Today, Purity ThroughFire announces October 27th as the international release date for Iku-Turso‘s highly anticipated new mini-album, Ikuinen Kirous, on CD and A5 digipak formats. The 12″ vinyl LP version will follow later in 2023.
Forming in 2017 and soon releasing their debut album, The Great Tower, that same year, Iku-Turso have quietly become a force in the ever-fertile Finnish black metal scene (vocalist Lafawijn hails from the Netherlands). The band includes members with a vast array of underground experience, spanning all sorts of extreme metal styles, and a couple of members currently retain membership in labelmates Order of Nosferat. As such, Iku-Turso‘s sound is far from strict “Finnish black metal” that’s come to be the definition the past couple of decades. Rather, the band cast their gaze back to the cold, dark days of mid ’90s Scandinavia, and render it with a (darkly) dramatic flair.
And so it comes to its fullest fruition with Ikuinen Kirous, Iku-Turso‘s latest offering and first for Purity ThroughFire. Like a long-lost relic on Wounded Love or Samoth’s Nocturnal Art Productions, Ikuinen Kirous reaps a windswept drama both mystically sensual and scabrously alien. Continuing to maximize the addition of keyboardist F.Nightside (as well as his occasional clean vocals), Iku-Turso blanket their dungeonic surge with an aristocratic air that’s somewhere between funeral fog and orchestral bombast, never quite going into full-on sympho-BM mode nor necessarily shying away from its most plausible elements. Above all, the bands songwriting stays within the epic-yet-linear, building upon themes in the olde way whilst never forgetting that it’s black METAL – riffs, riffs, RIFFS. And then, 37 minutes later and Ikuinen Kirous has come to completion, feeling far vaster than that compact runtime (but one ideal for full vinyl immersion). Iku-Turso are coming to a church near you!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Adinkra” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Iku-Turso’s Ikuinen Kirous 1. Nkotimsefuopua 2. Ebenezer 3. Adinkra 4. Een Zucht Van Verdriet 5. Gauss 6. Noirthoren 7. Thornspawn Chalice
Today, Eternal Death announces November 24th as the international release date for One Master‘s highly anticipated fifth album, The Names of Power, on CD, cassette tape, and limited-to-100 double-vinyl boxset.
After six long years of lycanthropic reclusion, One Master are ready to unveil a new full-length recording: The Names of Power. Taking its title from the ancient occult idea that if one learns the true name of a deity, access to its power can be obtained, the theme of the album is on the power of language, with each song being focused on its use in a different context: religion, heresy, a cult, solitude, the universe, and modernity.
Comprising six songs over 55 minutes of music, The Names of Power is the long-running band’s first double LP. Active on the recording front since 2002, One Master here keep to their well-worn path of traditional black metal, but more so make the album their diverse release to date, incorporating more mid-tempo sections, atmospheric dirges, and even some acoustic guitar. It’s both unmistakably One Master yet surprising all the same – and no compromise either way.
The Names of Power is also the band’s first full-length with their “Mark IV” lineup, with band founder Valder on guitar and vocals, long-running member Black Wolf on guitar and bass (who writes and plays all of the leads and solos), and the first full length with Eponymous on drums. Although he joined after the album was recorded, new bass player Grave Dog (having been long affiliated with the band, providing artwork since Reclusive Blasphemy) is part of the band’s lineup moving forward. This being the band’s first recording at Sonic Environments with Jeff Weed (with mastering still provided by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studios), the album’s production allows the band to shine more than any prior record. “Crystal clear and bloody raw” is perhaps a close approximation of that production.
To mark this momentous occasion, the release of The Names of Power is set to coincide with One Master‘s second performance at the esteemed Messe des Morts festival in Montreal, with a full East Coast / Midwest tour currently being organized by Ripping Headaches for Spring 2024. Long the embodiment of New England black metal, One Master have returned to resume their throne.
