On December 21st, 2023 internationally, Purity ThroughFire is proud to present Úlfarr‘s highly anticipated debut album, Orlegsceaft, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Since 2011, Úlfarr have stood for uncompromising, antisocial UK black metal – or, under their own banner of Cumbrian Black Metal. Helmed by Dominus, AKA Hrafn – who counts the equally prolific Thy Dying Light amongst his activities, as well as fellow labelmates Nefarious Dusk and Morte Lune – Úlfarr released a handful of demos, a couple splits, and most uniquely, a couple live albums before their debut mini-album, Hate & Terror – The Rise of Pure Evil, in 2019 and then another mini-album, The Ruins of Human Failure, two years later. Most recently, they released a split album with fellow UK horde Malfeitor. Across these caustic recordings, Úlfarr stoked the fires of old – namely, classic Craft, Darkthrone, Mayhem, One Head One Tail, and Death Cult.
Now Úlfarr return with a revamped lineup and a revamped sound on their long-awaited debut album, Orlegsceaft. Joining Dominus here are erstwhile Exvoidxist / Forvitnast vocalist Játvarðr, Helvellyn‘s Burns on bass, and Malfeitor maiman Nosdrahcir on drums. As no doubt forecasted by its title, Orlegsceaft is written almost entirely in Old English, and most suitably do Úlfarr shift gears toward a grim & ancient style of black metal. Whereas their sound of yore spit forth a hateful primitivism both punkish and headbanging, this older & bolder Úlfarr take that hate toward more desolate and hypnotic ends; atmosphere is heightened, ghoulish and GRIM in aspect. In effect, Orlegsceaft undeniably sounds OLD(e), like a long-lost recording from 1995 given undead life through ghostly means. It’s still recognizably Úlfarr, but their attack cruises more cooly here and the vocals of Játvarðr raise the hackles with full-throated terror. And fucking RIFFS forever!
Against the modern world, more than ever, Úlfarr take UKBM back to the dark ages with Orlegsceaft.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “…Hie Dygel Lond” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Úlfarr’s Orlegsceaft 1. Orlegsceaft 2. …Hie Dygel Lond 3. Wælgæst wæfre 4. Reordberend 5. Trollblót 6. Ic maþelode min anda to þone win… 7. Volkfire 8. Nocturnal Pantheon
Today, Québécois black metallers Sombre Héritage stream the entirety of their highly anticipated second album, Inter Duo Mundi. Set for international release on November 23rd via Sepulchral Productions, hear Sombre Héritage‘s Inter Duo Mundi in its entirety here:
Three years after a debut album that drew a lot of attention, Sombre Héritage strikes hard with its sophomore album, which sees its mastermind Exu propel his epic black metal towards new heights. Inter Duo Mundi offers a relentless barrage of incisive and melodic riffs, each one more memorable that the last, complemented by an ice-cold yet powerful production. A must for fans of melodic black metal!
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Sombre Héritage’s Inter Duo Mundi. 1. Inter Duo Mundi – Initium 2. Alces Alces 3. Chasse Éperdue 4. Délire Onirique 5. Enchevêtré 6. Tiraillé 7. Insolence 8. Inter Duo Mundi – Exitus
There’s black metal & there’s death metal. Then, you have NECROWRETCH – a band combining the best of both worlds into music made straight from the depths of hell. Having set their pace with releases such as ‘Satanic Slavery’ & ‘The Ones From Hell’, NECROWRETCH is back and ready to open a new chapter of fiery blast beats and twisted guitar riffs.
Today, the band announces the release of their 5th full-length album ‘Swords of Dajjal’ with a new single. Continuing on their exploratory journey of satanism & anti-theistic imagery, this new album serves as a musical manifestation of the anti-Christ itself.
The new single “Numidian Knowledge” is a tumultuous fusion of double bass frantically delivered by N. Destroyer, extreme guitar riffs laid bare by W. Cadaver & shrieking vocal lines performed by Vlad.
“Wisdom lies below the great Imedjasen… It is told that one who breaks the seal shall be blessed with infinite fortune… But his self will be condemned to an endless suffering”
1. Ksar Al-Kufar (4:22) 2. The Fifth Door (5:30) 3. Dii Mauri (5:07) 4. Swords of Dajjal (4:56) 5. Numidian Knowledge (4:12) 6. Vae Victis (4:18) 7. Daeva (2:49) 8. Total Obliteration (6:13)
Total:37:27
Now entering their fifteenth year as a band, France’s NECROWRETCH are about to open the most ambitious chapter of their career with Swords Of Dajjal, their three-years-in-the-making fifth album.
