Today, American black/death institution Crucifier premiere the new track “Biers of Catholic Bones”. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated third album, Led Astray, set for international release on April 12th via Iron Bonehead Productions. Hear Crucifier‘s “Biers of Catholic Bones” in its entirety here:
One of the longest-running entities in the American underground, Crucifier was formed in 1990 by vocalist/drummer Cazz Grant. While myriad lineups would come and go – and the band’s eventual debut album, Stronger Than Passing Time, wouldn’t be released until 2003 – Crucifier have kept consistent to their blasphemous, blackened death metal style steeped in the truly ancient and most underground ways.
Now, two years after their weird & wild Say Your Prayers mini-album, Crucifier align with Iron Bonehead once again for the release of their third full-length, Led Astray. Taking the wandering yet fully locked-in songwriting of that mini to its ultimate conclusion, Led Astray is a masterclass in memorable, METAL riffing and twisted rhythmic thrust. As is their signature, Crucifier sound positively primal here but never primitive; while these nine screeds of blasphemy might confuse or insult normcore listeners, there’s an extremely considered & calculated delirium behind their blackened devilry. As such, the “tight looseness” that’s characterized Crucifier‘s work to date gets sharpened to an enviable degree as these nine labyrinths surge and storm with a paradoxical / perverse sense of class. Credit the latter largely to the jaw-dropping dual lead-work across Led Astray: an element that’s been bubbling in the Crucifier cauldron for years, but which really reaches a superlative level here. Of course, Grant’s vocals are as diabolic as ever, seemingly coming from every direction and hackle-raising in their articulation.
Crucifier hereby have delivered a modern classic of blackened death metal in Led Astray!
Also hear the previously revealed “Smite…” HERE at Iron Bonehead‘s Soundcloud. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Crucifier (USA)’s Led Astray 1. Smite… 2. Feed the Furnace 3. In Hircine Splendor 4. Biers of Catholic Bones 5. With Cornu and Peccant Breath 6. Trafficking with the Devil 7. Serenaded by the Angels’ Shrills 8. Harbingers of Apollyon 9. An Endeavour of Rats
Today, Signal Rex announces May 1st as the international release date for Kratti‘s highly anticipated debut album, Matka Kohti Kosmista, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
Kratti are a power-trio hailing from the infinitely fertile Finnish black metal underground. They made their public demo with the accurately titled Demo 2023. Despite their apparent newness, Kratti are undeniably old souls as far as black metal goes, and they fully assert their ancientness with the full-length debut, Matka Kohti Kosmista.
While so much Finnish black metal for the past couple decades has been influenced by the hands of Shatraug or a certain Warmaster, Kratti cast their gaze upon some of the scene’s culter or less-fully-realized likes, such as antagonistic paragons Impious Havoc or the short-lived Syöpä. Which is to say, Matka Kohti Kosmista is NOT for trendy ears, and unapologetically whips forth a nastiness that’s shot through with melancholy – hypnotically hummable riffs spiraled to the point of delirium, but built upon a stern ‘n’ stoic foundation of linear, deceptively epic songwriting. Even with the hysteric surge at which Kratti move most of the time, atmosphere is built from within, their flat-yet-full production choice working as another instrument and rendering their miasmic musings that much more pained and poignant. Plus, occasional daubs of moonlit synth further separate band and record from normcore “black metal” non-ideals.
For those nostalgic for a more Sombre age, Kratti have created a transportive spell with Matka Kohti Kosmista.
