Month: December 2019

Monolithic black/death cult Witchbones stream new Iron Bonehead album

Today, monolithic black/death cult Witchbones stream the entirety of their highly anticipated second album, The Seas of Draugen. Set for international release on December 6th via Iron Bonehead Productions, hear Witchbones‘ The Seas of Draugen in its entirety here:
Hailing from Portland, Oregon, just last year did Witchbones form but soon began an onslaught of dark ‘n’ devastating short-lengths. At the beginning of 2019 alone, mainman Vardlokker released two EPs a month apart – Akasha and Entropy Rite, respectively, through Witchbones‘ Bandcamp – and right behind it, the aptly titled debut album We Haunt Ourselves. More momentum continued with the Akasha II The Lost Demos compilation and then another EP, The Mirror Effect, slated for Halloween.

But, like a man possessed, Vardlokker aligns himself with Iron Bonehead to unleash Witchbones‘ densest and most penetrating recording yet, The Seas of Draugen. Like its aquatic, mythological namesake, here does Vardlokker drown the listener in wave after wave of shuddering, shivering horror that looks and sounds and feels very much like familiar bestial black/death, but is instead uniquely imbued with a wandering, amorphous atmosphere that creates a truly unsettling tension. Crushing but cast away, doomed to solitude and one’s own internal destruction, the literally massive, ever-so-slowly-roiling maelstrom Witchbones conjures forth is echoed within the thematic arc of The Seas of Draugen itself: setting sail with “The Nun Collector,” taking in a “Nebulous Ghost Ship” later on, and sending that listener to the torrid depths, that veritable Davy Jones’ Locker of the soul & spirit, with the concluding trifecta of “The Ritual Continues (We Haunt Ourselves),” “At the Shores (Draugen’s Revenge),” and “The Candle Burns Alone (Dead Sailors).”

Smothered by the sea, ravaged by bestial frequency, DOOM assuredly and austerely spelled out either way, Witchbones commits you to the gravest depths of The Seas of Draugen.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Witchbones’ The Seas of Draugen
1. The Nun Collector
2. Whispering Martyr
3. The Seas of Draugen
4. Nebulous Ghost Ship
5. The Ritual Continues (We Haunt Ourselves)
6. At the Shores (Draugen’s Revenge)
7. The Candle Burns Alone (Dead Sailors)
MORE INFO:
www.witchbvnes.bandcamp.com

PROSCRITO set release date for MEMENTO MORI debut, reveal first track

In their endless quest to push and support current underground acts that perpetuate the odor of vintage death metal, on January 27th, 2020, Memento Mori is proud to present Proscrito‘s striking debut album, Llagas y Estigmas.

Proscrito was born from the ashes of the sloppier incarnation known as Calvario in 2016, paying homage to the too-doomed-to-be-dead/too-dead-to-be-doomed parts of releases like Satanic Rites, Erupted Evil, The Dying Truth, Embrace the Death, Mental Funeral, Lost Paradise, Into Darkness, Worship Him, or Reflections of the Solstice, crafting slow & churning tracks that were to be (not really) perfected with the band’s debut EP, El Calvario, in 2017: a release filled with an all-encompassing passion for decay and rottenness, from the penitent and flagellant opening track “Via Crucis” to the closing instrumental mantra that is “Puteado,” pounding caveman percussion, thundering bass, and wah-soloing frenziness in between.

After three days of morbid delirium at Moontower Studios (Ataraxy, Graveyard, Oniricous, Teitanblood), once again under Javier Felez’s supervision, Proscrito‘s follow-up to the debut EP took form with some more echoes to the days of yore, as a full-length frontal assault titled Llagas y Estigmas (“Sores and Stigmata”), featuring five disgruntled litanies of blood, sweat, and no-tears imagery reminiscent of Robert E. Howard and Cormac McCarthy, muscular riffage, vomit and mucus. Tracks like “Marcado por la Pezuña,” “Tronos de Oprobio” or their (scato)logical outcome “Pantalgia” truly persist with that tradition of primitiveness, putting the stress both in the DEATH and the METAL, for doom has always been the band’s destiny, its powers and wisdom.

