On May 5th internationally, Eternal Death is proud to present the debut demo of Midden, Demo 2023, on cassette tape format. And today, they stream of their demo in its entirety. Hear Midden‘s Demo 2023 in its entirety here:
Midden are a new entity hailing from the West Coast of the United States. They feature within their ranks guitarist Draak, whose prior bands include Tare, who released a tape via Eternal Death in 2014, during the early days of the label.
Naturally for Eternal Death, Midden play harsh & raw black metal in the purest manner: no hope, no light. The band’s first public recording, Demo 2023 features six songs within 28 minutes of cold & cruel obsidian. True to their word, Midden is an ode to the remnants of the human blight. It looks both inward and outward, infatuated with the destruction of self and the crumbling of the scourge that is collective humankind. Demo 2023 swiftly accomplishes that, with sounds at once hammering and desolate, spiraling out of control into the abyss and austerely navigating its orbit. True ancient-days BLACK METAL, not for trendy ears – herald the beginning of Midden!
Preorder info can be found HERE at Eternal Death‘s Bandcamp. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Midden’s Demo 2023 1. III 2. IV 3. VII 4. VIII 5. XI 6. V
Swedish black metal masters CRAFT have announced a new string of festival dates for May and June 2023. The announcement includes appearances at the prestigious Ascension Festival in Reykjavik Iceland and a small Mexican run! A full list of confirmed shows can be found below.
CRAFT comment: “This week, from May 4-7th, CRAFT will cross the pond to deliver darkness and chaos in Mexico for the very first time. We expect nothing but sheer dedication from what we hear is some of the best crowds in the world. This may also be the first time we play something from the new album being recorded this summer…
Attendance is mandatory, cabrónes!“ CRAFT‘s latest release “White Noise and Black Metal” can be found via the official Season of Mist YouTube channel HERE.
CRAFT Festivals 2023 19 May 23 Reykjavik (IS) Ascension Festival 17 Jun 23 Grod Rycerski w Byczynie (PL) Black Silesia Festival 30 Jun 23 Friesack (DE) Under The Black Sun Festival 21 Jul 23 Volyne (CZ) Etaf Festival
CRAFT Mexico 04 May 23 Monterrey (MX) Café Iguana 05 May 23 Guadalajara (MX) Foro Independencia 06 May 23 CDMX (MX) HDX Circus Bar 07 May 23 León (MX) Rock Station
CRAFT will be playing in support of their latest album “White Noise and Black Metal”. The amazing cover, which has been created by renowned Polish artist Zbigniew Bielak, can be viewed together with the album details below.
Track-list 1. The Cosmic Sphere Falls (4:56) 2. Again (4:15) 3. Undone (6:39) 4. Tragedy of Pointless Games (6:27) 5. Darkness Falls (4:50) 6. Crimson (4:49) 7. Shadow (5:40) 8. White Noise (4:42) Total: 42:18
By dry definition, white noise denotes a random signal having equal intensity at different frequencies, giving it a constant power spectral density. It has been commonly employed in electronic music and denotes for instance the sound of a non-existent radio station, while searching through the spectrum for a signal. For black metal it denotes the yin to the yang of the will to shape forms and patterns of melodies and rhythms and as such has a constant presence.
CRAFT have chosen their title as a perfect description of this symbiotic relationship into which the seeming contrast and contradiction of black and white enters. With ‘White Noise and Black Metal’, the Swedes return to strength after a long hiatus following the release of previous full-length, ‘Void’ (2011). The forthcoming album combines the vitriolic virtues of ‘Terror Propaganda’ (2002) with an updated songwriting that is as mature and intelligent as it is razor-sharp. The fast and furious of extreme metal contrasts with dark and depressive passages with added undertones of black ‘n’ roll
CRAFT embodies the black metal virtue of raw spiritual energy expressed through violent, ripping guitar-work and unholy rhythms enhanced by demonic vocals. The Swedes have long enjoyed a massive cult status within underground circles, yet also gained strong acclaim and recognition by mainstream metal media and critics.
