It has been months since I was able to update the blog, work has been incredibly busy and left little time for me to talk about metal and reach out to my contacts. Now with the New Year coming around it is time to update my blog in earnest. I apologize to my readers who missed out on my thoughts and ramblings. 2017 is going to be an awesome year for metal, while 2016 was good and bad at the same time. There are a lot of wonderful things happening in 2017 with bands such as Khorada and Pillorian coming through the pipeline, I am looking forward to seeing where the metal world will go in 2017.

As for 2016 it has been a hell of a year with a lot of terrible things that have happened in the world as well the entertainment industry. There is no need to touch upon these things, there were some great highlights that happened in the world of underground music. Some as noted below:

Alcest new album “Kodama” came out and it was a wonderful album that did have some weak points in it. The one thing that was great about this album is Neige going back to his black metal roots. It was great to hear his screams again. But the album didn’t wow me nearly as much as his other outputs.

I was able to attend Enslaved’s 25th Anniversary show in NYC. It was an amazing show and they played for an incredible 3 hours touching on every album of their discography. There is also a new documentary coming out about Enslaved and this will be something I am eager to watch as well as review. Also Einar Selvik was in attendance and contributed to some songs with them.

Wardruna’s new album “Runaljod – Ragnarok” came out and it was incredible bookend to their trilogy about the Runes. There are a ton of songs to like in this album and it really gives a feeling of both ending as well as beginning. I look forward to anything Einar Selvik puts out because I know it will be a wonderful listening experience.

I came across a band called Imperium Dekadenz out of Germany and they have an absolutely stellar discography and I plan on reviewing the albums I currently have by them. It is some great music that reminds me of a mashup of Drudkh, Agalloch and Rotting Christ. I feel this is a band that will get more listeners as time goes on.

One final highlight (and there is a lot of them) is SubRosa’s new album “For This We Fought the Battle of Ages” it is an amazing album that just sticks with you after you listen to it. I intend to write a review of this album as well because it just really hit all the right emotional notes for me when I listened to it.

I am looking forward to presenting you new reviews, interviews and thoughts about the metal world. I hope to branch out to some other avenues with this blog where underground music is still the focal point in a different way. I wish everyone a happy and safe New Year. Stay metal and stay true!