On March 28th internationally, Putrid Cult is proud to present Chthonic Cult‘s highly anticipated second album, Become Seekers for Death.
The roots of Chthonic Cult lay in both Berlin and Wroclaw, but those are merely earthly bindings, for the all-enveloping soundworld of the band’s debut album, I Am the Scourge of Eternity, resolutely laid in the Beyond. Released in 2015 by Iron Bonehead, Chthonic Cult‘s first public work comprised four monolithic tracks in a soul-draining 47 minutes. An orgiastic feast for the ears as well as eyes, drawing together bulldozing black metal, bestial death metal, and smokestacked doom metal into a hypnotizing whole, I Am the Scourge of Eternity was celebrated across the underground, all before Chthonic Cult seemingly returned to the grave.
But alas, “seemingly,” for they arrive seven years later into a worse world with Become Seekers for Death. Aptly titled, Become Seekers for Death is the sound of Chthonic Cult diving deep into the realm of sheer and total DEATH METAL, torching its parameters, and rearranging the ashes into their own twisted design. Indeed, the band’s ways and means here are fiercely focused and fine-tuned into the spectrum of crushing-yet-classy Metal of Death: power and professionalism are the watchwords here, and yet for however more “approachable” Chthonic Cult may appear to be, the resultant conflagration is actually more potent, and startlingly so. As such, the 40-minute album is judiciously sliced into eight track-sized chunks, making their attack more compact and concise. Still, within their blackened death bestiality-unto-bulldozing reveals a similarly vortextural maw like its towering predecessor – but, by comparison, perhaps Become Seekers for Death is the rotten, rippling soil beneath that tower. Less “head music,” then, as full-body music…and that body is summarily CRUSHED.
“Blackened death metal” may be a dicey and oft-misleading term, but there’s still stern adepts drawing from the wells of the ancients in these increasingly modern times. Chthonic Cult return when the fates deemed it right, and from beyond the veil did they bring back Become Seekers for Death.
Begin seeking with the brand-new track “Ironclad Nemesis” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Chthonic Cult’s Become Seekers for Death 1. Ironclad Nemesis 2. On the Wings of Drought 3. The Thunder Spoke to the Spirit 4. When the Ancients Speak 5. Become Seekers for Death 6. In the Seventh Hour 7. Crimson Streams of Sacrifice 8. The Hunt of the Light-Bearer
Today, Swedish metal legends Eucharist reveal the new video “I am the Void.” The track is the third to be revealed from the band’s LONG-awaited third album, I am the Void, set for international release on March 25th via Helter Skelter Productions (distributed & marketed by Regain Records). See & hear Eucharist‘s “I am the Void” video in its entirety here:
The history of Eucharist is long and tangled, but what the band managed to do during the ‘90s has remained justifiably legendary. Originally forming in 1989 and then undergoing various stops and starts during the next decade before their amicable dissolution in 1998, the Swedish Eucharist first made their name in the underground in 1992 with their self-titled demo before the pivotal Greeting Immortality EP on the cult Obscure Plasma label, which would become the influential Avantgarde Music. However, even that enviable accomplishment was handily eclipsed by the band’s debut album, A Velvet Creation, in 1993. A stone-cold classic, A Velvet Creation largely helped usher in the melodic death metal era; while by no means the first “melodic” death metal record, it was arguably the best for that era, maintain a heart-on-sleeve sincerity and melancholy fully befitting its title. With those stops & starts playing havoc within the band, Eucharist would emerge four long years later with an equally monolithic album and yet one decidedly different than the first: Mirrorworlds. As suggested by its title as well as cover art, Mirrorworlds was a mesmerizing experience, taking the band into more modern territory (which they helped pioneer in the first place) and evincing a dizzying & dazzling prog-death approach thankfully still ripe with their characteristic melancholy.
