Today, gothic-doom metallers Invernoir steam the entirety of their highly anticipated second album, Aimin’ For Oblivion. Set for European release on September 27th (October 4th for North America / rest of the world) via code666, hear Invernoir‘s Aimin’ For Oblivion in its entirety here:
Formed in 2016 by members of Rome’s flourishing local scene, Invernoir have shown a special talent right from the beginning with their striking debut EP, 2018’s Mourn, combining the cherished atmospheres of ’90s British doom with the more recent Scandinavian scene, managing the difficult feat of not sounding derivative at all. With their debut album in 2020, The Void and the Unbearable Loss, Invernoir received enthusiastic reviews from all over the world, building a loyal fanbase eagerly awaiting their new album, titled Aimin’ for Oblivion, for cult label code666.
Invernoir literally bring back to life the best ’90s gothic doom with this stellar new album. Aimin’ for Oblivion comprises seven tracks that will make dark metal hearts bleed with that irresistible balance between light and shadows. Invernoir‘s Aimin’ for Oblivion is unmissable for fans of old-school Anathema, Katatonia, and My Dying Bride.
Preorder info can be found HERE at Aural Music‘s Bandcamp. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Invernoir’s Aimin’ for Oblivion 1. Shadow Slave [6:20] 2. Doomed [5:29] 3. Desperate Days [4:50] 4. Forgotten in Time [6:02] 5. Broken [5:16] 6. Few Minutes [7:12] 7. Unworthy [6:06] 8. Useless [6:31]
Even during its initial gestation period, THY CATAFALQUE had already expanded beyond the perceived limits of extreme metal. With each album, Tamás Kátai and his band of collaborators have taken another step beyond the genre’s boundaries, bringing the world’s most vile art form into conversation with the avant-garde.
There’s still a light at the end of Thy Catafalque’s upcoming twelfth album. But as Kátai winds through its introspective journey into the night, XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek revisits the all-consuming heaviness that courses back through the project’s 20-year history. While garnished with plenty of classical flourishes, its meaty new single “Mindenevő” growls like the belly of a metallic beast.
Feast your eyes on the video for Mindenevő:
XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek comes out November 15, 2024 on Season of Mist.
A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek is still guided by the dreaminess that fans in and outside of Hungary have come to admire about Thy Catafalque. After all, in English, the album’s title translates to ‘The Beautiful Dreams Are Yet to Come’. “I imagined these songs as a journey into the night”, Kátai says. Finding his way along this path required him to head in a different direction – at least, as far as the production goes. The dark waves of synth that streak through the album’s title track and lead single glow with the faint but familiar reassurance of the dawn.
Still, journeying through A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek can be a rocky road. While the latest single opens with a plucking oud, “Mindenevő” is a full bore feast for bloodthirsty metalheads. The insatiable blast beats and tongue-flicking tremolo picking are cooked over the same blackened fires as Thy Catafalque’s 1999 debut. “Our last album, Alföld, was very bleak”, Kátai explains. “Adding classical and acoustic instruments helped add a sprig of color to these new songs, but XII still has plenty of metal”.
Even the progressive flourishes feed the song’s sickening theme. A fretless bass waltzes into the room just as the video’s dinner party succumbs to their insatiable appetite for destruction. “Blood and fat shall course through every vein“, chants a doomy operatic chorus. “We devour everything around us”, Kátai says when asked about the philosophical musings that greased the wheels of “Mindenevő” (which means “Omnivore”). “It’s absurd. The way we consume everything in our path only leads us closer to our demise”.
In the end, the engorged death metal riffs finally eat their fill. Yet as the beastly “Mindenevő” lays to rest amidst a thick delirium of clarinet and French horn, the feeling that’s left churning in the pit of your stomach is pure, unfiltered dread.
“Human beings do have an animal side”, Kátai says. “Even though some of us strive for purity, in the end, we have to recognize and accept the morbidity of nature”.
The video for “Mindenevő” was created by G13 Film.
More praise for Thy Catafalque
“Few musicians have as long and varied a career as Tamás Kátai of Thy Catafalque” – Angry Metal Guy
“Thy Catafalque are a one of a kind experiment that have never played by traditional rules or boundaries” – New Noise
“A monstrously entertaining, tightly diverse band” – Everying Is Noise
For two decades, Tamás Kátai was content on sticking to the studio. That changed in 2021, when he and a cast of heavy hitters performed at the Fekete Zaj Festival. This milestone was later committed to memory on Mezolit, but Thy Catafalque has continued to grow into a steady and spectacular live act.
Earlier this year, Thy Catafalque headlined their first tour of Europe. Now, to celebrate the project’s upcoming twelfth album, Kátai and his ever-growing list of collaborators will perform at four concerts across Europe. This includes two very special sold-out shows at one of Hungary’s most influential underground venues, where they’ll perform songs off XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek, along with all ten tracks on the recently reissued fifth album Rengeteg.
During these two special shows at Dürer Kert, Thy Catafalque will be joined by the noisy experimentalists in Shum, labelmate Saor and Kátai’s old band, Gire.
Thy Catafalque 2024 Concerts: October 12 – Thessaloniki, Greece, @ Mammothfest [TICKETS] November 22 – Budapest, Hungary @ Dürer Kert w/ Saor [SOLD OUT] November 23 – Budapest, Hungary @ Dürer Kert w/ Gire, Shum [SOLD OUT]
New fans and long-time appreciators can now rediscover just how much Thy Catafalque has grown since their humble beginnings as a duo. This year, Season of Mist re-issued Thy Catafalque’s first seven albums.
Tamás Kátai has a vision that extends beyond borders and boundaries. Even during its infancy, Thy Catafalque had already outgrown the rather rigid guidelines of black metal. Though only intended for the studio, over the past 20 years, his recording project has evolved into a lively collaboration. With each album, Thy Catafalque has pushed the envelope of extreme metal a step further, bringing the world’s most vile art form into conversation with the avant-garde.
