Shadow Kingdom Records sets March 16th as the international release date for the reissue of Troll’s cult self-titled debut album on CD and cassette tape formats.
Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Troll released their first demo in 2015. Not long after came Troll, their debut album, which was originally self-released on cassette tape. Its original edition sold out quickly, and soon came to the attention of Shadow Kingdom. Duly impressed, the label simply had to release Troll’s album on wider-available physical formats and get the band the attention they so truly deserve.
And even just one spin through Troll and you can immediately detect the magic coursing through Troll’s molten stomp. Reverently within the doom spectrum, there’s a particularly swampy groove to their thundering chunder that’s less like something rooted in the American South and more like primordial ooze that’s been bubbling eerily since time immemorial. Likewise, Troll largely steer clear of regular rock-rooted verse/chorus structures and instead build rolling, rumbling epics that nod to classic prog more often than not. But, let it be known that Troll has a wealth of hooks across its concise and fully satisfying 34-minute runtime – and much of that stems from frontman John, whose pipes have that hauntingly forlorn quality of Ozzy in his early ’70s prime.
Ready for a trip through the eldritch slime? Then hop on the shoulders of this Troll! A brand-new Troll album will be released by Shadow Kingdom later this year. In the meantime, stream the entirety of Troll HERE
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Troll (Portland)’s Troll
1. The Summoning
2. The Witch
3. An Eternal Haunting
4. Infinite Death
5. Savage Thunder
CYNIC have released a digital single titled “Humanoid”. This song marks the first new music from the progressive pioneers since the Americans’ 2014 full-length, ‘Kindly Bent To Free Us’.
“Humanoid” is now streaming
Frontman Paul Masvidal comments: “‘Humanoid’ is a portrait of contrasts, like those between struggle and stillness, or the immediate against the limitless. Our Stargate is planet Earth — consciousness, the transmitter. We, sentient creatures of light, are alive now — on a sphere, floating in a galaxy fixed amidst the infinite. It’s quite miraculous to be aware of this, and it invokes a sense of urgency and empowerment that is unlike anything else.”
“Humanoid” was recorded by Paul Masvidal and longtime CYNIC bassist Sean Malone. The song also and marks the debut of the band’s new drummer, Matt Lynch, who brings a renewed sense of energy to CYNIC’s rhythm section.
For the mixing of “Humanoid”, CYNIC partnered with renowned engineer Adam “Nolly” Getgood. Sean Malone comments: “Nolly’s approach is equal parts expertise and intuition. Working with him was quick, clear, but most of all, musical.”
The artwork for “Humanoid” features a detail from the painting “Ayahuasca Dream” by Robert Venosa, CYNIC’s longtime collaborator and celebrated artist who sadly passed away in 2011.
On further news, Sweden’s award winning Strandberg* Guitars are announcing a new Paul Masvidal signature instrument today, the “Masvidalien Cosmo”, which can be viewed at the picture above.
Paul Masvidal comments on the Strandberg Masvidalien Cosmo custom guitar: “Strandberg breaks new ground yet again. Kabir, the 15th century Indian mystic poet said ‘Wherever you are is the entry point’, and the Masvidalien Cosmo captures this spirit as a instrument.
When I first started conversations with Ola about the guitar, words such as ‘effortless’, ‘ease’, ‘elegance’, and ‘versatility’ came to mind. Not only was this captured with the instrument, but it was also taken further. The finished product managed to strike a rare alchemy, where everything from the way it sounds, feels, and appears fell seamlessly into place: the guitar both expresses and is itself an expression.
Strandberg is in a league of its own, holding the greatness of progressive design at its heart. Ola’s work benefits the present by not being bound to it. It’s truly an honor to be working with a visionary company like Strandberg.”
Current line-up
Paul Masvidal: vocals, guitars, keyboards
Sean Malone: bass, stick
Matt Lynch: drums
Hells Headbangers sets March 23rd as the international release date for Thy Feeble Saviour’s long-awaited debut album, And Darkness Fell, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
A cult name in the metal underground, Thy Feeble Saviour were one of the first bands to carry forward the torch of perverse primitivism originally lit by Profanatica before their successive comeback. And just like that pioneering American black metal band, Thy Feeble Saviour likewise have two eras.
