DESTROYER 666 won’t slow down. K.K. and his band of black thrash bullies rose out of Australia back in the early ’90s with the triumphant, blistering speed of a phoenix. Despite several lineup changes, they’ve been hammering out lean, mean blackened thrash metal ever since.Their last album came out just at the end of 2022 and it served as yet another ass-kicking reminder that these burly Aussies will never surrender to anyone’s bullshit.
This year, DESTROYER 666 have been celebrating their upcoming 30th anniversary by bulking up their already impressive body of work. On June 23, the band are re-issuing their very first demo, which you can get your hands on at the Season of Mist store HERE.
But before that happens, today, DESTROYER 666 are announcing another new release. ‘To The Devil His Due’ compiles four long out-of-print 7″ EPs that originally came out between 1998 and 2010. This compilation only hint at the venom that would come at the hands of these bare-knuckle brawlers. But songs like “Satanic Speed Metal” and the spirited “Ghost Dance” already burn with maximum fury.
‘To the Devil His Due’ is out on August 25, 2023 via Season of Mist. Pre-order the compilation HERE.
Tracklist: 01: Satanic Speed Metal (03:50) 02: The Sirens Call (03:56) 03: King of Kings (4:00) 04: Lord of the Wild (05:43) 05: Ghost Dance (4:09) 06: Taste The Poison (03:01) 07: Levens Bloed (02:26) 08: Through the Broken Pentagram (04:47) 09: See You in Hell (04:14) Total Running Time: 00:34:46
DESTRÖYER 666 continue to do what they are best at: kicking ass and hammering out heavy metal that is slamming straight into the face. No compromise, no sell out, no bullshit!DESTRÖYER 666 don’t do whiny nostalgia but simply stick to their old school roots, which are reaching straight down into the golden age of metal while allowing themselves to sound fresh and remain relevant. The band originally started out as a solo project of BESTIAL WARLUST guitarist KK in Australia in 1994. As early as with debut album ‘Unchain the Wolves’ (1997), fast-tracked towards international acclaim.
The even stronger second full-length, ‘Phoenix Rising’ (2000) had the Australians relocating to Europe to be able to satisfy the soaring demand for touring and festival shows. After a round of line-up changes, third full length ‘Cold Steel… For an Iron Age’ (2002) cemented the band’s excellent reputation
After a hiatus caused among other issues by disenchantment with the business, DESTRÖYER 666 returned with ‘Defiance’ in 2009 and followed up on this success with the rough and gritty ‘Wildfire’ (2016) seven years later that saw them touring and performing at all the relevant metal festivals worldwide on a regular basis again. The Australians filled the gap between the latest albums with the hard-hitting EP, ‘Call of the Wild’ (2018) that comes with a distinct taste of an unrepentant classic flavour.
The outlaws from down under deliver another pummeling and relentless lesson in aggression with full length number 6(66). ‘Never Surrender’ is a furious assault of black thrash, chainsaw riffs, and warlike drums, offering no moment of reprisal as it rages on for 40 unyielding minutes.
HEILUNG are bringing their acclaimed live performance to 10 U.S. cities this fall.
The tour will commence in Greensboro, NC, on 17 October. The pounding, rhythmic, Nordic collective will perform the final night of their spellbinding ritual on 5 November in Denver, Colorado.
HEILUNG have a tradition of donating one dollar for each ticket sold to planting trees. The proceeds from this tour will also support reforestation efforts. More details coming soon.
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
TOUR DATES 10/17: Greensboro, NC @ Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts [TICKETS] 10/19: Baltimore, MD @ Hippodrome Theatre [TICKETS] 10/21: Columbia, SC @ Township Auditorium [TICKETS] 10/23: Clearwater, FL @ Ruth Eckerd Hall [TICKETS] 10/25: Huntsville, AL @ VBC Mark C. Smith Concert Hall [TICKETS] 10/27: New Orleans, LA @ Saenger Theatre [TICKETS] 10/30: Austin, TX @ ACL Live at The Moody Theater [TICKETS] 11/01: St. Louis, MO @ The Factory [TICKETS] 11/03: Kansas City, MO @ The Midland Theatre [TICKETS] 11/05: Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom [TICKETS]
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
On July 14th internationally, Ophidian Sun is proud to reissue the three cult-classic albums of Blodulv – 2003’s Blodulv, 2004’s II, and 2005’s III – Burial – in remastered form on CD and vinyl LP formats. Titled the “Black Diamond Remasters Series,” this will be the first time each of these three albums will be available in nearly two decades.
