Five and a half years after the release of “Orphans Of The Black Sun“, MÜTTERLEIN return with a second work of Art. “Bring Down The Flags” consists of six experimental compositions whose strength lies in giving musical form to desperation, anguish, the surreal and the unsettling. Skillfully mixing Black Metal elements, doomy sounds as well as post-Punk savagery, Industrial rhythms and noisy sound collages, artist Marion Leclercq (ex-OVERMARS) crafted a sinister scream of pain, frustration and anger.
Influenced not only by these musical classics ranging from Black Metal to Cold Wave, but especially by radical female (performance) artists like NICO or DIAMANDA GALAS, “Bring Down The Flags” became an uncompromising conceptual work of Art with different layers of meaning to discover. Thus, the album is already highly praised by fans and media alike:
“If you’re in the market for individualistic music that’s dark and surrounded by dangerous nightmares-made-manifest that circle it like predators, then “Bring Down the Flags” is for you.” (Wonderbox Metal)
“MÜTTERLEIN sounds a bit like “Lingua Ignota in metal” while she is having a musical flirt with BURIAL HEX and both are listening to some krauty psychedelia from the early 70s. Confusing? Not at all!” (Veil Of Sound)
“The sound on “Bring Down The Flags” may be described as a musical wailing or an inhospitable wall of noise which addresses your primordial fears. Thus, it is fitting that MÜTTERLEIN was founded with the idea to function as a creative katharsis. But be aware, the nightmarish and oppressive second album of the French artist is nothing for an unstable mind.” (Legacy Magazine) Listen to “Bring Down The Flags” via Debemur Morti Productions‘ here:
The album is now officially released on CD, vinyl and digitally. It will be available on streaming platforms on December 31st. Orders are possible via the label’s EU, US, and Bandcamp shops.
MÜTTERLEIN is the solo project of Marion Leclercq (ex-OVERMARS), composer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist.
Adopted in 2014, this pseudonym is a nod to the nightmarish yet fragile work of NICO, who in many ways deconstructed the unbearable myth of ‘femininity’ imposed on us. Musically, MÜTTERLEIN mixes Post-Punk savagery, Doom, Noise, Industrial and Black Metal to create a vast universe of Post-Metal experimentation.
First album, “Orphans Of The Black Sun” – released in 2016 on Sundust Records, a label co-run by Vindsval from BLUT AUS NORD – leaned towards the Post-Punk and Doom registers using minimalist, cold instrumentation to create a record organic and ritualistic as a witch-dance around a fire.
In 2020, MÜTTERLEIN responded to an invitation by the artist LIMBES (ex-BLURR THROWER) to create a mirror piece to his epic 25 minute track entitled “Vérité” (French for Truth) for a split release issued in 2021 by LADLO. The free format allowed MÜTTERLEIN to experiment even further, constructing a slow, desolate dreamscape of doom-laden Dark Ambient.
“Bring Down The Flags“, MÜTTERLEIN‘s second album, will be released in late 2021 by Debemur Morti Productions. Dark, haunting and immediate, the album incorporates more electronic sounds and blackened Industrial atmospheres to serve a more direct subject and voice.
Today, nature-inspired black metallers The Mist From the Mountains premiere the new track “A Paean to Fire“. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Monumental – The Temple of Twilight, set for international release on January 28th, 2022 via Primitive Reaction. Hear The Mist From the Mountains‘ “A Paean to Fire” in its entirety here:
Hailing from the ever-fertile Finnish scene, The Mist From the Mountains are a brand-new formation with a very old heart. Their chilling-yet-breathtaking ruminations harken to the golden days of melodic, nature-inspired black metal, back during the mid ’90s. Names invoked include old Borknagar, Kvist, Arckanum, Old Man’s Child, Norway’s Gehenna, and even earliest Dimmu Borgir – but on evidence of their first public recording, the full-length Monumental – The Temple of Twilight, The Mist From the Mountains are well on their way to forging an odyssey all their own.