Thy Catafalque’s twelfth album is even more expansive, but XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek ties both to its mastermind’s past and the history of his native Hungary. “For this album, I felt it was time to move in a different direction, whatever that direction might be”, Kátai says, “but XII still possesses the dreaminess that I’ve always associated with Thy Catafalque”.
Of course, Kátai hasn’t been mulling over this album for too long. Keeping in line with his prolific pace, XII arrives just one year after his previous album. Named after the stretch of land where the producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist was born in southeast Hungary, Alföld returned to the heaviness from which Thy Catafalque took root during the late ’90s. Once again, Kátai set out to make a straightforward metal record, but while there’s plenty of cause for chest-pounding, A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek ended up taking him on another surreal headtrip.
“I think of this album as an introspective journey through the night”, Kátai says. Opener “Piros kocsi, fekete éj” (which in English means “Red Carriage, Black Night”) glides off through a warm mist of piping keys, led by twin engine guitars that crest with reverb. “Time clatters on the rails”. Attila Bakos sings in Hungarian. His voice beams over the airwaves with the same clean force as 15 years ago, when he helped lift Thy Catafalque out of the Hungarian underground on the recently reissued Róka hasa rádió.
“Attila also sang on Rengeteg“, Kátai remembers about the first Thy Catafalque album that he wrote and recorded by himself. “‘Piros kocsi, fekete éj’ has the same sense for melody. It opens the album with a feeling of nostalgia”.
Of course, many other familiar faces join Kátai on his journey. After all, Thy Catafalque started as a duo with János Juhász. A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek features the biggest guest list in the project’s long discography. More than 20 guest musicians appear on this album, including old friends from inside and outside the Hungarian metal scene. Martina Veronika Horváth — whose band The Answer Lies in the Black Void toured Europe with Thy Catafalque earlier in 2024 — duets with the tender brooding Gábor Dudás for a faithful rendition of “Lydiához”, a 1980 Sebő ensemble classic that sowed the seeds for Hungary’s roots revival.
“That is a song that’s been with me and the rest of my generation ever since we were children”, Kátai says. Violins, cello, clarinet and other classical instruments add to the comforts of home. Before it drifts off high beyond the clouds, “Vakond” strings along like a whistling stroll across The Great Plains. “Alföld was very bleak”, he continues. “Adding classical and acoustic instruments helped add a spring of color and an air of adventure to these new songs”.
Still, A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek can be a hard road — especially during its crushing middle section. Despite the gentle opening plucks, “Mindenevő” crashes down like a boulder, hurtling ahead at terrifying speed behind doomy operatic backing vocals, mechanized blast beats and the eerie fires of tremolo picking that forged Thy Catafalque’s debut Sublunary Tragedies. “This album still has plenty of metal”, Kátai assures.
The heaviest moments are often grounded in Hungary’s history. While colored by nostalgia, XII is also shadowed by the ticking hands of time, a theme that ripples back to 2021’s Vadak. Blackened chugger “Vasgyár” shares a namesake with the rusted-out ironworks that once fueled the country’s economy. It’s not a political statement, but the song does reflect how the landscape has changed to the eye of the now 48-year-old Kátai.
“Even the album’s visuals are from a bygone era”, he says. In the video for its title track, closing song and lead single, Kátai doesn’t just run through the streets of his hometown. Surreal scenes from the past and present linger along his winding path through the placid countryside. Watching his doppelgänger dig his own grave feels like a living nightmare. “‘This song comes from a place of desperation”, he says. “Within the afterglow of nostalgia, there’s also the chill of disappointment”.
Ultimately, the progressive flair that has come to define Thy Catafalque shines through the darkness on album twelve. Only this time around, in order to reach the light at the end of the tunnel, Kátai needed some guidance. “I felt like the production had largely been the same since Geometria“, he admits. XII marks the first time in the project’s history that he worked with an outside producer. Granted, Gábor Vári is no stranger to how his mind works. When he’s not holed away in the studio with other prominent Hungarian metal bands, Gábor could be seen hammering away at his guitar on stage with Thy Catafalque on the live album Mezolit. “He was the perfect person to help give this album a somewhat different sound that is still familiar”.
As a result, “A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek” stands out as one of Thy Catafalque’s biggest crowd pleasers, uplifted by hand claps and catchy, fist-pumping riffs. Even the dark waves of synth glow with the reassurance of the dawn. “At the end, there’s still hope for a future that might offer warmer days after the darkness has ceded”.
Thy Catafalque’s twelfth album looks back longingly at the past, Tamás Kátai isn’t stopping to smell the roses. With A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek, he shows that the beautiful dreams are yet to come.
Recording Lineup: Tamás Kátai – guitar, bass, vocals, keyboards, programming
Guest Musicians: Martina Veronika Horváth – vocals on Track 1, 6 Ivett Dudás – vocals on Track 8 Helga Kreiter – vocals on Track 4, 10 Gábor Dudás – vocals on Track 2, 5, 6, 10 Bálint Bokodi – vocals on Track 2, 4, 9 Gábor Veres – vocals on Track 3, 8 Attila Bakos – vocals on Track 1 Zoltán Kónya – vocals on Track 3 András Vörös – vocals on Track 4 Breno Machado – lead guitar on Track 2 Zoltán Vigh – lead guitar on Track 3 Krisztián Varga – lead guitar on Track 4 Daniele Belli – acoustic guitar on Track 2 Miguel Velasquez Matija – fretless bass on Track 2, 6 Edu Giró – oud, bouzouki, baglama on Track 2,7 Grigoris Mitropoulos – bouzouki, mpaglamas on Track 7 Sanja Smileska – violin on Track 3 Jo Quail – electric cello on Track 8 Issar Shulman – contrabass on Track 2 Cal Rustad – French horn on Track 2, 8 Manuel Domenech – cor anglais on Track 8 Khachatrian Lernik – clarinet on Track 2 Gergő Bille – flugelhorn, trumpet on Track 7 Joakim Toftgaard – trombone, trumpet on Track 7 Fabian Hernandez – saxophone on Track 5 Viktória Varga – narration on Track 3 Annamari Sánta – narration on Track 7, 8
Recording: Recorded in various countries: Hungary, United Kingdom, Romania, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Greece, North Macedonia, Israel, U.S.A., Colombia, Brazil.
