Month: August 2020

Icelandic Black metal Formation Auðn release first new track “Eldborg”

Auðn release first new track “Eldborg”

Icelandic black metal formation AUÐN are now premiering the first track of their upcoming record ‘Vökudraumsins fangi’. The track “Eldborg” is streaming here:
The video was created by AUÐN‘s own Andri Björn Birgisson.

The band’s third full length will be released on October 30th. Pre-orders are now live in the Season of Mist shop HERE.

AUÐN comment: “It is with great pleasure that we unveil the first track from ‘Vökudraumsins fangi’. A track that embodies Iceland’s furious awe and fear inducing pits of fire. These ever looming harbingers of destruction have countless faces, this is ‘Eldborg’.”
The cover artwork of ‘Vökudraumsins fangi’ was created by Mýrmann and can be viewed below, together with the track list. 
Tracklist
1. Einn um alla tíð (08:15)
2. Eldborg (04:08)
3. Birtan hugann brennir (05:33)
4. Verður von að bráð (05:50)
5. Drepsótt (03:16)
6. Næðir um (05:03)
7. Horfin mér (06:42)
8. Á himin stara (03:47)
9. Ljóstýra (05:54)
10. Vökudraumsins fangi (06:43)
As the country’s vibrant black metal scene has proven, Iceland can be a beautiful and sinister place where furious elements rage teaching fear but also inspiring human creativity. Emphasizing melodies rather than dissonance and approaching their music from a dramatic, classical black metal angle, AUÐN deliver another mesmerizing piece of art with ‘Vökudraumsins fangi’.

Hailing from the village of Hveragerði in the south of Iceland, AUÐN deliver haunting melodies and beautifully frozen atmospheres – as opposed to the jarring and caustic blunt force trauma that has brought this remote place in the Northern Atlantic to the black metal forefront.
 
Founded in 2010, AUÐN‘s talent was quick to be recognized. After the release of the self-titled debut, the band got invited to Iceland’s main metal event, the Eistnaflug Festival. They participated and won the local Wacken Metal Battle contest in 2016, while making it to the top three during the infamous Wacken Open Air festival itself. Shows at the prestigious Inferno and Roadburn festivals followed in 2017.  
 
The second full-length, ‘Farvegir Fyrndar’ was released in November 2017, continuing the band’s fast ascent. Highly praised by the international metal press, the sophomore record reached back to a more classic second-generation black metal approach combined with a sense of elegance and melancholy that one can feel while dwelling among the bleak, extraordinary landscapes of the island.
 
The Icelanders embarked on European tours with label mates GAAHL’S WYRD in 2017 and THE GREAT OLD ONES (2017 and 2018) and captivated festival audiences at the biggest European fests, such as Copenhell, Summer Breeze Open Air, Eurosonic Noorderslag, Roskilde, Eindhoven Metal Meeting and more.
 
Returning with ‘Vökudraumsins fangi’, AUÐN explore new soundscapes and push their music to new heights, thereby setting themselves further apart from their Icelandic contemporaries. The six piece draws inspirations from their natural surroundings, but also chart the territory of the mind. The album title literally translates to ‘prisoner of the daydream’, but rather refers to a perpetual state of delusion of a life that never took place.
 
Join AUÐN while traversing the blurred lines between reality and the supernatural and the otherworldly sceneries of their native Iceland. 

Recording studio: Sundlaugin Studio
 
Producer / sound engineer: Stephen Lockhart of Studio Emissary
 
Mixed and mastered: Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios
 
Recording line-up:
Andri Björn Birgisson – Guitars
Aðalsteinn Magnússon – Guitars and vocals
Hjalti Sveinsson – Vocals
Hjálmar Gylfason – Guitars
Matthías Hlifar Mogensen – Bass and guitars
Sigurður Kjartan Pálsson – Drums
 
Guest musicians:
Arnaldur Ingi Jónsson – Hammond organ on “Næðir um “and “Horfin mér”
Magnús Jóhann Ragnarsson – Grand piano & Mellotron on “Næðir um” and “Vökudraumsins fangi”
 
Cover artwork: Mýrmann
 
 
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/audnofficial/
https://audnofficial.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/audnofficial/

FUNERAL HARVEST set release date for SIGNAL REX debut EP, reveal first track

Today, Signal Rex announces October 30th as the international release date for Funeral Harvest‘s highly anticipated debut EP, self-titled Funeral Harvest, on 10″ vinyl format.