Encompassing six songs across 38 minutes, Monumental – The Temple of Twilight is simultaneously swift and expansive. Right from the spine-tingling anticipation of the album’s portentous opening, The Mist From the Mountains soon whip forth a fury that’s paradoxically widescreen, cloaked in splendorous synths which spark the imagination and send the listener into a righteous reverie. Indeed, energy is always foremost for the five-piece, with two vocalists – Kim Strömsholm and Tuomas Karhumäki – handling duties with equal aplomb. However, as with the best nature-inspired black metal metal, tempos are downshifted (and often) into proud marches, making the dynamics hit that much harder. Throughout, battle rage and folkloric wonder weave in and out as needed, the quintet threading the seemingly disparate elements together like true masters. Thus, The Mist From the Mountains are accurately monikered: towering, mysterious, even magickal, yet also hazy and almost amorphous. And this is but the start for this still-young band…
The old gods live on. And they make a grand re-entrance with The Mist From the Mountains‘ Monumental – The Temple of Twilight!
Hear the previously revealed “Master of Wilderness” HERE at Primitive Reaction‘s official YouTube channel. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for The Mist From the Mountains’ Monumental – The Temple of Twilight 1. Empyrean Fields [6:32] 2. A Paean to Fire [5:43] 3. Thus Spake the Tongueless Spirit [5:08] 4. With the Sun and the Skies and Birds Above [8:32] 5. Master of Wilderness [5:18] 6. After God [6:30]
Eisenwald is pleased to announce a special 25th anniversary release celebrating the Bewitching Black Metal of Ceremonial Castings, Our Journey Through Forever, scheduled for release on February 25th, 2022.
In order to appreciate what led the band to this point, some history seems to be in order. In the later part of the year of 1996, brothers Jake and Nick Superchi formed a musical group that would come to be known as Ceremonial Castings. While the duo draw from a wide range of musical influences and have done so throughout their career, it is a particular family heritage connection that seems to permeate through the project’s existence and play a large role in their creative endeavors. From an early age, the brothers had learned of their lineage on one side that connected them to infamous writer Nathaniel Hawthorne, who’s great-great grandfather was none other than Salem Witch Trials judge and magistrate John Hathorne. Growing up an hour west of Salem in north-central Massachusetts, the brothers learned of the dark history and the shadows it had cast over the state. With such influences in their bloodlines, it was only natural these events would integrate into their writings.
The band’s connection to New England’s dark history has followed them throughout their career, thematically in the topics they explore but also by what some believe to be the curse cast upon John Hathorne’s bloodline, something the brothers have had to experience directly during the recording sessions of what they deemed to be their magnum opus concept album, Salem 1692, in 2008. Plagued with technical problems and physical afflictions to all involved parties that escaped rational explanation, the final result did not meet the band’s standards. As such, 2020 saw the band re-record the entirety of Salem 1692 to allow the album to finally meet their initial vision.
With a career spanning nine full-length albums, a slew of demos, EPs, and splits as well as notable live performances throughout the globe, it is high time for Ceremonial Castings to commemorate 25 years of their existence, a milestone reached in the year 2021. For this occasion, the band has hand-selected and carefully re-recorded 18 of their classic songs, as well as two completely new and previously unreleased instrumentals by Nick Superchi, to be released as a double album.
Entitled Our Journey Through Forever, these recordings take listeners on a look back at the history of the band and particularly their early works, allowing for a better appreciation of the significant progression seen in their writing throughout the years. A modern yet never-sterile production (with mixing duties handled by Jake Superchi at Obsidian Spells and mastering duties handled by James Sloan at Negative Force Audio Production) allows these songs to breathe in the way the band always intended and allows for a smoother listen as opposed to merely compiling the initial album recordings. Rather, Our Journey Through Forever better appreciates these classic songs from today’s perspective and thus is sure to make listeners eager to see where Ceremonial Castings‘ journey will lead them to in the future…
In the meantime, hear the brand-new re-recording of “Immortal Black Art” here:
