Today, Purity ThroughFire announces December 21st as the international release date for a brand-new EP from Vampyric Tyrant, Zorn und Hass, on CD format. The 12″ vinyl version will follow next year.
Formed in 2020, Vampyric Tyrant are a Teutonic black metal duo forged in the fires of old. The band is helmed by ex-Grabunhold member Graf Nekromant, joined by drummer Akatash. As foretold by their moniker, Vampyric Tyrant indeed offer an iteration of vampiric black metal, but one locked in the dungeon of the ’90s, as well as equally pursuing the epic ruminations of the legendary Moonblood.
Now joined under the banner of Purity ThroughFire and with the addition of bassist König Grausamkeit, Vampyric Tyrant enter their next epoch with a four-song/19-minute EP fittingly titled Zorn und Hass. Grim yet stately, raw yet refined, the ghoulishness they offer here is as ethereal as it is insistent. More than that, each of the four tracks offers its own labyrinth of nostalgia and despair, perhaps hitting its sorrowful peak with the crying-orc instrumental “Ein Traum.” Then, Zorn und Hass concludes in mesmerizingly hooligan fashion with the six-minute, organ-led “Totschlag.”
Together with this new release, Purity ThroughFire will reissue the band’s debut EP, Das Schwert der Sterne, on CD and later vinyl as well as reissue their debut album, Schwarze Schwingen, on vinyl. Vampyric Tyrant on the march!
March forward with the aforementioned brand-new track “Totschlag” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Vampyric Tryant’s Zorn und Hass 1. Vereinsamung [4:50] 2. Zorn und Hass [5:42] 3. Ein Traum [2:23] 4. Totschlag [6:06]
Today, reanimated Finnish black metallers Grieve reveal the new track “Deep in Ice-Cold Mountains.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s surprise second album, Wolves of the Northern Moon, which will see international release early next year via Werewolf Records. Hear Grieve‘s “Deep in Ice-Cold Mountains” in its entirety here:
It was but 2020 when Grieve emerged from the darkness with their self-titled debut EP. Although otherwise meant to exist strictly in that darkness, it was soon discerned that the band included veritable Finnish black metal royalty within its ranks. Nevertheless, the swiftly uncompromising nature of Grieve was felt: Northern Black Metal Exclusively From the 1990s. No more, no less, no progression, no fun.
And then, at the dawn of 2020 came Grieve‘s first – and, at the time, final – album. Aptly titled Funeral, the record was a fiercely focused one, solely featuring funereal marches by V-Khaoz and last rites by Werwolf. Beyond cold, utterly grim, violent and restrained simultaneously, Funeral was a record out of time, one where the last couple decades of “black metal” never existed. And then Grieve ceased to exist.
But, obeying only nature and will, Grieve have arisen from their own self-imposed grave with the second full-length Wolves of the Northern Moon. “We said we’d end the project for good, but we lied,” state the band about that grave. “We exhumed it.” Indeed, the exhumation also includes a nastiness last found on such Nordic classics as Kronet til konge, Pentagram, Til evighet…, or even Black Thrash Attack. Essentially, then, Grieve‘s ethics have not changed (nor should they have to), but one can nonetheless find here a pronounced asskicking sensibility that adds further antagonization to trendy ears as well as a noble march to mystical victories. “Eternal Winter, Eternal War”: These Wolves of the Northern Moon are on the hunt – and you’re next!
Release date, cover, and tracklisting to be announced shortly. For more info, consult the link below.
Today, pan-international death metal elite Darkened premiere the new video “Swallowed by the World”. The track hails from the band’s critically acclaimed second album, The Black Winter, released this past May via Edged Circle Productions. See & hear the Stefan Jansson-directed video for Darkened‘s “Swallowed by the World” in its entirety here:
While Darkened made a none-more-auspicious start with the Into the Blackness EP during the summer of 2019, it was the band’s debut album, Kingdom of Decay, where they literally EXPLODED onto the scene. Proud and pure death metal, no more but definitely no less, it was not at all surprising that Darkened made an immediate impact given their lineup on that debut full-length: drummer Andy Whale (Memoriam, ex-Bolt Thrower), vocalist Gord Olson (Ye Goat-Herd Gods / Demisery), guitarists Linus Nirbrant (A Canorous Quintet / This Ending) and Hempa Brynolfsson (Excruciate / Ordo Infernus), and new bassist Tobias Cristiansson (Grave / ex-Dismember). Patient and punishing, they proved that true songwriting stuns and crushes when practiced by masters of the death metal craft.
