Month: July 2020

OVER THE VOIDS… / New album & video announcement

Polish blackened metal artist OVER THE VOIDS… returns on August 28th with the new album “Hadal”. The video and single “Corridors inside a glacier” is available today on YouTube and other relevant digital music services.  
Watch: https://youtu.be/8KZySeX7gIs
Listen: https://orcd.co/corridors-inside-a-glacier
 In conspiracy with Malignant Voices
OVER THE VOIDS… “Hadal” Over the Voids is back. The long-awaited sophomore album, “HADAL”, sports a masterful balance between atmosphere and aggression. Both melody and dissonance have their place here, and the forceful arrangements bristle with harsh energy. Interspersed with the frantic aural attacks are bleak passages, at times adorned with chanted clear vocals and haunting acoustic guitars.
With “HADAL”, main visionaire The Fall expands Over the Voids’ austere universe into new, yet oddly familiar, territories. Even though it is harkening back to the glorious 90’s black metal sound it is an evidence of how a fallen world can birth to something new and teeming with ominous potency. From the depths of
darkness, a new power emerges, spreading itself over the voids… Release date: August 28th 

More information on formats and pre-order: https://nordvis.com/en/over-the-voids-a-25 
OVER THE VOIDS…
Web: https://www.nordvis.com/en/over-the-voids-a-25
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/overthevoids/
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/overthevoids
Bandcamp: https://overthevoids.bandcamp.com/

Pre-IMMORTAL band AMPUTATION to have demos reissued by NUCLEAR WAR NOW! – streaming now

Today, Nuclear War Now! Productions sets August 31st as the international release date for an official collection of demos from Norway’s Amputation, Slaughtered in the Arms of God, on vinyl LP format.

By the early 1990s, a fairly distinct line in the snow had been drawn between the Scandinavian lands of Norway and Sweden with respect to the direction that each would take during the ensuing decade in cementing each country’s eventual extreme metal patrimony. To the east, Sweden would come to be regarded as the European home of death metal, while its neighbor to the west would go on to largely define the sound of modern black metal. A few notable Norwegian bands, such as Darkthrone, successfully navigated the transition from death to black metal during those years.

Another of the infamous Norwegian black metal bands, Immortal, arose from the ashes of its lesser-known death metal incarnation, Amputation, to achieve a much-deserved level of respect. Although Immortal achieved greater renown than its predecessor, Amputation deserves its own place in death metal history, rather than just a footnote. To this end, Nuclear War Now! is proud to present the first widely-available version of Amputation’s two demos, plus an additional 1989 rehearsal, on one compilation.  

Entitled Slaughtered in the Arms of God, this collection includes the demo of the same title from 1990 and the preceding Achieve the Mutilation demo from 1989. Amputation’s original recording lineup consisted of Harald Nævdal (aka Demonaz) on guitars and vocals, Truls Kvernhusvik (guitars), Padden (bass), and Jørn Inge Tunsberg (drums). Kvernhusvik exited the band prior to the recording of the second demo, leaving the remaining trio as Amputation’s final lineup.  

Confirming its place in Scandivanian metal history, the Slaughtered in the Arms of God demo was recorded at Grieghallen Studios, where many of the Norwegian legends – like Mayhem, Emperor, Enslaved, and Immortal – recorded their early albums. May this collection now serve to immortalize Amputation’s recordings both in the eyes of those already versed in the band’s dark brand of death metal, as well as those previously uninitiated.
  In the meantime, stream the collection in its entirety here:

Cover art and tracklisting as follows:

Tracklisting for Amputated (Norway)’s Slaughtered in the Arms of God 1. Heavenly Grace
2. Slaughtered in the Arms of God
3. Plague of Death
4. Death Is Not the End
5. Merciless Slaughter
6. Intense Torture
7. Amputation
8. Death Is Not the End
9. Merciless Slaughter
10. Hunger of Blood
11. Intense Torture
12. Plague of Death


Tracks 1-2: Slaughtered in the Arms of God demo 1990
Tracks 3-6: Achieve the Mutilation demo 1989
Tracks 7-12: Rehearsal 1989
www.nwnprod.com
www.facebook.com/pages/Nuclear-War-Now-Productions/114864651994141