Cover art, courtesy of Kris Verwimp, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Ceremonial Castings’ Our Journey Through Forever -CD 1- 1. Come Forth…Damnation [4:44] 2. Immortal Black Art [8:04] 3. Our Journey Through Forever [13:42] 4. My Kingdom of Cold Sorrows [7:34] 5. I; A Thousand Fires [7:49] 6. Bewitching Black Metal [6:00] 7. The Purifier of Battle Pt. I [3:18] 8. Desecration of Grace [6:43] 9. The Fall of Man [4:54] 10. Midnight Deathcult Phenomena [6:54]
-CD 2- 11. Darkness & War [4:03] 12. Into the Black Forest of Witchery [6:20] 13. Sweet Misery I Foresee [9:03] 14. Barbaric is the Beast [4:48] 15. Frostseasongoddess [6:46] 16. Human Slave Infantry [3:26] 17. The Purifier of Battle Pt. II [5:27] 18. A Serpent’s Kiss [4:22] 19. Universal Funeral March [4:48] 20. The Coming of Dawn We Fear [7:23]
Today, Slovakian black metal enigmas Krolok stream the entirety of their band’s highly anticipated second album, Funeral Winds & Crimson Skyl. Set for international release on December 21st via Osmose Productions, hear Krolok‘s Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky in its entirety here:
Says vocalist/guitarist HV: “This album is a retrospective look into the past, where old forlorn ruins and obscurity reign over desolate landscapes. Gazing back also into my own past, I have re-recorded a song originally included on the demo tape of my old band Helcaraxe, composed back in 2003. Delve deep in and listen… listen to the atmospheres of an arcane night and return within your thoughts into bygone times…”
Cover and tracklisting as follows
Tracklisting for Krolok’s Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky
1. Black Lore Of The Fens [7:03] 2. Towards The Duskportals [5:28] 3. The Reptile Abyss Beneath Dowina [5:24] 4. Path To The Haunted Ruins [3:17] 5. Unveiled Subterranean Treasures [6:18] 6. Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky [8:41]
Today, French atmospheric black metallers Silhouette premiere the new track “Au Seuil de l’Oubli”. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Les Retranchement, set for international release on January 28th, 2022 via Antiq. Hear Silhouette‘s “Au Seuil de l’Oubli” in its entirety here:
Silhouette is a French black metal band based in Montpellier and created by Achlys in 2019. Initially conceived as a one-man band, the project then involved more musicians in order to develop a synergy between clean female vocals and traditional black and DSBM vocals.
Silhouette’s view reflects dreams and visions about distant people whose shapes and intentions will stay obscure forever. Through soul’s dooms and mist, Silhouette deals with topics such as lost ones, fantomatic shapes from which only fragments and souvenirs remain. The band proposes a journey between intense melodies, storms, and velvet lulls to depict the travel of the one who dares to explore the places and ghosts of their past.
Antiq is a label dedicated to the fully coherent concept of making music through sound, image, video, and attitude. They have been putting their entire existence into it since 2009. Over the years, Antiq have been identified as producers of not only perfectly coherent lyrics and themes through music, but also conceptual art and, of course, the manufacturing of beautiful objects. The label tries as much as it can to work with French creators, and if possible, with the smallest and most serious structures.
Hear the previously revealed “L’Entreinte de la Chute” HEREat Antiq‘s official YouTube channel. Cover artwork, courtesy of Lilas Dupont (Ondine), and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Silhouette’s Les Retranchement 1. Ascension 2. La Première Neige 3. Au Seuil de l’Oubli 4. Interlude 5. Les Retranchements 6. L’Etreinte de la Chute 7. Outro
Today, Finnish black metallers Hollow Woods stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Cold Winds Cleave the Earth. Set for international release on December 21st via Signal Rex, hear Hollow Woods‘ Cold Winds Cleave the Earth in its entirety here:
After 2019’s well-received Endless Trails demo via Signal Rex, Hollow Woods strike with a full-length debut fittingly titled Cold Winds Cleave the Earth. While hailing from Finland, this mysterious entity largely eschew their homeland’s reigning black metal idiom, instead taking influence from Ukraine (Roman Saenko’s projects), Norway (early Ulver, equally early Gorgoroth), and especially Russia (the Blazebirth Hall collective). In other words, pure & proud BLACK METAL, nevertheless done with personality and charisma.
Cold Winds Cleave the Earth boldly and brazenly displays Hollow Woods‘ full potential across its six-song/39-minute duration. Epic but never belabored, physical but finessed, straightforward but never simplistic: no gimmicks, just hateful black metal. Hollow Woods are always working within the framework of devotion to the primal world and nature mysticism; both can be felt, subtly but assured, across the entirety of Cold Winds Cleave the Earth. The artwork and inspiration for the album’s theme stems from Finnish linguist and ethnographer Kai Donner (1888-1935), taken during his expeditions to Siberia.
