Today, Romanian death metallers Necrotum premiere the new track “Shattered Flow of Time”. The track is the second to be revealed from their highly anticipated third album, Defleshed Exhumation, set for international release on January 22nd, 2024 via Memento Mori. Hear Necrotum‘s “Shattered Flow of Time” in its entirety :
Hailing from Romania, the rancid entity known as Necrotum was initiated by mainman Filip Garlonta (Putred, Demoted, Vorus) in Brasov, back in 2019. Despite the fact that the band has only been around for four years, Necrotum have already produced an impressive output, including two albums and a number of shorter releases, getting tighter, danker, heavier, and more macabre over time, drawing inspiration from the likes of early Cannibal Corpse, Incantation, Wombbath, Broken Hope, and Grave among others, with the sole intention of perpetuating ghastly, downtuned, no-frills DEATH fuckin’ METAL.
While it would be expected (and celebrated) if Necrotum stuck to those rancid guns, on their forthcoming third album, Defleshed Exhumation, do they become slicker and yet more twisted – tighter but also wilder, and perhaps more “evolved”….very relatively speaking! Because make no mistake, Necrotum are staunchly (and sickly!) death metal of a most ’90s vintage, but whereas their preceding full-lengths could be slotted within the pantheon of early ’90s death metal, Defleshed Exhumation takes a concerted path toward mid or even late ’90s death metal. Think the likes of Monstrosity, Broken Hope, Mortal Decay, and especially Deeds of Flesh and pre-breakup Suffocation: undeniably fierce and punishing, but technical in a creepy and oft-slimy way. Not for nothing is the cover art created by Slimeweaver! Of especial note is the production on Defleshed Exhumation: this is about as slick and clean as you can get whilst retaining the core darkness and horror of classic DEATH METAL; if anything, those superlatively sharp edges only make that darkness & horror hit harder. Stomp in the slime and twist down into its depths with Necrotum!
Also hear the previously revealed “Warped in Entrails” HERE at Memento Mori‘s official YouTube channel. Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Necrotum’s Defleshed Exhumation 1. Warped in Entrails 2. Noxious Breeze 3. Incomprehensible Forms 4. Dissolved in the Flesh Pits 5. Mouldered Orb 6. Shattered Flow of Time 7. Psychotic Apparitions 8. Ghastly Metropolis 9. As I Behold I Despise [Demigod cover]
VLTIMAS have been legends since the dawn of metal. Rune Eriksen took hold of axe-wielding duties for the second coming of Mayhem. Flo Mounier has been drumming for Cryptopsy since their earliest exhumations of the Canadian underground. And who could forget David Vincent, the larger-than-life vocalist for Morbid Angel.
Having already made history, some metalheads may have stroked their beard and wondered if there could possibly be any new realms for this band to conquer. After all, their debut was voted Album of the Year by Zero Tolerance Magazine and BangerTV. But on their new album, VLTIMAS ascend to truly epic heights.
VLTIMAS have been making grand declarations of war for more than 30 years, but “Miserere” isn’t just another offering at the altar of madness. “I spread my misery, biblically evolved”, Vincent sings in a baritone that’s so monstrous it could summon an army of the dead. The drums speed ahead mercilessly, mowing down all onlookers under a barrage of surgical blast beats, as riffs hail from all directions with enough firepower to shatter bulletproof glass.
“The world throws us all trials and tribulations constantly,” says VLTIMAS. “We use this angst as a weapon in our art to score the apocalypse”.
Extreme metal powerhouse VLTIMAS (pronounced ‘uhl-tuh-mas’) assault metaldom once more with their highly-anticipated sophomore album, _EPIC_, through Season of Mist. Featuring Norwegian guitarist Rune “Blasphemer” Eriksen (ex-Mayhem, Aura Noir), American vocalist David Vincent (ex-Morbid Angel), and Canadian drummer Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy), the multinational quintet, rounded out by Dutch bassist Ype TVS (ex-Dodecahedron) and Portuguese guitarist João Duarte (Corpus Christii), continue to venture down their path. Moored by strength and integrity, VLTIMAS fortified their signature with wicked invention, as applauded by Decibel Magazine, BangerTV, Louder, and many others, on their debut, Something Wicked Marches In (2019). Singles “Miserere,” “Scorcher,” and “Invictus” showcase a band of musicians at the top of their game, united in their pursuit of oneness. “We wrote every bit of EPIC together at my ranch in Dime Box, Texas,” offers Vincent. “The writing sessions were as organic as they could be. There were times when, at the end of the night, Rune would take his guitar and play something ridiculous. Flo would play something even more ridiculous on top of it. I’d say to the guys, ‘I need to capture this.’ So, the magic of VLTIMAS is being in the same room together, discussing, playing, and recording music and everything else we’re doing together. We have unbelievable camaraderie.”
