Today, Purity ThroughFire announces March 21st as the international release date for Granitader‘s highly anticipated debut album, Der Wald zwischen den Welten, on digipack CD format.
One of the most fully formed black metal entities of recent times, Granitader burst into brilliance with their debut full-length, Der Wald zwischen den Welten. After but an EP last year, the German quintet’s first full-length displays a masterful grasp of songwriting and dynamics as well as confidence and charisma to spare. Granitader are old souls who exude the effervescence of the new; their continually cresting surge recalls pagan touchstones like Windir, Falkenbach, or Germany’s Horn closer to home, as well as Drudkh’s more cinematic moments. However, the wind beneath the wings of Der Wald zwischen den Welten is the album’s overarching theme: a homage to their – as well as Purity ThroughFire‘s – home area of Erzgebirge, the Ore Mountains that are an UNESCO world heritage site, as well as older German history. Truly, it all comes together as one breathtaking blast of classically austere German black metal, but poignantly brimming with a heroic, almost-positive aspect that’s simply impossible to deny. The spiraling lead-work is categorically sublime, and helps elevate Granitader to the top of today’s pagan black metal pack. Completing this complete package is the professional & powerful production, encasing their bravado in a sheen wholly befitting of its majesty. Let Granitader guide you through Der Wald zwischen den Welten!
In the meantime, see & hear the brand-new video for “Heimat” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Granitader’s Der Wald zwischen den Welten 1. Intro 2. Ødensjakt 3. Heimat 4. Miriquidi 5. Nathan 6. Geister des Nordens 7. Varus feat. Baptist (Mavorim) 8. Netsche 9. Der Wald zwischen den Welten
Today, Purity ThroughFire announces March 21st as the international release date for Heraldic Blaze‘s debut demo, Blazoned Heraldry, on CD and 12″ vinyl formats.
From moniker to visual aesthetic and especially to the sonics themselves, Heraldic Blaze are encapsulating the oft-nebulous “medieval black metal” idiom with startling aplomb. While it’s often difficult to discern exactly what medieval BM is other than a pithy “I know it when I hear it,” Heraldic Blaze leave no doubt as to their intentions.
Witness their debut demo, Blazoned Heraldry. The duo of American multi-instrumentalist Argent Pale (vocals, bass, flute) and Norwegian guitarist Peregrinus (Hjemsøkt, Solus Grief, Unholy Craft, Kvad) create a spellbinding tapestry of rustic tones and textures. In fact, on texture alone – kinda clean and clanging, yet with more than a hint of ghostly grit and almost surfy reverb – Heraldic Blaze stand out, but it’s how they utilize those textures in the service of songwriting: winding and wild, frothing up to an almost-dangerous delirium, but more often than not leaving wide-open spaces to let their medieval melodicism bend and sway with bravado and bittersweetness. And as actual flute flutters in from time to time, the sum effect, more often than not, is ALIEN – unsettling and alluring in equal measure.
While “merely” a demo recording, Heraldic Blaze‘s first work already trounces most modern works of “black metal.” Unorthodox and unbound, Blazoned Heraldry is mandatory listening for fans of Sühnopfer, Ungfell, Grylle, Heltekvad, and particularly mid-2000s Peste Noire.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Torchbearers of Our Time” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Heraldic Blaze’s Blazoned Heraldry 1. Torchbearers of Our Time 2. The Accolade of Truth 3. Far Shooting Apollo 4. A Sovereign Spire 5. The Knight’s Folly 66. Scourge of the Sycophant
On March 21st internationally, Purity ThroughFire is proud to present Ad Mortem‘s highly anticipated debut album, In Honorem Mortis, on CD, A5 digipack, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
If there’s one certainty in these uncertain times, it’s that Purity ThroughFire will continue to raise the banner of nowadays German black metal: proud and pure in its expression, honoring the past whilst not being shackled to it, and evincing a professionalism that doesn’t sacrifice true underground spirit. Their latest executioners are Ad Mortem, who’ll be familiar to those who caught their Purity ThroughFire-released split with standard-bearers Mavorim in that very uncertain year of 2020. While their split-mates are true titans of today’s Teutonic black metal scene, Ad Mortem proved to be a poignant counterpart, evincing an undeniable physicality that remained hook-heavy and hummable.
