Month: October 2020

GAEREA release new music video for’Urge’

Cathartic black metal outfit GAEREA are now releasing a brand new music video for the track ‘Urge’, which is taken from the band’s freshly released album ‘Limbo’. The album was officially released upon the massess on July 24. Watch the video  here:

GAEREA comment on the video: “The Only theme is Human Suffering as Life is hollow and useless. In a very practical way, some would claim there wouldn’t be such worse ending than death. Yet, the Nightmare of Existamce itself is as unbearable as pure extinction. Urge is savagery. Urge is Humanity.“

GAEREA recently announced they will hit the road throughout Europe with HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY and SCHAMMASCH in January/February 2021. A full list of confirmed dates can be found below. The band will be playing in support of their recently release album ‘Limbo’, which can be heard in full HERE.

GAEREA 
+Harakiri For The Sky +Schammasch
28 Jan 21 Warsaw (PL) Hydrozagadka
29 Jan 21 Prague (CZ) Nova Chmelnice
30 Jan 21 Erfurt (DE) From Hell
31 Jan 21 Dresden (DE) Chemiefabrik
01 Feb 21 Kassel (DE) Goldgrube
02 Feb 21 Mörlenbach (DE) Live Music Hall
03 Feb 21 Dortmund (DE) Junkyard
04 Feb 21 Kortrijk (BE) De Kreun
05 Feb 21 Arnhem  (NL) Willemeen
06 Feb 21 Leiden (NL) Gebr de Nobel
07 Feb 21 Trier (DE) Mergener Hof
08 Feb 21 Paris (FR) Backstage
09 Feb 21 Toulouse (FR) Le Rex
10 Feb 21 Barcelona (ES) Sala Boveda
11 Feb 21 Martigny (CH) Les Caves Du Manoir
12 Feb 21 Wetzikon (CH) Hall of Fame
13 Feb 21 Regensburg (DE) Airport Eventhalle Obertraubling
14 Feb 21 Salzburg (AT) Rockhouse

GAEREA
24 Jul 20 Famalicao (PT) Laurus Nobilis Music
31 Oct 20 London (UK) Subterranean Manifestation II
11 Dec 20 Berlin (DE) De Mortem et Diabolum
03 Mar 21 Helsinki (FI) On the Rocks
04 Mar 21 Tallinn (EE) Sveta Baar
05 Mar 21 St. Petersburg (RU) Zoccolo 2.0
06 Mar 21 Moscow (RU) Rock House
29 Apr 21 Barroselas (PT) SWR Barroselas Metalfest (Exact date TBA)
23 Jul 21 Zarnovica (SK) Gothoom open air fest (Exact date TBA)
31 Jul 21 Steenwijk (NL) Stonehenge Festival
18 Aug 21 Borre (NO) Midgardsblot (Exact date TBA)
The cover arwtork for ‘Limbo’, which is created by the talented Eliran Kantor, can be viewed with the album details below.

Cover artwork: painted by Eliran Kantor (Testament, Iced Earth, Sodom)

Track-list
1. To Ain (11:15) (HERE)
2. Null (6:01) (HERE)
3. Glare (7:16)
4. Conspiranoia (9:15) (HERE)
5. Urge (4:50)
6. Mare (13:11)
Total playing time: 51:48

Something rises in the bleak and blackened skies of society as we know it. Vortex community GAEREA are about to bestow their Undying Sigil to the masses, with their brand-new full length ‘Limbo’!

GAEREA is a black metal quintet from Portugal. Emerging in the beginning of 2016, the band released their first (self-titled) EP on November 11, 2016 through Everlasting Spew Records. The EP received many praises from the worldwide press, and it was not long before the first full length “Unsettling Whispers” (2018) was presented.

With that, GAEREA had the pleasure to perform and tour festivals in Europe and China, including performances with Jupiterian in April 2019 and a headlining Chinese tour in May 2019. The band already performed at festivals like SWR Barroselas Metalfest (PT), De Mortem et Diabolum (DE), Throne Fest (BE), Frantic Fest (IT), Eresia Metal Fest (IT), Amplifest (PT) and many more. During the fall of 2019, the band did an extensive tour with label mates NUMENOREAN under the Doomstar Bookings wing throughout Europe. 