While the members of VLTIMAS are not atavists, their preferred creative methods are time-tested and battle-hardened. Technology has its place, but the group thrive when they’re together, not separated by the world. Eriksen, renowned as a riff innovator, is more effective when he’s got a highly capable sideman like Vincent or Mounier, whose drumming in Cryptopsy and his celebrated instructional Extreme Metal Drumming 101 DVD has proven to be a no-limits player, by his side. Whether it’s the moody, angular attack of “Miserere,” the wicked groove of “Mephisto Manifesto,” or the dark fury of “Nature’s Fangs,” the chemistry and enterprise of VLTIMAS is undeniable.
“The main goal of VLTIMAS is to be real,” Eriksen reveals. “To channel the very moment, to let true inspiration out. I don’t believe I ever set myself a goal on what an album should or needs to sound like before I or we write it because that means I have to compromise during the process. For “EPIC”, we focused on more direct songs, trimming the fat, as opposed to “Something Wicked Marches In”, which had a progressive and ‘playful’ flair.”
VLTIMAS was a profane concept—a constellation of riffs against a modest frame—when formed by Eriksen in 2015. After departing Mayhem in 2008 and putting his gothic doom outfit Ava Inferi to rest in 2013, the Norwegian’s fingers still itched with infernal fury. VLTIMAS was his vent, and when Mounier and Vincent joined, he finally had the cadre of professionals to make it a reality. Together, they devised complementary schemes and themes rooted in rightness. In a world gone mad, VLTIMAS had a vision. On Something Wicked Marches In, they commanded attention with metaphors about the apocalypse, the ancient goddess Lilith, and truth. Lyrically, “EPIC” spears into the very nucleus of strength through Vincent’s brio of double entendre and clever wordsmithing. The songs are designed to be heard, read, and interpreted—there are no shortcuts.
“Everything we’re doing and messaging is about strength and honor,” says Vincent. “These are the fundamentals that I incorporate into my life, which I believe in. I want to share with others, hoping they’ll incorporate strength and honor into their lives. I wouldn’t say I like spelling lyrics out. I use a lot of double meanings on purpose because I want to inspire the listener to think. I’m not a short attention span guy, and I don’t appreciate it. “EPIC” is holistic and meant to be experienced that way.”
“EPIC” was recorded by producer Jaime Gomez Arellano (Paradise Lost, Grave Miasma) with engineer Jonathan Mazzeo (First Fragment, Sickening) at Arda Recorders in Porto, Portugal. VLTIMAS tracked the album throughout May 2023. Arellano also handled the mix and master. Like everything the band does, the main goal was to be honest. The maxim of no sample replacement or re-amping—”EPIC” was captured on outboard gear—was adhered to and enjoyed by the team. The result is a sonic expression that sounds like nothing else. From the crushing title track to the epic musicality of closer “Spoils of War,” “EPIC” is an absolute beast.
“Stress, long walks, too much alcohol, yet very focused once in the recording mode,” Eriksen says of the sessions. “We booked a month, but somehow, that flew by instantly. We worked up until the very end. I even added a few solos at my local Soundscape Studio in Almada, Portugal. Art unfolds, and once you think you are done, there’s always another idea popping up.”
VLTIMAS brought Italian artist Daniele Valeriani (Mayhem, Unanimated) to visualize EPIC. The aesthetic, as illuminated by music and message, was iconic boldness. The three-eagle head crest with three different crowns, accompanied by transfigured symbols of the Passion and the “impossible triangle,” projects effortlessly. In EPIC, the group will dominate. There’s no escape from “Miserere,” “Mephisto Manifesto,” “Scorcher,” and “Invictus.” Together, they thrust, by resolve and inventiveness, VLTIMAS into the uppermost echelons of extreme metal.
“EPIC” is old meets contemporary, a symbiosis of all the great things we love about extreme metal,” offers Eriksen. “All combined into one album.”
“I want to be as emotional and honest [with VLTIMAS],” Vincent adds. “I want to tell stories; I want to have the themes that appeal to me; I want to have some messaging that someone can take away, in this case, strength. “EPIC” is strength.” ————————-
Today, Chaos Records announces March 1st, 2024 as the international release date for Negative Prayer‘s striking debut album, Self // Wound, on CD format. The vinyl version will follow later in 2024.