Now they’ve returned to fulfill their still-substantial potential with the debut album In Honorem Mortis. Here, Ad Mortem dispense with any subtlety and go for the throat quickly and calculatingly. While the eight hymns comprising their debut album hover around the five-minute mark, everything on In Honorem Mortis sounds irrepressibly urgent. Mind you, the quartet’s songwriting isn’t categorically “all speed, all the time” – their shifting of gears, from strength & honor gallop to pistons-pumping blast, is as fluid as it comes – but their execution of such puts Ad Mortem in rarefied territory: seamlessly flowing, even swinging, making their martial thrust all the more mesmerizing. Of course, the German tongue makes their black metal bite harder, and wrapped in polished-yet-powerful production, the gleaming chrome one witnesses on In Honorem Mortis is but the blade of their sword about to deliver its fatal blow. Bow before Ad Mortem and feel their sweet release!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Von hohen Himmeln” here:
Cover artwork, courtesy of Northem Art, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Ad Mortem’s In Honorem Mortis 1. Von hohen Himmeln 2. Größer als das Leben 3. Labyrith 4. Der letzte Feind 5. Urgewalt 6. Auf kalten Gräbern 7. Todesstreben 8. Death & Beyond
On April 5th internationally, Personal Records is proud to present The Rottening‘s highly anticipated debut EP, Seeds of Death, on CD format.
The Rottening are a Swedish death metal band that started in 2021 when members from the band Intestinal wanted to shred with each other again. They were joined by the frontman of the black metal band Fornhem, and the band took shape. In fact, The Rottening are named after Intestinal’s second (and final) album! After the well-received Ode to Rot demo, the band got together to record their debut EP, Seeds of Death, and the result could not be more pummeling.
No more but definitely no less, the concept behind Seeds of Death is pure Swedish HM-2 death metal, and who better to do so than an actual group of Swedes! Taking primary influence from the almighty Dismember, The Rottening crush and gallop forth like an everflowing stream, wholly indecent and obscene in their massive killing capacity. You may’ve heard Seeds of Death before, but only in pieces. This DEATH METAL after all, and undeniably Swedish, but The Rottening make it re-reborn in blasphemy in a mere 21 minutes: an override of the overture worth overriding again, and again, and again!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Starless Void” here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Today, Iron Bonehead Productions announces April 12th as the international release date for Heresiarch‘s highly anticipated second album, Edifice, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
For over 15 years now, New Zealand’s Heresiarch have patiently crafted a body of work that has come to transcend their early influences. Though lineups have shifted during that time, led by founding vocalist N.H. and enhanced by guitarist C.S. in 2013, Heresiarch have wisely taken their time with recordings and prized quality over quantity. The band’s debut album, Death Ordinance, arrived in 2017 after a trio of savage short-lengths. A new rhythm section took root following that album’s release, and a couple splits in the ensuing years honed their doomed ‘n’ barbaric sound into something more molten and ominous.
And now arrives that megaton payload of devastation, Heresiarch‘s second album, elegantly titled Edifice. If there were any doubts that the band were but yet another toneless ‘n’ tired “war metal” troupe, the New Zealanders trounce any and all trepidation with exceptionally seismic songwriting. Here on Edifice, the parameters of Heresiarch‘s sound – death metal muscle, black metal atmosphere, grindcore aggression – are all in devastating harmony, creating a hydra-headed beast that betrays a wealth of true-yet-twisted ideas. More than just safely evading easy categorization (which is often mere doublespeak for “pleasing all constituents”), the quartet lay bare a landscape of texture titanic in its heft and foreboding in its effect, seamlessly winding through minefields both sonic and psychic and eventually culminating in a grandiose two-part finale in the equally compellingly titled “Hubris and Decline” and “Militate Pyrric Collapse.” For sure, Heresiarch sound as martial as ever, but the lava now flows in palatably unique ways, all without compromising their core aesthetic. Indeed, one could say they’ve finally found order through chaos.
