Month: March 2022

AESTHUS reveal new track from PURITY THROUGH FIRE debut

Today, uprising Finnish black metallers Aesthus reveal the new track “Tyhjyys, ikuinen kuolema.” The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Hänen temppelinsä varjoissa, set for international release on March 21st via Purity Through Fire on CD and cassette tape formats; the vinyl LP version will follow later in the year. Hear Aesthus‘ “Tyhjyys, ikuinen kuolema” in its entirety here:

One of the most striking newcomers in the ever-fertile Finnish black metal underground, Aesthus formed in 2017 and released their first demo, Polku, in the summer of 2020, which Purity Through Fire released later that year. Already, the freezing fire of paradigmatic Finnish black metal burned brightly, and now that blaze coalesces into a conflagration on Aesthus‘ debut full-length, Hänen temppelinsä varjoissa.

Proud and pure, Hänen temppelinsä varjoissa exudes that aura of classic Finnish black metal from the late ’90s onward, as laid down by the likes of Horna, Satanic Warmaster, and Azaghal among others. Black metal doesn’t need to “be” anything more than what it already IS – or what it should be – and such is the case with Aesthus. Every element here, from the melancholically melodic riffing to the surging ‘n’ swirling battery to, the distinctly twisted timbre of the Finnish tongue, of course, is in perfect, precise, PASSIONATE lockstep to create a maelstrom of hypnotic-yet-hummable proportions. Indeed, Hänen temppelinsä varjoissa is the work of a true band – meaning, a group of people playing together rather than a disconnected file-sharing project – with each of these seven songs drench in literal blood and sweat and perhaps alcohol. If there’s one trump card that Aesthus play (and poignantly), it’s their dual-guitar lead work; the lead lines explode with memorability and malice in equal measure, underlining the METAL in black metal but never belaboring the point.

Like the album cover’s lone figure pondering mysteries only known to him, Aesthus prefigure a new era of strength & honor with Hänen temppelinsä varjoissa.

Go deeper with the previously revealed “Vihani alttarilta” HERE, also at Purity Through Fire‘s official YouTube channel. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Aesthus’ Hänen temppelinsä varjoissa
1. Hänen temppelinsä varjoissa
2. Vihani alttarilta
3. Kuolonpolku
4. Jälkeläinen
5. Verta Saatanalle
6. Ikiyössä
7. Tyhjyys, ikuinen kuolema

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/aesthusofficial

WAMPYRINACHT set release date for new IRON BONEHEAD album, reveal first track

Today, Iron Bonehead Productions announces May 20th as the international release date for Wampyrinacht‘s highly anticipated second album, Night of the Desecration, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

One of the deepest gems of the always-vital Greek black metal scene, Wampyrinacht began unholy life back in 1995. Their first demo arrived the next year, followed two years later by an EP released by Melancholy Promotion, the precursor to the infamous ISO666 label. Thereafter, Wampyrinacht more or less returned to the crypt, as members drifted off and mainman Necrolord sought to establish a new lineup. Mind you, Necrolord kept busy in myriad bands in the meantime – truly, he is one of the most prolific veterans of the Greek underground – but it was not until 2017 when Wampyrinacht would return with a new recording. Thankfully, that record bore fruit in full-length form, under the title We Will Be Watching: Les cultes de Satan et les mystères de la mort. A dynamic and dazzling display of canonic Hellenic black metal but infused with a melancholy that was indeed vampyric, We Will Be Watching became a late-days essential of Greek classicism.

Patient but still present, Wampyrinacht arrive when the time is right with their second album, Night of the Desecration. Immediately, an uptick in energy and clarity is felt; the oft-otherworldly rawness of its predecessor is replaced by a stout ‘n’ surging sound brimming with a newfound professionalism that pays off in spades. For Night of the Desecration burns with a fire that flickers in myriad directions – rising, falling, cresting, flowing, all-consuming at every turn across the album’s deceptively epic 43-minute runtime – but always focused, always finessed. Leading the charge is Necrolord’s guitar work here, ably balancing stout ‘n’ strident riffing with emotive ‘n’ bone-chilling leads; the heavy metal spirit at the core of classic Greek black metal pulses proudly, but Wampyrinacht doubtlessly put their own shadowy twist on it. Night of the Desecration is thus a work steeped in the ancients whilst retaining a freshness of approach that should span generations of black metallers: actual songwriting is king, now more than ever.