CRAFT were spawned by guitarist Joakim, who was joined by a friend on drums in late 1994. Lead guitarist John was added to the roster in 1996 but left in 1998 only to return about a year later. A demo entitled ‘Total Eclipse’ hit the world in 1999, which led to a first record deal. During the recording of their crushing debut ‘Total Soul Rape’ (2000), the Swedes were reinforced by vocalist Nox. This misanthropic album captured the ear of SHINING’s Niklas Kvarforth, who released sophomore opus ‘Terror Propaganda’ in 2002 on his own label. With their extremely dark music the group gained much acclaim by critics and fans alike. CRAFT continued to build and expand their typical hateful and destructive style by adding ‘Fuck the Universe’ (2005) and ‘Void’ (2011) to the list of their albums. Meanwhile bass player Alex had joined and with their completed line-up the band finally became a live entity in September 2014.
Now CRAFT are ready to take a giant step in their career with the extremely strong, ‘White Noise and Black Metal’. This is misanthropic Swedish black metal honed to perfection.
Today, dark metalpunk mavericks Rotten UK reveal the new track “Decolonization.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second album, Age of Chaos, which should see release this summer via Hells Headbangers on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats. Featuring Midnight’s Athenar, hear Rotten UK‘s “Decolonization” in its entirety here:
When Rotten UK made their long-awaited full-length debut, That Is Not Dead, in 2016, it seemed like quite the surprise coming from HELLS HEADBANGERS. Although pure punk rock is a rarity the label, the form Rotten UK played on that celebrated debut – and proceeded to uniquely twist to their own design, with power and personality, across its 14 anthemic tracks – is actually a variety that inspired many early speed metal and thrash bands: commonly known as UK82, this subgenre was indeed a strain of early ’80s UK punk that synthesized the anthemic Oi! style before it with the nascent harder/faster style pioneered by the likes of Discharge, The Exploited, and GBH. But UK82 wasn’t the only thing lurking in Rotten UK‘s cauldron; other stated influences included early Finnish legends like Kaaos and Riistetyt as well as England’s Disorder and Broken Bones. Of course, trainspotters will know frontman James von Sinn from Japanese-style metalpunks Blüdwülf.
And, in many ways, von Sinn carries on that cult band’s too-long-dormant legacy with Rotten UK‘s back-from-the-dead second album, Age of Chaos. Although some seven years separate the two albums, Age of Chaos carries forward the sound of its predecessor with renewed vigor and a wider ‘n’ wilder palette. Not for nothing does the 46-minute album comprise a full 15 songs: exhibiting both staggering variety and finely honed focus, Rotten UK‘s second full-length sweeps across throttling metalpunk, hammering anarcho-punk, and even early goth, as it evolved from punk and into deathrock, with effortless aplomb. Thus, one will find influences from the aforementioned Broken Bones but also Amebix, Rudimentary Peni, and even Hellhammer, all rendered in Rotten UK‘s engaging ‘n’ enigmatic style. The Exploited play a prominent influence, too, both their paradigmatic thrashing style as well as their goth-tinged classic Horror Epics; other early goth touchstones here include UK Decay, Screaming Dead, and the early works of Christian Death and T.S.O.L. But even with these spidery dynamics integrated, Rotten UK‘s second album surges with a heaviness only hinted at earlier, with the crush coming from a firm UKHC foundation of early Sacrilege, English Dogs, Onslaught, Warfare, and especially later Anti-Cimex. And while the songwriting is superlative, the production of Age of Chaos is both authentically vintage and remarkably clear & cutting, courtesy of recording at Vanik’s Mercinary Studios. The Midnight link continues with guest vocals by mainman Athenar on a track and guest vocals by Ho99o9’s Eaddy on both a track and a bonus track.
Completing the totality of this momentous record, Age of Chaos features stunning cover artwork courtesy of THE legendary Frank Frazetta, officially licensed from his family. Songs of revenge, revolution, and the Apocalypse, with magic and the occult swirling all about – Rotten UK return into an Age of Chaos!
Release date, aforementioned cover art, and tracklisting for Age of Chaos to be revealed shortly. For more info, consult the links below.