The possibilities of life’s destruction are endless for those who wander before Heresiarch‘s Edifice.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Gloryless Execution” here:
Tracklisting for Heresiarch’s Edifice 1. Forged Doctrine 2. Manifest Odium 3. Noose Above the Abyss 4. Gloryless Execution 5. Tides of Regression 6. A World Lit Only By Fire 7. Swarming Blight 8. Mystic and Chaos 9. Hubris and Decline 10. Militate Pyrrhic Collapse
LVME join the NoEvDia ranks with their second album, Of Sinful Nature, to be released internationally on February 16th.
LVME steadfastly uphold the essence of traditional black metal while boldly broadening their musical scope. Of Sinful Nature presents five expertly crafted tracks that defy conventions. This album is an intense black metal sermon, marked by a fluid fusion of complex riffs and surprising twists – a powerful expression of raw, unbridled, and rebellious energy.
Of Sinful Nature stands out with its authentic production quality – a real treat for those familiar with the feral force of an analog drum kit. The album’s production harks back to the organic sound of earlier decades, enriched with the grit of all-analog mastering.
Once you immerse yourself in Of Sinful Nature, you’ll be swept away by its commanding presence for 45 minutes. This album is an experience to be embraced and surrendered to, a celebration of black metal and its conquering spirit.
Full stream to be revealed the day of release. Cover and tracklisting is as follows:
Tracklisting for LVME’s Of Sinful Nature 1. The Venomous Fire [9:36] 2. Strix Rêverie [5:45] 3. Without Light nor Guide [9:13] 4. Into Ashen Stone [10:43] 5. Obenaus und Nirgends an! [9:28]
Today, Iron Bonehead Productions announces April 12th as the international release date for the highly anticipated third album of America’s Crucifier, Led Astray, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
One of the longest-running entities in the American underground, Crucifier was formed in 1990 by vocalist/drummer Cazz Grant. While myriad lineups would come and go – and the band’s eventual debut album, Stronger Than Passing Time, wouldn’t be released until 2003 – Crucifier have kept consistent to their blasphemous, blackened death metal style steeped in the truly ancient and most underground ways.
Now, two years after their weird & wild Say Your Prayers mini-album, Crucifier align with Iron Bonehead once again for the release of their third full-length, Led Astray. Taking the wandering yet fully locked-in songwriting of that mini to its ultimate conclusion, Led Astray is a masterclass in memorable, METAL riffing and twisted rhythmic thrust. As is their signature, Crucifier sound positively primal here but never primitive; while these nine screeds of blasphemy might confuse or insult normcore listeners, there’s an extremely considered & calculated delirium behind their blackened devilry. As such, the “tight looseness” that’s characterized Crucifier‘s work to date gets sharpened to an enviable degree as these nine labyrinths surge and storm with a paradoxical / perverse sense of class. Credit the latter largely to the jaw-dropping dual lead-work across Led Astray: an element that’s been bubbling in the Crucifier cauldron for years, but which really reaches a superlative level here. Of course, Grant’s vocals are as diabolic as ever, seemingly coming from every direction and hackle-raising in their articulation.
Crucifier hereby have delivered a modern classic of blackened death metal in Led Astray!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Smite…”
Tracklisting for Crucifier (USA)’s Led Astray 1. Smite… 2. Feed the Furnace 3. In Hircine Splendor 4. Biers of Catholic Bones 5. With Cornu and Peccant Breath 6. Trafficking with the Devil 7. Serenaded by the Angels’ Shrills 8. Harbingers of Apollyon 9. An Endeavour of Rats
Today, Dutch black metallers Verwoed premiere the new track “The Madman’s Dance”. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second album, The Mother, set for international release on March 29th via Wolves of Hades and Argento Records. Hear Verwoed‘s “The Madman’s Dance” in its entirety here:
The journey of the Dutch enigmatic Verwoed has been one in continuous synergy with sonic exploration and innovation. This blazing entity returns with a much-anticipated fourth release and second full-length album, an awe-inspiring and utterly immersive experience in creative profundity by the title of The Mother.
