Gauntlet
This whole album is astonishing. Every bit as interesting as its cover, and the song "Clemency" rips my heart out. Amazing job!
Favorite track: Clemency.
M-Rad
One of the most emotionally charged and electric black metal records of the year. Every song is exceptional and the sheer velocity of the album is unmatched.
Favorite track: Exaltation.
David Friesner
Caught this premiere on the Black Metal Promotion youtube channel. Simply one of the best black metal albums I have ever heard.
Favorite track: Exaltation.
Since their public unveiling in 2016 with the hideous & haunting Burial Ground Trance demo, Finland’s Celestial Grave have been steadily perfecting a craft that already arrived fully formed. While the band’s brand of black metal does bear some semblance to certain sectors of their native land’s long-running and -esteemed scene, Celestial Grave largely unshackle themselves from “Finnish black metal” and locate a muse that’s uniquely focused and fiercely personal. Such was the case with the epic four-song Secular Flesh debut album in 2019, and now, three years later, that case is even stronger with their second album, Vitriolic Atonement.
“Vitriolic Atonement is a sonic and visual exploration of the dreadful yet beautiful aspects of life and death,” they begin. “It was a comprehensive work for us, where not only the music and lyrics but also the artwork were really central from the start.”
Indeed, lose thyself in the hypnotic layers of that cover art and you’ll begin to understand the experience that awaits within Vitriolic Atonement. In a most disarming fashion, Celestial Grave here sound both bolder and more brittle – robust lead lines painting melancholy and might in equal measure, the execution seemingly more scattered and strident, the songwriting tending toward the anthemic yet upended by haunting twists of texture – whilst not losing that mesmerizing personality that made its predecessors so compelling. As such, Vitriolic Atonement is a full-album experience that’s paradoxically more approachable and more alien: allow that wounded melodicism into your soul, all enticingly come-hither, and then witness the swirlingly obsidian rot spread.
“Vitriolic Atonement goes through different sacraments and rites,” they conclude. “Inhale and take in the aspects of darkness, death, and the beyond that are in reach on this mortal plane. Give in, admire its beauty, and come to terms with it. Prepare for the inevitable, because the beyond will be something no mind nor soul can fully comprehend.”
supported by 42 fans who also own “Vitriolic Atonement”
Tout est une question de perspective.
En regardant la pochette d'Algleymi, on se dira : "c'est un constat d'échec de l'humanité face aux puissances cosmiques". Mais le gigantisme de cette silhouette est un signe que Misþyrming veut plutôt s'emparer de cette puissance et le black metal le confirmera très vite. Il est plus maîtrisé, massif et épique. Si le chant est déjà impressionnant, dégageant plus de haine, les guitares sont de leur côté absolument monumentales. Un chef-d'œuvre du genre ! Nocturnal Egg (Jordan)
supported by 38 fans who also own “Vitriolic Atonement”
Rugged, evocative chanting, distinctive grunting, high-pitched screams and guitars playing forward make for a good album, but not yet a masterpiece. Luckily Celestial Grave have also mastered the songwriting and deliver four songs, each of which cascades towards one or the other climax that never misses the mark. This is definitely one of the year´s highlights for me. JacobButcher
Nearly a decade after their last LP, the Chicago post-metal trio resurface with a punishing concept album set in an apocalyptic wasteland. Bandcamp New & Notable May 5, 2024
The metal’s band revelatory new record crosses genres and styles, effortlessly combining seemingly incompatible subgenres. Bandcamp Album of the Day Apr 26, 2024
supported by 36 fans who also own “Vitriolic Atonement”
I came accross Black Curse, and their first demo, on Greg Biehl / No Gleaming Light YT channel in late 2019 and a bit later, in 2020, as it was covid, a whole lot of time was spent at home listening to music.
In April 2020, I took a slap in my face. The songs that were already on the demo, with the new production here were so insane, it dragged me to hell. Black Curse is definitely one of the most violent band I listened in the last years. Next-level Black-Death metal for sure ! drs_dramm