ISOLERT set release date for new NIHILISTICHE KLANGKUNST album – features members of SØRGELIG

Today, Nihilistische KlangKunst announces November 11th as the international release date for Isolert‘s highly anticipated second album, World in Ruins, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Howling forth from the nameless abyss betwixt Hell and insanity, black wings outstretched to envelop the world, comes the nihilistic yet irrepressible spirit of Isolert. Forged in Volos, Thessaly amidst the searing flames of 2015 by Nick S and Panagiotis T (also active together in Sørgelig), this bewitching project draws not from the classic Greek black metal sound and instead delves deep into the Scandinavian night with a wretched fervor that calls to mind such luminary names as Gorgoroth or Dissection, dexterously blended with a touch of that crepuscular madness that only acts like Tribulation can typically conjure.

The early years of Isolert were a flurry of diabolical activity. In March of 2015, with the sparks of their meeting setting all around them ablaze, their initial demo, Isolated Soul, was quickly wrought upon the unsuspecting world. 2016 would then see Giannis and Apostolos join the band for the release of their first LP, entitled No Hope, No Light… Only Death, garnering great acclaim. 2017 pushed their possessed productivity to even greater levels of intensity, the impure fruits of which were an EP entitled Isolert, a split album with countrymen and kindred souls Insanity Cult, plus a collaborative effort with the mighty Human Serpent on a glorious 20-minute composition – all of which only served to strengthen their whispered legend.

And then, the project was locked in a cage. Hidden deep underground. Almost forgotten…until now.

For 2020 sees the now-triumvirate of Nick, Panagiotis, and Apostolos poised to release their most devastating ode to darkness yet: World In Ruins. With a name both inspired by the end-state of the world and descriptive of what will surely happen once this album is released, the album roars and rails with a ferocious apocalypticism only hinted at in Isolert‘s previous works. Crushing melodic leads entwine with an incredibly visceral, vital vocal performance to inspire dread and despair as you, the listener, can only watch it all collapse around you…

So be warned: you have until November to make all necessary preparations before Nihilistische KlangKunst unleashes the final catastrophic blow upon humanity via digipack CD and 12″ vinyl, with spectacularly eschatonic cover art courtesy of VisionBlack – Nikos Stavridakis.

Isolert have returned…and they bring with them a World in Ruins. (text by Aaron Bray)

First track premiere to be announced shortly. Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Isolert’s World in Ruins
1. Fire, Ash, Blood [3:31]
2. Burn Them [4:04]
3. As We Die [5:08]
4. Extinction [4:36]
5. Staring at a Path Towards Nowhere [7:19]
6. World in Ruins [5:33]
7. Light…Has Abandoned Us [10:14]
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/isolert
www.isolert.bandcamp.com
www.n-kk.de 
www.nihilistischeklangkunst.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/Nihilistische-KlangKunst-104664284637790

MOSAIC stream new special 15th anniversary collection for EISENWALD

Today, Supreme Thuringian Folklore shapeshifters Mosaic stream the entirety of their brand-new special collection titled Harvest: Songs of Autumnal Landscapes and Melancholy. Recently released via Eisenwald on CD format, hear Mosaic‘s Harvest: Songs of Autumnal Landscapes and Melancholy in its entirety here:
2020 marks the 15th year since the conception and birth of Mosaic, the evocative, enigmatic brainchild of Martin van Valkenstijn.

Harvest: Songs of Autumnal Landscapes and Melancholy spans the first 10 years of Mosaic. It is a collection of early material, containing the very first Mosaic recordings which have been released previously only on very small runs of cassette tapes. To complete the autumnal feast, the orignal Samhain Celebration song cycle was added, which complements the early material and advances it to a full-length duration.
Harvest is an ode to Valkenstijn’s beloved Thuringian homelands. It takes us on a journey through misty woods and foggy nights, when the golden sunlight of late summer must give in to the autumnal cold that starts rising from the ground, when the warmth of summer must yield to the chilling breeze that heralds the end of the year, when the light must give in to the dark. Valkenstijn’s unique recitations of poems by Georg Trakl, Joseph Eichendorff, Max Dauthendey and more, together with his own original writings, evoke the scents of a fire crackling in the chill morning air, of mossy woods that lure the melancholic mind ever deeper into their enchanted depths.

