German pagan metallers Horn stream the entirety of their new mini-album, Retrograd

Today, German pagan metallers Horn stream the entirety of their highly anticipated new mini-album, Retrograd. Set for international release on March 9th via Iron Bonehead Productions, hear Horn’s Retrograd in its entirety exclusively HERE.

Riding high on the critical acclaim afforded its seventh album, Turm Am Hang – released in early 2017 on vinyl LP by Iron Bonehead – the one-man Horn returns with a six-song/27-minute strike of pure pagan epicness. Since 2002, mainman Nerrath has been steadily perfecting a classicist, almost-medieval style of black metal bound to pagan roots. Staunchly solitary to the present day, the initial drive behind Horn was to create nature-themed black metal, focusing on the relation of man and nature in a regional context. The band’s old material, being mainly concerned with detailed descriptions of nature and incorporating rather upbeat, folk-influenced riffing, has made way for more sinister themes and soundscapes over the years. What has remained throughout the course of seven studio albums is the distinct “Horn sound,” featuring siren-like lead guitars, classic black metal-styled vocals as well as clean chorals, and a serious folkloristic approach far from the jolly drunken Viking tunes celebrated these days.

But, with the momentous release of Turm Am Hang, Horn entered a new, intensely poignant period, where the Feldpost material was carried ever forward by with clean and harsh vocals taking turns in conveying largely mid-tempo songs that stirred both raging bloodlust solemn pride. In many ways, the brand-new Retrograd mini-album serves as an ancillary chapter to Turm Am Hang, stylistically set within the same, uniquely Horn landscape and expanding upon the thematics and textures of that towering album. Although comparatively shorter in length, Retrograd is no less vast and no less epic, emitting a widescreen, wanderlusting splendor that’s especially magical given its tight ‘n’ truncated runtime. It’s Horn through and through, mightier and more majestic than ever, and once again breathes fresh air into the ancient spirit of the ’90s, and likewise further cements Iron Bonehead’s grounding in (and continued support of) black metal’s distant past, whether it be Nocternity, Kawir, Front Beast, Disharmony, Blood Tyrant, Runespell, Ithaqua, Naudiz, or the almighty Moonblood. Taste the German steel of Horn’s Retrograd!

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Horn (Germany)’s Retrograd
1. Retrograd – Einleitung
2. Retrograd
3. Bocksfuß – Einleitung
4. Bocksfuß
5. Garant
6. De Einder

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/HornOfficial

One-Man OSDM Band RIPPED TO SHREDS to Release Debut Album

San Jose (CA) – One-man OSDM band RIPPED TO SHREDS, featuring extreme mult-tasker Andrew Lee (ex-DISINCARNATION), will release debut album Mai-zang on Malaysia’s Necrolatry Records (cassette) and Mexico’s Craneo Negro Records (CD). Reamping/mixing/mastering was handled by Damian Herring (HORRENDOUS) at Subterranean Watchtower Studios. Album artwork was created by Skaðvaldur.

Album cut “Craven Blood” is now streaming below:

Mai-zang means ‘burial’ or ‘tomb’, is a reflection of the turmoil, strife, and chaos of late 19th to early 20th century China as she dealt with multiple internal uprisings and foreign invasions. From the religious purges of the Taiping Rebellion to the mass famine in the wake of the Yellow River flood, each track presents a harrowing vignette of death and horror.

The song “Jiangu,” which was performed in Mandarin, informs the themes in the cover art and tone of the album. Taiwanese people are traditionally buried sans embalming to let the flesh naturally rot away. They are exhumed years later to remove and clean the bones, which are placed in a funerary urn, and that urn then reinterred. This practice is called jiangu or “picking up bones.” Andrew’s great-grandparents were buried in this manner, but in the last 20 years population growth and space concerns prevent full coffin burial so people are cremated instead. Jiangu in the modern context refers to transferring the bone fragments left from cremation into the funerary urn. Worship of those remains is culturally important; what if during the cremation process a mistake was made and the family was handed the wrong person’s ashes and bones? “Bone Ritual” then depicts the deceased’s impotence in bringing good luck to his descendants as they pay false obeisances to the remains of a stranger.

