BEKMØRK reemerges from the frozen tundra to release their sophomore album, The Path Nocturnal on May 27th. The black metal duo unleashed their debut album Incantations of the Frigid North in 2019; a release that was met with critical acclaim and made Antichrist Magazine’s list of top 50 black metal albums of 2019.
Staying true to their name and nature, BEKMØRK (Norwegian for pitch-black) returns with a thicker sound and even heavier guitars than their debut release. With growls that claw their way from the abyss and the band’s trademark morbid riffs, the atmospheric and haunting opening track, “Hail to the Moths”, sets the tone for all that follows. “Black Waltz” shows the impressive range of the band, as visceral drums and frenzied guitars weave the tale of a demonic ceremony at the ruins of a castle in Switzerland, before giving way to a chilling refrain. The instrumentation builds to a cacophony, complete with a howling guitar solo in “Empress of Charn”, a tribute to the celebrated satanic Villainess.
Disturbing and intense, The Path Nocturnal marks a brutal continuation of BEKMØRK’s ode to second wave black metal.
Today, Osmose Productions announces May 27th as the international release date for the highly anticipated debut album of France’s Sacrifizer, Le Diamant De Lucifer, on CD and cassette tape formats. The vinyl LP version will follow later this year.
After having sharpened their blades for five years and being devoted to the cult of Nosferatu, French hard rockers Sacrifizer are now ready to get out of their coffin with their debut album.
Titled in French as another tribute to their rock elders, Le Diamant de Lucifer is an intense and burning gospel of death.
No mercy! No surrender! Make war or be ripped under the grave! Hail Satan.
Begin hailing with the brand-new track “Leather Agents” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Sacrifizer (France)’s Le Diamant De Lucifer
1. Ascent To The Black Throne [3:12] 2. Ripped Under The Grave [3:32] 3. A Funeral Majesty [4:28] 4. The Portal [1:25] 5. Leather Agents [4:25] 6. Le Diamant De Lucifer [6:47] 7. Possessor [4:07] 8. Steel Assassins [5:06] 9. L’Entité [1:33] 10. La Cathédrale [5:37]
Today, Iron Bonehead Productions announces July 1st as the international release date for a brand-new mini-album from Orgrel, The Oath of the Black Wolf, on CD and 12″ vinyl formats.
During the autumn of 2021, Orgrel proved that the past was still alive with their debut album, Red Dragon’s Invocation, for Iron Bonehead. A band literally out of time, the Italian power-trio hailed the ancient days of black metal – the days too often forgotten, in the late ’90s, when labels like Solistitium, Sombre, and Drakkar began releasing obsidian gems during the genre’s post-sensationalism fallout. Rich with righteous fury and triumph alike, Red Dragon’s Invocation synthesized mystical splendor and dizzying delirium into a full-length treatise on those too-often-forgotten days, engrossing the listener to the very last: indeed, the album was summarily titled.
Building upon that grand fortress is a four-song/22-minute mini-album likewise truly titled: The Oath of the Black Wolf. Here, Orgrel have gone a-hunting, their ’90s black metal classicism stalking and striking with a hunger only hinted at previously. Still, fueled by this fire they may be, the Italians across this mini manage to maximize their epic side, with the predecessor’s flat-yet-full soundfield now becoming slightly more chromatic in the process. Lead lines portend dark truths, ever building in tension and then grandeur, but the record’s swift-yet-satisfying runtime reveals the darkest, most intrinsic truth: black metal doesn’t need to “become” anything when it already IS. Hail The Oath of the Black Wolf!
Begin hailing (and killing) with the brand-new track “Curse” here:
On June 21st, the summer solstice, Amor Fati Productions is proud to present Nubivigant‘s highly anticipated second album, The Wheel and the Universe, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
During the autumn of 2020, Nubivigant released their bolt-from-the-blue debut, Roaring Eye, via the auspices of Amor Fati. Although brand-new in name at the time, the man behind Nubivigant possessed the collective experience of over decades in the black metal scene: multi-instrumentalist Omega, who concurrently helms the well-respected Darvaza and plays drums in a multitude of hordes, including (but certainly not limited to) Fides Inversa, Frostmoon Eclipse, Enepsigos, Chaos Invocation, Kult, and Ukraine’s Moloch among many others. Nevertheless, on evidence of the shimmering & skyscraping Roaring Eye, Nubivigant was undoubtedly Omega’s most personal work to date, handling as does all the instruments as well as vocals. Its clean-toned timbre in both strings and especially vocals was stark and stratifying, but portrayed a breathtaking iteration of black metal both traditional and progressive.
And so Omega keeps apace with Nubivigant‘s second album, The Wheel and the Universe. Much of the album’s atmospheric foundation can be found in the title: indeed do the hypnotizing riffs cycle like a wheel, mesmerizing in their rippling routine, and the enormity of the minimal-is-maximal songwriting feels like a universe unto itself. Once again, Omega’s soul-stirring vocals are front and center, and more expressive than ever; whether they strike closer to classic deathrock than the usual metalized iterations of “clean vocals” matters not when presented with such poignant, heartstrings-pulling lines. And those more plaintive lines indeed spread outward to the songwriting itself this time around, with The Wheel and the Universe painting Nubivigant in a more pensive light, the throb still steady no matter the tempo; one could safely say this album is a wanderer’s record, whether he seeks the mysteries of the occult or the potential within the self or simply some geographical locale on a distant horizon. At last, that wanderer will arrive with the awe-inspiring closer, “The Great White Throne.” There stands Nubivigant, waiting and all-knowing: where will this quest take you?
Begin that quest with the brand-new track “Clothed With the Sun” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Nubivigant’s The Wheel and the Universe
1. Into Eternal Night [5:51] 2. The Mask And The Devil [5:43] 3. The Book Of The Earth [7:05] 4. Clothed With The Sun [8:55] 5. Between The Moon And The Stars [4:03] 6. The Great White Throne [10:36]
Today, Iron Bonehead Productions announces July 1st as the international release date for a brand-new mini-album from Furis Ignis, Turm, on CD and 12″ vinyl formats.
It was but the beginning of 2022 when Furis Ignis emerged from the inky depths with their debut album, Decapitate the Aging World, for Iron Bonehead. Its title something of a call to arms or at least strong signifier of the contents therein, Decapitate the Aging World presented an iron-willed newcomer well versed in the old arts – black metal back before the internet, social media, and other modern trappings. And yet, Furis Ignis weren’t simply playing by-the-numbers “classic” black metal; within their debut full-length lurked a muscular physicality quite at odds with nowadays’ fake(d) rawness.
Striking while the iron’s red-hot, Furis Ignis return with a five-song/33-minute mini-album titled Turm. The foundation thankfully remains much the same – old Germania in the mold of Moonblood and equally early Desaster and Katharsis, deftly dissected and reassembled, this time spiced with old Abigor and Marduk – and the attack continues to be ghoulish and grim. Compared to the robust swelter of its full-length predecessor, Turm unapologetically maintains a much rawer aspect that nevertheless still clangs, throbs, and thrusts with legitimately live execution. Therefore, even with the blizzard beasts banging on its door, Turm remains an exquisitely gutted and grimy spin, with the spectral fog eventually clearing to reveal something akin to late ’90s (and too-overlooked) Darkthrone residing in a lonely castle.
Enter that lonely castle with the brand-new track “Vanguard of Black Years” here:
Tracklisting for Furis Ignis’ Turm 1. Vanguard of Black Years 2. To Trespass the Commandments of Tangible Being 3. From Unremembered Dark Pagan Dreams 4. Turm 5. Die Enthauptung Der Alternden Welten