Feel the nostalgia with the brand-new track “Ääni Hiljaisuuteen Katoava” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Kratti’s Matka Kohti Kosmista 1. Pyhä Alttari 2. Haudanvartija 3. Matka Kohti Kosmista 4. Sota Viimeinen 5. Ääni Hiljaisuuteen Katoava 6. Synkissä Muistoissa
The new record from underground legends Deceased is coming! It’s titled Children of the Morgue, and is slated for release in August on Hells Headbangers Records. It will be recorded this Spring 2024 at Oblivion Studios, where the band has recorded quite a few past records including Fearless Undead Machines and Supernatural Addiction. It will be a concept record of life and death, with a running time of around one hour. Full cover artwork and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Deceased’s Children of the Morgue 1. Destination: Morgue 2. Children of the Morgue 3. Turn to Wither 4. Terrornaut 5. The Reaper is Nesting 6. Uninvited Dirge 7. The Grave Digger 8. Eerie Wavelengths 9. Fed to Mother Earth 10. Skull with the Vacant Stare 11. Brooding Lament 12. Farewell (Taken to Forever)
Musically, band leader King Fowley says, “It’s as always 100% Deceased! There will be fast parts, slow parts, melodic parts, noisy parts, and everything in between.” He also calls it their “darkest record to date lyrically.” Before the album is recorded, the band will go out for a short tour with Vio-lence and Exhorder in early April. Full list of tour dates as well as poster art are as follows:
April 5 – Cambridge, MA @ Middle East April 6 – Brooklyn, NY @ Monarch April 7 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts April 8 – Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar April 10 – Cleveland, OH @ The Winchester April 11 – Cincinatti, OH @ Legends April 12 – Detroit, MI @ Sanctuary April 13 – Chicago, IL @ Reggies
During the tour, Deceased will have for sale the new Hells Headbangers CD editions of 2000’s Supernatural Addiction (yellow disc) and 2018’s Ghostly White (blue disc). Additionally, Hells Headbangers‘ vinyl reissue of 1995’s The Blueprints of Madness is slated for September. For more info, consult the links below.
SLAUGHTERSUN has released a lyric video for their new single “Relentless Thelemic”.
About SLAUGHTERSUN: Drawing musical, lyrical and creative influences from the likes of DEMILICH, GORGUTS, CANNIBAL CORPSE and AT THE GATES, to name a few, SLAUGHTERSUN create their own take on the death metal subgenre. Band founder Ben Karas (WINDFAERER) initially began writing for SLAUGHTERSUN back in 2017, but it wasn’t until 2022 that Karas was able to fully dedicate time and energy into the band. The band’s line-up soon came together comprised of Karas’ THANK YOU SCIENTIST band mate Cody McCorry, along with Jason Quinones (TOMBSTONER) and Justin Hillman (CRANIAL DAMAGE). In 2023, SLAUGHTERSUN began to rehearse and record in their full form and soon turned to preparing their debut “Fall of the Firmament”.
SLAUGHTERSUN is: Justin Hillman – Unearthly Wails Ben Karas – Treble Strings Cody McCorry – Bass Strings Jason Quinones – Hammer Battalion
On May 24th internationally, Dying Victims Productions will release the highly anticipated sixth album of Germany’s Lucifuge, Hexensabbat, on CD and vinyl LP formats. And today, they premiere the new track “Into Eternal Sleep.” Hear Lucifuge‘s “Into Eternal Sleep” in its entirety here:
Since 2016, Germany’s Lucifuge have been steadily perfect an addicting style of blackened speed metalpunk, all guided by the iron fist of mainman Equinox. Come 2021’s fourth full-length Infernal Power, Equinox expanded Lucifuge to a full lineup, and it paid off in spades: the band’s first album under the banner of Dying Victims capped this signature sound with power and aplomb, exuding a new professionalism that somehow sounded dirtier than ever.
However, it was 2023’s Monoliths of Wrath where Lucifugefurther spit-shined their sound and took it in a newer but no-less-parallel direction: classic, ripping-FAST thrash of ‘80s gods Sodom, Kreator, Exodus, and of course Slayer. Thankfully, Lucifuge keep that sonic shift going with their sixth full-length, Hexensabbat. Ditching more its predecessor’s complex song structures, Hexensabbat heaves toward the gates of Hell with a greasy gallop that brings back a bit of the black while honoring the nether-realms of still-stuck-in-the-‘80s thrash and speed metal. True, those aforementioned gods still hold a place in Lucifuge’s current sound, but more so can one detect the likes of Exciter, Razor, Iron Angel, and even later ‘80s Gang Green, the Exploited, and Crumbsuckers. Put another way, if Monoliths of Wrath was spiritually akin to a Combat Records release, then Hexensabbat would definitely come out on Combat Core, so straightforward and rancorous is its all-pistons-pumping surge. Plus, more than a bit of Lucifuge’s old-school grit is back in full force, which makes the album’s slightly melodic-yet-malevolent riffing sound majestic – and, most importantly, not render Hexensabbat a total retro retread.
Leaner, meaner, and keeping the 1987 faith alive, Lucifuge command you to honor the Hexansabbat!
