Review by Fernando on September 27, 2019.

The biggest surprise in black metal right now is the all-women Dutch band Asagraum, and after an impressive debut where the band displayed their potential they’re back with Dawn of Infinite Fire and have proven to be a powerhouse in modern black metal.

The band’s style of black metal can be summed up to a combination of “TRVE KVLT” black metal with modern elements like a polished production and a focus on complex instrumentation. And on this new album the band displays that but with much more aggression and reverence to their Norwegian influences. Intensity is the name of the game and like all good black metal the speed and aggression are what makes this album. The band never loosens on the intensity for a second, and even when the songs go into dark melodic passages where the aggression shifts into melodious dirges it never stops being fast and punishing.

All of this is accomplished through the excellent musical chops of founder and main composer Obscura and drummer Amber de Buijzer. They display much more chemistry together than Obscura did with former drummer Trish Kolsvart. This is aided by the fact that both women worked on this album together as opposed to doing their parts separately and the difference shows. The music has a stronger sense of unity and precision, each and every song perfectly complements the other and keep in mind that this album’s predecessor was not a bad album at all, but at the same time, this new album is a marked improvement in almost every way and a step towards the right direction for Asagraum’s future.

There’s very little to complain about this album beyond the obvious fact that if you’re not into black metal then this album is not for you. As it is admittedly very indicative of the genre and even with the band’s much cleaner production it’s still not an album for the uninitiated but that is more a disclaimer than an actual flaw. Asagraum have fleshed out and perfected the sound of Potestas Magicum Diaboli and crafted an excellent album that every fan of black metal should hear, as this is one of the most promising bands right now.

Best tracks: 'Guahaihoque', 'Abomination’s Altar', 'Dawn of Infinite Fire', 'Beyond the Black Vortex'

Rating: 8.9 out of 10

Review by adhlactha on May 3, 2020.

Is there something more medieval and darker than the Blut Aus Nord’s album Deus Salutis Meæ, but in a pure sense of modern times? This album is a real joy for those who truly enjoy such mesmerizing and raw darkness. Even with this kind of dissonances and disharmonies, it is logical and complete musical album with no boundaries in extreme music genre. And even with the love of French for innovations (in music as well), Deus Salutis Meæ can’t be counted as one more avant-garde black metal record.

So what is so unique with this record? The band intricately combines the raw black attitude with psychedelic background, but industrial moments visibly add some noise to the record. The dark and creepy introductions (like whole instrumental songs as well) are long enough to prepare you for ultimate heaviness, but even their ambient passages are created to affect you psychologically. And the multiple use of vocal layers intensifies the blackness and eeriness. The screams and whispered emotional shrieks just finish off this total atmosphere of dark destruction. There is no vitality in this record, but still it’s dynamic, even if rhythms vary from almost inactive abstract ambient compositions to energetic and fast black metal fury (like on 'Apostasis') with shrieking guitar solos. There are special effects, and it’s done purposefully to reflect more canonical black metal sound; of course it’s not so raw as for example on Darkthrone’s records, but nonetheless there you won’t find cleanliness on the sound. Frequent stillness almost guides the album on doom metal path, though there is more black metal influence, but the band never chased to fit in musical styles’ rules. Technically the compositional structures are complicated, so that adds the whole abstract progressiveness. Everything is important here – raw sound, noise elements, multiple vocals of Vindsval, disharmonic and atmospheric ambience, because the entire complex creates this hopeless and horrifying atmosphere with no compromises. It’s built on contrasts, so that’s why this record is so deep and emotional (but only in a dark sense).

French extreme music has always progressed in unique and individual pattern, even with Les Légions Noires they created their exceptional black metal (but of course under influence of Norwegian black metal), and now even more bands break the boundaries of style. And Blut Aus Nord on the record Deus Salutis Meæ proved that they are one of the most intriguing and strong members of European experimental extreme community.

Rating: 9.3 out of 10