Today, Finnish black metallers Sarvekas reveal the new track “Of Bloodlust & Nightside Sorceries.” The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Woven Dark Paths, set for international release on May 26th via Soulseller Records. Hear Sarvekas‘ “Of Bloodlust & Nightside Sorceries” in its entirety here:
Sarvekas are a black metal duo from Southern Finland, formed in late 2018. Their style is mostly melodic and epic, yet crushing and furious. The atmospheres in their music range from harsh, dark and desolate, cold and yet hauntingly beautiful feelings to raging moments of pure fury. Sarvekas combine all this to a momentum of sinister and epic black metal, woven with heathenry, Scandinavian mythology, and devotion to the dark.
Sarvekas signed a worldwide record deal in 2020 with Soulseller Records, and the band’s first release, the Of Atavistic Fury & Visions EP, was released in December 2020. The reception and the reviews were good, and the band immediately started to compose new songs for their full-length debut. Now, in May, Sarvekas will release that first full-length, Woven Dark Paths, via Soulseller. The 8-song/48-minute album is about delving into dark ancient rites, bloodletting for the forefathers, and true Nordic spirit as well as philosophy through ancient Nordic beliefs. With preternatural ease, Sarvekas transport the listener to ancient times: both the glorious 1990s, with their incredibly era-authentic style, and more so the times long, long before that, visual and violent in equal measure. References to be made include the cult likes of Isvind, Norway’s Perished, Mithotyn, and equally early Kampfar and Thyrfing – but already, upon evidence of Woven Dark Paths, Sarvekas are well on their way to etching their own legendry. Currently, they are focusing on making live performance possible while at the same time composing new music.
Hear the previously revealed “The Scryer of Bones” HERE, also at Soulseller‘s official YouTube channel. Preorder info for world can be found HERE while preorder info for the Americas can found HERE. Cover artwork, courtesy of Roni Ärling, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Sarvekas’ Woven Dark Paths
1. Rite Of Transcendence 2. The Scryer Of Bones 3. Of Bloodlust & Nightside Sorceries 4. Embers Of Pagan Fire 5. Woven Dark Paths 6. The Austerity Of The Northern Lands 7. Soaring Over The Battlefields 8. The Great Winter
Today, Purity ThroughFire announces June 2nd as the international release date for The Kryptik‘s highly anticipated third album, A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom, on CD format. The vinyl version will follow later.
With a past that stretches back to the late ’90s and a patient path that began in 2013 with a moniker change, Brazil’s The Kryptik burst forth into brilliance when they aligned with Purity ThroughFire. In the autumn of 2019 came their acclaimed second album, When the Shadows Rise, a startlingly immersive gem of symphonic black metal, and many finally took notice. A year late came the 40-minute Behold Fortress Inferno, which poignantly expanded on their vast canvas despite “only” being a mini-album. Between these two records especially, The Kryptik proved that “symphonic black metal” need not be a dirty word; with no outside influence from the nowadays “black metal” scene, the duo dependably practiced their mystical arts and erected a grand citadel of sound – an atavistic awakening of when all was simply BLACK METAL, heedless of appellations.
And so it goes with The Kryptik‘s massive third album, A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom. Truly titled, the seven-track/70-minute A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom reveals the duo’s grandest vision yet: neo-ancient symphonic black metal drenched in the dark waters of the cosmos, a castle of crystalline ice whose spires reach into boundless space. The band’s ebon flow continually crests and cascades, synths swirling all about and with utterly magickal effect. The production here in this Darkest Kingdom is clear and sharp – all murk excised for maximum immersion, gorgeous swell, and pulsing violence – altogether sounding incredibly vintage and era-authentic yet somehow fresher than most nowadays black metal recordings. But, that magick largely resides in The Kryptik‘s songwriting, as each song is an epic in its own right and then are all threaded together as one fever dream: melodicism, majesty, and malice in perfect balance. Thus, A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom follows logically in The Kryptik‘s continuum whilst pushing their creativity to even-more-breathtaking heights. Have they delivered a classic on par with Witchcraft, The Sad Realm of the Stars, or even Stormblåst? Only time shall be the judge…
Shadowlords from us the gift of eternity so the Lucifer’s star to shine a journey to the darkest kingdom
In the meantime, hear the brand-new 12-minute track “Unhallowed” here:
Tracklisting for The Kryptik’s A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom 1. A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom [10:59] 2. Into the Blasphemy Ritual [10:17] 3. The Rotten Wounds of the Blessed [7:54] 4. Unhallowed [12:10] 5. Bloodthirsty the Mighty Bestiary [9:59] 6. The Sovereign Whore [9:42] 7. Opus Lucifero [8:16]
On June 23rd internationally, Stygian Black Hand is proud to present the highly anticipated debut album of America’s Black Eucharist, Inn of the Vaticide, on vinyl LP and cassette tape formats.
