SLAUGHTERSUN has released a lyric video for their new single “Relentless Thelemic”.
About SLAUGHTERSUN: Drawing musical, lyrical and creative influences from the likes of DEMILICH, GORGUTS, CANNIBAL CORPSE and AT THE GATES, to name a few, SLAUGHTERSUN create their own take on the death metal subgenre. Band founder Ben Karas (WINDFAERER) initially began writing for SLAUGHTERSUN back in 2017, but it wasn’t until 2022 that Karas was able to fully dedicate time and energy into the band. The band’s line-up soon came together comprised of Karas’ THANK YOU SCIENTIST band mate Cody McCorry, along with Jason Quinones (TOMBSTONER) and Justin Hillman (CRANIAL DAMAGE). In 2023, SLAUGHTERSUN began to rehearse and record in their full form and soon turned to preparing their debut “Fall of the Firmament”.
SLAUGHTERSUN is: Justin Hillman – Unearthly Wails Ben Karas – Treble Strings Cody McCorry – Bass Strings Jason Quinones – Hammer Battalion
Today, doomed death metallers Wrektombpremiere the new track “Unexpected Encounters With Nature”. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Bovine Mockeries of Human Posturing, set for international release on April 5th via Personal Records. Hear Wrektomb‘s “Unexpected Encounters With Nature” in its entirety here:
The sarcophagus has cracked, releasing the sulfuric putrefaction of Wrektomb‘s first full-length recording after one EP, Bovine Mockeries of Human Posturing. Nick Krostoff and his faithful companion Vera Kätzin bring warnings from the next realm that oblivious and prideful humans must not overestimate their place in the cosmic hierarchy while Dieter Itis sets the cadence as this dire procession marches back into the earth from which it came.
With Krostoff as crypt-keeper, each song tells a gory and depraved tale: human deviants engaged in self-mutilation to feel something other than apathy and disdain. With crushing force, the Red Heifer, the Divine bovine, tramples temples and pulverizes the pride of arrogant, unsuspecting victims for their misplaced worship. Time travel through the multiverse is exploited by an impulse to sire linage across time and space. Modernity’s zeitgeist ruled by indoctrination with vapid values of the psychopath’s all-consuming black hole of derangement – unable to satiate the hunger for carnage and the carnal – culminating in a reflection on defeat, finding the meaning of life in the decomposition of the flesh: the height of human achievement in transforming into feed for the corvids and carrion-eaters of the sky.
At times an ornate marble mausoleum, at times a spartan gravel grave mound, meditate on the melodies of doom before they are once again lost to the underworld.
Hear the previously revealed “Gored Into Reality” HERE at Personal Records‘ Bandcamp. Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover artwork, courtesy of Misanthropic-Art, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Wrektomb’s Bovine Mockeries of Human Posturing
1. Gored Into Reality [7:29] 2. Unexpected Encounters with Nature [9:10] 3. Quantumcreep [9:01] 4. Society Supported Psychopaths [6:15] 5. This Decay of Me [10:35]
Today, Iron Bonehead Productions announces May 3rd as the international release date for the striking debut EP from France’s Profanation, Skull Crushing Violence, on CD and 12″ vinyl formats.
Hailing from France’s ever-thriving death metal scene, Profanation are a new band of old souls. Many will recognize lead guitarist Kev Desecrator from Deströyer 666, but he also maintains labelmates Venefixion – with whom vocalist Profane Alex has recently been added as a live member – as well as Sépulcre and Scumslaught, and fellow guitarist A.M. also plays in Regarde les Hommes Tomber. Along with drummer Sinistre, the quartet create vile, ultraviolent DEATH METAL in a most ancient manner.
Of course, their debut recording says it all on the tin: Skull Crushing Violence, which is exactly what you get for 20 terrorizing minutes. Like the unholy offspring of Hadez and Necrovore with more than a hint of the eldritch grind of Terrorizer and England’s Doom, Profanation whip forth a fury like few others. Everything here on Skull Crushing Violence goes into the red – as it SHOULD, to honor the promise of its title – and the intensity suitably takes on an otherworldly aspect as it flits between abyss-ward blast and grave-shoveling D-beat. Meanwhile, utterly OTT solos shoot across the record like missiles flying across a war-torn landscape.
