CHORE IA: Postscriptum/Neogolizmowa Release year: 2023Label: Zoharum/Antenna Non Grata Experimentalism is a tough nut. Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you don’t. Maybe, when it comes to experimental music, sometimes it’s up to the listener. At any rate, Polish Chore … Continue reading The past and present of Chore Ia
AJNA: Inevitable Mortality Release year: 2016/2023Label: Reverse Alignment/Zoharum Listening to US based act Ajna’s Inevitable Mortality, I find myself musing over what a funny genre of music dark ambient is. It’s entirely non-musical, usually extremely minimalist, with drawn-out pieces that … Continue reading Ajna’s inevitability
TALVI: Complete Works ’01-’22 & Solstice Collection ’99-’02/’23 Release year: 2023Label: self-released Way back in the very early noughties, Finnish label Spinefarm (at the time home of acts such as Children Of Bodom and Barathrum) had a number of record … Continue reading Winter in the dungeons
WHALESONG: Leaving A Dream Release year: 2023Label: Zoharum/Old Temple Talk about a massive album. Polish Whalesong‘s newest, third full length album spans two discs and consists in total of two hours and ten minutes of music. That’d be a lot … Continue reading Leaving dreams
LÄJÄ ÄIJÄLÄ AND ALBERT WITCHFINDER: Triumph & Ordeal Release year: 2023Label: Svart Records When speaking of legends within Finnish extreme music, they don’t come much more legendary than Läjä Äijälä. Vocalist and band leader of hardcore pioneers Terveet Kädet (whose … Continue reading Through ordeals to triumph?
THE SUSPENDED APPARITION: It’s Sealed Inside The Church Release year: 2023Label: Misantropia Records My real introduction to all kinds of industrial and post-industrial music was some twenty-odd years ago, in the early noughties, in the form of dark ambient music. … Continue reading Apparitions inside the church
MAURIZIO BIANCHI: Geni-Z Release year: 2023Label: Steinklang Industries Italian Maurizio Bianchi is right there at the genesis of the industrial music scene. He released his first tapes already in the 70’s, had releases out on Come Org. and Sterile Records, … Continue reading Maurizio Bianchi and the DNA of industrial music
DARK AWAKE: Abaris Hyperboreios Release year: 2023Label: Steinklang Industries If you’d go by what artists are mentioned in various social media groups and forums, you’d think neofolk and martial industrial basically consists of Death In June, Arditi, Blood Axis, Forseti, … Continue reading Hyperborean awakening
PATIENT OMEGA: Broken Mind In A Rotting Body Release year: 2023Label: Misantropia Records I touched upon the issues relating to the thematics of instrumental music in my review of L’Ègarement D’Esprit’s album Written In Stone (here). I find myself returning … Continue reading Patient Omega’s broken minds and rotten bodies
It’s been a while since we did one of these. In fact, looks like in all of Only Death Is Real’s history, we’ve only done one year round-up. High time for a second one, don’t you think? So, here are … Continue reading A year in summation: 2022
Only Death Is Real 