Today, legendary Dutch black metallers Funeral Winds reveal the new track “Stigmata Mali.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated seventh album, Stigmata Mali, set for international release on February 24th via Osmose Productions. Hear Funeral Winds‘ title track “Stigmata Mali” in its entirety here:
Funeral Winds is back with another stab of the murderous knife infused with poison of early ’90s raw black metal filth. Stigmata Mali consists of eight wounds of black metal wrath inflicted on all that’s holy. As one of the pioneering European black metal bands that is still active today, Funeral Winds deliver with Stigmata Mali a monument of dedication to true black metal and the sinister. Hateful, raw, and Satanic…black metal the way it was meant to be!
Stigmata Mali translates as “The Stigmata of Evil” and is the title of Funeral Winds‘ seventh studio album and first album to be released via Osmose Productions.
Preorder link can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Funeral Winds (Netherlands)’ Stigmata Mali
1. Open the Wounds [5:18] 2. Stigmata Mali [3:52] 3. By these Hands, By Your Command [4:17] 4. Odious Emanations [3:45] 5. The Angles of Darkness [3:17] 6. Ferocious Revelations [4:44] 7. Purified by Acausal Flames [4:30] 8. The Bornless Forever [5:15]
On February 3rd internationally, III Damnation Productions will release a special compilation from A Diadem of Dead Stars, Emerald Sunsets, on digipack CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats. And today, we stream the collection in its entirety. Hear A Diadem of Dead Stars‘ Emerald Sunsets in its entirety here:
Begun in 2014 and helmed by the prolific The Pilgrim – whose prior bands include the cult Hierophant’s Descent and Angstridden, and currently The Seal of R’Lyeh and Barak Tor – Greece’s A Diadem of Dead Stars proudly play “Misty Lowlands Black Metal.” Theirs is a sound rooted in a (misty) past; whether it’s precisely the mid ’90s or the mid-2000s matters not when faced with such compelling quality. The full-length The Mist Bearer began the journey in 2014, and continued across a demo, two EPs, and then second album Kingdoms Bathed in Golden Light in 2016. A recording hiatus ensued until that cursed year of 2020, but that cursed proved fruitful for The Pilgrim: a single, a demo, and EP followed in quick succession.
And that’s where we arrive with Emerald Sunsets. Totaling four tracks across 28 minutes, Emerald Sunsets includes all previously digital-only material from A Diadem of Dead Stars: namely, 2020’s …Of Green Pastures… single and The Light That Burns demo and 2021’s The Furrow of Woes EP. As such, this collection sees The Pilgrim at his most invigorating and most nostalgic, immediately instilling a sense of loss or at least bittersweetness before building into cresting waves of moonlight mysticism and autumnal splendor – never categorically “negative” like most extant black metal, nor necessarily “hopeful” like much falling under the wider “post-” umbrella – with the upticks/downshifts of speed both fluid and flowing. Of course, atmosphere is always crucial to the A Diadem of Dead Stars experience, and you’ll find a bounty of it here on Emerald Sunsets, verily evoking its title. In fact, the record ends on the especially evocative “Of Green Pastures,” a beautifully haunting hymn of acoustic guitar and birdsong. The way this collection is threaded together makes it less of the standard odds & ends “collection” and one more suited to its own headspace and experience. A Diadem of Dead Stars will guide you to Emerald Sunsets, indeed.
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for A Diadem of Dead Stars’ Emerald Sunsets 1. The Furrow of Woes [7:08] 2. And Swallows Flew Away From This Land [7:08] 3. The Light That Burns [6:10] 4. Of Green Pastures [6:55]
On February 3rd internationally, Personal Records will release a new double-EP from Carathis, Amethyst & Moonstone, on CD format. And today, we stream the double-EP in its entirety. Hear Carathis‘ Amethyst & Moonstone in its entirety here:
Carathis‘ second release for Personal, Amethyst & Moonstone includes two EP recordings – 2021’s The Amethyst Fortress, previously only available digitally, and the otherwise-unreleased The Moonstone Temple – totaling 45 minutes across nine tracks. Truly, these two recordings see Carathis hitting a fever pitch of creativity. Whereas the band upon their Hymns to the Tower debut EP (later released by Personal as a split with Sulfure) were a duo, on The Amethyst Fortress is the band now back to mainman Erech Leleth, who concurrently plays in labelmates Grandeur as well as Ancient Mastery, Narzissus, and Golden Blood. As such, Leleth takes the Carathis sound to uncharted mysticism and splendor. The first five tracks on this collection belong to The Amethyst Fortress, which is aptly titled, for a purple-velvet sensation arises from its grim hysteria, creating a unique disconnect amidst the nowadays “Bandcamp black metal” scene. Clearer and more cutting is the four-song The Moonstone Temple, which follows next on this CD, and features Palisade on drums. The medieval organs are even more prominent here, often leading the charge and yet never softening the central attack. It might be tempting to qualify Carathis at this stage as symphonic black metal, no matter how raw they remain, but more accurately could one put the band alongside other organ-prominent practitioners like early Solefald and Sigh or even Negura Bunget and the brass-led Sear Bliss. But, it’s early days still for Carathis, and Erech Leleth is already proving to be a formidable entity with Amethyst & Moonstone.