A pan-international quartet featuring members from Norway and Italy, Funeral Harvest formed in 2016 and unleashed their first public recording the very next year. Tellingly titled Bunker Ritual Rehearsal, this first strike was auspicious to say the very least, and quickly built a name for Funeral Harvest in the underground. Their raw ‘n’ robust black metal sound was rooted in the ancient ways but never regressive – in fact, its ghoulish hostility was perversely refreshing. An epic digital single followed in 2019, but now aligned with Signal Rex for the release of their first EP and subsequent debut album, Funeral Harvest are hitting a fever pitch of intensity and creativity.

Simply put, the Funeral Harvest 10″ EP is a grim ‘n’ graven culmination of all that’s come before and all that lies ahead. Funeral Harvest‘s attack here is undeniably physical, but vacillates between hypnotic possession and demonic headbanging, in turn drawing the listener into a delirium both nightmarish and bacchanalian. Indeed do the four-piece spring from the bitter sea, as the ancient snake that lives in the abyss, always hungry – and Funeral Harvest are hungry for darkness! A swift ‘n’ satisfying four tracks in 20 minutes, Funeral Harvest encompasses its own vision, its own experience, whole and unholy. It does “arise from the ashes,” as it were, of Bunker Ritual Rehearsal, but with a clear distinction, as vocalist/guitarist Nathas explains: “The rehearsal was a ritual for us, and we wanted to capture that feeling, just to spread our Verbum Mors.”

Turning attention toward the self-titled EP, Nathas explains the themes more deeply: “The EP opens with ‘Nihil Sub Sole Novum,’ a Latin phrase of Memento Mori – ‘There is nothing new under the sun.’ The song, in Latin, honors death as the great mystery of human life – Alpha and Omega, Life and Death, Death and Life. Following the first song, our Mater Nigra, there is ‘Sacred Dagger.’ It refers mainly to Satanism, sacrifice, blood, and devotion. ‘Sacred Dagger’ is pure devotion to our inner soul, as the fire that burns in each of us. ‘O.S.T.N.D.S.’ is the latest song we’ve had released on Bandcamp before this EP. I am really proud of this song because we’re using simple riffs in the style of 1995 black metal, and it’s pure as fire! In this song, we also have introduced our new drummer Ond and sound artist Northr, giving the band the right attitude and professional spirit. In the end, as everything lives in this world, there is Omega. The song ‘Omega’ refers to another Latin phrase of Memento Mori / Danse Macabre, mainly focused on the Black Plague. ‘The bells no longer rang and nobody was crying. The only thing that could be done was to wait for death. Some who, by now mad, staring into space, some, gnawing the rosary, others abandoning themselves to the worst vices. Many said, ‘It is the end of the world!’ Hail Death – Hail Vanitas.”

But the Funeral Harvest EP is just the first filthy new strike from Funeral Harvest: their debut album for Signal Rex is forthcoming! Death lurks around every corner…you’ve been warned!

Begin lurking with the brand-new track “Sacred Dagger” here:
Cover art – titled “Finis Gloriæ Mundi,” created by Raul Mazzero / View From the Coffin – and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Funeral Harvest’s Funeral Harvest
SIDE A – 1. Nihil Sub Sole Novum
SIDE A – 2. Sacred Dagger
SIDE B – 1. O.S.N.D.S.P.T
SIDE B – 2. Omega
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/funeralharvest
www.funeral-harvest.bandcamp.com
www.signalrex.com
www.facebook.com/signalrex
www.signalrex.bandcamp.com

ISOLERT reveal first track from new NIHILISTICHE KLANGKUNST album – features members of SØRGELIG