So pure, so cold, so boundless within its boundaries: Hollow Woods present a new grim majesty with Cold Winds Cleave the Earth.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Hollow Woods’ Cold Winds Cleave the Earth 1. Cold Winds Cleave the Earth 2. A Frozen Glance 3. Evergreen Vigil 4. Transcendent Echoes 5. Glacial Hell 6. To the Shrouded Shores
DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT are now releasing an extensive studio documentary of the recording process of their latest album ‘Noktvrn’. The video is available here:
DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT comments: “After months of hard work and going through countless hours of footage we can finally share with you the ‘Making of Noktvrn’ studio documentary. We have been accompanied by our long-time friend and videographer Emanuel Oropesa during our studio pre-production and the album recording sessions to capture the creation process of ‘Noktvrn’ as close as possible. If you want to know more about the live recording approach, the gear we used, our preparation routines or just random behind the scene moments, here’s about 3 weeks of studio work compressed into 45 minutes! For the non-German speakers we included English subtitles in the video, you can switch them on/off in the YouTube player. Enjoy!”
‘Noktvrn’ was released via Season of Mist on November 19. The album is available the Season of Mist shop on CD digipak, Deluxe CD + DVD box, Vinyl and Cassette HERE. Listen to the album HERE.
The cover artwork of ‘Noktvrn’ was created by Max Löffler and can be found below together with the tracklist.
Tracklist: 1. Finisterre II (01:52) 2. Monument (06:46) 3. Am Rande der Dunkelheit (08:18) 4. Immortal (06:50) 5. Morgen (07:00) 6. Gegen das Licht (11:13) 7. Haven (05:45) Total: 0:47:44
Progressive, avant-garde black metal experimentalists DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT have never stopped smashing through the boundaries of the genre they’ve called home since forming in early 2009. And with 2021 welcoming the release of fifth album, Noktvrn, the Germans are looking to expand the minds and perspectives of their ever-increasing fanbase, similar to how they pushed themselves in every element of the new album’s creation. Ironically, supporters being able to pay witness to the leaps and bounds the band has made over the course of 12 years, five albums and one EP and live recordings should count themselves lucky for being able to do so.
DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT may have existed and thrived over the course of that time, but forging on beyond its self-titled debut wasn’t part of guitarist/vocalist/mastermind Nikita Kamprad’s original plan.
Formed out of the ashes of black metal quartet FROSTGRIM and good time-lovin’ melodic deathcore posse, FUCK YOUR SHADOW FROM BEHIND, Kamprad and original vocalist Tobias Jaschinsky founded DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT as an expression of both their love of black metal and the search for liberation through art, as evidenced by taking the idea of their moniker — which translates to ‘The Way of Freedom’ — to heart.
“FROSTGRIM could be seen as the direct predecessor to DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT,” says Kamprad, from his studio in Würzburg, in the state of Bavaria, “because it was Tobias, our former singer, and I. We had this black metal band together when we also had FUCK YOUR SHADOW FROM BEHIND. We were a part of both bands and when they split up, there was nothing left. For me, black metal was always the most important musical genre where I could see myself doing music. So, I created songs for myself and basically they became the first DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT album. It is officially self-titled, but it actually doesn’t have a title. It’s just Der Weg einer Freiheit because initially after I wrote and released that first album, the band was supposed to be over. But the feedback from friends, fans and the press was so immense and so many people wanted to see the band live and to see it continue, in the end, I was like ‘why not?’ There was no reason why I couldn’t go on with new stuff.”
Originally self-released, the debut was picked up by Viva Hate Records who then issued follow-ups in the form of the Agonie EP and second full-length, Unstille which were supported via appearances at name festivals such as Summer Breeze Open Air and Wolfszeit Festival as well as on European tours opening for the likes of WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, NEAERA. 2014 had DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT joining forces with Season of Mist for third album, Stellar which was issued a few months later in March of 2015.
With the label and a groundswell of support behind them, the band’s star continued to rise in Stellar’s shadow with showings at Wacken Open Air, Hellfest and Roadburn, a tour in support of MOONSPELL and their first headlining runs. 2017 saw the release of album number four, Finisterre, which continued the steady growth of the band’s profile. In addition to drawing bigger crowds at festivals and on tours, they ventured overseas for the first time, playing in Japan and Iceland.