Now, as presaged earlier this year by the quick-hitting Mourn the Dying Light EP, Darkened arrive with their massive second album, The Black Winter. Immediately, their trademark sound is in place – clear & crushing riffs, grooves like a tank, an overall world-eating sensibility – but delve deeper and one will find Darkened expanding their already-considerable powers. Most prominently, there’s a surprising amount of atmosphere being explored on The Black Winter, true to its namesake. The resultant spaciousness is somehow just as suffocating as the band’s now-characteristic density; whether it’s in the riffing itself or the very subtle touches of synth underneath, the album certainly bears a unique-yet-unified aspect. From there, melancholic twists and wistful melody are seamlessly integrated into the Darkened onslaught of sound, which alternately pushes the aggression to murderous levels and the doom to the darkest depths; put another way, everything here sounds HUGE. And credit for that must go to Linus Nirbrant, who handled The Black Winter‘s production, as well as mixing & mastering by the Dan Swanö at Unisound – truly, one will not find a clearer yet more crushing death metal record this year!
As these endtimes take on a muted resignation, it’s only bleakly fitting that Darkened provide the soundtrack with The Black Winter…
Cover artwork, courtesy of Juanjo Castellano Rosado (Unleashed, The Black Dalhia Murder, Gates of Ishtar), and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Darkened (International)’s The Black Winter 1. Premonitions 2. Blood 3. Flayed 4. Terminal Lucidity 5. Black Winter 6. Fearful Quandary 7. Swallowed by the World 8. Plague of Despair 9. Regret
Today, W.T.C. Productions announces January 10th, 2023 as the international release date for Thy Darkened Shade‘s highly anticipated third album, Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya.
A statement from the band reads: “Years in the making, Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya is for sure our most difficult-to-be-made album to date and will get unleashed soon on the filthy cosmic plane. Hymnic yet progressive, exploring the concept of Lucifer’s manifestations through religions once more, through real occult practice and experience. Coming from exactly the same source as Liber Lvcifer I but releasing a totally different expression of it. After adversity and hardships, we are definitely proud to share it with all of you who are willing to experience a spiritual black metal manifestation of the void. We stared inwards once more, ignoring any outside influences, caring only for reflection, burning totally out everyone involved in it, and getting closer and closer to the source of all.”
Creation is destruction Above is below Within is without
Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya A Qliphotic Grimoire for the End of All Flesh In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Into Eerie Catacombs” here:
Cover artwork, courtesy of Vamperess Imperium, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Thy Darkened Shade’s Liber Lvcifer II: Mahapralaya 1. Luciftias [3:50] 2. Sacrosanct Pyre [7:11] 3. Into Eerie Catacombs [7:32] 4. Sathanastasis [9:21] 5. Qelippot Epiphany [8:16] 6. Acausal Current of Thanatos [6:29] 7. Veneration for the Fireborn King [5:35] 8. Noxious Witchery of the Titans [7:05] 9. Typhonian Temple [6:16]
This week, GIMME RADIO will not air one, but two Season of Mist specials! The first one will feature blackened death doom outfit STRIGOI on November 15, followed by New York City black metal collective BLACK ANVIL on November 16!
The two-hour radio specials, hosted by the bands themselves, will air at 21:00 CET on those dates. You can tune in via the Gimme Radio website (for free) HERE! Both bands will be available in the live chat during their specials.
