomore effort may be an early contender for album of the year, it’s way too early to tell if Crooked Doors will forever change lives.  Why the hyperbole?  Well, RT guitarist Josh Weaver was kind enough to tell us about some records that changed himforever.  “I’m sure I’ll be kicking myself thinking of other albums after I submit this,” explains the axeman.  “[But] these bands and albums played a huge role in influencing the music that I write and play today. I am forever thankful for these albums and hope they have as big of an impact on you as they did to me!”  In the meantime, we’ll continue to be grateful for the musical stew that this recipe has created in the form of the Atlanta quartet. 

You can pick up a copy of Crooked Doors here (bandcamp) or here (physical) and be sure to catch the band on tour in a city near you in the very near future.

Check out a Royal Thunder song stream, their Decibrity playlist, and upcoming tour dates after the jump. 

Green Hell. Septic Death. Green Death? Yes, that’s the moniker for a Des Moines thrash band looking to restore Iowa’s reputation in the extreme metal world after decades of Slipknot. We actually picked up on Green Death in our print edition, with an effusive review that said: “this Des Moines outfit plays a classy brand…

We’re one week removed from the terrible van crash that took the lives of three members of occult metal band Khaotika and USBM outfit Wormreich. Khaotika frontwoman Lariyah Hayes asked us to share the following tribute video for drummer Nick Crisostomo, who died in the accident. Yesterday would have been his 26th birthday. Be careful out…

Back on September 8, 2013 Satyricon staged a special show at the Oslo Opera House in Oslo, Norway, in which the black metal veterans performed alongside the Norwegian National Opera Chorus. The end result was exactly what anyone would expect, the band’s distinct music given more drama and gravitas thanks to the haunting vocals by the 60-member choir. The concert was filmed and recorded, and on May 1 Napalm Records will be releasing Live at the Opera as a special DVD/CD package. It’s a spellbinding performance – check out the performance of “Die By My Hand” after the jump – and we recently caught up with drummer Frost to talk about this release, and what’s next for Satyricon.

Read the interview and check out the video after the jump. 

Despite some unfortunate hairstyle choices, Valborg play a pretty unique style of doom. Going for clean and bright where a lot of bands go for dark and dirty, the German trio has found a path less traveled into this oldest of metal genres. There’s something to be said for aesthetics. You can check out the…