Starting off as a delicate blend of the finest neofolkloristic/classical soundscapes – think Empyrium, Sturmpercht, or Rome –Harvest eventually erupts into outbursts of furious black metal in the vein of Germany’s éminence grise Lunar Aurora.

The recordings were thoroughly reinvigorated without losing their original appeal by Valkenstijn in May MMXX at his House of Inkantation.

This album will be released on all digital channels and CD jewelcase with a complete new layout and artwork based on historic photographs from Thuringia. A two-sided 24x24cm poster and a slipcase with the original artwork will also included.

Order/save link can be found HERE.
Further ordering info can be found at Eisenwald‘s North American webstore HERE.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Mosaic’s Harvest: Songs of Autumnal Landscapes and Melancholy
1. Feuerspuk & Tannenreben
2. Dunkler Herbst
3. Schwarze Erde
4. Haimat
5. Golden Sunset
6. Autumn Winds
7. Inkantation: O Sun King!
8. Samhain
9. Der letzte Atem
10. Olden Hair (Blood is King Pt. I)
11. Inkantation: O Blood King! (Blood is King Pt. II)
12. As The Fields Call From Graves (Blood is King Pt. III)
13. The Commandment
14. Bittersweet Odour
15. Geleit zum Wyntar
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/mosaicofthefallenone 
www.mosiacofthefallenone.bandcamp.com
www.eisenton.de
www.facebook.com/eisenwaldofficial
www.youtube.com/eisenwaldofficial
www.twitter.com/EisenwaldHammer
www.instagram.com/eisenwald.official
www.open.spotify.com/user/eisenwald_official

MÖRK GRYNING announce new album details for ‘Hinsides Vrede’

Legendary Swedish black metal formation MÖRK GRYNING have announced the details of their new album ‘Hinsides Vrede’. The record will be released via Season of Mist on October 23. Pre-sales will be available soon.

The band has furthermore released an album teaser, which can be watched here:
MÖRK GRYNING comment: “We are proud to announce that we finally have a new album ready. It’s been a long wait, but we are still just as hungry. It goes straight to the core of what we are; brutal and melodic, dark and euphoric. Prepare to join our maelstrom once again!”
Tracklist:
1. The Depths of Chinnereth (01:00)
2. Fältherren (03:37)
3. Existence in a Dream (03:12)
4. Infernal (03:41)
5. A Glimpse of the Sky (02:56)
6. Hinsides (01:25)
7. The Night (03:13)
8. Sleeping in the Embers (04:25)
9. For Those Departed (01:09)
10. Without Crown (04:29)
11. Black Spirit (04:36)
12. On the Elysian Fields (01:41)
“The sleepers are asleep no more. The dead are resting peacefully no more”.  With these words, one of Sweden’s finest black metal acts announced their return and a new album. MÖRK GRYNING will once again unleash their wrath upon the masses with ‘Hinsides Vrede’.

Founded in 1993 in Stockholm, Sweden, MÖRK GRYNING stood at the cradle of the melodic black and death metal scene as it is known today. In May 1995, founding members Goth Gorgon and Draakh Khimera entered the Unisound Studios to record their now legendary debut album ‘Tusen År Har Gått’, produced by Dan Swanö.

This record quickly drew attention in the underground scene, and it is still one of the most celebrated records in black metal to this day. The melodic combination of haunting black metal with heavy metal, toppled with keyboards and acoustic guitars became the trademark of MÖRK GRYNING. Moreover, they were one of the first black metal bands to ever sing in their mother tongue.  

In 1996, the Swedes entered the Sunlight Studios with Tomas Skogsberg and DISMEMBER’s Fred Estby to craft the follow-up ‘Return Fire’. The reception of this dark, thrash metal influenced record was initially not as strong as its predecessor, but it gained popularity over the years. It is now regarded as one of the hallmarks of early Swedish black metal.  