ABOUT STRIGOI From death comes rebirth, as is such with STRIGOI. Formed in the ashes of VALLENFYRE by guitarist/vocalist Gregor Mackintosh (PARADISE LOST) and bassist Chris Casket, the experimental death metal formation is now unleashing their sophomore effort, ‘Viscera.’ This devastating brand of death metal pulls sludge and crust elements while lyrically, the album explores themes of both real and conceptual horror, coalescing into what can only be described as the ultimate mixtape of misery.
ABOUT BLACK ANVIL Nearly six years after As Was made its mark, Black Anvil is returning with its aptly titled fifth full-length, ‘Regenesis.’ With a new record label, a new album, and a newfound exploration of dark and black metal, ‘Regenesis’ represents a new dawn for the New York City collective.
Make no mistake, ‘Regenesis’ is not a departure from Black Anvil’s identity, but rather serves as the latest progression in the band’s ever-evolving sound. The unrelenting and polished aggression hangs in the balance above dark melodic passages, presenting a dynamic soundscape that serves as the band’s most devastating and existential offering to date. This isn’t just black metal, this is NYBM.
ABOUT GIMME METAL GIMME METAL TV combines the power of MTV-like linear broadcasting with livestreaming, and offers music videos, short form artist-created content, long form music documentaries, movies, and so much more.
Founded by digital music veterans from Apple Music, Google Play, Beats Music, and Napster, parent company GIMME Radio builds highly engaged communities for the passionate fan on a genre-by-genre basis. The company launched its first community in June of 2017: the world’s first 24/7 metal-focused service. Fans tune in to hear world class DJs playing metal they can’t hear anywhere else – for free.
The GIMME METAL app and streaming radio service allows the fans and the DJs/artists to communicate directly with one another in a live feed, in real-time, while they listen. Its roster of 70-plus DJs includes Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Jessica Pimentel, star of Orange Is The New Black, Brian Posehn, and Randy Blythe of Lamb Of God, among many others.
Today, uprising Québec black metallers Orphique premiere the new track “Chromatique.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Consécration Cadavérique, set for international release on November 24th via Sepulchral Productions. Hear Orphique‘s “Chromatique” in its entirety here:
Orphique, a new player within Québec’s black metal scene, was summoned by David Potter as a means to put his vision into words and music. For his first album, Consécration Cadavérique, Potter has surrounded himself with musicians close to him to realize this vision, the result of which is high-caliber melodic black metal where faster, more traditional parts fuse with atmospheric and progressive passages, somewhat reminiscent of Gris and Sombres Forêts’ musical collaboration, Miserere Luminis.
Sometimes frenetic, sometimes contemplative, always emotional, Orphique‘s Consécration Cadavérique is a superb new entry into the Québec black metal pantheon! Fittingly, the album will be released at this year’s Messe des Morts festival, curated as always Sepulchral Productions.
Five weeks before the release of DØDSENGEL‘s fifth album, “Bab Al On“, the Norwegian Black Metal duo presents a second sinister invocation. In collaboration with Decibel, Debemur Morti Productions proudly premiere ‘In the Heart of the World‘, an over nine-minute-
After an eerie Ambient introduction, ‘In the Heart of the World‘ displays mesmeric mid-tempo passages, completed by obscure chants and Black Metal screams. DØDSENGEL vividly add layer after layer to the song, slowly building a thick as well as arcane atmosphere.Kark comments on the compositional process:
“This song started out being based on more or less a single melody I had written quite some time ago as a somewhat abstract idea, but still with a graspable direction and feel to it. The structural skeleton of the track gradually got clad in flesh with time, where bits and pieces fell into place with swanlike elegance. The song’s climax is one of our heaviest ever, in every aspect.“
M.A. narrates about the lyrical dimension:
“In my tradition, we have an idea of the Angel or Daimon, a representative of your True Will and inmost being. I felt like I had lost myself in life, and endured months and months of dry spells and tedious gray dull despair. Then, absurdly, I had a moment where I relived an experience of unity with that luminous being. Seemingly for no reason at all, everything was right, and I was bursting with energy, creativity, and presence. I tried to express this feeling of experiencing the true will, then getting lost in your own life and gradually losing more and more of that connection, and then, suddenly and absurdly, being there again. I am not sure I succeeded, but I have grown to truly love this song and the dance between Lover and Beloved that it tries to express.“
“Bab Al On” will be released on CD, vinyl and digitally including merchandising via Debemur Morti Productions on December 16th. Pre-orders for all items via the label’s EU, US and Bandcamp shops are possible. The exclusive DMP edition is solely available via the label’s EU and Bandcamp stores.
