While you may associate enchantment with the occult and a preference for social isolation with extreme metal, alternative hip-hop’s Wicca Phase Springs Eternal suggests that darkness can be translated through the beat of a different drum. Branching off from indie rock’s more conventionally alternative route (a truthful oxymoron), the man

Scottish duo MIDAS FALL make melancholy gothic melodies that are the perfect counterpart to the raging intensity of the music we usually listen to at the CVLT Nation HQ. They are getting ready to release their fourth album, Evaporate, via Monotreme Records this April, and the pre-orders for this work of ferocious

This absence was strongly felt. Ash Borer, one of the leading black metal bands of the US scene, were keeping extremely active since 2013, releasing a couple of excellent records in their self-titled debut and Cold of Ages, a split with kindred spirits Fell Voices, and the fantastic Bloodlands EP.

There is a certain stagnancy that has attached itself to modern black metal. I’m not sure if it is due to the pure magnitude of bands that have crawled out of the woodwork within the last decade, or if it’s because it has somehow managed to seep into some sectors

It seems that the Dutch have done it again. One man mastermind VERWOED seems to have struck gold with Bodemloos – 3 tracks of blistering, atmospheric black metal straight from the heart of the Netherlands. Recently released through Argento Records, Bodemloos seamlessly blends traditional black metal with more modern elements, weaving

It’s 2016, and atmospheric black metal bands are a dime a dozen. Any willing individual has the means to recycle a Cascadian riff, edit an eerie nature photo for a cover, and release their compositions to the world. This is not to say that the scene is bogged down –