Thy Feeble Saviour was formed in 2004 by Francisco Pulido after the demise of Sacreligious Torment, another early USBM band carrying Profanatica’s torch. The band recorded a demo in 2004 titled And the Vomit Shall Spill Forth…, which was followed two years later by a split 7″ with comrades-in-primitivism Jhesu Masturbator. Thy Feeble Savior was then inactive until 2015, when Francisco teamed up with drummer and total maniac Matt Heffner (Blaspherian, Morbosidad, Oath of Cruelty). Newly invigorated, the duo recorded a six-track demo titled Blasphemic Disgust. The next year saw the release of a split cassette with American death metal sickos Ruin.
Now, at long last, 2018 will see the release of Thy Feeble Saviour’s long-awaited debut album, through longtime fans Hells Headbangers. Fittingly titled And Darkness Fell, the album will contain 14 tracks of utterly blasphemous black/death metal. Right from the ominous intro onward, And Darkness Fell explodes into being with a goat-grinding sensibility that’s simply impossible to ignore – and even more impossible not to submit to. One black cum ejaculate after another, Thy Feeble Saviour create a desecrating whirlwind of barbarity and crudity that’s quintessentially American – and proudly so. For And Darkness Fell is cut from a cloth too long neglected, too vile for trend-jumpers and tourists, resurrected in its most reviling form from a time when the divisions between black metal and death metal weren’t so divided and divisive…
Both a continuation of the band’s original era and their second, equally sick era, And Darkness Fell is totally Thy Feeble Saviour, and totally uncompromising – not for wimps! Hear for yourself with the previously revealed “Torture Stake” HERE
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Thy Feeble Saviour’s And Darkness Fell
1. Corpse of the Crucified
2. Engulfed in Abhorrence
3. Torture Stake
4. And Darkness Fell
5. Provoked Crucifixion
6. Procession to Calvary
7. Destruction of the Holy Sepulchre
8. Scourge Him
9. Obscenity of the Cross
10. Carrion for Beasts
11. Disgrace the Throne
12. Darkest Path to Death
13. Crurifracture (The End)
14. Mocked and Despised
Nuclear War Now! Productions sets March 15th as the international release date for Rites of Thy Degringolade’s long-awaited comeback album, The Blade Philosophical, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Anyone familiar with the history of extreme metal in Canada must acknowledge the importance of Edmonton veterans Rites of Thy Degringolade. Originally conceived in 1997 as a solo project by Paulus Kressman, known at that time for his phenomenal drumming and vocals for Sacramentary Abolishment (who would evolve into Axis of Advance following Kressman’s departure), the earliest Rites recordings were solitary, experimental endeavors. The self-titled 1999 demo and the debut album, The Carytid, from 2000, feature Kressman handling all instrumentation.
With the inclusion of guitarist J. Wroth in 2001, Rites became more powerful and precise. Over the next several years, the duo recorded and released the legendary Totality album, the follow-up Totality’s Kommand EP, and the split with Portal, entitled Our Dreadful Sphere. Kressman and Wroth then recruited Malevolus (Godless North, Gloria Dioboli) for the recording of the third album, An Ode to Sin, which the band elected to release on Nuclear War Now! just as the label was beginning to establish its own prominence in the underground.
That lineup wouldn’t last, however, and by 2006, the band was dormant, with Kressman focusing on other projects for the next decade, including Warmarch, Weapon, and Gloria Diaboli among others. It was, therefore, an unexpected and welcome development when, in 2015, Kressman and Wroth reunited to resurrect Rites of Thy Degringolade, along with new members, guitarist N.K.L.H. (Antediluvian, Weapon, Amphisbaena) and bassist C.W. to perform at the Covenant Fest in Vancouver. The band persisted and with this lineup—the fullest in the band’s history—Rites set about recording their first album in 13 years.
The Blade Philosophical is at once a recapitulation of the band’s earlier work and a continued expansion of the boundaries of extreme metal. It is, in the truest sense, a real album, with common sonic and thematic threads woven throughout, drawing the tracks together into something cohesive and whole. Conceptually, the album is an exposition of the themes that permeate the band’s entire body of work. While many details of the philosophy of Rites remain obscure, the overarching premise emerges: the exaltation of the self—the cultivation of the individual will—to disrupt, navigate, and ultimately control the ever-flowing streams of determinism. “The Blade Philosophical,” Kressman elaborates, “is the study and catharsis in the constant state of will—deterministic all, and the self as creator and destroyer.”
