Steve Bruder Des Lichts

PROFANATICA Desecrate the Crucifixion on “The Third Fall”

Profanatica have been wiping their ass with the Holy Scripture since the late ’80s.

Today, the Dark Lords of American Black Metal are releasing the third single off their upcoming new album. Listen to the official audio of “The Third Fall” here:

‘Crux Simplex’ is out on September 22 via Season of Mist. Pre-order the album HERE. Pre-save it HERE.

Here’s what Mayhemic Slaughterer of the Heavens Paul Ledney has to say about Profanatica’s new single: “The 9th station of the cross, Jesus falls for the third time because he was fucking weak. He tried to hasten his steps and now he hardly moves”.

Tracklist:
01. Condemned to Unholy Death (4:38)
02. Take Up the Cross (3:01) [LISTEN]
03. The First Fall (3:24) [LISTEN]
04. Meeting of a Whore (3:02)
05. Compelled by Romans (4:47)
06. Wipe the Fucking Face of Jesus (2:20)
07. The Second Fall (2:40)
08. Cunts of Jerusalem (3:35)
09. The Third Fall (4:18) [LISTEN]
10. Division of Robes (6:51)
Total run-time: 00:36:76

PROFANATICA are at the vanguard of the first wave of American black metal. Founded and led by infamous master of black perversion Paul Ledney (drums/vocals), they have purveyed primeval blasphemy for nigh on thirty-three years.

Ledney formed the band from the ashes of the first INCANTATION lineup when he split and took with him all of the members sans John McEntee. That early trio of ex-INCANTATION members reeled off three ground-breaking demos of some of the most extreme and blasphemic metal of its time in rapid succession. The band flyers that permeated the tape-trading circuit were no less shocking and featured the trio bloody and naked and in the throes of what was most certainly a primeval summoning of some kind. In short order, they had inked a deal with the fledgling Osmose Productions for what became one of that labels first releases (Osmose release #5); a legendary split with Colombia’s MASACRE

Something so volatile could only last briefly, and after another brief recording session the band collapsed under the weight of its own extremity. but the recordings made in this two year window went on to see dozens of reissues in the coming decades, in a testament to how formidable and formative they are to the black metal scene worldwide.

After almost fifteen years spent with his equally polarizing solo project HAVOHEJ, Ledney reignited the flames of Profanatica in 2006. Reemerging with a new deal from Hells Headbangers, Ledney and his new band released ‘The Enemy of Virtue’, a collection of that vaunted early material, and a new full-length, ‘Profanatitas de Domonatia’. A triumphant return, ‘Profanatitas de Domonatia’ picked up right where these Kings of US Black Metal left off, delivering a savage stream of chainsaw guitars and relentless battery upon which they desecrated everything sacred.

This set-in motion another frenetic burst of work for Profanatica. The next decade saw them unleash four new full-length albums of blasphemous perversions, sacrilegious incantations, and furious black metal. In addition, the band issued six mini-albums and EP’s, a full DVD of early footage, and began touring internationally in Europe and in Central and South America. For the first time Profanatica were appearing near or at the top of the bill at festivals like MDF, Messe Des Mortes, Hells Headbash, Prague Death Mass (Czech Republic), Chaos Descends (Germany), Black Sun (Spain), Tyrant Fest (France), SWR Fest (Portugal) and many more.

In fall 2018, Profanatica joined forces with Season of Mist and undertook their biggest tour to date supporting WATAIN and ROTTING CHRIST across Europe. And a year later, the trio vomited forth a most vulgar strain of black metal ejaculate with their SoM debut album ‘Rotting Incarnation of God’.

The band embarked on an extensive twelve-country European headline tour in the album’s wake. Shortly after returning home that winter, the world ground to a halt in 2020. Save a live-streaming concert production for the legendary Rock al Parque in conjunction with BATUSHKA, little was heard from Profanatica.

That is until spring 2023, when Profanatica emerged from their den of iniquity on a European headline tour to promote a new album. ‘Crux Simplex’ is a ten-track offensive of sin and sacrilege, a nasty affront that bastardizes the first 10 stations of the cross. As per their legacy, Profanatica deals in bestial, first-wave black metal barbarity, and their eighth album unveils ungodly levels of bile and blasphemy.