Translating to “angel of death,” Norway’s DØDSENGEL has possessed a style of their own since day one. Refusing to conform to genre trends or conventions, they follow their own path. Dissonant, atonal chords and churning black metal riffs craft an undercurrent to a one of a kind vocal performance. Ghastly shrieks, bestial growls, desperate wails, and majestic opera chants sing the song of a devilish carnival, twisting and turning beyond definition. What cannot be defined cannot be contained, and the pairing of DØDSENGEL and Debemur Morti Productions assures nothing but a future of even further demented opuses to be brought to bear.
Five years after the first collaborative fruit, “Interequinox” (2017), was given birth, DØDSENGEL channel their energies into eleven Thelemic hymns. “Bab Al On” will be released on December 16th, 2022.
On December 16th internationally, Into Endless Chaos Records is proud to present Nigrum‘s highly anticipated debut album, Elevenfold Tail.
In 2015, Nigrum was born from fire, from snake-infested tunnels and ravenous worship of death – there, where ancient stones are inspirited by bone-breaking and incessant ecstatic dances. From the mists of the central Mexican highlands and the pyramid temples of Quetzalcoatl that lie there came a turbid and sinuous path that took shape in the form of black metal.
After the first years of this journey, marked by hard strife and constant changes, the cutting obsidian breeze of the Serpent brought Nigrum to Scandinavian shores. After laying the past to rest, a new gathering of members was established in the south of Sweden. It was consecrated by the recording of a three-track demo named Cremer Igne, translated from Latin to “The Undying Fires.” It was recorded by the band in early 2020 and released later that same year by Tour de Garde. As that year was turning to an end, the band had its first live appearances in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany in its shifted shape after years of silence.
The spiritual and creative processes that guided Nigrum culminated in, and were crowned by, the recording of their debut album. Titled Elevenfold Tail, Nigrum‘s first full-length strike is a serpentine one: clear and cutting in its cunning, but given to hideous energies that always threaten to bubble over into hysteria. Nigrum‘s black metal here simultaneously sounds vintage and modern, with foundation stones faint – both North and South reside on their compass – and no trendiness pursued for cheap absorption. Rather, Elevenfold Tail unlocks its secrets slowly, subtly, almost sensually…although, again, that elemental fire is always burning and always threatening to consume the listener. As such, Nigrum‘s songwriting and execution both put a premium on delayed-gratification dynamics; aura and atmosphere likewise exist in (dis)harmony with that songwriting and execution, coalescing into a cob-webbed, bug-eyed album-length experience. The ritual dagger flashes, and seals your fate…
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Per Sepulchra Regionum” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Nigrum’s Elevenfold Tail 1. Prologue 2. Haunting Fields 3. Ea Quae Sanguinem Bibit 4. Per Sepulchra Regionum 5. Murderer, Dweller 6. In Nocte Consilium 7. Reaching Arms Beyond 8. Eleven Feathered Tempest 9. Serpent’s Tribe 10. Epilogue 11. Apparition
“Distant Kingdoms” is the opening track taken from Depressive Witches’upcoming album “Distant Kingdoms”, due for release on November 25th, 2022 via Wormholedeath worldwide.
The band speaking of the album, stated:“We are excited to reveal this new album, which is the perfect mix of our main influences: black’n’roll, heavy metal, and classic rock. Music is perfectly serving the album theme, which is focused on epicness, battles, and exploration of new worlds, as we did for songwriting. “Distant Kingdoms” is a black metal album with so many influences, really rare in this genre. We kept our punky sound and mixed it with folk melodies, always with this “in your face” style, this is why fans loved the first album. We see being a duo band as an intense and intimate way to play music, and not a reduction of sound diversity, so we’re not afraid to mix every sound we love.” Even just being two musicians on stage, they leave nothing behind and can fill out the space with their massive sound and dynamic energy.