Are you finally ready for the tale of the Fallen Society and the journey to the vast Void, the only good in Life? Let us begin then. In the first hopeless circle, on too great and Undeniable Nothingness. WE ARE GAEREA.

www.facebook.com/gaerea
www.instagram.com/gaerea_
www.gaerea.bandcamp.com

Line-up: unknown

Studio/recording: Demigod Recordings (PT)
Mix/Master: Miguel Tereso

Dark Buddha Rising – new video and single “Sunyaga”

Dark Buddha Rising unveil their seventh album, Mathreyata on Friday the 13th of November 2020 via Svart Records. 

Video for first single “Sunyaga” revealed. Video by Dehn Sora:

Finnish “dark underlords of psychedelic drone” Dark Buddha Rising return with their heaviest and darkest record yet.

V. Ajomo from Dark Buddha Rising states:

“Mathreyata follows the visions that were received from Inversum’s implosion and is the accession of what we invoked with the II EP. Before completing the great circle, all cycles must be dissolved. In the end we are standing at the edge of the abyss with all our previous work as weights, impatient to dive in. We recorded the basis of the album just before the Waste of Space Orchestra project began and mostly because of that, it took a few years to get it finished. Finally the material that we have performed live for several years can be experienced as a recorded album.”

Dark Buddha Rising’s abyssic and meditative sonic-void has been opening up over the last 10 years to swallow more and more devotees in their wake. Since their inception in 2007, with their first four albums being highly-coveted, sold-out private pressings, to subsequent Svart Records reissues, to their burgeoning fifth album Dakhmandal, Dark Buddha Rising have been shining like a black diamond for those that go mining for the real thing. Embraced into Neurosis’ Neurot Records fraternity, with 2015’s critically acclaimed sixth album Inversum, Tampere-based psychonauts, Dark Buddha Rising have captivated the collective consciousness of the heavy underground and achieved cult-legend status.

2019’s climactic and highly praised Waste Of Space Orchestra collaboration with local kindred spirits Oranssi Pazuzu at Roadburn Festival, put Dark Buddha Rising’s Wastement home studio: “the asylum of eternal feedback,” firmly on the International music world map and into the hearts of the pitch-black psych-rock underworld. Gathering a throng of newly devoted adherents who worship at the altar of their churning vortex, Dark Buddha Rising’s live shows are a transformative experience that are religiously revered by audiences across Europe, with Invisible Oranges calling their performance “brain melting.”

Metal Hammer describe Dark Buddha Rising’s music as “a shamanic voice chanting before a tumultuous void, soon all encompassed by a yawning riff chasm, contorted by keys, chants, rants and abyssal atmospherics,” and to put words into what Dark Buddha Rising does to the listening audience is to describe the band surrendering fully to the intuition and primal instincts as altered states of mind.

Prepare your mind and body for an initiation into the dark arts of Mathreyata on Friday the 13th of November 2020. Dark Buddha Rising have channeled a work for dark spirits and those who seek to travel beyond the unknown. 

Mathreyata features inlay artwork by Adam Burke.

First single “Sunyaga” drops on the 9th of October 2020. Mathreyata album on Friday the 13th of November 2020.

Pre-order here: https://svartrecords.com/product/darkbuddharising-mathreyata-album

Swedish black metal cult Leviathan streams the entirety of its LONG-awaited second album, Förmörkelse

Today, reanimated Swedish black metal cult Leviathan streams the entirety of its LONG-awaited second album, Förmörkelse. Set for international release on October 12th via Nebular Carcoma on vinyl LP format – the cassette tape version will be released earlier by Bile Noire with alternate art – hear Leviathan‘s Förmörkelse in its entirety here:

One of the most cult names before the term “cult” began being bandied about with reckless abandon, Leviathan appeared out of nowhere in 2002 with one album, Far Beyond the Light, and then disappeared forever. Granted, the man behind this Leviathan was no newcomer: one Phycon, who concurrently drummed in Armagedda before their demise and the precursor Volkermord. As such, the breadth of ambition across Förmörkelse was startling if not completely unexpected. So pure, so cold, and yet so brimming with lifeless life – an intentional paradox, perhaps – here did Phycon ably bridge the ’90s wave of black metal which so informed his youth with the yet-to-burst wave beginning at the dawn of the new millennium. It was an invigorating experience for all who heard it, and has since become a collector’s item, released as it was by The Shining’s since-closed Selbstmord Services label.