Recorded at: Dead Lamb Studios

Mastered by: Arthur Rizk

Recording lineup
– Mayhemic Slaughter of the Heavens (drums/vocals)
– Destroyer of Holy Hymen (guitar/bass)

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/profanaticausa/
https://profanatica.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6OGNyv8Z63eYqmkN17mpwW

Available formats
Vinyl (Black)
Vinyl (Blue)
CD Digipack
Digital download

Links
http://profanatica.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profanaticausa/
https://profanatica.bandcamp.com/
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/profanatica/303892822
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6OGNyv8Z63eYqmkN17mpwW

For more on Season of Mist, visit our official WEBSITE, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE, and TWITTER

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

In their endless quest to push and support current underground acts that perpetuate the odor of vintage death metal, on October 23rd, Memento Mori is proud to present Martyrdoom’s highly anticipated second album, As Torment Prevails.

Conceived in Warsaw back in 2010, Poland’s Martyrdoom went through some lineup changes until they established a solid formation in 2014, consisting of Sociak (vocals), Marol (guitar), Młynar (guitar / vocals), Artur (bass), and Wasyl (drums). With this lineup, in 2017 did they release their debut album, Grievous Psychosis, through Memento Mori. Blending complex, blastbeat-driven, darkened death metal with slow doom passages, the band drew their main influences from the likes of Obituary, Immolation, Rippikoulu, Autopsy, Demilich, Triptykon, Cannibal Corpse, Incantation, Hooded Menace, Grave, Disma, and Dead Congregation, but they spewed all those influences out with renewed vigor. As far as non-musical inspirations go, their lyrics mostly revolved around old-school horror/gore movies, personal struggles, and the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

Bloodthirsty and dripping with menace, Martyrdoom are armed with a thorough knowledge of ancient death metal – still! – and they return to create something vile and unearthly with second album As Torment Prevails. Though six years might’ve passed between full-lengths, these Poles pick up exactly where they left off: eschewing all trends, trudging defiantly, and blasting their noxious blend of death metal and doom. If anything, As Torment Prevails dives deeper into the ancient past, sounding like a lost relic from 1992, including the striking cover art courtesy of Ryszard Wojtyński. And while doom no doubt forms a foundation for their sound, never do Martyrdoom sound sluggish here; their guitar sound alone is GUTTED, and the doom is definitely all in the feeling, for there’s plenty of off-the-charts energy here no matter what the tempo is. Those especially enamored with the ’90s works of Asphyx and Benediction will find tons to love here As Torment Prevails, as well as the early (and equally essential) records of Sinister and Hypocrisy. Concluding with a cover of Autopsy’s “In the Grip of Winter,” Martyrdoom don’t so much as turn back the clock as CRUSH it!

In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Katatonic Ascension of Cirrhosis” here:

. Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Martyrdoom’s As Torment Prevails
1. Voidcreeper
2. 93
3. Katatonic Ascension of Cirrhosis
4. Purtenance
5. Shedding of the Soul
6. Torment
7. Festering Existence
8. Garden of Flesh
9. In the Grip of Winter [Autopsy cover]

MORE INFO:

www.facebook.com/martyrdoomdeath
martyrdoom.bandcamp.com

www.memento-mori.es

BLUT AUS NORD premiere “Disharmonium – Nahab”

“He seemed to know what was coming – the monstrous burst of Walpurgis-rhythm in whose cosmic timbre would be concentrated all the primal, ultimate space-time seethings which lie behind the massed spheres of matter and sometimes break forth in measured reverberations that penetrate faintly to every layer of entity and give hideous significance throughout the worlds to certain dreaded periods.” (H.P. Lovecraft)

Shortly before the official release date BLUT AUS NORD premiere their nightmarish new album “Disharmonium – Nahab” . Listen here:

BAN‘s “Disharmonium – Nahab” shows an increased presence of deranged vocal mania, the eerie dynamics are vividly accentuated, the band’s unmistakable melodic power amplified and the guitars flow in tandem with splendidly lurching grooves like some Stygian wooze-tsunami.