Initially the sole work of multi-instrument and vision leader Vlad, the band was originally for better and for worse lumped in the ‘old school death metal revival’ of the early 10’s. Yet while their debut Putrid Death Sorcery did bear indeed all the usual suspects of said genre, it nevertheless already had that extra, raw-as-fuck and just plain vicious element that really set them apart from the rest of the pack. Conforming to the norm was never in question and instead of selling out or trying to slow things down, as true misfits as they are, the went the exact opposite direction, first with 2015’s With Serpents Scourge, only to be vigorously confirmed by its furious follow-up, and first for Season Of Mist, 2017’s Satanic Slavery. To the point where once the touring cycle was over for the latter, Vlad himself felt he had explored this direction as far as he could have and that changes were on the horizon.
“On Satanic Slavery we on purpose took things as far as we could as our goal was to deliver the most bestial album possible. But once we achieved that goal, I knew we had to take a slightly different if still as uncompromised direction.” Incidentally, that’s when Wenceslas Carrieu from CADAVERIC FUMES entered the picture, first as a momentary live session on bass. But when second stringer Kev Desecrator vowed to amicably part way with the band to focus on DESTRÖYER 666, he switched to six-strings and proved to be the valuable songwriting partner Vlad had been looking for since the departure of the band original bass player Amphycion in 2015. “He immediately came up with lots of ideas and thanks to him, we now have a whole new dynamic: a bit like Sepultura had back in the days in between Max Cavalera and Andreas Kisser, with me focusing now on my vocals and playing rhythm guitars while Wenceslas takes care of all the solos, the starting riffs and the off-the-map bits.
With their fourth album, and first with Wencelas, The Ones From Hell was only one month old, NECROWRETCH was about to tour Europe with both KAMPFAR and TAAKE for three weeks. A tour bus was booked, the set was well-rehearsed, everything was ready and then… disaster struck. “Six days before we were due to play our first show, the whole thing was cancelled. Then COVID hit us and the world was basically shut down. We were numb for a couple of days but soon realized that the best way to bounce back was to move forward so we instantly started working on new songs.” The result is Swords Of Dajjal by far, their biggest, boldest and most ambitious production ever.
“We spent no less than three years working on the songs, demoeing them and finetuning the details and rehearsing them as a three-piece and six weeks in the studio with Francis Caste (HANGMAN’S CHAIR, REGARDE LES HOMMES TOMBER, SVART CROWN etc.). Prior to that, we used to be a pure product of the underground, with albums done in just a couple of days whom were never 100% satisfied with in the end as we had to rush everything. We’re still very underground, mind you. But this time around, we knew we had to give it all, no matter what. So we started by changing our gear, our sound and our tuning. And once we entered the studio, we for instance spent a whole day just testing different amps just to get the right sound and crunch we were looking for. I even took some singing lessons to gain more depth and power. In a way, it almost feels like a whole new band.”
The whole record was written on purpose mostly on acoustic twelve-string guitars (“the idea was that if it sounds good and catchy that way, it’d be even better with distortion”) and as a three-piece, “something we hadn’t done in a long time” with their new drummer Nicolas Ferrero, not exactly a newcomer as he’s been playing on and off live with them since 2018. The result is, according to Vlad, “our most black metal record, with splashes of death metal here and there. Whereas on the previous album all tempos were pushed to the extreme, there’s far more variety here to be found. It also gave us free reins to reach a more mystical, Biblical if you will vibe” fed by his experience living in Turkey in the late 10’s. “We choose to focus on the Dajjal character, basically the antichrist in the Muslim religion. The Coran says that he’ll appear as a false prophet only to bring doom to this world, with an army of demons coming from the east.” Represented on the cover of the album with his double edged sword and bathed in the same kind of reddish and orangey mesmerizing lights one can experience when the sun sets on wind-beaten deserts, all eight songs on the album are prophecies, past and future, where Dajjal plays the leading role.
Now completed on bass by R. Cadaver (former CADAVERIC FUMES vocalist) who officially joined once the recording was done after playing as a live session member for the last two years, and armed with their biggest, most complex and intense album of their career, NECROWRETCH are about to yield their sword of destruction and exterminate everything in sight.