Avathar joined the group in 1999, who’s virtuous guitar soloing added a new dimension to the band’s sound. A year later, the three-piece traveled to Bergen, Norway, and cut ‘Maelstrom Chaos’ at the famous Grieghallen Studios, produced by legendary Norwegian producer Pytten (MAYHEM, BURZUM, EMPEROR). The music had taken a more orchestral approach with epic arrangements and longer songs, culminating with the incorporation of Mozart’s “Lacrimosa” in the song “The Menace”.

The band started performing live and hired several session musicians, such as Dennis Ekdahl, (RAISE HELL, THYRFING), Baron Samedi (WOMBBATH, GATES OF ISHTAR) and Stefan Lundgren (NECRONOMICON, SECTU) to name a few. A year of intense gigging followed, among other shows the festivals Hell on Earth 2001 and Wacken 2002.

In early 2003, MÖRK GRYNING entered the Dug Out Studio (MESHUGGAH, DEVIN TOWNSEND, IN FLAMES, DARK FUNERAL) with the two producers David Bergstrand and Örjan Örnkloo. Although every album thus far had been a big step from the previous in terms of music and sound, the difference was beyond comparison on ‘Pieces of Primal Expressionism’. The music was highly experimental with disharmonic clusters painted on a gargantuan wall of sound built by Bergstrand. The record turned out to be a great divider. Many old fans were deterred by the abrupt change of style while others praised it as a brave step forward.

Several line-up changes followed in the years after the release, but the band kept on touring and playing festivals. Eventually, Goth Gorgon was left as the only original member and disbanded the project even though a new record was already being recorded. Posthumously, the recorded songs were released by Black Lodge Records in 2005 on the self titled album ‘MÖRK GRYNING’.

After more than a decade of silence, the old flame of chaos flared up again. Founding members Goth Gorgon, Draakh Kimera and Avatar reunited for what was supposed to be a one-off at Party San Open Air in Germany. More shows followed and fresh off the stage at Eindhoven Metal Meeting 2019 in the Netherlands, a new album deal was forged with Season of Mist.

With ‘Hinsides Vrede’, MÖRK GRYNING again found the synergy they had while writing their legendary debut record and return to their foundations by balancing melody with straightforward brutality. Yet, by striving to reinvent themselves with every record, the long-awaited comeback of the band is by no means a reiteration of a glorious musical past.

Translating into ‘otherworldly wrath’ or ‘wrath of the world beyond’, ‘Hinsides Vrede’ represents the doom of pre-historic cultures as well as our impending doom while the world is cracking at its seams. It is a furious assault upon the civilized world and a descent into the nether regions of the world beyond. Join us into the maelstrom!

Follow MÖRK GRYNING on Facebook and Instagram.

Photographer: Peter Wendin

Recording studio: Wing Studios, Sverker Widgren
 
Producer / sound engineer, mixing and mastering: Wing Studios, Sverker Widgren

Line-up:
Draakh Kimera – Lead Vocals, Guitar, Drums
Goth Gorgon – Bass, Guitar, Backing Vocals
Avathar – Lead Guitar
 
Recording line-up:
Draakh Kimera: Lead & Backing Vocals, Guitars, Drums, Keyboards
Goth Gorgon: Bass, Lead Guitar, Backing vocals, Lead vocals on “Black Spirit”, Keyboards
Avathar: Lead Guitar     
C-G: Drums on “Fältherren” & “Black Spirit”
Aeon: Backing Vocals, Piano on “For Those Departed” & “On The Elysian Fields”

Guest musicians:
Laura Ute: Vocals on “Black Spirit”

Live members:
C-G – Drums
Aeon – Keyboards

VITAL SPIRIT set release date for HIDDEN TRIBE debut EP – features members of WORMWITCH and SEER

Today, Hidden Tribe Records announces August 28th as the international release date for Vital Spirit‘s striking debut EP, In The Faith That Looks Through Death, on cassette tape and digital formats.