Cover artwork, courtesy of Kerbcrawlerghost, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Lucifuge (Germany)’s Hexensabbat 1. Gates of the Eternal Night 2. Hexensabbat 3. The Court of the Profane 4. No Sun Shall Rise 5. Into Eternal Sleep 6. The Sign of Cain 7. An Oath of Blood and Fire 8. Enter the Realms of Death 9. They Come in Legions 10. Cursed to Eternity 11. The Destruction of the Sword
Steel yourself, trailblazers of the avant-garde! THY CATAFALQUE, the innovative auditory blacksmith who bridged black metal and the avant-garde, is set to grace Europe with 10 exclusive dates across the mainland with The Answer Lies In The Black Void opening the show. We invite you on a journey toward the unexplored realms of musical expression, guided by Tamás Kátai — THY CATAFALQUE‘s visionary and the relentless rebel in the world of metal.
Experience the sonic magic, the defying conventions, and mind-bending dance of aggression and artistry, as we retread paths of musical evolution. Cherish the echoes of the past as the trailblazer forges forward!
2024 Europe Tour w/ The Answer Lies In The Black Void 29th March: Vienna, AT @ Szene 30th March: Prague, CZ @ Kasárna Karlín 31st March: Munich, DE @ Dark Easter Metal Meeting – SOLD OUT! 1st April: Colmar, FR @ Le Grillen 2nd April: Oberhausen, DE @ Kulttempel 3rd April: Kortrijk, BE @ DVG Club 4th April: Eindhoven, NL @ Effenaar 5th April: Rotterdam, NL @ Baroeg 6th April: Copenhagen, DK @ Stengade 7th April: Hamburg, DE @ Martkthalle-Marx
In the spirit of reawakening ears and minds, Season of Mist also proudly presented the official reissues of THY CATAFALQUE‘s first four albums – reborn, revived and ready to evoke sonic revolutions. Immerse in the meticulously crafted blend of black metal tones and detailed synth overlays that gave birth to Thy Catafalque. From the genesis marked by Sublunary Tragedies, the left-field exploration in Microcosmos, the varied directional growth touched upon in Tűnő idő tárlat, to the avant-garde masterpiece Róka hasa Rádió, every album is a testament to the evolution of this extraordinary project.
Prepare to rediscover THY CATAFALQUE‘s avant-garde magic as Season of Mist brings back these four transformative albums. Immerse yourself in the timeless artistry of Tamás Kátai and witness the evolution of a visionary musical project. The reissues of Sublunar Tragedies, Microcosmos, Tűnő idő tárlat, and Róka Hasa Rádió are set to captivate both seasoned and new fans alike.
The albums are now available as special edition reissues on 2×12″ Vinyl Gatefolds in various colours or as CD Deluxe Digipaks with new artwork!
THY CATAFALQUE is a metamorphic entity that’s constantly evolving, showcasing musical ingenuity that’s as limitless as it is daring. Meaning “The Great Plains,” ‘Alföld’ is grounded in the Avant Garde project’s heavy beginnings. While the record takes a cue from THY CATAFALQUE’s early days, mastermind Tamás Kátai’s modern progressive instincts shine through, elevating the record beyond the realm of metal as-you-know-it and once again creating a cutting-edge sound that’s far ahead of its time.
“‘Alföld’ is the most straight forward and classic extreme metal album the project ever recorded,” says mastermind Tamás Kátai. “This time I just wanted to do metal without any innovation or progression, focusing on songs and riffs rather than experimenting and breaking new grounds. Had to let the old ideas out, so I did it with enjoyment. Alföld means The Great Plains, a massive flat part of South-East Hungary where I was born and raised and we shot the video for ‘Néma vermek’ in the middle of the barren lands, in Makó-Bogárzó.”
Originally, THY CATAFALQUE emerged as a black metal band founded by singer/keyboard player Tamás Kátai with the aid of guitarist/bassist János Juhász. Following their joined debut ‘Sublunary Tragedies’ (1999), the Hungarians evolved into quite different directions, but steadily gaining more followers in the process through the following albums, ‘Microcosmos’ (2001) and the self-released ‘Tűnő idő tárlat’ (2004).