Maudlin yet malevolent, old and new, Wampyrinacht‘s timely return with Night of the Desecration is just cause for celebration. Let the cries of ecstasy resound in the medieval deep!

Cry out in ecstasy with the brand-new track “The Church of Thorns” here:

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Wampyrinacht’s Night of the Desecration
1. The Fountain of All Sorrows and Wrath [0:36]
2. Thorns for my Damnation [6:09]
3. Night of the Desecration [11:15]
4. My Angel [1:08]
5. The Church of Thorns [8:30]
6. A Wanderer’s Journey… [1:58]
7. Hammer of the Angels [7:59]
8. …Towards the Glimmering Star [3:52]
9. Of Statues Wrecked and Ruined [0:58]

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/wampyrinacht
www.wampyrinacht.bandcamp.com

HÄXENZIJRKELL set release date for new AMOR FATI album, reveal first track

Today, Amor Fati Productions sets April 30th – Walpurgnisnacht – as the international release date for Häxenzijrkell‘s highly anticipated second album, Urgrund, on CD format. The vinyl LP version shall be released later this year.

Ever since the release of their first demo tape back in 2016, Häxenzijrkell marched on their very own path towards the bottomless pit of darkness. Raw and resolute black metal was the German duo’s foundation; the mysteries of the beyond was their goal. And thirsty and miserable was that march, stridently suffocating the listener (and perhaps themselves) with epic-length screeds of despair and dread, culminating in two more EPs as well as split EPs with LVTHN and Brånd in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Alas, the bottom of that bottomless pit dropped out completely with Häxenzijrkell‘s debut album, Die Nachtseite, released to widespread acclaim (as well as terror) in 2020 by Amor Fati. Sonically consistent with their prior works yet wielding new twists to their trademark horror & howl, Die Nachtseite marked a further step: a ritual divided in three parts – the Path, the Flame, and the Awakening. And again do the band venture further into the boundless beyond with another three-part full-length, Urgrund.

Mercilessly melancholic, strangely regal, and altogether ceremonial in its inexorable march into an impossibly vast unknown, Urgrund is in many ways the perfect counterpart to its equally towering predecessor. Here, Ugrund is divided into three epic tracks – one topping 18 minutes, the other two over eight – that form the foundation for 36 haunting, heaving minutes. Sinister atmosphere is still Häxenzijrkell‘s forte, but whereas Die Nachtseite tended toward the suffocating, Ugrund is wide open and spacious…for a time, that is: by “Part 3,” an avalanche of hypnotic blasting speed buries the listener, all before unravelling and then evaporating back into the inky depths. Massive, to be sure, and somehow concise – Häxenzijrkell possess some strange magick. No hope, no light!

In the meantime, see & hear a video excerpt of the epic new track “Der Pfad der Finsternis” here:

Cover and tracklisting as follows:

Tracklisting for Häxenzijrkell’s Urgrund

1. Part 1: Die Entschleierung [18:20]
2. Part 2: Von Zeit und Form [8:12]
3. Part 3: Der Pfad der Finsternis [8:42]

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/haexenzijrkell 

www.amor-fati-productions.de 
www.amorfatiproductions.bandcamp.com

Finnish black metal vanguard Aethyrick premiere new track

Today, Finnish black metal vanguard Aethyrick premiere the new track “Winds of the Wanderer”. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s brand-new fourth album, Pilgrimage, set for international release on March 31st via The Sinister Flame. Hear Aethyrick‘s “Winds of the Wanderer” in its entirety here:

By now, Aethyrick should require little introduction. Since their formation in 2016, the duo of Gall and Exile have begun a meteoric ascent in the black metal underground that’s culminated in three increasingly celebrated full-lengths for The Sinister Flame: 2018’s Praxis, 2020’s Gnosis, and last year’s Apotheosis. While such a feverish release schedule would otherwise suggest a mindset of quantity over quality, nothing could be further from the truth for these Finns: Aethyrick have boldly and confidently etched a unique headspace all their own, bountifully brimming with magick and mysticism simultaneously aeons-old and strikingly modern. That they’ve been able to be comfortable enough in that skin to summon creations seemingly so effortlessly is perhaps more amazing than their already-sturdy aesthetic.