The sound of Rites has always been distinctive—the band is one of a handful that can be honestly characterized as unique. On this album, the full spectrum of the band’s sound is on violent display. Kressman’s frenetic percussion and the low-end guitars form a tangled and tense knot at the core, that is draped and gilded with shimmering contrapuntal melodies delivered by Wroth and N.K.L.H. The organic fibers of Rites’ sound remain in omnipresent tension with the grinding mechanistic and boldly physical elements.
The sprawling universe suspended in death-black paralysis. The misshapen spine of the cosmos dissected in the mind of man. The Blade Philosophical is a controlled descent into the orgiastic field of rape and disorder called the world and the corresponding ascendency of the individual from within.
The release of The Blade Philosophical signifies more than just the band’s return to recording: Rites is currently preparing to embark on its first major-scale European tour (24 dates), and will be playing various fests in 2018 and beyond. NWN! is supremely honored to present this monumental return to form by one of the greatest bands of the last several decades. Hear for yourself the first new example of such with the track “The Final Laceration”
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Rites of Thy Degringolade’s The Blade Philosophical
1. Above the Highest
2. The Blade Philosophical
3. The Universe in Three Parts
4. Totalities Kompletion
5. I Am the Way, the Truth and the Knife
6. The Final Laceration
Osmose Productions sets February 23rd as the international release date for Avslut’s highly anticipated debut album, Deceptis. Avslut depicts a deformed, decayed, and lost mankind. The group has its roots in the suburbs of Stockholm, Sweden. With full force, following their well-received Vanskapt mini-album last year, Avslut is now releasing their highly awaited debut album, Deceptis. The album will take you on a journey through your deepest and darkest desires with a perfect blend of atmosphere, fierceness, and groovy parts. Avslut is a weapon, an uncompromising passage to meet your fate. LEGION, ARISE! Arise at Osmose’s Bandcamp HERE with the new tracks “Terra Mater” and the title track, “Deceptis.”
Cover and tracklisting are as follows
Tracklisting for Avslut’s Deceptis
1. Pestilens
2. Forlorad
3. Existensens Skugga
4. Legion
5. Martyrium
6. Deceptis
7. Evigt Morker
8. Terra Mater
9. Avslut
Ukrainian black metal icons, DRUDKH are releasing the first stunning track of their forthcoming new album, ‘Їм часто сниться капіж’ (They Often See Dreams About The Spring), which will hit the stores on March 9th 2018.
The opening song, “Nakryta Neba Burym Dakhom…”, which is based on a poem by Ukrainian author Bohdan Ihor Antonych (1909–1937)
Artwork and album details of ‘Їм часто сниться капіж’ (They Often See Dreams About The Spring) can be viewed above and album details below.
DRUDKH are a black metal legend. True to the values of this extreme genre, the enigmatic Ukrainians refuse to follow the rock ‘n’ roll rulebook and provide no answers, no statements, no shows – all that matters to them is their music.
The sound of DRUDKH is equally based on a solid foundation consisting of the by now traditional Nordic variant of this style as on the band’s highly distinct individual “Slavonic” interpretation of it.
Yet at the same time, DRUDKH have constantly evolved, shifted, and morphed their musical approach while holding true to the original course. It is therefore no surprise that their forthcoming eleventh full-length, ‘They Often See Dreams About the Spring’ (which is a translation of the original Ukrainian title) brings another slight correction to the general direction. Where previous album ‘A Furrow Cut Short’ (2015) basically followed on the harsh and old school lead of its predecessor ‘Eternal Turn of the Wheel’ (2012), DRUDKH’s new masterpiece offers a more atmospheric and melodic feel that rather points towards the cinematic soundscapes of ‘Autumn Aurora’ (2004).
In their ongoing metamorphosis, DRUDKH seem to have abandoned the slightly progressive and lighter tone of ‘Handful of Stars’ (2010) for the time being. This does not mean it can never return… The Ukrainians have for example revisited their early legacy from the Nordic black metal inspired debut ‘Forgotten Legends’ (2003) several times, but also occasionally brought back the folklore influences that had characterised ‘The Swan Road’ (2005). On ‘Blood in Our Wells’ (2006) some progressive elements surfaced clearly for the first time, while the instrumental and partly acoustic ‘Songs of Grief and Solitude’ (2006) was followed by a sharp turn on the bleak and brutal album, ‘Estrangement’ (2007). DRUDKH’s celebrated highlight, ‘Microcosmos’ (2009) finally appeared to tie up the different strands of their previous works, before a new cycle started with the next albums.