On their fourth full-length, ‘Róka hasa Rádió’ (2009), THY CATAFALQUE invited Ágnes Tóth from neo-folk outfit THE MOON AND THE NIGHTSPIRIT and Attila Bakos to add their haunting vocals. With fifth album ‘Rengeteg’ (2011), Tamás Kátai finally went solo with the help of guest musicians that again included Ágnes Tóth an Attila Bakos. Dubbing his eclectic musical amalgamation avant-garde metal, the Hungarian explored new sonic possibilities with ‘Sgùrr’ (2015). The sixth full-length turned out to be slightly more complex than its successor, ‘Meta’ (2016), which returned to a more direct approach without losing the steadily growing sonic diversity. In 2018, THY CATAFALQUE continued this path with the release of ‘Geometria’. THY CATAFALQUE delivered another spectacular musical mosaic with their ninth full-length entitled ‘Naiv’, inspired by the “Naïve Art” movement.
In 2021, THY CATAFALQUE return with ‘Vadak’. Meaning “Wildlings” in Hungarian, the album title is a deliberate clue to the exotic and feral essence of ‘Vadak.’ Like seedlings scattered throughout the forest by the mere forces of nature, THY CATAFALQUE’s imaginative sound grows with an organic sense of whimsy, cultivated within the vast influences of our megacosm. Thematically, ‘Vadak’ is a foreboding lesson in mortality. Emphasizing the fragility that is shared by man and beast alike, the record explores our Freudian life instincts, in which we inherently fear and run from the ultimate goal of existence: death.
Now, the visionary is looking to the past as it journeys onward and upward with its latest opus, which is just as familiar as it is forward-thinking, certain to mesmerize a vast swath of metal enthusiasts across all genres.
THY CATAFALQUE is :
Tamás Kátai – Guitars, Bass, Synths, Programs & Vocals
In the vanguard of the black metal sphere, MERRIMACK returns with their most ambitious and riveting album to date, Of Grace and Gravity. This latest tome from the Parisian conjurors of darkness is a relentless dive into the esoteric, where the lines between sacrilege and sanctity blur in a maelstrom of fervent guitars, thunderous drums, and howling vitriol.
Of Grace and Gravity is a testament to MERRIMACK‘s quarter-century dedication to the black metal art form. With its foundation deeply rooted in the unyielding soil of black metal tradition, the album dares to gaze into the abyss, offering a gripping narrative spun from the threads of heresy and rebellion.
Of Grace and Gravity is out March 8 on Season of Mist.
“Behold! Sulphurean Synods not merely plays; it enchants, drawling listeners into a realm where celestial despair and infernal defiance converge.” From the first piercing note, it’s apparent this is no ordinary song. The lyrics, a tapestry of desolation and defiance, echo the overarching theme of a cosmos teetering on the edge of oblivion and rebirth. Musically, the track stands out with its intricate guitar work and atmospheric elements, creating a hauntingly beautiful soundscape. It’s a song that evokes a profound sense of longing, a clarion call to those who find beauty in darkness, resonating deeply with listeners who traverse the shadows.
Track-list 1. Sulphurean Synods (6:42) [WATCH] 2. Sublunar Despondency (7:07) 3. Dead and Distant Clamors (5:35) [LISTEN] 4. Wounds that Heal (6:44) 5. Starving Crowns (8:05) 6. Under the Aimless Spheres (7:01) [LISTEN] 7. Embalmer’s Wine (6:59) Total runtime: 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.
Today, doomed death metallers Wrektombpremiere the new track “Unexpected Encounters With Nature”. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Bovine Mockeries of Human Posturing, set for international release on April 5th via Personal Records. Hear Wrektomb‘s “Unexpected Encounters With Nature” in its entirety here:
The sarcophagus has cracked, releasing the sulfuric putrefaction of Wrektomb‘s first full-length recording after one EP, Bovine Mockeries of Human Posturing. Nick Krostoff and his faithful companion Vera Kätzin bring warnings from the next realm that oblivious and prideful humans must not overestimate their place in the cosmic hierarchy while Dieter Itis sets the cadence as this dire procession marches back into the earth from which it came.
With Krostoff as crypt-keeper, each song tells a gory and depraved tale: human deviants engaged in self-mutilation to feel something other than apathy and disdain. With crushing force, the Red Heifer, the Divine bovine, tramples temples and pulverizes the pride of arrogant, unsuspecting victims for their misplaced worship. Time travel through the multiverse is exploited by an impulse to sire linage across time and space. Modernity’s zeitgeist ruled by indoctrination with vapid values of the psychopath’s all-consuming black hole of derangement – unable to satiate the hunger for carnage and the carnal – culminating in a reflection on defeat, finding the meaning of life in the decomposition of the flesh: the height of human achievement in transforming into feed for the corvids and carrion-eaters of the sky.