Although a new entity in the flesh, Vital Spirit in fact is a special collaboration between two scene veterans: Kyle Tavares (Seer, Wormwitch) and Israel Langlais (Wormwitch). Riffs for their first recording were written during and between Wormwitch’s 2018 and 2019 American tours, influenced heavily by the land and history. Demos were then completed while locked down during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In The Faith That Looks Through Death, that first recording of Vital Spirit, is a remarkably accomplished work that breathes new life into black metal’s tired ‘n’ often-trite corpse. “Harrowing ballads imbued with the enduring spirit of the Americas” is how the duo describes this four-song/17-minute work, and indeed will one find the windswept grandeur of the Wild West writ large across this potent ‘n’ poignant short-length. Right from the start, the surge is searingly familiar of black metal’s most steadfast expression, but Vital Spirit‘s iteration of such soon takes on a wily ‘n’ wending contour all its own, dramatically dusted with a yearning melodicism redolent of the Spaghetti Western films of the 1960s. Musically, it’s part and parcel of the EP’s lyrical content, which ranges from Mayan cosmology and history, Pancho Villa’s role in the Mexican Revolution, and Wovoka’s Ghost Dance movement.
Vital Spirit are not shy about their influences. Lyrics are said to be inspired by the words of Wovoka, Patti Smith, Chilam Balam, Townes Van Zandt, and the corridos of the Mexican Revolution. They list their musical influences as Ennio Morricone, Taake, Earth, Ulver, Marty Robbins, Dissection, Drudkh, Inquisition, and Wovenhand. A varied and idiosyncratic pool of inspiration, to be sure, and suitably do the duo transform all these seemingly disparate threads into something completely, uniquely their own. Thus, Vital Spirit join other contemporaries breathing new life into black metal like Vanum, Wiegedood, Ash Borer, Turia, Verwoed, Anicon, Void Omnia, Yellow Eyes, and Fluisteraars.

Vital Spirit‘s In The Faith That Looks Through Death was recorded and engineered by Tim Creviston (Wormwitch, Seer) and mixed & mastered by Andrew Oswald (Vanum, Ash Borer, Superstition). The cassette edition will be the first release of Tavares’ label Hidden Tribe Records. ¡viva la revolución!

First track premiere and preorder info to be announced shortly. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Vital Spirit’s In The Faith That Looks Through Death
1. Heart of Sky [3:53]
2. Centaur [4:55]
3. Face of the Sun [3:29]
4. Ghost Dance [4:22]
VITAL SPIRIT lineup
Kyle Tavares – vocals, guitar, bass
Israel Langlais – drums


MORE INFO:
www.vitalspirit.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/hiddentriberecords

Canadian black metal mavericks Panzerfaust premiere new track

Today, Canadian black metal mavericks Panzerfaust premiere the track “The Snare of the Fowler”
The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s The Suns of Perdition II: Render Unto Eden – the highly anticipated second installment of a four-part album series – set for North American release on August 28th via Eisenwald.
The digital single cover is as follows:
For the better part of 15 years, Canada’s Panzerfaust have been steadily crafting some of the finest, most thought-provoking black metal. With their The Winds Will Lead Us… debut album in 2006 onward, their obsidian flower forever kept blossoming, culminating in 2013’s pivotal Jevohah-Jireh: The Divine Anti-logos, which signaled a significant (and fortuitous) shift in the band’s aesthetic. In 2016, Panzerfaust released The Lucifer Principle EP, pushing their adventurous spirit yet further, perhaps most forecasted by the closing Johnny Cash cover.

However, it was 2019’s The Suns of Perdition – Chapter I: War, Horrid War where Panzerfaust truly had their watershed moment. Released to widespread acclaim by Eisenwald, this staggering work brimmed with daring and dynamics – a kaleidoscopic fury, if you will – that vivaciously and viciously displayed a band hitting their creative peak. The album was the first chapter of the band’s tetralogy examining the malign episodes of this past century, shining a light on difficult subject matter using a begrimed philosophical lens. The resulting synthesis is what George Orwell once described as [a vision of the future] “a boot stamping on a human face forever.”

