Review by Jeger on July 15, 2024.

Just a real happy bunch here lately… As of late, I’ve been delving deep into the realms of philosophy and of misanthropy through the most precious art of black metal. And as I’ve staggered my way through these bewildering corridors of the psyche, so enraptured by the byproduct of total societal collapse and soul ablaze with the lust of watching it all burn, aroused by the fires of rapture, I become ever more comfortable within the bleakness of existence, so long as it’s incentivized by seeing you suffer as much as I have… Be not sad about our lowly demise but grateful that the charade is over; the fallacy that our existence actually held some kind of meaning. And so deeper still we venture now through nightmarish subconscious mires into the frigid heft of chasmic dread where Switzerland’s ColdCell haunt. On July 29, 2024 ColdCell will release their highly-anticipated fifth LP, Age Of Unreason, via the illustrious AOP Records.

There’s a world of artful black metal outside the realm of hatred and diabolism. And it’s prestigious labels such as AOP, Eisenwald and Naturmacht, whose scrutinizing standards set a practically unreachable bar, whom we have to thank for bands like ColdCell and albums like Age Of Unreason that dredge up Mgła level disdain, all the while as they convey black metal of the cathartic consort. Expect high levels of intensity as emotions are purged to the frantic suspense of every twisted passage. 'Dead To The World' and 'Solidarity Or Solitude' - the former a dreamlike astral projective experience where the seconds tortuously tick to the repetition of overwhelmingly foreboding arrangements. The latter, like a page taken out of Paradise Lost’s playbook, drags along to doom-worthy riffs before lending back to more of those ghostly atmospheric elements that breeze their way through pillaring rhythms and abstract guitar parts; maniacal vocal tantrums tearing vulgarly through an otherwise haunting experience.

Meaningless feat. Ines Brodbeck - a beatnik sort of poetry to this one - entranced and completely lost within its siren-esque allure, aroused into a state of blessed gnosis by her almost witch-like reveling in the spirit of this very unique album cut. A distinct air of class to every element of this record; the kind of elite level prowess that gives contemporary black metal a name worth stating a thousand times as the most meaningful genre of music the world of extreme metal has to offer. And the energy! Like the psychological residue of a million bitter memories creeping through every orifice of your being as the riffs pulsate and despairing vocalizations tear asunder any hope for a better life…

Not much in the way of reciprocal arrangements: choruses, hooks or other catchy parts, more like a strapped in for the duration ride upon bravely traversed pathways through spheres of dread and futility. Yearning for something, anything fruitful only to be disappointed by life’s funny little way of stripping you of everything but an animalistic urge to continue existing for reasons unknown. All of this lain out before us for the taking in. The better portion of an hour spent challenging your natural inclination to want to avoid music like this… Who wants to suffer for the sake of appreciating art? Any black metal person who understands the contrast between what’s miserable, what’s joyful and the truth that one cannot be experienced without the other. Age Of Unreason - a testament to BM’s capacity for encapsulating human emotion like no other genre of music.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Jeger on July 15, 2024.

Just a real happy bunch here lately… As of late, I’ve been delving deep into the realms of philosophy and of misanthropy through the most precious art of black metal. And as I’ve staggered my way through these bewildering corridors of the psyche, so enraptured by the byproduct of total societal collapse and soul ablaze with the lust of watching it all burn, aroused by the fires of rapture, I become ever more comfortable within the bleakness of existence, so long as it’s incentivized by seeing you suffer as much as I have… Be not sad about our lowly demise but grateful that the charade is over; the fallacy that our existence actually held some kind of meaning. And so deeper still we venture now through nightmarish subconscious mires into the frigid heft of chasmic dread where Switzerland’s ColdCell haunt. On July 29, 2024 ColdCell will release their highly-anticipated fifth LP, Age Of Unreason, via the illustrious AOP Records.

There’s a world of artful black metal outside the realm of hatred and diabolism. And it’s prestigious labels such as AOP, Eisenwald and Naturmacht, whose scrutinizing standards set a practically unreachable bar, whom we have to thank for bands like ColdCell and albums like Age Of Unreason that dredge up Mgła level disdain, all the while as they convey black metal of the cathartic consort. Expect high levels of intensity as emotions are purged to the frantic suspense of every twisted passage. 'Dead To The World' and 'Solidarity Or Solitude' - the former a dreamlike astral projective experience where the seconds tortuously tick to the repetition of overwhelmingly foreboding arrangements. The latter, like a page taken out of Paradise Lost’s playbook, drags along to doom-worthy riffs before lending back to more of those ghostly atmospheric elements that breeze their way through pillaring rhythms and abstract guitar parts; maniacal vocal tantrums tearing vulgarly through an otherwise haunting experience.

