Today, American black/death metallers Blasphemousstream the entirety of their highly anticipated fourth album, To Lay Siege and Conquer. Set for international release on October 25th via Adirondack Black Mass, hear Blasphemous‘s To Lay Siege and Conquer in its entirety here:
Philadelphia’s Blasphemous formed in 2003 with one intention: to write and record blackened death metal. A lot has changed in the past 21 years, but one thing has remained: the band’s sense of passion and willingness to persevere despite lineup changes, a hiatus, and the shifting of the music industry. Returning later this year with To Lay Siege and Conquer, their first LP since 2018, Blasphemous are a reminder that death and darkness will always prevail.
Led by founding member Ron “RK” Kaiser and steeped in influence from Morbid Angel, Deicide, Watain, Angelcorpse, and Immortal, Blasphemous have always been uncompromising in their approach to writing and recording. The band’s first incarnation released their first demo, Storm of Chaos, in 2005. Quickly establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with live and in the studio, BLASPHEMOUS released their first album, Incineration of the Cult, in 2008. They quickly followed it up with a second album, Bearer of the Darkest Plagues, but lineup instability brought things to a close in 2013…for a time. Feeling that there was more to be said, RK reformed Blasphemous in 2016, assembling a new lineup that included Engulf guitarist Hal Microutsicos, lead guitarist Steve Shreve, bassist Josh Guinter, and drummer Mark Vizza. Signing to Horror Pain Gore Death Productions, that lineup released the third Blasphemous album, Emerging Through Fire. It revealed a band more energized, more creative, and more ready for domination than ever before, leading to a number of short tours and one-off live performances.
Guinter departed the band and was replaced by bassist Dan Lee in 2020, during a time when live performances ceased. Forging ahead, Blasphemous wrote and recorded the Eternal Misanthropy EP, which saw release in 2022, supported by physical releases from Unchained Tapes and Born for Burning. With a solid foundation finally established, Blasphemous are once again prepared to make their mark on the underground when To Lay Siege and Conquer is released October 25th on Adirondack Black Mass.
Preorder can be found both HERE at Blasphemous‘ Bandcamp as well as HERE at Adirondack Black Mass‘ Bandcamp. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Blasphemous (USA)’s To Lay Siege and Conquer 1. To Lay Siege and Conquer [5:16] 2. Son of the Forsaken [4:22] 3. Martyr Complex [3:50] 4. Spiritual Enslavement [3:20] 5. Dead and Still [4:20] 6. Curse of the Witchchrist [4:25] 7. Neverborn [4:11]
DEFEATED SANITY Up the Punishment with Accelerating the Rot
Hear the new album from the legendary death metal band two weeks early by joining their Bandcamp Listening Party
“Defeated Sanity have captured the throne of brutal death metal…” – Angry Metal Guy
Ever since their maniacal mastermind picked up his first pair of sticks at the tender age of six, DEFEATED SANITY have found newly inventive ways to spin death metal on its deformed head. This band of technical headbangers have broken onto the Billboard charts with jazz-infused chaos and even recorded a proggy split with…themselves?
But on their upcoming seventh album, DEFEATED SANITY are returning to the brutal slamming that cemented their legacy. The latest single off Chronicles of Lunacy is still plenty twisted, but Accelerating the Rot now stands as one of the fastest songs in the band’s history.
Chronicles of Lunacycomes out November 22 on Season of Mist.
Over the past 30-odd years, many esteemed vocalists have cycled in and out of Defeated Sanity. However, after a satisfyingly gruesome performance on their last album, Josh Welshman is back for Chronicles of Lunacy. His foul emanations bring a refreshing air of continuity. “Each song on the album delves into a different form of mental corruption”, Welshman says.
The album’s lead single stunk of religious fanaticism, but “Accelerating the Rot” races like the mind of a vigilante whose idea of justice is more than a little warped. “One by one, I decimate the miasmic masses“, Welshman roars above a bass line that scrambles all over the fretboard like a blood-hungry tick.
When it comes to death metal, Defeated Sanity understand that there’s more than one way to deliver a beating. After all, the band’s mastermind is one of the world’s sickest drummers. Since his father’s passing in 2010, Lille Gruber has composed the bulk of their imposing discography.
“We love experimenting”, he explains. Even though “Accelerating the Rot” is just a few scraggly chin beard hairs over three minutes long, Gruber never stops switching between different blistering tempos. And yet – whether he’s blasting, pinging or flaying his snare, the song never loses its oddball bounce.
“Lille’s drumming is just ridiculous”, says bassist Jacob Schmidt. “He’s still the face of the franchise, so we’re never going to abandon those head-scratching moments that have always set Defeated Sanity apart”.
The band’s previous single crept and crawled into the album’s most slam-heavy breakdown. Thanks to its lurching groove, the breakdown on the latest single from Chronicles of Lunacy will still scrunch plenty of noses, but “Accelerating the Rot” punches the gas and heads straight for the loony bin. Their maniacal timekeeper is still working the controls, but the blinding pace is set by new guitarist Vaughn Stoffey, who chews through chunky shredding and squeals of dissonance with fresh fingers.
“Accelerating the Rot is one of the fastest songs in Defeated Sanity’s history”, Stoffey says. “It gets back to the sheer brutality that fans love about Psalms of the Moribund and Chapters of Repugnance“.
The video for “Accelerating the Rot” was created by Obscenery Films.