The past has already witnessed the virtuous way Verwoed contemplated and traveled through unfathomable aural stratospheres brimming with feeling, intensity, and a sense of visceral commitment. The Mother perceives the Utrecht project as taking a step further in the direction of the abyss, an epic of splendor and imposing nature, bursting with emotion in the form of striking riffs that offer an electrical pallet of eclectic, evocative, and utterly cathartic songwriting.
Aided by a superbly captured production, the sonic quality of The Mother is drenched in dynamics with an organic power felt in the deepest depths of the dark night of the soul. Such character is overflown through a musical tapestry that is both complex and emotionally resonant, whether by the incredibly enticing and pulsing drumming performance, driven with and by a sense of variation and symbiosis, or the fervorous sensation purveyed by the electric traits aforementioned and the passionate and brutally ardent vocals, offering a visual representation of the poignant scope contained within each track.
To be released by Wolves of Hades and Argento Records on March 28th, The Mother invites the listener to a mesmerizing and innermost experience, a monument to introspective realms, a prayer of blood and fire conveyed with raw momentum.
Also hear the previously revealed “The Child” HERE at Wolves of Hades‘Bandcamp. Cover artwork, courtesy of Joost Vervoort, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Verwoed’s The Mother
1. A Prayer of Blood and Fire [4:04] 2. The Mother [9:32] 3. Seven Trumpets [1:55] 4. The Child [6:55] 5. The Madman’s Dance [8:14] 6. A Choir of Null and Void [4:39] 7. Death in a Rosary [8:25]
Today, Finnish black metallers Nocturnal Sorcery stream the entirety of their highly anticipated second album, Captive in the Breath of Life. Set for international release on February 9th via KVLT, hear Nocturnal Sorcery‘s Captive in the Breath of Life in its entirety here:
Despite forming in 2011, it wasn’t until August 2022 when Nocturnal Sorcery made their full-length debut. Fittingly titled The Holy Law in Total Ruin, Nocturnal Sorcery‘s debut album in no uncertain terms laid forth a fiery-yet-freezing path for these Finns: paradigmatic Finnish BLACK METAL, but harkening to the ancient fires of the ’90s rather than more millennial expressions of such. Granted, the band by then were hardly “new” – prior, they’d done two demos and a split – but The Holy Law in Total Ruin scorched Nocturnal Sorcery‘s name into the black metal underground.
Now, a year and a half later, Nocturnal Sorcery return to torch that path once again with Captive in the Breath of Life. As doubtlessly presaged by its throwback cover artwork, Captive in the Breath of Life is about as authentically mid ’90s black metal as you’ll currently find in that clogged underground. The rudiments are largely the same – because, after all, black metal doesn’t need to “be” anything other than what it already is – but here do Nocturnal Sorcery dial back the melodicism for a quicker-hitting blast of ice-cold, hateful hypnosis. As such, the song lengths aren’t as epic as its predecessor and the ripped-raw execution is even more palpitating, but the sum effect is utterly stultifying: arguably more so than The Holy Law in Total Ruin, Captive in the Breath of Life fully sounds like some unearthed gem from 1995, cryogenic and rotting but boundlessly potent.
Nostalgic ears will paradoxically be warmed by Captive in the Breath of Life, while all others will cower when faced with these filthier spells of Nocturnal Sorcery. The line in the snow has been drawn, deeper than ever! To celebrate this reckoning, the band will perform an album-release show on February 10th in Vantaa, Finland with Poland’s Arkona and fellow Finns Black Beast and White Death.
