Батюшка - Литоургиiа (2015)

   As Burzum have made the first step towards the hipsterization of black metal by dissociating from the basic concept, the appearance of Batushka might represent hipster black metal at its peak. 
   Even though the whole thing might reached new heights both by dissociation and popularity by bands like Mgla, Batushka exceeded similar projects, by becoming a great hit already at their beginning. Russian Orthodox Christian blasphemy in Russian language made by a Polish band. It might be difficult to get more hipster than that. To this came an easily identifiable and unified stage look in decorative hooded orthodox priest-like vestments and schematic mask wearing - this renewal endeavor of black metal stage look was also not new anymore, but none went so far before in the details. However, the concept did work pretty well and it was surprisingly unified. Therefore their music attracted both the fans of the old school and hipster forms of black metal. "Litourgiya" didn't lack raw intensity and the church mass references and singing style created great contrast with the extreme hammering. This was basically similar to when symphonic elements were embedded into black metal, but the cultist-like touch was way more effective. The melodic and atmospheric elements also took decent role in the main composition. The balance of these features was the main key for the overwhelming success. A pretty fragile balance so to say, since in case of such complexity the question came, how the band will be able not to necessarily exceed but even to keep up with the quality of their debut? There were two possibilities: they couldn't keep up, only trying to repeat themselves and the fire they've created slowly fades away; or they changing style and the whole concept gets dumped. However, a third unexpected thing happened, that's probably the worst possible outcome: by disagreements over financials and copyrights between the band members the band split into two under the same name and both bands claimed to be the real Batushka. The long lasted drama between them in social media inspired other, non-related musicians to create projects under the same name to make fun of the whole situation, therefore 4 other Batushkas showed up. In total, the new height of the genre became a new depth the same time, that also illustrates well how black metal bands who are often claiming to be the most underground, evidently keep losing their underground status with ease and have to face with the most common issues of mainstream bands. Dissociating from the band's history, "Litourgiya" is a quite enjoyable album and compatible with wider metal audiences. 

Cryptic Brood - Wormhead (2015)

   Cryptic Brood debuted with a very promising EP that followed the putrid death/doom path of Autopsy.
   There have been plenty of similar bands since the late '00s, for instance Mausoleum, Bonesaw, Anatomia or Repuked just to mention a few, but not many of them focused on the heavy, demoralizing slow downs that gave one of the most determining features and basically the core essence of old Autopsy. From the mentioned names, probably Anatomia relied on them the most. Cryptic Brood also successfully mastered the combination of old school death metal and doom influenced slow downs, therefore their name kinda stands out from the ever growing list of Autopsy rip-off bands. For those who missed the essentially sick feeling of old Autopsy or didn't find it sufficient enough at other new waved old school death metal bands, Cryptic Brood might be an excellent pick. Especially because even if the strongly direct influence is quite evident and the themes sounding pretty familiar, the band managed to not simply copy-paste riffs and they also didn't fall into repetitiveness. Like their music is not sounding like an AI generated rip-off like in case of bands like Gruesome or Skeletal Remains. The switches from old school hammering to slow downs have been done diversely and the sickening melodies are also as effective as they should be, guiding the listener straight into the depths of rotting filth. 

Zombieslut - Undead Commando (2015)

   Zombieslut debuted in 2010 by "Braineater", a quite groovy and nearly featureless old school death metal album. As the title suggests, horror and gore is in the focus of their lyrical concept. 
   The band's return by "Undead Commando" followed the same path, but their music was all-round improved. After "Braineater" there was the chance that they might become another Six Feet Under rip-off band like Debauchery for instance. If a band turns groovy, there's the nearly unavoidable possibility that their music will completely repetitive and might lack any character. Partly because even though middle tempo groovy themes are serving as certain guidance and it's a recipe that's difficult to ruin, the style has little to offer expect falling into monotonous boredom. Not to mention that Obituary and Six Feet Under most possibly have done everything that could be made on this field and both have left behind nearly eventless discographies. However, even if Zombieslut's second album didn't get rid of the neutralizing grooviness completely, its role was reduced, and old school themes became more dominant. Their music turned slightly more technical, but still primitive simplicity remained its main feature. It might seem reasonable by the zombie horror based concept, but it's not really worth to go too far. The sound quality became also way better than previously, and these two factors made their music way more enjoyable. Mainly recommended for the fans of groovy death metal. 

Lucifer - I (2015)

   Even though the '70s hard rock vintage wave isn't so active and eventful as any nostalgia waves in the extreme underground, it can come up with very interesting projects indeed. One of them is Lucifer, a multinational band who leads back the listener to the crossroads of doom, heavy metal and hard rock.
   This direction of course makes it inevitable to "borrow" plenty of riffs from the one and only Black Sabbath, the band who paved the way for heavy metal and its subgenres. And unsurprisingly on the side of the sound quality, many themes are quite reminding to Black Sabbath. Similar to classic bands, there's pretty high focus on band's singer, Johanna Platow, who basically resurrected the occult doom metal femme fatale persona, that originally have been invested by Jinx Dawson of Coven. Except Frau Platow is (hopefully) not intending to ruin the whole image by switching to a radio pop direction. It's definitely not a role that would be easy to fill, since having a great voice isn't enough, must perform in a certain ominous (doom metal-like) style and have to stay authentic on stage as well. No wonder that there aren't many similar endeavors to find, but she at least successfully mastered the whole thing. By her performance the threatening embrace of darkness feels soft and magical. According to nowadays radio tendences their music counts pretty much as radio compatible (depends on country and region of course), but musically and by sound it's definitely heavier than most fellow vintage hard rock based bands. The vocal performance softening the main impression, and lyrically Lucifer is also not too explicit. Their more "decent" approach is the sign of a sort of elegance that was long lost from the genre during the '80s, when explicitness became one of the main tools of attention seeking. In total, for the fans of hard rock and the most ancient sound of heavy and doom metal, Lucifer's music might be enjoyable and nostalgic.

