PORTA NIGRA reveal third track from new SOULSELLER album

Today, avant-garde extreme metallers Porta Nigra reveal the new track “Es ist Krieg.” The track is the third to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated fourth album, Weltende, set for international release on July 28th via Soulseller Records. Hear Porta Nigra‘s “Es ist Krieg” in its entirety here:

Since their formation in 2010, Germany’s Porta Nigra have achieved the status of being one purveyors of the avant-garde within extreme metal. Starting with their sinister and opium-infused debut of 2012’s Fin de Siècle to the martial and militant mock of the Prussian empire in 2015’s Kaiserschnitt to the more straightforward but no-less-theatrical black metal opus Schöpfungswut in 2020, the band have cemented their leading position within the vanguard scene of German extreme metal.

Bringing the past into the present with bold and belligerent strokes, Porta Nigra return with Weltende, recasting the eclectic expression of their first two albums in a new, brilliant light. Immediately, the shapeshifting-yet-signature sound of the band is established – austere but restless, spacious but suffocating – and vocalist André Meyrink incredibly dynamic throat leads the charge with stentorian flair. But as much of a rush as Weltende is from that very beginning – and truly, Porta Nigra can rush and race with the best of them – the band’s fourth full-length soon blossoms like a deadly flower into myriad dread shapes, all breathtaking to behold. No sonic stone is left uncovered here: black metal, death metal, doom, thrash, and various connecting points in between. But, above all, Porta Nigra keep the grandiose edge that’s unified all their work, however varied, and Weltende vividly illustrates a deep lyrical focus.

As Meyrink explains, “This album transports the very aspects of war and what war causes to you mentally quite perfect. It is shocking, fanatic, dramatic, and depressing in equal measure and almost devoured me. Definitely no easy-listening stuff, but an album that grows and grows like the horrors of martial destruction.” 

Guitarist/songwriter Tobias (AKA Gilles de Rais) delves deeper: “With Weltende, we did again what we prefer the most – time travelling. Our destination of choice was the troubled period before the dawn of the monstrous sin of the 20th century – the Great War. An art called expressionism gave hints of the abyss that the European continent and its citizens would get thrown into. Especially authors like Georg Heym, Jakob van Hoddis, Georg Trakl, or Gottfried Benn would paint in their poems with drastic metaphors of war, death, and decay a picture of a moribund world overpopulated by lunatic and doomed souls. Many of those young men would not grow old and never be able to live a life beyond their apocalyptic visions. This album, for which we respectfully borrowed a handful of ideas, is dedicated to them and their legacy.”

Also hear the previously revealed “Die himmlische Revolution” exclusively HERE, courtesy of Deaf Forever magazine, as well as the previously revealed “Götterblut” 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 Käthe Kollwitz, and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Porta Nigra’s Weltende
1. Es ist Krieg
2. Götterblut
3. Völkerbrand
4. Verlorene Paradiese
5. Bestienschlund
6. Die himmlische Revolution
7. Weltende
8. Triebgeschwärme
9. Hora Mortis

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/portanigraband

www.soulsellerrecords.com 
www.facebook.com/soulsellerrecords

OBSIDIOUS release bass playthrough of “Bound by Fire”

Bass player Linus Klausenitzer of technical metal band OBSIDIOUS is now releasing a bass playthrough for the band’s latest single ‘Bound by Fire’. The track is taken from the band’s upcoming debut album ‘Iconic’, which will be released via Season of Mist on October 28, 2022. The video, in which Linus showcases seven different bass models, is now premiering here:

Linus comments on the video: “I didn’t want to make just another playthrough. I thought about what I can do and I came up with this idea of using all Ibanez basses of my bass collection to present the new Obsidious single “”Bound By Fire”.”

In April 2020 guitarist Rafael Trujillo, bassist Linus Klausenitzer and drummer Sebastian Lanser decided to move on from their former band OBSCURA to continue their musical path with the completely new band OBSIDIOUS. Free from former boundaries, OBSIDIOUS merge extreme metal with other genres of music into a unique style that people will somehow find familiar, but haven‘t heard yet. Together with their singer Javi Perera they set out to create a musical evolution: With a fresh name, reaching for new fan groups utilizing modern marketing ideas. OBSIDIOUS’ band members have many facets and influences to build upon, using virtuosity & technique to write great songs. 

