Today, French black metallers Suicide Circle reveal the new track “The Highest Spheres.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second album, Bukkake of Souls, set for international release on December 29th via Osmose Productions. Hear Suicide Circle‘s “The Highest Speres” 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.
Presave link can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Suicide Circle’s Bukkake of Souls
1. The Star Spawn [6:49] 2. The Highest Spheres [6:27] 3. The Advent [6:58] 4. Bukkake of Souls [8:21] 5. For Nothing [5:20] 6. The Prince of Darkness [7:07] 7. Any of You [6:17]
On February 2nd, 2024 internationally, Personal Records is proud to present Litosth‘s highly anticipated third album, Cesariana, on CD format.
Litosth is the physical manifestation of the visions of Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Maicon Ristow and bassist Wendel Siota. Founded in 2016, Litosth channel a torrent of feelings and life principles in the form of music, which definitely does not respect any type of barrier or limitation.
Formed by members of the most prominent black metal bands in Latin America (Patria, Mysteriis, Swords at Hymns, Dark Celebration, I Gather your Grief), Litosth bring a new approach and a breath of fresh air with their unique way of creating music. Following two albums – 2019’s Crossed Parallels of Self Refraction and 2022’s Farther From the Sun – Litosth are now set to release their third full-length, Cesariana. Armed with absolutely top-notch production, Cesariana sees the duo go even deeper in their quest, delivering a mix of almost unthinkable influences. The basis is melodic black metal of a most ’90s vintage, but threading inside and out this visceral work are everything from dark pop from the ’80s, epic classical music, and a wide swath of other metals – doom and dark metal, especially. Cesariana is thus a work that feels boundless and brave, all the while exhibiting a focus that’s exceptionally concise given that breadth.
But, lest one think Litosth are betraying their black metal roots, think again: Cesariana contains a massive amount of melodic black metal grandeur, cosmic and symphonic in equal measure, sheathed in a soundfield that allows all atmospheric undercurrents to vividly convey the band’s vision. That theme sees Cesariana as a resilience manifesto, written in eight songs that celebrate the tragedy and the curse about the fact of being alive, even against one’s will. It is a cry not of agony, but of revolt – against the establishment, and against the magic formula for happiness. And it was never just music…
Behold one of the new year’s boldest and biggest-sounding records with Litosth‘s Cesariana!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Whipping Bottles” here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover artwork and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Litosth’s Cesariana
1. In Waves 2. Whipping Bottles 3. Time Doesn’t Heal 4. The Clay Messiah 5. A Ofensa 6. The Argonaut 7. Caesarean 8. The Vaccum Extractor Paradigm
Today, Iron Bonehead Productions announces February 2nd, 2024 as the international release date for Unaussprechlichen Kulten‘s highly anticipated sixth album, Häxan Sabaoth, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
By now, Unaussprechlichen Kulten require little introduction. For nearly 25 years, this Chilean cult have built a commanding canon of eldritch death metal DARKNESS. From their early demos to later splits and especially their preceding five full-lengths – not least of which, 2014’s Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath, 2017’s Keziah Lilith Medea (Chapter X), and 2019’s Teufelsbücher, all released by Iron Bonehead to widespread critical acclaim – Unaussprechlichen Kulten have explored the furthest reaches of primordial dread and ancient mysticism, all through pure ‘n’ authentic Metal of Death. That their vision has only become more intense and mesmerizing, after so many years (and when so many bands sputter to obsolescence), is some strange magick indeed…
Witness Häxan Sabaoth. Both a culmination of their characteristic aesthetic and a whole new, supernatural twist upon it, Häxan Sabaoth sees Unaussprechlichen Kulten fusing clanging angularity with haunting atmospherics, delirious chaos with eerie melodicism, epic narrative with primal crush – essentially, an extrapolation (and intensification) of seemingly polar opposites. And yet, through that same strange magick, the Chileans conjure a tableau that’s undeniably their vastest and most violent to date. Riffs and rhythms pound and mutate with hypnotic ease, breaking down the listener’s will; momentum becomes slipstreaming, with dread sounds bubbling up from every crevasse of this abyss; motifs then flicker with frightening clarity before disintegrating into something equally dread-inducing.
For however “pure” and primordial Unaussprechlichen Kulten‘s death metal is, there’s’ daresay a newfound grace across Häxan Sabaoth – malodorous and miasmic, yes, but it effectively lends an airiness to what’s already an exceptionally dense & dissonant foundation. Likewise, the considerably cleaner production ably intensifies the atmosphere with no sacrifice in physicality. That the cover art manages to capture this whole dichotomy is surely no accident.