Originally under the moniker Black Ejaculate, Black Eucharist began in 2018 with the sole purpose of blasphemy and ridicule of Nazareth’s infamous liar who shat himself upon the cross. After a name change in 2021, Black Eucharist return with darkness and evil to continue where they left off, following in the footsteps of their USBM predecessors Profanatica, Demoncy, VON, and Masochist among others: Biblical dejection, phallic corruption, and holy profanation manifest in the utterings of this treacherous triumvirate.
At long last unleashing their first full-length, Inn of the Vaticide, the power-trio of drummer Shemhamforash (Blood Ouroboros, Graven Hag), vocalist/guitarist Infestor (Demiser, Primitive Warfare), and bassist Gravepisser (Demiser) proceed to blow the floodgates open with a vile stream of viscera and effluvium. As a debut album, Inn of the Vaticide does what it should: carrying forward the sound & style as set forth on a demo and then adding new vulgarity & violence, hammering home the message with both authority and daresay swagger. Truly, Black Eucharist add to and elevate their noble influences, stylistically slotting among the aforementioned but never fully feasting on the corpse of the past. Imagination and perversity are in equal supply here.
So, all deviants and perverts, antagonists and maniacs: witness the debut full-length of Black Eucharist as they revile the scum-born charlatan whose treachery still befouls his flock! A full 40 minutes of profanation, desecration, and impiety will flood your ears with the lamentation of the “virgin” and her duplicitous progeny! Inn of the Vaticide is a VICIOUS MOCKERY OF THE MEEK!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Deflowering Jerusalem” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Black Eucharist (USA)’s Inn of the Vaticide 1. Black Ejaculate 2. Deflowering Jerusalem 3. Drowned Flock 4. Inn of the Vaticide 5. The Soiled Crucifix 6. Broken Staff of the Shepherd 7. Ziziphus Paliurus 8. A Foul Stench Lingers at Peor
Dark singer-songwriter act THE DEVIL’S TRADE are now announcing new dates for their ‘Écailles de Lune – Anniversary’ tour in September and October of 2023, supporting the legendary ALCEST. The band will hit the first venue La Bam – Metz (FR) on 29th of September and will continue to captivate the audience in 9 different countries, playing a whopping 20 shows!
THE DEVIL’s TRADE Mastermind Dávid Makó comments: “My next album and the new path I chose with it is the biggest step I have taken since I started The Devil’s Trade and I can’t be grateful enough to Alcest for this opportunity to share my new music with their people.”
A full list of confirmed dates can be found below.
THE DEVIL’S TRADE tourdates: 29 Sep 23 Metz (FR) La Bam 30 Sep 23 Bruges (BE) Cactus Club 01 Oct 23 Hamburg (DE) Knust 03 Oct 23 Copenhagen (DK) Lille Vega 04 Oct 23 Oslo (NO) Parkteatret 05 Oct 23 Stockholm (SE) Fryshuset Klubben 07 Oct 23 Dresden (DE) Stromwerk 08 Oct 23 Poznan (PL) 2Progi 09 Oct 23 Wroclaw (PL) Stary Klasztor 10 Oct 23 Hannover (DE) Musikzentrum 11 Oct 23 Frankfurt (DE) Zoom 13 Oct 23 Nijmegen (NL) Soulcrusher 14 Oct 23 Lille (FR) L’aeronef 15 Oct 23 Manchester (UK) Academy 2 16 Oct 23 Bristol (UK) SWX 17 Oct 23 Brighton (UK) Concorde 2 19 Oct 23 Vauréal (FR) Le Forum 20 Oct 23 St. Nazaire (FR) Le Vip 21 Oct 23 Rouen (FR) Le 106 22 Oct 23 Savigny-le-temple (FR) L’empreinte
More dates: 28 Apr 23 Miskolc (HU) Helynekem 29 Apr 23 Szentendre (HU) Barlang – open air 02 Jun 23 Pécs (HU) Káptalan Kert – open air 23 Jun 23 Csongrád (HU) Tisza Presszó – open air 08 Jul 23 Budapest (HU) Dürer Kert – open air / free entrance event
THE DEVIL’S TRADE latest release ‘The Call of the Iron Peak’ can be listened to in full HERE. The stunning cover artwork, which is created by ‘Grindesign’, and other album details can be found below.