DRUDKH’s latest albums and split-singles have drawn heavily from 20th century Ukrainian poetry for lyrical inspiration and ‘They Often See Dreams About the Spring’ continues this trend. Poetic gems from Bohdan Ihor Antonych, Maik Yohansen, Vasyl’ Bobyns’kyi and Pavlo Fylypovych have been unearthed by the band and brought back to life on this album. ‘They Often See Dreams About the Spring’ delivers black metal poetry at its best. Let your ears hear and your mind wander…
DEATHWHITE are currently revealing the second single taken from their forthcoming album, ‘For a Black Tomorrow’. The enigmatic American heralds of darkness will release their debut full-length on February 23rd, 2018.
The song, “The Grace of the Dark” is now streaming.
Quoting DEATHWHITE on their new track as follows: “The last song we composed for the For a Black Tomorrow album, ‘The Grace of the Dark’ features one of our more melancholic riffs that is combined with outside instrumentation, i.e. keyboards, which marks a first for Deathwhite. We felt so strongly about the song upon its completion that we felt it had to be lead-off track on the album. And lyrically, it tells the story of someone who only finds solace in the darkest and quietest of places…”
DEATHWHITE have previously revealed the artwork and album details of ‘For a Black Tomorrow’, which can be viewed below.
Track-list
1. The Grace of the Dark (4:06)
2. Contrition (4:11)
3. Poisoned (4:56)
4. Just Remember (4:44)
5. Eden (4:13)
6. Dreaming the Inverse (5:01)
7. Death and the Master (6:25)
8. Prison of Thought (5:25)
9. For a Black Tomorrow (4:13)
Total playing time: 43:26
American metal is often associated with its rather brutal side in Europe and often taken to involve the terms “death” and “core” by default. With their first album ‘For A Black Tomorrow’, DEATHWHITE masterly demonstrate that hard sounds from overseas can also be dark, emotional, and subtle. Although the Americans come with an already well matured style very much their own, some rough comparisons are offering a sketchy idea on which paths DEATHWHITE tread.
To say that they combine the melancholic depth of GHOST BRIGADE with a sense of drama that would fit MOONSPELL and a pinch of AMORPHIS for added taste is of course not fully correct, but might give suitable hints.
Formed in 2012, DEATHWHITE were created in part to follow on the path first explored by dark metal torchbearers such as ANATHEMA, KATATONIA, MY DYING BRIDE, and PARADISE LOST.
In 2014, the ‘Ethereal’ EP successfully established a template of melodic, clean vocals alongside melancholic, but heavy riffing. This debut created an early buzz within the metal underground that grew significantly with the following ‘Solitary Martyr’ EP (2015), which was hailed by critics as “thick with emotion” and “wonderfully engrossing”.
Backed by such praise, DEATHWHITE spent 2016 writing and recording their first full-length under the supervision of producer and engineer Shane Mayer. Listen and let ‘For A Black Tomorrow’ seduce you to delve deep into its enthralling darkness!
Today, Blood Harvest Records sets March 23rd as the international release date for Mortiferum’s debut demo, Altar of Decay, on digipack CD format. The release is precluded by a US tour (dates after the jump).
Hailing from Olympia, Washington, Mortiferum was formed by Max Bowman (guitars, vocals), Chase Slaker (guitars), and Alex Mody (drums, vocals). Their various bands (Bone Sickness, Ēōs) had played shows together pretty regularly in the local scene as the members shared a mutual interest in Finnish and American death metal, and had a similar vision for the music they wanted to play. In 2016, after several failed attempts to get a band going, the members got together and wrote the songs that became the first demo Altar Of Decay. They enlisted the help of Dan Fried (Triumvir Foul, Anhedonist) to fill in on bass, and recorded Altar of Decay in Mody’s garage. Tracking guitars and drums live in their own space, with part-time keyboard player Ethan Camp as the engineer, Mortiferum were able to capture the songs in their most visceral form.
In the band’s short existence, Mortiferum have already had the privilege of playing with such luminaries as Asphyx, Phrenelith, Blood Incantation, Qrixkuor, Triumvir Foul, Innumerable Forms, and many more. The band have recently announced the addition of full-time bassist Tony Wolfe, and are planning a West Coast tour with their friends in Fetid from Seattle (dates below).