Many words could (and should) be written about this accomplishment, but the short of it is that Unaussprechlichen Kulten here have daringly raised an impossibly high bar. Häxan Sabaoth is their grandest achievement yet, and guaranteed to be one of this decade’s defining death metal tomes.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Lamia Sucuba” here:
Tracklisting for Unaussprechlichen Kulten’s Häxan Sabaoth 1. Lamia Sucuba 2. Cuatro Velas de Cebo Infantil 3. Our Almighty Chthonic Lords 4. Hexennippel 5. Dho Hna Formula 6. Back to the Mother Hydra and Father Dagon 7. Die Teufelsbucher
Today, Belgian black metallers Herzog stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Furnace. Set for international release on November 24th via Amor Fati Productions, hear Herzog‘s Furnace in its entirety here:
Herzog is a new black metal entity hailing from Belgium, formed by Asgeir Amort years ago but never brought to life. A distilled version of their black art, working with shapes that should not go together, but they do so through a craftsmanship worth a thousand working devotees.
Taken under the wing of producer & madman Déhà and accompanied by drummer Hochofen, Herzog offer a unique form of black metal which cannot be compared to anything or anyone in the scene. “Complex, but transcendent” might be scratching the surface of Asgeir Amort’s craft: flawless riffing, possessed drumming, and unworldly screams which will take you on a dark journey through the mind of the creator.
Black metal being the foremost main weapon of the band, Herzog doesn’t shy away from the darkest of death metal sometimes, or even pushes you to a corner to make all your inner emotions implode. A debut album shattering a lot of veterans: this is Furnace.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Herzog (Belgium)’s Furnace 1. Loss of Utopia 2. Acheminement 3. Melted Tesseract 4. Oath of Weakness 5. The Craftsmen 6. All Rites 7. Oath of I 8. Oath of Us
Today, Werewolf Records announces December 29th as the international release date for the highly anticipated second album of Finland’s White Death, Iconoclast, on CD and cassette tape formats. The vinyl LP version will follow next year.
For a decade now, Finland’s White Death have built a small-yet-formidable canon of work that’s come to define modern underground black metal in their nation. It’s no secret that Finland has possessed one of the most potent black metal scenes from the early ’90s onward, and with each new generation that picks up the torch, some are contenders and others are just content to uphold “the Finnish sound.” White Death took their time with deploying demos and then their debut album, simply self-titled, but they occupied a unique position between those poles: steeped in noble tradition, but exuding a confidence and charisma that rendered White Death an exceptionally nasty work even with its considerably cleaner production. Three years of silence followed between the release of that debut album and the three-song Promo 2020, which included an Enochian Crescent cover – an inspired choice from an oft-unsung legend, and a portent of grandeur to come.
“Everyone knows the curse of the second album, because the first demo or album is always best,” smirks White Death frontman Vritrahn. “People ask and hope us to do this or do that, and when we put out a few preview songs, there were complaints about sound, for example. So, not to please anybody, we bought the smallest and worst-possible amplifiers from the second-hand store just to ruin fucking great riffs and drown all the best things on this album under muddy noise.”
Black humor, perhaps, for White Death‘s forthcoming Iconoclast is anything but “worst-possible” or “muddy.” Rather, the Finns take the ripped-raw dungeonic recesses of the deepest catacombs of the ’90s black metal underground and raise them to triumphant, terrorizing heights. It’s a unique disconnect in that the soundfield (and, more so, execution) exudes rippling filth coupled with pulsing nastiness, but the songwriting itself surges with a majestic melodicism that’s equal parts euphoria and eulogy – or, rather, beautiful battle fury and its ultimate tragic ending. What’s more, they move at many speeds here, shifting with ease and elan; that White Death don’t solely stick to the stock Finnish Tempo and instead make their acceleration almost effervescent lends an even-more-unique quality to the album. As such, Iconoclast keeps their hearts authentically ablaze with the underground spirit whilst unshackling themselves from the ghettoized thinking that mostly serves to keep the mongrel hordes within safe, status-quo boxes. A record for Black Metal People, but those who hate Black Metal People: truly, Iconoclast!
“This new album is like the Anttila catalog,” concludes Vritrahn with yet more black humor. “They sell all kinds of shit, from toys to furniture. The Anttila underwear pages were the most masturbated magazine in Finland. If you know what to search, you can find it. You just need to try a bit harder to cum, but eventually, you will.”