Track-list 1. The Iron Peak 2. Dead Sister (WATCH) 3. III 4. No Arrival 5. Expelling of the Crafty Ape 6. IIIIIIIIIIII 7. Három Árva (WATCH) 8. Eyes in the Fire 9. IIIIII 10. Dreams from the Rot 11. The Call of the Iron Peak (WATCH) Total playing time: 46:43
The Iron Peak; a mystical place where one once found his long lost peace total silence and home. Where he would return when his time to come to pass away. A place that has became a materialization of everlasting freedom cut from society and all earthly struggles. As ancient beliefs says heaven is a place where we found peace with our loved ones in life the Iron Peak is some kind of heaven.
Listen to the call of the Iron Peak as it is calling for you to find your true self in a world you want to be isolated from. It is calling for you to make peace with yourself, with the inevitable end. It is calling for Hungarian singer-songwriter Dávid Makó, who redefined himself as THE DEVIL’S TRADE a few years ago, embarking on a long journey with his deeply personal and dark, sometimes doom infused folk songs.
Be it the folk of the Appalachians, the tales of Hungarian and Transylvanian traditionals, THE DEVIL’S TRADE fuses his past of metal and his roots laying deep in the folk songs of his immediate surroundings.
Very much like how the Iron Peak, a mountaintop both metaphorical and literal is calling for Makó, he is calling for you to share his rituals of loves and hopes lost and found along the pilgrimage of his. It is after all, the journey itself that matters the most, and how you adapt. From basements in his hometown of Budapest, to all corners of Europe, stages small and big, THE DEVIL’S TRADE has been relentlessly walking on his path finding his voice and calling, and that is to let listeners to glimpse into himself through his heart wrenching songs.
His new album, and his debut for Season of Mist, titled ‘The Call of the Iron Peak’ will be released on August 28th 2020, preceded by a tour in April 2021 alongside UK singer-songwriter Darkher and Swedish neofolk/ambient artist Forndom.
DESTRÖYER 666 are announcing the vinyl re-issue of their 1994 legendary work ‘Six Songs With The Devil’. The album is being re-released via Season of Mist on June 23, 2023 in various vinyl colours.
How legendary was the release of ‘Six Songs With The Devil’ you ask? Here are some famous words from KK himself on the album:“Howd it all start? Tiring of being in Bestai Warlust I set out to record some songs I’d been messing with for a while. Me and Vulcano on drums rehearsed for a coupla months and hit the studio. It was an instant mega success and sold out the original press of 120 copies in lightning speed.. Perhaps in less than 6 months. But dont take my word for it. Listen to what others at the time had to say. Joe Satriani once commented in Guitar Wank Mag that it was “the best god damned black thrash demo Ive ever heard and if I wasnt already a highly successful and wealthy guitar dork I’d join Destroyer in a second. If hed have me” Yngwie Malmsteen said in Fretboard Tosser Magazine, that ” KK has redefined what it means to make death-thrash metal demo tapes, the mans a God damned genius and if I wasnt already a mega rock God making big bucks writing unlistenable music I’d join his outfit immediately. If hed have me” And Lita Ford famously told Girls Stuff Magazine ” Hes a nuclear powered sex alien and me and my pal Joan Jett would both do him in an instant. At the same time”. “I think Doros also interested” she added. “
The album can be listened to in it’s entirety HERE. All other previous releases of DESTRÖYER666 can be found HERE
Tracklist: 1. Hail To Destruction (01:45) 2. An Endless Stream Of Bombers (02:45) 3. Long Live Death (02:38) 4. Song For A Devil’s Son (04:01) 5. Destroyer (02:04) 6. Like Bloody Rabid Wolves Unleashed From Chains (03:26) 7. Outro: Onwards To Arktogaa (01:52) Total 18:31
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 unrepentantly classic flavour.
The outlaws from down under deliver another pummelling 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.