Morgoth - Ungod (2015)

   It took for a bit longer, but the reunification and returning wave of old school death metal bands didn't avoid Morgoth either. But while most of these similar returns were quite disappointing, Morgoth did manage to leave behind a great material again (before they've split up again).
   And they did that without former frontman Marc Grewe by finding a voice very similar to his (Karsten Jäger). And indeed, without that characteristic and unique vocal style Morgoth definitely couldn't have been the same. The band's discography basically reflects the life stages of the members. In their earliest period the most extreme aspect of their music was created by the "Resurrection Absurd" and "Eternal Fall" EPs. On "Cursed" a professional death metal band could be heard, "Odium" came out when the death metal scene was exhausted, and some bands were into technical and progressive experiments in the hope of renewing their style. And their most hated release "Feel Sorry for the Fanatic" was made when an inevitable switch happened by interfering features of adulthood like the everydays life of workers, career building and settling. A becoming serious switch to some, meaningless bullshit for others. Except the reuniting wave influenced by the New Wave of Old School Death Metal, "Ungod" also represents the nostalgia ambition for the band members. Over a certain age many wishes to return to their roots and teen age favorites/ influences, and since the members of Morgoth were basically teens when they've formed the band, this nostalgia seems reasonable for the band members. Most specifically for guitarists Harald Busse the only founding member who was left and Sebastian Swart who joined the band in 1990. So "Ungod" wasn't meant to disappoint the old fans and it didn't. Those who missed the early sound of Morgoth might have been certainly satisfied. It wasn't just an imitation of the old times like most of the time like "let's play just something similar like back then". The riffs and some themes might sound very familiar, but not as rip-offs of the old records. The character and spirit of old Morgoth have returned (or resurrected in some absurd form). By music, sound quality and intensity "Ungod" could be embedded between "Cursed" and "Odium" as an imaginary extension of the band's old school death metal era. 

Antiversum - Total Vacuum (2015)

   Antiversum showed up as a genuine rare gem in the extreme metal underground by their demo "Total Vacuum".
    At one hand the concept of their music that's basically the mix of black, death and doom metal is quite old school and only a couple of similar bands could be mentioned that have tried something similar, but they all sounded completely different from each other and Antiversum does too. And at the other hand the implementation followed the actual musically minimalistic, and strongly atmospheric trends of the '10s underground scene, therefore "Total Vacuum" sounds enough modern to not be confused with any '90s classics. Basically the dense atmosphere bonds the three distinguishable influences together into a noisy mass, that despite the dull sound, still effects heavy enough. The minimalist approach might suggest raw outcome, but thanks to the various influences and effective song compositions, the demo sounds way more diverse than how it might be expected. Also the biggest advantage of Antiversum's music is that it couldn't be confused with other black/death metal, also it's not close to war metal. Maybe the unfriendliest aspect of death/doom (mainly Incantation influenced) is the most comparable to their music. However, it sounds like the band's intention was to keep some balance between strong atmosphere based melancholic touch and overwhelming intensity based noisy-down pulling impression.
   Strongly recommended for the fans of atmospheric black/death and death/doom. 

Saturnine - Mors Vocat (2015)

   After a quite promising self-titled demo, Saturnine debuted with an excellent sludge/doom album, that mainly relied on melancholic impression.
   The wider appearance of sludge/doom bands in the European scene was one of the advantageous features of the underground scene from the late '00s. Similar to most, Saturnine preferred pretty basic themes, and exposing them with the heavy sound and extended song structures of doom metal. In fact, this was nothing new, and also counts as an absolute win recipe that's difficult to ruin, but to hear such minimalistic and effective approach, that focuses on the core essence of the style is quite refreshing. Especially on the side of the long line of hipsterizing endeavors in the hope of coming up with something new, that were (and still are) mainly trending in the metal scene in general. "Mors Vocat" has a strong, down-pulling atmosphere by the sludgy features, but great themes are making it diverse enough to not fall into repetitiveness. The album's mysterious, atmospheric, but still sludgy-noisy approach is pure (dark) magic. If there was an ancient Far East saying about female metal bands, it might sound something like: "If you find any you like, and you are able to watch them live, don't hesitate, cause they might be not active for long. If you want to get their merch, do it now, cause the possibility of reprints and re-releases is quite low." This made-up imaginary rule proved to be pretty accurate about Saturnine, but in case of underground female metal bands in general too. Cause while keeping an underground band together could be definitely challenging, but in case of a female lineup it seems to be even more difficult.  In total, "Mors Vocat" might be a potential favorite for the fans of sludge/doom.