In the meantime, hear the aforementioned Promo 2020 here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for White Death (Finland)’s Iconoclast 1. Born From the Unholy Fire (Part II) 2. Iconoclast 3. Aal Apam Li Aamnuk 4. Strife For Blood 5. Life in Death 6. To Die a Thousand Times 7. Summum Bestiae 8. Phosphoros 9. Concerto of Sodomy 10. Celestial
On December 21st, 2023 internationally, Purity ThroughFire is proud to present Úlfarr‘s highly anticipated debut album, Orlegsceaft, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Since 2011, Úlfarr have stood for uncompromising, antisocial UK black metal – or, under their own banner of Cumbrian Black Metal. Helmed by Dominus, AKA Hrafn – who counts the equally prolific Thy Dying Light amongst his activities, as well as fellow labelmates Nefarious Dusk and Morte Lune – Úlfarr released a handful of demos, a couple splits, and most uniquely, a couple live albums before their debut mini-album, Hate & Terror – The Rise of Pure Evil, in 2019 and then another mini-album, The Ruins of Human Failure, two years later. Most recently, they released a split album with fellow UK horde Malfeitor. Across these caustic recordings, Úlfarr stoked the fires of old – namely, classic Craft, Darkthrone, Mayhem, One Head One Tail, and Death Cult.
Now Úlfarr return with a revamped lineup and a revamped sound on their long-awaited debut album, Orlegsceaft. Joining Dominus here are erstwhile Exvoidxist / Forvitnast vocalist Játvarðr, Helvellyn‘s Burns on bass, and Malfeitor maiman Nosdrahcir on drums. As no doubt forecasted by its title, Orlegsceaft is written almost entirely in Old English, and most suitably do Úlfarr shift gears toward a grim & ancient style of black metal. Whereas their sound of yore spit forth a hateful primitivism both punkish and headbanging, this older & bolder Úlfarr take that hate toward more desolate and hypnotic ends; atmosphere is heightened, ghoulish and GRIM in aspect. In effect, Orlegsceaft undeniably sounds OLD(e), like a long-lost recording from 1995 given undead life through ghostly means. It’s still recognizably Úlfarr, but their attack cruises more cooly here and the vocals of Játvarðr raise the hackles with full-throated terror. And fucking RIFFS forever!
Against the modern world, more than ever, Úlfarr take UKBM back to the dark ages with Orlegsceaft.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “…Hie Dygel Lond” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Úlfarr’s Orlegsceaft 1. Orlegsceaft 2. …Hie Dygel Lond 3. Wælgæst wæfre 4. Reordberend 5. Trollblót 6. Ic maþelode min anda to þone win… 7. Volkfire 8. Nocturnal Pantheon
Today, Québécois black metallers Sombre Héritage stream the entirety of their highly anticipated second album, Inter Duo Mundi. Set for international release on November 23rd via Sepulchral Productions, hear Sombre Héritage‘s Inter Duo Mundi in its entirety here:
Three years after a debut album that drew a lot of attention, Sombre Héritage strikes hard with its sophomore album, which sees its mastermind Exu propel his epic black metal towards new heights. Inter Duo Mundi offers a relentless barrage of incisive and melodic riffs, each one more memorable that the last, complemented by an ice-cold yet powerful production. A must for fans of melodic black metal!
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Sombre Héritage’s Inter Duo Mundi. 1. Inter Duo Mundi – Initium 2. Alces Alces 3. Chasse Éperdue 4. Délire Onirique 5. Enchevêtré 6. Tiraillé 7. Insolence 8. Inter Duo Mundi – Exitus
There’s black metal & there’s death metal. Then, you have NECROWRETCH – a band combining the best of both worlds into music made straight from the depths of hell. Having set their pace with releases such as ‘Satanic Slavery’ & ‘The Ones From Hell’, NECROWRETCH is back and ready to open a new chapter of fiery blast beats and twisted guitar riffs.
Today, the band announces the release of their 5th full-length album ‘Swords of Dajjal’ with a new single. Continuing on their exploratory journey of satanism & anti-theistic imagery, this new album serves as a musical manifestation of the anti-Christ itself.
The new single “Numidian Knowledge” is a tumultuous fusion of double bass frantically delivered by N. Destroyer, extreme guitar riffs laid bare by W. Cadaver & shrieking vocal lines performed by Vlad.