But, just like how Far Beyond the Light appeared literally out of nowhere, so, too, does Leviathan‘s comeback with Förmörkelse. Almost picking up right where the debut album left off, after a tense intro does Leviathan-the-man waste no time in establishing a splendorously grim atmosphere, roiling with the rippling physicality which so endeared that debut whilst maintaining a perversely invigorating melancholy. Each of the subsequent nine tracks build both with patience and urgency, each deliriously dark texture taking its time to wrap its black leathery wings around the listener. An ages-old sort of melodicism is intertwined throughout, often draped in haunting / shimmering shades of chorus pedal, which works as ghostly counterpoint to the gnashing pulse so central to the Leviathan aesthetic. And central to that is Phycon’s exquisitely deft and daresay-swinging drum-work, which even shines during the album’s moments of restraint and repose, allowing space and shade to work their magick as Förmörkelse moves on. And, by record’s end, the listener is left with catharsis and climax – so pure, so cold, and yet so vibrant.

Indeed, Leviathan‘s brilliance radiates outward through the ages, across decades, and remains just as vital and timeless as when the band began. If it takes nearly another 20 years for the follow-up to Förmörkelse, so be it: we are only richer for experiencing Phycon’s vision when he so chooses to reveal it.

 Preorder info for the vinyl version can be found HERE while preorder info for the tape version can be found HERE.

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Leviathan (Sweden)’s Förmörkelse 1. XVII
2. Avgrundens Återsken
3. Förmörkelse
4. Svart
5. Förbannelsen
6. Verklighetens Väv
7. En Tidlös Illvilja
8. Melankolins Ävja
9. Babylons Sand
10. Pestens Sigill

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/Leviathan-359483974666119

www.nebularcarcoma.com
www.lunarapparitions.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/nebularcarcoma 
www.soundcloud.com/nebularcarcoma 

Mork Gryning Premier New Track “Infernal”

Legendary Swedish black metal formation MÖRK GRYNING are now releasing the third new song of their upcoming album ‘Hinsides Vrede’. The song “Infernal” is streaming here:

‘Hinsides Vrede’ will be out on October 23. Pre-sales are still available in the Season of Mist shop HERE.

Draakh Kimera comments: “Behold this last single before the album release. ‘Infernal’ is pure evil and anti-religion. This is very much old school MG but in a 2.0 version.”

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

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

THE KRYPTIK reveal new track from upcoming PURITY THROUGH FIRE mini-album

Today, symphonic black metallers The Kryptik reveal the new track “Black Legions March.” The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated new new mini-album, Behold Fortress Inferno, set for international release on October 30th via Purity ThroughFire. Featuring guest vocals from Mavorim‘s Baptist, hear The Kryptik‘s “Black Legions March” in its entirety here:

It was but the autumn of 2019 when The Kryptik released their acclaimed second album, When the Shadows Rise, for new label home Purity ThroughFire. Here was a startlingly immersive gem of symphonic black metal, and many finally took notice. Indeed, “symphonic black metal” may be a dirty word to some still, but back in simpler, more idealistic times, that appellation bore delicious fruit, and many long-cherished classics of the black metal canon have upheld that banner; more specifically, once upon a time, it was simply BLACK METAL. The Kryptik bore witness to this fact, and since their formation in 2013, the Brazilian duo have dependably practiced their mystical arts with no outside influence from the nowadays “black metal” scene; only the most ancient flame burns within their hearts. And while their 2017 debut album, Through Infinity of Darkness, saw them boldly strike with a decades-past sound that remained remarkably fresh, it was When the Shadows Rise that scaled the grandest citadel of sound – and, it must be said, set a new standard for neo-ancient symphonic black metal.

Now the duo waste no time in eclipsing that a generous 40-minute mini-album, Behold Fortress Inferno. Aptly titled, Behold Fortress Inferno is a moodier and more overtly medieval experience, charging hard into the fog of the ancients with two epic-length tracks before a haunting interlude resets the stage. But over that somber cooldown can be heard the sounds of battle, and back into the fray The Kryptik surge with “Black Legions March,” featuring guest vocals from Mavorim‘s Baptist; swarming with a sumptuous swell of synths, the track offers many a cosmic key to their creations and times. Arguably more so here than on any of the other five tracks do the duo reach their apotheosis: sympho-BM that’s neither modernized nor retro-leaning, but rather an unselfconscious rumination on black metal’s most clandestine mysteries, done with grace and grandiosity, and with an even-defter, more effortless touch. It’s blanching to behold…and as that battle fades away, so does “Paths From Eternity” explode into the cosmos. Closing the mini-album with a reverential nod to tradition is a faithful yet synth-foggy cover of Mayhem’s classic “Funeral Fog,” featuring vocals from Utu’s Necromaniac.