As Jonathan Rosenthal puts it in Decibel magazine: “The band’s 15th proper album is a discordant, slinking beast, one that presents this long-standing act as the masters of their own style. […] This means a few things: 1) the album is impenetrably thick, 2) the album is impossibly weird, and 3) the album is incredibly singular.“

Originating in 1994 from the ashes of VLAD (who released two demos), BLUT AUS NORD are undisputable French Black Metal pioneers, always managing to progress and move forward, evolving in perpetual mutation, developing their own vision of Black Metal.



The album will be released on CD, vinyl, tape and digital along with merchandising on August 25th. Pre-orders for all items are possible from the label’s EU, US and Bandcamp stores.

Choosing, from the start, the total opposite path of regressive bands (who copy what others have done ten years earlier and ten times better), BLUT AUS NORD eschews all the inherent clichés belonging to the genre. BLUT AUS NORD‘s Black Metal approach is a fist in the face of mainstream mediocrity, becoming more macabre and sinister through a blend of innovative musical research, subliminal mental manipulation, and an incredible haunted, nightmarish feeling based on disharmony.BLUT AUS NORD are creators of a hallucinogenic universe, erasing all preconceived ideas of Black Metal – and extreme music in general. They redefine the rules…

​|| Debemur Morti Productions ||

Website | EU shop | US shopFacebook | Bandcamp | Youtube | Instagram

The Netherlands’ ECOCIDE set release date for new MEMENTO MORI album, reveal first track

In their endless quest to push and support current underground acts that perpetuate the odor of vintage death metal, on October 23rd, Memento Mori is proud to present the long-awaited second album of The Netherlands’ Ecocide, Metamorphosis.

Ecocide was formed in Haarlem by Sten Govers, Bas Gijzen, and Rick Stikkelorum back in 2012, with Dennis Bikker joining in 2014. Their self-titled 2012 demo was basically thrash metal with a pinch of death metal thrown in for good measure and lyrical themes based on H.P. Lovecraft, ’80s horror, and sci-fi movies. Their 2013 debut album, Eye of Wicked Sight, saw the band shift their initial thrash metal sound into old-school death metal, taking the Floridian brand of Death, Obituary, and Massacre, adding some Swedish inspiration in the vein of Entombed, Grave, and Unleashed, pouring some Bolt Thrower heaviness, some Pestilence greatness, and throwing in an additional touch of thrash metal àla Slayer for a real homage to the golden days of yore, when death metal was memorable and riff-oriented to the hilt. The release of the album quickly attracted a bigger, international following, and the band started playing dozens of shows within and around the Netherlands. During these shows, they shared the stage with bands like Malevolent Creation, Sinister, Gorguts, and the legendary Bolt Thrower. After two lineup changes ,the band called it quits in 2015, returning briefly in 2017 to release a single titled “The Godhand,” and then again in 2020 to release another single, titled “Sleeper.” After releasing those two songs, the band remained dormant until 2023, when they announced their comeback and started working for the second album.

Now, at long last is that comeback already ready, fittingly titled Metamorphosis. Indeed, it’s been a full decade since their debut album, but Ecocide prove that LP#2 could’ve followed swiftly after the first: the band stick to their guns, and totally solidify their transformation into old-school death metal par excellence. While thrash riffs still abound, they’re fully integrated into the whole, supporting an unbelievably era-authentic Tampa style that could’ve come out in 1991. Ecocide‘s songwriting has also gotten stronger, shifting speeds with deftness and care, and placing a premium on earth-shuddering breakdowns. There’s always a linear flow to all that they do here on Metamorphosis, even when the riffing gets busier and the rhythms kick into overdrive; for the latter, the kick drums in particular impart that timeless “tornado” effect that made many a Morrisound recording so classic. Similarly, the production across the album is clear, crunchy, and classy, displaying technical finesse whilst keeping just the right amount of grit. And what to say of vocalist/guitarist Govers…well, an exceptionally CLASSIC death metal throat, powerful in his enunciation and creeping you the fuck out!

Completed by Costin Chioreanu’s horrifically abstract cover art, Ecocide make a grand return with Metamorphosis. Let’s hope it’s not another decade for LP#3!