Producer & Sound Engineer: Tamás Kátai, Gábor Vári
Mixing & Mastering: Miracle Sound Szeged, Hungary. Mixed and mastered by Gábor Vári.
Artwork: Front cover by Dániel Szécsényi and Tamás Kátai Illustrations by Orsolya Pintér.
Death metal masters now touring their new album throughout Japan
“‘Horror Beyond Horror’ again finds Defiled stuck on the upswing” – Decibel
For the past three decades, DEFILED have kept their blade sharp. Ever since Tokyo’s underground lost their minds over the band’s grotesque arsenal of finishing moves, Yusuke Sumita and his death metal samurai set off on a war path that’s left nothing but inevitable ruin in their raw wake. They’ve ransacked Milwaukee Metal Festival and joined forces with their fellow legends in Mayhem, Incantation, Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse.
Having now churned out three albums in almost as many years, metalheads can be forgiven for believing that Defiled had already reached the highest level. But the Japanese legends have topped themselves again on their eighth album. Horror Beyond Horror comes out this Friday, September 20, but you can hear all 14 slicing and dicing songs today by listening to the full album stream on Season of Mist’s YouTube channel.
After they first took to the stage in 1995, Defiled needed nearly a decade before finally erupting with wrath on their debut album. But ever since the band’s lineup solidified around original member Yusuke Sumita, they haven’t stopped to look back and admire all the ugliness they’ve revealed. Horror Beyond Horror comes hot on the heels of the album they released just last year, which Metal Injection listed as one of the can’t-miss releases of 2023.
Like a poisonous dart, Defiled come shooting out of the shadows on Horror Beyond Horror. Blast beats pummel at unforeseen angles amidst “Smoke and Mirrors”. “Every lie has been revealed”, fearless frontman Shinichiro Hamada shouts, taking aim at perpetual frauds and tyrannical technocrats. The band charges into the pit behind bassist Takachika Nakajima’s greasy groove, which is snapping plenty of necks on their current Japanese tour.
“We wanted this album to be natural and realistic”, Sumita told New Noise. “We did not use any editing or artificial techniques in the recording process”.
With 30 years and eight albums under their belt, Defiled know where to stick the blade on Horror Beyond Horror. The album’s title track shreds through the corrupted torment of mind control with riffs that are honed from the jagged influence of ’80s thrash and hardcore. “The time has come”, the band spit at their captors with utter disgust. “Death strikes you with derision”.
Defiled aren’t afraid to crack open people’s skulls, either. Horror Beyond Horror descends deeper and deeper into the psychological shadows the further you go down the track list. “Syndicate” conspires around a greasy, pit-dwelling breakdown but drummer Keisuke Hamada never stops chopping up the tempo. “The path to your elimination”, Shinichiro Hamada cries, digging in amidst a flurry of blast beats during the album’s final boss “To See Behind the Wall”. Whether they’re slicing, dicing or leaping into a furiously fast solo, the band’s riffs take no prisoners.
“We still love death metal and are very proud to be recognized as a death metal band”, Sumita tells Antichrist Magazine. “At the same time, it’s clear from our songs that we do not follow trends. Who would be interested in a Japanese bands that follows Western trends? We have our own perspective, and we have been going our own way for many years now, and we are convinced that we are on the right path”.
On Horror Beyond Horror, Defiled unleash the kind of old-school ass-kicking that only true masters can deliver.
More praise for Defiled
“The one-two punch of tight musicianship and an inclination to pummel into submission without the need for flashy antics makes for a dazzling experience” – Ghost Cult
“It’s phenomenal what they’ve done and can do in the realm of death metal” – Distorted Sound
“Encapsulates both the oldschool familiarity and the modern aesthetics of death metal” –Metal Trenches
“By the time you’ve become deep within the album, you’ll be wondering just what else they can possibly jut up when they’ve already hit you ten or eleven times already with completely unique songwriting” – The Razor’s Edge
In customary fashion, this fall, Defiled are welcoming Horror Beyond Horror with a tour of Japan. Watch these legends shred through “Horror Beyond Horror”, “Smoke and Mirrors”, “To See Beyond the Wall”, “Syndicate” and other nasty rippers off their new album for the very first time.
The band also have two very special shows planned for later this year. In November, they’ll bang heads with fans in Bangkok alongside Batushka and Malevolent Creation. Then, to cap off what’s already shaping up to be another gloriously hellish year in their 30-year history, Defiled will share the stage with Hellchild and Satanic Hell Slaughter in a joint celebration of Japan’s historic death metal scene.