Hear for yourself with the brand-new track “The Forbidden Names” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for One Master’s The Names of Power 1. The First Names [7:52] 2. The Forbidden Names [6:29] 3. The Secret Names [10:36] 4. The Solitary Names [6:42] 5. The Celestial Names [8:20] 6. The Final Names [14:33]
HEILUNG will be bringing their oracular ceremony to the AFAS Live venue. Having released their critically acclaimed third album ‘Drif’ in August of 2022, the collective will make their mystical appearance in Amsterdam for the first time ever on the 21st of September 2024.
Tickets will be on sale from Wednesday, September 27 @ 10:00 A.M. CEST, and can be found HERE.
The band will be playing songs from their entire discography, including ‘Drif’, which came out last fall. The album is available on vinyl, CD, cassette and as a digital download through the Season of Mist store.
Since its inception in 2015, the enigmatic ritual collective HEILUNG has been paving melodic paths to the past with their unique and mystifying sound. Evading all conventional genre tags and the confines of any specific labels, the group aptly self-describes their sound as “amplified history,” emphasizing their ability to connect modern society with the rudiments of humanity’s beginnings through music. HEILUNG once again journeys back in time with its new chapter, ‘Drif;’ however, unlike previous offerings that centered around prehistoric northern Europe, album number three will explore other great rudimentary civilizations outside of Europe.
“All the songs on ‘Drif’ have their own stories,” adds HEILUNG throat singer and one of the band’s three composers, Kai Uwe Faust. Each has its place and sense of belonging, with inspiration not only from Northern Europe, but from the ancient great civilizations,” explains the band. “We took the ancient surrounding advanced civilizations in account, because our ancestral Nordic civilizations did not just pop up, exist and disappear in isolation. Already in the Bronze Age, we found silk on German land that was imported already from the far, far East 3000 years ago. From the Viking age, we found beads that were brought there from present-day Syria high up in the Northern mountains.
“Centrally important concepts, still in extensive use today, like the number Zero and all the mathematical universes deriving from it, the use of iron and the general concept of settling all originate from traditional high civilizations outside the north and still fundamentally changing our ancestor’s world.
“With singing these primordial songs we want to give tribute to these cultures, reconnect to the beginnings and remember that we all, from East to West, from past to present, are connected through the exchange of ideas and inspiring each other.” Meaning “gathering,” ‘Drif’ serves as more than merely a gateway that bridges history with modern day society, but is also a statement of the strength in unity and togetherness, which will come as no surprise to those who have experienced HEILUNG’s live ritual, in which every ceremony starts with a reminder that “we are all brothers.” “‘Drif’ means ‘gathering,’’ explains HEILUNG. “A throng of people, a horde, a crowd, a pack. In symbiosis with the album title, ‘Drif’ consists of a flock, a collection, a gathering, a collage of songs, that much like little flames were seeking towards each other, to join, to bond, to create, and be greater together.”
While HEILUNG features authentic and archaic instrumentation that ranges from rattles and ritual bells to human bones and throat singing, their captivating brand of music is far from primitive. Producer and founding member Christopher Juul implements subtle electronic elements that elevates the musical atmosphere and provides a more in-depth and layered soundscape.
“This album has very clearly dictated its own path. Our attempts to tame it were repeatedly fruitless, and once we came to this realization, the creative flow surged forward with immense force. So much so that sometimes it felt like the songs wrote themselves,” the band adds.
HEILUNG’s success has been unprecedented, achieving milestones in its few short years of existence that many do not see in a lifetime. The collective already had rapidly been growing a buzz upon the self-release of their first full-length, ‘Ofnir,’ in 2015, but their dizzying upward trajectory really took off from the moment they set foot on the stage at Castlefest in 2017 for the now-legendary debut of their live ritual. Luckily for those who were not fortunate enough to bare witness to this magical event, the full ceremony was captured on film, having since been viewed by tens of millions of fans across the globe.
As HEILUNG trekked across Europe and brought their mystifying experience to new audiences, talk of this new band and their stunning ceremony made way to Season of Mist label owner Michael Berberian, who quickly offered the band a record contract after seeing their undeniable musical impact for himself.
