Review by Jeger on June 3, 2025.

There is no light here… Only the dimming of the once stark luminance that was yesterday and the void of tomorrow - a chasmic hollow that yearns for fulfillment - the plight of the depressed one. As he walks the days, asleep spiritually, yet awake in the physical sense, he finds that there’s little to no hope to be found; nothing rich to discover; only an upturning of the poisoned soil of perdition. Gasping for air within the dark, as if he’s drowning in a vast, cold sea - a speck of life forlorn to a forgetful God. This is more than thematics. This is the experience of the cursed ones and a lens into Hier Ist Kein Licht - the third independently released LP by Germany’s Arkuum… 

Atmospheric Post-Black Metal? As someone who’s grown quite fond of the PBM movement as of late, when I was submitted this record for review, I was intrigued. There’s simply no denying bands like Harakiri For The Sky and Fen whose remarkable adaptations for Black Metal, their contemporary and influentially nuanced vision of music that transcends typical genre classification, just demands admiration. So, here we have Arkuum - an enterprising collective envisioned by one Arkas, and from what I’m hearing out of their third LP, Arkuum is destined for a substantial future. The melancholy, like the greyest of days during the opening titular track; a fastening of depression’s loathsome crest upon your soul. The music is dreamlike, tranquil and desperate - a reflection of one’s innermost darkness. Huge distorted riffs with somber clean parts that lurk just beneath the surface like frigid water below an icy winter’s crust upon a desolate loch, ring with crisply lethal tones. 

Slow-burning to embers like the fading flames of a yearning hearth’s fire that barely warms the eve is the following track, 'Selbstentfremdung' during its opening moments. Temped tremolo riffs and segmented double-bass currents give way to ethereal guitar tones and feathered blast-beats. Really feeling it now; misery-drenched vibes akin to something off of a Depressive Black Metal record; something like Advent Sorrow’s “As All Light Leaves Her”. Toiling away within the crevices of your heart, dredging through the pit of your gut with every dismal passage. 

Hier Ist Kein Licht offers five epic album cuts that are all journeys within themselves. The album closes with 'Herz'. Letting go… Giving up. The fight is for the steadfast of heart and there’s simply nothing left. As if the preceding cuts weren’t depressing enough… Melodies that intoxicate; providing you with the courage to end it all, or to possibly reach an epiphany. Could it be that there’s a reason to go on? Could it be that this closing dirge is one of renewal? Doesn’t sound like it. This is epic suffering soundscaped by suspenseful guitar parts that hit like a straight shot of cortisol. Inducing the anxiety of a hundred panic attacks during the final moments of what’s been a pretty remarkable album. Hier Ist Kein Licht is a feat to be proud of, and as far as Arkuum is concerned, the grey azure is the limit. Hier Ist Kein Licht is an album that you will feel to your core. 

Rating: 8.2 out of 10

Review by Dominik on December 28, 2024.

I am sure we can agree that there's no shortage of clichés when it comes to nostalgia: "A trip down memory lane", "Gone but not forgotten", to name just two. But reminiscence is also a dangerous thing. It can turn otherwise rational people into the kind of sentimental saps who believe everything was better back when cereal boxes had toys, and no one knew how to spell "gluten-free". Aphelium Aeternum's debut album, Dark Interstellar Mysteries, wades chest-deep in these waters, delivering what can only be described as the sonic equivalent of a sepia-toned photograph. Each chord, each riff is like a faded image, evoking the past with a wistful, weathered warmth. As if a vintage jukebox plays eternally in a symphonic black metal diner lost to time, their music reverberates with a certain charm of a bygone era.