“As a Japanese death metal band, we wanted to reflect on where our scene started”, says Yusuke Sumita, who’s been Defiled’s guitarist since the band started in 1992. “Hellchild and Satanic Hell Slaughter are legends who built the Japanese death metal scene in the early ’90s. We are honored to have them return to share the stage with us. We want the young Japanese metalheads to come to this show. Don’t miss it”. Horror Beyond Horror Japanese Tour 2024: September 13 – Okayama @ Digvuilt September 14 – Hiroshima @ Leo September 15 – Karatsu @ Yggdrasil September 16 – Fukuoka @ reflex September 20 – Osaka @ Hokage September 21 – Hikone @ Benihana September 22 – Nagoya @ Studio 246 September 23 – Tokyo @ Earthdom September 24 – Yokohama @ El Puente September 25 – Fussa @ Chicken Shack September 26 – Utsunomiya @ Beat Club September 27 – Nagano @ Rosebery Cafe September 28 – Niigata @ Rocka September 29 – Sendai @ Solfa September 30 – Fukushima @ 559 October 25 – Kofu @ Kazoo Hall October 26 – Tokyo @ Earthdom October 27 – Matsudo @ Dugout 2
Defiled Live in Bangkokwith Batushka + Malevolent Creation: November 29 – Bangkok, Thailand @ Mr. Fox Livehouse
Defiled Live in Tokyo with Hellchild + Satanic Hell Slaughter: December 8 – Tokyo, Japan @ Earthdom
Tracklist:1. Smoke and Mirrors (2:35) [WATCH] 2. Horror Beyond Horror (4:01) [WATCH] 3. Syndicate (3:59) 4. The Alchemy (2:47) 5. Demagogue (2:13) 6. The Terminal Phase (2:18) 7. Trojan Horse (2:35) 8. Spectrum of Fear (2:30) 9. The Crook and Flail (3:08) 10. Replicator Dynamics (2:42) 11. Equinox (3:04) 12. The Chains (3:16) 13. Psychopomp (3:14) 14. To See Behind The Wall (2:45) [WATCH] Total runtime: 41:08
From the depths of Tokyo’s darkest alleys, Defiled have emerged once again, claws sharpened, eyes bloodshot, ready to unleash a fresh dose of unadulterated savagery with their latest full-length studio album, Horror Beyond Horror. Marrying the grotesque with technical prowess, these samurais of sickness are poised to carve another notch into the archives of death metal’s sordid history.
Since crawling from the primordial soup of the underground scene in the early ’90s, Defiled have forged a path littered with broken souls. Their journey of destruction first sank its teeth into the international jugular with Erupted Wrath, mixed by the masterful Jim Morris in Tampa, Florida. This brutal assault opened gates to a global bloodletting, from leveling stages in South Korea to crushing skulls at the Milwaukee Metalfest, and not even the November to Dismember fest could foresee the carnage they’d bring.
Commandeering the technical tightrope between anarchy and precision, Defiled evolved, much like an aberrant spawn isolated on the Galapagos, grotesque yet ultimately superior. Their subsequent onslaughts — Ugliness Revealed, Divination, and the sheer violence of In Crisis — built a monument to atrocity that ascends to new heights with Horror Beyond Horror.
Taking no prisoners in their three-decades-long campaign of terror, Defiled have become the indestructible behemoth of Asia’s death metal scene, powered by the relentless engine of their oldschool roots and the twisted wreckage of technical thrash and progressive rock innovation.
But enough with the history lesson, you came here for the carnage, didn’t you? Horror Beyond Horror is a 14-track massacre, riddled with riffs sharp enough to slit your throat and a rhythmic onslaught that’ll pulverize your pathetic bones. Each track, from the visceral “Smoke and Mirrors” to the haunting “To See Behind the Wall”, is a calculated strike, precision-engineered to leave no survivors. Let’s not forget the eponymous “Horror Beyond Horror”, a track that cements Defiled’s legacy as harbingers of the apocalypse.
With a sound as raw as exposed nerve endings and as unrefined as a mass grave, Defiled stands defiantly apart from the polished poseurs and shameless sellouts. They don’t peddle in cheap gimmickry or nostalgia; they deal in the currency of pure, unfiltered destruction. As they look out upon the charred landscape of the genre they’ve helped to define, Defiled is not content to rest on their laurels. Horror Beyond Horror sees them, once again, ascending to the blood-soaked throne of death metal sovereignty.
Production Credits: Sound Engineers – Shinichiro Hamada & Keisuke Hamada Produced by Yusuke Sumita Mixed & Mastered by Kenji Kikuchi at Studio Nest, Chiba, Japan
In this era of relentless superficiality, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX stand as a beacon for those broken by an indifferent world. This latest masterpiece, Self Control, extracts the haunting essence of Branigan’s classic and weaves it into a poignant tapestry of raw emotion and relentless defiance. With the ever-captivating Belinda Kordic giving voice to our shared darkness, Justin Greaves and his band of rebels breathe new life into a song that resonates with the tortured soul of the modern age.
Listen to Self Control here:
Their upcoming double album, The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature and Horrific Honorifics Number Two (2), commemorates two decades of relentless introspection and unyielding rebellion.
The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature An album which exhumes and resurrects their buried treasures, reworking and re-recording iconic tracks that have weathered the storms of time. These anthems – imbued with the rawness of old friends and new allies – surge with renewed vigor, challenging the very essence of complacency. Anthem such as We Forgotten Who We Are or the lead single Goodnight, Europe, completely re-imagined.
Horrific Honorifics Number Two (2) An albums which serves as a dark homage to the musical titans who ignited their spirit, with visceral covers that explode into life. With tracks like the searing rendition of New Model Army’s Vengeance and the haunting introspection of Laura Branigan’s Self Control, this album is a collection of CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX‘s masterful rendition of classic songs which have inspired them over the years.
The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature + Horrific Honorifics Number Two (2) is out November 29 on Season of Mist.