With this offering, DESTRÖYER 666 takes no prisoners!
After the freezing cold music video of ‘Gods of Black Blood’, Norwegian black metal legend TSJUDER is now unleashing their ‘Iron Beast’ from the pits of hell. The track is taken from their fiercly new album “Helvegr”, which will bring dark clowds over the world on June 23, 2023 via Season of Mist.
TSJUDER is releasing ‘Iron Beast’ in a form of a visualiser video, envisioning the concept of this powerful new song filled with black metal riffs and shattering blast beats. The new track is available here:
TSJUDER’s straightforward comment: “This is Iron Beast. The opening track on our forthcoming album Helvegr. Death to all!”
Pre-orders for “Helvegr” are now available HERE, while the album can be pre-saved HERE. (Some vinyl’s are already sold out)
The album will be released on various physical formats, such as cd digipack and coloured vinyl, but also limited edition clamshell box (cd) and LTD vinyl box. These limited edition come with a bonus album “Scandinavian Black Metal Attack” in which TSJUDER pays a special ode to Bathory.
The cover artwork for “Helvegr” can be viewed together with the track-list and further album details below.
Artwork: Jonas Svensson and Laura Nardelli
Track-list: 1. Iron Beast (3:37) [WATCH HERE] 2. Prestehammeren (4:01) 3. Surtr (6:59) 4. Gamle-Erik (3:46) 5. Chaos Fiend (4:02) 6. Gods of Black Blood (5:19) [WATCH HERE] 7. Helvegr (7:36) 8. Faenskap og Død (3:08) 9. Hvit Død (2:52)
Since their inception in 1993, Oslo’s TSJUDER have been responsible for some of the most hate-filled ferocity perpetrated under the banner of TRUE NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL.
The band’s unholy fire was initially lit when founding members NAG (vocals/bass), BERSERK (guitar) and DRAUGLUIN (guitar) grew weary of playing death metal and sought out engorged levels of extremity to sate their increasingly profane ambitions. The time was ripe to inaugurate a ceaseless campaign committed to an uncompromising strain of brutally raw black metal, influenced by the primal thrash blasts of Sodom, Kreator, Destruction, Sarcófago and early Sepultura; black metal first wave trailblazers such as Bathory and Hellhammer; and, most vitally, Mayhem’s seminal Deathcrush, and Darkthrone’s game-changer, A Blaze in the Northern Sky.
Assuming the TSJUDER name, a moniker plundered from a mythical, murderous Northern tribe, various embryonic line-ups gathered around the all-conquering core of Nag and Draugluin, laying the fearsome foundations for what was to follow with two demos – Ved Ferdens Ende and Possessed – recorded between 1995-96. But it was with 1997’s EP, Throne of the Goat, that the black metal underground really began to sit up and take notice, the release establishing TSJUDER’s reputation as a blasphemous bulldozer hellbent on crushing the insipid and nostalgic in relentless blizzards of sub-zero riffage, punitive blast beats and blood-curdling screams.
Recordings for an inaugural full-length in 1999 were lost to a computer virus, but from the scavenged remnants of these sessions would emerge the Atum Nocturnem demo, an obnoxious foretaste of the group’s debut album, Kill For Satan, an international breakthrough slathered in slime-encrusted sacrilege. That damnable release saw the aptly-named ANTI-CHRISTIAN open his TSJUDER account, the drummer blasting a succession of gateways though the underworld, pulverising a punitive march to the band’s malevolent maelstroms.
Demonic Possession (2002) and Desert Northern Hell (2004) sustained the band’s focus on death, devils and destruction, while ratcheting up the production levels on a barbaric brace of flesh-strippers conjuring a landscape of frost-bitten wastes and foul abyssal realms. With the music press busy dishing out plaudits, the band’s burgeoning confederacy of fanatics were becoming desperate for some TSJUDER live action. Heeding the clarion, the band embarked on a full European tour with fellow countrymen Carpathian Forest. They also recorded a pair of gloriously powerful live performances in 2005, in Norway, which would subsequently be documented on the group’s NorwegianApocalypse DVD.
TSJUDER would take a deserved hiatus in 2006, with members finding other musical outlets for their creativity; Nag launching heretical black metal outfit KRYPT; Draugluin and Anti-Christian doing time with the thrashier TYRANN.
