Today, Purity ThroughFire announces March31st as the international release date for Sieluhaaska‘s striking debut EP, Kun aurinkoni kuoli, on digipack CD format.
Formed in 2019, Sieluhaaska hail from the ever-fertile Finnish black metal underground. The sole work of one Saasta, Sieluhaaska are unique among their contemporaries in that they move at a much more measured gait – somewhere between marching and cruising, but still with a persistent pulse – giving their comparably icy creations a deceptively approachable edge that cuts just as hard, if not harder.
Point proof is the band’s debut EP, Kun aurinkoni kuoli, following a split EP in 2021. Here, Sieluhaaska kick into mesmerizing mid-tempo gear for two songs, tragic and triumphant in equal measure (the whole EP was written & recorded “under soul-crushing suffering,” according to Saasta) and deadly compact in their hooks-first minimalism. Then comes a faithful cover of the cult Hämys, which fits favorably into Sieluhaaska‘s aesthetic, before closing with the nearly-10-minute synth-led lament “Conjuration of the True Pain Within,” which is truly titled. Altogether, a four-song/23-minute work that’ll begin putting the name Sieluhaaska on the tongues of the true.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new title track “Kun aurinkoni kuoli” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Sieluhaaska’s Kun aurinkoni kuoli 1. Kun aurinkoni kuoli 2. Kaaoksen syleilyyn 3. Kun minä kuolen [Hämys cover] 4. Conjuration of the True Pain With
Today, Costa Rican death metallers Astriferousstream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Pulsations From the Black Orb. Set for international release on March 10th – Me Saco Un Ojo Records will handle the vinyl version while Pulverised Records will handle the CD version – hear Astriferous‘ Pulsations From the Black Orb in its entirety here:
Two demos, one split, one MLP: these are the releases Astriferous have already left an impression with. But now, this Costa Rican death metal juggernaut is back with their full-length studio debut, Pulsations From the Black Orb.
Decay, despair, and bubbling rot come to the surface with the abhorrent opening piece. Setting a gargantuan monolith to crumble before us, the intensity is high even before we truly begin. Roaring vocals and meaty riffs stain the air as pummeling drums bludgeon the skull to smithereens. The raw and ineffably dark production is one that will immediately leave non-diehards running with their tails between their legs. But those who can hack the savage attack of the senses will hear some truly phenomenal, atmospheric, and yet unforgiving death metal that spews rot and hacks limbs while some cleverly placed riffs give a very uncomfortable ambience to the whole thing. The gripping and unique approach is delivered at high-tempos to ensure maximum damage while some gloomier passages give a rich, textured, and hauntingly ghastly dynamic to the record. Blending the cacophonous Finnish death metal titans of old with some South American deathrashing violence, Astriferous conjure an atmosphere and sound entirely of their own while reading from the ancient tomes of morbidity.
Firing on all cylinders, this record is an amalgamation of the band’s best works. The doomy parts are more spectral than ever, the bestial aggression is unrivalled in savagery, and the progression as putrescent as one could dream of. Those who have followed the Astriferous journey can revel in the splendor that they have reached here with their best achievement to date. New maniacs can be won over by their first experience being a truly remarkable milestone in death metal from a far-off corner of the world, proudly planting the Costa Rican flag in the underground’s conscious with a truly marvelous, menacing, and engrossing cut of excellence. Much like the chasmic, void-like vortex of grotesqueries on the cover art, this album will pull you into a pool of macabre oddities and never let you go… [text by Jørgen Sven Kirby, Nattskog webzine]
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Astriferous’ Pulsations From the Black Orb 1. Intro (The Black Orb) 2. Blinding the Seven Eyes of God 3. Teleport Haze 4. Metasymbiosis 5. Forlorn and Immemorial 6. Ominous and Malevolent 7. Lunomancy 8. Symmetries that Should Not Be
Emerging blackened death metal quartet BLACK LAVA (ft. members of VIPASSI, ex-NE OBLIVISCARIS, AMDBL, HADAL MAW, etc.) is now sharing a brand new live video for their performance of the song “Baptised in Ice!” The song is taken from the band’s debut opus, ‘Soul Furnace,’ and can be seen here:
‘Soul Furnace’ was released in November 2022 via Season of Mist and landed coveted chart placements for the Australian Independent Record Labels Association, debuting at #2 on the 100% Independent Albums chart and #4 on the Independent Label Albums chart! Additionally, ‘Soul Furnace’ was named among Sick Drummer Magazine’s “Favorite Drumming Albums of 2022!”