“Wisdom lies below the great Imedjasen… It is told that one who breaks the seal shall be blessed with infinite fortune… But his self will be condemned to an endless suffering”
1. Ksar Al-Kufar (4:22) 2. The Fifth Door (5:30) 3. Dii Mauri (5:07) 4. Swords of Dajjal (4:56) 5. Numidian Knowledge (4:12) 6. Vae Victis (4:18) 7. Daeva (2:49) 8. Total Obliteration (6:13)
Total:37:27
Now entering their fifteenth year as a band, France’s NECROWRETCH are about to open the most ambitious chapter of their career with Swords Of Dajjal, their three-years-in-the-making fifth album.
Initially the sole work of multi-instrument and vision leader Vlad, the band was originally for better and for worse lumped in the ‘old school death metal revival’ of the early 10’s. Yet while their debut Putrid Death Sorcery did bear indeed all the usual suspects of said genre, it nevertheless already had that extra, raw-as-fuck and just plain vicious element that really set them apart from the rest of the pack. Conforming to the norm was never in question and instead of selling out or trying to slow things down, as true misfits as they are, the went the exact opposite direction, first with 2015’s With Serpents Scourge, only to be vigorously confirmed by its furious follow-up, and first for Season Of Mist, 2017’s Satanic Slavery. To the point where once the touring cycle was over for the latter, Vlad himself felt he had explored this direction as far as he could have and that changes were on the horizon.
“On Satanic Slavery we on purpose took things as far as we could as our goal was to deliver the most bestial album possible. But once we achieved that goal, I knew we had to take a slightly different if still as uncompromised direction.” Incidentally, that’s when Wenceslas Carrieu from CADAVERIC FUMES entered the picture, first as a momentary live session on bass. But when second stringer Kev Desecrator vowed to amicably part way with the band to focus on DESTRÖYER 666, he switched to six-strings and proved to be the valuable songwriting partner Vlad had been looking for since the departure of the band original bass player Amphycion in 2015. “He immediately came up with lots of ideas and thanks to him, we now have a whole new dynamic: a bit like Sepultura had back in the days in between Max Cavalera and Andreas Kisser, with me focusing now on my vocals and playing rhythm guitars while Wenceslas takes care of all the solos, the starting riffs and the off-the-map bits.
With their fourth album, and first with Wencelas, The Ones From Hell was only one month old, NECROWRETCH was about to tour Europe with both KAMPFAR and TAAKE for three weeks. A tour bus was booked, the set was well-rehearsed, everything was ready and then… disaster struck. “Six days before we were due to play our first show, the whole thing was cancelled. Then COVID hit us and the world was basically shut down. We were numb for a couple of days but soon realized that the best way to bounce back was to move forward so we instantly started working on new songs.” The result is Swords Of Dajjal by far, their biggest, boldest and most ambitious production ever.
“We spent no less than three years working on the songs, demoeing them and finetuning the details and rehearsing them as a three-piece and six weeks in the studio with Francis Caste (HANGMAN’S CHAIR, REGARDE LES HOMMES TOMBER, SVART CROWN etc.). Prior to that, we used to be a pure product of the underground, with albums done in just a couple of days whom were never 100% satisfied with in the end as we had to rush everything. We’re still very underground, mind you. But this time around, we knew we had to give it all, no matter what. So we started by changing our gear, our sound and our tuning. And once we entered the studio, we for instance spent a whole day just testing different amps just to get the right sound and crunch we were looking for. I even took some singing lessons to gain more depth and power. In a way, it almost feels like a whole new band.”
The whole record was written on purpose mostly on acoustic twelve-string guitars (“the idea was that if it sounds good and catchy that way, it’d be even better with distortion”) and as a three-piece, “something we hadn’t done in a long time” with their new drummer Nicolas Ferrero, not exactly a newcomer as he’s been playing on and off live with them since 2018. The result is, according to Vlad, “our most black metal record, with splashes of death metal here and there. Whereas on the previous album all tempos were pushed to the extreme, there’s far more variety here to be found. It also gave us free reins to reach a more mystical, Biblical if you will vibe” fed by his experience living in Turkey in the late 10’s. “We choose to focus on the Dajjal character, basically the antichrist in the Muslim religion. The Coran says that he’ll appear as a false prophet only to bring doom to this world, with an army of demons coming from the east.” Represented on the cover of the album with his double edged sword and bathed in the same kind of reddish and orangey mesmerizing lights one can experience when the sun sets on wind-beaten deserts, all eight songs on the album are prophecies, past and future, where Dajjal plays the leading role.