Alas, Panzerfaust waste no time in delivering the next chapter of that tetralogy – and equally keep a fever pitch to that creative peak – with the much-anticipated The Suns of Perdition II: Render Unto Eden. Recorded at BWC Studios with Greg Dawson and with mastering by Sergei Lazar at CDM Records, Render Unto Eden is an altogether more somber record: here do Panzerfaust more fully work with light and shade, their darkness displaying far more hues than previously deemed imaginable. Whereas the five-song first chapter was taut ‘n’ terrorizing, The Suns of Perdition II likewise features five songs but in a more expansive 44-minute runtime. As such, massive vistas of molten melancholy unfold, the inexorable push-and-pull patient but persistent; layers upon layers of understanding are packed into each of these scintillating minutes. The violence is more carefully doled out, in kind, and the sum effect is nothing short of hypnotic, particularly the track “Promethean Fire,” which features guest vocals from Maria Arkhipova of Russia’s Arkona. The Suns of Perdition II: Render Unto Eden echoes within the mind and spirit long after the record’s over…

A new dawn looms, retaining the brilliance of yesteryear’s horizon. Ominous and omnipotent, here rises Panzerfaust‘s The Suns of Perdition II: Render Unto Eden.

In the meantime,  hear the previously revealed “The Faustian Pact” HERE at Eisenwald‘s official YouTube channel as well as HERE at Eisenwald‘s Bandcamp.
Preorder/pre-save link can be found HERE. 
Further ordering info can be found at Eisenwald‘s North American webstore HERE.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Panzerfaust (Canada)’s The Suns of Perdition II: Render Unto Eden
1. Promethean Fire [10:22]
2. The Faustian Pact [8:10]
3. Areopagitic [7:34]
4. The Snare of the Fowler [9:54]
5. Pascal’s Wager [8:00]
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/PANZERFAUST.BM.OFFICIAL
www.eisenton.de
www.facebook.com/eisenwaldofficial
www.youtube.com/eisenwaldofficial
www.twitter.com/EisenwaldHammer
www.instagram.com/eisenwald.official
www.open.spotify.com/user/eisenwald_official

MONGREL’S CROSS reveal cover & tracklisting for new HELLS HEADBANGERS album – ABSU’s Proscriptor features as new vocalist

Today, Aussie metal vanguard Mongrel’s Cross reveal the cover and tracklisting for their highly anticipated third album, Arcana, Scrying and Revelation, which will be released this autumn by Hells Headbangers on CD and vinyl LP formats. This album marks the arrival of Absu’s Proscriptor as their vocalist. Cover art, courtesy of Kris Verwimp, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Mongrel’s Cross’ Arcana, Scrying and Revelation
1. Suffer the Witch to Live [6:07]
2. Fate of the Grail PT. I [4:53]
3. A Magician’s Prayer [5:22]
4. Fate of the Grail PT. II [6:02]
5. As a Being Undead [5:21]
6. What the Cards May Tell [6:09]
7. The Whispering Void [4:45]
Hailing from the extreme metal hotbed of Australia, Mongrel’s Cross were once of the best-kept secrets Down Under. The band’s debut album, The Sins of Aquarius, was released in 2012 via Hells Headbangers, and presented an unselfconsciously unique twist on paradigmatic Oz black/death. Grimily gratifying, Mongrel’s Cross unleashed a widescreen span of filthy thrashing, down-tempo war-marches, and epic metal grandeur alike, and diehards dutifully took note. Unfortunately, lineup struggles would hamper momentum, and it would take six long years before another recording reared its head.

However, when Mongrel’s Cross at last emerged from their hiatus, now pared down to a duo, the dividends paid off handsomely. Released in 2018 to widespread international acclaim, Psalter of the Royal Dragon Court soon became something of a modern classic to any and all who heard it. Mongrel’s Cross didn’t so much as change during the interim as simply intensify and fine-tune their iron-fisted attack, here conveying an altogether more terrifying and triumphant aspect. It was the age-old axis of form meeting content, and rarely had a metal record this cleanly produced sounded so threatening, which simply underlined the powerful panache to the band’s strong songwriting. Mongrel’s Cross had truly arrived with Psalter of the Royal Dragon Court – and thankfully, people were now paying attention.