Black Metal band Depressive Witches was formed in 2018 in Picardy, France by brothers Sick Bab (Baptiste Robert) on vocals and guitar, and Torvuus (Paul Robert) on guitars and drums. Linked by both blood and a passion for black and extreme metal, creating music together was only natural. In 2021, they released their debut album “Bad Flask”, which leaned heavily into the traditional black metal influences of the duo and contained lyrical themes revolving around witchcraft, curses, and epic fights. The release was recorded by Jonas Sanders & Ivan Houben, and mixed/mastered by Jonas Sanders at Blackout Studio, in Brussels. 2022 witnesses a new album from the band “Distant Kingdoms” again recorded, mixed, and mastered by Jonas Sänders. In contrast to the first album, it pays homage to its rock influences and contains more solos and clean vocals. An anomaly in the black metal scene, it is a mix of black metal, punk, heavy metal, joyful & darkened riffs, like black’n’roll but more festive and epic. Lyrically it looks into adventures, magic battles/war, and high fantasy which take inspiration from RPG video games with medieval themes, nature, and black magic.
Line up : Sick Bab – vocals, guitars Torvuus – drums, guitars, vocals
Ukrainian black metal stalwart DRUDKH is now streaming the album ‘All Belong To The Night’ in advance of the release date. Their new full-length can be listened to here:
The album is set for worldwide release on 11th of November 2022 via Season of Mist and can be pre-saved HERE. Pre-orders for “All Belong to the Night” are live HERE.
Please note: DRUDKH do not play live, do not give any interviews and do not provide band pictures.
DRUDKH have furthermore revealed the cover artwork and album info which can be found below.
Tracklisting: 1. The Nocturnal One/ Нічний (10.23) (WATCH) 2. Windmills/ Нічний (11.30) 3. November/ Листопад (8.25) (WATCH) 4. Till We Become the Haze/ Поки Зникнем у Млі (15.32)
The year is 2022. Pop culture has decayed to the point where social media platforms set the narrative and by the sheer force of ubiquity, rule the day. On a recent popular television show, heavy metal devotees were portrayed and once again, nothing has changed. Despite all of its nuance, ‘metalheads’ are still the quaint, anachronistic, congenial oafs they were thought to be in the 1980’s. Social media then faithfully broadcasts the fad of the moment to everyone. And while all of that may be harmless, one would have to search long and hard for a genre of music that more seriously reckons the larger questions of the human condition than metal and all that falls beneath its banner. Sometimes these themes are encountered in broad strokes, the threads of stories teased and tugged from the weave of history as a whole. A bit rarer, but no less engaging, come glimpses through the lenses of nations, into the cultural realities of struggles far beyond what memes or profile filters can evince.
Enter the work of Roman Saenko, the man behind the universe that is the band DRUDKH. As productive as they are secretive, this entity emerged from Kharkiv, Ukraine in 2002, coalescing from earlier forms such as Blood of Kingu, Hate Forest, and Astrofaes to blend the trappings of black metal into a Slavonic tapestry of sound unique to them. Twenty years hence, already with a library of acclaimed work to their name, DRUDKH is releasing their eleventh studio album entitled All Belong To The Night. They are doing this from a homeland flush with uncertainty, embroiled in a political tug-of-war with which it’s people are all too familiar.
For DRUDKH, immersion into regional struggle is nothing new. Saenko’s grasp on it forms the underpinnings of much of his work. And what’s more, he lives within its very crucible. There is no comfortable distance from which he can compose, and we can only guess what it is like to work from the inside of such a sphere of potential violence. The music of DRUDKH has always done the talking, so much so that Saenko’s established boundaries around his art have never been breached. Like Darkthrone and Falkenbach, there are no live shows. Unlike Mgla, Gaerea, and Uada, there are not even figures behind masks for our imaginations to hinge upon.