Rafael Trujillo, Linus Klausenitzer and Sebastian Lanser built a strong bond after years of worldwide touring and recording together with OBSCURA. With their last record “Diluvium”, that was primarily composed by the trio, the band celebrated their biggest success to date. Formerly unseen chart positions alongside massive praise by prominent media outlets & magazines document the success of this team. OBSIDIOUS aims to expand the existing fan base that they’ve gained: All (ex-)formations of the Obsidious members were defined through their musical characters. 

The four band members that are based in Europe are known for their high musicianship and virtuosity. Their advanced technical level is an essential and unique part of their compositions. Guitarist Rafael Trujillo has a multicultural background and studied music in different countries all around the globe. Linus Klausenitzer is one of the busiest session bassists in the scene and renowned for his 7-string fretless bass sound. Strong drum independence skills and stylistic diversity make Sebastian Lanser one of the most influential drummers of the new generation. The web community shares the Ex-Obscura members’ excitement about singer Javi Perera being celebrated for his diverse and charismatic vocal skills.

OBSIDIOUS‘ music consists of modern riffs, strong decisive energetic melodies, virtuosity and epic unison lines. They love music that’s heavy, catchy, fast, and wild. The brand new album is currently being recorded and will be released via Season of Mist early 2022.

Lineup:
Linus Klausenitzer – Bass
Rafael Trujillo – Guitar 
Javi Perera – Vocals 
Sebastian Lanser – Drums

Links:
www.obsidious-band.com
www.facebook.com/ObsidiousBand
www.youtube.com/channel/UCYYfE8L7J0TDFpRPkCj7D4
www.instagram.com/obsidious_band

Live:
24-30 July: @MetalDays 2022, Tolmin (SI)
30 Sept-02 Oct: @Euroblast Festival 2022, Cologne (DE)

VULPECULA to have classic mini-album and demo reissued by NUCLEAR WAR NOW! – features ORDER FROM CHAOS and ARES KINGDOM member

Today, Nuclear War Now! Productions sets December 6th as the international release date for a long-overdue reissue of Vulpecula‘s Fons Immortalis on vinyl LP format.

Chuck Keller’s name should be familiar to anyone involved in extreme metal. A true veteran, for more than 30 years, he has dedicated himself to the underground scene. His guitar playing and songwriting for Order From Chaos long ago established him as a pioneer, and since 1997, Keller has been at the helm of Midwest deathrash stalwart Ares Kingdom.

Less commonly spoken of, however, is Vulpecula, a project that occupies the liminal region between those two pillars of Keller’s career. Toward the end of Order From Chaos, Keller began exploring celestial themes with an eye toward fusing black metal with ambient, space-oriented sounds (see, for example, “Nucleosynthesis/De Stella Nova/An Ending in Fire”). After the dissolution of Order From Chaos, Keller reached out to drummer Chris Overton (Nepenthe/Legia) with an idea for a new project, and Vulpecula was born.

Drawing the band name from a well-known constellation (the “little fox” which holds a goose in its jaws), the duo focused on creating an atmosphere that conjured the endless desolation of space. In 1995, Vulpecula released the Phoenix of the Creation demo on the Eternal Darkness label from Arizona (which had previously put out recordings by both Order From Chaos and Nepenthe), and the label re-released it as a 7” soon thereafter.

Opening the three-song demo is the title track, an instrumental keyboard piece based on a piano composition Keller wrote several years earlier. On the tracks that followed, “The First Point of Aries” and “Seven Layers of Light,” Vulpecula played a completely unique style of black metal, perfectly evoking the ethereal transcendence of the astral domain. While there is no direct antecedent to the Vulpecula sound, the most prominent influences are demo-era Katatonia, Mortem (Norway), early Samael, and Bathory. (Anyone who is familiar with Keller and his work will know that all of his compositions bear, to some extent, the influence of his close friend Quorthon.)