In the years following their original dissolution, the cult of Eucharist continued to grow more feverish with each ensuing generation of metallers, with Regain Records’ reissues of both in the early 2000s helping that cause. Still, the name was effectively dead…until 2016, and the roots for their reunion album, I am the Void, were planted. Founding vocalist/guitarist Markus Johnsson picks up the story: “A reunion gig in Varberg, Sweden led to me and Daniel [Erlandsson, original drummer] deciding to do another album. We wanted to change the style to a darker atmosphere, both lyric-wise and music-wise – something that I always wanted. Daniel eventually found out that his interest lied elsewhere and wanted to get out of the project, and by that time, the album was more or less recorded. I had written all the lyrics this time and also made all the music except for a couple of riffs that were Daniels’, but Daniel had helped out with the some of the song structures.”
Truly spoken, I am the Void is a decidedly darker version of Eucharist – and one blackened to a crisp. While the death metal muscle of yore remains, the leather-winged specter of black metal looms large across I am the Void, giving a familiar-yet-foreign aspect to Eucharist’s characteristic sound. Taken a different way, this literally-massive new record (12 songs in 77 minutes!) is nearly a complete makeover of Eucharist, but one just as engrossing and dynamic as their beloved ‘90s works. And one not without further strife, as Markus continues: “The album was buried under dust and anxiety for a few years – from the beginning of 2016 until December 2020. But I pulled myself together and sent the entire album to Per Gyllenbäck of Regain Records at the end of 2019. A year of silence passed, and in December 2020, Per contacted me and said ‘Let’s do this album!’ We were both ready, and that day, I decided that I wanted to run this race on my own from now on. I figured that I had always been the main creative force in Eucharist along with Daniel, so I couldn’t see any problems with continuing the race alone. Daniel also said that if I wanted, I could always use the band name and release the album myself. So, I went on with it.” Johnsson is joined on the new album by Marduk drummer Simon “Bloodhammer” Schilling, hereby considered an official member of Eucharist. “I will do it all on my own from now on and in my own style. I want to make music and record albums, and that I will do as long as someone will release the stuff because I am on a creative streak now.”
Again, truly spoken, and the next (hopefully epic) chapter of Eucharist is about to be revealed. The abyss can take many forms, and so it does for I am the Void.
Hear the previously revealed “Mistress of Nightmares” HERE and the previously revealed “Shadows” HERE, both also at Regain Records‘ official YouTube channel. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Eucharist (Sweden)’s I am the Void
1. Shadows 2. A Vast Land of Eternal Night 3. Goddess of Filth (Tlazolteotl) 4. In the Blaze of the Blood Red Moon 5. Mistress of Nightmares 6. Queen of Hades 7. Nexion 8. Where the Sinister Dwell 9. In the Heart of Infinity 10. Lilith 11. Darkness Divine 12. I am the Void
Today, Greek deathrashers Vicious Knights stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Alteration Through Possession. Set for international release on January 28th via Dying Victims Productions, hear Vicious Knights‘ Alteration Through Possession in its entirety exclusively here:
Vicious Knights is an old-school death/thrash metal band, screaming from Thessaloniki, Greece. The band was formed in 2016 by Antonis “Harvester” (guitars/vocals) and Liakos (drums). Panos (bass guitar) entered the band a few months later. This three-piece of total maniacs issued self-released on CD their first EP Malevolent Spirits, originally in 2018 and then reissued in 2020 by the World War Now label. The band had many gigs in Greece presenting their first release and some of their newer material, making a great impact on the underground scene.
Now, armed with the support of Dying Victims, Vicious Knights return to destroy the world with their first full-length, Alteration Through Possession! Curiously yet tellingly titled, Alteration Through Possession indeed transforms the listener…once that listener is ensnared in the power-trio’s iron grip! Like a trip back to 1987, Vicious Knights live up to their moniker by invoking the old spirits of early Kreator, Destruction, Possessed, and Sepultura, combining more devotedly horror-specific lyrics with absolutely ass-ripping DEATHRASH. They go beyond the gates to inflict eternal pain, their infernal overkill bestowing morbid visions upon those who still believe in razor-wire riffing, snarling-evil vokills, and straightforward drum-propulsion – and of course, actual songwriting. Simple, sure, but sublime: Alteration Through Possession is a pleasure to kill!