Lineup Vlad – Vocals, Guitars W. Cadaver – Lead Guitars R. Cadaver (Live) – Bass N. Destroyer – Drums
Today, Danish black metallers Sort Sind stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, I Skyggen af Livet. Set for international release on November 24th via Nuclear WinterRecords on CD format – the vinyl LP version will be co-released with Desiccated Productions – hear Sort Sind‘s I Skyggen af Livet in its entirety here:
Denmark’s Sort Sind were born out of the ashes of sulfuric might in 2020, into a darkness of corrosion of the mind, with the members currently hailing from the likes of Ascendency, Had, Sulphurous, and Taphos (and formerly of Phrenelith). Soon, the duo released a two-song demo, portending grave deeds on the horizon…
At least, that horizon looms with I Skyggen af Livet, Sort Sind‘s debut full-length. A new dark chapter, the album consists of eight songs in a swift 32 minutes. Sort Sind‘s surging & slipstreaming attack is far more epic than those compact runtimes suggest; with shadows swirling through the maze of their twisted minds, the duo construct muscular, deathened black metal that reminds of the late ’90s vanguard whilst emitting a freshness of approach. Put another way, I Skyggen af Livet has few modern analogues: Sort Sind are their own entity of vengeful, grim misery. No matter what genre boundaries one places around it, the duo’s debut album unshackles itself and takes the listener on a journey downward through the spiral of madness, revealing new layers of dementia the more that listener submits to their coming of chaos. Classic black/death songcraft, then, but suffused with restless, red-eyed energy – I Skyggen af Livet is only the beginning of Sort Sind. This is black metal darkness!
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Sort Sind’s I Skyggen af Livet 1. Morke 2. Fortærer 3. Foragt 4. Hævntorst 5. Tomhed 6. Skygge 7. Sortsyn 8. Dysterhed
Today, Purity ThroughFire announces December 21st as the international release date for Atronos‘ second album, Erwachen, on CD, A5 digipack, and vinyl LP formats.
It was but the autumn of last year when Atronos released their celebrated debut album, Fehde, through the stronghold of Purity ThroughFire. Despite the seeming newness of the band, Atronos felt like old souls, and for good reason: mainman Henker is a prolific underground veteran whose current bands include labelmates Ad Mortem as well as Drudensang and Blodskut. Joining him was erstwhile Mavorim / Eisenkult vocalist Baptist, and together they made Fehde an utterly invigorating attack of folkish black metal fury. Earworming to the Nth degree, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more powerful and professional iteration of modern roots-oriented German black metal than Atronos‘ debut album.
Keeping their swords aloft, Atronos return to the fray with an even-more-massive second album. Aptly titled Erwachen, Atronos‘ second full-length is an expansive, skyscraping clarion call to all pagan souls. Not for nothing is the final track titled “Transformation,” for while the trio (Eisenkult drummer Valfor has joined the lineup) retain the melancholic / heroic melodicism of Fehde, Erwachen embarks upon an altogether-more-epic journey into classic ’90s-rooted pagan black metal. Thus do such touchstones as Windir, Thyrfing, and Norway’s Hades get integrated into Atronos‘ staunchly Teutonic foundation, but spit back out as a literally MASSIVE landscape of triumph and tragedy, endless forests and even-more-endless dreams. The layering of synth choirs is especially key here; with the more measured gait Atronos move at on Erwachen, so do the fog-thick swells of sound take their time to absorb the listener into their forgotten realms. As such, it’s not surprising that the album comprises five songs in 41 minutes: the ideal makeup for maximum immersion. But lest one think that the trio are totally committed to taking their (epic) time, Henker and crew can still rabble-rouse with the best of their German brethren – but the final destination here is the throne of the old gods rather than the beer hall. Witness the glorious splendor of Atronos‘ Erwachen!
Awaken with the brand-new track “Was uns so schrecklich hasst” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Atronos’ Erwachen 1. Was uns so schrecklich hasst [6:36] 2. Alles geht dahin [5:51] 3. Tobsucht [8:01] 4. Erwache [11:02] 5. Transformation [8:47]
Today, Purity ThroughFire announces December 23rd as the international release date for the highly anticipated eighth album of Greece’s Sad, Black Metal Craft, on CD, A5 digipack, and vinyl LP formats.
Since 2005, Greece’s Sad have been a madly prolific bastion of pure ‘n’ cold black metal. Their canon is vast and varied – VERY relatively so, given that this is all-caps BLACK METAL after all – with the longstanding duo of instrumentalist Ungod and vocalist Nadir exploring the darkest corridors of their souls every step of the way. They’ve did so across a half-dozen albums for such esteemed labels as Drakkar, Obscure Abhorrence, and Old Temple among others as well as a dozen splits, but then joined forces with Purity ThroughFire in 2020 for the release of their seventh album, Misty Breath of Ancient Forests.