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Carathis’ Amethyst & Moonstone 1. The Sacred Walls 2. The Crimson Gate 3. The Forsaken Realm 4. The Fallen Star 5. The Amethyst Fortess 6. The Portal 7. The Procession 8. The Prayer 9. The Priestess
Today, Eternal Death announces March 17th as the international release date for a brand-new EP from Death Vanish, Hermitic Fire, on cassette tape format.
Formed in 2017, Death Vanish is a solo project of Valder from the band One Master. Playing select live shows with a full lineup, the songwriting and all instruments on the recorded material is performed by Valder. Since the project’s formation, two EPs and a split have been released – and now , four years after the last one, arrives a new EP titled Hermitic Fire.
Compared to his other ongoing musical endeavors, Death Vanish explores Valder’s interest in the more primitive side of black metal expressed by bands such as Beherit and Profanatica. And yet, there’s plenty of other nasty ingredients lurking within that cauldron, as evidenced by this latest Hermitic Fire. More diverse overall and yet also more focused, Hermitic Fire shows Death Vanish as true pervertors of black metal, here incorporating a deathrock side – subtle, but still pronounced – and a general air of unorthodoxy that drives deep into the heart of black metal’s earliest antagonists. As such, all sides of Death Vanish are displayed here: from the furious simplicity of the opening track “Conquer With Solar Might,” to the awkward riffs and remedial keyboards on the unabashed homage to Beherit “From Down There,” to the ritualistic channeling of Big Boss in “Old Magick and Tyrant,” to the final two more headbanging tributes to Profanatica. Altogether, it’s 24 trend-free minutes bound to amaze and confuse in equal measure – simultaneously archaic and fuck-you fresh – and Valder, naturally, wouldn’t have it any other way.
Following the release of Hermitic Fire, Death Vanish will return to the stage with limited live performances. Only true deviants need apply.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “From Down There” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Death Vanish’s Hermitic Fire 1. Conquer With Solar Might 2. From Down There 3. Old Magick and Tyrant 4. Hermitic Fire 5. Doctrine of a Beast
Today, Purity ThroughFire announces February 27th as the international release date for the striking second album of Norway’s Unholy Craft, Naar All Tid er Omme, on CD format. The vinyl version will follow later this year, as will the band’s chronological debut album via different underground labels.
Unholy Craft is the work of one Peregrinus, whose concurrent Solus Grief is newly initiated into the Purity ThroughFire cult. Indeed, Unholy Craft play traditional, CULT black metal from ancient Scandinavia, taking influence from the obvious – Darkthrone’s Peaceville trilogy, Hat-fronted Gorgoroth, the first Ancient album – to, more so, the very cult likes of Kvist, Sorhin, and Fimbulwinter. As such, the band’s Naar All Tid er Omme debut is a veritable blast from the past, but one thankfully exuding personality and a freshness of approach.
For one, Peregrinus’ fully physical execution maintains a more blown-out rawness in line with the modern raw black metal scene. But, for another, that rawness doesn’t mask a lack of ability. Far from it, actually: the mainman exudes equal skill on all instruments and puts those enviable chops to use across songwriting that keeps it traditional and yet puts interesting, almost-deviant twists to it along the way. In that sense, Unholy Craft‘s craft honors second-wave black metal’s initial unorthodoxy, when most of its earliest bands each maintained their own approach – when the future lay wide open, as it were. That’s in the past now, but Naar All Tid er Omme resurrects those glorious times with magickal ease and elan. Unholy Craft are coming to a church near you!