Today, Greek black metallers Isolert reveal the new track “Staring at a Path Towards Nowhere.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second album, World in Ruins, set for international release on November 11th via Nihilistische KlangKunst. Hear Isolert‘s “Staring at a Path Towards Nowhere ” in its entirety here:
Howling forth from the nameless abyss betwixt Hell and insanity, black wings outstretched to envelop the world, comes the nihilistic yet irrepressible spirit of Isolert. Forged in Volos, Thessaly amidst the searing flames of 2015 by Nick S and Panagiotis T (also active together in Sørgelig), this bewitching project draws not from the classic Greek black metal sound and instead delves deep into the Scandinavian night with a wretched fervor that calls to mind such luminary names as Gorgoroth or Dissection, dexterously blended with a touch of that crepuscular madness that only acts like Tribulation can typically conjure.

The early years of Isolert were a flurry of diabolical activity. In March of 2015, with the sparks of their meeting setting all around them ablaze, their initial demo, Isolated Soul, was quickly wrought upon the unsuspecting world. 2016 would then see Giannis and Apostolos join the band for the release of their first LP, entitled No Hope, No Light… Only Death, garnering great acclaim. 2017 pushed their possessed productivity to even greater levels of intensity, the impure fruits of which were an EP entitled Isolert, a split album with countrymen and kindred souls Insanity Cult, plus a collaborative effort with the mighty Human Serpent on a glorious 20-minute composition – all of which only served to strengthen their whispered legend.

And then, the project was locked in a cage. Hidden deep underground. Almost forgotten…until now.

For 2020 sees the now-triumvirate of Nick, Panagiotis, and Apostolos poised to release their most devastating ode to darkness yet: World In Ruins. With a name both inspired by the end-state of the world and descriptive of what will surely happen once this album is released, the album roars and rails with a ferocious apocalypticism only hinted at in Isolert‘s previous works. Crushing melodic leads entwine with an incredibly visceral, vital vocal performance to inspire dread and despair as you, the listener, can only watch it all collapse around you…

So be warned: you have until November to make all necessary preparations before Nihilistische KlangKunst unleashes the final catastrophic blow upon humanity via digipack CD and 12″ vinyl, with spectacularly eschatonic cover art courtesy of VisionBlack – Nikos Stavridakis.

Isolert have returned…and they bring with them a World in Ruins. (text by Aaron Bray)

Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Isolert’s World in Ruins
1. Fire, Ash, Blood [3:31]
2. Burn Them [4:04]
3. As We Die [5:08]
4. Extinction [4:36]
5. Staring at a Path Towards Nowhere [7:19]
6. World in Ruins [5:33]
7. Light…Has Abandoned Us [10:14]
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/isolert
www.isolert.bandcamp.com
www.n-kk.de 
www.nihilistischeklangkunst.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/Nihilistische-KlangKunst-104664284637790

Forgjord “Uhripuu” Album Review

I am a regular customer with probably the best Black metal mail order service in the USA these days hell’s headbangers and am always sure to check their out next releases tab since many times they will have something listed on there that if you do not preorder you have no chance to get a copy for yourself without paying “discog insanity prices”

Beginning of this summer I saw that they had Finnish Black Metal mavericks Forgjord’s 2017 release Uhripuu listed for preorder on vinyl. Werewolf records can do no wrong in my book in recent years so I checked a couple of advance tracks on their bandcamp link and whipped out the ol’ credit card to presave my copy

Fast forward a couple of months and my order finally shows up – of course by then I had totally forgotten about this release and couldn’t wait to throw it on the turntable and crank it up.

So I put on Side A as I firmly believe that when a band does an album they want their songs heard in a particular order and have probably spent some time with the tracks to come up with the best possible order. Something that of course is lost by streaming usually if you hit up a bands Spotify page they play the most popular songs first regardless of which album they come from.