Negative Prayer is an exorcism of systemic violence, violation, and dehumanizing social conditioning, ripping at the throat of a brutal system designed to traumatize, disempower, and exploit for profit and power. Bloody visions of internalized violence, rage, self-hate, and retribution pump through the heart of a man-made machine.
“Behead the prophet. Dethrone the corporate. Vomit lies. Eat your fucking face off.” Growled through fangs and bile spews the disgusted sentiment of a wounded animal going for the throat that is Negative Prayer. Negative Prayer is Kyle House on vokills, guitar, and bass and Charlie Koryn on drums: current and ex-members of Poison Idea, Acephalix, Decrepisy, Incantation, and Funebrarum, playing brutal D-beat/crust in the vein of Driller Killer and Wolfpack.
All songs were written by Kyle House, except “Bloodfeast” by Glenn Danzig. Self // Wound was recorded by Charlie Koryn at Toadhouse Recording during Winter 2020/21. The album was re-amped, re-mixed, and mastered by Greg Wilkinson at Earhammer.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Violence” here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover artwork, courtesy of Adam Medford, and tracklisting are as follows:
Today, French black metallers Suicide Circle stream the entirety of their highly anticipated second album, Bukkake of Souls. Set for international release on December 29th via Osmose Productions, hear Suicide Circle‘s Bukkake of Souls in its entirety here:
Suicide Circle is back with a new opus called Bukkake of Souls. Suicide Circle is the suicide side-project of Meyhna’ch from Mütiilation. Meyhna’ch and Kham are the current main line-up. However, some guests appeared for the bukkake such as Maxime Taccardi, Obskuritatem, and Zoldier Noiz.
Preorder info can be found HERE. Presave link can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Suicide Circle’s Bukkake of Souls
Today, Blood Harvest Records announces February 9th, 2024 as the international release date for the highly anticipated second album of Australia’s Contaminated, Celebratory Beheading, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
Back in 2017, Contaminated announced their arrival – loudly, sickly – onto the international death metal map with their debut album, Final Man, via Blood Harvest. Graced with disturbingly detailed cover art, the Australians approximated the vivid visuals with ichor-dripping DEATH METAL of a most diseased & disgusting hue. At every angle and across every moment, Final Man spewed filth; song titles like “Mired in Shit,” “Boneless Mass,” and “Co-Opted Into Worthless Sludge” soundly proved that content met form. A couple years later, a split 7″ with comrades KUTABARE followed, after which Contaminated were quiet on the recording front. But alas, earlier this spring, a split 7″ with long-running sludge-lords Fistula arrived.
Still, two songs in the past six years is criminal, but Contaminated make up for that quietude with their long-awaited second album, Celebratory Beheading. Upping the disgusting stakes yet again with its cover art, Celebratory Beheading literally explodes into being, blasting its filth fast and free before bringing in stomping-yet-angular breakdowns and a whole host of gut-churning intensity. In many ways, Celebratory Beheading‘s clearly-framed cover mirrors Contaminated‘s sonic shift; whereas Final Man roamed within a malodorous murk, the Aussies’ second full-length sharpens their attack with frightening efficiency. Nevertheless, the latent sensations from that rancid debut remain – rippling disgust, bottomless decay, slipstreaming vomit – only that, now, they’re rendered in impossibly powerful tones. Rarely has a deathgrinding record sounded this plausibly professional whilst retaining an authentically underground vibe.
Prepare to lose your head over Contaminated‘s Celebratory Beheading!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “An Unnatural End” here:
Aforementioned cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Contaminated (Australia)’s Celebratory Beheading 1. Suffer Minutiae 2. Cosmic Shit Show 3. Feral Demise 4. Beneath Empty Sockets 5. An Unnatural End 6. Final Hours 7. …At The End Of A Shank 8. Apex C.H.U.D. 9. Desire For Agony 10. Junkyard Warfare: Celebratory Beheading
Today, Osmose Productions announces January 26th, 2024 as the international release date for the highly anticipated eighth album of the Netherlands’ Funeral Winds, 333, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
“This album is dedicated to He, whose name is three hundred and thirty three, and that thrice one.”
333 is the title of Funeral Winds‘ eighth studio album and refers to the Dweller in the Abyss, the Demon of Dispersion, also known as Choronzon. Seen as the last great obstacle between the adept and enlightenment, Choronzon needs to be faced to be able to move beyond the Abyss.
Stylistically, this album is raw and cold black metal that throws the grit right in your face. Funeral Winds stay true to the original values of black metal, hateful and relentlessly contemptuous in sound and vision.