But let's not get too misty-eyed. The music is undeniably steeped in the past, a love letter to the early days of symphonic black metal when a Casio keyboard and a dream were all you needed to sound "epic". But nostalgia is a double-edged sword, and while Dark Interstellar Mysteries aims to revive the magic of symphonic black metal's earlier experiments, it often stumbles over the weight of its own longing. The production, for starters, is unbalanced—subpar, to be blunt. If Trump were reviewing it on "X", he might say, "It's the worst. Everyone knows it. The worst production. SAD! I will find this sound engineer and send him back to Mexico, family and all. And then my D.O.G.E (Department of Obedient Grinning Entities or was it Department of Ongoing Goofiness Enforcement?) chief (was it E-lawn Musk or Elon Bust?) will down-size all recording studios. GREAT!". The keyboards often dominate in an almost overwhelming manner, drowning out everything else with their aggressive presence. When the tempo picks up, the drums buzz faintly in the background, more akin to the hum of an antique sewing machine on its last legs than the driving force of a proper rhythm section. At times, particularly during slower passages, the keyboards are abruptly "removed from the equation", allowing the other instruments to push into your auditory passage with unexpected intensity. What could have been an exciting shift is instead wrapped in dull and muddy production, taking away much of the potential fun.

We humans are adaptable creatures, capable of getting used to just about anything—whether it's watching other people cook instead of cooking ourselves or dipping fries in ice cream like it's perfectly normal. Eventually, you adjust to the fact that the album is front-loaded. What remains hard to shake, however, is the nagging suspicion, this tiny voice telling me, that parts of the album are blatant copies—or perhaps copies of copies—of something frustratingly familiar. I can't quite place it now, but I'm sure the realization will hit me the moment this review goes live.

Still, the album isn't without its moments. Once you sat through the intro, the title track starts strong with a compelling melody—although the keyboards quickly overshadow the guitars, dragging the listener straight into a dusty attic of musical memories. From a compositional standpoint, the song ticks all the right boxes, blending high velocity with some well-placed tempo shifts. But the production issues make it sometimes hard to appreciate through headphones, where every shift in dynamics feels like a slap to the eardrums.

'Spiritual Journey to the Arcane Cosmos' continues the trend, showcasing the band's ability to craft solid, if somewhat familiar, symphonic black metal. It's maddingly derivative—I'll swear I've heard it before, but still the source of the déjà vu remains elusive. The vocals fit the track well, but though consistent, they lack variety, and the guitars again seem to be clawing for survival under the oppressive weight of the keyboards.

And then we arrive at the 'Event Horizon', an instrumental interlude that splits the album into its stronger and weaker halves. Unfortunately, this is one of those superfluous tracks that feels more like filler than an essential part of the album. See it as a perfect opportunity to grab a snack. The second half rehashes much of what came before, albeit with a little less inspiration. It feels like the reheated leftovers of the album's first half, a microwave meal of recycled riffs and tired arrangements as if the band ran out of fresh ideas.

The exception is 'Into the Timeless Abyss'. Here, especially during the slower parts, the keyboards settle into a more upbeat and balanced role, complementing rather than overwhelming the rest of the band. It's a fleeting glimpse of what Dark Interstellar Mysteries could have been with a sharper focus and better production. Unfortunately, the album ends on a whimper, with a lackluster outro and a pre-closing track that can't decide whether it wants to be an instrumental or a fully realized song.

Yet, for all its flaws, Dark Interstellar Mysteries has a strange charm. It's an album tailor-made for those of us who remember the days when symphonic black metal wasn't just an overproduced arms race of orchestration. There's something endearing about the imperfections, and the obvious love for the genre's roots—even if it's all wrapped in a production quality that makes you wonder if the sound engineer was actively sabotaging the band.

Rating: 77 out of 100, because the music does the job well enough, even if it's bogged down by production issues. Add a three points nostalgia bonus for taking me back to the days when symphonic black metal didn't need seven orchestras and a movie budget.

Review by Jeger on June 3, 2025.

There is no light here… Only the dimming of the once stark luminance that was yesterday and the void of tomorrow - a chasmic hollow that yearns for fulfillment - the plight of the depressed one. As he walks the days, asleep spiritually, yet awake in the physical sense, he finds that there’s little to no hope to be found; nothing rich to discover; only an upturning of the poisoned soil of perdition. Gasping for air within the dark, as if he’s drowning in a vast, cold sea - a speck of life forlorn to a forgetful God. This is more than thematics. This is the experience of the cursed ones and a lens into Hier Ist Kein Licht - the third independently released LP by Germany’s Arkuum… 

Atmospheric Post-Black Metal? As someone who’s grown quite fond of the PBM movement as of late, when I was submitted this record for review, I was intrigued. There’s simply no denying bands like Harakiri For The Sky and Fen whose remarkable adaptations for Black Metal, their contemporary and influentially nuanced vision of music that transcends typical genre classification, just demands admiration. So, here we have Arkuum - an enterprising collective envisioned by one Arkas, and from what I’m hearing out of their third LP, Arkuum is destined for a substantial future. The melancholy, like the greyest of days during the opening titular track; a fastening of depression’s loathsome crest upon your soul. The music is dreamlike, tranquil and desperate - a reflection of one’s innermost darkness. Huge distorted riffs with somber clean parts that lurk just beneath the surface like frigid water below an icy winter’s crust upon a desolate loch, ring with crisply lethal tones. 