The needle drops on the grooves and I gotta say for the first part of the first song “Johdanto” I was pretty underwhelmed, I honestly wondered “shit maybe the tracks I checked out were from a different release?” and ‘what was I thinking ordering this”

I was like well you know what you paid your money just have faith and let the album play through,2nd song kicks ok a bit more up beat but still not outstanding…..I dunno what happened but half way through the song “Uhripuu” boom I am HOOKED

One thing I really love about the Finnish black metal bands is not only do they have rawness and intensity there is a sense of melody there that is much more prevalent than you find in the average Norwegian or Swedish BM band

Guys this is an essential purchase – do not hesitate to pick upa copy in your favorite format as you are gonna get a lot of play from this album.

My understanding is their latest album “Laulu kuolemasta” is out now on CD and Digital album but the vinyl is yet to come

A little back story on the band they formed in Finland in 2002 released a bunch of demos and this is their 3rd full length release (they have 2 more full length albums out after this one)

Forgjord is Swedish for “destroyed”

Thanks for reading

Steve BDL August 2020

More info:

Werewolf Records Bandcamp

Hells Headangers Webstore

WOMBRIPPER set release date for new MEMENTO MORI album, reveal first track

In their endless quest to push and support current underground acts that perpetuate the odor of vintage death metal, on October 26th, Memento Mori is proud to present Wombripper‘s highly anticipated second album, Macabre Melodies.

Hailing from Nizhny Novgorod, Russia and formed in February 2013, Wombripper have ever since leaned towards the Swedish school of death metal with raw, crunchy buzzsaw guitars and straightforward compositions. Highly influenced by Grave, Entombed, and Dismember, their first demo, Morbid Aberrations, was recorded and released in 2014, and the band shared the stage with some of the genre’s milestones such as Necrophobic, Nominon, and Fleshcrawl, and also newer underground acts such as Undergang, Nocturnal Witch, etc.

After several lineup changes, the four-track EP Infected Tomb was recorded and self-released by the band in 2017. That same year, Wombripper recorded their debut album, From the Depths of Flesh, which was released in 2018 by different labels, such as Redefining Darkness Records (USA) and Grotesque Sounds (Russia). From the Depths of Flesh gained them lots of positive feedback from the media and old-school death metal fans alike, as the album displayed some top-notch Swedeath, an aural massacre featuring plenty of catchy and morbid melodies, blazing solos, and blasting devastation.

Now scaled back to a three-piece, Wombripper put the POWER in power-trio with their crushing second album, Macabre Melodies. Ever aptly titled, Macabre Melodies is both macabre to the max as well as melodic – in a most macabre manner! Wombripper are nothing if not maniacs devoted to pure ’90s death metal, and that vintage aspect rings proud ‘n’ true here, adding to (but never subtracting from) the iron-clad foundation laid down by Dismember back then, keeping the guitars gutsfucking and incredibly tuneful, with hummable tunes you simply won’t be able to get out of your head. But lest anyone linger under the assumption that “melodic” equates to some weakening aspect, fuck right off here: Wombripper are not named that for no reason, and Macabre Melodies encapsulates and then eclipses their no-less-righteous prior recordings, making for the band’s apex to date and all without sacrificing an ounce of crush or credibility.

Graced with stark ‘n’ haunting cover art courtesy of MFA XII, Macabre Melodies is the sweet song you’ll hear…before you DIE! Fans of classic Entombed, Fleshcrawl, Entrails, Nirvana 2002, Dismember, Grave, Demonical, Carnage, and God Macabre – Wombripper is your favorite new old-style band!

The first macabre melody can be heard with the brand-new track “Possessed by Unknown” here:
Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Wombripper’s Macabre Melodies
1. Possessed by Unknown
2. Join Undead
3. Obscurity Depths
4. Shredded Corpse Remains
5. Wicked Breed
6. Macabre Void
7. Devastation into Waste
8. Already Dead
9. Church of Repulsion
10. Fractures
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/wombripperband52
www.wombripper.bandcamp.com
www.memento-mori.es
www.facebook.com/memento.mori.label

BLOOD HARVEST to release split EP between ANARCHOS and MORBID STENCH – streaming now

Today, Blood Harvest Records sets October 16th as the international release date for Ghospels of Necromancy, a special split EP between Anarchos and Morbid Stench, on 7″ vinyl format.