Blodulv hail from an era of black metal physically and spiritually long ago. Their country of origin was Sweden and their first public recording – the Kristkrossare demo, on a then-young Total Holocaust Records – came in 2003, but their psychic center could’ve been the late ’90s or even earlier, when black metal still posed a threat to normcore metallers and was otherwise verboten to all but the most depraved. Put another way, “you had to work for it” back then, as the maxim goes, and here did Blodulv reside in a gutter of sound and thought. Their actual lifespan was incredibly brief – conservatively, they existed between 2002 and 2005 – but their body of work was incredibly prolific. Driven by drugs and madness, the duo of Grendel and Orcus burned brightly until that black flame consumed them entirely. And then they were gone, leaving behind a singular discography and shadowy apocrypha about their extracurricular deeds. Truly “Bad Music for Bad People,” to paraphrase the Cramps, but more importantly BY Bad People…a feat far too rare these days, which is all the more opportune that Blodulv‘s central trio of albums is exhumed for a new generation of black metallers seeking true danger and taboo.
Originally released in August 2003 on CD only, Blodulv‘s self-titled debut album introduced the Swedes with utmost crudeness and rudeness. Immediately, the quickly-characteristic Blodulv aesthetic is established: hypnotic riffing teetering between triumph and tragedy, inhumanly howled/hissed vocals, everything coated in a strange sort of “clear static,” and the guiding lifelessness of their undisguised drum-machine, here charmingly monikered “the one and only Sir Electro.” On paper, these foundational stones may seem underwhelming or at least par for the black-metal-underground course, but in execution, there was little to nothing like Blodulv back then. Even for ears well attuned to that underground, from the most minimalist Ildjarn recording to contemporaneously-young Bone Awl, Blodulv‘s cooly cruising attack was exceptionally alien.
The Devil was truly in the details here. “Street black metal” before there ever was a thing, Blodulv reveled in its staunchly Spartan contours: the songwriting moved at a sprightly pace, whether it was polka-fast or stomping-slow, either way excising any sort of aggression for something dead in its energy; the component riffs were few, but expertly threaded together in a weirdly hummable manner; even drowning in said static, the vocals were articulated to the extent that key phrases could blanch even the hardiest listener; and the secret star of the show, Sir Electro made drum-machines cool for the first time since the classic Greek recordings at Storm Studio. Dingey and dungeonic, absurdly simple but sinfully sublime, Blodulv‘s first full-length party-crashed a black metal underground that was soon about to have a second renaissance.
At the time of its release – November 2005, this time through the short-lived Eerie Art Records – Blodulv‘s III – Burial didn’t necessarily signal an end for the band. The year prior to that third album, the Swedes had released a steady stream of EPs and splits, as well as the Diatribe EP (through the always-cult Forgotten Wisdom Productions) earlier in 2005. But, with hindsight, the appellation Burial should’ve said everything: this was the end of Blodulv. In most perverse fashion, they finally revealed photos of themselves in the liner, including vocalist Morn (longtime lyricist Aeifur was never revealed). Three photos of three official members…third album. The tombstone was there.
But what a way to end such a beautifully belligerent career! III opens (and closes) with a barrage of noise, suggestive of Morn’s successive work in Deadwood, Keplers Odd, and Culted; he would be the only member of the band to (publicly) continue musically. From there, the K-hole opens wider and devours the listener whole, revealing something that splits the difference between Blodulv‘s two albums – the cooly cruising attack of I, the hypnotic near-Oi of II – but brings forth an intensification of both poles. “Street black metal” to the very end, again before there was ever a thing, Blodulv upped the hooliganism here, incorporating both more thug-life stomp and running-from-the-law speed to the unsettlingly metronomic pulse. One need only listen to the arrogant-and-proud stride of “Imperium Sanctum (Bleeding Mercury)” to understand the fertile fields of filth that the trio were beginning to trample…if only one was unaware that this was also the end. Nevertheless, at 47 minutes, III – Burial marked the album as Blodulv‘s longest recording: their epitaph written in the boldest and most brazen strokes, the coffin lid closed with deafening punctuation.