But there is a soul in the music of DRUDKH. A longing spirit, akin to the original blueprint of black metal to whom anonymity was so fundamental. Corpse-painted people shrouded in gloom, bearing mythic monikers instead of their given names, helped to establish that otherness that made black metal so appealing to the few who were willing to follow it. DRUDKH takes this several steps further, and the history from which they draw inspiration is far closer to our now than the medieval darkness of old.
Of course, simple enjoyment of DRUDKH’s music for its own sake is both permissible and possible, as a band who provides little insight beyond recorded output leaves non-Ukrainian fans little choice. Lyrics that are rarely printed or translated, song titles expressed in native tongue; beyond exceptions such as “Ukrainian Insurgent Army” (from 2005’s Blood In Our Wells) leave much to be guessed at for those who wish to go deeper. And unlike the aforementioned 80’s metal fan trope, those who seek this music will at the very least wonder about what is going on beneath the surface. Many more will delve these depths.
Inevitably, many will cast judgment upon Saenko’s vision. Many have, and from the cushy viewpoint of fans in the West, it is amusing to watch the keyboard class pivot from casting aspersions on Saenko’s Ukrainian nationalism to celebrating it, especially when the latter impulse appears to have been beckoned by their big-tech overlords. This is not to say that there isn’t a ton of genuine sympathy for the plight of Ukrainians. There is, but the journey undertaken with this album is not married to ‘the current thing.’ As on past works, what Saenko appears to be saying on All Belong To The Night eclipses the flimsiness of trends
For those willing to go deeper, Saenko once more brings to life the voices of Ukrainian past on “The Nocturnal One,” the new album’s opening epic and statement-maker. Based at least in part upon the work of Yakiv Savchenko, and his poem “The Victims Of The Nocturnal One,” this tempered piece hones in on feelings of despair and the encroaching darkness which beset Ukraine during his lifetime. Executed by the regime of Joseph Stalin in 1937, Savchenko’s poetry cannot help but resonate once again, coaxed into consciousness by the empire camped today upon Ukrainian soil. The names change, but the feeling of being beset does not. Featuring sedate midsections with proggy bass guitar, the listener is offered respite from the tortured screams and passion of ever-present vocalist Thurios. The song takes its time, unfurling in cold grandeur with plenty of sonic surprises layered into its breadth.
The pursuit of understanding through myth is called into being on fifteen-minute endcap “Till We Become The Haze.” This is also based upon the work of Savchenko. Rolling along at midtempo, it too offers contemplative oases of inspirational tension-building. As most of the people who will consume this music do not sit poised at the edge of a war, it offers of course the cinematic atmosphere DRUDKH is so good at evoking. Fans of competing disciplines of extreme music will find much that is appealing here, as the melding of black metal, prog, and traditional heavy metal offers the connoisseur a little bit of everything
In the meat of the album, “Windmills” departs with the conventional. It begins with a melancholic chant, painting monochrome hellscapes of displaced village folk, wandering from danger into danger. But is there not perseverance layered into these notes and phrases? Can we not detect a throb of defiance in the lush guitar tones and Thurios’ caustic growls? The pounding drums, courtesy of Vlad, remind us that DRUDKH is at its heart from the realm of black metal, and this crescendo of pulse-raising speed comes laden with a melodic lead section that communicates beyond the limit of language something Saenko is offering to the world and his people – hope.
“November” is the third movement in the album, and DRUDKH marries their raging heart with sections of a doomy, yet whimsical nature, vaguely reminiscent of something My Dying Bride might do. As with the rest of the album, DRUDKH is melding a plethora of moods and textures into their sound. As is their nature, they defy categorization, making art that is as timeless as the strife and romanticism of the Ukrainian people. All Belong To The Night belongs to everyone who fights invading forces, be they tangible or otherwise, because somewhere in all of our histories our ancestors had to unite before struggle and woe, and it is this which shapes us as people. DRUDKH will therefore always resonate, long after the algorithms direct our collective attention elsewhere.