Quick and sick, Ghospels of Necromancy is aptly titled. Anarchos should need no introduction to those following the devilish deeds of Blood Harvest, for the label released the band’s celebrated debut album, Invocation of Moribund Spirits, in late 2017. Here, the Dutch quartet unload two tracks of prime filth ‘n’ darkness, each exquisitely gutted, and sparing no small amount of urgency.
If Anarchos offer all-caps DEATH METAL, then they’re well paired with Morbid Stench, a stronghold of El Salvadoran extreme metal. Fresh from their cult Doom & Putrefaction debut LP last year, the power-trio of Morbid Stench indeed offer yet more doom & putrefaction with one world-eating track that’s equally filthy and dark but differently so.

Beware Anarchos and Morbid Stench, for they bring you Ghospels of Necromancy! Stream the split in its entirety here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Ghospels of Necromancy 1. ANARCHOS – Grotesque Perversity
2. ANARCHOS – Tortured Souls
3. MORBID STENCH – Brethren Accuser

 MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/anarchos666
www.facebook.com/morbidstench
www.bloodharvest.se
www.bloodharvestrecords.bandcamp.com
www.twitter.com/BloodHarvestRec
www.facebook.com/pages/Blood-Harvest-Records/300012152033

Evil-metal vanguard Blackevil premiere the new track “Lucifer’s Supremacy”

Today, evil-metal vanguard Blackevil premiere the new track “Lucifer’s Supremacy”. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second album, Forever Baptised in Eternal Fire, set for international release on September 25th via Dying Victims Productions.
Hear Blackevil‘s “Lucifer’s Supremacy” in its entirety exclusively here:
Hailing from Bavaria, Blackevil have been forging fire since 2013. Their first demo, appropriately titled Hail the Cult, emerged from the darkness in 2015, auspiciously revealing a razor-sharp and endlessly salacious style of blackthrash. Come Blackevil‘s debut album, 2017’s The Ceremonial Fire, the power-trio up-ratcheted everything: more speed, more hooks, more black, more evil, more of MORE! Diehards took notice, thankfully, and the band furthered the momentum the next year with a split LP with Italy’s esteemed Witchunter. Still, the best was yet to come…
 
At last, Blackevil‘s breakout moment arrives with their long-awaited second album, Forever Baptised in Eternal Fire. Of course, ones for astute titles, Blackevil nevertheless lay it all on the line with Forever Baptised in Eternal Fire, bringing together their not-inconsiderable past with an envious present and doubtlessly damned future! Naturally, they’d never betray their roots – whether it’s the German thrash Big Three of Sodom, Kreator, and Destruction or evil speed metal legends like Razor, Evil Angel, OZ, and Exciter, and plenty of other classic points in between – but the way the trio assimilate them into something that’s so uniquely their own and yet so uniquely and purely HEAVY METAL, we can only guess there’s some black magick at play. Put another way, Forever Baptised in Eternal Fire is fucking EPIC from beginning to end, but it never sounds like it’s straining to sound “epic.” Likewise, one could charitably qualify Blackevil here as transcending blackthrash altogether, so creative is this idiosyncratic iteration of the idiom…but even then, that’s selling both band and record short.
 
All we can say is simply step into this eternal fire, feel the witching-metal leads course through your veins, the throttling yet tastefully nuanced drums guide your quest, and allow bassist Abyss’ commanding and increasingly charismatic vocals to lead the charge; try to resist ALL THAT, and try remaining metal to the bone. Won’t work! Suitably for such a classic-in-the-making, Forever Baptised in Eternal Fire is baptized with (un)godly cover art by the masterful Paolo Girardi. Make no mistake: Blackevil have ARRIVED!
 