While it’d be semi-accurate to state that Behold Fortress Inferno is an equal counterpart to When the Shadows Rise, that would only serve to undercut The Kryptik‘s undeniable artistry and care for craft – and when black metal, symphonic or otherwise, is done with this much passion and poignancy, the fact that it exists at all should be celebrated. But in another, more accurate sense, The Kryptik simply (and swiftly!) consolidate their all-too-considerable strengths here, and the result is another new essential for those who imbibe the timeless magick of old Obtained Enslavement, Abigor, and Limbonic Art as well as the more overlooked likes of Nocternity, Evilfeast, and later Kataxu. BEHOLD!

Continue beholding the aforementioned “Black Legions March,” featuring guest vocals from Mavorim‘s Baptist, HERE at Purity ThroughFire‘s official YouTube channel. Begin beholding the aforementioned cover of Mayhem’s Funeral Fog” HERE, also at Purity ThroughFire‘s official YouTube channel. 

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for The Kryptik’s Behold Fortress Inferno
1. Behold Fortress Inferno
2. The Plagues of the Abyss
3. …of Darkness
4. Black Legions March
5. Paths From Eternity
6. Funeral Fog [Mayhem cover]

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/thekryptik

www.purity-through-fire.com

NEXUL set release date for new IRON BONEHEAD EP, reveal first track

Today, Iron Bonehead Productions sets December 4th as the international release date for Nexul‘s highly anticipated new EP, Scythed Wings of Poisonous Decay, on CD and 12″ vinyl formats.

It was but 2017 when Nexul released their intimidating first album, fittingly titled Paradigm of Chaos. Very long awaited, Nexul‘s first full-length was the rigorous culmination of grave times and dark deeds spent in the shadows since 2011, first forecasted by the Nexulzifer demo in 2013. Not one for half measures – nor are any bands who are part of the Ordo Satanae Imperium collective, which includes now-labelmates Hellvetron – Nexul brewed Paradigm of Chaos as needed, steeping its essence until the time was right to strike. When it did, the album commanded shock and awe in equal measure.

So shall follow Nexul‘s latest opus. Something of a shadow-self to Paradigm of Chaos, Scythed Wings of Poisonous Decay is both rawer and more refined, more traditional and unorthodox in equal measure, stridently death metal by both definition and the band’s own iteration of such. Where its predecessor deliberately walked along the threshold between all-consuming chaos and sheer insanity, Nexul‘s new EP finds a rich ‘n’ robust balance between hammering bestiality, vortextural surge, and ancient expressions of the Metal of Death. “This record was written in dedication to Samael as the Angel of Death,” the band explains, “a journey beyond the highest heavens to the deepest Abyss in genuflection of all powers of Downfall and Demise,” and indeed does Scythed Wings of Poisonous Decay follow suit with an exploration of extremes that feels subtle, nuanced, almost ethereal, despite the characteristically overwhelming onslaught of sonic energies. Much lurks above and below here, where feeble ‘n’ feckless ears dare not tread; immerse oneself, however, and feel rapture of a most forbidden variety. Or, simply feel the molten crush of absolute POWER as its spreads outward like the eight arrows from the very Symbol of Chaos, reflective of Nexul‘s utterly mesmerizing presence onstage in recent years.

Unlike those cowards who stay away from those stages nor stand behind their creations, Nexul walk with confidence and unflinching self-belief and now unfurl Scythed Wings of Poisonous Decay!  

Wrap thyself in the wings of brand-new track “Partitioned by Severity” here:

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Nexul’s Scythed Wings of Poisonous Decay 1. Thy Terror
2. Reflected in Glaring Eyes
3. Partitioned by Severity
4. He that Takes the Soul
5. Returns Nothing to Naught
6. M.S.R
7. T.M.I.P.L
8. N.X.L.Z.F.R
9. Raped by Demons / Luziferion

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/Nexul-364297183771475

www.facebook.com/IronBoneheadProductions

SÓLSTAFIR premiere new music video for “Her Fall From Grace”

Icelandic post rock outfit SÓLSTAFIR are now premiering a brand new music video for the song “Her Fall From Grace”. Watch the video here:

Vocalist Aðalbjörn Tryggvason comments: “We present to you the next single from our upcoming album “Endless Twilight of Codependent Love” entitled, “Her Fall From Grace”. We hope you enjoy it and take from it what you need.”