‘Soul Furnace’ can be streamed, downloaded and ordered HERE.
The cover artwork for ‘Soul Furnace’ was painted by Paolo Girardi and can be found below along with the tracklisting.
Tracklisting: 1. Origins (02:50) 2. Aurora (03:35) 3. Black Blizzard (03:32) 4. Baptised in Ice (03:27) [WATCH] 5. Eye of the Moon (04:10) [WATCH] 6. Northern Dawn (04:30) [WATCH] 7. Necrocatacomb (03:23) 8. Nightshade (04:06) 9. Soul Furnace (04:31) [WATCH] Entire album duration: 34:02
During the turbulent and uncertain years of 2020-2021, perhaps none were plunged deeper into darkness than those from down under as Australia imposed some of the strictest, harshest, and most devastating lockdown measures in the world, forcing their civilians into years of isolation. However, through solitude and desolation, some of the greatest art is created, as is the case with BLACK LAVA, the emerging blackened death metal quartet from Melbourne (AU). Founded by drummer Dan Presland (Vipassi, AMDBL, ex-Ne Obliviscaris) and guitarist Ben Boyle (Vipassi, AMDBL, Hadal Maw), BLACK LAVA draws influence from old school death and black metal bands while injecting groove-laden melodies and progressive elements to create their own experimental sound.
“The idea came about from just pure frustration of the situation at hand during 2020/2021,” explains Presland of the band’s formation. “Ben and I live locally together, and in the beginning of the pandemic, I built a working studio, so we got together to just initially jam to release some frustrations and vent some music around the second half of 2021. We had a pretty casual jam together and Ben came back with a few fleshed out ideas a few days later.” As the ideas started to come to fruition, the duo quickly realized that the project had more potential than just a jam session. “Both of us were really into the direction Ben pushed,” continues Presland, “and it was something pretty new to both of us – we have worked together quite extensively over the years within music, playing in several bands together (Vipassi, AMDBL, Aphotic Dawn and more) – so to go in a totally new direction was pretty refreshing.”
As the pair fleshed out more ideas, they turned to their good friend Rob Watkins of Blackhelm to fulfill vocal duties. “Within 10 minutes we had found a vocalist and the search for a bassist was on. Tim Anderson (Blackhelm) was found pretty quickly and was keen to jump on board the idea also, so within a very short time frame we had a full lineup, a record ready to go, and 4 guys full of enthusiasm to push something new.”
Sharing a diverse love for black metal, death metal, and progressive music, the quartet quickly found their sound and hit a stride. And thus, Soul Furnace was born – a searing 34-minute aural assault that conjures up nostalgia while still sounding fresh and current. While the record promises to usher in a new musical era of the 2020s with its forward-thinking and contemporary energy, the lyrics dwell somewhere between fantasy and the old world.
“In the world of Black Lava, the lyrics are set in a time and world long gone and forgotten, mostly made up of fantasy and a medieval theme, fitting for the realms of our style of music,” explains vocalist Rob Watkins of the album’s themes and inspirations. “We draw inspiration from the natural environment and mother nature, ancient witchcraft and the glory of warriors in battle. I picture Black Lava as visiting an ancient beast in a cave giving you a chance to escape the outside world through its tales and mythology.”
With a new deal with Season of Mist and a team of some of the music industry’s most revered artists, producers, engineers, and professionals behind them to help render their vision, Black Lava is ready to make its debut and unleash its fury upon the masses. Lineup: Dan Presland (drums) Ben Boyle (guitar) Rob Watkins (Vocals) Tim Anderson (bass)
Recording Studio: Bushido Studios, Melbourne Producer / sound engineer: Troy Mccosker Mixing studio and engineer: Kurt Ballou Mastering studio and engineer: Alan Douches
Today, Signal Rex, in conspiracy with Bestial Burst, announces April 13th as the international release date for Moon Oracle‘s highly anticipated second album, Ophidian Glare, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
It was but 2021 when Moon Oracle burst from the void, fully formed, with their Muse of the Nightside debut. Also jointly released by Signal Rex and Bestial Burst, Moon Oracle’s first public recording portrayed the power-trio as astute auctioneers of pure-yet-idiosyncratic metal, equally informed by archaic black metal and eldritch doom. With its bass-heavy crunge and wild tribal drumming, little else around quite sounded like Muse of the Nightside.