Begin heralding that arrival with the previously revealed “Black Fire Tornado” exclusively HERE, courtesy of Deaf Forever magazine. 
Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Blackevil’s Forever Baptised in Eternal Fire
1. Come Forth [0:59]
2. Satan’s Crown [4:15]
3. The Disciple [4:24]
4. Black Fire Tornado [3:57]
5. Forever Baptised In Eternal Flames [8:20]
6. Lucifer’s Supremacy [6:08]
7. The Final Book [4:58]
8. Pestkarren [3:54]
9. 1943 [8:59]
MORE INFO:
www.blackevil.net
www.dying-victims.de 
www.facebook.com/dyingvictimsproductions 

MÖRK GRYNING release first new track “Fältherren”

Legendary Swedish black metal formation MÖRK GRYNING are now releasing the first track of their upcoming album ‘Hinsides Vrede’. The song “Fältherren” is streaming here:
The video was created by Guilherme Henriques.

‘Hinsides Vrede’ will be released via Season of Mist on October 23. Pre-sales are available HERE.

Goth Gorgon comments: “Fältherren” is for me the essence of what MÖRK GRYNING is. Dark and brutal yet melodic and dynamic. Lyrically it’s based on “The Field Marshal”, a song included in Modest Mussorgsky’s song cycle “Songs and dances of death”. A part of the (translated from Russian) original lyric should suffice to explain its meaning: “Then, illuminated by moonlight, on her battle horse, shining with the whiteness of her bones, appeared Death; and in the silence, taking in moans and prayers, full of proud satisfaction, like a field marshal she circled around the place of battle”.”
The cover artwork was created by C-G and can be viewed below, together with the tracklist.
Tracklist:
1. The Depths of Chinnereth (01:00)
2. Fältherren (03:37)
3. Existence in a Dream (03:12)
4. Infernal (03:41)
5. A Glimpse of the Sky (02:56)
6. Hinsides (01:25)
7. The Night (03:13)
8. Sleeping in the Embers (04:25)
9. For Those Departed (01:09)
10. Without Crown (04:29)
11. Black Spirit (04:36)
12. On the Elysian Fields (01:41)
After fifteen years of slumber, the sleepers are asleep no more, the dead are resting peacefully no more. One of Sweden’s legendary black metal bands MÖRK GRYNING are about to unleash their wrath upon the masses with ‘Hinsides Vrede’.
 
Founded in 1993 in Stockholm, Sweden, MÖRK GRYNING stood at the cradle of the melodic black and death metal scene as it is known today. In May 1995, founding members Goth Gorgon and Draakh Khimera entered the Unisound Studios to record their now legendary debut album ‘Tusen År Har Gått’, produced by Dan Swanö.

This record quickly drew attention in the underground scene, and it is still one of the most celebrated records in black metal. The melodic combination of haunting black metal with heavy metal, toppled with keyboards and acoustic guitars became the trademark of MÖRK GRYNING. Moreover, they were one of the first black metal bands to ever sing in their mother tongue.  
 
In 1996, the Swedes entered the Sunlight Studios with Tomas Skogsberg and DISMEMBER’s Fred Estby to craft the follow-up ‘Return Fire’. The reception of this dark, thrash metal influenced record was initially not as strong as its predecessor, but it gained popularity over the years. It is now regarded as one of the hallmarks of early Swedish black metal.  
 
Avathar joined the group in 1999, who’s virtuous guitar soloing added a new dimension to the band’s sound. A year later, the three-piece traveled to Bergen, Norway, and cut ‘Maelstrom Chaos’ at the famous Grieghallen Studios, produced by legendary Norwegian producer Pytten (MAYHEM, BURZUM, EMPEROR). The music had taken a more orchestral approach with epic arrangements and longer songs, culminating with the incorporation of Mozart’s “Lacrimosa” in the song “The Menace”.
 
In early 2003, MÖRK GRYNING entered the Dug Out Studio (MESHUGGAH, DEVIN TOWNSEND, IN FLAMES, DARK FUNERAL) with the two producers David Bergstrand and Örjan Örnkloo. Although every album thus far had been a big step from the previous in terms of music and sound, the difference was beyond comparison on ‘Pieces of Primal Expressionism’. Sounding highly experimental with disharmonic clusters painted on a gargantuan wall of sound built by Bergstrand, the record turned out to be a great divider for fans. Many old fans were deterred by the abrupt change of style while others praised it as a brave step forward.
 