The cover art shows a traditional grave; for Han Chinese, sweeping the grave is an important annual ritual, so leaving a grave to rot as drawn is an act of supreme disrespect to one’s forebears.”

Track List:

A1. Craven Blood
A2. Open Grave
A3. Talisman to Seal the Hopping Corpse Before I…
A4. Bone Ritual
B1. Yellow River Incident, 1938
B2. Red Annihilation
B3. God Worshipping Society
B4. Black Seeds

RIPPED TO SHREDS began as a collaboration between Andrew Lee on all instruments and BW of Draghkar on vocals in early 2016 to merge Bolt Thrower and Entombed in a crushing soundtrack to tales of China’s turbulent history. Early sketches of Yellow River were written in this period, but the project was put on hold with the formation of Disincarnation. After recording and releasing a demo with them, Andrew grew dissatisfied with the direction of the band and resolved to fulfill his vision of violence alone…

www.facebook.com/rippedtoshredsband/

twitter.com/rippedtoshreds4

Nightmarer premiere “Death/Swansong”

NIGHTMARER are now premiering the third sinister song taken from their forthcoming debut full-length, ‘Cacophony of Terror’, which is scheduled for release on March 23rd, 2018.

To be more precise, the stream actually includes two album tracks, “Death” and “Swansong”, which the band views as one inseparable unit. Both pieces are therefore exclusively presented here:

NIGHTMARER guitarist Simon Hawemann comments: “Our track ‘Death’ marks the inevitable end of ‘Cacophony of Terror’ – it is the final stage of a battle that was never meant to be won. My inspiration for this song was all too real: I had to witness a person close to me decease over the course of several days. The riffs and sounds in ‘Death’ reflect the heavy breathing, the tortured moans, and the spasms of a dying human being – sights and sounds that are burned into my memory forever. This experience served as a morbidly twisted foundation to give death itself an appropriate soundtrack. Once it’s all over, ‘Death’ seamlessly makes the transitions into ‘Swansong’, which offers nothing else than just the relief of not having to fight any longer. One could not exist without the other, so we’re premiering both tracks merged into one today. We are thrilled to have joined forces with Alan Dubin (KHANATE/GNAW), who lent his terrifying voice to ‘Death’. His piercing screams serve as the perfect personification of the demon that lurks in the plagued mind of the album’s protagonist. Without further ado, embrace death!”

NIGHTMARER have previously released the cover-art and album details of ‘Cacophony of Terror’, which can be viewed below.

Track-list
1. The Descent (1:36)
2. Stahlwald (3:31)
3. Skinner (4:38)
4. Bleach (3:59)
5. Cave Digger (3:25)
6. Fetisch (4:46)
7. Tidal Waves of Terror (3:23)
8. Ceremony of Control (4:48)
9. Death (4:52)
10. Swansong (1:27)
Total playing time: 35:23

Chaos comes crashing in waves. Patterns emerge out of swirling energy. Darkness coalesces out of fragments into bizarre forms and strange angled shapes. What reads like a list of entries into H.P. Lovecraft’s dictionary of horrors is the nightmarish musical vision offered by NIGHTMARER on their debut album, ‘Cacophony of Terror’.

Seemingly out of nowhere, NIGHTMARER hit the extreme metal underground with their first EP, ‘Chasm’ in early 2016. This furious whirlwind of low end dissonance, devastating heaviness and majestic walls of sound took the scene by storm and the first 10″ vinyl pressing almost sold out while still on pre-order.

Conceived in 2014 by former members of bands such as GIGAN, THE OCEAN and WAR FROM A HARLOTS MOUTH, this international trio derives only the most extreme elements of their previous musical outlets and takes those into another hellish dimension.