In June of 1996, Vulpecula entered the studio to record the monumental Fons Immortalis MLP. Originally released as a 10” by Merciless Records, Fons Immortalis is the undeniable zenith of the band’s concise catalog. Like the demo, the 10” opens with an instrumental track, “Astride the Darklands,” written by Overton, followed two new tracks, “Fons Immortalis” and “Down Among Them.” The second side of the MLP featured a remixed and partially re-recorded version of the demo.

Few, if any bands, have proven capable of achieving such an evocative atmosphere as Vulpecula attained on the Fons Immortalis MLP. “It just sounded like darkness,” Keller explained. But this is not the sort of “darkness” associated with Satan or evil; rather, it is an opaque existential darkness derived from the limitless solitude and vast emptiness of the universe. “Darkness is a vehicle through which you come to know yourself,” Keller suggested before quickly qualifying his observation, “if you’re brave enough.”

In 1998, Vulpecula recorded five more songs intended for a full-length called Down Among Them, but feeling the experiment had reached its conclusion, Keller and Overton disbanded the next year, and the completed songs remained unreleased until 2006, when Invictus Productions released the In Dusk Apparition MCD. While working on new material, Keller wrote a song that piqued his interest did not feel quite right for Vulpecula. The song marked a change in direction for Keller, after which he began pursuing the style that would come to define Ares Kingdom, and the song later emerged as “Ashen Glory” on the band’s second album.

Relegated to obscurity for too long, Nuclear War Now! is honored to present this reissue of the Fons Immortalis and Phoenix of the Creation recordings, which have been unavailable for over 20 years. Additionally, in gathering the material for this release, Keller uncovered an unreleased alternate studio recording of “The First Point of Aries.”

In the meantime, stream the reissue of Fons Immortalis in its entirety here:

. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Vulpecula’s Fons Immortalis -Side A-
1. Astride the Darklands
2. Fons Immortalis
3. Down Among Them

-Side B-
1. Phoenix of the Creation
2. The First Point of Aries
3. Seven Layers of Light

More info:

http://www.nwnprod.com/

BLOODSOAKED NECROVOID set release date for IRON BONEHEAD debut album, reveal first track

Today, Iron Bonehead Productions sets November 6th as the international release date for Bloodsoaked Necrovoid‘s highly anticipated debut album, Expelled into the Unknown Depths of the Unfathomable, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Hailing from Costa Rica, Bloodsoaked Necrovoidformed in 2018 and quickly set to work on their first recordings. Two demos followed that year, which were later compiled onto vinyl format as Apocryphal Paths Of The Ancient 8th Vitriolic Transcendence via Iron Bonehead in early 2019. Later that year came a limited promo/rehearsal recording a split tape with Ratlord. Through all these suffocating recordings, the duo built a smokestack of charred DEATH so impossibly bleak as to be unbearable. And now, they eclipse that feat with their long-awaited, literally-massive debut album…

Aptly fucking titled, Expelled into the Unknown Depths of the Unfathomable is the no-hope/no-fun churn of sepulchral doom-death turned completely inside out. More crushingly suffocating than previous recordings and yet somehow emitting a massive sense of space that punctures through the veil of complete atmosphere, Bloodsoaked Necrovoid here drag the listener kicking & screaming (slooowwwly) through the caverns below the caverns of the mind/subconscious/spirit and then spit blood and bile across the putrid pile. It’s a six-song/41-minute experience that seems to last for infinity but just as effortlessly retains a sulfurous urgency seemingly at odds with its guttural slo-motion grind, surprisingly kicking into gutsfucking gallops that sound like bestial metal dragged through tar. Unknown and unfathomable are their ways, and expelled you most certainly will be!

Bloodsoaked Necrovoid will ruin your day, again and again and again, and there’s no sweet succor when one’s Expelled into the Unknown Depths of the Unfathomable.

Begin expulsion with the brand-new track “Viciously Consumed by the Unfolding Unknown” here:

Cover and tracklisting as follows:

Tracklisting for Bloodsoaked Necrovoid’s
Expelled into the Unknown Depths of the Unfathomable
1. Dispossessed in an Asphyxiating Endless Darkness
2. Perverted Astral Intoxication for a Death Incarnation
3. Viciously Consumed by the Unfolding Unknown
4. Inescapable Transferance of Profane Malignity
5. Existential Dismemberment by a Transcendental Nothingness
6. Traversing the Threshold of a Treacherous Depraved Absolute
MORE INFO:
www.bloodsoakednecrovoid.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/IronBoneheadProductions

BENIGHTED announce ‘Obscene Repressed’ European tour

Extreme French band BENIGHTED are now announcing the new and updated ‘Obscene Repressed’tour dates which will kick off this in October 2020. The band were, like many others, forced to cancel their previously announced tourdates, including athe Hellfest Warm-up tour which would take place this month. A full list of updated and confirmed shows can be found below!