First track premiere to be revealed on January 3rd, 2024. Preorder link can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Funeral Winds (Netherlands)’ 333
1. Sovereign of Shadows [4:01] 2. Eternal Nightmare [6:02] 3. Cast the Gauntlet of Doom [4:01] 4. Ancient Wrath Unleashed [4:53] 5. The Damned Ones Shall Rise [3:52] 6. Forever Cursed and Bound [4:07] 7. Birthed By Pure Malevolence [4:23] 8. Conjuration of the Blind One [7:11]
Today, Swedish black metallers Hinsides stream the entirety of highly anticipated second album, Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang. Set for international release on December 15th via Shadow Records (distributed & marketed by Regain Records), hear Hinsides‘ Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang in its entirety here:
Released during the summer of 2021, Hinsides‘ Under Betlehems brinnande stjärna debut LP was a firestorm of freezing filth. Undeniably necrotic as per the earliest birth-pangs of Scandinavian black metal, peer within that piercing sound and you will have found a wealth of fascinating and fearless twists to ancient black metal tropes. Here, Hinsides revealed themselves to be more melodic and magisterial than they hinted at on their earlier split with comrades Monstraat, but nevertheless kept the attack fucking FERAL and utterly unreal in sum effect. Perhaps all this was unsurprising given that the band is the sole work of M.A. from the esteemed Ultra Silvam…but either way, a new (and harrowing) horde worth reckoning had arrived with acidic aplomb.
Now Hinsides return with an even-stronger (and -stranger) work in Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang. The band’s second full-length titularly translates to “From beyond the ancient chime of the devil bell is heard,” and a more apt approximation of Hinsides‘ ever-expanding sound cannot be found. Joined by Ultra Silvam drummer L.A., M.A. brings back the church bells of the preceding album and goes gonzo with them; at nearly every (crooked) turn, there tolls a bell of doom, summoning dread powers from that Beyond. More concretely, those sinuous peals of eeriness provide complementary / contrapuntal color to Hinsides‘ most rippling ‘n’ roiling black metal yet. But heed the METAL aspect of “black metal” here: the duo devilishly construct dark headbangers that soon whip forth into a state of possession, with starkly melodic leads flying fast and free, altogether creating a (dark, devilish) narrative flow that’s exceptionally unique for something so necro. Underlining that Devil’s Heavy Metal aspect of Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang is the guest appearance of Jonas Hansson from olde-worlde hard rockers Silver Mountain, dropping a solo into “I nekromisantropisk harmoni.” Bringing that aspect to a boil is the cover of the Plasmastics’ “The Damned,” which Hinsides malevolently make their own (and which can only be found on physical copies of the album).
The bells of doom toll even louder with the splendor of archaic witchcraft and devil worship: Hinsides‘ Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang concludes the year with frightening finality!
Preorder info can be found HERE at Regain Records‘ Bandcamp. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Hinsides (Sweden)’s Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang 1. Hinsides hörs djävulsklockans urklang 2. För dödens storhet 3. Djävulshymn 4. I nekromisantropisk harmoni 5. 666 stötar mot himmelens port 6. En stympad människa 7. The Damned (Plasmatics cover) !!ONLY ON PHYSICAL COPIES!!
Today, black/doom enigmas Stuporous premiere the new track “The Voice That Made Me Do It”. The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Asylum’s Lament, set for international release on January 25th, 2024 via Void Wanderer Productions, in conspiracy with War Productions. Hear Stuporous‘ “The Voice That Made Me Do It” in its entirety here:
Stuporous is a Dutch/Belgian black-doom band with members from the infamous Zwotte Kring collective. With a history in black metal going back to the ’90’s, and a deep interest in doom metal, the idea for Stuporous was born.
Stuporous is the brainchild of Floris Velthuis, who had previously flirted with blackened doom with his non-orthodox black metal band Meslamtaea. Trumpeter Izzy Op de Beeck, who’s also part of Meslamtaea, plays in various jazz-noir projects. Doom, therefore, is familiar territory to him, and he adds a special dark jazz vibe to the music. With singer Devi, who works in psychiatry, the formation is complete.
Stuporous‘ lyrics are about mental disorders and depression, based on true events in the psychiatric facility. Devi’s vocals, at times schizophrenic, are making the listener identify with the suffering persons that the music is about. Traditional grunts and screams are interspersed with clean vocals.