In the meantime, revel in the roiling filth and fathomless darkness that Altar of Decay presents.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Mortiferum’s Altar of Decay
1. Altar Of Decay
2. Blood Chasm
3. Vitiated Mortality
4. Grave Invocation
upcoming MORTIFERUM tour dates
01/17 – Olympia, WA @ Cryptatropa (w/Acephalix, Scolex)
01/18 – Seattle, WA @ Highline (w/Acephalix, Scolex)
01/19 – Portland, OR @ Tonic Lounge (w/Acephalix, Scolex)
01/20 – Oakland, CA @ Golden Bull (w/Acephalix, Scolex)
01/22 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Garth
01/23 – Flagstaff, AZ @ Cottage House
01/24 – Santa Fe, NM @ The Cave
01/25 – Dallas, TX @ Reno’s Chop Shop
01/26 – Houston, TX @ White Swan
01/27 – Austin, TX @ Lost Well
01/28 – El Paso, TX @ Apt. 512
01/29 – Phoenix, AZ @ Master’s Chambers
01/30 – San Diego, CA @ Til-Two Club
01/31 – Long Beach, CA @ Que Sera
02/01 – Los Angeles, CA @ Resident
02/02 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Blue Lagoon
02/03 – Oakland, CA @ First Church Of The Buzzard
NIGHTMARER are unleashing the first crushing track taken from their forthcoming debut full-length, ‘Cacophony of Terror’, which is slated for release on March 23rd, 2018.
NIGHTMARER comment: “Our premiere track, ‘Skinner’ is the first song that we wrote for this album and it offers a mere glimpse into the abyss which is ‘Cacophony of Terror’. This record tells a story of paranoia and self-destruction with no light at the end of the tunnel. ‘Skinner’ weighs heavy in bleak hopelessness, but it’s only a prelude of things far worse to come…”
NIGHTMARER are furthermore releasing 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!
Iron Bonehead Productions sets April 20th as the international release date for the highly anticipated debut album of Portugal’s Summon, Parazv Il Zilittv, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Summon emerged in late 2016 as a gathering between N. and R. in which they decided to follow a sonority that transcends their soul and where they could give it a more cavernous feel, with an intensity of deep agony. Shortly thereafter, N. decides to move forward with composite themes, and then they decide to call J. to seal the covenant of a deadly entity. The lyrics are handled by N. in which he invokes all the blackness and splendor of death, the burden of enduring and wandering in a world of human flesh, and the infinite thirst for mass slaughter converting mankind into a cloak of bones.
What thusly emerged was Summon’s debut EP, Aesthetics of Demise, which was released by Iron Bonehead during the summer of 2017 to widespread critical acclaim. A swirling, sulfurous mass of molten death-doom, Aesthetics of Demise was aptly titled, but on the fuller and more fleshed-out Parazv Il Zilittv, the trio both dive deeper into the murk and emerge into clearer dimensions. By no means do Summon here abandon their expertly crafted monolith of death-doom, but they largely (and wisely) leave behind the obfuscating murk which has become so de rigueur (read: TRENDY) in the millennial metal underground. Instead, each passage patiently unfolds and establishes its intended texture, terrorizing the mind and body with oppressive physical/spiritual weight – even (and especially) when stripped back to foggy, tension-inducing mist. The consequently linear songwriting soon works its sepulchral magick, as lurching ‘n’ lumbering riffs are stretched into hammering trances, sending undulating waves of absolute ritualism deep into the listener’s core. Which is all to say nothing of the production on Parazv Il Zilittv, which somehow manages to make Summon sound creepier despite the clearer and more cutting recording style.
With Aesthetics of Demise, Summon proved that their smashed-psyche sorcery transcended the usual “sepulchral death metal” tropes. Now, with Parazv Il Zilittv, they prove that that sorcery is potent enough to simultaneously open and close the crypt of time eternal. How far will you step in/out? Take the first step with the album’s title track HERE
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Summon (Portugal)’s Parazv Il Zilittv
1. Whisper of the Black Moon
2. Howling Graves
3. Cvlt of Abomination
4. Shapes of Darkness Transcending
5. Below Death Splenddovr
6. Parazv Il Zilittv
7. Impetvovs Sacrifice of thy Womb
8. In Odorem Mortis
9. …from Beyond