Carving their distinctly personal and unique path into the dark matter that DEATHSPELL OMEGA, DODECAHEDRON, and ULSECT have ventured to explore, NIGHTMARER are now set to release one of the darkest and crushing albums of 2018. Enter this ‘Cacophony of Terror’ in search of extreme sonic pleasures at your own peril!

www.facebook.com/nightmarercult
www.instagram.com/nightmarercult
www.nightmarer.com

Current line-up
John Collett: vocals
Simon Hawemann: guitars
Paul Seidel: drums

VANHELGA sign with OSMOSE, prepare label debut

Today, Osmose Productions announces the singing of Vanhelga. The first fruit of this union shall be the band’s highly anticipated fifth album, Fredagsmys, which is set for international release on June 29th on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.

Vanhelga are constantly expanding their creativity without losing the classic melancholic sound from Sweden that makes them unique. The last few years, they’ve written and recorded 11 tracks that fully live up to their artistic vision. Fredagsmys is the most elaborate album from Vanhelga so far.

True to their own words, their fifth full-length – and first for Osmose – is the continuing exploration of the darker sides of reality and another experiment in how to find its purest expression: using sarcasm combined with overall schizophrenic mood changes between pitch-black hopelessness and cheerful euphoria, but still keeping a level of seriousness Vanhelga has come to be a force to be reckoned with.

Vanhelga was formed in Linköping, Sweden, in 2001 by 145188, who got together with likeminded musicians in order to finally breathe life into his vision, something he had not been able to do with any previous bands and musicians he had worked with. Since then, they are known for their atmospheric and captivating live performances, sharing the stage with, Psychonaut 4, Forgotten Tomb, Harakiri for the Sky, and Kall, among others.

Through music and lyrics, Vanhelga – which, translated from Swedish, means “Profane” – explores the darker side of humanity: the one that few will admit exists, but which nevertheless is a huge part of every individual’s existence.

Vanhelga’s music can doubtlessly be classed as black metal, but that would be too restrictive a definition. Their music is cold and sinister, but with melodies and melancholic moments that can draw you in and lull you into a false sense of security before you realize, too late, that you have been caught in an ominous web of sound that sends shivers down your spine.

A statement from the band reads: “Working with an iconic label such as Osmose feels like a natural step in the right direction for Vanhelga. We are proud to release our fifth full-length Fredagsmys together with them.”

Cover and tracklisting for Vanhelga’s Fredagsmys to be revealed shortly. For more info, consult the links below.

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/officialvanhelga
www.vanhelga.bandcamp.com
www.youtube.com/channel/UCSK8dY_SxNOdiLbOHh9xMNg
www.soundcloud.com/vanhelga-official
www.instagram.com/officialvanhelga
www.osmoseproductions-label.com/bands

VANHELGA lineup 2018
145188 – vocals and guitars
J. Ejnarsson – lead guitars and backing vocals
R. Jönsson – bass
D. Franzén – drums

DISEMBOWEL stream IRON BONEHEAD debut

Set for international release on March 2nd via Iron Bonehead Productions for the vinyl LP format Chilean black/death cult Disembowel stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Plagues and Ancient Rites,here.

Hailing from the cult-metal hotbed of Chile, Disembowel are very much a summation of their homeland’s ancient death metal and black metal traditions. That much was violently portrayed across their Act of Invocation MCD released in early 2017 by Iron Bonehead – gnarly, ghastly, grinding, gross – but here on their full-length debut, the power-trio extend further all the extremes which made that EP such a sulfurous blast. Draped in an ominous cloud of utter doom, Plagues and Ancient Rites soon approximates its very title: scabrous and hysteric energy coursing the pitch-blackest of metals, foul and fetid textures from death metal’s deepest sewers, and a subtly ceremonial, spell-like seamlessness uniting the two. Its nine tracks compactly exude all the diabolism and devilishness for which Chilean black/death is known, and after 35 minutes, Disembowel emerge as the true Lovecraftian horrors that they are.

