Month: August 2017

HAMMR reveal first track from debut album Unholy Destruction – also cover, tracklisting

Satanic speed metallers Hammr reveal the new track “Satanic Raid” at Hells Headbangers’ official YouTube channel. The track hails from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Unholy Destruction, which shall be released later this year on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette formats via Hells Headbangers.

Hammr was formed in Cleveland, Ohio by J. Hammer in 2013. As a strictly solo endeavor, Hammr recorded a full digital-only demos album, which caught the attention of several labels. From there, the band went on to release the Hammr EP in 2015, first digitally and then on cassette tape through Hota Rex, the latter of which quickly sold out. Other plans for releases were delayed due to label managers going to jail as well as the usual financial delays, which led J. Hammer to start releasing demo singles directly to the metal people. It was during this time that he met the folks behind Hells Headbangers and also Demona founder Tanza Speed, who both took a lot of interest in Hammr. Once he received the offer, J. Hammer decided to hold off on recordings for other labels, and use some of his demos and new material for the imminent debut album, Unholy Destruction.

Ever aptly titled, Unholy Destruction is the grand culmination of the Hammr aesthetic. Built on a proud foundation of early Bathory, Celtic Frost, Iron Angel, Discharge, early Slayer, Sodom, and Venom, Hammr lets loose a wild ‘n’ loose blast of what J. Hammer has dubbed “Satanic speed,” which, in his own words, “combines fast speed metal riffing with D-beat drums and relentless arrangements. This isn’t a quick-startup, Lemmy-worshiping metal/punk band that we see a lot of; Hammr goes for your throat and doesn’t give a fuck about that shit.” Indeed it does go for the throat – relentlessly and rabidly, possessing the listener’s very body and soul as each galloping charge detonates upon pressing “play.” The solos fly fast and free from Midnight’s Commandor Vanik, instilling that very lawlessness so often missing from heavy metal these days. It’s raw and rivetheaded to the very end, locating that elusive point between heavy metal glory and hardcore punk fury, and reveling in the moment while simultaneously clutching tightly to rock-solid songwriting. And, above all, it compels – nay, DEMANDS – repeat plays, so total is that possession.

No politics, no party, no drinks: Unholy Destruction is Hammr’s declaration of independence for all the fellow lone-wolves out there. With mixing done by Commandor Vanik and mastering by Toxic Holocaust maiman Joel Grind, Unholy Destruction is bound to be one of the hottest debut albums in recent memory!

Cover and tracklisting are as follows.

Tracklisting for Hammr’s Unholy Destruction
1. Intro
2. Satanic Raid
3. Under Black Command
4. Eternal Prey
5. Desecrator
6. Sadistic Poison
7. Death Reign
8. Unholy Destruction
9. Demonic Rites
10. Into the Pentagram
11. Final Sacrifice

MORE INFO:
www.hammr.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/hammr666

MALOKARPATAN set release date for new album, reveal first track

Invictus Productions, in conspiracy with The Ajna Offensive, is proud to present Malokarpatan’s highly anticipated second album, Nordkarpatenland. Invictus shall be handling the album’s release in Europe, while Ajna will be handling North America. Fittingly, Nordkarpatenland shall be released on Halloween on both sides of the Atlantic.

Just last year, Invictus brought Malokarpatan’s debut album, Stridžie dni, to worldwide attention. Although originally released in limited editions in late 2015, the album’s bewitching charm soon entranced all who heard it; some even consider it a modern classic. With its filthy-yet-atmospheric sound half steeped in primitivism and half steeped in a strange, sincere desire to push black metal in weirder, more personal directions, Malokarpatan were proudly carrying on the spiritual legacy of vanguard Eastern Bloc bands like Root and Master’s Hammer – but, of course, with their own idiosyncratic touch. But as mighty ‘n’ mesmerizing as Stridžie dni may be, the now-quintet take the listener to the hinterlands of the grotesque and glorious here across Nordkarpatenland.

Truly a trip to the darkest corners of Eastern European folklore, Nordkarpatenland suitably stretches itself across more and weirder sonic landscapes. Whereas Stridžie dni steeped itself in the grit and grime of rural life, from witchcraft to drunkenness, there’s a more stately and ominous aspect to Nordkarpatenland that suggests a none-more-tweaked ambition on the part of Malokarpatan, as they push the extremes latent to their witching metal further and further, wilder and more wanderlusting. Not for nothing did they record the album at the very same studio the mighty Master’s Hammer recorded their infamous The Mass demo: exuding space and shade as well as iron-fisted force, Nordkarpatenland sees Malokarpatan matching form with content in a most masterful fashion. Simultaneously more direct and more refined than its no-less-powerful predecessor, Nordkarpatenland drinks even more deeply from the ancient well of Heavy Metal Wisdom, pushing forward a masterclass in timeless metal songcraft and epic storytelling alike whilst never losing the delirium-inducing iconoclasm the band made its foundation from day one.

No retro, no future, “on the surface” vs. “far below that surface,” and once again pulled off without the least bit of self-consciousness or cloying insincerity: simply, Malokarpatan are just being, and Nordkarpatenland simply EXISTS. Except, this is a world like no other. How far and free will you roam in Nordkarpatenland? Enter with the new track “V hustej hore na stračích nohách striga chalupu svoju ukrýva (Within the dense woods, the witch is hiding her hut on magpie legs)”

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Malokarpatan’s Nordkarpatenland
1. Nordkarpatenland
2. V okresném rybníku hastrman už po stáročá vyčína
(In the provincial pond, a water goblin has been raging for centuries)
3. Ked starého Bartolína ze šenku na táčkach zvážali
(When old Bartolín was driven back home from the tavern on a wheelbarrow)
4. Ked svetlonosi započnú v močariskách nazeleno svícit
(When will-o’-the-wisps begin to shine green in the bogs)
5. Nedlho po púlnoci opacha sa doplazila z dzíry
(Not long after midnight, the abomination has crawled out of the hole)
6. V hustej hore na stračích nohách striga chalupu svoju ukrýva
(Within the dense woods, the witch is hiding her hut on magpie legs)
7. Ked gazdovi upeleší sa v chyži nezdoba zmok
(When a bugger kobold settles down in the farmer’s household)
8. V rujnovej samote pocichu dumá lovecký zámek zvlčilého grófa
(In October’s solitude, silently the hunting chateau of the wolfish count is brooding)
9. Na horárni ve folvarku šafári rohatý jáger
(A horned jaeger governs the gamekeeper’s lodge in the uplands)
10. Ve starém mlyne čerti po nocách mariáš hrávajú
(Devils are playing whist at nights in the old water mill)

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/malokarpatan

IESCHURE set release date for debut album The Shadow, reveal first track

Iron Bonehead Productions sets December 1st as the international release date for Ieschure’s highly anticipated debut album, The Shadow, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Ieschure is a one-woman black metal formation from Rivne, Ukraine, founded by Lilita Arndt in early 2016. With lyrical themes solely focused on occultism, witchcraft, and death, Arndt set to work on her first public recording, The Shadow, which was created during 2016-2017. Although seeing the light now, The Shadow is a melancholic and nostalgic work of pure black metal that could’ve been released 25 years ago.

Breathing a similar essence of the founding early ’90s wave, Ieschure conjures an immediately captivating spell of exquisite grimness and bitter majesty. In a seemingly time-stretching 34 minutes, The Shadow indeed approximates its title, wrapping its ethereal embrace around the spellbound listener with an utterly cryogenic splendor, never ceasing its hold nor relinquishing any joy. The soundfield may be distant and withered – and unapologetically raw, of course – but Ieschure exudes a keen grasp of dynamics which allows every note (and the notes “between the notes”) to ring out in the night sky with an eeriness all her own.

This is music for when the light has truly died and human life ceases to move; it is the reverberation of nocturnal existence, many and terrible its denizens. Will you enter The Shadow with Ieschure? Begin the journey with the new track “What Waits in the End” HERE at Iron Bonehead’s Soundcloud. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Ieschure’s The Shadow
1. Intro – Shadows from the Great Beyond
2. Eternal Wheels of Life
3. Mystic Schizophrenia
4. Condemned to Death
5. What Waits in the End
6. Before the New Dawn Comes
7. Outro – Through the Chaos of Voices

SACRILEGIOUS RITE set release date for DUNKELHEIT debut, reveal first track

Today, Dunkelheit Produktionen sets November 13th as the international release date for Sacrilegious Rite’s highly anticipated debut album, Summoned From Beyond.

Although a seemingly brand-new name, Sacrilegious Rite’s history stretches back to the ’90s, when the band was formed following the breakup of Captis Damnare, who were active from 1999-2010. The remaining members Sumnor Amdis and E.I.-M. moved on to take a new path matching their interests and visions more than Captis Damnare ever did or could do. Their possibilities were limited, although there was inspiration, for sure. Infernal Beast, the drummer, left the band after a year. Throughout this timespan, some songs were recorded and a few gigs were played. This lineup recorded that songs that comprised the split releases with the German black metal legends Ungod and Bolivian cult Bestial Holocaust.

After Infernal Beast dropped out of the band, a lot of experiments with the lineup were undertaken – without any success. For a while, Sacrilegious Rite went on hiatus because E.I.M. lost interest in being a musician for a while and Sumnor Amdis went to work on his other projects. On the edge of disbanding, a new drummer was installed. Sitrom Rogir came at the right time, bringing just the right amount of passion and fanaticism to the table to get the band going again. Again, some concerts were played, and Angra Mainyu, former bassist of Captis Damnare, joined the band in the vacant position on bass. At last, the lineup was complete. The now-quartet eventually recorded the demo Black Curses of Death and the tracks for the split CD with Goatblood and Dethroned.

With their lineup solidified and a number of live gigs under their bulletbelts, Sacrilegious Rite hereby present their first full-length, aptly titled Summoned From Beyond. A work of both grimy physicality and mystical aura, Sacrilegious Rite fully embody the ancient spirit of black metal’s yesteryears. By no means “retro”-minded nor completely against regressionism, the quartet conjure a pulsing bestiality cloaked in fog and sulfur, nodding as much to the early ’90s Greek scene as they do South American wildness from the ’80s. However, solid songwriting reigns supreme across Summoned From Beyond, and each of the eight central tracks (notwithstanding the mood-establishing intro and outro) patiently unfolds to envelop the listener in an orgy of vociferous violence and malignant majesty. Suitably, the recording balances robust rawness and lingering mystery alike, rivetheaded abandon and opaque splendor in equal measure. Further intensifying that orgiastic sensation, the album features a number of guest vocalists: Infernal Execrator’s Lord Ashir on “Sacrilegious Rite,” Adaestuo’s Hekte Zaren on “Remains of the Deceased,” and Bestial Holocaust’s Sonia Sepulcral on “Strigoicia.”

The past is alive, and it’s been Summoned From Beyond by Sacrilegious Rite! Begin the summoning with the new track “Deathstalker”

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Sacrilegious Rite’s Summoned From Beyond
1. Miss Nigra
2. Sacrilegious Rite
3. Coronatus Rex Mortis (Morbid King of Devastation)
4. Deathstalker
5. Nocturnal Blood Consecration
6. In Abscence of Light
7. Remains of the Deceased
8. I Believe
9. Strigoicia
10. The Lost Sheep

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/SacrilgiousRite

VHÄLDEMAR reveal cover art & tracklisting for new album

Spanish heavy metal warriors Vhäldemar reveal the cover artwork and tracklisting for their long-awaited fifth album, Against All Kings, which has been recorded during the first half of this year and was preceded by the release of a limited EP this past May entitled Old King’s Visions (part V).

Now Vhäldemar can proudly say they’re in front of the best album in their career, a powerful opus comprised of 11 true metal hymns full of memorable riffs, killer choruses, and awesome solos. Vhäldemar is such a fucking heavy metal beast, and Against All Kings will crush everything around!

Against All Kings is scheduled for international release on November 7th on CD and vinyl LP formats through Fighter Records.

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Vhäldemar’s Against All Kings
1. Metalizer
2. Old King’s Visions (Part V)
3. Against All Kings
4. Eye For an Eye
5. I Will Stand Forever
6. Vulcano
7. Howling at the Moon
8. The Last to Die
9. Walking in the Rain
10. Rebel Mind
11. Titans in D Minor

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/VhaldemarOficial

BLUT AUS NORD set North American release date for new album Deus Salutis Meæ, reveal teaser video

Three years after the critically acclaimed Memoria Vetusta III – Saturnian Poetry, BLUT AUS NORD are back with Deus Salutis Meæ, a brand-new opus eagerly awaited by a horde of fans in need of disturbing sensations.

Mastered by Bruno Varea at Upload-Studio, Deus Salutis Meæ is an unfathomable opus in which BLUT AUS NORD fuses each distinct era of its 23-year existence with innovative readings of cavernous death metal, the occult excesses of outsider industrial, and the abject hauntings of psychotropic doom.

This crepuscular new opus contains ten obscure compositions:

01. δημιουργός
02. Chorea Macchabeorum
03. Impius
04. γνῶσις
05. Apostasis
06. Abisme
07. Revelatio
08. ἡσυχασμός
09. Ex tenebrae Lucis
10. Métanoïa

The astonishing artwork was handed to talented artist Anna Levytska. You can witness the front cover above.

Originating in 1994 from the ashes of VLAD (who released two demos), BLUT AUS NORD are undisputable French Black Metal pioneers, always managing to progress and move forward, evolving in perpetual mutation, developing their own vision of Black Metal.

Choosing, from the start, the total opposite path of regressive bands (who copy what others have done ten years earlier and ten times better), BLUT AUS NORD eschews all the inherent clichés belonging to the genre. BLUT AUS NORD’s Black Metal approach is a fist in the face of mainstream mediocrity, becoming more macabre and sinister through a blend of innovative musical research, subliminal mental manipulation, and an incredible haunted, nightmarish feeling based on disharmony.

BLUT AUS NORD are creators of a hallucinogenic universe, erasing all preconceived ideas of Black Metal – and extreme music in general. They redefine the rules…

Satanism, crimes, violence, and suicides: a new book tells the untold story of Finnish black metal

The Devil’s Cradle: The Story of Finnish Black Metal is the definitive history of one of the most uncompromising music scenes in the world: Finnish black metal. Based on over 50 interviews conducted by Helsinki-based journalist Tero Ikäheimonen between 2014 and 2017, the book unravels the story of Finnish black metal from the late 1980s to modern times.

“Countless of books have been written about black metal over the years, but every time, the Finnish scene has remained merely a side note,” says Ikäheimonen. “It’s an atrocity, since Finland has created some of the world’s most renown underground black metal since the beginning; I wanted to fix that. This book is made for the maniacs all over the world.”

To be released by Svart Publishing on November 1st, The Devil’s Cradle features such bands as Beherit, Impaled Nazarene, Barathrum, Archgoat, Azazel, Diaboli, Darkwoods My Betrothed, Horna, Vornat, Thy Serpent, Wanderer, Urn, Black Dawn, …And Oceans, Musta Surma, Alghazanth, Azaghal, Warloghe, Behexen, Clandestine Blaze, Satanic Warmaster, Ride for Revenge, Goatmoon, IC Rex, Charnel Winds, Cosmic Church, Saturnian Mist, Rienaus, and Abyssion among others.

“It was important for me to base the book on the experiences of true underground spirits – black metal musicians, zine authors, and tape traders,” Ikäheimonen says. “Many stories are told for the first time. I wanted to focus on the music, but not forget the darker side of black metal – all the violence, death, and destruction that have ravaged the Finnish scene. It was crucial to include the spiritual and psychological side of black metal, too. Satanism with all its different notions and the occult are present throughout the book.”

The Devil’s Cradle was first published in Finnish in September 2016 by Svart Publishing (titled Pirunkehto). The English translation features all the original content and two additional chapters. This edition will encompass 500+ pages and be presented in a hard cover. Chapter excerpts will be periodically revealed HERE.

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/The-Devils-Cradle-406077333070793

CRYPTIC FOG set release date for their debut album “Staring Through the Veil” and reveal first track

Blood Harvest Records sets October 27th as the international release date for Cryptic Fog’s highly anticipated debut album, Staring Through the Veil, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.

Hailing from the American Midwest, Cryptic Fog are one of the death metal underground’s true, as-yet-discovered gems. To date, the band have only a demo to their name, from their very beginnings in 2009, but they’ve been patient and plying away at their trade to craft to twisted majesty of Staring Through the Veil. Based around the songwriting duo of guitarist/bassist Dave Bennett and drummer Dan Klein, with Klein handling all vocals, together they have delivered a work that ably balances aggression and atmosphere, performance and production.

While grounded firmly in the long-running traditions of death metal on both sides of the Atlantic – thus, Tampa as much as Stockholm – Cryptic Fog aren’t afraid to blacken to a crisp their percolating compositions, which explode and retract and then twist further, only to explode into another angle, always offering the listener some new diabolical construct to warp the mind. And yet, for however serpentine the five songs comprising Staring Through the Veil may be (read: THEY’RE EPIC), the band manage to skillfully revisit and reiterate motifs, making the 46-minute album truly a journey but, above all, a highly memorable one. And that’s to say nothing of the gleaming-yet-grimy production – as clear and precise as the playing, but maintaining the same gnarliness that underpins the album’s lyrical themes.

While they seek to eventually have a working live lineup, Cryptic Fog have at least managed to deliver a work that’ll stand the test of time, as a monument to the boundless power and imagination as the death metal artform. Begin Staring Through the Veil and take your first steps toward an unforgettable journey!

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Cryptic Fog’s Staring Through the Veil
1. The Grand Berator Walks Amongst the Hall of Misery
2. Cast Into the Ghastly Pits of Execration
3. Cursed Oil Upon the Abhorrent Idols of Man
4. Eternal Internment of the Prolific Paradigm; Staring Through the Veil of Aberration
5. Cleansed by the Black Flame of Absolution

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/crypticfog

PILE OF EXCREMENTS set release date for their debut album, reveal first track

In their endless quest to push and support current underground acts that perpetuate the odor of vintage death metal, on October 23rd, Memento Mori is proud to present Pile of Excrements’ highly anticipated debut album, Escatology. Hailing from Athens, Greece, Pile of Excrements was crapped into existence when drummer Shit Eater (Necrovorous, Embrace of Thorns, Chainsaw) joined forces with guitar/bass-player and vocalist Necropervert (Nightbreed, Chainsaw) with the vile intention of delighting the listener with the aural equivalent of the nauseating stench of one hundred drains clogged with foul-smelling turds and urine. And as the title of their debut album promises, Escatology is exactly that!

Pile of Excrements began clogging sewers last year with the Demo 2016 tape. In no uncertain terms, the duo laid bare their divinely depraved musical influences – Autopsy/Abscess, Pungent Stench, Master, Impetigo, Blood, Necrophagia, Mantas/Death, Cianide, Massacre, and Hellhammer – and completed it with a compulsive obsession with slasher/gore B-movies, shit of all kinds, and high-cholesterol food. But, that demo was but a mere appetizer for the filthy feast to follow in Escatology!

From the very first second “Bowel Rampage” shits itself into existence, it’s crystal-clear these refined and suave Greek gentlemen are all about the FILTH in capital – and gushing – letters. From there, the foulness just starts flowing, one rough ‘n’ rancorous rush after another. Indeed, Pile of Excrements pile high the punk rockin’ hooks so crucial to early death metal – that is, the original template laid out by the aforementioned masters – and keep the crush coming. It’s 15 almost-anthems in a tight ‘n’ taut 40 minutes, but it’s not all short/sharp/shocked: on the six-minute “Cult of the Unibrow,” the duo go relatively epic whilst keeping the emphasis on the filth…where it should be! Featuring fittingly filthy cover art by Raul Fuentes and mastering by Cruciamentum’s Dan Lowndes, Pile of Excrements make Escatology a masterclass in musical depravity!

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Pile of Excrements’ Escatology
1. Bowel Rampage
2. Miasma Cuming Embalming Fluids
3. Made in Chernobyl
4. Hooker with a Hook
5. Graveyard Delicatessen
6. Leper Orgy
7. Escatology
8. Silent but Deadly
9. Yellow Front, Brown Back
10. Minestrone
11. Cult of the Unibrow
12. Skourkos the Polluter
13. Buttfucked by Giant Cockroach
14. Human Compost
15. Tourette Aggressor

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/pileofexcrements

Spanish black/death cult Krossfyre premiere the new track “Burning Torches”

Today, Spanish black/death cult Krossfyre premiere the new track “Burning Torches” The track hails from the band’s highly anticipated debut EP, Burning Torches, set for international release on September 15th via Hells Headbangers.

One of the most exciting newcomers Hells Headbangers has come across lately, Krossfyre formed only last year, but set to work on writing and recording Burning Torches, completing the six-song/20-minute EP last September at Moontower Studios. Although an otherwise brand-new name, Krossfyre include among their ranks members who do or have done time in such bands as Sheidim, Spain’s Graveyard, Körgull the Exterminator, Insulters, Morbid Flesh, and Suspiral. Nevertheless, the creation of Burning Torches itself bespeaks a whole new era of domination.

Right from its very beginning, Burning Torches explodes with an excitement and electricity that are uniquely Krossfyre’s, passion and poison mixed into one. Pounding metal, diabolic force, total power from Hell: this Spanish quintet whip forth a fury that’s strangely familiar yet simultaneously refreshingly unique; it’s a sound that’s been brewing in cast-iron cauldrons for time eternal, but now bubbling over with a youthful joie de vivre. References to be made include classic Nifelheim and Vomitor, but also early Tribulation, later Desaster, Gospel of the Horns, Bestial Mockery, and Nocturnal Graves among others. But the sheer charisma and cantankerous esprit Krossfyre exude – not to mention infectious, gloriously METAL songwriting – puts the band squarely amongst those hallowed ranks. Early days still, to be sure, but on evidence of the forthcoming Burning Torches, the name Krossfyre will soon be upon the tongues of diehards worldwide soon enough. Take these Burning Torches and feel the fire!

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Krossfyre’s Burning Torches
1. Krossfyre (intro)
2. Fire Solution
3. Burning Torches
4. Tabellae Defixionum
5. Black Jaws of Evil
6. The Great Masturbator

KROSSFYRE is:
A.K. – vocals (Sheidim)
C.S. – guitars (Sheidim, Graveyard)
J.B. – guitars (Graveyard, Körgull the Exterminator)
A.T. – bass (Sheidim, Suspiral)
J.G. – drums (Graveyard, Morbid Flesh, Insulters)

MORE INFO:
www.krossfyre.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/krossfyre666