The band’s first public recording, Asylum’s Lament sounds heavy, nostalgic, and melancholic – dreamlike, but not a pleasant dream, as the listener is drowning into a mental nightmare maelstrom…
Also hear the previously revealed “Decorating the Willow Tree” exclusively HERE, courtesy of NoCleanSinging.com. Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover artwork, courtesy of Gordiart, and tracklisting are as follows:
racklisting for Stuporous’ Asylum’s Lament 1. Parasidious Preludium [2:22] 2. Throne of Madness [5:40] 3. Desperation [6:16] 4. Decorating the Willow Tree [7:13] 5. Never Let Me Go [8:26] 6. Distorted Echoes [6:34] 7. The Voice That Made Me Do It [10:33]
Lineup Floris Velthuis – guitar, bass, drums, synths (Meslamtaea, Schavot, The Color of Rain, Asgrauw) Devi Hisgen – vocals (Teitan, The Color of Rain, Cthuluminati) Izzy Op de Beeck – horn (Meslamtaea, Waveshard, Detour Doom Ensemble, Avatar BE)
Today, Italian stoner-doom duo Witchsnake stream the entirety of their highly anticipated second album, Deathcult of the Snake. Set for international release on December 15th via Helter Skelter Productions (distributed & marketed by Regain Records), hear Witchsnake‘s Deathcult of the Snake in its entirety here:
Witchsnake are a still-new formation hailing from Italy, who may or may not contain members of other cult Italian bands. All we know – still – is that the band’s lineup consists of Al on “guitars, bass, possession” and Joe on “drums, weed.” Fittingly, Witchsnake‘s self-titled debut – originally released digitally last autumn, and then physically released by Helter Skelter this past summer – was a smoke-choked juggernaut of blackened-yet-bluesy STONER DOOM in the strictest, most traditional sense. Witchsnake was unique in that the album’s first three tracks were the newest, recorded in August 2022 and showcasing the band at their most towering and terrifying; the second half of the album was comprised of three tracks recorded a month earlier, which Witchsnake consider their original demo – jammier and mostly instrumental, they concluded the album in fitting style.
Now, Witchsnake reveal their most potent work yet in Deathcult of the Snake. Creepy and greasy, like biker doom taken to its sleaziest-yet-crushing extremes, the tone alone on LP#2 could peel paint off walls…and then soundly collapse those walls with their molten power. Whilst recognizably Witchsnake, there’s moments of Hawkwind at their heaviest and Monolith-era Amebix that are integrated across Deathcult of the Snake, rendering the latent blackness and shuddering stoner doom ever more unique and engaging. Likewise, the band can still step back and smoke with the best of them – the vapor trails seem to coil both higher and lower here, the sense of space simultaneously soothing and foreboding – and when the CRUSH comes, it really comes… But perhaps best of all are the vocals; while never omnipresent, when they do come in, they sound like the unsettling ruminations of a wizard-biker sage. Or, perhaps just gaze upon the stark cover art and you’ll be forewarned of the madness you’re about the embark upon: this is the Deathcult of the Snake!
Preorder info can be found HERE at Regain Records‘ Bandcamp. Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Witchsnake (Italy)’s Deathcult of the Snake
1. Outlaw 2. The Iron Cross Burns 3. Inject The Venom 4. Black Star 5. Deathcult Of The Snake 6. Battlescars The Great Purifier 7. Laughing Among The Ruins
On December 8th internationally, Signal Rex will release Burial Moon‘s highly anticipated debut mini-album, self-titled Burial Moon, on CD, 12″ vinyl, and cassette tape formats. And today, we stream the mini-album in its entirety. Hear Burial Moon‘s Burial Moon in its entirety here:
Burial Moon are a mysterious international entity which may or may not include members as distant as Northern Europe as well as the southernmost climes of Europe. Grim and ethereal is their black metal, as the four lengthy tracks across their 22-minute Burial Moon mini-album cast a spell of raw mysticism immediately felt. The guitar tone alone, despite being hypnotically melodic, sounds like decay in realtime; the vocals suitably hover above the ever-surging miasma like a malignant spectre, and often take on a disembodied choral effect. And, for as lengthy as those four component tracks are, their song titles go to great lengths – literally – to convey the psychic headspace Burial Moon are occupying on their public debut. Curious about this mystery? Then catch the band playing this year’s Signal Rex-curated Invicta Requiem Mass VII in Porto, Portugal.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Burial Moon’s Burial Moon 1. Her eyes are as black as the night sky, and her children are as pale as moonlight 2. The witch is dead. The nightingale sings while the raven is mourning 3. Stars reflect the light of dead stars 4. Darkness shines through the mausoleum, throwing shadows on the unmarked grave