Grab a torch with the brand-new title track “Naar All Tid er Omme” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Unholy Craft (Norway)’s Naar All Tid er Omme 1. Naar All Tid er Omme 2. Vitriolic Winds of Hate 3. En Askedrøm 4. We Are Your Death 5. For Thee I Long 6. As I Gaze Upon the End 7. En Sjels Pinsle 8. I Taaken
Today, American black/death juggernaut Malleus stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, The Fires of Heaven. Set for international release on January 27th via Armageddon Label, hear Malleus‘ The Fires of Heaven in its entirety here:
Malleus has returned to present us with The Fires of Heaven. Expanding on and refining their influences from the seminal first-wave era of death and black metal, they have delivered unto us eight savage bursts of classic blackened metal, combining brooding atmosphere, razor-sharp riffs, fiercely delivered drumming, and raw, throat-ripping vocals, all summoned and sent forth from the gloomiest crypts and corners of olde New England. Like a distant tolling bell emanating from the manic depths of humanity’s past, the lyrics contemplate and belie the failings of mankind, and evoke a sense of the darkness that may yet lay ahead…
In the past, the majority of Malleus‘ lyrics dealt with the psychological impact that the “fear of the unknown” has on the psyche of human beings throughout history. Typically, the lyrics address how this phenomenon leads to individual and societal fear–>paranoia–>hatred–>violence–>and codified bigotry. The individual song lyrics typically address these issues from various historical and sometimes occult perspectives, in an attempt to showcase this phenomenon as a major failing of the human race, particularly in our attempts to build any type of modern “civilized” society.
With the new album, they follow this theme closely, but do so in a much more conceptual and semi-chronological manner. Thematically, the songs are about the arrival of Europeans (primarily English Puritans) in New England during the early 17th Century, and the tragedy of their lives and often-bloody cultural interactions with other groups in colonial New England (Native Americans, French Catholics, enslaved Africans, etc.) over the remainder of that century.
Specifically, the lyrics on The Fires of Heaven deal heavily with the Puritan perception of salvation and grace (in other words, whether or not they were going to heaven or hell), and their steadfast belief that Satan and his children/minions (natives and French Catholics) actually lurked in the forests of New England, waiting to murder them and corrupt their godly pursuits and preordained mission to spread their peculiar version of Christianity to the rest of the world. Essentially, this paranoia manifested itself as fear and bigotry over time, and resulted in many extremely violent conflicts, as well as various outbreaks of religious paranoia and persecution toward the end of the century – the Salem witchcraft trials as an obvious example.
Beyond the lyrics, Malleus have worked to make sure all other aspects of the album sync with this concept, as well, including a classical album intro they had commissioned, which evokes the gothic Baroque style that might have been heard throughout Europe during this time period. Fans of Hellhammer, Bathory, Venom, Celtic Frost, Sodom, and Motorhead, take note!
Preorder info can be found HERE at Armageddon Label‘s Bandcamp. Cover artwork, courtesy of Adam Burke, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Malleus (U.S.)’s The Fires of Heaven 1. The Tempest 2. A Dark Sun Rises 3. Beyond the Pale 4. Prophetess 5. The Fires of Heaven 6. Into the Flesh 7. Awakening 8 Mourning War
French black metal formation REGARDE LES HOMMES TOMBER have announced several shows for the first half of 2023, in France and in the Netherlands. The group is also releasing a video interview recorded during the Noktvrn tour in September 2022, with label mates DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT and BIZARREKULT. Watch the video here:
A full list of confirmed gigs can be found below.
REGARDE LES HOMMES TOMBER live 2023 09/02/2023 – La Vapeur, Dijon (FR) 10/02/2023 – Echo System, Scey Sur Saone (FR) 11/02/2023 – Contre Courant, Belleville sur Meuse (FR) 06/04/2023 – Le Chabada, Angers (FR) 07/04/2023 – Quai M, La Roche sur Yon (FR) 08/04/2023 – L’Echonova, Saint-Ave (FR) 11/05/2023 – Krakatoa, Bordeaux (FR) 12/05/2023 – Le Marché Gare, Lyon (FR) 13/05/2023 – La Coopérative De Mai, Clermont-Ferrand (FR) 25/05/2023 – Le Tetris, Le Havre (FR) 26/05/2023 – Graveland Festival, Hollandscheveld (NL)
The band will be performing in support of their latest album ‘Ascension’, which was released on February 28, 2020. The cover artwork and tracklist can be found below. The artwork was created by Fortifem.