Tracklist: 1. We Forgotten Who We Are (11:17) 2. You Put The Devil In Me (6:18) 3. 444 (7:23) 4. Goodnight, Europe (Pt2) (8:37) [WATCH] 5. (-) (4:39) 6. Song For The Unloved (14:22) 7. Whissendine (6:58) 8. Blizzard Of Horned Cats (4:43) Total runtime: 1:04:21
Tracklist: 1. Vengeance (4:16) 2. Self Control (5:23) [LISTEN] 3. Blueprint (4:03) 4. And That’s Sad (6:52) 5. Hammer Song (4:52) 6. When A Blind Man Cries (3:22) 7. My Pal (3:51) 8. Goin’ Against Your Mind (8:53) Total runtime: 41:36
The thread that binds CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX’s bold and towering discography — a dozen studio albums, a half-dozen mini-albums, a handful of compilations and swaths of bootlegs — could not be more apropos circa 2022. Since its 2004 creation by multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Justin Greaves, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX has served as the voice for the voiceless, whether it be animals, the unequal and the different. Greaves and longstanding vocalist and lyricist Belinda Kordic have often proffered that these beings cannot fend for themselves. Henceforth, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX’s mission has been to shed light on the human condition and the inequalities that befall humankind and its creatures. Their battle marches on with their latest studio album, Banefyre.
Banefyre follows 2020’s Ellengæst — an effort that found CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX employ a series of notable guest vocalists alongside Kordic, prompting Metal Hammer to describe it as their “most cohesive and emotionally devastating record.” Kordic is now paired with Swedish vocalist Joel Segerstedt, who made his CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX debut last year via the “Painful Reminder/Dead is Dead” single. Piano, synth and trumpet player Helen Stanley and additional guitarist Andy Taylor complete the lineup. Greaves says Stanley and Taylor “fit so well creatively,” which has made CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX feel like a band when making plans and decisions.
Also central to this is Segerstedt. According to Kordic, the vocalist and lyricist lives a mere five minutes from her in Sweden and has quickly integrated himself into the band. “What I like about Joel is that he’s a good person,” she says. “There’s no fakeness with him; he has cajones. He’s not a bitch-talker, either. I can’t handle people who don’t have a backbone, but Joel is real and can speak his mind.”
“I like how Joel has come in and spoke for himself,” adds Greaves. “He’s in the band for the right reasons. I see him the same way as Belinda — she took an interest in the whole artistic thing behind CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX, like the vocals, lyrics, artwork and aesthetic. It’s the same with Joel. He has taken an interest in all of those things. In the past, we had people who didn’t contribute artistically and only cared about what they got out of the band. But Joel is really proactive and takes the initiative.”
Greaves assembled 13 songs (including “No Regrets,” a bonus track for his new project with Kordic, Johnny the Boy) imbued with the depth and introspection that will reinforce CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX’s standing as a band that defies genre. The album was tracked at Chapel Studios in South Thoresby, Lincolnshire, with vocals cut at Monolith Studio and Kapsylen Studio in Stockholm, Sweden. Kurt Ballou handled mixing in GodCity Studios in Salem, Massachusetts — a pivotal move in determining the album’s overall sound.
“I love the album so much because it was a different approach with the production,” says Greaves. “For my part, it was a little bit of a reaction. I didn’t want to do the same warm, safe CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX album. I’m aware that when we did [2012’s] I, Vigilante, everyone wanted I, Vigilante again. As it so often happens with this band, people complain about the next one, then grow into it. Ellengæst is like I, Vigilante. It’s a shorter album. It hit the mark and was done really well, but everyone will expect another Ellengæst. I feared that, but I care enough not to make another Ellengæst. It’s the right thing to do. That’s why we got Kurt to mix it — we wanted that analog, raw power. Even though the album has mellow moments, those are edgy as well. We just didn’t want to do the same album twice. We’re never going to be a band that people can rely on.”
Greaves’ summation of his band notwithstanding, his distinctive guitar playing and enduring knack for immersive songwriting is the propellent behind the haunting, chant-laden “Ghostland,” pensive “The Reckoning” and forlorn “Everything is Beautiful but Us,” the band’s spot-on analysis of the retreat of humankind indoors during the pandemic that revealed nature’s priceless beauty. The album is also stocked with no less than four ten-minute-plus cuts (“Rose of Jericho,” “Down the Rabbit Hole,” “I’m Okay, Just Not Alright” and “The Scene is a False Prophet”) that are intermixed with drama and melancholy.
It all ties into Banefyre’s central theme of the persecution of people who are deemed “different” by society. The album title is a play on the song “Bonefire” that Kordic named and wrote lyrics for. In classic CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX fashion, Greaves turned it into the Olde English translation to represent the bonfires that engulfed witches and politicians through the 15th and 18th centuries, hence, the name Banefyre.
The album begins with “Incantation for the Different,” which was written and orated by Chicago-based witch, artist, author and occultist Shane Bugbee, who, according to Greaves, “brought us some positive, dark energy.” Banefyre then delves into the Salem Witch Trials (“Wyches and Basterdz”), fox hunting in Great Britain (“The Reckoning”), politicians of an unscrupulous and dishonest kind (“Bonefire”) and the New York City Blackout of 1977 (“Blackout77”).
Greaves says Banefyre’s topics may have a decidedly negative and pessimistic tone, but a glimmer of hope and joy remains. “There’s always the random bits, but overall, Banefyre is about the people who have suffered because they are different. The album covers inequality and oppression, like ‘Incantation for the Different,’ which is about overcoming when you’re put down because you’re not like everyone else.”
In true CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX fashion, the Lucy Marshall-created Banefyre cover leaves plenty to the imagination, depicting four animals seated at a table — interacting and dressed like human beings. “It’s sort of like Planet of the Apes showing what animals could do to humans,” says Greaves. “The cover was specially commissioned and is unique to the album. It’s incorporating all the classic CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX elements with the love for animals and twisting the narrative around.”
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX’s reputation was built on the back of their studio albums and live shows. The pandemic prevented the band from supporting Ellengæst, but it did provide them additional time to bring in new members to their live configuration.
“We’ve done one show since 2019,” says Greaves. “We are going to do something in Europe this year. Hopefully, we can get back on track. We’re also going to do something in the States — that’s not just talk, we’re actually going to do it. It’s well overdue. The live band is fucking amazing. We have the five of us and now we have Jordi [Farré] on drums, Paco [Fleischfresser] on synth and a really good friend of mine, Matt Crawford on bass.