The track is taken from the band’s upcoming record ‘Endless Twilight of Codependent Love’, which will be released on November 6. Pre-orders are available in the Season of Mist shop HERE.


1. Akkeri (10:10)
2. Drýsill (08:52)
3. Rökkur (07:06)
4. Her Fall From Grace (06:36)
5. Dionysus (05:31)
6. Til Moldar (04:29)
7. Alda Syndanna (04:30)
8. Or (06:58)
9. Úlfur (08:49)
      Picture by Gaui H.   A quarter of a century after singer/guitarist Aða
lbjörn “Addi” Tryggvason co-founded atmospheric Icelandic metal quartet Sólstafir, they continue to follow their cardinal rule – that there are no rules. For them, writing an epic 10-minute song without a traditional verse/chorus trade-off feels natural. While they have done two albums in English, he mainly sings in their native tongue and his vocals are as much an instrument as a vessel for words. Their videos equally showcase the band and their Icelandic world that they commune with.

And their music flows however it pleases. “Having been a metal band for a long time and gone through shoegaze, atmospheric black metal, and post rock, I just feel privileged being able to mix all my favorite genres and get away with it,” says Tryggvason.

In the world of Sólstafir, artists as varied as The Beatles, Kraftwerk, Darkthrone, Ennio Morricone, and Billy Corgan swirl inside their heads, and such influences seep into their musical ether. Funnily enough, the cover for the group’s latest album Endless Twilight of Codependent Love might remind one of a famous Smashing Pumpkins album cover.

Painted in watercolor by Johann Baptist Zwecker in 1864, The Lady of the Mountain is the female personification of Iceland. It was first published in a book of Icelandic folk tales but was never shown in public. A black and white woodblock replica by the artist is what Icelanders have known until recently when two citizens found the original hidden in a Welsh museum gallery where it had been in storage for a century. Now it is back home and adorning the cover of the new Sólstafir album.

“Everybody knows the image of the Lady of the Mountain,” declares Tryggvason. All of a sudden, the original pops up and it’s like, ‘Oh my god, these are the most beautiful colors I’ve ever seen. And why does it remind me of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness?’ So that’s purely accidental. When we saw this photo, we had to use it. It’s too beautiful.”

While early Sólstafir lyrics delved into Nordic mythology and critiques of organized religion, more recent songs explore their spiritual connection with nature, and lately, mental disorders ranging from depression to alcoholism and the taboo behind men in particular discussing those things for fear of being perceived weak.
 
“That’s the real darkness that you can’t see, but you can feel it and people around you can feel it,” explains Tryggvason. “Of course, there are serial killers and plagues and whatever through history. But in modern day life, that’s the true darkness around you. People kill themselves every day, and often people close to you who have been feeling so bad.”

He says the most personal song on Endless Twilight of Codependent Love is “Her Fall From Grace,” the lone track in English. It chronicles the pain of watching a loved one succumb to mental illness.

“It’s very sad when you love someone and you see them get sick,” muses Tryggvason. “Like Layne Staley said, ‘Slow suicide is no way to go.’ But you’re just watching on the audience bench, preparing for the phone call. ‘Hey man, Johnny’s dead.’ ‘All right, I knew Johnny was gonna die. I’ve been watching him in slow motion.’” He likens the experience to seeing a relative or parent be consumed by Alzheimer’s and turn into a different person than one remembers.

Although the band’s lyrics are predominately in Icelandic, that does not prevent outside listeners from appreciating the emotional power of their music. It has been said that many fans can feel his pain even if they do not overtly understand what he is singing about.

A beautiful moment in that regard occurred when Sólstafir played Bogota, Colombia in September 2017. It was the smallest show on their South American tour, and they presumed it would not be as lively. The 300 strong throng proved them wrong. “It felt like I was in Queen at Wembley Stadium,” Tryggvason recollects fondly. “They sang every goddamn word in Icelandic. How can you explain that?”

Such passionate reactions have not gone unnoticed in their homeland. Iceland picked Sólstafir to play a total of six events New York City, Seattle, and Toronto last fall called “Taste Of Iceland.” Tryggvason says the band enjoyed the event and their intimate industry showcases at Pianos (NYC) and Livenation (Toronto) during that same trip.