Several line-up changes followed in the years after the release, but the band kept on touring and playing festivals. Eventually, Goth Gorgon was left as the only original member and disbanded the project even though a new record was already being recorded. Posthumously, the recorded songs were released by Black Lodge Records in 2005 on the self titled album ‘MÖRK GRYNING’.
 
Awakening the flames of chaos again at Party San Open Air in 2017, the anniversary show of ‘Tusen År Har Gått’ in Stockholm (2017), several other festivals, Founding members Goth Gorgon, Draakh Kimera and Avatar reunited and MÖRK GRYNING signed a new deal with Season of Mist.
 
With ‘Hinsides Vrede’, MÖRK GRYNING again found the synergy they had while writing their legendary debut record and return to their foundations by balancing melody with straightforward brutality. Yet, by striving to reinvent themselves with every record, the long-awaited comeback of the band is by no means a reiteration of a glorious musical past.

Translating into ‘otherworldly wrath’ or ‘wrath of the world beyond’, ‘Hinsides Vrede’ represents the doom of pre-historic cultures as well as our impending doom while the world is cracking at its seams. It is a furious assault upon the civilized world and a descent into the nether regions of the world beyond. Join us into the maelstrom!
Follow MÖRK GRYNING on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their Bandcamp!

Pre-sales:  https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/mork-gryning-vrede

Photographer: Peter Wendin

Recording studio: Wing Studios, Sverker Widgren
 
Producer / sound engineer, mixing and mastering: Wing Studios, Sverker Widgren

Line-up:
Draakh Kimera – Lead Vocals, Guitar, Drums
Goth Gorgon – Bass, Guitar, Backing Vocals
Avathar – Lead Guitar
 
Recording line-up:
Draakh Kimera: Lead & Backing Vocals, Guitars, Drums, Keyboards
Goth Gorgon: Bass, Lead Guitar, Backing vocals, Lead vocals on “Black Spirit”, Keyboards
Avathar: Lead Guitar     
C-G: Drums on “Fältherren” & “Black Spirit”
Aeon: Backing Vocals, Piano on “For Those Departed” & “On The Elysian Fields”

Guest musicians:
Laura Ute: Vocals on “Black Spirit”

Live members:
C-G – Drums
Aeon – Keyboards

Austrian black metallers Theotoxin premiere new track

Today, Austrian black metallers Theotoxin premiere the new track “Prayer” . The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated third album, Fragment : Erhabenheit, set for international release on September 11th via AOP Records. Hear Theotoxin’s “Prayer” in its entirety here:
With the intention of creating supreme black metal art, Theotoxin ascended from the catacombs of Vienna, Austria in 2016. A quintet featuring members of Zombie Inc., Selbstentleibung, and now-labelmates Anomalie, this strong lineup of musicians has been well tested on tour all over Europe.

In 2017, Theotoxin self-released their debut album, Atramentvm, and kept writing new material, which led to the release of the successor Consilivm (Massacre Records) just a year later. Plenty of live appearances and a tour through Europe followed, further honing the band’s considerable chops. On those stages did the band deliver a throttling live show with deep atmosphere; the name Theotoxin began to spread.

Now aligned with longtime fans AOP Records, Theotoxin are eager to spread their black chants even further with their strongest album yet. Bearing the thematic title of Fragment : Erhabenheit, Theotoxin’s third album is both a consolidation of the band’s strengths as well as an extension of new ones. Much like their intense onstage performances, the violence is palpable – almost overwhelmingly so – and is doled out with the ease of experienced masters. Equally so, however, a chilling melodicism rises from this physicality which puts Fragment : Erhabenheit in rarefied territory: a paradoxically refreshing (re)iteration of second-wave black metal classicism. It’s as much mid ‘90s as it is Now, and Theotoxin simply make it look all too easy…

Suitably graced with demonic-yet-mystical artwork courtesy of the masterful Jose Gabriel Sabogal, Fragment : Erhabenheit is guaranteed to be Theotoxin’s breakout moment!  

Also see & hear the previously revealed video for “Golden Tomb” video HERE at AOP Records‘ official YouTube channel.

Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Theotoxin’s Fragment : Erhabenheit
1. Golden Tomb
2. Obscure Divinations
3. Prayer
4. Through Hundreds of Years
5. Philosopher
6. Two Ancient Spirits
7. Sanatory Silence
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/theotoxinofficial
www.aoprecords.de
www.facebook.com/aoprecs

DYSYLUMN set release for massive third album thru SIGNAL REX, reveal first track

Today, Signal Rex sets October 9th as the international release date for Dysylumn‘s highly anticipated third album, Cosmogonie. Fittingly for such a massive endeavor, the album will be released on triple-CD, triple-vinyl LP, and triple-tape formats.

For the past decade, Dysylumn have been something of an unsung “dark horse” of the French black metal scene. Whilst exhibiting some of that scene’s idiomatic traits – the robustness of the orthodox/religious school, the melancholy of its more lonerist school – the duo have recast them in vivid new iterations. The grandest culmination to date was the band’s second album, 2018’s Occultation, which longtime fans Signal Rex released on vinyl in May 2020. Not for nothing have some called Occultation something of a modern classic: its breadth of vision is firmly rooted in black metal’s noblest traditions, but more so aims for the hinterlands of creativity and experience. And now, Dysylumn aim for the outermost hinterlands with their staggeringly dense third album, Cosmogonie.

Massive in every sense of the word, Cosmogonie totals nearly an hour and a half of music and is spread across three separate-yet-unified chapters, each bearing their own cover art: Chapitre I – Apparition, Chapitre II – Dispersion, and Chapitre II – Extinction. Respectively, the themes Dysylumn are exploring here include the creation of everything from nothing, in the immensity of emptiness; the formation of the primordial chaos, forming little by little the concretization of the elements; and these same elements that disperse in an infinite space until their extinction. It’s a titanic endeavor the band have been diligently working on for the past two years, for 2020 marks the 10-year anniversary of Dysylumn and the culmination of the project. What lies beyond Cosmogonie is unknown at this point…but its present is blindingly brilliant to behold.
Right from the opening notes of Chapitre I – Apparition, the characteristic churn ‘n’ spurn of prime Dysylumn is felt and in fine form: gutted bass throb, swirling ether of guitar, and tortured throat that seamlessly blends into and out of both. But dive deeper and discover that the duo reveal subtle reinventions of that doubtlessly sturdy aesthetic. Smoke-spiraling shards of melody become triumphant(ly doomed) expressions which lodge firmly within both heart and soul; body and mind are then wracked by eerily reined-in rhythm, which patiently plays its cards and never over-extends itself, allowing space and shade to do their DOOMED work; and vocals seemingly hover above and below, the heavens slaughtered while the hells offer no mercy. All is anguished, but breathtakingly, almost beautifully so. Cosmogonie is so immersive that it feels both like weeks and mere minutes in length… And when rendered in such 3D form as Dysylumn do here, the overall album could be absorbed as much as an ambient/atmospheric experience as it is a proudly black metal one. Therein lies their sulfurous magick, inarguably hitting a fever pitch with this three-record set: hypnosis, sublimation, transcendence.

If Occultation belatedly became something of a modern classic, then Cosmogonie has already begun its walk into those hallowed halls. And there sit Dysylumn, reigning over all they survey. Subject thyself to their majesty and prepare for extinction!

Begin preparations with the brand-new track “Extinction I” here:
Cover artwork, courtesy of Karmazid, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Dysylumn’s Cosmogonie 1. Intro
2. Apparition I
3. Apparition II
4. Apparition III
5. Dispersion I
6. Dispersion II
7. Dispersion III
8. Interlude
9. Extinction I
10. Extinction II
11. Extinction III
12. Outro


TRACK BREAKDOWN
Tracks 1-4 = Chapitre I – Apparition
Tracks 5-8 = Chapitre II – Dispersion
Tracks 9-12 = Chapitre II – Extinction
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/dysylumn
www.signalrex.com
www.facebook.com/signalrex
www.signalrex.bandcamp.com