About SUNNbleach

SUNNbleach is the alter ego of Sunbleach that reviews and discusses extreme metal instead of vaporwave. It was originally an April Fool’s Day 2017 feature that included some album reviews and an album-of-the-day before returning to normal programming. SUNNbleach was brought back for three days around Halloween 2017 and included additional articles such as a feature on the Fallen Empire […]

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Contrastic – Contrastic

Recommendation: ☀☀☁ Released in 2000, Contrastic’s self-titled debut is notable for being the first deathgrind release from a Czech band to find significant critical and commercial reception. It’s also one of the first albums to combine deathgrind with electronic effects, taking cues from The Locust and The Berzerker (with the latter releasing their debut in the same year). Oh, and […]

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Stronger than Love: A Primer on Latvian Extreme Metal

Welcome to the third installment of the Baltic Metal Primers. Earlier this year, I discussed Lithuanian black metal and Estonian death metal, which included brief overviews of metal in context of Baltic history and culture. These primers primarily focused on Baltic metal in the 1990s shortly after the countries’ independence following the collapse of the USSR (and subsequently ending several […]

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Conspiratio Contra Estonia: A Primer on Estonian Death Metal

While all three of the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) had active death metal scenes throughout the 1990s and beyond, that of Estonia stands out for three reasons. First, Estonia had the earliest death metal scene of the Baltics and thus laid the blueprint for the other Baltic States. Second, Estonia’s cultural and geographical relationship with Finland led to a […]

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When Death Shall Close Full-Moon Eyes: A Primer on Lithuanian Black Metal

  Shortly after attaining their independence following the collapse of the USSR, a collection of three small states on the southeastern shores of the Baltic Sea became ground zero for an exceptionally diverse and creative black metal scene that lasted from 1993 to 2002. Members of the extreme metal communities in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia launched themselves into a highly […]

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Behemoth – And the Forests Dream Eternally

Recommendation: ✂ (“Pure Evil and Hate”) Before becoming a household name in modern death metal, Polish group Behemoth was a straight-up black metal act with volkisch tendencies. And the Forests Dream Eternally is the band’s first EP – following four demos and full-length Seventevith (Storming Near the Baltic). More so than now, Behemoth was pretty much synonymous with frontman Nergal, […]

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Naked City – Leng Tch’e

Recommendation: 🐺🐺☁ Naked City is an experimental jazz outfit that included an all-star cast of alto saxophonist John Zorn, guitarist Bill Frisell, base guitarist Fred Firth, keyboardist Wayne Horvitz, drummer Joey Baron, and occasional vocalist Yamatsuka Eye of The Boredoms. Active from 1988 through 1993, Naked City (along with its sister group Painkiller) was influenced by grindcore, sludge metal, noise […]

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