Slow-burning to embers like the fading flames of a yearning hearth’s fire that barely warms the eve is the following track, 'Selbstentfremdung' during its opening moments. Temped tremolo riffs and segmented double-bass currents give way to ethereal guitar tones and feathered blast-beats. Really feeling it now; misery-drenched vibes akin to something off of a Depressive Black Metal record; something like Advent Sorrow’s “As All Light Leaves Her”. Toiling away within the crevices of your heart, dredging through the pit of your gut with every dismal passage. 

Hier Ist Kein Licht offers five epic album cuts that are all journeys within themselves. The album closes with 'Herz'. Letting go… Giving up. The fight is for the steadfast of heart and there’s simply nothing left. As if the preceding cuts weren’t depressing enough… Melodies that intoxicate; providing you with the courage to end it all, or to possibly reach an epiphany. Could it be that there’s a reason to go on? Could it be that this closing dirge is one of renewal? Doesn’t sound like it. This is epic suffering soundscaped by suspenseful guitar parts that hit like a straight shot of cortisol. Inducing the anxiety of a hundred panic attacks during the final moments of what’s been a pretty remarkable album. Hier Ist Kein Licht is a feat to be proud of, and as far as Arkuum is concerned, the grey azure is the limit. Hier Ist Kein Licht is an album that you will feel to your core. 

Rating: 8.2 out of 10

Review by Greg on June 25, 2024.

German thrashers Extinct have been around for two decades by now, although basically releasing a lone full-length for each of them. Incitement Of Violence is thus their second work, coming a full eleven years after their debut Pain Palace. They aren't a well-known name, but with the war theme I'm expecting... maybe a solid alternative to Sodom? Sadly, I got little of it. Okay, already the three totally useless intros/interludes surely aren't a good look, but most of all, Helge Hentrop's vocals are absolutely average, often shouted and nothing more, with the aggravating factor that we're talking about a band from Germany, a land that birthed several decidedly more charismatic vocalists. Not that the rest of the members are light years ahead, but he's highly likely to get on your nerves after a while.

Three are the songs that stand out from the pack: 'Ilwast', 'Slaughter In The Trenches', and 'Lickspittle', the latter of which does it for all the wrong reasons – a plodding and awfully, insufferably repetitive number that feels like it goes on for at least ten minutes more than it actually does. The other two are instead the best you can choose out of Incitement Of Violence. 'Ilwast''s punky energy, simple riff set, as well as German (I assume) almost one-word refrain, makes me think it could be Extinct's answer to 'Bombenhagel', surely a weird choice to open the album with, considering it is in no way representative of the rest of it, but solid enough. 'Slaughter In The Trenches' goes one step further, running the gamut of tempo changes all the way to some sparse blast beats in the chorus, nothing exceptional for sure, but it gives me some vague Gross Reality vibes so, it goes without saying, head and shoulders above its mediocre peers. Its downside is, no doubt, the return to bland stuff with the last four tracks, although it isn't just having one's own judgement tainted by disappointment, as the aforementioned 'Lickspittle', but also the uncommonly ugly guitar parts and transitions in 'Of No Account', are hard to salvage anyways. 'For Decency's Sake' at the very least means you've come to the end of the whole ordeal, but it's far from a high note to close on either.

I tried my best not to be too harsh, as I didn't wanna risk sounding like I have something against Extinct, but unfortunately I found Incitement Of Violence really that difficult to go through. 'Slaughter In The Trenches' played its part in sugaring the pill, at least.

Rating: 4.8 out of 10

Review by Greg on June 25, 2024.