“We did the Leipzig show and even though the rehearsals were better than the show itself, that lineup, our live band, is so good. Because we haven’t been under pressure to put a live band together since 2019 and spent so long talking to people, we’ve got a better band from those results. Out of disaster, we’ve got quite a good, positive thing.”
The Wolf Changes Its Fur But Not Its Nature & Horrific Honorifics Number Two(2) are a double album celebrating the 20 year existence of CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX.
Original Credits: All tracks on Horrific Honorifics Number Two(2) are covers of various artists.
Vengeance Originally recorded by New Model Army, Written by: Sullivan/Morrow
Self Control Originally recorded by Laura Branigan, Written by: Giancarlo Bigazzi, Raffaele Riefoli, Steve Piccolo
Blueprint Originally recorded by Fugazi, Written by: Canty, Lilly, MacKaye, Picciotto
And That’s Sad Originally recorded by NoMeansNo, Written by: NoMeansNo
Hammer Song Originally recorded by Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Written by Alex Harvey
When A Blind Man Cries Originally recorded by Deep Purple, Written by: Gillan, Glover, Blackmore, Lord, Paice
My Pal Originally recorded by God, Written by: God, Joel Silbersher)
Goin’ Against Your Mind Originally recorded by Built To Spill, Written by: Doug Martsch, Jim Roth, Brett Nelson, Scott Plouf
Self Control Belinda Kordic – Vocals Justin Greaves – Drums, Guitars Andy Taylor – Baritone Guitar Helen Stanley – Synth Wesley J. Wasley – Bass
Blueprint Ryan Patterson – Vocals Justin Greaves – Drums, Guitars Helen Stanley – Piano Wesley J. Wasley – Bass
And That’s Sad Justin Greaves – Drums, Guitars, Vocals Wesley Wasley – Bass, Vocals
Hammer Song Belinda Kordic – Vocals Justin Greaves – Drums, Guitars Andy Taylor – Guitar, Acoustic guitar Helen Stanley – Synth, Hammond Wesley J. Wasley – Bass
When A Blind Man Cries Belinda Kordic – Vocals Justin Greaves, Drums, Guitars Andy Taylor – Guitars Helen Stanley – Piano Kostas Panagiotou – Hammond Wesley J. Wasley – Bass
My Pal Belinda Kordic – Vocals Justin Greaves – Drums, Guitars, Backing Vocals Wesley J. Wasley – Bass
Goin’ Against Your Mind Justin Storms – Vocals Justin Greaves – Drums, Guitars Andy Taylor – Guitar Wesley J. Wasley – Bass
Recorded in 2023 at: Chapel Studios, Lincolnshire Engineered by Pieter Rietkerk
Additional Vocal Sessions at: Kapsylen Studio, Stockholm Engineered by Jörgen Jugglo Wall. House Of Foto, Louisville, KY Engineered by Ryan Patterson
Additional Production Credits: Mixed by Pieter Rietkerk Mastered by Magnus Lindberg Produced by Justin Greaves
From the feral fjords of neo-Norse mythology, EIHWAR barrels onto the scene like a berserker storming a tranquil village. They didn’t choose the warrior’s path; it tore through their souls and left behind a sonic battleground that marries ancient gods with unapologetic modern chaos. This is Viking War Trance—a titanic clash of techno fury and primal beats, designed to send your senses careening into the stratosphere.
Picture this: Vikings discovering synthesizers and headbanging to a techno beat, where trance-emboldened voices resurrect Odin, and shamanic drums roll like a tempest in Asgard. With tracks like Völva’s Chant, Viking War Trance, and Mjölnir, this album doesn’t just break the mold—it obliterates it with the ferocity of Thor’s hammer. Imagine a mosh pit filled with Viking warriors high on the Northern Lights’ magic, channeling Fenrir’s rage and Baldr’s sorrow in an electrifying, sweat-drenched, neo-pagan dance!
Recorded and produced entirely by Eihwar, with mastering conjured at Tower Studio, Montpellier, every beat and grunt encapsulates the raw animal spirit and modern madness of this genre-redefining spectacle.
Tracklist 1. Viking War Trance (4:30) [WATCH] 2. Ragnarök (Viking War Trance Reforged) (7:10) 3. Völva’s Chant (4:05) [WATCH] 4. Geri And Freki (4:21) 5. Baldr (4:08) 6. Fenrir (Viking War Trance Reforged) (5:13) 7. Berserkr (Viking War Trance Reforged) (4:04) [WATCH] 8. Mjölnir (5:25) 9. Sir Mannelig (1:54) Total runtime: 40:54
Many bands have explored the Pagan & Norse worlds over the last 15 years seeking atmospheric, acoustic and ritual sounds with great seriousness. This is not the path EIHWAR chose.
Although the musicians of Eihwar are virtuosos in their acoustic traditional instruments, their goal is to bring some fun… and as much chaos as possible during their concerts, provoking the craziest trance on dancefloors. They bring a festive and furious neo-viking music whose primal force is based on technoid machines, mixed with trance vocals, shamanic drums and traditional Nordic sounds. Electronics are a ‘new steel’ for those modern warriors, cold and powerful. As the web already says, the duo is a kind of new ‘Viking Carpenter Brut’.
Thus, Eihwar named the single, the album but also their style of music ‘Viking War Trance’.
“We are heavy drops of rain announcing lightning. We call for war: A war waged against our judgments, Our inner demons, our limits, Our stiffness of body and mind. We don’t want our best enemies to spare us Nor to be spared by those we love. We invoke a war for our thoughts, A flamboyant chaos of fire & ice, Cradle of creation.”
Since its appearance on YouTube in February 2023, Eihwar has shook the Internet and concert venues. The band experienced rapid expansion on YouTube and was quickly booked by major European festivals such as Hellfest, Leyendas del Rock, Wave Gotik Treffen & more to be announced!