And so it goes with Ophidian Glare, Moon Oracle’s second full-length exploration of that battleground between the Id and the Ego. The album’s opening birth pangs suggest their barbaric primitivism will be exaggerated to obscene lengths, but patience rewards the intrepid – or ignorant, as it were – as Ophidian Glare soon blossoms into startling shapes at once vulgar and artful. The ever-present pulse of filth still guides Moon Oracle, but much of the preceding wildness has been reined in (or at least refined), resulting in an altogether more atmospheric sound that allows haunting spaciousness to enter and thereby make the barbarism hit that much harder. Perhaps the album’s unique charm can be summarized by the track title “Nethereal Axe.”
Still cold and alone in their uniqueness amongst an underground that rewards conservatism, Moon Oracle continue to pursue their equally ancient avant-garde muse with increasingly adventurous results. True deviants and outsiders, behold their Ophidian Glare!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new tracks “The Numinous Gate Opens” and the aforementioned “Nethereal Axe” here:
. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Moon Oracle’s Ophidian Glare 1. The Numinous Gate Opens [4:44] 2. A Vision in the Mansion [3:50] 3. Nethereal Axe [2:43] 4. Serpent’s Word [3:47] 5. Widdersyns – Against the Current [4:19] 6. Abysmal Crimson Desert [10:58]
Today, French black metallers Diablation reveal the new track “Vox Diaboli.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second album, Par Le Feu, set for international release on March 31st via Osmose Productions. Hear Diablation‘s “Vox Diaboli” in its entirety here:
March 31st as the international release date Diablation‘s second album, Par Le Feu, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Veterans of French black metal Vicomte Vampyr Arkames and V. Orias. A, after having respectively created and burnt their soul in Seth and Ad Inferna, deliver Diablation‘s second album, named Par le Feu.
Without concession, this opus is a true ode to the death of humanity, the cataclysmic account of its last hours carried by a metallic wave honoring their black metal roots, those of the ’90s.
Joined by Maximilien B. (Bâ’a) and X, the quartet, deeply rooted in the underground and refusing any public appearance, mischievously alternates grandiloquent moments and passages of rare violence: the quiet times are short-lived, the continuous onslaught of tragic and addictive melodies leading relentlessly to the end of time.
“Par le Feu, Par le Sang, Par la Haine”: thus begins one of the major albums of the French extreme scene.
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Diablation’s Par Le Feu 1. Inferi Ostium [0:51] 2. Vox Diaboli [4:44] 3. L’Unique Merveille [5:34] 4. Au Bord du Gouffre [4:59] 5. Crépuscule Doré [4:23] 6. Testament de l’Humanité [5:48] 7. Mort, Marche avec Moi [13:31]
DESTRÖYER 666 are about to kick off their previously announced European tour! The wolfpack will start their rampage at the Helvete venue in Oberhausen tonight and will wreak havoc on 15 more stages in the weeks after. A full list of confirmed shows can be found below.
Deströyer 666 03 Mar 23 Oberhausen (DE) Helvete 04 Mar 23 Denain (FR) In Theatrum Denoninum 05 Mar 23 Nantes (FR) Ferrailleur 06 Mar 23 Paris (FR) Backstage 07 Mar 23 Colmar (FR) Grillen 08 Mar 23 Lyon (FR) Rock ‘n Eat 10 Mar 23 Rome (IT) Traffic Club 11 Mar 23 Parma (IT) Stige Fest 12 Mar 23 Ljubljana (SI) Orto Bar 13 Mar 23 Vienna (AT) Viper Room 14 Mar 23 Krakow (PL) Kamienna 12 15 Mar 23 Warsaw (PL) Hydrozagadka 16 Mar 23 Poznan (PL) U Badzyla 17 Mar 23 Zwickau (DE) Club Seilerstrasse 18 Mar 23 Kassel (DE) Goldgrube
DESTRÖYER 666 will be playing in support of their freshly released album ‘Never Surrender’. The cover artwork, which is created by Alex Kemp, can be found below along with the track-list and further album details
Track-list 1. Never Surrender (3:47) 2. Andraste (3:51) [LISTEN] 3. Guillotine (3:24) [WATCH] 4. Pitch Black Night (4:43) 5. Mirror’s Edge (4:48) 6. Grave Raiders (5:01) 7. Savage Rights (3:59) 8. Rather Death (4:52) 9. Batavia’s Graveyard (5:46) Total: 40:11
DESTRÖYER 666 continue to do what they are best at: kicking ass and hammering out heavy metal that is slamming straight into the face. No compromise, no sell out, no bullshit!