In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “On the Shores of Madness” with a lyric video here:

Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Ecocide (The Netherlands)’s Metamorphosis
1. Prologue
2. Metamorphosis
3. Terminus
4. Corrupted Reality
5. On the Shores of Madness 
6. Vortex Singularity
7. Transcendence of the Mind
8. The Flayed 
9. Amongst the Tombs

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/EcocideMetal
ecocide-osdm.bandcamp.com

www.memento-mori.es

BERGRIZEN set release date for new PURITY THROUGH FIRE album, reveal first track – features members of KRODA+++

Today, Purity Through Fire announces September 22nd as the international release date for a special album from Bergrizen, Orathania, on digipack CD format.

For 15 years now, Bergrizen have been standard-bearers for the new wave of Ukrainian black metal which honors the old. The work of one Myrd’raal, Bergrizen have released five studio albums and even a live album, nearly all of which have been released in some manner by Purity Through Fire.

Now, some six years since that last studio album, Bergrizen prepare a unique full-length as a precursor to their next album. Titled Orathania, the record marks a new approach to creation for the band. Otherworldly to the max, Bergrizen‘s approach here is largely based on alternately stirring/soothing ambient with a touch of dark folk and fierce-yet-fleeting moments of black metal. Almost entirely instrumental with some blackened ululations, Orathania inhabits its own world and wholly transports the listener into this magical realm; it will take you on a journey through picturesque landscapes and ancient spirits, as every song represents the ethnocultural regions of Ukraine – the album title itself, actually, means the poetic name of Ukraine. The music was composed by the band’s drummer, except for some of the tracks that were taken from the archive of traditional Ukrainian music; Myrd’raal together with the guest musicians Olgerd (Kroda) and Ogrim (ex-Bergrizen guitarist, Wolftomb) also contributed to the album’s creation. 

While we wait for the next regular Bergrizen album to be released by Purity Through Fire, it should be noted that Orathania is more than just a stopgap recording: it is dedicated to their motherland Ukraine and the whole Ukrainian nation, which is unprecedently fighting for freedom.

In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Tavria Grace + River Ros’ Rocks” here:

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Bergrizen’s Orathania
1. To the Coasts of Bessarabia
2. River Ros Rocks
3.1. Bukovina Landscapes
3.2. Carpathian Shield of Galicia
3.3. On the Way to Khust
4. Tavria Grace
5. Siveria Magic
6. The Winds of the Mines
7. Khortytsia the Heart of Power
8. Spring in Podil
9. Sloboda Ukraine in Winter
10.Polissya Forests and Volhynia Swamps


MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/true.bergrizen

MALOKARPATAN set release date for new INVICTUS / AJNA album, reveal first track

On October 27th, Invictus Productions and The Ajna Offensive will release Malokarpatan‘s highly anticipated fourth album, Vertumnus Caesar. Invictus will handle the album’s release for Europe while Ajna will handle its release for North America. To coincide with the release of Vertumnus Caesar, Malokarpatan‘s first three albums will be reissued on vinyl.

Formed in Bratislava, Slovakia anno 2014, Malokarpatan builds upon local traditions equally in the musical and thematical field. Continuing where legendary ex-Iron Curtain bands like Master’s Hammer, Tormentor, or Kat have left off and taking influence from macabre cultural history of the Carpathian region, the group has developed its own recognizable sound in a span of three albums released within five years. Live shows across Europe and North America have solidified their underground fanbase, and after a period of line-up changes, they are back, this time in a purely studio form with an ambitious conceptual work titled Vertumnus Caesar. Staying true to their fascination with local heritage, this album expands into the band’s Central European identity. Mapping the mysterious life of Emperor Rudolf II, infamous for his involvement in the esoteric arts, the album is an adventurous ride through the days of late renaissance hermeticism, an occult rock opera dimming the lines between first-wave black metal, classic heavy metal, and progressive rock. 