Line-up Asrunn: Vocals, Traditional Percussions Mark – Vocals, Machines
Recording credits are being kept anonymous intentionally
For today’s release of the new studio album Dracul Drakorgoth via Massacre Records, BLUTGOTT present the video for the title track in the “Balgeroth” version. See & hear the video here:
THE BLUTGOTT METAL UNIVERSE
DEBAUCHERY– Monster Metal
BLOOD GOD– Hard Rock & Heavy Metal
BALGEROTH– German Metal
Over 20 years, singer and guitarist Thomas Gurrath has created an entire band universe with over 30 CDs spread across more than 17 albums from Debauchery,Blood God, and Balgeroth. He has united this Trinity of Blood Gods under the name BLUTGOTT.
Musically, the band moves across genres somewhere between Judas Priest, Slayer, AC/DC, Rammstein, and Bolt Thrower. There is pounding death metal, classic heavy metal, and groovy hard rock, sometimes with screeching vocals, sometimes with the distinctive monster voice, sometimes clean, and everything in between.
The lyrics – in German and English – deal with the band’s own dark fantasy universe: the World of Blood Gods, named after the Blood Gods – biomechanical vampire dragons with demonic abilities.
The three most infamous are Bal-Geroth, the Bloodking of Knochenheim; Dracul Drakorgoth, the Debauchery Blood God; and Setekh Drakorgaur, the Red Dragon. Together, they form the Trinity of Blood Gods.
In the war zones of the past and future, on Earth, Eden, other planets, and Hell, they fight brutal battles against elves, humans, and dwarves, as well as other demons. The World of Blood Gods has its own miniatures and its own tabletop game, called Kings of Carnage.
Concerts of the various incarnations of the BLUTGOTT Metal Universe have been held throughout Europe, Russia, and Asia. They have performed with Doro, Saxon, Dismember, Napalm Death, Destruction, and many other well-known bands from the metal scene and played at major festivals such as Wacken, Summer Breeze, and Bang Your Head. The albums are regularly in the top 50 of the official German album charts.
The new album Dracul Drakorgoth will be released on September 20th via Massacre Records and contains ten completely new songs each with the Debauchery Monster Voice, once with the German Balgeroth lyrics and also with the Blood God Heavy Metal voice. It will be available as 3CD digipack as well as limited-edition box, and the Debauchery and Balgeroth versions each as limited-edition vinyl LP. The album was recorded by Dennis Ward (Unisonic, Krokus, Helloween).
In addition, there is the Blutfest Tour with a BLUTGOTT live show for the new album and 20 years of monsters and metal. Dates follow after the jump. Cover and tracklisting are as folllows:
Today, Dutch black metallers Deathless Void stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, The Voluptuous Fire of Sin. Set for international release on September 20th via Iron Bonehead Productions, hear Deathless Void‘s The Voluptuous Fire of Sin in its entirety here:
Hailing from the resurgent Dutch black metal scene, the then-mysterious Deathless Void made their public debut with a self-titled EP in early 2022, released by Iron Bonehead. Across its three-song / 15-minute runtime was a vacuum of violent, post-modern death energy. Their foundation was undoubtedly black metal, but their vision was not blinkered by the past; if anything, the jet-stream of crushing chaos across Deathless Void was futuristic, albeit a ruined vision of such.
Reprising two of those EP tracks, The Voluptuous Fire of Sin becomes the penultimate first statement from Deathless Void. Much of that foundation is fortunately still in place – palpitating physicality mutated into cold, cutting, gleaming-yet-bloodstained steel – but the now-quartet have excised some of the noisier crags of that EP in favor of a more organic soundfield, which exceptionally amplifies the latent nightsky melodicism of their black metal. In terms of that EP, one could point to later Katharsis or Antaeus or especially turn-of-the-millennium Thorns as touchstones; on The Voluptuous Fire of Sin, there’s a palpably late ’90s feel in both songwriting and production, such that one could psychically slot the album among the No Fashion Records roster back then. Still, said EP whipped forth its own dread and delirium, and Deathless Void duly maximize that sensation here. The riffs and rhythms may attack in a somewhat-familiar manner, but coursing through their bloodstream is a haunting aspect that hovers both above and below, each texture daubed in nightmarishly psychedelic color – all emanating from BLACK. Not for nothing does the record (violently) begin with “Psychedelic Warfare” on to “Purple Triad,” with “The Ecstasy of Sin” able to be tasted when “Crossing the Threshold” until, finally, there’s a “Curse Upon You”…
The start of THE END begins again: Deathless Void‘s The Voluptuous Fire of Sin!
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Deathless Void’s The Voluptuous Fire of Sin 1. Psychedelic Warfare 2. Vortex Climax 3. The Shattered Realms Of Man Become The Abyss 4. The Ecstasy Of Sin 5. Iside 6. Burning Shapes Without Form 7. Crossing The Threshold 8. Purple Triad 9. Curse Upon You
Today, French black metallers Hyver stream the entirety of their highly anticipated new EP, Fonds de Terroir. Set for international release today via Antiq, hear Hyver‘s Fonds de Terroir in its entirety here:
Hyver comes back this autumn with a new EP called Fonds de Terroir. After Sorcier Hibou (dungeon synth – 2023) and Noirceur Mystique d’Autrefois (sympho / dungeoned black metal – early 2024), Fonds de Terroir brings us to the deep countryside of France. Melodious synth meets energic riffs, heavily supported by a creative bass-guitar played by KK (Passéisme) and groovy drums by Summun Algor (Agnus Dei). Hyver‘s rough voice is joined by strong choirs and two guests: Sans Visage (Prieuré) and M (Krasseville). With cover artwork by Joanna Maeyens (Paysage d’Hiver, Ruynn), Fond de Terroir tells us about journeys through France between muddy fields, old stone villages, ancient abbeys, and haunted swamps, in a musical spirit close to Horn, Satanic Warmaster, early Finntroll, and Hanternoz. The focus here is the link between black metal spirit and road-trip adventures – being “en route” to the unknown.