Cover and tracklisting as follows:
Tracklisting for Vicious Knights’ Alteration Through Possession 1. Infestation 2. From Nothingness (To A Slave Of Darkness) 3. The Boneghoul King (The Miserly) 4. They Cast No Shadow 5. Sleep With The Ghouls 6. Vicious Knights 7. Swing From The Grave 8. It Was In My House 9. Disenchanting The Matter (The Statue Is Alive)
Today, Blood Harvest Records announces March 25th as the international release date for Astral Tomb‘s highly anticipated debut album, Soulgazer, on CD and cassette tape formats. The vinyl LP version should follow on July 29th.
As presaged by their track to the Chasm of Aeons four-way split shared with Cryptic Shift, Replicant, and Inoculation which Blood Harvest released in the autumn of 2020 and then especially the subsequent Degradation of Human Consciousness EP at the beginning of 2021, Astral Tomb are all-too-perfectly monikered. Theirs is gross ‘n’ gooey dredge of deranged death metal that slices and sluices in obscene ways – all at the listener’s discomfort, most of all, challenging even the most diehard death metaller. And yet, they’ve done such across teasingly short lengths, setting anticipation high (literally) for their inevitable debut album.
At last, it arrives, bearing the title Soulgazer. Truly, the trippy cover art is but one sign of the sine-waves set to mangle the mind and body once one presses “play” upon Astral Tomb‘s debut album. Bearing five tracks across a succinct-yet-expansive 37 minutes, Soulgazer‘s component song titles could truly tell its (twisted, interstellar) story: “Transcendental Visions,” “Be Here Now..,” “Inertia (Crashing Through the Doorways of Eternity),” “Traversing the Wandering Star,” and especially “Ascending a Pillar of Light.” Here, Astral Tomb take the slimy sound of their short-lengths in spacier, more smoked-out directions, almost jamming on slamming grooves but giving it a grossness that unsettles – indeed, Soulgazer as depiction. Elsewhere, the trio’s technique and precision is startling to behold, especially when they effortlessly let loose the reins and slip & slide across the corners of chaos, only to right the (space)ship into waters equally unnerving. For if anything, Soulgazer seeks to UNcomfort the listener, taking him/her to places as-yet-dreamt and making them manifest within alternately intelligent/ignorant death metal barbarity. Which is all to say nothing of the utterly melted solos sprinkled across the record or the actually-really-beautiful moments of clean-toned placidity…
As the band explain, “Soulgazer is a narrative of inner awakening. It is the product of over a year of arduous personal journeys, and collective experience. By exploring inner and outer space, we cultivated each track to reflect a different part of the cyclical nature of our realities. One of our biggest criticisms in the past has been our production, and thanks to Pete DeBoer at World Famous Studios, we have finally encapsulated a sound that we think sets a standard for Astral Tomb. Coming in at a little over 30 minutes, the music speaks for itself, and there’s not much more to say until you hear it in March.”
Goregrind’s gotten gorier, tech-death more tech, and slam more slammin’, but somewhere circling in a cosmos both over and under all three are Astral Tomb. Soulgazer is that trip you wanna take!
Begin that trip with the brand-new track “Traversing the Wandering Star” here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Astral Tomb’s Soulgazer 1. Transcendental Visions 2. Be Here Now… 3. Inertia (Crashing through the Doorways of Eternity) 4. Traversing the Wandering Star 5. Ascending a Pillar of Light
Today, Hells Headbangers announces February 25th as the international release date for Deathhammer‘s highly anticipated fifth album, Electric Warfare, which is slated for release later this year through Hells Headbangers on CD format; the vinyl LP and cassette tape formats will be released on April 29th.
