Today, reanimated French black metal cult Gorgon stream the entirety of their highly anticipated sixth album, Traditio Satanae. Set for international release on June 11th via Osmose Productions, hear Gorgon‘s Traditio Satanae in its entirety here:
Following the 2019 release of their comeback album The Veil of Darkness, the cursed phalanx of France’s Gorgon is now delivering its new offering, Traditio Satanae, consisting of 11 tracks of the most brutally savage, tempestuous, and virulent black metal music. In creeping dimness, the band’s core has birthed their most aggressive body of work yet: utterly and undeniably compelling, hard-hitting riffs and heinous vocals. You deserve this punishment – may your ordeal be painful.
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Gorgon (France)’s Traditio Satanae 1. Blood Of Sorcerer 2. Death Was Here 3. Entrancing Cemetery 4. Let Me See Behind 5. Sacrilegious Confessions 6. My Filth Is Worth Your Purity 7. Traditio Satanae 8. As Dawn Will Be Slow To Come 9. The Long Quest 10. Scorched Earth Operation 11. At The Beginning There Was Hate
Today, medieval black metal ruffians Passéisme stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Eminencel. Set for international release on June 11th via Antiq, hear Passéisme‘s Eminence in its entirety here:
On destabilized grounds, among feverish scraps – disgust, excite, yawning, labyrinthine streams of laughing razor of words and sounds, rejoice to death… Passéisme emerged in the deep underground of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia in 2019, creating a boiling mass of decadence, triumphant spirit, waves of nostalgia, and purgatory of the past.
After the release of the Austerity Parade demo in the spring of 2019, Passéisme returns with Eminence, a debut full-length offering to the sacrificial fire. It refreshes the melodic side of black metal and fills it with thirst and rage, punkish unruliness and bitter laughter. Loaded with bottomless verses of poètes maudits, melodies, and vibes in the vein of KPN and Sühnopfer, Eminence is a black vitality that shines among hackneyed theatrics.
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.
Cover artwork, courtesy of Hyver Mor, and tracklisting are as follows
Tracklisting for Passéisme’s Eminence 1. Chant for Tribulation [6:17] 2. Chant for Harvest [4:33] 3. Chant for Austerity [3:59] 4. Chant for Insolence [5:16] 5. Chant for Parade [4:14] 6. Chant for Splendour [1:14] 7. Chant for Enlightenment [10:21]
Dying Victims Productions, in conspiracy with Stygian Black Hand, is proud to present Stress Angel’s striking debut album, Bursting Church. Dying Victims Productions will release the CD version on July 30th while Stygian Black Hand will release the vinyl LP version on July 2nd. Hear Stress Angel‘s title track “Bursting Church” in its entirety here:
Out from the flaming kingdom of death arose Stress Angel in 2020 with their eponymous debut demo. There, the NYC two-piece presented six songs of thrashing death metal that is classic without being retro, and uniquely dark and demented. An auspicious first start, no doubt, and almost effortlessly so.
Now, Stress Angel strike with their full-length debut, Bursting Church. Ever aptly titled, Bursting Church is indeed an archaic monument literally bursting – with feral energy, unholy passion, and RIFFS! In one sense, Stress Angel here up-ratchet all of the previous demo’s foremost characteristics – contorted riffery, pitiless battery, shrill screams, and frantic execution – and retain their still-new yet firmly-etched identity. But in another, perhaps-more-accurate sense, Bursting Church presents the power trio in an altogether new light, where the classic metal elements underlining that identity are recast in more crazed and idiosyncratic colors: what’s old is new, and vice versa, and anything resembling the “familiar” is ripped asunder into the realm of foreign. It’s a record equally 2021 and 1987, if you will, and the finesse and charisma with which Stress Angel charge through these 11 anti-anthems is utterly addicting. Whereas previous points of reference ranged Aura Noir to Autopsy, Sweden’s Damnation to Sweden’s Obscurity, Bursting Church reveals the band in rarefied, righteously rabid company, off on their own like nomads of the wasteland. No surrender, and no compromise!