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.
Aforementioned cover artwork and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Hyver’s Fonds de Terroir 1. Lanterne des Morts [4:11] 2. La Vieille près du Lavoir [6:39] 3. Frère Jean-Théophane [4:18] 4. Terroir Terreur [4:47]
On November 10th internationally, Antiq is proud to present Grylle‘s highly anticipated second album, Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards.
Grylle is a band formed in 2013 in France. As soon as the first songs were published on the mesmerizing demo Monstres et Merveilles in 2014, the band claimed a radical style: medieval music (flutes, lute, medieval drums) with black metal vocals.
No use of synthesizers nor samples, neither any guitar: modern instruments are all banned. The lyrical theme of Grylle finds inspiration in the current social and political situation to write chronicles of our time through a medieval approach and a satirical point of view.
Following the demo came an album literally making the consensus: Les Grandes Compagnies in 2019. Black metal howled in French, played on lute and drummed with a metal drumkit. After a couple of years working with talented musicians and traditional artists, Grylle finally reveals its long-awaited new album: Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards.
Here on Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacochymes, Covidards, we talk about plague, diseases, and strange afflictions: themes that still nowadays sow panic through their constant walk of death, depicted through the medieval point of view that made Grylle one of a kind. Expect nothing less than black metal as it would have been made in the Middle Ages after the Great Plague fear: brutal, inventive, and without compromise. Nevertheless, elegance and majesty shine on this album, as depicted by the beautiful illumination of the cover created by the medievalist painter Miho Kuroyanagi. The musicians and guests take medieval black metal to the highest level of authenticity and creativity.
Musically, the base is that of a power-trio: fast and bizarre lute melodies by Hyver (Véhémence, Hanternoz), swinging and inventive bass with a ’70s prog approach by KK (Passéisme, Paroxysm Unit), and flamboyant and luxurious drums led by Cadavre (Cantique Lépreux, Mêlée des Aurores, Forteresse live). Above it, some strange and uncommon instruments are psalterions, flutes and pipes, Sarrazin guitar (or citole), and brass sections. And then, harsh vocals as you know Grylle‘s Hyver and La Griesche are capable of, enhanced by rare-but-angelic choirs.
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.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new tracks “Grande Marche des Covidards” and “Mauvais Sang” here:
Aforementioned cover artwork and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Grylle’s Egrotants, Souffreteux, Cacorhymes, Covidards 1. Grande Marche des Covidards 2. Mauvais Sang [3:27] 3. Moribon Flétri d’Orgueil [4:59] 4. Réservement de Confortale Présence [7:00] 5. Le Tropique du Cancer [3:58] 6. Queresle des Diables sur la Savance du Mort [7:16] 7. Le Triomphe de la Mort [6:16]
Today, AOP Records announces November 8th as the international release date for Chaos Invocation‘s highly anticipated fifth album, Wherever We Roam….
The journey of Chaos Invocation started in the fourth year of this millennium. Ever since the beginning, it has been the intention to manifest the members’ beliefs and experiences in Satanic music. As a trident lineup, Chaos Invocation released three full-length records: In Bloodline With The Snake (2009), Black Mirror Hours (2013), and Reaping Season, Bloodshed Beyond (2018). Shortly before the release of the latter, Omega (drums) and Tumulash (bass guitar) joined the founding members A. (guitars) and M. (vocals) and enriched the band with another spearhead. As a four-piece, Chaos Invocation recorded Devil, Stone & Man (2022): a wild, fierce, and challenging ride into the more sepulchral and dangerous realms of the black metal genre and a sonic monument of Satanic worship and sheer metallic fury. Devil, Stone & Man also marked the first collaboration with V. Santura at Woodshed Studio, with whom they also recorded their latest output.
Titled Wherever We Roam…, Chaos Invocation‘s fifth full-length looks to the past to see the trails to blaze ahead. Where Devil, Stone & Man maintained an incredibly direct aspect – arguably, the German’s most straightforwardly aggressive material to date, all grime and gnarl suiting the dark times in which it was birthed – Wherever We Roam… sees Chaos Invocation bringing back their burning-black melodicism, which heightens the authentically second-wave vibes intrinsic to their enduring aesthetic. Still serpentine and sinuous, their songwriting has continued to focus on expressions of a direct nature rather than busy themselves with overbearing complexity. Put another way, the quintet have focused on the more dynamic currents of Reaping Season, Bloodshed Beyond and simply sharpened them to a judicious degree, all given nightsky flight through the crisp & clean production – wholly organic, wholly powerful – as well as the oft-soaring leads.
As such, Wherever We Roam… feels anthemic, boundless, and wholly tailor-made for the stage, where Chaos Invocation have considerable experience; since their first live appearance in 2009, they’ve embarked upon several European tours as well as playing several smaller tours and festivals all over the European continent. “Our journey is far from being over,” state the band, and “we cannot wait to raise our banners at places we have yet not visited.” If there’s a record to slay that way forward, then surely it’s Wherever We Roam…
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Ideal Sodom” here:
Cover artwork, courtesy of Khaos Diktator, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Chaos Invocation’s Wherever We Roam… 1. Wherever We Roam 2. Ideal Sodom 3. Golden Gates And Terrene Light 4. Bridges Aflame 5. No Throne Withstands 6. This World Wants Us Dead 7. Only In Darkness 8. Engravings Of The Quivering Pedestal
Lineup A. – lead guitar, vocals* M. – vocals LS – rhythm guitars RK – bass guitar Omega – drums
*lead vocals on “Ideal Sodom” and “Bridges Aflame,” all clean vocals