“I was doing music for six or seven years when I started DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT and I was always in bands that would meet up and write in a rehearsal space, but I always wanted to have my own band. I had the opportunity to do my own thing and that’s why this band is called DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT because it’s basically about my way of achieving my own freedom. For some people that way is through sport or cooking or writing; for me, it was about writing music and lyrics.”
Twelve years on, Kamprad is taking advantage of the freedoms afforded to him as he strives to personify the band’s titular expression. Being joined by drummer Tobias Schuler, bassist Nicolas Ziska and guitarist Nicolas Rausch has made DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT more a unit than ever and allowed Kamprad to feel comfortable relinquishing his steely grip on the band’s creative reins during the writing process which began in late 2019 and was completed by September of 2020. This has allowed for vast differences in Noktvrn’s creation that have expanded the album’s overall breadth beyond black metal and extreme music to incorporate the influence and inspiration of classical composer Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturnes, his series of 21 so-called “night pieces.” This, in turn, birthed the album’s artistic mandate requiring that material only be created during the wee hours.
“I always wanted to do an album about the night and dreams and I’m really, really big fan of Chopin and his night pieces in general. For me, it made sense that this album should have a title that connects with this theme. To the left of me right now is a piano and some of Chopin’s sheet music for the Nocturnes. One day I probably looked at it and wanted to pay tribute to this great composer. That’s why we chose to write the title a little bit differently with the ‘k’ instead of a ‘c’ and a ‘v’ instead of a ‘u’ to make it more special. We also chose the ‘v’ in particular because it’s our fifth album and that’s the Roman numeral for five. It’s just something special we did with the name, even though we weren’t sure at first about the lettering because it can be seen as generic, especially in black metal. We have reasons that are deeper than what you see on the surface; not because we want to be ‘true’ — or ‘trve’ — or something,” he explains with a laugh.
The Chopin and classical music influences on Noktvrn are much more than surface cosmetics. Lilting acoustic guitar piece ‘Finisterre II’ opens the album. Jericho-like horns are the bleating accent to the proggy black metal of ‘Monument.’ Baroque arpeggiation familiar to the tuxedo-and-coat tails crowd are spiralled around Oslo’s Helvete shop in ‘Morgen.’ There are also tendrils of folk, shoegaze and indie rock that make brief and appropriate appearances, but it’s the night-time theme that runs deep as Kamprad discovered early on in the writing process.
“‘Immortal’ was one of the first songs I wrote for the album and it was really, really weird because I wrote the song when it was very, very late when I fell into a night-time rhythm that was not my usual rhythm. Here, I felt I was having different kinds of dreams and thoughts. Sometimes I’d be half-awake, half-asleep and not really aware of what my real state of mind was. That was an experience that made me think about giving the entire album the nocturnal or night theme. I’m a very passionate sleeper; I love sleeping and dreaming and dreams are important to me because there’s a freedom in them. In this night rhythm, my head was in a different state and I wanted to create in this state because it was something different for me.”
Lyrically, Noktvrn has Kamprad taking enormous steps outside what has become his regular modus operandi since he took over the mic following Jaschinsky’s departure in 2012. The new album has him expanding his reach beyond not only his usual collection of personal thoughts and mother tongue, but also the style and texture with which he would previously deliver his meanings, ideas, and recollections.
“Usually, the lyrics have mainly been about myself, but on this album there were two events in the last two or three years connected to anxiety attacks. I haven’t experienced them myself, but a couple people who are very close to me have. The lyrics for the song ‘Am Rande der Dunkelheit’ are based around these people’s experiences and them telling me how they felt in a situation where they think they can’t breathe, that they think they’re dying and their life is coming to an end. I tried to imagine through the lyrics how they might have felt. I was trying to find my own words to describe the experience while trying to describe it if I had lived it myself.
“Another completely new thing on this album are the songs ‘Immortal’ and ‘Haven’ which are in English, which we’ve never done before. I always wanted to sing in English ever since I took over the vocals. Singing is the most direct musical expression I feel. Playing guitar is cool, but singing is even more my thing and I always want to push the boundaries so I implemented clean singing as well but, for me, doing clean vocals is very uncomfortable and difficult in German. I think singing clean vocals in English sounds nicer because German is a hard language which fits the harsh vocals perfectly. I wanted to try it out to see how it felt, and surprise, surprise, it felt great! I really like it and imagine there will be more English lyrics in the future.”