By now, Deathhammer should need no introduction. For over 15 years now, this insatiable Norwegian duo have been at the forefront of the burgeoning blackthrash movement; in fact, one could successfully argue that the band are THE linchpins of that resurgence. Though blackthrash has seen intermittent surges in popularity since the latter half of the ’90s onward, for sole members Sadomancer and Sergeant Salsten, this is a way of life – not a trend. Deathhammer proved as much as with their cult debut album, Phantom Knights, in 2010 and then proved it yet further and more fully – and more furiously and filthily – with 2012’s Onward to the Pits and 2015’s Evil Power, both of which were released by Hells Headbangers to widespread international acclaim. And yet, through it all, the duo kept their wits about them, simply being Deathhammer and taking their irresistible (and irresistibly evil) charm to stages worldwide, including a command performance at Hells Headbangers‘ Hells Headbash 2 in 2015. But, one need only took to 2018’s Chained to Hell as the first AND last word on eternal, magickal blackthrash: “classic” doesn’t do the album justice
While the duo have been quiet ever since – Sergeant Salsten moved to Australia during the Chained to Hell recordings – at long last do Deathhammer return to reaffirm their position as the kings of blackthrash with Electric Warfare. All-too-perfectly titled, Electric Warfare is a veritable blast from the past, in more ways than one. As Sadomancer explains, “We recorded it many years ago before Chained to Hell was out when Sergeant Salsten visited from Australia in 2016, but those recordings got scrapped. Then we worked on it some more years and finally started to record it again at the start of 2020 with – from my part – a couple of new tracks. We threw away a couple in favor of new better ones.” Indeed, the devilish dialogue between the two plays out in righteous form on Electric Warfare, offering Deathhammer‘s most ripping and intense songs yet as well as some of their most epic. Sadomancer reasons that his songs are fairly long and intricate while Sergeant Salsten’s are ultra-short and to the point; together, the bloodied canvas on which they write is a torrent of timeless metal mayhem, whether you qualify it strictly as “blackthrash” or simply HEAVY METAL. Perhaps the biggest development here is the utterly awesome recording, ably balancing the band’s original rawness with a never-overstated professionalism – credit the mix courtesy of Arild Torp of Nekromantheon and Obliteration.
Topped off by another killer cover painted by longtime comrade Eduard Johnson, Deathhammer deliver their biggest metal inferno with Electric Warfare!
In the meantime, see & hear the videos for “Rapid Violence” here:
and “Thirst for Ritual” here:
Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Deathhammer’s Electric Warfare 1. Savage Aggressor 2. Crushing the Pearly Gates 3. Enter the Morbid 4. Return to Sodom / Soldiers of Darkness 5. Rapid Violence 6. Thirst for Ritual 7. Thrown to the Abyss 8. Violent Age of Bloodshed
Today, French atmospheric black metallers Silhouette stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Les Retranchement. Set for international release on January 28th via Antiq, hear Silhouette‘s Les Retranchement in its entirety here:
Silhouette is a French black metal band based in Montpellier and created by Achlys in 2019. Initially conceived as a one-man band, the project then involved more musicians in order to develop a synergy between clean female vocals and traditional black and DSBM vocals.
Silhouette’s view reflects dreams and visions about distant people whose shapes and intentions will stay obscure forever. Through soul’s dooms and mist, Silhouette deals with topics such as lost ones, fantomatic shapes from which only fragments and souvenirs remain. The band proposes a journey between intense melodies, storms, and velvet lulls to depict the travel of the one who dares to explore the places and ghosts of their past.