German thrashers Extinct have been around for two decades by now, although basically releasing a lone full-length for each of them. Incitement Of Violence is thus their second work, coming a full eleven years after their debut Pain Palace. They aren't a well-known name, but with the war theme I'm expecting... maybe a solid alternative to Sodom? Sadly, I got little of it. Okay, already the three totally useless intros/interludes surely aren't a good look, but most of all, Helge Hentrop's vocals are absolutely average, often shouted and nothing more, with the aggravating factor that we're talking about a band from Germany, a land that birthed several decidedly more charismatic vocalists. Not that the rest of the members are light years ahead, but he's highly likely to get on your nerves after a while.

Three are the songs that stand out from the pack: 'Ilwast', 'Slaughter In The Trenches', and 'Lickspittle', the latter of which does it for all the wrong reasons – a plodding and awfully, insufferably repetitive number that feels like it goes on for at least ten minutes more than it actually does. The other two are instead the best you can choose out of Incitement Of Violence. 'Ilwast''s punky energy, simple riff set, as well as German (I assume) almost one-word refrain, makes me think it could be Extinct's answer to 'Bombenhagel', surely a weird choice to open the album with, considering it is in no way representative of the rest of it, but solid enough. 'Slaughter In The Trenches' goes one step further, running the gamut of tempo changes all the way to some sparse blast beats in the chorus, nothing exceptional for sure, but it gives me some vague Gross Reality vibes so, it goes without saying, head and shoulders above its mediocre peers. Its downside is, no doubt, the return to bland stuff with the last four tracks, although it isn't just having one's own judgement tainted by disappointment, as the aforementioned 'Lickspittle', but also the uncommonly ugly guitar parts and transitions in 'Of No Account', are hard to salvage anyways. 'For Decency's Sake' at the very least means you've come to the end of the whole ordeal, but it's far from a high note to close on either.

I tried my best not to be too harsh, as I didn't wanna risk sounding like I have something against Extinct, but unfortunately I found Incitement Of Violence really that difficult to go through. 'Slaughter In The Trenches' played its part in sugaring the pill, at least.

Rating: 4.8 out of 10

Review by Greg on June 25, 2024.

German thrashers Extinct have been around for two decades by now, although basically releasing a lone full-length for each of them. Incitement Of Violence is thus their second work, coming a full eleven years after their debut Pain Palace. They aren't a well-known name, but with the war theme I'm expecting... maybe a solid alternative to Sodom? Sadly, I got little of it. Okay, already the three totally useless intros/interludes surely aren't a good look, but most of all, Helge Hentrop's vocals are absolutely average, often shouted and nothing more, with the aggravating factor that we're talking about a band from Germany, a land that birthed several decidedly more charismatic vocalists. Not that the rest of the members are light years ahead, but he's highly likely to get on your nerves after a while.

Three are the songs that stand out from the pack: 'Ilwast', 'Slaughter In The Trenches', and 'Lickspittle', the latter of which does it for all the wrong reasons – a plodding and awfully, insufferably repetitive number that feels like it goes on for at least ten minutes more than it actually does. The other two are instead the best you can choose out of Incitement Of Violence. 'Ilwast''s punky energy, simple riff set, as well as German (I assume) almost one-word refrain, makes me think it could be Extinct's answer to 'Bombenhagel', surely a weird choice to open the album with, considering it is in no way representative of the rest of it, but solid enough. 'Slaughter In The Trenches' goes one step further, running the gamut of tempo changes all the way to some sparse blast beats in the chorus, nothing exceptional for sure, but it gives me some vague Gross Reality vibes so, it goes without saying, head and shoulders above its mediocre peers. Its downside is, no doubt, the return to bland stuff with the last four tracks, although it isn't just having one's own judgement tainted by disappointment, as the aforementioned 'Lickspittle', but also the uncommonly ugly guitar parts and transitions in 'Of No Account', are hard to salvage anyways. 'For Decency's Sake' at the very least means you've come to the end of the whole ordeal, but it's far from a high note to close on either.

I tried my best not to be too harsh, as I didn't wanna risk sounding like I have something against Extinct, but unfortunately I found Incitement Of Violence really that difficult to go through. 'Slaughter In The Trenches' played its part in sugaring the pill, at least.

Rating: 4.8 out of 10