Counter-intuitive thinking has helped Sólstafir evolve and mature. The new track “Or” opens with a languid, bluesy feeling but gradually transforms into an angst-ridden, guitar-driven dirge. When they conjured their breakthrough song “Fjara” in 2011, the group feared its mellow nature might put off their longtime metal followers. Instead, they embraced it. That tune, along with the ambient, banjo-laden track “Ótta,” allowed the group to play both the Brutal Assault festival in the Czech Republic five years ago and then a family-friendly music event in the Netherlands the next weekend. The new rager “Dionysus” even features a return to their black metal roots that was not planned; the song just turned out that way over a year-long span.

“Our audience grew bigger and more diverse by us just being ourselves and doing nothing different really,” notes Tryggvason.

One of the joys for him and his bandmates – bassist Svavar “Svabbi” Austmann, guitarist Sæþór Maríus “Pjúddi” Sæþórsson, and newer drummer Hallgrímur Jón “Grimsi” Hallgrímsson, who contributed some lyrics this time out – is that their perception of how their new music will turn out never corresponds with reality. It is that unknown factor that keeps things exciting.

“You can never foresee band magic,” declares Tryggvason. “The whole purpose of this is cooking up magic. And if you’re cooking up magic with four or five weirdos, you can never foresee what’s going to happen. You can’t buy that. You have to live it or grow it.”

Recording line-up:
Aðalbjörn Tryggvason – Vocals, uitar
Sæþór M Sæþórsson – Guitar
Svavar Austmann – Bass
Hallgrímur Bárðdal – Drums

Recording: Sundlaugin Studio, Grótta
 
Mixing and mastering: Birgir Jón Birgirsson
 
www.solstafir.net
www.facebook.com/solstafirice
https://www.instagram.com/solstafir_official

Polish black/death/noise commando DeathEpoch stream their highly anticipated debut album

Today, Polish black/death/noise commando DeathEpoch stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Abysmal Invocation. Set for international release on October 6th via Putrid Cult on CD and cassette tape formats – the vinyl LP version shall be released in December – hear DeathEpoch‘s Abysmal Invocation in its entirety here:

DeathEpoch is a band from Poland formed in February 2020. The band consists of Lord K. (Nekkrofukk, Sacrificulus, Goathrone, ex-Hate) responsible for vocals, drums, and electronic samples and Morgul (owner of the Putrid Cult label) responsible for guitar and bass parts. In June of this year, they finished work on their debut full-length, Abysmal Invocation, combining dark ‘n’ deranged elements of black metal, death metal, and war metal with ritual ambient and industrial noise. A bold fusion for such a new band, but one that’s haunting and suffocating in equal measures…

Comprising 10 songs across 51 frayed-ends-of-sanity minutes, DeathEpoch‘s Abysmal Invocation duly lives up to its title, and then some. To enter its tar-thick and just-as-black depths is to enter a charnel pit itself; the way forward is spread before the listener, but each step deeper reveals fathomless horrors. Much like a fever dream, the delirium-inducing decibels the duo present here paradoxically flow, flitting between crushed ‘n’ crushing metal one minute and otherworldly ambience the other, its jarring malevolence well and truly drawing that listener toward the outer reaches of madness. Indeed, genre parameters matter not to DeathEpoch when the goal is SONIC ANNIHILATION, utilizing every weapon at hand to evoke the unshakable feeling of Apocalypse in this increasingly desperate 21st Century. Adding to that arsenal are guest vocal parts from the esteemed likes of Mark of The Devil (Cultes Des Ghoules), Vincent Crowley (Acheron), and Kris Stanley (Sinistrous Diabolus, ex-Diocletian), and covers of Sodom and Acheron are given suitably malformed treatment within this Abysmal Invocation.

Given this span of stylistic antagonism, Abysmal Invocation is just as recommended for fans of Mz.412, Prurient, and Brighter Death Now as it is for Beherit, Revenge, and Archgoat. But, upon evidence of this frightening first strike, DeathEpoch have crafted a unique identity worth reckoning. This is the beginning of the end!

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for DeathEpoch’s Abysmal Invocation
1 Abysmal Invocation pt. I
2. Genocide I
3. Genocide II
4. Abysmal Ivocation pt. II
5. Genocide III (featuring Mark of the Devil)
6. Genocide IV
7. Genocide V (featuring Vincent Crowley)
8. Bombenhagel (featuring Kris Stanley) [Sodom cover]
9. Abysmal Invocation pt. III
10.  Ave Satanas [Acheron cover]

more info:

https://putridcultproductions.bandcamp.com/