Want 666% ARRRGGGHHH?!? Profanation give it to you with Skull Crushing Violence!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Global Terror” here:
Tracklisting for Profanation (France)’s Skull Crushing Violence 1. Profanation 2. Global Terror 3. Modern Sickness 4. Graveyard Stomp 5. No Surrender 6. Skull Crushing Violence
Today, Chaos Records announces April 19th as the international release date for Antagonyze‘s highly anticipated debut album, Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness, on CD and cassette tape formats.
Formed in 2019 and hailing from the always-thriving Chilean underground, Antagonyze are a death metal band founded by guitarists Ignacio Riveros and Francisco Álvarez and bassist Mateo Gutiérrez. Soon enough, they began their first compositions and later recruited drummer Moisés Aguayo and the ex-vocalist to complete the formation. By the end of that first year, Antagonyze achieved some support in the local underground metal scene with some live shows. Not long after, the band recording their first work, Echoes From Soul, a demo cassette that was originally released in May 2020. This was an independent release and was thus limited to 33 copies. After that, the label Infernal South Productions offered to release the demo in a pro cassette version, which came July 2020, limited to 140 copies.
Due to the pandemic, Antagonyze were forced to stop their activities, but during this period, the band continued working on new compositions from home. By late 2020, the ex-vocalist left the band, and in 2021, the drummer Moisés Aguayo had time-commitment troubles due to his job. In this moment, the band recruited Alvaro Mora as new vocalist and Nicolás Cavada as drummer, both from the city Los Ángeles, which is near to their home of Nacimiento. This lineup boost proved to be a boon, as Antagonyze began changing lyrics and adding new drum rhythms and nuances to preexisting songs. With this new formation, the band began to play more shows and gain more followers, sharing the stage with the likes of fellow Chilean bands Serpent Throne, Apostasy, Repugnatory, Soul Rot, Strigoi, Radamanthys, and Peru’s Morbo Satan among others.
By the end of 2022, Antagonyze decided to re-record the best songs of Echoes From Soul and add new songs to create a new full-length work titled Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness. Thick and throttling, Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness more than lives up to its title, unleashing a torrent of twisted & twisting death metal of a most ’90s vintage. Frequently dipping into doomier corridors, Antagonyze always whip forth forward momentum, varying their attack with violence and class, particularly in their lead work, which remains richly melodic in its bottomless darkness. The production, too – recorded by Felipe Cadenas at Estudio Chains, with mixing & mastering by Ignacio Riveros – makes these ten Interpretations hit that much harder and with devastating dynamics.
For those who wisely prize the ’90s works of Immolation, The Chasm, Shub Niggurath, and Mexico’s Cenotaph, go further south of Heaven with Antagonyze‘s Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Paradoxical Panic Essence” here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Antagonyze’s Interpretations of the Unknown Wilderness
In their endless quest to push and support current underground acts that perpetuate the odor of vintage death metal, Memento Mori are extremely thrilled to announce a new signing: Reckless Manslaughter, from Germany.
Summoned in North Rhine-Westphalia in November 2008, the walking corpse known as Reckless Manslaughter is living proof that death has many faces, covering all tempo variations and unaware of trends or conventions, all the while maintaining a core personality of their very own. To descend into the nether regions where these death metal acolytes dwell is to be left to fester in a desolate and fathomless realm whose landscape is filled to the brim with violent blasts, crushing mid-tempo sections, gloomy doom-ish parts, and atrocious growls, rounded off with a sprinkling of eerie Finnish melodies. Expect nothing but uncompromising Metal of Death, total-underground worshipping, and utter annihilation.
Reckless Manslaughter are recommended for fans of Bolt Thrower, Morbid Angel, Demigod, Sinister, Immolation, Monstrosity, Benediction, Brutality, Asphyx, Cannibal Corpse, and Suffocation.
Reckless Manslaughter‘s fourth full-length is due out on October 21st. Memento Mori will release the CD version, and Fucking Kill Records will take care of the vinyl LP version. For more info, consult the links below.
In their endless quest to push and support current underground acts that perpetuate the odor of vintage death metal, on April 22nd internationally, Memento Mori is proud to present the highly anticipated third album of Spain’s Devotion, Astral Catacombs, on CD format.