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Stress Angel’s Bursting Church 1. Flaming Kingdom 2. Bursting Church 3. Godless Shrill 4. Exposure To A Disease 5. Starving In A Closet 6. Life Alert 7. Providence 8. Angel Of Stress 9. Mohel’s Kiss 10. Final Doom 11. The Human
On August 6th internationally, The Sinister Flame is proud to present Baxaxaxa‘s long-awaited debut album, Catacomb Cult, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Once thought long dead, existing as they did during the ancient days of the early ’90s, Baxaxaxa publicly arose from the dead in 2018 with an exclusive performance at the esteemed Destroying Texas Fest and then a gig in their native Germany. Feeling scorn for nowadays black metal and wishing to stir the cauldron of yore, the then-quintet quickly recorded The Old Evil EP and released it on cassette tape in October 2019. Buoyed by that burning-black momentum, Baxaxaxa released another EP, Devoted to HIM, little more than a year later. Both recordings’ respective titles should surely bespeak the black metal to which the band is beholden: rotten, primitive, and ancient, out of touch and most definitely out of time.
And yet, time itself is a curious thing, because at long last, nearly 30 years after their original formation, Baxaxaxa release their debut album: Catacomb Cult. Exquisitely OLD and proudly so, Catacomb Cult is everything a Baxaxaxa full-length should be: patiently hammering, ghoulishly atmospheric, and reeking of sulfur. But for as much as the album sounds like quintessential Baxaxaxa, the band prove they’re not without surprises or at least subtle developments in their ever-uncompromising sound. For one, the production’s clear and cutting, revealing every haunting nuance without sacrificing a whit of grit. For another, the songwriting across Catacomb Cult no doubt whips forth a fury at times, but equally so does it display a more doomed-out gait that gives depth and dynamics – and yes, a truly catacombed feel. Same, too, for their characteristically medieval synths, tastefully applied and lingering like funeral fog.
It’s been stated before that if you don’t understand Mortuary Drape, Root, Hungary’s Tormentor, early Samael, and very early Mayhem, then you don’t understand Baxaxaxa, and you most certainly don’t understand BLACK METAL. This fact bears repeating, now more than ever. The past is alive and dead with Catacomb Cult!
Step into the catacombs with the brand-new title track Catacomb Cult” here:
cover and tracklisting as follows:
Tracklisting for Baxaxaxa’s Catacomb Cult 1. Catacomb Cult 2. As the Moon inhaled all Sunrays 3. Flame of Redemption 4. Kingdom Ablaze 5. Walpurgis Dancers 6. The Great malicious Tongue 7. Ghosts of Törzburg 8. Temple of the Seven Keys
Today, Eternal Death sets August 6th as the international release date for Wald Krypta‘s highly anticipated third album, Possessed by Nothingness, on vinyl LP format.
Wald Krypta are a black metal duo hailing from the USA and Canada. To date, they’ve released two demos – Pandemic Winds (2016) and Lost Relic (2019), the former later released on cassette tape by Eternal Death – and two albums, 2018’s Nature Enigma and 2019’s Where None Remain, both also released on cassette by Eternal Death. Possessed by Nothingness will be Wald Krypta‘s first release on vinyl.
From the beginning, Wald Krypta have honorably exhibited many qualities of France’s now-legendary Black Legions (e.g. Mütiilation, Vlad Tepes, Torgeist), proudly keeping their black metal traditional and raw. Possessed by Nothingness is no different in this regard, but neither should that be viewed as a drawback. Comprising seven songs across 35 minutes, Possessed by Nothingness is an album that does not pretend to be anything other than what it is: uncompromising, classics-minded black metal, written and played with dire devotion to the darkest sine waves coursing through the mind and spirit. As ever, Wald Krypta are deeply rooted in anti-religion and worship of the power of death and decay; this foundation is felt within each of these seven hymns, resounding deeply within said mind and spirit. Put simply, this is a release more akin to something you would find in a collection of tapes traded in 1993 than much of the music that passes as “black metal” today.
Unremittingly rotten yet rockin’ quite often, arrogant and assaulting and making no concessions toward “balance” or normalcy, Wald Krypta are a duo out of time…in all senses of the phrase. Prepare to become Possessed by Nothingness!