And much as “feverish” aptly described the aforementioned Apotheosis, like clockwork does another engrossing full-length grace our ears: Pilgrimage. Everything is in the title: here on Pilgrimage, Aethyrick journey to a sacred place – one deep in their hearts, its secrets known only to them – that could verily evoke nostalgia or a simpler time or foundational feelings or any combination thereof. But, that’s merely in the music itself, which takes on a more ponderous gait, mystical synth swirling around a steady mid-tempo thrust of bittersweet darkness; even the well-timed bouts of speed maintain a nobler yet more-resigned aspect. It immediately sounds like Aethyrick‘s black metal – that is, traditional all-caps BLACK METAL spoken in their own enrapturing dialect – and one that suggests new journeys to embark upon, new stones to uncover.

And yet, that’s only half the story of Pilgrimage. As Aethyrick explain, “The red thread running from the first track to the last is threefold. The outer layer tells a story of an individual who cuts himself loose from the mundane world of his fellow men through the act of murder most foul and goes into the wilderness to live as a hermit – a king of his own realm, as it were – never to return. Under this narrative, one can find a poetic description of a gradual shift in perception – the rather inherent illusion of man as the very crown of creation is replaced by the realization of his absolute oneness with all nature. And yet, at the heart of it all, there are the eight steps of a foundation rite rooted in the tradition that gave birth to Aethyrick in the first place.”

Stargazing grandeur giving way to austere transformation, boundless as ever…here marks Aethryick‘s Pilgrimage. Black metal as an artform is still in good, capable hands.

Begin the Pilgrimage with the previously revealed “Hallowed Bloodline” HERE, also at the Black Metal Promotion YouTube channel. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Aethyrick’s Pilgrimage
1. The Turning Away
2. In the Chapel of One Spirit
3. Threefold Resurrection
4. Winds of the Wanderer
5. A Brother to the Stars
6. Hallowed Bloodline
7. The Moon and Her Consort
8. Kingdom

MORE INFO:
www.aethyrick.com

www.thesinisterflame.com
www.facebook.com/thesinisterflame

VITAL SPIRIT set release date for VENDETTA / HIDDENT TRIBE debut album, reveal first track – features members of WORMWITCH and SEER

Vendetta Records, in conspiracy with Hidden Tribe, is proud to present Vital Spirit‘s highly anticipated debut album, Still as the Night, Cold as the Wind. The CD and cassette tape versions will be released on May 6th by Vendetta and Hidden Tribe, respectively, while the vinyl version will follow later this year via Vendetta.

Self-described as “Saccharine Black Metal of the West,” Vital Spirit began life as 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. Finally released to widespread acclaim in August 2020, the band’s debut EP, In the Faith That Looks Through Death, indeed proved that Vital Spirit were presciently monikered.

Eager to return to the studio after completing that debut EP and Wormwitch’s Wolf Hex in 2020, Kyle and Izzy wrote and recorded their debut album during the spring of 2021. Aptly titled Still as the Night, Cold as the Wind, the band’s first full-length fully displays the array of Vital Spirit‘s mesmerizing vision. In addition to the familiar influences of the preceding EP – Ennio Morricone, Taake, Dissection, Drudkh, Inquisition, and Wovenhand – the duo incorporated elements of “cowboy psychedelia” or “saccharine underground” of the ’60s, resulting in a sound that’s dazzling and daring in equal measure, both acutely focused and furiously unbound. The work of Lee Hazelwood was particularly impactful, as the album’s title is taken from Sanford Clark’s “Still as the Night,” which was written and produced by Hazelwood. With preternatural deftness, Vital Spirit here also leaned into their neofolk side, especially on “Saccharine Sky,” the band’s first fully non-metal track to date.

Helping flesh out that vision are cellist Christopher Brown (Kakophonix), whose work with Osi and the Jupiter caught the ear of Vital Spirit. Likewise vital to the vision of Still as the Night, Cold as the Wind is the production of Tim Creviston (who produced the band’s first EP) and mixing courtesy of Wormwitch bandmate Colby Hink.

Of course, equally vital to Vital Spirit‘s vision is their lyrical content, which here covers the American Indian wars of the Southwest, spanning over a hundred years from the mid-18th century to the late 19th century. Seven of the eight tracks on the record detail conflicts from the period: “Blood and Smoke,” Destruction of San Saba Mission; “Bad Hand,” Battle of Blanco Canyon; “Dawn of Liberty,” Taos Revolt; “The Long Walk,” Long Walk of the Navajo; “Withering Fire,” Battle of Walker’s Creek; “White Eyes,” Bascom Affair; and “Lord of the Plains,” Red River War. Completing the totality is the album’s cover art, depicting the Taos Pueblo church, an important architectural feature of the 1847 Taos Revolt.

