Tag Archives: UK Extreme Metal

ANGMAER – “Towards Darkness’ Paradise”

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Angmaer - Towards Darkness' Paradise_Cover

One-man, black metal band: a phrase that can strike pre-emptive disappointment into the heart of even the most stalwart extreme music aficionado. It can frequently be the case that these projects lack any kind of individuality or panache, aspects which are thankfully becoming more mandatory in the genre. UKEM’s recent signing, Angmaer, is luckily not guilty of this particular sin.

As the bio states, this is very true to the 1990s’ golden age of BM. The character must be incredibly hard for one person to capture this successfully on their own, and in that Towards Darkness’ Paradise is most assuredly a great success. Although it embraces a touch of the clarity brought to later BM releases, it retains an undeniably classic quality. Continue reading →

RANNOCH – “Between Two Worlds”

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Rannoch13It was clear from the outset that Rannoch were worthy of our collective attention in 2008 when they released their début EP, “Talamh Màthair”.  The release displayed ability, confidence and promise in abundance, shining their light forwards and hinting at what may come from putting their own stamp of Extreme Progressive Metal.

Some time passed with little heard from the band, save for electric and acoustic appearances at Bloodstock Open Air in 2011 which tempted more people in to their charms.  Now some five years after the début EP, courtesy of London’s Eulogy Media, we finally have the release of the first full length album and it they build on the solid foundations of the earlier work to achieve a powerful and diverse release. Continue reading →