Barring a pair of live albums, all previous DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT releases were created almost entirely from the ground up by Kamprad. He would write the songs on his own and do the bass, guitar and vocal tracks himself with Schuler playing drums while engineering, producing and mixing along the way. Kamprad may still be the songwriter-in-chief who produced and mixed Noktvrn (with assistance from Jan Kerscher), but this album makes a significant developmental step as it not only welcomes song writing contributions from the other members, but has the band ably demonstrating their ability by recording live off the floor.
“The new album is the most natural sounding DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT album,” he says excitedly, “not only the sound, but the riffing and because we recorded the songs live. Music today, especially metal, can be too difficult and technical for bands to even play and record their own songs from start to finish. For me it was very important during the song writing to focus on playing the songs all the way through without stopping. That created a very natural flow through the songs and throughout the whole album. Also, it was a new thing that the whole band was involved in the whole recording process and the last stages of the song writing. Writing and recording mainly by myself was a very exhausting and streamlined process that I liked at some points, but after Finisterre I couldn’t do that anymore and had to change something.
“I still wrote the songs here in my studio then showed them to the others,” he explains. “Then, we met up for rehearsal and pre-production and played through the songs, recorded them and really analysed all the small details, the iteration of parts, the transitions, the guitar sound, the drum beats and everything, even the cymbal hits! What came out were still my songs, but with all kinds of input from the guys. They’re the same songs, but going over all the details brings them to another level. When we entered the studio all we had to do was focus on playing and nothing else because everything was settled already. That was a new and very good experience for us as a band.”
All of the above makes Noktvrn a beacon of musical forward thought, drastic jumps and transformative risks. In his soft-spoken humble manner, Kamprad laughs at the idea that DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT is little more than a personal expression vehicle; instead, he refers to the band as “a very professional hobby,” while downplaying what makes these black metal mavericks entirely special.
“Maybe what is the special thing about us is that we never stopped. Since the beginning, we haven’t taken a break and we’ve always tried to be present with tours and shows and festivals, so there was never a break.”
Upon popular demand, Cathartic black metal titans GAEREA will present the worldwide premiere of their “Live at Arda Recordings” concert stream! This intimate and devastating performance was recorded in the autumn of 2020 and showcases the Vortex Wanderers performing ‘Limbo’ in its entirety from start to finish. The set will premiere this Friday, December 17 @ 22:00 CET and will be on demand for a limited time only! Set reminders and buy your tickets HERE.
Earlier this year, the band also streamed their unique and stunning “Bronze Hall” performance via Knotfest’s “Pulse of the Maggots 2×21” online festival. The band’s set from the festival has recently been named one of the Best Streaming Performances of 2021 by Knotfest.com. The performance is available to view HERE.
‘Limbo’ is out NOW and can be streamed, downloaded, and ordered HERE.
The cover arwtork for ‘Limbo,’ which is created by the talented Eliran Kantor, can be found below along with the tracklist.
Cover artwork: painted by Eliran Kantor (Testament, Iced Earth, Sodom)
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.
Line-up: unknown
Studio/recording: Demigod Recordings (PT) Mix/Master: Miguel Tereso
Today, Hells Headbangers announces January 28th, 2022 as the international release date for Malefic Throne‘s highly anticipated debut EP, Malefic Throne, on CD and cassette tape formats; the 12″ vinyl version will follow later in that year. In lieu of this announcement, Malefic Throne reveal the new track “A New Hand Upon the Blade” HERE at Hells Headbangers‘ official YouTube channel.
A veritable death metal “supergroup,” Malefic Throne is a three-headed beast joining together death metal royalty: guitarist Gene Palubicki (Perdition Temple, Angelcorpse, Blasphemic Cruelty), vocalist/bassist Steve Tucker (Morbid Angel, Warfather), and drummer John Longstreth (Origin, Hate Eternal, ex-Angelcorpse). Suitably, the sound on their self-titled debut EP maliciously mainlines much of those foundational death metal sounds for which all three members have been renowned the past three decades. Fiery and furious but finessed with a surprising amount of grace, Malefic Throne spit forth a lean ‘n’ mean whirlwind that’s diabolically blackened and gleaming like the sharpest blade. In just 19 minutes, the trio get in, get out, and fucking DESTROY.