Spain’s Devotion are an exemplary study in patience and persistence. Formed in 2012 near Valencia, the band have gone through myriad lineups, but have parceled out their recordings when the time was right, for maximum impact and immersion. Their debut album, Necrophiliac Cuts, came in 2015, but its year of release might as well have been 1993; Devotion are nothing if not devoted to the timeless archetype provided by death metal during its early ’90s heyday. But while many years would pass until its follow-up arrived, in 2021, The Harrowing was indeed aptly titled: split between “chants” and “dirges,” the Spaniards put on a masterclass in putrid, mid-tempo CRUSH with memorability for miles. Consistent yet different enough, Devotion between the two albums might’ve had power-trio and quintet lineups, respectively, but the path was nevertheless deliberate and (d)evolved.
Arriving quite “quickly” for their standards, the revamped-yet-again Devotion arrive all guns blazing with LP#3, Astral Catacombs. Another perfectly titled recording, Astral Catacombs is rich in atmosphere and crunch alike, taking their all-caps DEATH METAL one ladder-rung up and down that evolutionary scale. Their characteristic tank-rolling sound heads toward some truly vile paths here, almost bestial in its slaughtering impulses, moving ominously and measuredly despite the near-primal ferocity; on the same hand, a pronounced emphasis on their classy side arises, namely in the well-timed and -composed soloing, but also particularly in their songwriting movement. It’s a unique balance/tradeoff that slowly-yet-surely shows stunning growth on Devotion‘s part, lending Astral Catacombs immediate replayability to catch every (crooked) nuance and (skewed) dynamic. Put another way, we can look to the band’s primary influences of Bolt Thrower, Grave, or Morgoth for precedents: Bolt Thrower’s transition from The IVth Crusade to …For Victory, for example, or Grave’s from You’ll Never See… to Soulless, or especially Morgoth’s from Cursed to Odium. If none of that sounds palatable or enticing, then Astral Catacombs is NOT for you!
Graced with suitably ethereal cover art courtesy of Naroa Etxebarria, Astral Catacombs crowns Devotion‘s trifecta of streamlined brilliance!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “To Dementia” here:
Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Devotion (Spain)’s Astral Catacombs
1. The Passing 2. Horror Beyond the Stars 3. In Ungraven Tombs 4. Execration 5. The Wake 6. The Cosmic Pilgrims 7. To Dementia 8. The Seething Universe 9. Astral Catacombs 10. The Evanescence
Seattle (WA) – Melodic Death Metal quartet VERITERAS will release sophomore full-length album, The Dark Horizon, on April 11. A lyric video for the album’s first single, “Abyss,” will be released on March 14.
“The Dark Horizon really leans in on our old school melodic death metal roots, and as a result has a more blackened melodic death metal sound compared to our previous release, Shadow of Death. There’s more tremelo picking, more blast beats, but still holding on to a very melodic core. We’re very happy with how the album ended up, and we grew a ton through the process. The songwriting is more mature, the lyrics are stronger because Sean wrote most of them instead of me, the musicianship is better, and the mix is fantastic. We’re all super excited to be sharing this album with the world, and hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it!”
– Santtu Winter (Veriteras)
In support of the album VERITERAS will be hitting the road with Finland’s Event Relentless for the nine-city PNW U.S. Tour!” Dates are as follows:
Music written and arranged by Santtu Winter and Veriteras.
Songs “Retrograde” and “Blinding” written and arranged by Sean Osterberg and Santtu Winter.
Lyrics by Sean Osterberg and Santtu Winter. Bass written and recorded by Matthew Kirkwold at Meow Sounds.
Solos written and recorded by Major Bruno (first solo on “Sanctuary”), Eligio Tapia (second solo on “Sanctuary”), and Adonis Reed-Boulos (“Blinding”).
Vocals on “Light in the Darkness” by Maria Mannisto. Tambourine performed by Jeff Smith (bassist emeritus and first-chair tambourinist).
Recorded by Don Gunn at The Office Studio in Seattle in July 2023.
Mixed and Mastered by Dan Swanö at Unisound Studio in Germany between August and November 2023.
Album artwork by Sean Osterberg
Veriteras is an old-school melodic death metal band based in Seattle, Washington (U.S.). Formed in 2018, they are inspired by the Scandinavian melodic death scene (early-era In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Kalmah, etc.), and strive to write heavy songs with powerful and memorable melodies. After releasing two EPs in 2020 (Banished) and 2021 (Citadel), they debuted their first LP Shadow of Deathin 2022, and toured Finland in support of the album. Now they are proud to present their follow-up LP, The Dark Horizon, in April 2024.
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
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