Keeping that shit-hot momentum going, Mongrel’s Cross scored quite the coup in acquiring the legendary vocal skills of Absu’s incomparable Proscriptor for their third full-length. Bearing the appropriately magickal title of Arcana, Scrying and Revelation, these Aussie hooligans-turned-heroes are set to deliver yet another decisive and undeniable album. Mongrel’s Cross are on the march, ready to take the throne that’s rightfully theirs.

If its no-less-considerable predecessor saw Mongrel’s Cross step deeper into territory that’s entirely their own, here with Arcana, Scrying and Revelation do the bolstered quartet solidify that rarefied ground. Not for them the over-generalization of “Australia = war metal” nor the simplistic connotations associated with such; still peaking at the height of their compositional powers, Mongrel’s Cross remain a great extreme METAL entity. All the drama and danger, legendry and lawlessness, power and poison, and essential OTT abandon of this artform otherwise known as heavy metal – everything that Psalter of the Royal Dragon Court so effortlessly played out with a palpably physical poetry – here on Arcana do they render in more manic and narrative form, no doubt informed by Proscriptor’s pioneering work with the singular Absu. In fact, it’s a match so perfect (and poignant), it’s a small wonder it never happened sooner… Regardless, each of these seven screeds artfully canvasses a wide territory of heavy metal magick – the playing deft and nuanced, the songwriting itself direct yet richly detailed – and once again does the clean ‘n’ gleaming production fit like a gauntlet lined with velvet. In a word, Arcana is EPIC, in every sense.

Suitably adorned with majestic cover artwork courtesy of the masterful Kris Verwimp, hereby do Mongrel’s Cross enter the halls of confirmed greatness with Arcana, Scrying and Revelation!

Release date, preorder info, and first track to be announced shortly.

For more info, consult the links below.
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/MongrelsCross  
www.hellsheadbangers.com
www.facebook.com/hellsheadbangers 

Crippled Black Phoenix reveal ‘Ellengæst’

CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX are now unveiling the title and the release date of their forthcoming new album! The new offering will carry the name ‘Ellengæst’, and is set for world wide release on October 9, 2020. New music and the pre-order kick off will be shared on July 28.

Mastermind Justin Greaves comments: “This album was recorded at the end of last year so we’re super excited to finally let it go free into the world, it feels like it’s a new age for CBP, we’re embracing the change. The songs are a collection of thoughts and feelings which all relate to how we exist in the world but also it’s about crossing into the other dimensions, how we all have spirits and demons, how we can be strong and also weak. How we miss loved ones and also lament the human race. The artwork by Thana really expresses the theme of the album, it visualises the spiritual aspect of Ellengæst perfectly. There’s an atmosphere about it which draws you in.”

CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX are furthermore revealing the artwork and track-list of ‘Ellengæst’. Both can be viewed below. More news soon!
Track-list
1. House Of Fools (7:52)
2. Lost    (8:11)
3. In The Night    (8:38)
4. Cry Of Love (5:46)
5. Everything I Say    (7:21)
6. (-) (1:51)
7. The Invisible Past (11:26)
8. She’s In Parties    (3:51)
“One thing we’ll never do is stick to the rules and stay within the box.” 

Such are the words from Crippled Black Phoenix founder, songwriter and guitarist Justin Greaves, who has guided this progressive, thought-provoking, shape-shifting musical collective since their 2004 formation. Their new effort, Ellengæst, follows a recent pattern of the band in releasing a mini-album in between studio LPs. It is the direct result of their ceaseless creativity — when Greaves has songs, Crippled Black Phoenix records them. Ellengæst has the difficult task of following 2018’s profound and moving Great Escape. Ellengæst, though, does not make any attempts in pairing with or succeeding Great Escape. Circumstances largely prevented it anyway. 