Aforementioned cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Nocturnal Sorcery’s Captive in the Breath of Life 1. The Dark Secret 2. Oath at Mt. Hermon 3. Cry of The Wounded Heaven 4. Captive In The Breath of Life 5. Spectral Force 6. Beyond Salvation 7. Joyless Dance in the Shadow 8. Redemption at Daybreak 9. Damned by The Law of The Stars 10. Lucifer’s Shade 11. Along the Path of Fire
Prepare to delve into the abyss of existential turmoil as MERRIMACK unveils their haunting third single, Under the Aimless Spheres. A visceral exploration of existential angst and spiritual dissolution, the track echoing the band’s enigmatic mastery and captivating lyrical depth.
The lyrics, laden with poetic intensity, evoke a journey through the tormented landscapes of the soul. “We hope in her loins for the assumption, The oath is palavered at her breast,” beckons a cryptic exploration of faith and disillusionment, while “Far from the south of descend, We must confront our gravities” challenges the listener to confront the weight of their existence.
With each verse, MERRIMACK navigates the contours of existential despair, casting light on the ferments of stone and the sighs of the earth. Under the Aimless Spheres serves as a poignant approach to the human condition, where the sacred and profane converge in a tumultuous dance of divine contempt and mortal longing.
‘Of Grace and Gravity’ is out March 8, 2024 on Season of Mist: Underground Activists.
Track-list 1. Sulphurean Synods (6:42) [WATCH] 2. Sublunar Despondency (7:07) 3. Dead and Distant Clamors (5:35) [LISTEN] 4. Wounds that Heal (6:44) 5. Starving Crowns (8:05) 6. Under the Aimless Spheres (7:01) [LISTEN] 7. Embalmer’s Wine (6:59) Total: 48:13
MERRIMACK are back with their new album ‘Of Grace and Gravity’. Their third release for Season of Mist arrives after the re-print of their long sold-out debut ‘Ashes of Purification’, which followed the sizeable impact that their last album, ‘Omegaphilia’, had on the Black Metal Scene.
MERRIMACK can be categorised as extreme traditionalists that are driven by a burning desire to hone their skills and striving to bring their art to perfection. The band was founded by guitarist Perversifier a.k.a. Amfortas in 1994 with a clear vision to keep the black metal flame burning as an act of aesthetic terrorism – as adamantly based in the underground as opposed to any attempts to co-opt, commercialise or turn the style into a self-parody. Introduced by a number of demo recordings (‘Prologue’ – 1995, ‘Act 1’ – 1995, ‘Horns Defeat Thorns’ – 2001) and split releases (with Hirilorn in 1998 and Sargeist in 2002), the French gained respect in the scene by remaining true to their words.
Although MERRIMACK decided to reach out to a larger audience with the release of their first full-length ‘Ashes of Purification’, the Parisians did not sever their roots with the underground at any time. With the following albums, ‘Of Entropy and Life Denial’ (2006) and ‘Grey Rigorism’ (2009), MERRIMACK closed ranks with the most influential, active, and authentic acts of the French black metal scene. Their classic combination of harsh sound with epic structures appealed to critics and fans alike and put the band on their celebrated first US tour with MARDUK and NACHTMYSTIUM in 2009.
After recording ‘The Acausal Mass’ (2012) in the legendary Necromorbus Studio (WATAIN, DESTRÖYER 666) again, MERRIMACK embarked on a European tour with Norwegian icons MAYHEM and accepted invitations to prestigious festivals such as Hellfest in their native France, Germany’s Party-San Open Air and Summer Breeze as well as Montreal’s Messe des Morts in Canada. With their previous album, ‘Omegaphilia’, MERRIMACK were breathing fresh life into an exhausted genre. While ignoring epithets such as progressive, post-, and avant-garde, the French focused on razor-sharp songwriting, captivating melodies, and close to perfect arrangements.
The ensemble now presents their latest album ‘Of Grace and Gravity’, an aural journey where grotesque assemblies of roosters and goats languish at the foot of heavens. Wallowing guitars and hypnotized passages of blasting drums collide with gravity-bound atoms in oblivious occlusion. MERRIMACK, in their enigmatic mastery, expose the futility of belief in occult ministries and slashes at the mask of the sky. The listener, questioned in their faith of the shadows and occult idols. Dare believe in the sulfurous whispers echoing through this blackened masterpiece.