In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Koár postupuje temnomodrými dálavami na juhozápad” here:

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Malokarpatan’s Vertumnus Caesar

1. Na okraji priepaste otevíra sa hviezdny zámek
(On the Side of the Abyss, the Starry Castle Opens)
2. Kočár postupuje temnomodrými dálavami na juhozápad
(The Carriage Moves Southwest Through the Dark-Blue Distances)
3. Vertumnus Caesar
4. Vovnútri chlácholivého útočišta kunstkamru
(Withinside the Kunstkammer’s Soothing Solace)
5. Panstvo salamandrov jest v kavernách zeme
(The Mansion of Dragons Is in Caverns of the Earth)
6. Maharal a Golem
(The Maharal and the Golem)
7. Mnohoraké útrapy milostpána Kelleyho
(The Manifold Sufferances of Sir Kelley)
8. I hle, tak zachádza imperiálna hviezda
(And Lo, Thus the Imperial Star Descends)

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/malokarpatan

www.invictusproductions.net

www.facebook.com/invictusproductions

www.theajnaoffensive.com

Swedish black metal band MARDUK release Video For “Shovel Beats Sceptre”, Highly Anticipated Album Memento Mori Out September 1st. 

The renowned Swedish black metal band MARDUK is back with a new release entitled Memento Mori. Today, MARDUK release the video for their latest single “Shovel Beats Sceptre”. Watch it here:

As anticipation continues to build for Memento Mori, the PRE-ORDER has begun and the LP is available in the following formats:

  • Ltd. Deluxe Gatefold Ultra Clear-Black Splatter Vinyl With Alternative Cover Artwork (Incl. LP-Booklet, Art-Print & Poster) (Limited to 2,000 copies / All Outlets)
  • Red Gatefold Vinyl (Limited to 300 copies / Available at Century Media Shop)
  • White Gatefold Vinyl (Limited to 500 copies / Available via Century Media Shop)
  • Golden Gatefold Vinyl
    (Limited to 500 copies / Available at Levykauppa ÄX, Bengans, Supreme Chaos)
  • Silver Gatefold Vinyl (Limited to 500 copies / Available at EMP & Nuclear Blast)
  • Black Gatefold Vinyl (All Outlets)
  • CD Mediabook (All Outlets)

Commenting on the album, MARDUK frontman Daniel Rostén shares:
“Memento Mori is, all at once, a bold leap forward, a calculated sidestep, and a wistful backward glance. Meaning, we have broken new ground without forgetting our legacy or the journey that brought us to this point.” 

Since their inception in the early ’90s, MARDUK has become one of the most influential and revered bands in the black metal genre. With a discography that spans over three decades, the band has consistently delivered uncompromising and aggressive music that resonates with metal fans worldwide. Memento Mori promises to be another groundbreaking chapter in their storied career, cementing their status as true legends of the genre.
 
MARDUK is:
Daniel Rostén (Vocals) 
Morgan Hakansson (Guitar) 
Devo Andersson (Bass) 
Simon Schilling (Drums) 

MARDUK online:
www.MARDUK.nu 
www.instagram.com/MARDUKofficial 
www.facebook.com/MARDUKofficial

HAGATIZ set release date for AMOR FATI debut, reveal first track – features members of DAUÞUZ, HÄXENZIJRKELL, ABYTHIC, HAIMAD+++

Today, Amor Fati Productions announces October 11th as the international release date for Hagatiz‘s striking debut album, Cursed to the Night, on CD and vinyl LP ​formats.

Hailing from Germany, Hagatiz are a new formation of old souls: Dauþuz‘s Semgoroth, Häxenzijrkell‘s MK, and the ever-profilic Odium Aeternum (Abythic, Haimad, Lunar Chalice, Mysteria Mystica Aeterna et. al.). Together, these scene veterans reveal Cursed to the Night, Hagatiz‘s first public recording. 

Fully formed, as to be expected from such a stellar lineup, Hagatiz‘s debut album comprises pure, uncompromising BLACK METAL steeped in the ancients: no more, but definitely no less. The point is not to “be” anything other than authentically old-school black metal in the best ’90s tradition, from Scandinavia and across to Germania and even on to the Eastern Bloc. Raw without being ineffectual, dark and haunting yet brimming with just enough melody, Cursed to the Night is a work of total passion and spirit; that Hagatiz make it seem so effortless is perhaps unsurprising, but it’s remarkable nevertheless. There is no “thinking” involved in this experience, only feeling – and such was the way it was as the ’90s drew to a close and pure hearts heeded the call to head deeper underground. It’s not inaccurate to say that Hagatiz could’ve been released ​on such era-embodying vanguards as Sombre, Drakkar, or Solistitium, so authentic is this essence and atmosphere…but again, ​only FEELING Cursed to the Night is real.