By 2019, HEILUNG launched their second full-length record, ‘Futha,’ which contrasted the masculine and battle-heavy themes of their debut with a feminine counterpart that celebrated fertility and female energy. Upon the first week of the record’s release, it graced the Billboard charts with coveted numbers, debuting at #3 on the Heatseekers Charts and #4 on the Billboard World Music Chart, placing on a total of seven Billboard charts while meeting critical-acclaim from the press on a global scale. Having already made its way around Europe, HEILUNG announced its first ever North American tour for the start of 2020, which sold out entirely within 72 hours of ticket on-sale. The band later returned to the United States and performed their live ritual for a sold out audience of 10,000 people at the historic Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver, CO (USA), further solidifying their early legacy status.
By this time, the band’s music started to appear in places outside the confines of music venues, videos, and vinyl. From hit television series like ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Vikings’ to video game giants like ‘Conqueror’s Blade VII: “Wolves of Ragnarök’ and ‘Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II’ to the blockbuster Robert Eggers film ‘The Northman,’ HEILUNG’s music has risen far above the underground and has transcended into a greater world. Even a global pandemic couldn’t slow down HEILUNG’s success; it only strengthened them and gave them the gift of time to complete work on album number three, ‘Drif.’
According to Greek philosopher Pythagoras, three is a divine number, signifying harmony, wisdom, and understanding. He also believed it to be the number of time – past, present, future; birth, life, death; beginning, middle, end. Purposefully or not, ‘Drif’ embodies this philosophy, putting forth a divine work of art that ties together the beginning of civilization with the modern world today. Make no mistake, HEILUNG still does not represent any modern political or religious ideology, but rather delivers a humbling reminder of where we came from. “Remember, we are all brothers. All people, beasts, tree and stone and wind, we all descend from the one great being that was always there, before people lived and named it, before the first seed sprouted.”
Lineup: Kai Uwe Faust Christopher Juul Maria Franz
Today, Blood Harvest Records announces November 24th as the international release date for Valdrin‘s highly anticipated fourth album, Throne of the Lunar Soul, on CD, double-LP vinyl, and cassette tape formats.
No longer one of the metal underground’s best-kept secrets, Valdrin began picking up momentum with the 2018 Blood Harvest release of their second album, Two Carrion Talismans – epic, shapeshifting blackened death that was both timeless and fresh – and then eclipsed that achievement two years later with third album Effigy of Nightmares, also released by Blood Harvest, whereby the band dove deeply into the bluish purple depths of ’90s melodic black metal. To hear comparisons to Vinterland, Sacramentum, and Sweden’s Dawn wasn’t mere hyperbole; it was assertive truth, as commanding as Valdrin‘s songwriting mastery. Which is to say nothing of the band’s ongoing Ausadjur Mythos, a fantastical tale begun with their Beyond the Forest debut album and which forms the lyrical basis of all since.
Now, continuing that tale is Valdrin‘s most epic record yet: Throne of the Lunar Soul. At 11 songs in 74 minutes, LP#4 is truly a “double album” in the old-school sense – no fat or extraneous wank, only labyrinthine songs threaded together in a manner most suiting to their Ausadjur Mythos. As founding vocalist/guitarist Carter Hicks explains, “Centuries after the cataclysmic events of Beyond the Forest, Valdrin returns to his homeland, Ausadjur, in a distant realm at the center of the multiverse. There, he awaits judgment for failing in his mission to quell an insurrection of evil in the Orcus underworld, which festered beneath the forlorn planet Earth. However, a strange aura of celebration permeates the air of Ausadjur upon the return of Valdrin and his newly recruited horde, and all does not seem well in the celestial kingdom of balance.”