Any way you describe it, the dense ‘n’ sulfurous rumble this Spanish power-trio creates can cause tectonic shifts as ably as it can rot your soul. There’s an almost uncomfortably carefree, laissez faire approach to Proscrito‘s ritualistic plod, as if the band is indifferently acting as a conduit for supernatural frequencies only they can sense. It’s not often that Memento Mori dips its toes into the doomier end of death metal, but when it does, be fucking sure that it’s for good reason! And indeed, Llagas y Estigmas is one bad-ass GOOD REASON!

The first Bad-Ass Good Reason can be found with the brand-new track “Persistiendo” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Proscrito’s Llagas y Estigmas 1. Persistiendo [9:21] 2. Tronos de Oprobio [7:05]
3. Exequias [5:37]
4. Marcado por la Pezuña [7:18]
5. Pantalgia [11:07]
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/proscritoyolvidado
www.proscritoyolvidado.bandcamp.com
www.memento-mori.es
www.facebook.com/memento.mori.label

Bestial black/death commando Human Agony stream Invictus debut album

Today, bestial black/death commando Human Agony stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album. Set for international release today via Invictus Productions, hear Human Agony‘s Putrescence of Calvary in its entirety here.
Since forming in 2016, Human Agony have cast an outsized shadow. Having released just a handful of demos and splits, Human Agony‘s catalog is sparse but strong, corroborated by the band’s devastating live performances on recent tours. With this debut full-length, Putrescence of Calvary, Human Agony display the full might of their weaponry.

Comparisons to Conqueror, Revenge, and Black Witchery are inevitable, and indeed, Human Agony are among the few elite bands deserving of such comparisons. That the band hails from Victoria, B.C.—known for the infamous Ross Bay Cemetery and a longstanding history of Satanic and occult activity—naturally also draws attention to the profound influence of Blasphemy. But Human Agony offer more than rote regurgitation of the bestial black/death and war metal tropes.

Whereas many, if not most, bands that attempt to play this subgenre tend to be style over substance, Human Agony demonstrate an intense dedication to writing songs that are complex and captivating. While the musicianship on these tracks is undeniably impressive, it is the strength of the songwriting that truly set Human Agony apart. Each track contains a procession of riffs, precisely pieced together, with the collection of songs strategically sequenced to highlight the compositional arc of the album as a whole.

Significantly, the production showcases the instrumentation while maintaining the natural cacophony the band cultivates. The guitars stand out just enough to give voice to the riffs, as the frenzied, violent pulse of the drums bludgeons the listener. The unhinged solos and precise cutaways add a degree of unpredictability to the songs, while the wretched vocals lend a feral element to the recording. Interspersed among the tracks are occasional unsettling interludes and extraneous noise to disorient the listener before being propelled back into the fray. Bookending the album are an intro and outro performed by harsh noise musician Striations, who has toured with and collaborated with Human Agony in the past.

In every way, Putrescence of Calvary is the fulfillment of the promise of Human Agony‘s earlier work—the blood-drenched blossom of war’s carnage. Finally, the cover illustration by the skilled and highly regarded Finnish artist Heidi Kettunen, known for contributing cover art for Ride For Revenge, superbly complements Human Agony‘s music and provides a fitting aesthetic for this debut album.

Order info can be found HERE at Invictus‘ Bandcamp.
Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Human Agony’s Putrescence of Calvary
1. Introduction
2. Corpse Womb of Antichrist
3. Unwilling Blood
4. Covering Cherubim
5. Doctrine of Cruelty
6. Mouth of Spears
7. …
8. Purity Withdrawn / Angelic Castration
9. Mastered on Crucifix
10. Eviscerated for Ritual
11. Putrescence of Calvary
12. Outro
www.invictusproductions.net www.facebook.com/invictusproductions