Track List: I. L’Ascension (1:49) II. A New Order (8:04) III. The Renegade Son (8:01) IV. The Crowning (9:26) V. Stellar Cross (8 :10) VI. La Tentation (2:28) VII. Au Bord Du Gouffre (8:53) Total playing time: 0:46:50
Today, Amor Fati Productions announces March 17th as the international release date for Verminous Serpent‘s striking debut album, The Malign Covenant, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Verminous Serpent are a brand-new entity, but one bearing old souls: Slidhr’s Joseph Deegan on guitar, Malthusian’s Matt Bree on drums, and Primordial’s A.A. Nemtheanga on vocals and bass, here exhibiting a frighteningly different side of his signature voice. While all three men hail from different yet equally considerable backgrounds, their sound as Verminous Serpent is completely its own creation – a headspace distant and mostly removed from their collective pasts & presents.
Aptly titled, The Malign Covenant is Verminous Serpent‘s first public work: a five-song/41-minute album that brims with ancient black metal energies. Rough and raw but never sloppy or taking half-measures, the trio’s debut album twists and coils and fatally STRIKES similarly as their namesake; one could liken these songs to “corridors,” but that would suggest a finite destination. Instead, the entirety of The Malign Covenant evokes a rippling soundworld of lurking dread and sulfurous tension, where intensity is measured not by speed or density but by the hideous sensations that shapeshift within the listener’s subconscious. The most complete crystallization of this can be found in the album’s closing 13-minute epic, “Deaths Head Mantra,” fittingly ending the album on a climactic (and chilling) note. Bestial in the olde definition but dispensing with the semantics shackling so much of nowadays “black metal,” Verminous Serpent have delivered a tome defiant of time itself.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Transcendent Pyre” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Verminous Serpent’s The Malign Covenant
1. Seraphim Falls [7:41] 2. Transcendent Pyre [5:47] 3. The Malign Covenant [7:00] 4. Chasm of Nameless Bone [6:32] 5. Deaths Head Mantra [13:17]
Today, Osmose Productions announces February 24th as the international release date for Satanika‘s highly anticipated fifth album, Horde of Disgust, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Evil has returned… more aggression… more morbid…
More evil and darker than ever…
More heads will bang by this new thrash/black metal menace by the Italian incarnation of sleaze called SATANIKA!
This time, it’s diabolical… this time is ripping evil metal…
A merciless plunge into the depths of Hell, surrounded by obscure and blasphemic beings…
First track premiere to be revealed shortly. Preorder link can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Satanika’s Horde of Disgust
1. Not Of This Earth [2:26] 2. The Void [3:55] 3. Cosmic Funeral [4:43] 4. Horde of Disgust [4:09] 5. The Fog [3:50] 6. Their Hands Upon Our Throat [3:50] 7. Tentacles of Horror [3:45] 8. Cursed Be Thy Name [3:49] 9. The Absolute Torment [3:02] 10. Bleed for Darkness [3:47]
Today, mesmerizing black metallers Häxanu premiere the new track “Ephòdion”. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second album, Totenpass, set for international release on February 7th via Amor Fati Productions. Hear Häxanu‘s “Ephòdion” in its entirety here:
During the early spring of 2020, Häxanu made their bolt-from-the-blue debut, Snare of All Salvation, courtesy of Amor Fati. Despite their newness, the duo included extremely prolific multi-instrumentalist Alex Poole – renown for his long-running Chaos Moon as well as Krieg, Skáphe, Ringarė, and Guðveiki among many others – and vocalist/lyricist L.C. of Lichmagick. Indeed, the record bore Poole’s distinctive touch, a stargazing surge that was equal parts violent hysteria and shimmering mysticism: undeniably black metal, but also subtly unique.
And so it goes with Totenpass, the duo’s second full-length together. With somber acoustics clearing the palate and preparing the listener for the spectral immersion to follow, Häxanu here command a more classic style of black metal that has equal footing in Nordic snow and Hellenic melody. One could qualify Totenpass as a more triumphant counterpart to its not-inconsiderable predecessor, and you’d not be wrong. However, press on into that snow (and melody) and one will find a wider canvas of emotions and sensations here, an almost-unquenchable thirst that courses through the album’s seven-song/46-minute runtime. And while Snare of Salvation introduced a literally massive 17-minute title track, Totenpass finds Häxanu embracing the epic to an even greater degree, obviously with this album’s closing title track but more so the 10-minute “Sparagmos” and the nearly 15-minute couplet of “Thriambus” and “Threnoidia.” Thankfully, the urgency found on that first album is still clear and present here, no matter the length of track nor texture being explored.
An invitation to the dear listener to “receive thine inheritance and renew thy covenant with the flesh and the blood of the now,” as L.C. succinctly puts it, Häxanu continue their enviable ascent with Totenpass.
Also hear the previously revealed “Death Euphoria” HERE at Amor Fati‘s official YouTube channel. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