DESTRÖYER 666 don’t do whiny nostalgia but simply stick to their old school roots, which are reaching straight down into the golden age of metal while allowing themselves to sound fresh and remain relevant. The band originally started out as a solo project of BESTIAL WARLUST guitarist KK in Australia in 1994. As early as with debut album ‘Unchain the Wolves’ (1997), fast-tracked towards international acclaim. The even stronger second full-length, ‘Phoenix Rising’ (2000) had the Australians relocating to Europe to be able to satisfy the soaring demand for touring and festival shows. After a round of line-up changes, third full length ‘Cold Steel… For an Iron Age’ (2002) cemented the band’s excellent reputation. After a hiatus caused among other issues by disenchantment with the business, DESTRÖYER 666 returned with ‘Defiance’ in 2009 and followed up on this success with the rough and gritty ‘Wildfire’ (2016) seven years later that saw them touring and performing at all the relevant metal festivals worldwide on a regular basis again. The Australians filled the gap between the latest albums with the hard-hitting EP, ‘Call of the Wild’ (2018) that comes with a distinct taste of an unrepentantly classic flavour.
The outlaws from down under deliver another pummelling and relentless lesson in aggression with full length number 6(66). ‘Never Surrender’ is a furious assault of black thrash, chainsaw riffs, and warlike drums, offering no moment of reprisal as it rages on for 40 unyielding minutes.
With this offering, DESTRÖYER 666 takes no prisoners!
Today, Brazilian occult-doom metallers The Evil premiere the new track “Pride.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second album, Seven Acts to Apocalypse, set for international release on March 31st via Osmose Productions; the album features guitarist Iossif, AKA Wagner Antichrist, formerly of Sarcófago and Sepultura. Hear The Evil’s “Pride” in its entiretyToday, Brazilian occult-doom metallers The Evilpremiere the new track “Pride.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second album, Seven Acts to Apocalypse, set for international release on March 31st via Osmose Productions; the album features guitarist Iossif, AKA Wagner Antichrist, formerly of Sarcófago and Sepultura. Hear The Evil‘s “Pride” in its entirety here:
Humanity has failed miserably, and on its filthy throne, the fallen angel laughs sordidly… The battle for the souls of those who inhabit this dying habitat known as Planet Earth has been won by evil… A planet dominated by genocidal rulers; religious spreaders of hatred; criminals who rejoice in chaos and a corrupted justice; dominated by their parasites, aka homo sapiens; A planet strutting its way to the final destruction… Our final days will be marked by our acts.. Acts driven by the sadness of our Envy and stupid Pride… Acts to feed our Greed for money and power… Acts that you, in your weakness and Sloth, refuse to face… Acts aimed at satisfying our Lust and unbridled Voracity …. Acts brought with violence by filthy Wrath armies… Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for The Evil (Brazil)’s Seven Acts to Apocalypse 1. Envy [7:08] 2. Pride [5:01] 3. Greed [5:53] 4. Sloth [6:30] 5. Lust [5:56] 6. Voracity [5:56] 7. Wrath [6:47]
Blackened heavy metal masters CLOAK will be releasing their third full-length “Black Flame Eternal” on May 26, 2023! To celebrate this release, the Atlanta quartet is now sharing the blistering first single ‘Invictus’ along with scorching new music video!
The video is now streaming here:
Pre-orders are soon available! The album can already be pre-saved on various digital platforms HERE.
CLOAK drummer Sean Bruneau comments on the song: “No composition written by the band has so perfectly captured our essence to date. The time spent in isolation allowed not only personal growth, but tremendous reflection on a lifetime of inspiration. The song came together aggressively once we started working on new material, and it was clear that we were approaching things differently this time around. Anger and empowerment were much more evident as opposed to the more melody driven material in the past albums. To us, ‘Invictus’ is a thesis of sorts. It’s everything about who we were before this band and where we are headed together moving forward.“
CLOAK have furthermore released the cover artwork and album details for “Black Flame Eternal”.
Track-list: 1. Ethereal Fire (05:37) 2. With Fury and Allegiance (04:46) 3. Shadowlands (05:58) 4. Invictus (06:36) [WATCH] 5. Seven Thunders (05:49) 6. Eye of the Abyss (05:06) 7. The Holy Dark (06:03) 8. Heavenless (02:57) 9. Black Flame Eternal (06:43) Total: 49:35
“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” – Rudyard Kipling
In an era that is designed to beat down and weaken the individual, Black Flame Eternal is an album that represents strength, empowerment, and total opposition. With mounting pressure to engage in modern societal tribalism, Cloak invokes a spiritual rebellion that exists beyond good and evil with album number three. “All of our albums are created with a spiritual focus, dealing with how we see life, death, and everything in between. I think the earlier records dealt more with the mysteries that surrounded delving deeper into the world of dark spirituality, whereas the new material has taken what we’ve learned and used it to move forward with force,” says Cloak frontman Scott Taysom of the record’s underlying philosophy. “Black Flame Eternal is a statement of spiritual empowerment in every sense. For the first time we want people to grasp on to this sentiment, instead of keeping it completely personal within our world of Cloak. The themes and the sheer power can be felt much more within the songs that this album contains.”
“Our goal is complete spiritual liberation, which is where true power and freedom exists,” he adds. “We’ve reached a point in history where people are forced to pick a side or to join a team, so to speak. Cloak stands in complete opposition to this. We aim to be a giant middle finger in the face of the empty modern world.”
While Cloak might rage against societal conventions, the Atlanta quartet embraces the rebellious and time-tested traditions of heavy metal. Whether it be the conjuring the chaotic spirit of Swedish black metal purveyors Watain and Dissection, summoning the deep, dark and sensual groove of Danzig, or evoking the raw speed and raucous energy of Motörhead, the influence of metal’s founding fathers is deep within Cloak’s DNA. Cloak’s charm, however, does not merely lie within its romanticism of the past, but rather is the way each of these genres has shaped Cloak’s own personal identity. And with Black Flame Eternal, the record sees Cloak continue to strengthen its own unique established sound.
Cloak recognizes the importance of a band’s third record, with Taysom explaining, “These influences will always be important to us, as they are some of the best and most important bands of our time. On the other hand, what is so special about getting to the third record of our career is that inspiration starts to move inwards. We had enough experience and material at this point to really know what we do best and how we can utilize these skills in the best way possible. If you look at some of the most iconic bands, their third albums were massive steps towards greatness. So to us, we feel our third record will be a very important one in our time as a band.”
The Atlantan’s evolution is evident in the fury displayed on Black Flame Eternal, which flawlessly compliments the grandiose melodic atmosphere. “This was a conscious effort. Early on before the album even started, I knew it was going to be a much more aggressive and powerful album. I wanted to take a step away from certain sounds and add a bit of brutality back in. The overall vibe matches who we are much more, so it was only fitting to move towards this sound. It almost feels like we are going back to our roots as people in certain ways,” explains Taysom. Black Flame Eternal follows up sophomore effort The Burning Dawn, which was released in November 2019, with hell unleashing its fury on the globe just a few short months later. As plans to tour the new album around the world came to a screeching halt, the band did not stagger or falter, and instead used this gift of time to write. When reflecting upon the lost years and its impact, Taysom seemingly embraces the situation with little regrets, “Considering Cloak is a sacred space for us, these exterior things did not have as much of an impact as one might think. But it was impossible to ignore some of what was going on throughout these tumultuous years. It’s bound to affect people’s personal lives and the way the mind works during these interesting times. One thing that it did greatly affect was the fact that we could not promote The Burning Dawn properly after the one U.S. tour we did with 1349. We feel this hurt the record, but there was nothing we could do. We were one of the earliest out of the gate after venues started to open back up, and we’ve been continuing to tour in promotion of that album all the way up until now.”
Cloak utilized every minute of this time to focus on fully realizing its vision for Black Flame Eternal. “The initial stage of the writing process started in January of 2020, and lasted all the way until May 2021. It was the longest spanning album process for us so far, with many long days, nights, and weeks trying to piece the songs together the best we could.” While the record did not come together swiftly or easily, the care and attention put into its creation is evident in its powerful composition.
Making up for lost time, these road warriors have already embarked on several high profile North American tours since the autumn of 2021, commanding audiences in every major city with their chaos magick. Each performance merges the spirit of black metal with the backbone of rock ‘n’ roll as the band consistently delivers a blistering set from start to finish. Taysom describes Cloak’s live approach as “a mixture of ethereal atmosphere and total abrasive chaos. The mixture of these two opposing energies is where Cloak lies; the meeting of high and low. To us, this is where the most interesting moments happen, both emotionally and physically.”
With no borders or boundaries, Cloak is ready to embark on this new chapter as the leader of its own pack. The band bows to no one, forging its own path as one of the governing metal forces of this decade as ‘Black Flame Eternal’ promises to scorch the earth and leave its hallowed mark.
Recording Studio: The Green House Mixing: Cameron Webb Mastering: Audiosiege
Line-up: Scott Taysom – vocals/guitar Max Brigham – guitar Billy C. Robinson – bass Sean Bruneau – drums
