Nicholas Mkhl - Hessian Firm

Crifotoure Satanarda – Demo/Untitled (2000)

Many bands purposefully try to sound "quirky" and "unhinged" and these attempts rarely lead to worthwhile music as they come across as dishonest and attention seeking as they tend to…

By Nicholas Mkhl July 30, 2023Review

Review

Cemetary – An Evil Shade of Grey (1992)

What draws listeners into Swedish death metal tends to be the focus on stripped back punk riffs, a reliance on the D-beat, gruff shouts, hard rock inspired breakdowns and the…

By Nicholas Mkhl July 29, 2023Review

Review

Tiamat – Wildhoney (1994)

Tiamat have always been at the forefront of the Swedish scene, whether it was under the name Treblinka where they played the still nascent death/black metal of the time that…

By Nicholas Mkhl July 28, 2023Review

Analysis

Thergothon – “Elemental” Climax Analysis (1994)

Most funeral doom is considered to be morose and monotonous with little variation in mood or composition and relying on slow tempi and sustained power chords on low tuned guitars…

By Nicholas Mkhl July 26, 2023Analysis

Review

Babylon Whores – King Fear (1999)

The relationship between rock and metal has always been one sided, with metal taking from rock and slowly discarding the influences until any relationship between the two ceased to exist.…

By Nicholas Mkhl May 14, 2023Review

Review

Oni – Incantation Superstition (2023)

Oni were an Australian band that briefly existed between 1997 and 2003. During that period the band released two short demos and a few splits that featured songs from those…

By Nicholas Mkhl April 4, 2023Review

Review

Sammath – Grebbeberg (2023)

Dutch black metal legends Sammath return with their latest offering Grebbeberg and unlike most bands that have been releasing music for over 25 years, Sammath still maintain the same passion…

By Nicholas Mkhl March 24, 2023Review

Review

Hastur Evocation – When Bestial Moans Compose a Sweet Symphony (1996)

Italy's scene of gothic infused extreme metal has given us a few classics over the years but also a large number of bands that would show some potential before disbanding…

By Nicholas Mkhl January 5, 2023Review

Analysis

Gorgoroth – Gorgoroth: Climax Analysis

Gorgoroth's second album is often considered to be their magnum opus and one of the greatest Norwegian black metal albums despite coming out significantly later than the other recognized classics…

By Nicholas Mkhl November 19, 2022Analysis

Podcast

HS: Lelahel (Lelahell, Litham, Aash and much more)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRk3xf9j-Fo&t=86s&ab_channel=HessianFirm Nick is joined Lelahel who has been one of the major driving forces of Algerian and North African metal since the 90s. Conversations revolve around his unique use of…

By Nicholas Mkhl November 10, 2022Podcast