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'Thy Raven Wings' and 'The Poorest Waltz' are truly great tracks. Classics even. NP: Mutiilation - 'Vampires of Black Imperial Blood' This has become one of my favourite albums. The riffs are so simple yet so stunning and haunting. I actually own two versions of this, the Drakkar Productions official re-release and a shitty bootleg with a rearranged track list.

Atheist - Unquestionable Presence

Craft - White Noise And Black Metal

A great day out with the extended family.

All the time although in perhaps a slightly different context. If I watch athletics on the TV I just hear “Running Free” by Iron Maiden, nor can I take paracetamol without “Painkiller” by Judas Priest blarring in my head. A stroll in the park or woods with my girlfriend just has “Walk” by Pantera on memory loop. Driving north just puts Darkthrone in my head with “A Blaze In The Northern Sky”. Hypnotist on TV? “Mass Hypnosis” by Sepultura. Lost count of how many times during meetings if someone raises that there’s not enough time to discuss something I hear Anthrax “Got The Time”. Need to replace the batteries in the xbox controller? “Battery Acid Enema” by Autopsy. Was forced to attend my nephews holy communion last year and spent the entire time in the church running through songs with the word ‘altar’ in the title. “Altars” by Altarage came up a lot, but “Altar Of Sacrifice” by Slayer as well as “Altar Of Deceit” by Triptykon kept me occupied also. Life is just shit without metal.

Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath

Craft - White Noise And Black Metal

Darkthrone - Under A Funeral Moon

Coroner "R.I.P."

FEN - Winter

My Dying Bride - Turn loose the swans

Car music today: Immortal “Pure Holocaust” Altarage “Endinghent”

Slayer - Show No Mercy Varathron - Patriarchs of Evil Tartaros - The Red Jewel

Google If you do not know what a word like judicatory means, then google it, which was the first thing I thought of

Dissection - The Somberlain

Opeth "Morningrise"

The roar has always been approaching. As far back as three years ago when Altarage dropped their debut full length 'Nihl', this scribe could already hear the threat of their ability, feel the menace of their presence from over hills far away and sense the nefarious intent as the raw fury howled over my skin. Sophomore effort 'Endinghent' further cemented the prowess of these blackened death metal Basque country residents. Although slightly less of an impact than the opening salvo of 'Nihl' it was obvious throughout their second offering that Altarage were refining their strategy and making the style of attack more calculated. Album number three is no longer an approach though. It's an arrival. Arguably now on a par with the bastion of death metal chaos that are Portal now, Altarage are right up there with their own stamp on the principles of this most unwelcoming and inaccessible form of extreme metal. What they did so well on 'Nihl' was shift multiple times the pace, atmosphere and direction of a track. Doing so with such effortless and frankly unexpected subtlety that I just could not be anything but astounded. At the same time they could drop a grinding slab of unrelenting, blackened fury with scant regard for pacing or measure and still have my jaw on the floor. 'The Approaching Roar' takes those foundations and adds maturity, dexterity and skilled songwriting to them to produce some complex and yet - in parts - more accessible pieces of Altarage. Last year's Portal release 'Ion,' saw the band's sound lifted out of the traditionally murky depths that familiarised their sound, in favour of a more coherent aesthetic - which worked well. Altarage are still firmly writhing in their own filth and murk here, despite the odd glimpse of a clearer stab of accessibility. The menacing flamenco promise of the acoustic intro for opening track 'Sighting' is the first flash of this but in mere seconds the full on face stripping fury that we all know is coming is right there, detaching retinas and bursting ear drums. Even just one track in, the shifting/morphing of pace is obvious and the hidden melody of the final minute is reminiscent of your mum playing Smooth FM in the another room, just audible over the chaos that envelopes you at that time. 'Knowledge' is a big, chunky riffing monster of a track that builds like an army getting into formation for some devastating attack on the enemy. 'Urn' takes a brave step at track number three on the record by building a hazy and funereal intro that sounds like a dial slowly being notched up over a couple of minutes. Eventually (of course), the gates of hell themselves are then flung open with abrasive vocals and churning instrumentation. It is at this point that I first fell the drums are a little to low in the mix sometimes, stifled of air a bit by being a part of the roaring chaos as opposed to being allowed to breath a little at times. Again the song-shifting occurs here with the final two minutes of the track being some of the most coherent Altarage to date. As you take in the ebb and flow of 'Hieroglyphic Certainty' and obscure grinding riffs and tribal percussion of 'Inhabitant' it occurs to you that this listening experience is akin to a very cleverly engineered virus, the strain of which threatens to consume your entire existence. The deftness of the structure of 'Chaworos Sephelin' with its haunting, lo-fi cello tinged atmosphere that gives way to the crashing fury of waves of pummelling riffs and percussion is a joy to behold. The final two tracks finish the album just as we started it, still full of ideas and dripping with the promise of still better things to come. Altarage might be shrouded in mystery with their secretive nature (the Members tab on their page of Encyclopaedia Metallum says "none") but the music that they deliver shows them sharing only the most potent and valuable artefacts from the darkness which they inhabit. The roar is now and always will be with you. 5/5

Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Satyricon - Nemesis Divina Satyricon - The Shadowthrone Satyricon - Dark Medieval Times Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky Yeah, I know, I'm such a Satyricon fanboy especially for their early stuff. Can't help it. No demos, no EPs, no live albums. That gets too tricky. De Mysteriis... is pretty much required imo. A Blaze in the Northern Sky, of course. I believe these five albums are essential listening and among the best music ever made.

Hellhammer - Satanic Rites

Night hauntings at Castle Requiem. @True Belief left, Requiem right. Escapees from the enemy sun.

Killing it.

As you probably know, Norway has two official written languages, that are pretty much identical in the eyes of foreigners. "Noregs Vaapen" is a grand mal violation of the boundaries between them. (Vaapen being an archaic "conservative" form, whereas Noreg is radical "neo-Norwegian". People get killed over that shit.) It's also perhaps a point that "vaapen" in normal use will translate into "coat of arms" more often than "weapons". Context is everything. The way it is written up is best translated as "this is the real symbol of Norway" ... if you want to know what it means, that is. That being said, great fucking album!

Sodom - Tapping the Vein

Paradise Lost - Gothic

Went on a bandcamp spree Way to End: Senestre Golgothan Remains: Perverse Offerings to the Void Brought By Pain: Crafted by Society Artificial Brain: Infrared Horizons Locust Leaves: A Subtler Kind Of Light Atheist: Elements (Remaster with bonus tracks) Also, my brother gave me Killing is my Business and Business is Good! The Final Kill for as a birthday present.