I'd say Havukruunu is the rightful holder of the Crown and the mantle of Quorthon. Epic choirs, vikingesque themes and tales from the other times, of the Finnish paganism back in the days before our ancestors were brought to the cross and forced to kneel while feeling the bloody sword of saviour on their throats made to kiss the hand of murderers who burnt thousands, tore down our holy places and took our holy days. Eyes teary I listen to these songs, never forgiving the crimes of the cross! Peikonmieli
Following their 2013 debut, Wędrujący Wiatr has released another powerful piece of atmospheric black metal. Continuing along the same path as the previous effort, but with notable evolutions in composition and execution, this album cements its place at the top of my list for best metal album of the year. Truly an amazing piece of work. Brian M.
I was always intrigued by this group's choice of album covers, it isn't every day that you see high quality space photos in this genre despite the rise of "cosmic" black metal. But the music blew me away, this sounds like Austere took the atmospheric spacey route. (I will assume it's a coincidence that both bands are Australian) porcelainheart-
Swirling guitars, furious drums, vocals that at the same time howl from infinite distance and are right up in your head; everything put into dissonant form with the help of unconventional songwriting. This album is my personal key to the icelanding black metal madness that I've ignored for way too long! Lukas Kaufmann