Vocalist Julien Truchan comments: “After the huge frustration about ccancelation of our “Hellfest Warm Up Tour” and all these great summer festivals being cancelled, we are now happy to announce the new “Obscene Repressed Tour”. If this fucking Covid allows it, we will soon have the occasion to party together twice as hard and show you how the tracks of our new album sounds live. We are so impatient to spill our guts on stage and see you all. France, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Portugal, Norway… Stay fucking sick with brutal live music!”
BENIGHTED 2020
03 Oct 20 Vallet (FR) Le Champilambart (Muscadeath Fest)
04 Oct 20 Toulouse (FR) Connecion Live
06 Oct 20 Orléans (FR) Dropkick Bar
07 Oct 20 Leusden (NL) Fort 33
08 Oct 20 Fontaine-L’évêque BE (FR) MCP Apache
09 Oct 20 Mannheim (DE) MS Connexicon Complex
10 Oct 20 Vienna (AT) Escape Metalcorner
11 Oct 20 Salzburg (AT) Rockhouse Bar
13 Oct 20 Martigny (CH) Sunset Bar
14 Oct 20 Lyon (FR) Ninkasi Café
15 Oct 20 Colmar (FR) Le Grillen
16 Oct 20 Paris (FR) Le Petit Bain
17 Oct 20 Genève (CH) PTR
24 Oct 20 Montpellier (FR) Rockstore
06 Nov 20 Epinal (FR) La Souris Verte
07 Nov 20 Murs Erigné (FR) Omega Festival
05 Dec 20 Niort (FR) Le Camji (Rise & Fall Fest)
12 Dec 20 Nantes (FR) Warehouse (Warm Up Hellfest)

BENIGHTED 2021
23 Jan 21 Lisbon (PT) XXXAPADA na Tromba Festival
02 Apr 21 Oslo (NO) Inferno Festival
31 Jul 21 Steenwijk (NL) Stonehenge Festival
Drummer Kévin Paradis recently released a brand new play-through video for the track ‘Muzzle’, taken from the new full length “Obscene Repressed”.
Kevin Paradis comments on the video: “On Benighted’s new album “Obscene Repressed”, I’ve done my best to mix all my influences together to create the best drum beats and fills possible for the guitar riffing. ‘Muzzle’ is an example of what I’ve tried to do, from the jazzy “chabada” to blast beats, you’ll find many different drumming in just one song. Hope you’ll enjoy”

The album can still be ordered HERE.
Line-up:
Julien Truchan: Vocals
Emmanuel Dalle: Guitars
Fabien Desgardins: Guitars
Pierre Arnoux: Bass
Kévin Paradis: Drums

Recording studio: Kohlekeller Studio (Seeheim-Jugenheim, Germany)
Producer/Mixing: Kristian Bonifer
Mastering: Tom Porcell

Guest musicians:
Sebastian Grihm (CYTOTOXIN) on ‘The Starving Beast’
Jamey Jasta (HATEBREED) on ‘Implore The Negative’
Karsten Jäger (DISBELIEF) on ‘Mom, I Love You The Wrong Way’

Benighted enter studio for new album!

Extreme French metal outfit  BENIGHTED have entered the studio for the recordings of their brand new album “Obscene Repressed” which will be released via Season of Mist in 2020. Drummer Kevin Paradis has kicked off the drum recordings last weekend at the Kohlekeller Sudio in Germany.

Vocalist Julien Truchan commented: “Fellows, it’s about time to give birth to the very twisted and violent little brother that ‘Necrobreed’ deserves. We are back to the Kohlekeller Studio (Powerwolf, Aborted, Cremator) in Germany and if some of you thought that it would be difficult to go even further in brutality and insanity than Necrobreed, we are impatient for you to throw an ear on this new piece of our guts… Our humanoid machine Kevin Paradis started yesterday recording the drums for the upcoming album called ‘Obscene Repressed’ and we can’t wait to deliver you the most intense stuff we’ve ever made!”

Julien continues:
“This concept-album is about the story of a schizophrenic young man, with a cleft palate and serious oedipal issues that lead him to think and do extremely delusional things that you will discover among the songs… Hope you will enjoy this new beautiful love story! Ah ah! Stay sick, my friends!””

The new album is scheduled for release in 2020 via Season of Mist
BENIGHTED‘s latest EP ‘Dogs Always Bite Harder Than Their Master’ was released in 2018. Artwork, track list and album info can be found below.
Track-list
1. Teeth And Hatred (2:27)
2. Martyr (3:03)
3. Dogs Always Bite Harder Than Their Master (4:11)
4. Slaughter Of The Soul (At The Gates cover) (3:00)
5. Reptilian (Live in Lyon 2018) (4:26)
6. Cum With Disgust (Live in Lyon ft. Arno, Black Bomb A) (3:10)
7. Spit (Live in Lyon 2018 ft. Niklas, Shining)  (4:52)
8. Necrobreed (Live in Lyon 2018) (1:30)
9. Unborn Infected Children (Live in Lyon 2018 ft. Sven, Aborted) (3:56)
10. Foetus (Live in Lyon 2018 ft. Ben, Unfathomable Ruination) (3:20) Total playing time: 33:55
Madness reigns! BENIGHTED deliver the radical soundtrack to these savage times.

BENIGHTED were spawned by members from French Death and Black metal bands DISHUMANIZED, DARKNESS FIRE, and OSGILIATH, who joined forces in 1998 for a more brutal, heavy and modern way of expression. When their first self-produced and self-titled full-length hit the streets in 2000, it immediately had a strong impact. This turned a side-project into a main act. A fast-growing fan base was built by a string of acclaimed albums: ‘Psychose’ (2002), ‘Insane Cephalic Production’ (2004), ‘Identisick’ (2006), and ‘Icon’ (2007) were all enthusiastically received. With their latest full-length ‘Necrobreed’, the French sidestepped the steadily growing complexity of their previous albums ‘Asylum Cave’ (2011) and ‘Carnivore Sublime’ (2014) by recalibrating their sound along their roots. ‘Necrobreed’ came based on a theme revolving around the abysmal potential of the human psyche.
 
On the live front, BENIGHTED quickly started to capture audiences with sweat driver performances that bulldozer any resistance mercilessly aside. This allowed the French to climb up the ladder fast and soon came invitations to all major European festivals including Neurotic Death Fest, Hellfest, Wacken, Brutal Assault, Summer Breeze, and Inferno Festival among many more.
 
After their 20th anniversary, it was time for BENIGHTED to capture the live madness on ‘Dogs Always Bite Harder Than Their Master’ which not only contains three brand new tracks and the brutal  AT THE GATES cover of ‘Slaughter Of The Soul’, but also live recordings with guest musicians such as Sven Decaluwé (ABORTED), Nikita Kamprad (DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT), Arno (BLACK BOMB A), Niklas Kvarforth (SHINING) and Ben Wright (UFATHOMABLE RUINATION).
 
‘Dogs Always Bite Harder Than Their Master’ gives yet another extreme musical voice to the madness lurking within!
 
www.facebook.com/brutalbenighted
 
Line-up
Julien Truchan – vocals
Emmanuel Dalle – guitars
Fabien Desgardins – guitars
Pierre Arnoux – bass
Kévin Paradis – drums

Guest Musicians
3. Dogs Always Bite Harder than Their Master
Sven Decaluwé (ABORTED) and Nikita Kamprad (DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT)
 
6. Cum With Disgust (Live in Lyon 2018)
Arno (BLACK BOMB A)
 
7. Spit (Live in Lyon 2018)
Niklas Kvarforth (SHINING)
 
9. Unborn Infected Children (Live in Lyon 2018)
Sven Decaluwé (ABORTED)
 
10. Foetus (Live in Lyon 2018)
Ben Wright (UFATHOMABLE RUINATION)