In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Demimonde” here:

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Hagatiz’s Cursed to the Night
1. The Gathering
2. Demimonde
3. Echoes from the Afterlife
4. Everlast in darkest Night
5. Scourge beneath the Skin
6. Drown in Darkness
7. Necrovoid

www.amor-fati-productions.de 
www.amorfatiproductions.bandcamp.com

HJEMSØKT set release date for PURITY THROUGH FIRE debut mini-album, reveal first track – features SOLUS GRIEF, KVAD, UNHOLY CRAFT members+++

Today, Purity Through Fire announces September 22nd as the international release date for Hjemsøkt‘s striking debut mini-album, Mystikk & Mørke, on CD format. The 12″ vinyl LP will follow on October 27th.

Yet another creation of restless madman Peregrinus – lately, under the banner of Purity Through Fire, releasing records from his bands Solus Grief, Unholy Craft, and Kvad, but joined here by vocalist/lyricist Letaliis – Hjemsøkt is unapologetically the duo’s homage to early Nordic black metal, particularly the pagan-oriented iteration of it. From the earliest (and iciest) blasts from the likes of Enslaved, Ulver, Hades, Perished, Helheim, Taake, and even Satyricon, these descendants of Odin railed against modernity and, instead of waging war for Satan, sought to revive ancient energies through a solemnly melodic & mesmerizing style of black metal. The second wave still courses through the veins of Peregrinus and Letaliis, same as it always has since their introduction in the very early ’90s, and suitably with lyrics in their native tongue, Hjemsøkt slot authentically alongside the aforementioned cults, making Mystikk & Mørke not so much a nostalgic spin as a reinvigoration of an aura & atmosphere too long dormant. This is exclusively Æterisk Misantropisk Sort Metal! 

In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Dans i den visnende skogen” here:

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Hjemsøkt’s Mystikk & Mørke
1. Steinens Mørke Søvn
2. Dans i den visnende skogen
3. Sorgens hymne
4. Kongen Begravd i Fjellet
5. Jord røtter blod
6. Nattestormer

More info Click Here

TSJUDER releases track ‘Helvegr’ with music video!

Black Metal legends TSJUDER are favouring us with something special today. The band is releasing a music video for their track ‘Helvegr’, a song taken from their newest full length “Helvegr”, which was released worldwide on June 23, 2023 via Season of Mist.

The recording of this video took place in Hallingdal (NO) on January 2021, during the full moon and it gives a fitting representation of the darkest nights of hellish Norway. The meaning of Helvegr is often depicted as a journey or a road that the souls of the deceased would take after death.

Shop for “Helvegr” are available HERE, while the album can be downloaded HERE. (Some vinyl’s are already sold out)

The cover artwork for “Helvegr” can be viewed together with the track-list and further album details below.

Artwork: Jonas Svensson and Laura Nardelli
Track-list:
1. Iron Beast (3:37) [WATCH HERE]
2. Prestehammeren (4:01) [WATCH HERE]
3. Surtr (6:59)
4. Gamle-Erik (3:46)
5. Chaos Fiend (4:02)
6. Gods of Black Blood (5:19) [WATCH HERE]
7. Helvegr (7:36) [WATCH HERE]
8. Faenskap og Død (3:08)
9. Hvit Død (2:52)

Since their inception in 1993, Oslo’s TSJUDER have been responsible for some of the most hate-filled ferocity perpetrated under the banner of TRUE NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL.
 
The band’s unholy fire was initially lit when founding members NAG (vocals/bass), BERSERK (guitar) and DRAUGLUIN (guitar) grew weary of playing death metal and sought out engorged levels of extremity to sate their increasingly profane ambitions. The time was ripe to inaugurate a ceaseless campaign committed to an uncompromising strain of brutally raw black metal, influenced by the primal thrash blasts of Sodom, Kreator, Destruction, Sarcófago and early Sepultura; black metal first wave trailblazers such as Bathory and Hellhammer; and, most vitally, Mayhem’s seminal Deathcrush, and Darkthrone’s game-changer, A Blaze in the Northern Sky.