Meaningless feat. Ines Brodbeck - a beatnik sort of poetry to this one - entranced and completely lost within its siren-esque allure, aroused into a state of blessed gnosis by her almost witch-like reveling in the spirit of this very unique album cut. A distinct air of class to every element of this record; the kind of elite level prowess that gives contemporary black metal a name worth stating a thousand times as the most meaningful genre of music the world of extreme metal has to offer. And the energy! Like the psychological residue of a million bitter memories creeping through every orifice of your being as the riffs pulsate and despairing vocalizations tear asunder any hope for a better life…

Not much in the way of reciprocal arrangements: choruses, hooks or other catchy parts, more like a strapped in for the duration ride upon bravely traversed pathways through spheres of dread and futility. Yearning for something, anything fruitful only to be disappointed by life’s funny little way of stripping you of everything but an animalistic urge to continue existing for reasons unknown. All of this lain out before us for the taking in. The better portion of an hour spent challenging your natural inclination to want to avoid music like this… Who wants to suffer for the sake of appreciating art? Any black metal person who understands the contrast between what’s miserable, what’s joyful and the truth that one cannot be experienced without the other. Age Of Unreason - a testament to BM’s capacity for encapsulating human emotion like no other genre of music.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on October 31, 2023.

Recently I had trouble finding a good album that would make my day better and be worth the while, because there has been so much stuff going on in the music world that you just don’t know where to start. I had an unsuccessful listen with Dokken’s new album “Heaven Comes Down” which I found to be a very lackluster and uninspiring attempt from one of my all-time favorite bands from the 80’s. Luckily, I did manage to find something that would wash away the bad taste in my mouth from Dokken’s latest output, and it also comes from one of my favorites 80’s heavy metal icons. This album comes from none other than the metal queen herself, Doro Pesch, and the topic of this review is her fourteenth full-length album Conqueress - Forever Strong And Proud released on October 27th via Nuclear Blast. 

The album barely even started and it is already kicking ass with the epic opening track 'Children Of The Dawn', bombarded with epic choirs, heavy guitar riffs, powerful melodies and solos, and Doro’s majestic singing voice. As the album opens it is like love at first sight, because once you hear the first note you are instantly mesmerized by heavy metal and you get the impression that this will be a banger of an album. If you thought that the epic opener was good, the following Motorhead-like banger 'Fire In The Sky' is where you experience full-throttle heavy metal, promising that what’s to come is more than meets the eye. Speaking of what’s to come, there are a couple of catchy rocking tunes like 'Lean Mean Rock Machine', 'Love Breaks Chains', and 'Drive Me Wild'. There are also plenty of strong bangers, like the sixth track 'I Will Prevail' with heavy and groovy riffing and the eight track 'Time for Justice'. Something that was quite unexpected but pleasantly surprised me was the epic and romantic violin tune 'Fels In Der Brandung' with verse lyrics in English and chorus in German, which in itself is a musical departure from the rest of the album but nevertheless a welcoming change between songs. This album also features the legendary Rob Halford as the guest vocalist on the cover of Judas Priest’s 'Living After Midnight' and Bonnie Tyler’s 'Total Eclipse Of The Heart', and I have to say that his vocals are wonderfully combined with Doro’s. As much as I love both original songs, I would say that I probably like the cover of 'Living After Midnight' more than the original I grew up with, probably because the united vocals of Doro and Rob manage to provide such excellent firepower that it’s unmatchable. The vocal performance of Doro is still as excellent as always, her voice holds up so well that I just couldn’t process the fact that she's turning 60 next year and she has not even begun to show her age. Although you might agree that the riffs and solos are all very good, Doro’s vocal performance is the forefront of the album after all, and by far the biggest highlight of the album. As for the songwriting on this album, the songs are packed with various ideas that go from incredibly epic to banger heavy or pretty catchy. It is certainly a dynamic album which succeeds at holding your attention and it doesn’t constrict itself to a one specific style or idea. The addition of the two cover songs, along with the aforementioned violin 'Fels In Der Brandung', may seem a bit like intended fillers done just for the sake of prolonging the album’s entire runtime, but I personally didn’t feel like that and I wasn’t bothered at all that any of these songs were included, because I like them for what they are and I am very pleased with the inclusion of Rob Halford as the guest vocalist on both cover songs. My only small issue that I have with this album is the cover art’s overall style and quality, which put me off a bit for its very cheap photoshop editing and it pales in comparison with some of the previous albums, including the predecessor Forever Warriors, Forever United from 2018, which in my opinion had an overall better art style. 

I have to say that I found Conqueress - Forever Strong And Proud very enjoyable to listen to and I was pleased with the general output. It is not a perfect album by any means, but it is certainly an album that will make it worth your while despite the only flaw I had with it. If you are a longtime fan of Doro, you have probably already heard this album, but in case you haven’t, feel free to check it out. 

Rating: 8.1 out of 10