But it wouldn’t be long before the irresistible call of TSJUDER would exert itself once more. The band reconvened, reenergised and eager to make up for lost time, returning to live performances in 2010 before finally unleashing the mighty Legion Helvete (2011), a typically uncompromising comeback interspersed with pronounced Motörhead influences on punkish hyper-blasters such as ‘Slakt’. It would be another four years before TSJUDER issued the merciless Antiliv (2015), a snarling lycanthropic howl of a record, heavy-loaded with vindictive black’n’roll swagger and lashings of buzzsaw guitar.
TSJUDER quickly set about creating the follow-up to Antiliv, but musical differences and protracted disputes led to a parting of the ways, with Anti-Christian bowing out after an impressive 20-year tenure with the group. Undaunted, Nag and Draughluin enlisted doyen tub-thumper JON RICE to provide the requisite drum artillery and continued to work on new recordings – fine-tuning guitar tones and sharpening mixes.
Then COVID-19 struck, the pandemic further stymieing the album’s release as the world tumbled from its fragile axis. But humanity is now benignly settling into its most chronic phase of perpetual abnormality and TSJUDER are steeled again to hoist their inverted cross above the barricades of conciliation. Their latest opus, Helvegr, is a devastatingly savage offering, one which fully adheres to the band’s eternal credo of “NO FUCKING COMPROMISE”. Recording Line-up: Nag – Bass & Vocals Draugluin – Guitars & Vocals Jon Rice – Drums
Guest musicians: Guitar solo on ‘Gamle Erik’ by Pål Emanuelsen Guest vocals on ‘Gods of Black Blood’ by Seidemann (1349)
After the departure of Anti-Christian, Jon Rice and Eivin Brye has shared the drum duties on TSJUDER ‘s live performances.
Today, Greek black metallers Heretic Cult Redeemer stream the entirety of their highly anticipated third album, Flagellum Universalis. Set for international release on April 21st via III Damnation Productions, hear Heretic Cult Redeemer’s Flagellum Universalis in its entirety here:
Formed in 2009, Heretic Cult Redeemer was created in Athens by Funus (ex-Acrimonious), D, and T. A few months later, V (ex-Embrace of Thorns, ex-Acrimonious) joined the band with the aim to record their debut album, the self-titled Heretic Cult Redeemer, which was released in 2013. V left the band, and C. Docre (Acrimonious) and N3, completing the lineup Heretic Cult Redeemer‘s eventual second album, Kelevsma, released in 2018.
Never ones to rush nor adopt half-measures, Heretic Cult Redeemer have completed their third album, Flagellum Universalis, which features the lineup of vocalist/bassist Funus, guitarist/bassist Tempest, guitarist N3, and drummer C. Docre. Undoubtedly the band’s best lineup yet, suitably do they deliver their strongest recorded statement yet in Flagellum Univerisalis. Nearing a full hour in length, the album is literally MASSIVE as well as ceremonial, invoking a new era for Heretic Cult Redeemer as well as reinvigoration of orthodox/religious-style black metal. Never forgetting their more death metalled roots, the band’s gnawing & gnarly epics feature as much brawn as brain as they spiral outward from an ominous core.
With form meeting content, the lyrics to the nine-song Flagellum Universalis are indeed heady. The concept of record plunges into the paths of the primeval human urge of opposition to law and structure; it is a profound spiritual and philosophical journey towards Eosphoric self-knowledge. Heretic Cult Redeemer consider themselves as the means, harbingers, and vessels of Luciferian and Promethean teachings, as expressed through the frenzy, of the touch of Echidna.
To date, Heretic Cult Redeemer‘s catalog has been of sterling quality if not unheralded. However, the Greeks’ boldest steps – their first foray into the halls of greatness – now come with Flagellum Universalis. Behold, and redeem thyself!
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Heretic Cult Redeemer’s Flagellum Universalis 1. Lunar Reign – Lunar Apogee 2. Intoxication Divine 3. Ascending Perfection 4. Lapsit Exillis 5. The Woven Chords of Ecstasy 6. Grave Sophia – Breath of the Night 7. Eye of the Saturnian Dawn 8. Primeval Cognition I 9. Primeval Cognition II