All out of print since the mid-2000s, the trilogy of Blodulv, II, and III – Burial will now be reissued on both CD and vinyl as part of Ophidian Sun‘s campaign to bring the noble Blodulv catalog to a new generation starved for authentic mystery & mysticism in black metal. Each of the band’s three albums will feature remastered sound courtesy of Temple of Disharmony – bringing Blodulv‘s necrotic & narcotic sound to 3D “unlife,” as it were – and new layout inspired by the old. This is the sound of glorious times! Preorder info can be found HERE.
Today, Chaos Records announces August 11th as the international release date for Cystic‘s highly anticipated debut album, Palace of Shadows, on CD format.
Formed in 2018, Seattle’s Cystic have remained an underground fixture in the contemporary death metal scene. In only a five-year span, the band have produced a great deal – from their debut demo, The Last Days, in 2018 to two EPs, Sworn Enemy of Life and Incineration Rites, in 2020 as well as tours and festival appearances. Now in 2023, the band is set to release their first full-length, Palace of Shadows.
For those who’ve been following Cystic so far, Palace of Shadows unmistakably sounds like the same band, but there’s a distinct evolution in their songwriting and style here. Effortlessly and unselfconsciously, Cystic stay true to their punk roots and retain their characteristic murkiness, but wade deeper into the murk of Palace of Shadows and one will hear clear and palpable growth from their no-less-considerable past. The album comprises nine songs in 36 minutes and actually feels far vaster than that, largely in part to its fully cohesive concept. But even so, Cystic keep proceedings urgent, displaying energy even when these songs start feeling “epic.” Likewise, their melodicism has taken on a darker and more emotional edge, supported by nuanced rhythms and flowing grooves, altogether combining for a battering (and mildly blackened) death metal assault that feels classic and fresh in equal measure. To celebrate the release of Palace of Shadows, Cystic will perform at this year’s Killtown Deathfest in Copenhagen in September.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Core of the Maelstrom” here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Cystic’s Palace of Shadows
1. Vista 2. Pestilential Throne 3. Palace of Shadows and Blood 4. Duly Drowned 5. Stygian Deeps 6. XIII (A Reprise in Blood) 7. Core of the Maelstrom 9. Afterglow 8. Nebulous Legion (of the Sombre Sea)
JOHNNY THE BOY are now streaming their debut album ahead of the release date! All eight tracks can be listened to here:
‘You’ will be released on June 9, 2023 via Season of Mist.
Personal note from JOHNNY THE BOY: “We are Johnny The Boy. Here’s our debut album “YOU”. No fancy trickery or bluff was used on making this album. It features Neanderthal riffs and Necro vocals. We play music we wanna play and sing about stuff we need to say.”
Formed by current and former members of CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX, JOHNNY THE BOY have emerged with a vile yet heartfelt spike of black metal. ‘You’ opens with “Die Already”, a gloomy surge of industrial rock that’s pierced by the pissed-off shrieks of Belinda Kordic.
‘You’ 1. Die Already (05:12) 2. Grime (04:10) 3. He Moves (04:44) 4. Endlessly Senseless (06:13) [WATCH HERE] 5. Crossings (08:05) [WATCH HERE] 6. Druh (02:52) [WATCH HERE] 7. Wired (02:47) 8. Without You (07:16)
Born from a simple idea, and eventually coalescing over the last couple of years into a fully-formed entity, JOHNNY THE BOY make music that fucking hurts. Armed with a scabrous but sculpted blend of ice-cold black metal, excoriating sludge and sinewy, white-knuckle rock’n’roll, the trio’s musical identity has arrived, perfectly imperfect and ready to eviscerate. Formed around a creative core of vocalist Belinda Kordic, guitarist Justin Greaves (both members of Crippled Black Phoenix) and bassist Matt Crawford (CBP alumnus and live bassist), JOHNNY THE BOY began life as an instinctive grab for something darker and nastier.
“It began at a rehearsal with Crippled Black Phoenix many, many years ago,” says Greaves. “We were rehearsing down at Arthur’s, where CBP used to practice, and it was during one of those rehearsals that I just got on the guitar, someone else got on the drums and we were just fart-arsing about, with Belinda doing her necro vocals! Then we posted a little clip online and people starting asking, ‘Oh, is this legit?’ Like always, it took fucking years to even think about doing anything, but it was always going to happen.”
“In the background, there’s the fact that in the first band I was ever in, I sang that way,” adds Kordic. “I really missed doing that. We both missed that whole Iron Monkey, Varukers, aggressive side of music. That’s the first way of singing that I loved, and I’ve missed doing it. So we always wanted to do this.”