Suitably, Valdrin here nod to various points of their now-rich past while also pointing the way forward for ever-effervescent splendors that seem so authentically encased in 1997 that they sound impossibly fresher than anything around, “thawed” some 25 years later. With increased emphasis on dynamics as well as dramatic acoustic breaks & embellishments, the quartet leave no stone unturned in their arsenal, but each “stone” is crucial in its placement and serves a vivid purpose, such as the sometimes-subtle/sometimes-overt touch of mystical synth. Of course, Valdrin can still race and rage with the best of any black and/or death metal band past or present, but even when the slipstreaming spires of sound threaten to become dizzying, the narrative of Throne of the Lunar Soul becomes that much deeper and more intense: not every story has a clear path, nor does it stay at the same pitch and meter. But rarely do stories ever get this grandiose and engaging. Valdrin possess some strange (or at least elusive) magick, and in Throne of the Lunar Soul have they delivered a modern CLASSIC.
Hear for yourself with the brand-new track “Seven Swords (in the Arsenal of Steel)” here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Valdrin’s Throne of the Lunar Soul 1. Neverafter 2. Golden Walls of Ausadjur 3. Seven Swords (In the Arsenal of Steel) 4. Paladins of Ausadjur 5. Sojourner Wolf 6. The Hierophant 7. Vagrant in the Chamber of Night 8. Holy Matricide 9. Throne of the Lunar Soul 10. Two Carrion Talismans 11. Hymn to the Convergence
Today, Amor Fati Productions announces November 24th as the international release date for the striking debut album of Belgium’s Herzog, Furnace, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Herzog is a new black metal entity hailing from Belgium, formed by Asgeir Amort years ago but never brought to life. A distilled version of their black art, working with shapes that should not go together, but they do so through a craftsmanship worth a thousand working devotees.
Taken under the wing of producer & madman Déhà and accompanied by drummer Hochofen, Herzog offer a unique form of black metal which cannot be compared to anything or anyone in the scene. “Complex, but transcendent” might be scratching the surface of Asgeir Amort’s craft: flawless riffing, possessed drumming, and unworldly screams which will take you on a dark journey through the mind of the creator.
Black metal being the foremost main weapon of the band, Herzog doesn’t shy away from the darkest of death metal sometimes, or even pushes you to a corner to make all your inner emotions implode. A debut album shattering a lot of veterans: this is Furnace.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Haunted Tesseract” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Herzog (Belgium)’s Furnace 1. Loss of Utopia 2. Acheminement 3. Melted Tesseract 4. Oath of Weakness 5. The Craftsmen 6. All Rites 7. Oath of I 8. Oath of Us
Today, Eternal Death announces November 17th as the international release date for Ritual Clearing‘s highly anticipated debut album, Penitence, on vinyl LP format.
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.
Hear for yourself with the brand-new track “Burn” here:
Profanatica hate God. The American black metal band have spit on everything holy since they were playing the backroom of Chinese restaurants alongside Gorophobia, Immolation and Incantation.
Led by drummer Paul Ledney, these heretics have wiped their ass with the Bible for 30+ years. They’ve hurled everything from profanities to their own feces at the heavenly host (not to mention other, more nefarious bodily fluids).
This Friday, Profanatica are releasing their new album ‘Crux Simplex’. As you can see from the cover art, it’s so blasphemous, that you just might lose your head.
Listen below where Pronatica is streaming all of ‘Crux Simplex’ a few days ahead of its release.
‘Crux Simplex’ is vile even by Profanatica’s lofty standards. The album takes things another step too far by mocking Jesus on the day of his crucifixion (talk about kicking someone when they’re down). Each song bastardizes a different station of the cross. “Take Up the Cross” ushers in a fresh plague of stain and sacrilege with Ledney’s rotten death growl, while “The First Fall” gives our precious lord and savior a good lashing with cymbals that clank like rusty chains. By the time “The First Fall” comes around, you can practically hear those blackened chainsaw guitars ripping the king of kings limb from limb.
“These 10 tracks represent the first 10 stations of the cross,” says Mayhemic Slaughterer of the Heavens Paul Ledney. “It took well over a year to create, and for all those who know us we consider it our gift to you.”
‘Crux Simplex’ is out on this Friday, September 22 via Season of Mist. Pre-save the album HERE. Pre-order it HERE.
This summer, Profanatica celebrated the coming of ‘Crux Simplex’ with their first-ever full-length tour of the U.S.