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 Lilas Dupont (Ondine), and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Silhouette’s Les Retranchement 1. Ascension 2. La Première Neige 3. Au Seuil de l’Oubli 4. Interlude 5. Les Retranchements 6. L’Etreinte de la Chute 7. Outro
In 2022, a year after the release of Kvitravn and as a prelude to the forthcoming and much anticipated live dates, Wardruna are presenting Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven. An immersive audio arrangement that underscores the experiential paradigm shift and masterful musicianship of their superlative and boundary-pushing virtual live experience First Flight of the White Raven of March 26th 2021. This new release captures their special set list consisting of songs from Kvitravn and a selection of favourites from the discography, and will be released on a 2LP, as well as 2CD that also features the original studio album track listing. To mark the event’s exceptional impact, it will also be available as a limited Boxset Edition including 2LP (black), 2CD, DVD with livestream performance and bonus documentary material and three videos (only available in the boxed set), flag of the CD album cover, certificate of authenticity for the box and an exclusive autographed card signed by Einar Selvik. Tracklisting and credits below
“Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven is an audio-visual ‘live-in-studio’ recording that was broadcasted online, as the release show of the Kvitravn album. It was recorded in a time when it was not allowed to perform in front of an audience, which made it very important for me that the recording itself truly captured the energy of a live performance. What you hear is what we performed in that moment in that room. No re-recordings or autotune was done in the afterwork. Just like for a regular concert, the set list was carefully put together with a selection of songs from all our albums, including a handful of songs from the new album, which we performed for the very first time. On the day of recording, we all stood together in the same room for the first time in over a year. Everyone came focused and well prepared and the energy felt like no time had passed. I hope you will agree!” – Einar Selvik
Wardruna are also sharing the track and virtual live performance video for “Solringen” about which Einar Selvik says; “Solringen is a song originally released on the album Runaljod – Yggdrasil (2013). Even though it quickly became a popular track amongst our listeners, it wasn’t until late 2019 we first got around to performing it live. When taking the song from the studio to the stage, I really felt it needed a slightly different approach, more specifically adapted for the concert format”
Selvik continues; “In earlier tradition the women of the household on a farm had the task of going out into the fields around midsummer and wake up the elves dwelling there with rhymes and songs to encourage them to ensure growth and good crops. These songs and traditions have now mostly passed into oblivion. The initial idea behind “Solringen” is that new songs might wake them once again.”
WATCH ‘SOLRINGEN – FIRST FLIGHT OF THE WHITE RAVEN LIVE VERSION’ BELOW
Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven – further format information:
-2CD & digital formats: Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven – including Kvitravn album plus the audio of Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven stream, mastered for CD and digital.
-2LP: Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven – including the audio of Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven stream, mastered for vinyl.
Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven audio track list (2022):
Synkverv (Turn-sight)
Kvitravn (White Raven)
Skugge (Shadow)
Grá (Grey)
Fylgjutal (Speech of the Fylgja)
Munin (Memory)
Kvit hjort (White Stag)
Viseveiding (Song-hunting)
Ni (Nine)
Vindavlarljod (Song of the wind-bred)
Andvevarljod (Song of the Spirit-weavers)
–
Kvitravn – First Flight of the White Raven track list for audio capture of the virtual live performance (2022):
Kvitravn
Skugge
Solringen
Bjarkan
Raido
Voluspá
Isa
UruR
Grá
Vindavlarljod
Rotlaust Tre Fell
Fehu
Helvegen
Wardruna’s UK tour commences in March. About the tour Einar comments “It has been more than two years since we last gave a performance in front of an audience. Needless to say, this long and unwanted hibernation has made us very excited to finally be able to realistically plan our return to the stage.”
Wardruna have carved a rich, polyphonic and dramatic musical landscape that honours the ancient past without gimmick, whilst simultaneously illuminating meaningful expressions of Norse tradition through intrinsically detailed contemporary composition.