Palubicki explains the genesis of the band: “Malefic Throne was conceived over conversations and shared ideas among the three of us since around summer of 2020, deep in the early pandemic upheaval, while everyone was – and has been – in limbo for live shows/tours/etc. We hit on the idea of just going for it, writing some furious death metal material with the three of us, and seeing what would happen. Given who the band members are, it is surely clear the nature of what this is all about. We originally considered just doing an independently released demo, but we approached Hells Headbangers to see if they were interested in handling the debut EP release. They agreed, and onward it goes!”
If there’s any three underground veterans who deserve to use “Throne” in their moniker, it’s Malefic Throne. Pay fealty to these three kings of death!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “A New Hand Upon the Blade here:
Also hear the previously revealed “Deciding the Hierarchy” HERE, also at Hells Headbangers‘ official YouTube channel. Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Malefic Throne’s Malefic Throne 1. Deciding the Hierarchy 2. The Dawn of the Truth 3. A New Hand Upon the Blade 4. Nuclear Winter (Sodom cover) MORE INFO: www.facebook.com/maleficthrone
Today, Edged Circle Productions announces March 11th, 2022 as the international release date for In Aphelion‘s highly anticipated debut album, Moribund, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
A veritable treasure trove of Swedish black/death royalty, In Aphelion are a power-trio originally formed in 2020 by longtime Necrophobic guitarist Sebastian Ramstedt on vocals, guitar, and bass with prolific drummer Marco Prij. In 2021, with the advent of their debut demo, fellow Necrophobic guitarist Johan Bergebäck joined, making the unholy trinity complete. An impossibly auspicious first start, In Aphelion‘s first demo – despite being limited to a mere 50 copies – landed the band a deal with Edged Circle, first resulting in the teaser-length EP Luciferian Age and now a grandiose hour-long debut album, Moribund.
Indeed, while the spectre of classic blackened death metal for which Sweden is known looms large over In Aphelion, it must be stressed that these gentlemen are THE grand architects of that incredibly influential and ever-enduring sound. And not ones to rest on their laurels, with In Aphelion do both Ramstedt and Bergebäck unfurl new vistas of the imagination whilst respectably remaining within that noble tradition. Simply put, this is timeless HEAVY METAL might painted in purple-blue hues but beaming with brilliant colors beyond.
Point proof is In Aphelion‘s first full-length recording, Moribund. While two tracks – “Luciferian Age” and “Draugr” – were forecasted on the aforementioned Luciferian Age EP, Moribund majestically displays the full bounty of In Aphelion‘s seemingly infinite powers. Longer, stronger, more deathly, more blackened, more METAL, more of literally everything: Moribund is a veritable monolith of awe-inspiring songwriting and impassioned performance. Breathtaking opener “World Serpent (Devourer of Dreams)” lives up to its namesake – and then some – and duly sets the stage for all that follows for the next 59 minutes. Rise, fall, rise even higher, marching and racing and spiraling and dazzling with every step: In Aphelion exercise a wealth of texture and nuance across these ten tracks, all whilst remaining razor-sharp and as finessed as it comes. It’s not hyperbole here to suggest that In Aphelion in general and Moribund in particular handily challenge the sacred tomes of the ’90s – again, it must be reiterated that two of those architects are in this band – but the epic-yet-effervescent manner in which this timeless black/death is rendered puts both in rarefied territory, and refreshingly so. And, just like the swift & satisfying Luciferian Age, Moribund is likewise given a grippingly powerful mix & mastering by Unleashed’s Frederik Folkare.
Luciferian Age teased with its truncated makeup, but now Moribund grandly declares the arrival of In Aphelion as kings!
In the meantime, hear the aforementioned “Draugr” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for In Aphelion’s Moribund 1. World Serpent (Devourer of Dreams) 2. Draugr 3. Let the Beast Run Wild 4. Luciferian Age 5. This Night Seems Endless 6. He Who Saw the Abyss 7. Moribund 8. The Origin 9. Sorrow, Fire & Hate 10. Requiem
IN APHELION lineup Sebastian Ramstedt – vocals & lead guitars Johan Bergebäck – rhythm guitars Marco Prij – drums
