Merry Christmas and Happy Yule to all terminators (and lumps of coal to those who deny our power)! This is our last main episode of 2022 before we embark on the path to our end of year extravaganza and it's a doozy. We're finishing the year with two black metal records which need zero introduction- one arriving at the end of this week, the other released by surprise. Both these records are the latest installments of long-running, lauded black metal legends, so how does this most recent material stack up to the legacy?
First off is Satanic Warmaster's first full-length in 8 years, a record so highly anticipated the heat coming off it will make you spill your cocoa. What comes after such a long wait? An almost absurdly tight, refined, and polished take on SW's inimitable style. It's not without its own identity, though: Aamongandr explores deeply the relationship between the Finnblack style (which SW itself helped pioneer) and more traditional second wave black metal. Each song on this record captures a unique essence, exploring different facets of the band's long-running career to make for unquestionably one of the most well-rounded (and best) black metal records of the year.
Much like in 2020, Hate Forest has released their newest full length with little fanfare. Innermost displays Hate Forest at their loudest, most immediate, and (arguably) most aggressive, paring back the band's minimal style into the barest etchings of melody and form. Cold and austere but with flickers of fragile life, this record provokes a spirited debate between our hosts, with each taking a surprising position. How minimal is too minimal? How does one define and consider aggression? And why are those trees so angry, anyway?

0:00:00 - Intro
0:06:48 - Satanic Warmaster - Aamongandr (out DECEMBER 30 on Werewolf Records)
1:06:59 - Interlude - Osculum Infame - Vampiric Warmaster (Part II), fr. Dor-nu-Fauglith (Mordgrimm, 1997)
1:14:47 - Hate Forest - Innermost (Osmose Productions)
2:16:19 - Outro - Windswept - “Bookworm, Loser, Pauper,” fr. The Onlooker (Season of Mist, 2019)

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