Literally breathtaking, brilliantly expansive, and effortlessly unique, Vital Spirit illuminate and invigorate the spirit with Still as the Night, Cold as the Wind.

In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Dawn of Liberty”  here:

Preorder info can be found HERE. Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Vital Spirit’s Still as the Night, Cold as the Wind
1. Blood and Smoke
2. Bad Hand
3. Dawn of Liberty
4. The Long Walk
5. Withering Fire
6. Saccharine Sky
7. White Eyes
8. Lord of the Plains

MORE INFO:
www.vitalspirit.bandcamp.com

www.vendettarecords.de
www.facebook.com/vendettacult

APARTHIVA RAKTADHARA set release date for IRON BONEHEAD debut album, reveal first track

Today, Iron Bonehead Productions announces May 20th as the international release date for Aparthiva Raktadhara‘s highly anticipated debut album, Adyapeeth Maranasamhita (আদ্যাপীঠ মরণসংহিতা), on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
 

সত্য সর্ব ধৰ্মাতিত এবং তাহা সর্বদা অনির্বচনীয় ও পারমার্থিকরূপে শূন্য !

There is no Religion higher than The Truth which is NOT.
Hailing from Kalikshetra (or colloquially known as Kolkata), India’s Aparthiva Raktadhara burst into ultraviolent being with their debut demo, Agyat Ishvar, in 2018 under the auspices of Iron Bonehead. Surely a surprise given the band’s unique geography, the power-trio nevertheless destroyed all doubters with a swift 13-minute nuclear warhead of dread frequencies that somehow managed to sound hallucinatory. As the years passed, anticipation for an Aparthiva Raktadhara full-length compounded.

At last, it arrives, bearing the title Adyapeeth Maranasamhita (আদ্যাপীঠ মরণসংহিতা). Although the album is seeing release in 2022, as the band explains, “Adyapeeth Maranasamhita was received as a burning revelation of riktata, realized within our hearts as we meditated under a Bodhi tree by the Ganges in Chanak, Uttar Kalikshetra, in fall 2019.” Regardless of its origins, Aparthiva Raktadhara‘s first full-length fulfills the massive promise shown by its predecessor and then reaches far into realms previously unfathomed. What’s strikingly, immediately apparent is the album’s clean ‘n’ clear production, which nevertheless works in the band’s favor, sharpening their martial-and-mesmerizing attack to a katana-like degree. That their songwriting has become ever more dizzying whilst evincing a remarkable sense of focus makes Adyapeeth Maranasamhita an even-more-diabolical display of occult mathematics than its brash predecessor.

Aparthiva Raktadhara state that the lyrical themes explored on Adyapeeth Maranasamhita include Sunyata, impermanence, and Apophatic Theology. Indeed, the power-trio bring those heady topics to bear across the album’s six-song/35-minute runtime, twisting and turning a near-overwhelming amount of information into something that’s paradoxically single-minded and trance-inducing. Stultifyingly feral, absurdly complex: truly, there will be no other death metal record quite like this, this year or any other. Adyapeeth Maranasamhita is the grand celebration of Aparthiva Raktadhara‘s beginning…and your end.

Begin that end with the brand-new track “Gnostic Arousal of Shava Lingam” here:

Cover artwork, courtesy of Qayin Mandala Graphex, and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Aparthiva Raktadhara’s Adyapeeth Maranasamhita (আদ্যাপীঠ মরণসংহিতা)
1. Noumenal Wings Of Uncreation Hover Over The Excrements of Sunyata [5:59]
2. Obsidian Noose Of Naag-Paash: Ominous Ophidian Astra [5:50]
3. Gnostic Arousal Of Shava Lingam [6:17]
4. Omnicidal Samshan-Pyre Of Kaalkutha [4:40]
5. Drowning Into The Vitriolic Waters Of Atavistic Nidra [5:24]
6. Nada of Creation Collapses Onto Primal Bindu [5:58]

APARTHIVA RAKTADHARA are:
Nahas – Oracular Trance 
Takshak – Shabda Usurpation 
V. Hydra – Antardrishti 

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/aparthivaraktadhara
www.aparthivaraktadhara.bandcamp.com


ALGAION to have classic debut album reissued by SHADOW RECORDS

Today, Shadow Records (distributed & marketed by Regain Records) announces April 22nd as the international release date for a long-overdue reissue of Algaion’s classic debut album, Oimai Algeiou, on CD and cassette tape formats. The vinyl LP version will be released on September 18th.