Indeed, that album was aptly titled, for it saw Sad delivering their most ancient work in many moons. But the Greek duo are ever surprising, and nearly four years later do they emerge from the shadows with the fully-fuck-off Black Metal Craft. It’s no accident that the album is titled such, as it reasserts the purity at the very heart of the Sad aesthetic and strips it to the fucking bone with ghoulish violence. Raw and rippling, here Sad somehow inject the melancholic melodicism of its Misty predecessor and then stir the maelstrom to a swirling boil, remaining hypnotic and locked-in whilst managing to gallop forth from time to time in a manner most regal. Put another way, Black Metal Craft could serve as a love letter to the late ’90s heyday of Sombre Records or the aforementioned Drakkar, so old & cold its aesthetic (and, again, unapologetic its title). Purity ThroughFire is thus the most fitting stronghold for Sad‘s eternal black metal craft!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new title track “Black Metal Craft” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Sad (Greece)’s Black Metal Craft 1. Black Metal Craft 2. Crimson Haze 3. Believe In Evil 4. Catacombs Of Thoughts 5. Sickening Euphoria 6. The Fortune Teller 7. Blissful Horizon 8. Winds of Grief
Today, Swedish black metallers Hinsides premiere the new track “Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang”. The track is the third to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second album, Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang, set for international release on December 15th via Shadow Records (distributed & marketed by Regain Records). Hear Hinsides‘ title track “Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang” in its entirety here:
Released during the summer of 2021, Hinsides‘ Under Betlehems brinnande stjärna debut LP was a firestorm of freezing filth. Undeniably necrotic as per the earliest birth-pangs of Scandinavian black metal, peer within that piercing sound and you will have found a wealth of fascinating and fearless twists to ancient black metal tropes. Here, Hinsides revealed themselves to be more melodic and magisterial than they hinted at on their earlier split with comrades Monstraat, but nevertheless kept the attack fucking FERAL and utterly unreal in sum effect. Perhaps all this was unsurprising given that the band is the sole work of M.A. from the esteemed Ultra Silvam…but either way, a new (and harrowing) horde worth reckoning had arrived with acidic aplomb.
Now Hinsides return with an even-stronger (and -stranger) work in Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang. The band’s second full-length titularly translates to “From beyond the ancient chime of the devil bell is heard,” and a more apt approximation of Hinsides‘ ever-expanding sound cannot be found. Joined by Ultra Silvam drummer L.A., M.A. brings back the church bells of the preceding album and goes gonzo with them; at nearly every (crooked) turn, there tolls a bell of doom, summoning dread powers from that Beyond. More concretely, those sinuous peals of eeriness provide complementary / contrapuntal color to Hinsides‘ most rippling ‘n’ roiling black metal yet. But heed the METAL aspect of “black metal” here: the duo devilishly construct dark headbangers that soon whip forth into a state of possession, with starkly melodic leads flying fast and free, altogether creating a (dark, devilish) narrative flow that’s exceptionally unique for something so necro. Underlining that Devil’s Heavy Metal aspect of Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang is the guest appearance of Jonas Hansson from olde-worlde hard rockers Silver Mountain, dropping a solo into “I nekromisantropisk harmoni.” Bringing that aspect to a boil is the cover of the Plasmastics’ “The Damned,” which Hinsides malevolently make their own (and which can only be found on physical copies of the album).
The bells of doom toll even louder with the splendor of archaic witchcraft and devil worship: Hinsides‘ Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang concludes the year with frightening finality!
Also hear the previously revealed tracks “Djävulshymn” and “I nekromisantropisk harmoni” HERE at Regain Records‘ Bandcamp, where the album can be preordered. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Hinsides (Sweden)’s Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang 1. Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang 2. För dödens storhet 3. Djävulshymn 4. I nekromisantropisk harmoni 5. 666 stötar mot himmelens port 6. En stympad människa 7. The Damned (Plasmatics cover) !!ONLY ON PHYSICAL COPIES!!
