As Light Dies - "Ars Subtilior From Within The Cage" (2012)

AS LIGHT DIES "Ars Subtilior From Within The Cage"

Year: 2012

Genre: Progressive/Symphonic Metal

Country: Spain 

Track List:

1. The Very End
2. The Disinherited
3. Le Nebuleux Sentier
4. Die Letze Fuge Vor Der Flucht
5. Trapped In Flesh
6. Yearning For Blissful Moments While Standing Upon The Ruins
7. Sombra Y Silencio
8. Insignificant Among Insignificance
9. When Everything Fades Away

bandcamp

I've never heard about this band before one of their members sent a message to me, but it appears like they're a long-standing (founded in 1999) and relatively well-known band. The material on this album is hard to classify, so I'll go with the official description: "The band fuses death metal, dark metal, folk and gothic metal in their music combining growl with clean male and female vocals and adorning it with enchanting violin solos. The result would become a discovery for fans of heavy and beautiful music". + it isn't "post-black metal", despite it was described as such at some blogs. The music is very well played and produced, but it isn't really my favourite genre to be honest. Other projects related to ALD are Garth Arum (atmospheric black metal) and Aegri Somnia (avant-garde/neofolk), both of which I'm going to check out when I'll have more free time.

Amebix - "Knights of the Black Sun" (2011)

AMEBIX "Knights Of The Black Sun" (single)

Year: 2011
Genre: Epic Crust/Metal
Country: UK

Track List:

1. Knights of the Black Sun

Finally, the first new track in more than 20 years! And who said "it isn't real Amebix"? Of course it doesn't sound like their early-80s' releases, but that's what is called evolution. There was very strong post-punk, gothic rock and maybe even doom metal influence on their album "Monolith" (1987), and I'm not surprised that they're still heading in this direction. Moreover, it's a visible tendency: many of those who played crust and hardcore in the 80s and 90s, now are playing not only black metal, but also doom (see my posts under the label "doom/sludge" - there are quite a few), and even gothic metal. And of course it's only a single, let's wait for a full-length album...


P.S. An awesome animation video for this track:

Tisíc Let Od Ráje - "Waves" (2008)

TISIC LET OD RAJE "Waves"

Year: 2008
Genre: Gothic/Black Metal
Country: Czech Republic

Track List:

1. Nightmare
2. The Storm
3. Roses and Temptation
4. Guilt
5. L:O:T
6. Moravian Karst
7. Clouds and Roses
8. Sea Fever
9. Waves
10. Zmijí šíp (bonus)
    

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The 3rd album by TLOR features much more "blackened" sound than two preceeding ones, though I'd still classify it as gothic metal (maybe with addition of "progressive" - this is really interesting music). Thanks to Miro for uploading this album.

Tisíc Let Od Ráje - "Gaia" (2002)

TISIC LET OD RAJE "Gaia"

Year: 2002
Genre: Gothic (Black?) Metal
Country: Czech Republic

Track List:

1. The Devil
2. The Lovers
3. The Tower
4. Death
5. The Hanged Man
6. The Moon
7. The Hermit
8. The Priestess
9. The Star
10. The Judgement
11. Strength
12. The Hierophant
13. The Wheel of Fortune

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 "Gaia" is the second album by Tisíc Let Od Ráje, and it features gothic metal with some more black metal overtones, than it was on their debut release - so I guess it will fit into "green anarchist black metal" category as well. Some alternative metal and hardcore influences are also present. Interestingly enough, their guitarist is a master in Thai boxing (world champion WKA 2003, S1 European champion, etc.). He's a strong supporter of vegetarianism, and TLOR have played on a lot of animal rights / ecodefense benefit shows. You can visit his website, if you're interested.

Tisíc Let Od Ráje - "Tisíc Let od Ráje" (1999)

TISIC LET OD RAJE "Tisíc Let od Ráje"

Year: 1999
Genre: Gothic (Black?) Metal
Country: Czech Republic

Track List:

1. Blíž
2. V Horách
3. Corpse for you
4. Země
5. Stand
6. Tribute to ecoterrorists
7. Soumrak
8. Zapovězené
9. Objetí
10. Znič ty, kteŘí ničí
11. Daleko

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One more female-fronted band, now it's from Czech Republic. Looks like they're somehow related to Czech hardcore scene, and their lyrics are about nature and (violent) defense of it. So I think I'd fit into my "green anarchist black metal" category, though I don't hear much black metal on this album. It's gothic metal with some BM overtones (though their later stuff may be more "black"). Formed in 1994, the band changed its lineup multiple times. That's how they looked in early 2000s:


and how they look nowadays: