Month: January 2020

American black-doom magickians Worm stream the entirety of their new album

Today, American black-doom magickians Worm stream the entirety of their highly anticipated second album, Gloomlord. Set for international release on January 24th via Iron Bonehead Productions, hear Worm‘s Gloomlord in its entirety here:
Hailing from the swampy recesses of Florida, originally as the work of one mysterious Fantomslaughter, Worm released two demos – The Deep Dark Earth Underlines All (2014) and Nights in Hell (2016) – before expanding to a duo alongside one Equimanthorn and releasing their debut album, Evocation of the Black Marsh, through Iron Bonehead in 2017. Fully distilling their foul ‘n’ fetid aesthetic, Worm‘s first full-length reaped a bounty of unsettling atmosphere and ancient-style songwriting, presenting a clanging, blown-out appropriation of early Goatlord and Mortuary Drape but with a screws-loose personality that hails unorthodoxy endlessly.

While those influences undoubtedly remain, Worm strike back with a bolder assertion of their own, now-unique identity with Gloomlord. Ever aptly titled, Gloomlord is an altogether more solemn and stately descent into the swamps, both spiritually and physically. With five epic songs spread across an impossibly vast 42 minutes, Worm‘s second album pounds forward with ominous intent, but slowly-evaporating melodies rise from the muck ‘n’ mildew and bewitch the listener with devastation and doom. Indeed, it’s the lattermost element – DOOM – where the duo expand the Worm aesthetic, dynamically exploring the crevasse between light and shade, in a sense evoking the early ’90s canon of classic UK doom-death as well as funeral doom progenitors Unholy, Thergothon, and especially Disembowelment; in fact, the lattermost-named band held the biggest influence on the stylistic shift across Gloomlord. Elsewhere, surprising twists of speed indeed twist the knife more cruelly, only to pull it back out – slowly – as that eerily reverberating melodicism takes center stage. The sum effect is drowning in that very same swamp, over and over but horrifically different from the last, ad infinitum and hypnotically so. Or, as the band themselves coin it, “Floridian Funeral Doom,” and that sum effect is indeed unique, and uniquely Floridian.

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Worm (USA)’s Gloomlord
1. Putrefying Swamp Mists at Dusk (Intro)
2. Rotting Spheres of Sentient Black
3. Apparitions of Gloom
4. Melting in the Necrosphere
5. Abysmal Dimensions
www.facebook.com/IronBoneheadProductions

DRUADAN FOREST reveal new song from upcoming three-way split with BANNWALD and URUK-HAI, to be released by ANTIQ

Today, dungeon synth sorcerers Druadan Forest reveal a special edit of the new track “Tuhat Tähteä Ikuisuuden Viitassa.” The track hails from a special split album shared with Bannwald and Uruk-Hai, jointly titled Kingdoms Long Gone, set for international release on February 2nd via Antiq on digipack CD and cassette tape formats.
Hear a special edit of Druadan Forest‘s originally 19-minute “Tuhat Tähteä Ikuisuuden Viitassa” in its entirety here:
With Kingdoms Long Gone, three esteemed projects join forces in an epoch-defining split album, the origin of which already dates back a whole year ago. Bannwald, Uruk-Hai, and Druadan Forest have put together their efforts to deliver what could well be considered a tribute to the dungeon synth subgenre itself. With styles ranging from film music to the purest form of video game OST, going through to medieval dark ambient and even medieval music, the three bands here are forging what can be considered a summation of dungeon synth’s stylistic rebirth as of late.

In addition to a classy digipak, Kingdoms Long Gone will also be available as a tape, as yet more of a tribute to dungeon synth’s aesthetic origins. A coherent split though the variety of bands here – with Bannwald delivering three tracks, Uruk-Hai delivering two, and Druadan Forest with one 19-minute epic – Kingdoms Long Gone poignantly encapsulates the influence of black metal in ambient musics, and could very well shape its future. And, to conclude a truly unique and immersive experience, the front cover was created by Marine Février (Arsule).
Antiq is a label dedicated to the fully coherent concept of making music through sound, image, video, and attitude. They have been putting their entire existence into it since 2009. Over the years, Antiq have been identified as producers of not only perfectly coherent lyrics and themes through music, but also conceptual art and, of course, the manufacturing of beautiful objects. The label tries as much as it can to work with French creators, and if possible, with the smallest and most serious structures.

Also hear Uruk-Hai‘s previously revealed “The Birth of an Uruk-Hai” here:
and Bannwald‘s previously revealed “Fortress I” here:
Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Kingdoms Long Gone
1. Bannwald – Fortress I [3:37]
2. Bannwald – Fortress II [4:58]
3. Bannwald – Kingdom Long Gone [7:41]
4. Uruk-Hai – Orkish Hymn [8:28]
5. Uruk-Hai – The Birth of an Uruk-Hai [7:11]
6. Druadan Forest – Tuhat Tähteä Ikuisuuden Viitassa [19:09]
www.antiqrecords.com
www.facebook.com/antiq.label 
www.antiqofficial.bandcamp.com 

VIOLENT HAMMER reveal first track from forthcoming HELLS HEADBANGERS debut – also cover art, tracklisting

Today, Finnish defilers Violent Hammer reveal the new track “(Trapped) in Depths.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s long-awaited debut album, Riders of the Wasteland, which will see release this spring via Hells Headbangers on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Hear Violent Hammer‘s “(Trapped) in Depths” HERE:
Hailing from the ever-fertile Finnish black/death underground, Violent Hammer formed in 2006. Two demos followed in short succession, in 2006 and 2007, before the band would go on hiatus. Violent Hammer would at last return in early 2014 with a new lineup and a new demo, More Victims – Demo 2014, which Shadow Kingdom would release on cassette later that year. Then, another hiatus…

However rough ‘n’ rowdy those earlier demos may have been, the reinvigorated Violent Hammer return with a full-length that handily trounces those not-inconsiderable predecessors. Aptly titled Riders of the Wasteland, Violent Hammer‘s debut album encompasses their simple yet scintillating aesthetic – the full span of death metal and black metal from the ’80s through early ’90s, early thrash, and most significantly early grindcore and UK/Swedish hardcore and crust from the ’80s – and blasts it into oblivion with the aplomb of a nuclear fallout. Unremittingly hammering and remorselessly primitive, each of the nine barbaric slabs of song across the album’s satisfyingly swift 26 minutes gets in, gets out, and fucking DESTROYS. As such, Riders of the Wasteland is deceptively catchy, much like so much ’80s grindcore was, and retains a twisted sense of fun within its gnarled ‘n’ gnarling sonics. And although Violent Hammer here invoke many names – from early Blood, Profanatica, Bestial Summoning, and Naked Whipper to likewise early Doom (UK), Extreme Noise Terror, Mob 47, and even earliest/crustiest Bolt Thrower and Napalm Death – the manner in which they slice and dice all these influences bespeaks an identity wholly unique in today’s underground landscape.

Release date and preorder info to be announced shortly.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Violent Hammer’s Riders of the Wasteland
1. Annihilation (Victims of Bomb Raid)
2. Death Squad
3. Wasted Through Life
4. Screams of Agony
5. Riders of the Wasteland
6. (Trapped) in Depths
8. House of Beria
9. Bratva
10. Prophet of Darkness
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/violenthammer
www.hellsheadbangers.com
www.facebook.com/hellsheadbangers 

MIMORIUM set release date for new SPREAD EVIL album, reveal first track

Today, Spread Evil Productions announces February 21st as the international release date for Mimorium‘s highly anticipated second album, Blood of Qayin.

Hailing from Finland, Mimorium would more properly be categorized as Scandinavian black metal, as they are rooted deeply in the ’90s Swedish and also Norwegian black metal scenes. One can one hear echoes of old Dissection, Mörk Gryning, and Dark Funeral in Mimorium‘s fast-paced and melodic black metal as a successful tribute brought to the new millennium, still sounding very much their own and something different simultaneously. Their second album takes a plunge into themes of death and killing, discovering the mysteries of the Blood of Qayin to possess the minds of the murderers viewed through the teachings of anti-cosmic Satanism. Swift ‘n’ decisive, Blood of Qayin shall flow – the past is alive with Mimorium!

In the meantime, let the first blood spill with the new track “Left Hand of North” here:
Distribution for the album is handled by Militant Underground.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Mimorium’s Blood of Qayin
1. I Am What We Are
2. Profane Breed
3. Regret Everything in You
4. Left Hand of North
5. Two Faced Shadow
6. Throne of Whore
7. Blood of Qayin
8. Hunter
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/mimorium
www.spreadevil.net 
www.facebook.com/spreadevilproductions 

TURIA set release date for new EISENWALD album, reveal first track

Today, Eisenwald sets February 14th as the North American release date for Turia‘s highly anticipated third album, Degen van Licht, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Turia‘s upcoming Degen van Licht is an ode to the ageless lure of the unyielding mountains, and an exploration of the sweltering warmth which encompasses these heights every summer. Crackling green pastures full of life morph into scorching fields of withered grass and decaying alpine herbs. Shrieks of lammergeiers prowling for the bones of decomposing creatures reverberate throughout the high summits. The purgatory potential of the massif is revealed when death prevails.

Witnessing these changes and enduring the delirious heat formed the basis for Degen van Licht. The maniacal drumming, tormented screams, and spectral guitars coalesce into a sound that will be familiar for longtime followers of Turia while further developing their signature psychedelic aural structures.
Cavernous reverbs evoke great depths and heights, while analog delays reminisce the phantasmal rays of the sun. The years of playing live across Europe since Turia‘s last album, Dede Kondre, are revealed in an increased complexity of songwriting. Taking cues from mid-era Bathory to early Hawkwind, moving between ferocious sonic avalanches and churning dirges, Degen van Licht is sure to expand Turia‘s idiosyncratic style of black metal into new territories.

The album is once again produced, recorded, and mixed by Turia themselves with assistance of longtime collaborator M. Koops (Fluisteraars). A greater clarity in the production is enhanced by the tasteful mastering courtesy of Greg Chandler at Priory Recording Studios. The album will be granted a worldwide release by Eisenwald on LP and CD while a cassette version will be available under the banner of Haeresis Noviomagi.

In the meantime, hear the new title track “Degen van Licht” here:
Ordering info for the CD and vinyl versions can be found at Eisenwald‘s North American webstore HERE.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Turia’s Degen van Licht
1. I
2. Merode
3. Met Sterven Beboet
4. Degen Van Licht
5. Storm
6. II
7. Ossifrage
MORE INFO:
www.montturia.bandcamp.com

Medico Peste release unnerving music video for new song “God Knows Why”

Polish black metal formation MEDICO PESTE are now releasing the first new track from their upcoming album ‘ב :The Black Bile’. The song “God Knows Why” is streaming here:

The new record is set for worldwide release on March 20, 2020 via Season of Mist Underground Activists. Pre-orders are available HERE!

Medico Peste release unnerving music video for new song “God Knows Why”

The cover artwork of  ‘ב :The Black Bile’ was created by Inside Flesh and can be found below, together with the tracklist.
Track List:
1. God Knows Why (08:25)
2. All Too Human (08:33)
3. Numinous Catastrophy (07:10)
4. Were Saviours Believers? (06:48)
5. Skin (06:37)
6. Holy Opium (05:48)
7. The Black Bile (06:45)
Total playing time: 0:50:06
In recent years, many Polish black metal bands have found their way to the forefront of the scene. Sharing live musicians with the titans of Mgła, MEDICO PESTE approach common narratives in black metal from a darker and more twisted state of mind than their contemporaries. The five-piece embrace a different look at death, religion, the Devil and his work, by exploring the distorted views of a tormented, neurotic subject and his schizophrenic visions.
 
MEDICO PESTE was originally formed in early 2010 by Lazarus (vocals) and Nefar (guitar), shortly after joined by The Fall (bass), EVT (guitar) and Priest (drums). The band released a demo in 2011 and shortly after followed up with the debut: ‘א: Tremendum et Fascinatio’. With this first full length, the Polish band impressed fans worldwide with their distinct approach to black metal.
 
In 2014 the band parted ways with Priest, replaced by The Fall for the recording of the EP ‘Herzogian Darkness’.  The acclaimed EP came out in 2017 and in that same year and Desolator joined the band as permanent drummer. MEDICO PESTE continued working on their second record and joined forces with Season of Mist’s Underground Activists sublabel to release ‘ב :The Black Bile’ in 2020.  

Themes such as madness, religion and nihilism form the core part of the band’s lyrics, accompanied by music which emanates psychopathic rage, intertwined with a wide range of non-metal influences like post-punk, avantgarde and cabaret music. ‘ב :The Black Bile’ builds on a specific vision of madness revolving around butoh theatre, ecclesiogenic neurosis, schizophrenia, dark grotesque and Jungian archetypes. Beware when you enter these nightmarish visions, emanating from a contorted mind..

Line-up:
Lazarus – vocals, guitar
The Fall – guitar, bass
Nefar – guitar
E.V.T – guitar
Desolator – drums

Recording line-up:
Lazarus – vocals, guitar
The Fall – guitar, bass
Nefar – guitar
Desolator – drums

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/medicopesteband
https://medicopeste.bandcamp.com

Welsh black metal ghoul Revenant Marquis streams new album

Today, Welsh black metal ghoul Revenant Marquis streams the entirety of its highly anticipated fourth album, Youth in Ribbons
Set for international release on January 20th via Inferna Profundus Records on CD format, hear Revenant Marquis’ Youth in Ribbons in its entirety here:
Hailing from the United Kingdom, Revenant Marquis is a mysterious yet incredibly prolific entity. Having just revealed its first public work in 2018, the aptly titled Pitiless Black Emphasis album, two more full-lengths quickly followed, Polterngyst and Anti Universal Compassion, both in 2019. This trifecta of albums displayed a restless ghoul firmly in the grips of the rawest black metal possession, but dispensing with terror and truth with almost preternatural ease. Now making a blood pact with Inferna Profundus, Revenant Marquis adds to that canon of foulness with Youth in Ribbons.

Challenging and defiant, once more does Revenant Marquis return from the sequestered black waters of Wales with Youth in Ribbons: a long-play collection of raw black metal necromancy that serves to bring the tortured, the forgotten, and the abused back from the choking abyss. There is no space for hope nor light in this assembly of rituals, as the listener must break bread with the maligned forces that lurk eternally waiting for granted passage. This is not music, but rather a covenant between the listener and the spectral realm.

As such, riffs seemingly slice the listener’s skin yet retain an elusive, almost-ethereal quality. There is power and propulsion here, too, but never does it feel like rote “violence” for its own sake; rather, any physicality or momentum is upended into a hypnotic disconnect that keeps that listener enthralled – literally, in thrall to Revenant Marquis’ diabolic conjurations. The title itself, Youth in Ribbons, is quite telling of the virtual deflowering at hand here, debasing the listener with ever-apparent ‘n’ arrogant disregard for comfort. A suffocating netherworld, beckoning ever so tantalizingly…indeed, “The Incorporeal Hallways.”

With Youth in Ribbons, figuratively and again literally, Revenant Marquis dares you to discover the profound and the profane in that experience.

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Revenant Marquis’ Youth in Ribbons
1. Menstruation
2. Ephebiphobia
3. Ephebophilic Wraith
4. Grave Lit Transmogrification
5. Ysgol
6. The Blood of Lady Tasker
7. The Bones of Lady Tasker
8. Taskermilward
9. The Incorporeal Hallways
10. Propagator of an Unspeakable Incestuous Coven
MORE INFO:
www.revenantmarquis.bandcamp.com

Chilean death metal duo Coffin Curse premiere the new track Grave Offender

Today, Chilean death metal duo Coffin Curse premiere the new track “Grave Offender” .
The track hails from the band’s striking debut album, Ceased to Be, set for international release on January 27th via Memento Mori. Hear Coffin Curse‘s “Grave Offender” in its entirety here:
Coffin Curse was thrown into this worthless world in Santiago in mid-2012, as a side-project of the main band Inanna, to spawn and vomit forth death metal in its purest form. Max Neira (guitars, bass, vocals) conceived this beast as a two-piece squad to explore the caverns of everlasting pain and horror. Musically, this is malevolent, straightforward, headbang-inducing death metal, inspired by early ’90s U.S. icons such as Morbid Angel, Monstrosity, Obituary, Immolation, or Deicide, plus the vicious vibe from the founding fathers such as Pentagram (Chile), Death, Possessed, Sepultura, Massacre, Slaughter Lord, Necrovore, etc.

There’s no blind allegiance nor messages to anyone; no dogmatic, religious, or cult preaching. Coffin Curse verses are just focused on the multiple facets of death in all its shapes. Spiritually, physically, morally, mentally, metaphysically; evil, madness, multiple perversions, violence, hatred, and despair – all that in communion within the endless confines of the human psyche.

From 2012 up until 2018, Coffin Curse have insulted the planet with one demo, three EPs, and one split effort, and now Max Neira along with Carlos Fuentes (drums) are ready to spit out the band’s debut album, Ceased to Be, which will be their biggest insult to the planet yet. Classic and crushing, Coffin Curse here unload a barrage of timeless DEATH METAL in a most late-’80s mold: a time, it must be said (or at least repeated once again!), when “songwriting” and “death metal” weren’t mutually exclusive terms. No riff salads, no jock jams, no gore-overload masking a dearth of ideas – rather, taut ‘n’ terrorizing memorability pumped full of catchy-as-the-clap riffs, haunting-the-chapel leads, and pro but not-too-polished production that only heightens the dark depths these Chileans plumb so powerfully. We’d deign to call it “classy,” even, but this is fucking death metal after all!

With suitably Classic Death Metal cover artwork courtesy of Daniel Hermosilla (Nox Fragor Art) and climaxing with the nine-minute epic “Deep in Streams of Purifying Dirt,” Coffin Curse crush graves and dreams alike with Ceased to Be!

Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Coffin Curse’s Ceased to Be
1. Gathered unto Death
2. Where Sickness Thrives
3. Chopped Clean Off
4. Descend into Abhorrence
5. Feeding on Perpetual Disgrace
6. Extinct
7. Grave Offender
8. Deep in Streams of Purifying Dirt
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/coffincurse
www.coffincurse.bandcamp.com

WALDGEFLÜSTER stream re-recording of first demo

Today, Nordvis Produktion releases a special re-recording of Waldgeflüster’s first demo, Stimmen im Wind 2020, on vinyl LP format. Hear Waldgeflüster’s Stimmen im Wind 2020 in its entirety here:
Founded fittingly in autumn 2005, Waldgeflüster have steadily perfected an individual mix of melancholic and nature-bound topics, rendering homage to black metal and its complexity with every note and every word of their lyrical songs. Began as a solo project of German multi-instrumentalist Winterherz, Waldgeflüster released its first demo, Stimmen im Wind, during the summer of the following year. In 2009 came the band’s debut album, Herbstklagen. The sound of Waldgeflüster was able to capture the recondite might of nature by harmonic but also overwhelming melodies, while the lyrics underlined the projected thoughts and feelings and therefore perfected the record. With his brother P., Winterherz created the concept record Femundsmarka – eine Reise in drei Kapitel in 2011. After the release of the follow-up Meine Fesseln, as of August 2014, Waldgeflüster transformed from a solo endeavor into a full band, with live musicians Arvagr, Domi, Markus, and Thomas finally joining the band as full members.

Thereafter, in 2016 did Waldgeflüster join the close-knit Nordvis family and released their first split with their brothers Panopticon, shortly followed by the highly praised album Ruinen that same year. In 2019, the successor record, Mondscheinsonaten, was released by Nordvis to yet more acclaim, further exploring the trademarks of Waldgeflüster but always reaching for new territories.

Since 2007, in addition to their steady stream of studio recordings, Waldgeflüster have become a prolific live force, playing many shows throughout Europe and the world, including such highlights as the Summer Breeze and Ragnarök festivals, a festival organized by Hammerheart Brewing Company in the US, and a full European tour during spring 2018 with Angantyr and Ereb Altor.

However, it was that fateful first demo of Stimmen im Wind which began the Waldgeflüster saga, and now Nordvis is proud to present a special re-recording on vinyl on the 15th anniversary of the band’s birth. Bringing the past into the present, the re-recorded Stimmen im Wind 2020 truly sounds like it could’ve come at any point in Waldgeflüster’s storied career – or, most especially, in this very present day – so consistently compelling is their muse. Included with this vinyl-only release is a free CD (in cardboard sleeve) with the original demo. Stimmen im Wind 2020 is a chance for the growing legions of Waldgeflüster to nostalgically dwell into wistful early days of the band. The past is indeed alive!

Order info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Waldgeflüster’s Stimmen im Wind 2020
1. Morgendämmerung
2. Waldgeflüster
3. Vintersjäl
4. Wotan sang
5. Wenn die Bäume
6. Abenddämmerung

MORE INFO:
www.waldgefluester.com
www.facebook.com/BlackMetalWaldgefluester

FAUSTIAN PACT set release date for long-awaited WEREWOLF debut album, reveal first track

Today, Werewolf Records sets February 14th as the international release date for Faustian Pact‘s highly anticipated debut album, Outojen Tornien Varjoissa, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Since 2007, Faustian Pact have been one of Finnish black metal’s best-kept secrets: “those who know, know.” Their first three demos, one following the other between 2008-2010, poignantly presented a magickal, folkloric aspect long missing from serious black metal. They were a band out of time, seemingly – “born too late,” not fit for these increasingly modern times. Now, nearly a decade after Faustian Pact‘s last demo, this trio of sorcerers bring the past into the present with their LONG-awaited debut album.

Titled Outojen Tornien Varjoissa, Faustian Pact‘s full-length debut is the grand culmination of all the gloriously bewitching work they brewed across that trio of demos. Exploding with an effervescence that’s addicting and undeniable, their swords-aloft attack surges and swells, crests and cascades. At the forefront are stained-glass synths whisked from a time – and a fantastical landscape – far, FAR away, sumptuously underlining their heroic/romantic style of black metal deeply steeped in a nostalgic past. Across the album’s 41 minute (fantastical) landscape are spread lyrics of splendorous mythology, swords & sorcery, vast forgotten realms brought to life through wily, wanderlusting black metal betraying a noble melodicism. Faustian Pact are thus a unique balance of contrasts: orkish energy vs. mystical atmosphere, dungeon rawness vs. castle-top aristocracy, obsidian darkness vs. gleaming light. So, whether 25 years ago or 2500, removed by a reality or two, Outojen Tornien Varjoissa is timeless BLACK METAL MAGICK – dark medieval times have at last arrived!

Witness their arrival with the brand-new track “Myytti Am’Khollenin Kuninkaasta” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Faustian Pact’s Outojen Tornien Varjoissa
1. Saastainen Valo Lintutornissa
2. Myytti Am’Khollenin Kuninkaasta
3. Kuulas Musta Aika
4. Loitsupuut
5. Rauniopuhetta
6. Keihäsrinta
7. Valottomien Askelten Takana
8. Askeesikuun Luolissa
9. Yön Viittojen Saleissa
10. Viimeisen Tyrannin Silmä

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/truefaustianpact