Begin preparations with the brand-new track “Drowned Into the Last Realm” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Wald Krypta’s Possessed by Nothingness 1. Wind’s Anger 2. Possessed By Nothingness 3. Drowned Into the Last Realm 4. Aglare of Burning Winds 5. Beneath a Dying Sun 6. Ruined Sanctuary 7. Corrupted In Eternal
Today, Hells Headbangers announces July 30th as the international release date for Expunged‘s highly anticipated debut album, Into Never Shall, on CD format. The vinyl LP version will follow later this year.
Expunged is the brainchild of death metal master W.D., who’s previously handled the axe in Dead Soul Alliance and Evolution Fail stretching as far back as the mid ’90s. While W.D. is the songwriter, K.F. joined on drums (from old-school death metallers Töteblut) while J.S. (AKA Jo “Steel” Capitalicide from Ice War) is on vocal and lyrical duties as well as handling the bass, with the latter showing how versatile his singing abilities can somehow be. Formed in the spring of 2019, this Canadian power-trio proved how deadly their brand of downtuned HM-2-style death metal could be with their self-titled debut EP for Hells Headbangers, released to widespread acclaim in April 2020.
Wasting no time continuing their attack, Expunged return with their first full-length, Into Never Shall. Now featuring A.K. on drums, the band have thankfully made no great changes to their juggernaut sound – exquisitely filthy, utterly crushing, immediately memorable, the inexorable onslaught of a monolithic, rust-covered tank – and Into Never Shall is all the better for it. If anything, Expunged have upped the catchiness here whilst not once softening that molten crush. Similarly, while the grime of Expunged still courses through the album’s viscous veins, there’s a decidedly darker atmosphere being conjured across Into Never Shall, vividly matched by the gorgeously moody cover artwork courtesy of French fantasy novel painter Normand Didier. Above all, this debut album underlines Expunged‘s commitment to death metal classicism, reverent but never regressionist, and displays the power-trio’s own take on it. Which is all to say nothing of yet another CRUSHING production courtesy of Top Das (Fuck The Facts) at his Apartment Two Studio.
If the tank crush of Expunged somehow missed you last year, there’s simply no way to avoid the onslaught of Expunged‘s Into Never Shall. Absolutely mandatory for maniacs of Nirvana 2002, Carnage, and especially Bolt Thrower!
In the meantime, see & hear the previously revealed video for “Early Tragic End” here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Expunged’s Into Never Shall 1. Decompose 2. Gas Attack 3. Torn Apart 4. Drown in Fire 5. Early Tragic End 6. Architects of Oblivion 7. Amidst the Embers 8. Mass Grave 9. Into Never Shall 10. Stolen Life
Today, black metal space hulk T.O.M.E. stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, I-III. Set for international release on June 4th via Spread Evil Productions, hear T.O.M.E.‘s I-III in its entiretyhere:
A mysterious entity whose membership is rumored to include veterans of the Finnish metal underground, T.O.M.E. are as beguiling as their likewise-mysterious acronymed moniker. Their chosen idiom is indeed black metal, but the iteration of such across the three-song/36-minute I-III is as twisted and treacherous as it comes. Heaving, hulking, and haunting, T.O.M.E.-the-band defy conventional definitions of “black metal.”
While largely lumbering in its downtempo stomp, the crunchy canvas of I-III eventually reveals subtle-yet-nevertheless dramatic surges of energy and surprisingly catchy hooks that otherwise evade rote “catchiness.” No, the dense and decidedly tense album builds and builds and builds, that tension simmering and eventually brought to a boil; there are no crowd-pleasing moments here even if the bulk of the band’s attack is exceptionally headbanging at times. The cool ‘n’ coasting ease with which T.O.M.E. construct these hypnotizing screeds similarly nods to DSBM tropes, but malforms them in a manner that brings it all back to Burzum’s most pioneering works. Elsewhere, shades of everything from prime Barathrum to Triptykon at their blackest to even Bolt Thrower-gone-BM slither through the soundfield.
And this is but the start: with the seemingly inscrutable title of I-III, the band have revealed that this first album is the first in a continuance of albums featuring three songs, with IV-VI to follow, then VII-IX etc. You’ve been warned.
T.O.M.E. could be a t-o-m-b, for all we know. Enter their crypt and discover for yourself.
