Submission Edition Volume V

January 24, 2021 CherylLeave a comment

Dawnwalker – Ages

The rich, grandiose opening of “Melekh” sets Ages on a journey of discovery as the initial steps of the record move in rising waves of sound that ushers in visons of dark clouds stretching across the horizon to bring forth a storm. Of course, there is a calm that precedes the tumult and “The Wheel” does much to settle the nerves for what the future may bring with its gentle progressive melodies and beautiful clean vocal lines. However, as the song progresses through its eleven-minute runtime, the vocals become darker and jagged and the music turns into a foreboding weight. This is a theme which runs throughout the record and enables Dawnwalker to structure their songs as singular narratives that speak of change and memories lost to time, while the record contains an overarching story that pays homage to long forgotten rites and the descent of the world into darkness.

Secret Ceremonies – Volume I

April 7, 2015April 8, 2015 CherylLeave a comment

South African metal may not be super familiar to fans of the genre, but the continent plays host to a great many interesting metal bands, so much so that Wildernessking member Keenan Nathan Oakes collected together six of the best, and current, metal bands South Africa has to offer in a compilation entitled Secret Ceremonies. This is Volume I of what will hopefully be a long running series and a collection of incredibly different sounds – from the gorgeous instrumental post-rock of Strage, to the cold harshness of Nihil, and everything in between. South Africa is a interesting place, and its music follows suit. Each song heard here is exclusive to the release and while it’s only available digitally for the time being, it will be released on vinyl later this year.

End Of Journey – A List

December 21, 2014December 21, 2014 Cheryl3 Comments

Ahhh, the good ol’d end of year list. It’s time, once again, to write down a whole heap of records that I thought were super good. But not before I reflect on 2014 as a whole. Let’s see. I lost my job – boo-urns. I found a really cool new job – hooray! I turned thirty – yikes! I heard some excellent music, I met some incredible people, I saw great live performances and I got to visit America with the money I gained from being made redundant.

Gilead Fest was honestly one of the greatest experiences of my life. I spent the weekend with my best friend and his lovely lady, and some of the most passionate, dedicated and downright amazing people I have ever had the privilege to meet. There are too many to mention, but for everyone who made that weekend so damn memorable, I thank you. I can’t wait to come back.

Usually I get super introspective at this time of year and this list is preambled with a whole load of shit that happened but I’m trying this new thing where I look forward and not back. So 2015, I am ready for you. I move house on January 2nd, my job is really interesting and there’s a career in there if I want it. Writing is going well and I’m already planning some really exciting things for the first few months of the year – visiting new places, putting on bands and seeing the release of a new Caïna record. It’s busy, but I’m enjoying life quite a lot right now, something I would not have believed if you said this to me at this point last year.

As is customary, here’s a picture of something really metal lest you all think I’ve gone soft in my old age.

Beyond The Redshift

April 13, 2014 CherylLeave a comment

Bleak Metal is very excited about the inaugural Beyond The Redshift Festival which is taking place across three London venues on May 10th. The Cult of Luna curated event is primed to be a wonderful day of interesting music with each band carefully chosen due to the aesthetic and atmosphere they bring to the live arena. Having been lucky enough to witness a few of these bands on stage already, I’m very much looking forward to experiencing their full aural attitude along with some new names to my ears and eyes.

I wanted to bring attention to a few of the bands I am already eagerly anticipating – both acts that I know will enthrall as well as those which I am yet to encounter. The line-up is incredible and for the very first event is downright too good to be true. Let us take a closer look at Beyond The Redshift and the bands involved.

Cult of Luna’s Johannes Persson says:

“We will have Klas join us for a special two-hour set. We don’t like talking about set lists so we won’t discuss what songs we will play. We’re taking the audience through a show, a rollercoaster of dynamics; we don’t want to destroy the surprise element.

We’ll reveal exact stage times for all bands soon, but you should know that all the other bands in The Forum will play full one-hour sets, as will Amplifier in The Dome. The venues are a 7-8 minute walk apart, and The Forum and The Dome won’t clash, so hopefully you’ll be able to see everything you want to see.

The cosmological redshift is caused by the expansion of space. The wavelength of light increases as it traverses the expanding universe. Unable to assume that we have a special place within this universe, the redshift suggests to us that everything is moving away from everything else…

We may not be able to go beyond the redshift, but we can certainly think beyond it. We are bringing together artists who expand within their space – artists who create something special within this space.”

2013. So black metal. Many doom. Such death metal. Wow.

December 30, 2013January 21, 2014 Cheryl3 Comments

2013 huh? It’s been……it’s not been great to tell the truth. It’s been tough. It’s been wonderful at times, that’s for sure but I’m pretty glad that it’s over and I’m hoping that 2014 brings something more than “fuck, what do I do now?” to the table.

I’ve done some really cool stuff this year. I covered my first big outdoor metal festival for Metal Hammer which was such fun and really great to experience. I’ve done a few smaller events and seen a lot of my favourite bands and made new connections with new faces and if you’d have told me even two years ago that this is what I’d be doing now, I would have punched you square in the jaw. I’ve come out of myself a lot these last few years and gained a lot of confidence in dealing with new and unfamiliar situations. It sounds silly, but I can walk into a pub alone and not be frightened that I don’t know anyone or I can’t find anyone and it’s because of dealing with so many new things that my brain can handle that.

Bleak Metal has gone on to new ventures and that’s incredible. I put on a rock show here and there and although it’s something I’ve always been interested in doing, I never thought that it’s something I could pull off. Huge thanks goes to Zac of Oblivionized for answering all my questions and letting me see how these things work and helping in more ways than I can put into words. The first show of 2014 is booked and I have plans for a lot of cool things in the coming twelve months, fingers crossed they can be organised.

I started to manage a band. What? We’re still not sure how it really works but Caïna is doing really well right now and for that reason I couldn’t include the incredible Litanies of Abjection.

2012…it was the best of times….it was the blurst of times.

January 7, 2013January 12, 2013 CherylLeave a comment

This last year has been pretty great in terms of music, but also on a more personal note, 2012 was actually pretty decent. Good things happened and bad things certainly occurred, but 2012 was the year that I realised that I’d found what I wanted to do in life – and now starts the long, hard road to making that a reality. I’ve come across some incredible people in my writing life that have helped me out in more ways than they can ever know. By giving me chances, by allowing me to hear new records, to making sure that I get to see that all important band that I love, and for the people that might actually read the things that I put out there, thank you. This writing lark is a constant learning curve, and I don’t think it ever ends. I’m excited for 2013. I’m excited for the music that I’ve been lucky enough to already hear, I’m excited for the music I’m yet to hear. Despite the fact that my real life job might not exist in six, three maybe even one month, I can’t wait to see what happens in other aspects of my “career.”

Here’s a picture of Darkthrone hanging out to break up the seriousness. Oh, you guys!

Bleak Metal

None more bleak.

Category: Progressive