Brought together by a love of dark, twisted and extreme music and energized by an opportunity to return to the full-bore hostilities of their earlier creative years, JOHNNY THE BOY‘s debut album ‘You’ is the final proof that the best ideas cannot be stopped. A collaborative effort that brought the evil best out of everyone involved, it’s an album that has been stewed in real blood, sweat and tears. But mainly sweat.
Recording Studio: Chapel Studios, Lincolnshire UK, Kapsylen Studio, Stockholm Sweden Mixing: Kurt Ballou @ GodCity Studio, Salem MA. USA. Mastering: Magnus Lindberg – Magnus Lindberg Productions, Stockholm, Sweden.
US black metal band UADA dropa brand new lyric video for “Retraversing the Void”, the first track from the upcoming fourth album. Watch it here:
Ever since the cloaked Pacific Northwest band appeared on the music radar, UADA has always been electrified by both polar worlds. Their echelon was stark and meaningful. Within the stretch of 3 albums as well as dense and triumphant live shows across the globe, they have not only spiked the map of extreme metal music, but their unrelenting touring schedule an unbridled will to push forward into new horizons has also earned them a reception in all the extremes imaginable, be it worship or spite.
5 sonic vessels form the nucleus of ‘Crepuscule Natura’, and within it`s 41 minutes, the record easily creates a sonic and aesthetic bridge between the band`s debut, ‘Devoid of Light’ (2016), and their sophomore effort ‘Cult of a Dying Sun’ (2018), only to forge onward upon the relentless path set forth with ‘Djinn’ (2020). Here, a more refined and muscular, yet no less melodic stronghold awaits. On ‘Crepuscule Natura’, UADA provides all their emorable hooks, tasteful leads, and riding blasts in their distinct style, balancing their epic surging melodies with powerful spurts of aggression. Just like the band’s smoke-heavy shows, the momentum and emphasis of their craft always stays grandiose, mythical, and triumphant – all the while making sure to birth a couple of new fan favorites and soon-to-be staple live songs.
‘Crepuscule Natura’, once again graced by the artwork of legendary Kris Verwimp and photography by Peter Beste, shows UADA on fire to unleash the marrow of black heavy metal.
Tracklisting: 01. The Abyss Gazing Back (07’50) 02. Crepuscule Natura (06’38) 03. The Dark (Winter) (07’31) 04. Retraversing the Void (07’44) 05. Through the Wax and Through the Wane (12’03)
Today, AOP Records announces August 18th as the international release date for the highly anticipated second album of Germany’s The Circle, Of Awakening, on CD and vinyl LP formats. To coincide with the announcement, the first single “Ashes and Fading Tides” is revealed here:
Risen from the ruins, created by the fierce tides, The Circle hail you to the realm of the blackened sun with the upcoming full-length concept album entitled Of Awakening. With their second creation, the three-piece – founded in 2021, based around vocalist Asim Searah (ex-Wintersun) – takes you on a voyage through the facets of egoism, devastation, self-hatred, and reflection and the results of destructive behavior that lead to a higher level of self-actualization.
Emphasized by a blend of aggression and disharmony, yet captivating the listener in a sorrowful and haunting atmosphere, the five compositions of Of Awakening take the audience into a sound of ambient black/doom metal combined with progressive and symphonic elements which The Circle describes as “Art Metal.” The highest aim of this album is to open up the uncovered horizons of personal philosophy and launch a cathartic process in the inner self of every listener.
