Mark here, owner of Fólkvangr Records, a US based black metal record label. Rewind, Repeat is a monthly guest column here at Indy Metal Vault that will shed some light on albums you may have missed, forgotten about, or just seemed to have gotten lost in your “I’ll play this one later” pile when you decided to listen to Blackwater Park again for the 200th time.
I have never traveled to a music festival before, so I am pretty excited to be attending Red River Family Fest in Austin, TX this month. I don’t travel nearly as often as I should, but like for most people, real life just seems to always get in the way. You have to request time off work, you have to find someone to give your diabetic dog his twice-daily insulin shots, and most important of all you have to have the money in the bank (or the credit on your card) available to make it all possible. I also experience quite a bit of pre-event anxiety. Whether it is for a local show or a national music festival, I experience the same amount of dread and self-doubt about whether I should even leave my house to attend. Of course, this all melts away the second I get to my destination and realize that all the horrible situations I made up in my head are just that: made up. Does anyone else experience this? Is it more common than I think? Let me know and if you see me in Austin at Barracudas… say hey!
Forndom - Dauðra Dura
Sweden | Ambient Ritual Folk
I don’t know if this is your first time visiting the Rewind, Repeat column but if it’s not, you know by now that I love dark, ambient folk music. I have been listening to Dauðra Dura by Forndom on repeat for over a year and a half and it is too good to stop any time soon. It is dark, it is moody, and it is completely transformative. The chanted vocals, the traditional instruments, and the atmosphere all combine to make one of my favorite albums from the past few years. Not just in the folk genre, but across all genres. If you need something to put on late at night or on a stormy day, this should be your go to.
Lago - Tyranny
Phoenix, Arizona | Death Metal
Alright, put your plates on the goddamn bar and get ready to do some heavy lifting. This may be the first time I’ve shown my home state some love in this column, but Lago deserve it. They recently signed to Unique Leader and are working on their next full length, and I have no doubt in my mind that it will annihilate. They take all the best elements from the late 80’s/early 90’s Florida scene and have distilled them into a modern masterpiece of destruction. If you like Morbid Angel, Tyranny will do you right. If you don’t like Morbid Angel, get out of my face.
Skáphe - Untitled
Philadelphia/Iceland | Black Metal
It would be a little silly if I didn’t include anyone from the Red River Family Fest lineup in this month’s column… so here they are. This one track release manages to create a sense of claustrophobia and unease as it crawls through its 22 minute duration. Skáphe members, AP (Chaos Moon/Martröð) and DG (Misþyrming/Martröð), are able to showcase their creativity as this feels more like an exercise in improvisation than anything else. It almost seems as if the song itself might change every time you listen, like getting lost in a hall of mirrors (remember that sense of unease I mentioned earlier?). I am really curious to see what kind of set the band will be playing in Austin, but no matter what, I have a feeling it will be an entrancing experience.
Sühnopfer - Offertoire
Auvergne, France | Melodic Black Metal
This album is full of non-stop, blistering black metal from France. Not a new band or a new album, but recently new to me and all I can say is I wish I had been around from the beginning to see the progression up to the point of Offertoire. This is everything I love about black metal: the production is great but still retains an edge, the riffs are memorable enough to stand out from track to track, and the vocals are shrieked and howled in my favorite style. I would also like to say that I was somehow able to buy this cassette directly from the artist in France, via Discogs, and get it shipped to the US all for a total of $8 USD. I still don’t even understand how this was possible, but I am not going to look a gift Sühnopfer in the mouth, as the saying goes…
Honorable Mentions
Darkenhöld - Memoria Sylvarum
Secret Stairways - Enchantment of the Ring
TEMPESTARII - Temple of Skies
Thanks for letting me ramble!