At times an ornate marble mausoleum, at times a spartan gravel grave mound, meditate on the melodies of doom before they are once again lost to the underworld.
Hear the previously revealed “Gored Into Reality” HERE at Personal Records‘ Bandcamp. Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover artwork, courtesy of Misanthropic-Art, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Wrektomb’s Bovine Mockeries of Human Posturing
1. Gored Into Reality [7:29] 2. Unexpected Encounters with Nature [9:10] 3. Quantumcreep [9:01] 4. Society Supported Psychopaths [6:15] 5. This Decay of Me [10:35]
Today, Signal Rex announces May 1st as the international release date for Mons Veneris‘highly anticipated sixth album, Ascent Into Draconian Abyss, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
For those who know and truly understand actual underground black metal, Mons Veneris require no introduction. For over 20 years now, this shadowy and insanely prolific Portuguese cabal have pursued a uniquely vile vision with an unquenchable thirst. From hammering primitivism to medieval melancholy, volcanic drone to chaotic oblivion, nods to the French Black Legions to frequencies far outside of metal, there’s never any guarantee of how Mons Veneris‘ vision will manifest itself – only that they’ll explore a darkness few have the constitution to tread.
Witness their Ascent Into Draconian Abyss, which was teasingly released in an extremely limited tape version for those who had the good fortune of attending the most recent Signal Rex-curated Invicta Requiem Mass festival and witnessing their crimes in the flesh. As the duo forecasted with the recent maxi-single Excesses of Perpetual Gloom, their muse only becomes thirstier and more miserable. Mons Veneris are always surprising, yet always uncompromising and always themselves, as testified by Ascent Into Draconian Abyss: the opening 20-minute title track is a harrowing descent into lunacy, and the ghoulishness only intensifies on the album’s successive three tracks. More monkish vokills come forth, haunting like nothing else as their buzzing belligerence winds through craggy corridors of mondo-primitivism, all before the hall-of-mirrors madness of closer “Chant to the Unknown.” Mons Veneris will fuck you on your Ascent Into Draconian Abyss!
Get fucked by the brand-new track “…of Perversion and Evil”
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Mons Veneris’ Ascent Into Draconian Abyss 1. Ascent into Draconian Abyss [21:50] 2. Whisperers of the Plague [7:23] 3. … of Perversion and Evil [9:05] 4. Chant to the Unknown [5:15]
Today, Amor Fati Productions announces April 30th as the international release date for Dauþuz‘s highly anticipated fifth album, Uranium, on CD and vinyl LP formats. The band will be self-releasing the cassette tape version on the same date.
Since their bolt-from-the-blue debut In finstrer Teufe in 2016, Germany’s Dauþuz have created a rich and vibrant catalog. Their black metal is proud and purist but by no means blinkered; the ancient ways are revered, for sure, but new vistas of the imagination open up when Dauþuz commit their stories to tape. And those stories largely focus on mining, both across their native land and the whole of Europe, further enriching their olde-worlde appeal.
Now, two years after the special Vom schwarzen Schmied: Bergkgesænge – a clean-vocalled version of their widely celebrated fourth album, 2021’s Vom schwarzen Schmied – along comes new curses from the Dauþuz mine in Uranium. Tellingly titled, Uranium deals with a relatively young and destructive area of mining: the former uranium mining in East German areas. From the dangerous mining under the pressure of the Soviets to the radiant, deadly harvest of what was created, the titular Uranium spreads wide a dread landscape full of despair both sonic and spiritual. Despite the seeming “newness” of subject matter, Dauþuz sound as olde-worlde as ever with their characteristic Mining Black Metal, indeed mining amongst deeper and more ancient caverns of sound and texture; uncompromising and epic and especially melodic, here do the duo exude a desperation (or at least passion) that harkens back to their very earliest roots, with the oft-piercing vocals in particular raising the hackles and firmly driving the point home that Uranium is deadly, deadly business.
Rarely does an aesthetic stay so firmly etched yet yield consistently compelling sagas as it does with Dauþuz. Radiate to the eerie glow of Uranium!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Wüst die Heimat” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Dauþuz’ Uranium
1. Pechblende (Gedeih und Verderben) [9:54] 2. Radonquell 1666 [8:49] 3. Wüst die Heimat [5:41] 4. Ein Werkzeug des Todes [10:00] 5. Wismut »Justiz« [5:16] 6. Uranfeuer 55 [9:52]
