Nicholas Mkhl - Hessian Firm

Interview: Robert Sennebäck (Dismember, Unhallow)

While most early Swedish Death metal in the early 90s was very simplistic and featured a lot of hard rock influence, Like an Everflowing Stream was much more technically proficient…

By Nicholas Mkhl October 26, 2022Interview

Review

Noctis – Out of the Shadow of Legend (1998)

With the end of the LLN movement, French black metal saw a shift towards more refined playing and a celebration of French culture from the middle-ages that was entrenched in…

By Nicholas Mkhl October 3, 2022Review

Review

Mindly Rotten – The Most Exquisite Agonies (2005)

Mindly Rotten are a Colombian brutal death metal and while this has certain connotations, musically this bears non of the trademarks of latin brutal death metal and instead opts for…

By Nicholas Mkhl August 22, 2022Review

Analysis

The art of Purposeful Dissonance: Sentenced – My Sky Is Darker Than Thine

Sentenced's classic album North From Here opens with its most aggressive song "My Sky Is Darker Than Thine" that features a breakdown as an important compositional tool. While brutality and…

By Nicholas Mkhl August 14, 2022Analysis

Analysis

Forgotten Minor Classics: Mercyless – Abject Offerings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R-ldAidfmU&ab_channel=HessianFirm After a long hiatus, Nick returns with a short video detailing why Mercyless - Abject Offerings deserves to be considered as an important release for the death metal genre.

By Nicholas Mkhl July 23, 2022Analysis

Review

Sorhin – Apokalypsens ängel (2000)

While Swedish black metal has always been notorious for having a small number of unique bands followed by an endless stream of third rate imitators, some of the better bands…

By Nicholas Mkhl July 15, 2022Review

Review

Fallen Christ – Abduction Ritual (1994)

While NYDM has given us a sizeable portion of the best death metal, it has also given us a plethora of mediocre copycats and an even greater number of terrible…

By Nicholas Mkhl July 3, 2022Review

Review

Undercroft – Twisted Souls (1995)

Hailing from Chile before eventually relocating twice in Europe, Undercroft have had a surprisingly long career without much fanfare over the years. While their style hasn't changed too much over…

By Nicholas Mkhl June 30, 2022Review

Review

Zetar – Devouring Darkness (2021)

Zetar is the brainchild of Texan musician R.G and their first album Devouring Darkness sees T.P and David Lamas complete the lineup on vocals and drums respectively. The band waste…

By Nicholas Mkhl December 20, 2021Review

Analysis

Riff Analysis: Malevolent Creation – Eve of the Apocalypse

The haunting synth intro is a staple of Extreme metal, a short track consisting of some background ambience and a few simple melodies that sets the tone for what's to…

By Nicholas Mkhl November 22, 2021Analysis