While nothing is necessarily obvious with Wardruna, the years since 2009’s debut album Runaljod – gap var Ginnunga have seen increasing international success. Runaljod – Yggdrasil came in 2013 and was followed in 2016 by Runaljod – Ragnarok. The latter climbed to the top spot in America on Billboard’s World Music charts, and did so in Canada too. In 2018, the low key, live-in-the-studio Skald was released. For Wardruna’s fourth album, Einar had taken a similar approach to his solo shows with a stripped-back, intimate sound.
The combination of Einar’s deep knowledge – he has lectured in academic settings on the old Norse world and its music – and his hands-on approach attracted the attention of the creators of the History Channel’s TV series Vikings. From its second series, in 2014, Einar came on board as co-composer alongside the show’s main composer Trevor Morris and worked on the programme up to its fifth series, which aired in 2019. He even appeared on-screen in a couple of episodes.
Ever-busy, there was also 2016’s Skuggsjá – A Piece for Mind & Mirror where Einar and Ivar Bjørnson of Enslaved fashioned a chronicle of Norway for the anniversary of its constitution and, the next year, the intense Snake Pit Poetry release, credited as an Einar Selvik solo project.
Einar has contributed music for the official soundtrack of the game franchise Assassin’s Creed Valhalla® alongside the BAFTA Award-winning Danish composer Jesper Kyd (Assassin’s Creed, Ezio Trilogy) and American composer Sarah Schachner (Assassin’s Creed Origins), released worldwide on November 17, 2020 by Lakeshore Records in partnership with Ubisoft, followed by numerous collections of unreleased music and acoustic tracks from Einar Selvik in connection with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla® (also released by Lakeshore Records in partnership with Ubisoft) between November 2020 and December 2021.
Today, Iron Bonehead Productions announces March 25th as the international release date for Necromante‘s highly anticipated second album, XI, on CD and viny LP formats.
Formed in 2007, Necromante patiently stirred their cauldron of sound over the course of a couple demos, a mini-album, and a live album. Hailing from Brazil, within that cauldron, of course, can be found ancient ingredients like Sarcofago, Vulcano, Sextrash, Mystifier, and Impurity, but the power-trio finesse forth a sound that’s less focused on tempting the corners of chaos as it is conjuring an arcane, otherworldly aura – in that sense, not dissimilar to Impurity’s classic Into the Ritual Chamber. However, in 2017, Necromante released their debut album, The Magickal Presence of Occult Forces, through the auspices of Iron Bonehead and undeniably etched a unique name for themselves. Not for nothing was it titled The Magickal Presence of Occult Forces: raw and red-blooded yet utterly clear in its execution, the album swirled together martial blasts of bestial drums, sorcerous heavy metal leads, contrapuntal bass-work, and frequent interludes of eerie acoustics.
After nearly five years of eerie silence (a super-limited live tape was released after the debut album), Necromante return with their second full-length, XI. Immediately, it is felt: XI continues on from that celebrated first full-length AND spelunks in new dungeons altogether. For one, Necromante‘s instrumental prowess has tightened whilst remaining requisitely loose; this allows their ever-deepening grasp of dynamics to penetrate the soul as well as boil the tension to an intense degree during the album’s many hypnotic mid-tempo passages. To that, this subtly doomier aspect nods to ancient touchstones like classic Mortuary Drape, early Samael, and even touches of old deathrock; even with frequent yet well-timed bouts of violence, the aura of XI is funereal and more than a bit eerie. More than anything, Necromante have perfected their sound within clearly marked boundaries, but more importantly have brewed potions of strong songwriting that work magickally within those boundaries. In turn, the vision of XI appears boundless and brilliant – ancient, epic, and literally UNDERGROUND!
Erase the last 30 years of “underground” black metal and one might hypothetically find Necromante, working within a labyrinth of their own design, unmindful of the suffocating modernity around them. The arcane age bears the number XI!