Watch their hateful headlining set at Indianapolis’ Heavy Hell IV Festival.
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)
Touring lineup – Mayhemic Slaughter of the Heavens (drums/vocals) – Destroyer of Holy Hymen (guitar) – The True Perversion of the Heavenly Father (bass)
Album artwork: Abomination Hammer
Available formats Vinyl (Black) Vinyl (Blue) CD Digipack Digital download
On November 17th internationally, Personal Records is proud to present Cruel Fate‘s highly anticipated second album, Destin Cruel, on CD format.
Conjured in 2015 in the frozen landscapes of Canada, Cruel Fate released their first demo soon after their inception, followed by a full-length in 2019 (A Quaternary of Decrepit Night Mares), a split album in 2021 with fellow Canuck death-dealers Expunged, and the Live Necropsy live tape in 2022. As impious apostles of the old vanguard, Cruel Fate worships at the altar of ’90s greats such as Unleashed, Grave, Benediction, and Bolt Thrower, while lacing the chalice’s blood with their own blend of ferocious, stomping death metal.
Now wielding the French language as a bludgeoning battle axe, Cruel Fate unleashes their second full-length, Destin Cruel. Cleanly produced yet cold & crushing, Cruel Fate‘s sophomore album is a tour de force of classic death metal songcraft, comprising rolling-tank grooves, judiciously parceled bouts of speed, slipstreaming breakdowns, and a haunting lead or five. Nothing fancy or flashy, nor does it need to be: simply, Destin Cruel quickly makes its point in a half-hour and gets out, devastating the listener in the process. This release is sure to tighten the quartet’s steel grip on the throat of maniacs worldwide.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new title track “Destin Cruel”
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Cruel Fate’s Destin Cruel
1. Triomphe de la Mort 2. Vampire Boréal 3. Destin Cruel 4. Transit Sidéral 5. Descente aux Enfers 6. Feu Christique 7. L’Usurpateur
After releasing the ambient Timewave Zero record last year to critical acclaim, the cosmic death metal outfit returns with Luminescent Bridge, a 12” maxi single that features a brutal and epic metal track on Side A and an ethereal, cosmic instrumental composition on Side B, with a total running time of nearly 20 minutes.
Tracklisting: Side A – ‘Obliquity of the Ecliptic’ (08:55) Side B – ‘Luminescent Bridge’ (09:39)
Both tracks were recorded at Rocky Mountain Recorders Studio (Denver, Colorado) with Chris McNaughton and mixed as well as mastered by Arthur Rizk (Kreator, Cavalera Conspiracy, Power Trip). The cover artwork was made by Steve R. Dodd.
‘Luminescent Bridge’ (12” maxi single) is out today worldwide and comes in the following format variants:
BLACK 12” MAXI SINGLE (AVAILABLE AT ALL OUTLETS)
TRANSP. LIGHT BLUE 12” MAXI SINGLE (LIMITED TO 500 | AVAILABLE AT UPCOMING NORTH AMERICAN TOUR WITH CANNIBAL CORPSE/MAYHEM/GORGUTS)
The band is also proud to share the official music video for “Obliquity of the Ecliptic” (Side A) today!
The video was filmed by Mirko Witzki (www.witzki.vision) at legendary Meistersaal at Hansa Studios (Berlin) and completed with visual effects by Miles Skarin (Crystal Spotlight / www.crystalspotlight.com) who is already familiar with Blood Incantation’s video for ‘Inner Paths (to Outer Space)’.
BLOOD INCANTATION ill also bring their cosmic fused death metal to North America in September and October along with metal legends CANNIBAL CORPSE, MAYHEM, and GORGUTS!
Today, Teutonic black metallers Hagatiz premiere the new track “Drown in Darkness” . The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Cursed to the Night, set for international release on October 11th via Amor Fati Productions. Hear Hagatiz‘s “Drown in Darkness” here:
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.
Also hear the previously revealed “Demimonde” HERE at Amor Fati‘s official YouTube channel. 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