Formed in that fateful, fiery year of 1993, Sweden’s Algaion took a counter direction to their contemporaries. Right from the start, with their self-titled demo in ’93 and the following year’s Heosphoros Ho Proi Anatellon demo, the duo of Mårten Björkman and Mathias Kamijo created a strikingly different black metal sound that had far more in common with the emergent Greek scene led by the likes of Rotting Christ, Thou Art Lord, and Necromantia. But it was Algaion’s debut album, Oimai Algeiou, where that sound truly crystallized and etched itself into the hallowed halls of black metal legendry.

Released in 1995 by the pivotal Full Moon Productions, Oimai Algeiou was underground black metal for underground black metallers. Not kowtowing to increasingly trendy Scandinavian sounds, no “romance” or gothic or vampires, and definitely no mosh nor no fun: Algaion here created a surging and windswept landscape on which to paint dark desires and honor that Hellenic pantheon. It was a raw landscape, to be sure, but one contemporaneous with their Greek brethren and duly emitting a perhaps-colder atmosphere than the duskiness usually associated with that scene. However, above all, it was the songwriting itself which put Oimai Algeiou amongst that hallowed company, pulsing with a simple-yet-sublime melodicism and never-forgotten heavy metal spirit, all dusted with just the right amount of melancholy and the subtlest hint of synth.

Although Algaion would continue thereafter with a similar but more-polished sound, Oimai Algeiou inarguably stands as the perfect snapshot of a truly special time. Out of print for decades and only ever released on CD, this reissue of Oimai Algeiou features remastering by Devo Andersson at Endarker Studios and will be henceforth available on all formats. The past is forever alive!

Preorder info can be found HERE at Regain Records‘ Bandcamp. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Algaion’s Oimai Algeiou
1. Venenum Homonitatis (intro)
2. Natrices Educati
3. Heosphoros
4. In Aede Dolorium
5. On the Reach of Zaphonia
6. Kratos
7. The Last Delusion

www.shadowrecords.se
www.regainrecords.se
www.facebook.com/shadowrecords.se

ZEMIAL to have classic debut EP reissued by THE SINISTER FLAME and DARK DESCENT

On March 31st internationally, The Sinister Flame and Dark Descent Records are proud to present the 30th anniversary edition of Zemial‘s legendary Sleeping Under Tartarus on CD and 12” vinyl EP formats.

Whenever the golden trinity of Necromantia, Rotting Christ, and Varathron of the early Greek black metal scene is brought up, one should add one more name… and that is Zemial. Whereas the meandering path of the band has encompassed diverse styles during the last few decades, ranging from raw black/thrash metal and epic heavy metal to progressive rock and avant-garde art music, Zemial‘s early beginnings were about black metal exclusively – and indeed, Sleeping Under Tartarus, the band’s very first release dating back to 1992, is the prime testimony of that.

With Sauron (Rotting Christ) on drums, Magus (Necromantia) on keyboards, and the mastermind Vorskaath being largely responsible for Varathron’s His Majesty at the Swamp released a year later, it is only fair to say that Sleeping Under Tartarus emerged from the very core of the aforementioned golden trinity.

Originally released as a 7” EP by obscure labels Torched Records and Gothic Records, the EP was reissued in 1994 by Gothic Records, then run by brothers Rick and Bay Cortez of Sadistic Intent. Since then, both versions have become collector’s items and the recording has not been reissued thereafter.

To correct this grave injustice, Sleeping Under Tartarus is now brought to life again, precisely 30 years after its birth. Featuring the original 1992 intro, with the sound restored and remastered from the original tapes, this definitive edition of Sleeping Under Tartarus is pressed on single-sided 180g 12” vinyl while the B-side is etched with the original Zemial logo, making it an absolute must for every black metal collection.

May the ancient gods of the night reign again! Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Zemial’s Sleeping Under Tartarus
1. Intro [1:16]
2. Sleeping Under Tartarus [4:53]
3. Falling Into the Absu [3:36]
4. The Scourge of the Kingdom [2:33]


MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/zemialofficial

www.thesinisterflame.com
www.facebook.com/thesinisterflame