Assuming the TSJUDER name, a moniker plundered from a mythical, murderous Northern tribe, various embryonic line-ups gathered around the all-conquering core of Nag and Draugluin, laying the fearsome foundations for what was to follow with two demos – Ved Ferdens Ende and Possessed – recorded between 1995-96. But it was with 1997’s EP, Throne of the Goat, that the black metal underground really began to sit up and take notice, the release establishing TSJUDER’s reputation as a blasphemous bulldozer hellbent on crushing the insipid and nostalgic in relentless blizzards of sub-zero riffage, punitive blast beats and blood-curdling screams.

Recordings for an inaugural full-length in 1999 were lost to a computer virus, but from the scavenged remnants of these sessions would emerge the Atum Nocturnem demo, an obnoxious foretaste of the group’s debut album, Kill For Satan, an international breakthrough slathered in slime-encrusted sacrilege. That damnable release saw the aptly-named ANTI-CHRISTIAN open his TSJUDER account, the drummer blasting a succession of gateways though the underworld, pulverising a punitive march to the band’s malevolent maelstroms

Demonic Possession (2002) and Desert Northern Hell (2004) sustained the band’s focus on death, devils and destruction, while ratcheting up the production levels on a barbaric brace of flesh-strippers conjuring a landscape of frost-bitten wastes and foul abyssal realms. With the music press busy dishing out plaudits, the band’s burgeoning confederacy of fanatics were becoming desperate for some TSJUDER live action. Heeding the clarion, the band embarked on a full European tour with fellow countrymen Carpathian Forest. They also recorded a pair of gloriously powerful live performances in 2005, in Norway, which would subsequently be documented on the group’s Norwegian Apocalypse DVD.

TSJUDER would take a deserved hiatus in 2006, with members finding other musical outlets for their creativity; Nag launching heretical black metal outfit KRYPT; Draugluin and Anti-Christian doing time with the thrashier TYRANN

But it wouldn’t be long before the irresistible call of TSJUDER would exert itself once more. The band reconvened, reenergised and eager to make up for lost time, returning to live performances in 2010 before finally unleashing the mighty Legion Helvete (2011), a typically uncompromising comeback interspersed with pronounced Motörhead influences on punkish hyper-blasters such as ‘Slakt’.
It would be another four years before TSJUDER issued the merciless Antiliv (2015), a snarling lycanthropic howl of a record, heavy-loaded with vindictive black’n’roll swagger and lashings of buzzsaw guitar.   
 
TSJUDER quickly set about creating the follow-up to Antiliv, but musical differences and protracted disputes led to a parting of the ways, with Anti-Christian bowing out after an impressive 20-year tenure with the group. Undaunted, Nag and Draughluin enlisted doyen tub-thumper JON RICE to provide the requisite drum artillery and continued to work on new recordings – fine-tuning guitar tones and sharpening mixes.

Then COVID-19 struck, the pandemic further stymieing the album’s release as the world tumbled from its fragile axis. But humanity is now benignly settling into its most chronic phase of perpetual abnormality and TSJUDER are steeled again to hoist their inverted cross above the barricades of conciliation. Their latest opus, Helvegr, is a devastatingly savage offering, one which fully adheres to the band’s eternal credo of “NO FUCKING COMPROMISE”.     
Recording Line-up:
Nag – Bass & Vocals
Draugluin – Guitars & Vocals
Jon Rice – Drums

Guest musicians:
Guitar solo on ‘Gamle Erik’ by Pål Emanuelsen
Guest vocals on ‘Gods of Black Blood’ by Seidemann (1349)

After the departure of Anti-Christian, Jon Rice and Eivin Brye has shared the drum duties on TSJUDER ‘s live performances.

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/tsjuderofficial
https://www.instagram.com/officialtsjuder

Mixing + Mastering: North Waves Studios by Pål Emanuelsen
Artwork: Jonas Svensson and Laura Nardelli

TSJUDER live
19 Aug 2023 Midgardsblot (NO) 2023

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