Disembowel have opened the portals, and their Plagues and Ancient Rites are about to commence…

Cover and tracklisting

Tracklisting for Disembowel (Peru)’s Plagues and Ancient Rites
1. Intro – Innsmouth Evocation
2. Lord Of Shadows
3. IA! IA! Nyarlathotep!
4. The Pact With The Sect Of The Sea
5. Los Antiguos Eran….Los Antiguos Son…Lost Antiguos Seran
6. Plagues Of The Ancient Rites
7. The Ancient Cult Of Cthulhu
8. En el Abismo
9. Antra Gnomorum

www.facebook.com/IronBoneheadProductions

Prophetic Metallers VERATRUM unleash their first official studio trailer

Prophetic Metallers VERATRUM have unleashed the first official studio trailer for their much-anticipated EP “Visioni”

The video covers the first studio recording session, handled by Andrea Facheris at Loft-1 Studio.

“Visioni” was mixed and mastered at Domination Studio (Necrodeath, Luca Turilli’s Rhaposody, Labyrinth) by Simone Mularoni.

Featuring guest vocal performances by Taliesin (Eternal Samhain) and Giulian (SCUORN), clarinet solo by Vittorio Sabelli (Dawn Of A Dark Age) and additional choirs by HaddaH.
Cover Artwork by Sabnock Design.

This is the first of a serie of weekly studio trailer videos unveiling more details about the making of “Visioni”.

May The Prophecy Be On Thy Side !!!

TOTALSELFHATRED set release date for long-awaited OSMOSE comeback, reveal first track

I loved Totaselfhatred’s self titled debut when it first came out a perfect DSBM album in my mind. So its probably on record some where that I was pretty damn disappointed with their 2011 follow up Apocalypse in your Heart. So I am kinda nervy to hear the new album thats coming out in April. Osmose have one song up as a teaser on their bandcamp and its not bad m but its too early to really get the flavor of the album just yet.

Here’s Solitude. Check it out and leave us a comment below on what you think

Check the press release below:
Today, Osmose Productions sets April 27th as the international release date for Totalselfhatred’s long-awaited third album, Solitude.

Perseverance through adversity, creation through destruction, strength through pain. After years of waiting, skulking, and lying near-dormant, Totalselfhatred has returned to the fray. They are here to present you five songs of our their particular brand of melancholic desolation in an audial form. Turn off the lights, wallow in the sweetness of reclusive negativity, and let yourself float freely in the soothing stream of emotion that their epitome of Solitude will provide.

Totalselfhatred was founded to create truly melancholic and desperate soundscapes and to unravel the blackened thoughts, the blessing and the curse of the inability to think either black or white nor in between. To narrate about the ability to find clarity in madness, positivity in the negativity, shelter in the dark…

To point it out clearly: Totalselfhatred is dedicated to the searching, not to the self-pity. Totalselfhatred is a symbol for resurrection through pain. A pool for the frustrated, for the desperate in life, for those living and bleeding towards a higher truth, to crush the circles of self-inflicted suffering! For I am my worst enemy…

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Totalselfhatred’s Solitude
1. Solitude MMXIII
2. Cold Numbness
3. Hallow
4. Black Infinity
5. Nyktophilia

MORE INFO:
www.totalselfhatred.net
www.facebook.com/totalselfhatredofficial

www.osmoseproductions.com
www.facebook.com/Osmose-Productions

PROFANATICA to embark on first-ever European tour next month

Legendary USBM instigators/iconoclasts Profanatica are about to embark upon their “Curling Flame Over Europe” tour. Presented by Killtown Bookings, the tour coincides with the Netherlands Death Fest, alongside such names as Emperor, At the Gates, Carcass, and Sadistic Intent among many others.

This will be not only the first-ever European tour for Profanatica, but the band’s first-ever full-scale tour. It will start in the north of Europe on the 1st of March and make its way down to NDF before continuing through central and eastern Europe, taking over Greece, and finally ending up desecrating Spain and Portugal. Joining Profanatica will be the elite Canadian hordes Rites of Thy Degringolade and Auroch.

