“I’ll take “Global Notables” for $600, please, Ken—The clue: Country famous for its waffles, chocolate, beer, and castles. The answer—What is Belgium?! Correct! Belgium is also home to some pretty decent black metal bands—Lugubrum, Enthroned, and Wiegedood, to name a few. Here to add another branch to that blackened Belgian family tree is Erbeet Azhak, the side project of one pretty busy Corvus von Burtle—C.V.B.(Cult of Erinyes, Wolvennest, LVTHN, Aerdryk).” Belgium bulging with blackness.
“In case you’re unfamiliar, The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient Mesopotamian poetic narrative, whose first complete form is dated to approximately 1800 BCE. It follows a story of King Gilgamesh and his dealings with gods and other mythic monsters, culminating in a journey for the secret of immortality. What better way could there be to consume this rich, literary epic than have it interpreted by the collection of artists behind From the Waters of Death? Obscure black/doom duo Swords of Dis; death metal veteran and experimenter Serpent Ascending; Neptunian Maximalism’s darker, heavier incarnation Ôros Kaù; and ambient-black dreamer Midnight Odyssey.” Gil Ga Mesh, the perverted son, the holy man!
“Over the course of the last five years and change, my estimation of Belgian three-piece Psychonaut has only increased. Where I unfortunately missed out on Violate Consensus Reality for review duties, I didn’t let it slip outside of my listening rotation—certainly not after such an impressive debut, Unfold the God Man. I underrated that outing, citing bloat as the main drawback. Little did I consider that Psychonaut’s music often needs much more time than we’re given as our standard reviewing window to fully bloom. The psychedelic proggy post-metal purveyors boast a thoughtful and deeply layered songwriting approach that can’t be captured by a casual spin or three. Hence why I asked for World Maker, the trio’s third opus, early.” Letting the space brain flavors develop.
“The world seems to grow more hostile by the minute, so I feel like I need to be more “on guard” with the media around me. So, I’ve been seeing this guy for a while now. He was going to therapy pretty regularly with a Dr. Moshe Pitt as part of maintaining a healthy outlook on life—or so he told me. But when I was at his place the other day, I saw this little booklet on his nightstand called Spinct-Earth Society. I did a little research on it, and it turns out that it’s a self-help book by some organization from Belgium called Brutal Sphincter. I confronted him about it, and he confessed in full to using only this manual—not a therapist! But he seems happier than ever, and things are going great? Should I be worried? Can Brutal Sphincter be trusted?” The hole story.
“Belgian trio Solfatare prime the release of their debut record, Asservis par l’espoir, at a challenging time to compete in the black metal arena. With heavyweight acts dropping records right and left in this space in 2025, Asservis par l’espoir has its work cut out for it to make a big splash and a lasting impression. With only a demo to their name so far, Solfatare launch with a blank slate, adopting the traditional methods of offering as little identifying information as possible before unleashing its hellish shadow upon the land.” Mysterious and malicious.
“Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. The intellectual property rights-busting album artwork of Big Trouble by Coffin Feeder pays tribute to the silliest action movies of the 80s and 90s, just like the music within. This album represents the band’s full-length debut after a pair of EPs that tickled our very own Kenstrosity. Though the core members may be Belgian, the bands through which these guys ordinarily peddle their wares (Aborted, Leng Tch’e) are fused with a steaming smorgasbord of high-profile guest spots (Benighted, Cattle Decapitation, Archspire). The result is an energetic fusion of various cores, from death to grind to hard.” Get to the chugga!
“It’s often impossible to convey feelings with words, so it’s sometimes better not to try. This certainly appears to be the philosophy of Black Narcissus, an instrumental post-rock duo from Belgium comprised of bassist Jesse Massant and drummer Thomas Wuyts. While instrumental groups are hardly uncommon, especially in this genre, Black Narcissus is unique in that bass and drums are the only tools they use to construct their interpretation of the relationship between man and nature.” Into the wilderness.
“With so many bands vying for attention in this digital age, sometimes it takes something truly original to catch a listener’s eye. This is what fixed my attention on Zamāru Ultu Qereb Ziqquratu Part 1 as it poked out of the fertile soil in the promo pit. Wyatt E. was originally founded in Belgium as an instrumental drone/doom group by guitarists Sébastien von Landau and Stéphane Rondia to portray the captured people of Jerusalem during the Babylonian Exile in 587 BCE. They made some bold alterations on this latest record to expand their sonic footprint, namely the addition of two drummers recorded simultaneously and collaborations with vocalists Nina Saeidi (Lowen) and Tomer Damsky.” Wyatt E. Coyote.
“The nameless souls of the black metal band KrvL (pronounced “Kravaal”) are said to roam Belgium’s Kravaal forest. Formed in 2020 KrvL self-released its 2022 debut Kravaal. It’s sonic vision, it turns out, was a decent dose of black metal with post and doom leanings, and Kravaal caught the attention of start-up Italian label These Hands Melt, who signed the mysterious Belgians in 2024. Steeled now to release its sophomore effort Donkere Paden, KrvL seeks to enter the light from, as the blurb reads, ‘the darkness they find themselves in.'” Cookiepuss and Fudgie approved!
“Where is the goat and the chariot? Where is the Billy horn that was blowing? The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into the fowl of a Tyrant. 2020 saw the metalverse shaken to its core by the massively infectious sophomore album by Belgian black/trad/thrashers Bütcher. So much rowdy fun was 666 Goats Carry My Chariot that it mattered not a wit that it was entirely composed of well-trod metal tropes. The hyperactive 80s speed with blackened edges was just the right mixture of heavy, catchy, and over-the-top with songs that had teeth. Fast-forward to 2024 and we get the much-anticipated follow-up On Fowl of Tyrant Wing.” On a wing and a swear.