On the day tracking started for Ellengæst, Crippled Black Phoenix — completed by vocalist Belinda Kordic, guitarist Andy Taylor and multi-instrumentalist Helen Stanley —suddenly, unexpectedly found themselves without a male lead vocalist and keyboardist. Whereas events of a similar thread would spell doom for most bands, Greaves took it as an opportunity to tap into his deep network of musician friends. Before he knew it, several prominent guest vocalists were secured, ready and able to lend their considerable talents to Ellengæst which, in Olde English translates to “mischievous demon,” but in Scandinavian as “strong spirit,” represents Crippled Black Phoenix’s duality. “It comes from the same place, but with different connotations,” says Greaves. “That’s this band in a nutshell. We’ve had to stay strong because of all the BS we’ve encountered, yet we’re still going and subversive. It’s like we’re giving kids candy with razor blades in them.” 

Crippled Black Phoenix are no strangers to adversity, making the events surrounding the creation of Ellengæst yet another roadblock for a band whose very existence has been threatened on more than a few occasions. Their unique setup and stubborn refusal to bow to musical norms may confuse the casual music consumer. However, the core of Crippled Black Phoenix — Greaves, Kordic, Taylor and Stanley — thrives on the unconventional, remaining steadfastly singular and undefinable. Accordingly, Greaves believes this incarnation of Crippled Black Phoenix is the strongest to date. All it took was another dramatic sea-change to prove it. 

“This was the best thing that could have happened to us,” he says. “Before, there was this horrible cloud of drama following us. There was always something going on. Once that had gone and the people who were on the outside of the band who were a part of that, once they had gone and the drama had gone, me and Helen found ourselves tracking in the studio in the first session. We just got on with it; we didn’t think twice. In the second session, we just felt liberated. We just knew, ‘This is going to be great.’ We’re all so excited about the possibilities. It feels like we’re rejuvenated.” 

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Recording line-up
Justin Greaves
Belinda Kordic
Helen Stanley
Andy Taylor
Ben Wilsker

Friends & Guests
Stay tuned for the guest vocal announcement later this week!

Studio: Recorded at Chapel Studio, Lincolnshire (UK)
Producer/sound engineer: Produced by Justin Greaves & Karl Daniel Lidén 
Mixed/Mastered: by Karl Daniel Lidén, Stockholm (SE)

Cover art: 
Thanasis Stratidakis – Erebus Art –
Graphic designer Benedikt Demmer

Pan-international black metal mavericks Fides Inversa stream new album

Today, pan-international black metal mavericks  Fides Inversa stream the entirety of their highly anticipated third album, Historia Nocturna. Set for international release on July 22nd via W.T.C. Productions, hear Fides Inversa‘s Historia Nocturna in its entirety here:
It has been three years since Fides Inversa‘s last recording – the ambitious, two-song/20-minute Rite of Inverse Incarnation, released under the auspices of the World Terror Committee – and yet three more years prior since the Italians’ last full-length, the equally critically acclaimed Mysterium Tremendum et Fascinans. But Fides Inversa are not one for half measures; each creation of theirs is a work of black magick, willed into being when it is time, and only then. The founding duo of Void and Omega remain resolute, with new co-conspirators chosen when that spark of creation suits it.

Venturing further down their dark path of inspiration and chaos, Fides Inversa give life to a new album, hereby titled Historia Nocturna, through the vessels of the very same personalities that sealed the pact on their previous EP effort. Working on the material for years, they are now delivering an aggressive yet dynamic record that might be their finest to this day. Black metal in form and content but boundless in its inspiration and aspiration, inspired by the One Grand Sabbath, fed by nocturnal assemblies with spirits, by solitary revelations and dreams, Historia Nocturna is a diabolic opus that arises at the crossroads, perennially nurtured by opposition and transgression.

With appropriately/alluringly arcane cover art courtesy of Iza and astounding production – clear, cutting, yet thundering – Fides Inversa deliver a masterwork in Historia Nocturna.

Aforementioned cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Fides Inversa’s Historia Nocturna
1. Intro
2. A Wanderer’s Call and Orison
3. Transcendental Lawlessness
4. The Visit
5. I Glance You with a Touch, I Touch You with a Gaze
6. Syzygy
7. I Am the Iconoclasm
MORE INFO: www.facebook.com/fidesinversa
www.w-t-c.org www.facebook.com/W.T.C.Productions