Now completed on bass by R. Cadaver (former CADAVERIC FUMES vocalist) who officially joined once the recording was done after playing as a live session member for the last two years, and armed with their biggest, most complex and intense album of their career, NECROWRETCH are about to yield their sword of destruction and exterminate everything in sight.
Lineup Vlad – Vocals, Guitars W. Cadaver – Lead Guitars R. Cadaver (Live) – Bass N. Destroyer – Drums
Today, Danish black metallers Sort Sind stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, I Skyggen af Livet. Set for international release on November 24th via Nuclear WinterRecords on CD format – the vinyl LP version will be co-released with Desiccated Productions – hear Sort Sind‘s I Skyggen af Livet in its entirety here:
Denmark’s Sort Sind were born out of the ashes of sulfuric might in 2020, into a darkness of corrosion of the mind, with the members currently hailing from the likes of Ascendency, Had, Sulphurous, and Taphos (and formerly of Phrenelith). Soon, the duo released a two-song demo, portending grave deeds on the horizon…
At least, that horizon looms with I Skyggen af Livet, Sort Sind‘s debut full-length. A new dark chapter, the album consists of eight songs in a swift 32 minutes. Sort Sind‘s surging & slipstreaming attack is far more epic than those compact runtimes suggest; with shadows swirling through the maze of their twisted minds, the duo construct muscular, deathened black metal that reminds of the late ’90s vanguard whilst emitting a freshness of approach. Put another way, I Skyggen af Livet has few modern analogues: Sort Sind are their own entity of vengeful, grim misery. No matter what genre boundaries one places around it, the duo’s debut album unshackles itself and takes the listener on a journey downward through the spiral of madness, revealing new layers of dementia the more that listener submits to their coming of chaos. Classic black/death songcraft, then, but suffused with restless, red-eyed energy – I Skyggen af Livet is only the beginning of Sort Sind. This is black metal darkness!
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Sort Sind’s I Skyggen af Livet 1. Morke 2. Fortærer 3. Foragt 4. Hævntorst 5. Tomhed 6. Skygge 7. Sortsyn 8. Dysterhed
Today, Purity ThroughFire announces December 21st as the international release date for Atronos‘ second album, Erwachen, on CD, A5 digipack, and vinyl LP formats.
It was but the autumn of last year when Atronos released their celebrated debut album, Fehde, through the stronghold of Purity ThroughFire. Despite the seeming newness of the band, Atronos felt like old souls, and for good reason: mainman Henker is a prolific underground veteran whose current bands include labelmates Ad Mortem as well as Drudensang and Blodskut. Joining him was erstwhile Mavorim / Eisenkult vocalist Baptist, and together they made Fehde an utterly invigorating attack of folkish black metal fury. Earworming to the Nth degree, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more powerful and professional iteration of modern roots-oriented German black metal than Atronos‘ debut album.
Keeping their swords aloft, Atronos return to the fray with an even-more-massive second album. Aptly titled Erwachen, Atronos‘ second full-length is an expansive, skyscraping clarion call to all pagan souls. Not for nothing is the final track titled “Transformation,” for while the trio (Eisenkult drummer Valfor has joined the lineup) retain the melancholic / heroic melodicism of Fehde, Erwachen embarks upon an altogether-more-epic journey into classic ’90s-rooted pagan black metal. Thus do such touchstones as Windir, Thyrfing, and Norway’s Hades get integrated into Atronos‘ staunchly Teutonic foundation, but spit back out as a literally MASSIVE landscape of triumph and tragedy, endless forests and even-more-endless dreams. The layering of synth choirs is especially key here; with the more measured gait Atronos move at on Erwachen, so do the fog-thick swells of sound take their time to absorb the listener into their forgotten realms. As such, it’s not surprising that the album comprises five songs in 41 minutes: the ideal makeup for maximum immersion. But lest one think that the trio are totally committed to taking their (epic) time, Henker and crew can still rabble-rouse with the best of their German brethren – but the final destination here is the throne of the old gods rather than the beer hall. Witness the glorious splendor of Atronos‘ Erwachen!
Awaken with the brand-new track “Was uns so schrecklich hasst” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Atronos’ Erwachen 1. Was uns so schrecklich hasst [6:36] 2. Alles geht dahin [5:51] 3. Tobsucht [8:01] 4. Erwache [11:02] 5. Transformation [8:47]