The first number can be witnessed with the brand-new title track “XI (The Dark Night of the Soul)” here:
Tracklisting for Necromante’s XI 1. The Equinox of New Aeon 2. Lucifer Rising 3. Serpentine Fire 4. The Phoenix Glory 5. XI (The Dark Night of the Soul) 6. Pentacle of Fire 7. Necro Fire Angel 8. Sentence of the Dead 9. The Infernal Palace & the Red Death 10. The Venom Between Gods 11. Solve et Coagula-Astral Light to the Chaos
After nearly a decade of silence, French underground black metal band HELL MILITIA have now returned with a brand new album, titled ‘Hollow Void’. The first song of the new record is now streaming at the official Season of Mist Youtube Channel. Feast your ears upon“Dust of time” here:
The band’s new full-length will be released via Season of Mist Underground Activists on March 18. Pre-orders are available HERE. Pre-save the album HERE.
The band comments: “10 years have passed since the release of ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ and the more things change, the more things stay the same. “Dust of Time” is the first song to be presented and it is a diary of all events that took place in the years that have passed since. It is a summary of bitter days, unshakable religious faith, urban filth, decay, death worship and an extremely bitter aftertaste.”
The cover artwork was created by Manuel Tinnemans // Comaworx and can be found below, together with the tracklist.
Tracklist: 1. Lifeless Light (04:21) 2. Genesis Undone (04:22) 3. Dust of Time (05:47) 4. Within the Maze (04:09) 5. Hollow Void (04:57) 6. The Highest Fall (05:18) 7. Kingdoms Scorched (04:54) 8. Veneration (04:39) 9. Corruption Rejoice (05:50) Total: 0:44:17
Ten years have eclipsed since ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, HELL MILITIA’s last studio album. Black metal has wandered into unforeseen territory and simultaneously drifted back to its roots in that span, remaining entrenched as a polarizing but no less interesting force. Its increased visibility has become the carrot dangled in front of many bands seeking wider acceptance within the underground. But has also made it easier to identify the bands who, fundamentally, will forever uphold black metal’s venerable tenets of darkness and Satanism. Therefore, it is with little surprise that HELL MILITIA have risen to the occasion with their fourth long-player, ‘Hollow Void’.
HELL MILITIA’s absence can be explained through a mix of personal and intra-band turmoil. Line-up changes included members literally disappearing to the other side of the world. Vocalist RSDX went missing in action after his life took a dark turn. Side musical projects and new life endeavours eventually put the band on hold. But when HELL MILITIA (who are completed by guitarists Arkdaemon and Saroth, bassist S. and drummer Dave Terror) regrouped in 2018 for a few selected live shows, it helped lay the foundation for what would become ‘Hollow Void’.
As is now customary, the pandemic delayed the album’s recording. The band was rehearsing in Paris when global lockdowns began. And since some members of HELL MILITIA reside outside of France in Sweden and the Netherlands, it meant they had to wait out the first wave of the pandemic to start tracking later in 2020. HELL MILITIA eventually entered Studio Saint-Loup outside of Paris in the fall of 2020 to lay down drums. Additional instruments, vocals, and mix and mastering were conducted with producer/engineer BST at BST Studios through the summer and fall of 2021. According to RSDX, the tumult of recent years, the pandemic and real life’s comings-and-goings were perfect ammunition for ‘Hollow Void’’s creation.
“The whole recording process took longer than expected, but as life took its turn straight up until the vocal recordings, the timing was exactly what it needed to be,” he says “A lot of these experiences were included in the lyrics, giving an honest reflection of what was going on. Bitter days, unshakable religious faith, death, contempt for life, urban filth and an even more bitter aftertaste turned into the toxic cocktail we called ‘Hollow Void’. Still, the pent-up energy increased to a point it just had to explode. We put all that energy back into the album. Now that everything is recorded, we await the date we can unleash this on this world. We will keep the energy at this level until it’s time we can perform it.”
The resultant effort is perhaps HELL MILITIA’s most strident effort to date. The band’s orthodox, unrelenting approach is a broadside to the black metal scene at large. Dense chord swaths, a whirling barrage of blast-beats and RSDX’s nihilistic, scathing vocals coalesce into an album that exploits the true nature of black metal: Savage, unforgiving and grim.
