Alcest - Tristesse Hivernale - (2001)

Genre: Black Metal

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Everyone should be familiar with Alcest. Here is the first demo before it was a solo project and involved members of Peste Noire. This one definitely has a more "black metal" sound than later releases.

Grouper/Roy Montgomery - Split - (2010)

Genre: Ambient/Shoegaze

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Here's a new split with one of my favorites, Portland's very own Grouper and New Zealand guitarist Roy Montgomery. The Roy Montgomery side starts the split with one 18 minute track of ambient guitar that makes you feel like you're going through a journey (in a good way), it's worth a listen, but in my opinion comes nowhere close to what Grouper has to offer on this split. Then again I may be a bit biased given I have this split and am posting it solely for the Grouper material, and the fact that Grouper is one of my favorite bands.

The first Grouper track "Hollow Press" starts off with windy white noise, then about half way through faint keys and Liz Harris' dreamy vocals enter. It then flows seamlessly into the next song "Vessel". This is a much more stripped down Grouper than we're used to hearing. Instead of dreamy acoustic guitar, or more ambiance as heard in earlier albums, we have instead a single, reverb drenched Wurlitzer keyboard, and voice. "Hold The Way" follows up with the same instrumentation as before, and once again flows seamlessly into the last track "Pulse". Keeping the same theme as "Hold The Way", it eventually is drowned out in windy white noise.

Amesoeurs - Ruines Humaines - (2006)

Genre: Black Metal/Post-Rock

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We all should be familiar with Neige (Alcest, early Peste Noir, ect.). Here is another Neige project formed in 2004. This is Amesoeurs first release, a 3 song EP. I came out in 2006. You'll hear a very melodic black metal sound on this EP with post-rock, and even some post-punk influences. The last track is noteworthy for it's mostly an acoustic arrangement and female vocals.

Korium/Trist(Cze) - Split- (2007)

Genre: Raw/Atmospheric Black Metal (Korium) - Depressive/Atmospheric Black Metal (Trist)

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First off I'm mostly just posting this two song split for the Trist track. So, this starts off with the Korium track called Drowned in the Lake of Marble Crosses. This is raw atmospheric black metal with a much heavier sound than what you'll hear on the Trist song. The vocals are lower growls, and the guitar provides some alright riffs throughout its 13 minute length. Overall, nothing really blew me away on this one.

Now, as just mentioned the Trist song is why I'm posting this. It's titled Snění, which translates to "Dreams" or "Dreaming" in Czech, and this alone is a good description of the song. It's very dreamy, the guitar drones on and on throughout in a way that reminds me somewhat of the song "To Here Knows When" by My Bloody Valentine at times. The screams are painful, and the drums and guitars monotonous. Although Trist is put into the "Depressive" black metal category the riffs here are contemplative and in a way, uplifting.

This is highly recommended for the beautiful song Snění by Trist.

Draugadróttinn- Where The Sea Gives Up Its Dead - 2010

Genre: Black Metal/Shoegaze
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Here's a nice gem I came across tonight. This is what seems to be the first and only release so far from Draugadróttinn, a one man band from Montana, USA. There are 4 droney songs of fuzzy guitar, super distorted vocals, and the occasional acoustic thrown in. There's a definite Alcest and Drudkh influence here and I would highly recommend this to any fan of that sound. I hope to see more from this project in the future.

Burzum - Dauði Baldrs - 1997

Genre: Dark Ambient
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This is Burzum's most underrated album. It's one of my favourites and I feel obligated to post it.

Self-Inflicted Violence - Fell Into The Veil Of Darkness and Extinction (Compilation)- 2009

Genre: Depressive Black Metal/Shoegaze/Post-Rock
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Great compilation of two demos from the UK's Self-Inflicted Violence. They released a full length in December '09, but these demos are a much better listen.

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This is where I'll be posting music, and other relevant things.