Cover artwork, courtesy of Awinita Alm, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for The Circle (Germany)’s Of Awakening 1. Ruins, My Dying World [8:26] 2. Of Awakening [6:11] 3. Afflux [4:01] 4. Reign of the Black Sun [9:08] 5. Ashes and Fading Tides [5:32]
Today, Norwegian black metallers Ekrom stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Uten Nådigst Formildelse. Set for international release on June 6th via Edged Circle Productions, hear Ekrom‘s Uten Nådigst Formildelse in its entirety here:
A new formation hailing from darkest, coldest Norway, Ekrom sound exceptionally ancient, brimming with a fire that stoked (and literally burned) the country during the early ’90s. Perhaps not surprisingly, the band is the work of two old souls: drummer Thomas Ødegaard (AKA Tex Terror, longtime drummer/vocalist of Nocturnal Breed) and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Kharon, an early member of Norway’s Covenant, during that band’s earliest (and best) days. Ekrom made their public debut in November 2022 with the EP The Black Flames of Seth – initially digital-only, but then finding super-limited tape release in March of this year. At nearly 15 minutes, the EP swiftly made its point: the past was alive, and from the cinders stirred another new fire…
Now it’s reached a conflagration with Ekrom‘s full-length debut, Uten Nådigst Formildelse. Wasting no time with an intro, the album kicks in – HARD – with a spiraling & suffocating spire of absolutely classic Nordic ice. Shards of stained-glass synth soon enter the picture and make Ekrom‘s cryogenics even more haunting and expansive, with the production itself – crisp, clear, and somehow dense simultaneously, most importantly emitting an air of mystery and mysticism such as it was during the darkest 1990s – almost working as another instrument. That the duo have these sounds dialed in is one (exceptional) thing; that they wield those sonics in service of imaginative, immersive songwriting is another. Indeed, Uten Nådigst Formildelse is a transportive experience, much like those ancient Norwegian tomes here, severing the listener from reality and opening the portals to the beyond and dream-worlds yet contemplated: life-giving and -damning in equal measure, a manifestation of eldritch energies most potent. Or, fancy words aside, Ekrom‘s debut album is a fucking great BLACK METAL record rendered with time-honored elements.
While there’s currently no shortage of bands/records offering classic/”classic” ’90s-style black metal, it’s invigorating – and, above all, authentic – to find it coming from those who were there from the beginning. Ekrom have both arrived and awoken with Uten Nådigst Formildelse.
Preorder info can be found HERE at Edged Circle‘s Bandcamp. Cover artwork, courtesy of Heidi Irene Kainulainen, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Ekrom’s Uten Nådigst Formildelse 1. Bell Witch 2. The Black Flame Of Seth 3. The Black Hearted Ragana 4. Abyss Of Eternity 5. Misanthropy Void 6. I Djevelens Skygge 7. My End 8. When I Enter The World Of Unknown
Today, Blooddawn Productions (distributed & marketed by Regain Records) announces July 31st as the international release date for the long-awaited new recording from Sweden’s Vargr, FTW, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Hailing from Sweden, Vargr is the work of Henrik Nordvargr Björkk, largely known for the legendary MZ.412 but also counting Pouppée Fabrikk and the selfsame Nordvargr among his many musical endeavors. Under the moniker Vargr, he creates a maddening meld of dark industrial and blacknoise – sometimes leaning toward one end of the spectrum over the other, and sometimes overloading frequencies into one frightening onslaught of sound.
It’s been over a decade since Vargr had a new studio recording – since 2010, in fact – and now he returns with the full-length FTW. Aptly titled, FTW indeed fucks the world with brittle shards of black metal bent in obscene ways, as a slaughterhouse of strange sounds rolls on underneath, the conveyor belt moving ominously, fatally forward. Much like the infamous Abruptum, there’s no middle ground here: you either willingly submit or run far way. No escape…no hope.
Featuring cover artwork by the enigmatic Wagner Ödegård, Vargr‘s FTW now sees worldwide release at the hands of a capable label. No ripoffs…no light.
In the meantime, stream the entirety of FTW here:
Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Today, Helter Skelter Productions (distributed & marketed by Regain Records) announces July 31st as the international release date for Old Ghoul’s striking debut EP, self-titled Old Ghoul, on 12” vinyl format.
Old Ghoul is the new work of the insanely prolific Chad Davis, most renowned for the legendary Hour of 13. And much like that widely celebrated doom vehicle, his new Old Ghoul sticks to a dark, doomed-out route that’s as haunting as it is heavy. With a mere three songs in 15 minutes, the band’s self-titled debut EP gets in and gets out, doing its job of spooking the fuck outta you and letting the mystery linger after the record’s over…which isn’t long, as these three bangers swagger with a slo-burn intensity that just begs for repeat spins! And much like more recent Hour of 13 material, Old Ghoul definitely bears a distinct deathrock touch along with the tried-and-true doom ones, making Old Ghoul an auspicious start – and one to dig deeper graves!
In the meantime, stream the entirety of Old Ghoul here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Old Ghoul’s Old Ghoul
1. The Crypt of Night 2. The Devils At Brocken 3. The End of All That Remains