“We wanted to make a much more aggressive approach this time,” confirms the vocalist. “A true-to-form, punch-in-the-face comeback album. We wanted to combine the dissonant riffs of ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ with the raw and filthy sound of our first album, ‘Canonisation of the Foul Spirit’ and include some new elements. I think we succeeded in this, as it is much more raw, aggressive, yet catchy and 100 percent recognizable as HELL MILITIA.”
The events of the last few years provided no shortage of lyrical topics for RSDX. The nihilistic, unforgiving concepts heard on the band’s previous full-lengths remain very much intact, albeit coming across far more prescient in a world on a fast-track toward its own demise. However, RSDX notes that his lyrics on ‘Hollow Void’ are a combination of him looking inward as well as outward toward a world that fills him with disgust
“The lyrics are the universe of HELL MILITIA, and at times, also a diary of all events of the last couple of years,” he says. “It is a summary of bitter days, fanatic unshakable religious faith, urban filth, decay, death worship and an extremely bitter aftertaste. It has traditional Satanism and a contempt for life at its very core.”
Indeed contempt, Satanism and a total disregard for human life have been the primary thread of HELL MILITIA’s musical output since they emerged on the scene in 2001 via the ‘SPK Kommando – We Hope You DIE’ split alongside fellow French black metal holdovers Antaeus, Eternal Majesty and Deviant. The band’s lauded and influential ‘Canonisation of the Foul Spirit’ would follow four years later, establishing HELL MILITIA as one of the leading purveyors of the 2000s French black metal wave. 2010’s ‘Last Station on the Road to Death’ and 2012’s ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ followed, bringing them even closer to black metal’s true, raw spirit. As evidenced by ‘Hollow Void’, the last ten years have done little to HELL MILITIA’s approach.
“We are still the old, bitter radical individuals whose masks are off,” closes RSDX. “What the scene does is of no concern or interest to us. We are in contact with bands and individuals we respect. The rest of the world can keep their watered down, non-ideological form of black metal. Black metal to us means the same as it did when the band was founded: A vessel of strong expression in music and ideology with unshakable faith at its very core. If a band doesn’t have that, it’s not black metal. I may approach life differently now that I’m in my 40s than when I was in my 20s, but the attitude and radical stand on what black metal should be has not changed.”
Today, Amor Fati Productions sets January 28th as the international release date for Det eviga leendet‘s highly anticipated second album, Reverence, on CD format. Digital and vinyl LP formats will be released by Mystískaos and Extraconscious Records, with distribution by Dissociative Visions.
Formed in 2015, Det eviga leendet is a gathering of individuals from scattered parts of Sweden and, more recently, the US. Although a discordant group of people, the foundation of the band stems from a collective will to explore concepts of expansive insular gloom. Aptly, the group has taken their name from Pär Lagerkvist’s 1920 writing about a large group of dead people who are stuck in the dark with nothing to do besides talk in order to pass eternity.
In 2022, from deep solitude, Det eviga leendet emerges again to conceive of a second record, Reverence, a work which acts more as an abject reflection of the time in which it was conceived than an embodiment of musical expression. Bleak and harsh, the approach further depicts total and infinite descent – one which we all experience, yet must endure alone.
In a time where all manner of charlatans gaze deeply into our eyes, haunting us, whittling away at our vertebrae to make us unfit to live, we look to the stars with a misty gaze, attempting to prophesy about how they are connected to us and our sick time. While we may grow to understand it better, knowing well the darkness that permeates only informs us of what lurks in the hearts of ourselves and others, it cannot cure it.
Since the release of Det eviga leendet’s debut LP, released in 2018 by Fallen Empire, Jacob Buczarski (Mare Cognitum) has joined the band and taken over the vocal duties on the sophomore album.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Retch” here:
