Today, Chaos Records announces February 9th, 2024 as the international release date for Seltsame Erden‘s highly anticipated debut album, Gedankentempeln, on CD format.
Seltsame Erden hail from the medieval town of Marburg, Germany. The band was founded in 2019 by vocalist / guitarist L (concurrently of morbid death metallers Nekus), and soon the lineup was completed by fellow comrades G and J (Into Coffin, Putridarium). Their first release, the Turmfall EP, followed in 2021 as well as a few hand-picked live performances. Sticking to the Teutonic black metal template of being steadfastly traditional and low-profile (or at least no-frills or unassuming), Seltsame Erden surely honored their native idiom with a stout, surging style of black metal that’s now fully blossomed on their debut album.
Titlted Gedankentempeln, Seltsame Erden‘s first full-length was once again recorded in their remote bunker, deep in Hessian woods. As such, the austere and heavily hypnotic swarm of sound Seltsame Erden present here strikes against modernity and other prevailing trends in the “black metal” scene. While the authentically ’90s-rooted atmosphere touches upon the medieval, more so do the power-trio push their onrush of crush toward the minimal-is-maximal splendor of earliest Inquisition, Ondskapt, and even Maniac Butcher: movements of subtlety, detail, and plainly stated POWER. However, the production itself – all recorded, mixed, and mastered by (((CYPHX-AUDIO))) – elevates Seltsame Erden to their own plateau populated by few, so mysteriously ethereal yet palpably physical is Gedankentempeln. The cover artwork by Belial NecroArts vividly illustrates this unique dichotomy.
Perversely “progressive” in its red-eyed regression, Seltsame Erden prove with that Gedankentempeln that black metal’s “second reckoning” at the dawn of the new millennium was not lost upon newer generations. The next thousand years are theirs!
In the meantime, stream Gedankentempeln in its entirety here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Aforementioned cover artwork and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Seltsame Erden’s Gedankentempeln 1. Vaterland (Intro) 2. Zwiegestalt 3. Gedankentempeln 4. Jenseits der Menschen 5. Tenebrae 6. Keno (Dark Ages x Celan)
Today, American black metallers Azathoth’s Dream stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Nocturnal Vampyric Bewitchment. Set for international release on December 8th via Iron Bonehead Productions on vinyl LP format, hear Azathoth’s Dream‘s Nocturnal Vampyric Bewitchment in its entirety here:
Azathoth’s Dream are a brand-new entity hailing from the United States. On one hand, the one-man band’s sound is undeniably late ’90s French vintage, maintaining a similarly necrotic-yet-aristocratic mysticism not unlike Osculum Infame, Bekhira, Winter Funeral, and very early Seth. On the other, one could liken Azathoth’s Dream to the uprising of raw vampiric black metal in the U.S., spearheaded by Sanguine Relic, Vampirska, early Lamp of Murmuur, and Geist of Ouachita among others. Either way, one listen to the aptly titled Nocturnal Vampyric Bewitchment and one will be indeed bewitched by the band’s melancholic-yet-feral spell…or duly repulsed by it. There’s no other way; just like those stratifying days of the 1990s, you either understand this as BLACK METAL – and stand with it – or you stand against it. It matters not to Azathoth’s Dream: the empty castle’s drawbridge is down, and one need only enter if the spirits are willing.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Azathoth’s Dream’s Nocturnal Vampyric Bewitchment A1 Malignant Faith A2 Instatiable Sanguine Thirst A3 The Grave A4 The Moor A5 Extinguish the Light B1 Ritual Exsanguination B2 A Millennia Perished B3 Winter Dawn B4 Phantasm
Embark on a descent into the netherworld on MERRIMACK‘s latest revelation, ‘Of Grace and Gravity’, the ensemble’s 6th full-length album. A haunting symphony of cosmic dissonance will be breathed into existence on the 8th of March, 2024.
The ensemble presents the release of their first single, “Sulphurean Synods”. An aural journey where grotesque assemblies of roosters and goats languish at the foot of heavens. Wallowing guitars and hypnotized passages of blasting drums collide with gravity-bound atoms in oblivious collusion. MERRIMACK, in their enigmatic mastery, expose the futility of belief in occult ministries and slashes in the mask of the sky. The listener, questioned in their faith of the shadows and occult idols.
Dare believe in the sulfurous whispers echoing through this blackened masterpiece, available for all to hear and see here:
‘Of Grace and Gravity’ is out March 8, 2024 on Season of Mist.
Here’s what MERRIMACK have to say about the release of their first single:
“Sulphurean Synods” is the opening track of our new album, ‘Of Grace and Gravity’: the two opposing forces crossing where the spine of the world emerges. Where one strives to reach the grace, the divine particle, while bounded by gravity and the weight of time.
We have devoted ourselves to emphasize a more natural and authentic expression of our art, in its primitive form.
For this song, D.G. (Misþyrming) has joined Vestal to mock the modern synods and their corrupted faith.“
Track-list 1. Sulphurean Synods (6:42) [WATCH] 2. Sublunar Despondency (7:07) 3. Dead and Distant Clamors (5:35) 4. Wounds that Heal (6:44) 5. Starving Crowns (8:05) 6. Under the Aimless Spheres (7:01) 7. Embalmer’s Wine (6:59) Total: 48:13
MERRIMACK are back with their new album ‘Of Grace and Gravity’. Their third release for Season of Mist arrives after the re-print of their long sold-out debut ‘Ashes of Purification’, which followed the sizeable impact that their last album, ‘Omegaphilia’, had on the Black Metal Scene.
MERRIMACK can be categorised as extreme traditionalists that are driven by a burning desire to hone their skills and striving to bring their art to perfection. The band was founded by guitarist Perversifier a.k.a. Amfortas in 1994 with a clear vision to keep the black metal flame burning as an act of aesthetic terrorism – as adamantly based in the underground as opposed to any attempts to co-opt, commercialise or turn the style into a self-parody. Introduced by a number of demo recordings (‘Prologue’ – 1995, ‘Act 1’ – 1995, ‘Horns Defeat Thorns’ – 2001) and split releases (with Hirilorn in 1998 and Sargeist in 2002), the French gained respect in the scene by remaining true to their words.
Although MERRIMACK decided to reach out to a larger audience with the release of their first full-length ‘Ashes of Purification’, the Parisians did not sever their roots with the underground at any time. With the following albums, ‘Of Entropy and Life Denial’ (2006) and ‘Grey Rigorism’ (2009), MERRIMACK closed ranks with the most influential, active, and authentic acts of the French black metal scene. Their classic combination of harsh sound with epic structures appealed to critics and fans alike and put the band on their celebrated first US tour with MARDUK and NACHTMYSTIUM in 2009.
After recording ‘The Acausal Mass’ (2012) in the legendary Necromorbus Studio (WATAIN, DESTRÖYER 666) again, MERRIMACK embarked on a European tour with Norwegian icons MAYHEM and accepted invitations to prestigious festivals such as Hellfest in their native France, Germany’s Party-San Open Air and Summer Breeze as well as Montreal’s Messe des Morts in Canada. With their previous album, ‘Omegaphilia’, MERRIMACK were breathing fresh life into an exhausted genre. While ignoring epithets such as progressive, post-, and avant-garde, the French focused on razor-sharp songwriting, captivating melodies, and close to perfect arrangements.
The ensemble now presents their latest album ‘Of Grace and Gravity’, an aural journey where grotesque assemblies of roosters and goats languish at the foot of heavens. Wallowing guitars and hypnotized passages of blasting drums collide with gravity-bound atoms in oblivious occlusion. MERRIMACK, in their enigmatic mastery, expose the futility of belief in occult ministries and slashes at the mask of the sky. The listener, questioned in their faith of the shadows and occult idols. Dare believe in the sulfurous whispers echoing through this blackened masterpiece.
On February 16th, 2024 internationally, Dying Victims Productions will release Iron Curtain’s highly anticipated fifth album, Savage Dawn, on CD and vinyl LP formats. And today we premiere the new track “Gypsy Rocker.” Hear Iron Curtain’s “Gypsy Rocker” in its entirety here:
For nearly 20 years now, Spanish metal inquisition Iron Curtain have been stalwart defenders of the faith. With a discography that includes four full-lengths and twice as many EPs, splits, and demos, Iron Curtain’s ever-sturdy sound was forged in the fires of the early ‘80s: largely nodding to the eternal Motörhead as well as Tank, but also Canadian gods like Exciter and Razor, to the Teutonic might of early Iron Angel and Grave Digger, to Scandinavian gods OZ and Heavy Load, to cult American icons Abattoir and Savage Grace, and the shores of Britannia with the likes of Diamond Head, Raven, and Girlschool. And with the Dying Victims release of career highpoint Danger Zone in 2019, that sound’s become even more rocking than ever.
After a quick-hitting mini-album (again through Dying Victims) titled Metal Gladiator whereby the band presented the new alongside re-recordings of the old, Iron Curtain return to assume their throne with Savage Dawn. Doubtlessly (and vividly!) displayed by its photographic cover art courtesy of Daniel Rabandan, Savage Dawn is indeed a new dawn for Iron Curtain: a concerted return to their rough-hewn roots, only spit-shined with the gleaming chrome that’s come to define them in recent years. Thus does Savage Dawn exhibit a unique dichotomy: their ancient metal’s more juiced-up than ever, but the craggy edges come through in the content while the form is powerfully professional – “slick” only in the very best sense, with mixing by the esteemed Javi Félez (Teitanblood, Destroyer 666, Graveyard) and mastering by the equally esteemed Jaime Gómez Arellano (Ghost, Satan, Mayhem) providing that punch. As such, across these ten new tracks (anthemically presaged by “Rattlesnake” on Metal Gladiator, as vintage four-piece Motörheaded as it comes) do we hear Iron Curtain throw the likes of classic Riot, Jaguar, and Running Wild into their by-now-characteristic blender, with leads and melodies more soaring than ever.
Cool songs, catchy choruses, straightforward riffs, and pure HEAVY METAL with all killers and no fillers – what more do you need?! Iron Curtain drop the biggest sledgehammer with Savage Dawn!
Aforementioned cover artwork and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Iron Curtain’s Savage Dawn 1. The Aftermath 2. Devil’s Eyes 3. Gypsy Rocker 4. Thy Wolf 5. Калашников 47 6. Rattlesnake 7. Tyger Speed 8. Evil is Everywhere 9. Jericho Trumpet (Stuka) 10. Savage Dawn
Today, neon metallers Avræ Lvnæ stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Ntdd Strl. Set for international release on December 8th via Signal Rex, hear Avræ Lvnæ‘s Ntdd Strl in its entirety here:
Avræ Lvnæ are a power-trio hailing from the still-rising Ecuadorian black metal scene. Fronted by Wampyric Strigoi – mainman of Wampyric Rites, who’ve had a huge hand in shaping that scene, as well as Grymmstalt, Winterstorm, and Dungeon Steel among many others – Avræ Lvnæ also feature erstwhile Wampyric Rites / Dungeon Steel drummer Eblis Destructor and one Geist der Natur on guitar and bass. Uniquely, the band brand their black metal “neon metal,” which isn’t as garish as it sounds; rather, they draw to the fore the shimmering, stained-glass textures of mystical black metal, making for a mesmerizing (and MELODIC) display of psychedelic obsidian.
Now, after a compilation appearance and demo last year, Avræ Lvnæ conjure the full fathom of their dazzling powers with the debut album Ntdd Strl. Containing a beguiling set of phonetically challenging song titles – or rather, a certain “code” to decipher – Ntdd Strl makes its point plainly and poignantly with an immediately sumptuous feast of sonics. Actually-gorgeous synths play a prominent role here, weaving in and out of the frequently chorused guitars, whose reverberating melodies penetrate the soul with ease and elan. Vocals are a suitably emotive ululation from both space and tundra, psychic or otherwise, where stargazing mysteries are writ large and wondrously. Whereas so much of the Ecuadorian style of black metal seethes with rabidity and rawness, there’s an almost aristocratic air to Avræ Lvnæ here, or at least a synthesis of classic cosmic and medieval BM idioms – and that “space” is indeed space, for their textures allow ample room to immerse oneself without being onslaughtered by that rabidity & rawness. Thus, one could reference early Abigor, Gehenna, and Ragnarok as well as later Lunar Aurora, Evilfeast, and Midnight Odyssey, but Avræ Lvnæ are raising the banners for NEON METAL high and proud!
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Avræ Lvnæ’s Ntdd Strl 1. Ntr – Cnstlcn d Rn 2. Ntdd Strl 3. N l Mjstvs Nch 4. Crpt Strl 5. Ls Strlls sn ls Js Csmcs 6. Scndnd ls Nfns Cnfn Strl 7. Ls Rgns Hnsptas dl Vnrs 8. Vtr – Cntlcn d Scrpn
Today, KVLT announces February 9th, 2024 as the international release date for Nocturnal Sorcery‘s highly anticipated second album, Captive in the Breath of Life, on CD format.
Despite forming in 2011, it wasn’t until August 2022 when Nocturnal Sorcery made their full-length debut. Fittingly titled The Holy Law in Total Ruin, Nocturnal Sorcery‘s debut album in no uncertain terms laid forth a fiery-yet-freezing path for these Finns: paradigmatic Finnish BLACK METAL, but harkening to the ancient fires of the ’90s rather than more millennial expressions of such. Granted, the band by then were hardly “new” – prior, they’d done two demos and a split – but The Holy Law in Total Ruin scorched Nocturnal Sorcery‘s name into the black metal underground.
Now, a year and a half later, Nocturnal Sorcery return to torch that path once again with Captive in the Breath of Life. As doubtlessly presaged by its throwback cover artwork, Captive in the Breath of Life is about as authentically mid ’90s black metal as you’ll currently find in that clogged underground. The rudiments are largely the same – because, after all, black metal doesn’t need to “be” anything other than what it already is – but here do Nocturnal Sorcery dial back the melodicism for a quicker-hitting blast of ice-cold, hateful hypnosis. As such, the song lengths aren’t as epic as its predecessor and the ripped-raw execution is even more palpitating, but the sum effect is utterly stultifying: arguably more so than The Holy Law in Total Ruin, Captive in the Breath of Life fully sounds like some unearthed gem from 1995, cryogenic and rotting but boundlessly potent.
Nostalgic ears will paradoxically be warmed by Captive in the Breath of Life, while all others will cower when faced with these filthier spells of Nocturnal Sorcery. The line in the snow has been drawn, deeper than ever! To celebrate this reckoning, the band will perform an album-release show on February 10th in Vantaa, Finland with Poland’s Arkona and fellow Finns Black Beast and White Death.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Redemption at Daybreak” here:
Aforementioned cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Nocturnal Sorcery’s Captive in the Breath of Life 1. The Dark Secret 2. Oath at Mt. Hermon 3. Cry of The Wounded Heaven 4. Captive In The Breath of Life 5. Spectral Force 6. Beyon Salvation 7. Joyless Dance in the Shadow 8. Redemption at Daybreak 9. Damned by The Law of The Stars 10. Lucifer’s Shade 11. Along the Path of Fire
Today, Invictus Productions announces February 2nd, 2024 as the international release date for Hasturian Vigil‘s striking debut album, Unveiling the Brac’thal, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Formed in the Dimension of Chains, with cosmic chaos and deathmagick, Hasturian VigilL seek to relinquish mortal ignorance with their brand of black metal, inspired by Mortuary Drape, Absu, Mercyful Fate, Negative Plane, and Zemial as well as a dose of classic heavy metal. Both familiar and foreign, the resultant four-song Unveiling the Brac’thal debut album comprises 33 minutes of epic, archaic splendor – labyrinths of majesty & malice that scourge the mind and body with equal relish. You want riffs? There are RIFFS. You want leads? There are LEADS. What about mystery and mysticism? Tons. A veritable bounty of black METAL, the Riddle of Steel draped in sensuous obsidian.
Indeed, the Irish two-piece walk their own path across Unveiling the Brac’thal, conceptualizing an entirely original mythos, inspired by authors such as Lovecraft, Machen, Lord Dunsany, and Yeats. This “Yith-Melle” mythos is embraced with their fascination for cosmic dread, deranged pantheons, and unspeakable curses! Thus, the power-duo of Cxaathesz and Shygthoth strike both as guides and teachers, torches ablaze with illumination almost incomprehensible to mere mortals. Prepare for the preachings of Hasturian Vigil!
In the scriptures of mortal men, there exists a pallet of stars and flesh… Yith-Melle, the dimension of chains… Where the resonance of deathmagick spurted the cosmic architect, decorated in a million eyes and teeth… The creator of plague and torment… A crack in the world has opened… To unveil the Brac’thal… In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Nine Bellowing Hounds” here:
Cover artwork, courtesy of Canopic Ire, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Hasturian Vigil’s Unveiling the Brac’thal 1. Ikaath the Seven Horned [10:08] 2. Apparitions of Torment [7:22] 3. Nine Bellowing Hounds [7:00] 4. Velvet Paintings Gaze [7:57]
Today, Iron Bonehead Productions announces February 2nd, 2024 as the international release date for a brand-new mini-album from House of Atreus, Orations, on CD and 12″ vinyl formats.
Since their emergence in 2011, House of Atreus have become one of the most singular hordes to hail from North American soil during that time. Across a demo, an EP, and two successive full-lengths, the Minnesota natives have patiently and painstakingly crafted death metal of a most epic order. A veritable riff-machine, House of Atreus are powered by the Greek tragedies and have that very same tragedy (as well as triumph) coursing through their rough ‘n’ rugged veins. Theirs is a sound unapologetically influenced by the ancient Hellenic legends Varathron and Rotting Christ as well as other singular riff-machines like Grand Belial’s Key and Arghoslent, and the earliest and most blackened works of Running Wild. However, House of Atreus handily transcend these influences, as evidenced by their critically acclaimed second album, From the Madness of Ixion, released in 2018 by Iron Bonehead. Truly, the quartet managed to add to this glorious lineage rather than merely bottom-feed off it.
While the years since have been quiet for the band, metal art such as theirs does not come overnight, nor are they tethered to tired yearly record/tour/repeat hucksterism. Thus do House of Atreus finally emerge with a swift-yet-satisfying mini-album elegantly titled Orations. Something of a strategic detour, the 33-minute Orations comprises five brand-new tracks – each one as regally galloping as the last, concise and expansive in equal measure – and a closing cover of heroes Running Wild and their late ’80s gem “Riding the Storm.” The “detour” aspect of the record largely pertains to the further finessing of their trademark songcraft: ever more patient, riffs flowing like molten gold, but a slicker and more seamless aspect emerges that pays off a hundredfold. The latent grit ‘n’ grime still exists, but rather than being an exception to wider “death metal,” here do House of Atreus assert themselves simply as a masterful HEAVY METAL band – but one that just so happens to have more than a bit of death metalled muscle. Founding bassist Anxietous Nero’s remarkably articulated vocals are again at the fore, but possess more clarity and charisma than ever. Not surprisingly, in just over a half-hour, House of Atreus prove with Orations that they have more (worthy) ideas than most bands can muster across a couple albums or more.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Thy Wounded Sovereignty” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for House of Atreus’ Orations 1. Orations / Reascension of Mastery 2. Thy Wounded Sovereignty 3. Under an Accursed Dynasty 4. Morphos of Degeneration 5. Cathedral of Ancestry 6. Riding the Storm [Running Wild cover]