A statement from Profanatica founder Paul Ledney simply reads: “Profanatica chose European soil for its first-ever tour.
Our plan is to destroy all that is holy. ‘Here is wisdom…'”

Confirmed dates and venues for “Curling Flame Over Europe” are as follows, followed by the official poster art:

March 1st – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Loppen
March 2nd – Tilburg, The Netherlands @ The Netherlands Death Fest – 013 venue
March 3rd – London, UK @ Boston Music Room
March 4th – Glasgow, UK @ Audio – NOTW Warm up
March 6th – Paris, France @ Backstage
March 7th – Nantes, France – Le Ferrailleur
March 8th – Brussels, Belgium @ Magasin 4
March 9th – Berlin, Germany @ Nuke Club
March 10th – Poland @ Into the Abyss Fest III – Klub Pralnia
March 11th – Banská Bystrica, Slovakia @ Rock Club Tartaros
March 12th – Prague, Czech @ Hells Bells
March 13th – Nürnberg, Germany @ Club Cult
March 14th – Budapest, Hungary @ Blue Hell Club
March 15th – Vienna, Austria @ Viper Room
March 16th – Basel, Switzerland @ Hirscheneck
March 17th – Parma, Italy @ A Journey in Darkness Festival – Titty Twister
March 18th – Athens, Greece @ Athens Temple *
March 20th – Barcelona, Spain @ Sala Upload *
March 21st – Madrid, Spain @ Wurlitzer Ballroom *
March 22nd – Lisbon, Portugal @ Le Baron Rouge *
March 23rd – Porto, Portugal @ Metalpoint *
March 24th – Zaragoza, Spain @ Centro Civico Valdefierro *

* = Profanatica + Rites of thy Degringolade only

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/profanaticausa
www.profanatica-us.bandcamp.com

OPIUM WARLORDS premiere new video

After three wilderness years with doom gods Spiritus Mortis and Lord Vicar, electronic warriors Tähtiportti, and black metal sorcerers Azrael Rising, Sami Albert “Witchfinder” Hynninen is back in business with Opium Warlords. Last November, Opium Warlords released Droner through Svart Records to international, sometimes-befuddled acclaim. And today, check out a new video for Droner track “Samael Lilith”.

Droner is the fourth Opium Warlords album, and it brings Hynninen’s uncompromising musical vision to its most sparse form. It is noisy lo-fi riff music consisting only of particles unquestionably necessary, but at the same time with a musical spectrum that is very wide and open. It is experimental and avant-garde, still with roots deep in the very heart of heavy rock music. It is concrete blues, diving to the existence and the smallest molecular spheres of minimal riffs, and what seems to be an endless repetition of them. From these rather skeletal elements, it occasionally reaches neo-classical, even medieval spheres and death-romantic chambers of apocalyptic folk. Onto all of this, disturbing lyrics are chanted by unnamed, hostile protagonists.

The lyrics come entirely from outside, already existing sources: a book written by Finnish culture radical Jouko Turkka, a ritual of Ndembu people, and a letter written by scarlet woman Marjorie Cameron. The purpose here is to create a soundtrack that pictures and reflects the contents of the textual force. The result is primitive and brooding sonic landscapes of war, ritual, and death. Gone is soothing warmth of the preceding album, Taste My Sword Of Understanding. Droner is all about nuclear war and clear, post-apocalyptic primitivity of the surviving culture. It is torturing purification through purgatory, to a new world and new form of life.

All three epic-length tracks of Droner have now been revealed to the public.

Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Opium Warlords’ Droner
1. Year of 584 Days (20:32)
2. Samael Lilith (20:30)
3. “Closure” (18:55)

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/OpiumWarlords

Baume French Experimental Black Metal

Baume is the brain child of Gaetan from Cepheide – read our interview with them HERE.

As any long term reader of our site knows the French have been killing it with Black metal in the last 15 years or so. Baume is no exception. A lot more raw and pained than Cepheide, Gaetan plays all instruments on this album (with the exception of some vocals and bass handled by Laurene and Hugo respectively.)

With its official release date of March 2nd 2018, its already streaming on bandcamp but you can order cds and shirt bundles from there too

Check out the album here and let me know what ya think!