Today, New England black metallers Ritual Clearing stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Penitence. Set for international release on November 17th via Eternal Death, hear Ritual Clearing’s Penitence in its entirety here:
Ritual Clearing have returned, building off of the cold depravity of their 2020 demo and now unleashing their debut full-length effort, Penitence. Continuing their unholy alliance with Eternal Death, this new record showcases six epic tracks of dark, brooding black metal. The band’s noble influences they displayed across that well-received first demo – Bathory, Sacramentum, and Lord Belial – have been built upon and refined here, revealing riff labyrinths not unlike the cult ’90s work of Sorhin but further fleshed out by bouts of nearly hardcore-punk mania and especially a raw hideousness not unlike their American brethren in the Black Twilight Circle. Still, Ritual Clearing and clearly their own masters, and the alternately linear / darting depths of Penitence open wide to devour the listener in hypnotic, harrowing splendor. Still as melodic-yet-cutting as ever, it’s not surprising that the album was written during the grim landscape of the global plague; there’s an undeniable sense of dread across Penitence, laced with a resigned melancholia (sickly) colored by opportunely timed acoustics. Fucking RIFFS for days, Ritual Clearing provide this offering as the overture to a sick and dying world.
Preorder info can befound HERE at Eternal Death‘s Bandcamp. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
On November 17th internationally, EAL Productions will release the highly anticipated third album of Portugal’s Angrenost, Magna Lua Ordem Mística.
Emerging from northern Portugal in the formative years of the second wave of black metal, Angrenost has been defined not by output but by its unorthodox evolution. With roots planted by Pursan and A. Ara, the project has been a vessel for exploring the evil within man, free from the constraints of the prevailing scene or current trends.
The reunion of Pursan with A. Ara, alongside Erdsaf and M. Skúlason, has yielded Angrenost’s most mature and inspired offering to date: Magna Lua Ordem Mística (“The Mystical Order of the Great Moon”). A work full of bygone tradition, elevated by a mastery of sound, as well as words and spirit that make it shine with a distinct light.
The album invites listeners to walk a contemplative path across the ephemeral nature of existence. It is a narrative of humanity’s voyage from the still waters of the immaterial plane into the mortal sphere of chaos and corruption – a world where the celestial bond fractures and the soul of Man encounters raw embodiments of the diabolical.
Magna Lua Ordem Mística stands at the crossroads of tradition and modernity, blending esoteric lore with the intricacies of composition. It represents a sincere and powerful display of everything that makes black metal an obscure and sinister art form.
Full stream to be revealed the day of release. Cover and tracklisting is as follows:
Tracklisting for Angrenost’s Magna Lua Ordem Mística 1. Interlúnio: O Arco escuro e a Seta de prata 2. Côncava: Fornalha lunar… os abismos da Manifestação 3. Crescente: No fio de lua, o Enforcado 4. Corcunda: Da prata gibosa, a foice do Mago 5. Água Real: Na ampulheta o Diabo, enxofre por firmamento 6. Disseminadora: Caverna solar… os breus da Contemplação 7. Minguante: No coração de pedra, a fortaleza do Ermita 8. Balsâmica: Nos fumos esquecimento, dédalos de enxofre
Today, American black metallers Azathoth’s Dream premiere the new track “The Moor”. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Nocturnal Vampyric Bewitchment, set for international release on December 8th via Iron Bonehead Productions on vinyl LP format. Hear Azathoth’s Dream‘s “The Moor” in its entirety here:
Azathoth’s Dream are a brand-new entity hailing from the United States. On one hand, the one-man band’s sound is undeniably late ’90s French vintage, maintaining a similarly necrotic-yet-aristocratic mysticism not unlike Osculum Infame, Bekhira, Winter Funeral, and very early Seth. On the other, one could liken Azathoth’s Dream to the uprising of raw vampiric black metal in the U.S., spearheaded by Sanguine Relic, Vampirska, early Lamp of Murmuur, and Geist of Ouachita among others. Either way, one listen to the aptly titled Nocturnal Vampyric Bewitchment and one will be indeed bewitched by the band’s melancholic-yet-feral spell…or duly repulsed by it. There’s no other way; just like those stratifying days of the 1990s, you either understand this as BLACK METAL – and stand with it – or you stand against it. It matters not to Azathoth’s Dream: the empty castle’s drawbridge is down, and one need only enter if the spirits are willing.
Hear the previously revealed “A Millennia Perished” HERE at Iron Bonehead‘s Soundcloud. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Azathoth’s Dream’s Nocturnal Vampyric Bewitchment A1 Malignant Faith A2 Instatiable Sanguine Thirst A3 The Grave A4 The Moor A5 Extinguish the Light B1 Ritual Exsanguination B2 A Millennia Perished B3 Winter Dawn B4 Phantasm
