Altari
Iceland · last active 2023
Altari is an Icelandic black metal band whose debut album Kröflueldar, released via Svart Records in April 2023, took roughly nine years to complete. The record folds clean, melodic guitar leads and influences from Blue Öyster Cult, Killing Joke and Interpol into a black metal foundation, co-produced by Stephen Lockhart (aka Wann), a central engineer/producer figure in Reykjavík's black metal scene.
SCORE PROFILE
Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.
WHY THOSE SCORES
- Jazzy 3 — Reviews note the record 'owes as much to post punk, psychedelic rock, and even some jazz' as to black metal
- Black 7 — Icelandic black metal band; Svart Records describes Kröflueldar's 'scalding and ferocious' black metal core (https://svartrecords.com/en/product/altari-kroflueldar/11084)
- Technical 5 — Distorted Sound notes the album blends black metal with progressive-rock structure and unconventional clean/distorted interplay developed over nine years
- Ambient 4 — Reviews describe a 'mysterious and brooding' sound with 'slinky rhythms and simmering atmospherics' (https://www.nocleansinging.com/2023/04/17/altari-kroflueldar/)
MEMBERS
- Ó.Þ. Guðjónssonguitar, vocals
- K.R. Guðmundssonguitar
- Gyða Margrétguest vocals (select tracks)
CONNECTIONS
- Circlepath →
Shared label roster: Svart Records, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Killing Jokepath →
Shared label roster: Svart Records, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Napalm Deathsatellitepath →
Shared label roster: Svart Records, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Opium Warlordspath →
Shared label roster: Svart Records, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Oranssi Pazuzupath →
Shared label roster: Svart Records, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Shining (Sweden)path →
Shared label roster: Svart Records, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Sólstafir (post-rock era)path →
Shared label roster: Svart Records, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Sólstafir (viking/black era)path →
Shared label roster: Svart Records, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Urarvpath →
Shared label roster: Svart Records, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
- Yakuzapath →
Shared label roster: Svart Records, per MusicBrainz. source ↗
FURTHER LISTENING
Nearest score profiles in the atlas.
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- UnaffiliatedEI 9KexelürBlackTechnicalJazzy
Kexelür is a Santiago, Chile trio formed around 2021 playing atmospheric, dissonant, and psychedelic black metal built around free improvisation. Their releases are billed as largely improvised live sessions, with reviewers noting 'jazz fusion inspired soloing/leads' layered over the black metal foundation. The band communicates only through single-letter pseudonyms (Λ., V., J.), with Λ. also running the solo project Fatalys (not in the E.M.M.A. atlas).
- UnaffiliatedEI 7Alfa ObscuraBlackTechnicalAmbient
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- UnaffiliatedEI 9Deathspell OmegaBlackTechnicalJazzy
Deathspell Omega is an anonymous French black metal collective, formed in 1998, that turned from orthodox raw black metal into one of the most cerebral, theologically-preoccupied acts of the 'dissonant' avant-black wave. From Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice (2004) and Kénôse (2005) onward their music folds jazz-derived chord voicings, math-rock complexity and dark-ambient/choral interludes into blast-driven black metal. The band never confirms its lineup, so personnel details are limited to widely-reported names.
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Wyrmwoods is a one-man experimental/atmospheric black metal project from Oulu, Finland, active since 2014 under the alias Nuurag-Vaarn and signed to Inverse Records. Its four full-lengths (Earth Made Flesh, 2017; Spirit & Teeth, 2019; Gamma, 2020; No Sun Nor Moon, 2022) fold progressive rock, doom, jazz saxophone and ambient texture into a black metal core, with Gamma marking a deliberate turn from a chaotic, lo-fi approach toward more progressive, Opeth-indebted songwriting.
- UnaffiliatedEI 14AenaonBlackTechnicalJazzy
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- UnaffiliatedEI 12Morpheus TalesBlackTechnicalAmbient
Morpheus Tales is a Greek experimental/progressive black metal project from Thessaloniki, built around core member Paris (guitars, drums/keys programming) with Georgios P on guitars and Lee on vocals for their most recent work. Their music is billed as 'avantgarde post black metal' that's psychedelic, strange and concept-driven — 2014's Secular Noir is a 'cosmic noir tale of greed and lust,' while 2017's II is an 8-chapter concept record about hypocrisy, false prophets and the denial of reality, featuring a guest saxophone part from Orestis Exidaris. The project appears self-released/unsigned, distributing exclusively through its own Bandcamp.
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- UnaffiliatedEI 9MurmurBlackTechnicalJazzy
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