More praise for Defeated Sanity:
“One of the most extreme things I’ve ever heard” – Decibel
“A jazz ensemble hiding in plain sight as a brutal tech-death band” – No Clean Singing
“While the rest of us smooth-brained mortals are content with playing checkers or Connect Four, these guys are playing six simultaneous games of 3D chess with their swollen, pulsating minds” – Metal Sucks
“Should be up for some sort of award for being one of this offshoot’s most steadily morphing bands” – Last Rites
“Defeated Sanity’s brutality comes almost entirely from their demandingly intricate songwriting” – Toilet Over Hell
“Defeated Sanity has crafted a sound that is wholly their own” – Heaviest of Art
The underground lost their collective mind when DEFEATED SANITY announced Chronicles of Lunacy. Metalheads couldn’t wait to bang heads over the first pressing of their new album. Several of the color variants are already sold out, but anyone who missed out isn’t condemned to suffer in silence.
The second pressing of Chronicles of Lunacy is now available for pre-order. This pressing includes a translucent lime color variant that’s exclusive to the Season of Mist webstore. Don’t wait! This variant is limited to 150 copies.
Can’t wait for your pre-order? RSVP for Defeated Sanity’s upcoming Bandcamp Listening Party. Chat with the band and listen to all of Chronicles of Lunacy two weeks before the album comes out.
To celebrate Chronicles of Lunacy, DEFEATED SANITY are embarking on their first headlining tour of Europe since 2018. They’ll be performing songs off their brutal new album alongside Wisconsin’s Putrid Pile and To Violently Vomit, a tribute to Disgorge that features current and former members of the legendary brutal death metal band.
Iniquitous Savagery, Strangle Wire, Asylum and Embryonic Devourment round out the two legs of this stacked bill.
Defeated Sanity Chronicles of Lunacy 2025 European Tour 23 January – Wolfburg, DE @ Jugendhaus OST* 24 January – Hamburg, DE @ Bambi Galore* 25 January – Copenhagen, DK @ Temple of Doom* 26 January – Dyestad, SE @ Dyestads Bygata* 27 January – Stockholm, SE @ Kollektivet Livet* 28 January – Aalborg, DK @ Studenterhuset* 29 January – Tilburg, NL @ Hall of Fame* 30 January – Lille, FR @ The Black Lab* 31 January – Paris, FR @ Glazart* 1 February – Basel, CH @ Kaschemme Basel* 2 February – Milan, IT @ Slaughter Club* 3 February- Graz, AT @ Explosiv* 4 February – Vienna, AT @ Escape^ 5 February – Zagreb, HR @ Klub Močvara^ 6 February – Budapest, HU @ Dürer Kert^ 7 February – Belgrade, RS @ Dorcol Platz^ 8 February – Sofia, BG @ Oldskulls Club^ 9 February – Varna,BG @ Club Smile^ 10 February – Bucharest, RO @ Quantic^ 11 February – Cluj-Napoca, RO @ Flying Circus^ 12 February – Košice, SK @ Collosseum Club^ 13 February – Prague, CZ @ Modrá Vopice^ 14 February – Bielsko-Biala, PL @ Rudeboy Club^ 15 February – Berlin, DE @ Orwohaus^ * with Iniquitous Savagery, Strangle Wire ^ with Asylum, Embryonic Devourment
Tracklist: 1. Amputationsdrang (2:30) 2. The Odour Of Sanctity (3:36) [WATCH] 3. Accelerating The Rot (3:22) [WATCH] 4. Temporal Disintegration (5:52) [WATCH] 5. Extrinsically Enraged (4:09) 6. A Patriarchy Perverse (4:16) 7. Condemned to Vascular Famine (6:00) 8. Heredity Violated (3:48) Total runtime: 33:35
DEFEATED SANITY is unequivocally one of the most unique, boundary-pushing and crucial bands in the history of extreme death metal. Their music is as technically coherent as it is mind-bending and memorable. Endlessly replay-able and full of discovery, their maze of riffs and musical passages is inspired by infamous classic bands in the extreme metal genre, while also heavily steeped in jazz and progressive classical elements.
The band consists of four members. They’re led by drummer Lille Gruber, who’s the son of deceased co-founding member Wolfgang Teske. Gruber is joined by bandmates Jacob Schmidt (bass), Josh Welshman (vocals) and Vaughn Stoffey (guitar).
As well as being the drummer of Defeated Sanity, Gruber is the multi- instrumental, songwriting mastermind behind the band’s deep and compelling catalogue of songs and compositions. He possesses a bag of tricks seen nowhere else in the genre, and a musical prowess which is on full display throughout their new album Chronicles of Lunacy.
“We love experimenting”, explains drummer and founding member Lille Gruber. “But we realized that some of our oldest fans might have gotten lost after our last couple of albums. With the new one, we wanted to focus more on neck-snapping brutality”.
Chronicles of Lunacy punches you right in the face. Press play and “Amputationsdrang” already has you pinned to the mat beneath its non-stop blasts. Get comfortable, too, because Defeated Sanity don’t let the album up for air until the very end of Track 4. But turns out, acting like knuckle-dragging cavemen isn’t so easy for a band that has a Mensa-level maestro like Gruber at the controls.
At the tender age of six, Lille Gruber picked up heavy guitar and drums. Inspired by killer American BDM bands like Disgorge, Monstrosity and Brodequin, the German wunderkind recorded the band’s first demo alongside his father, Wolfgang Teske. Since Wolfgang’s passing in 2010, Gruber has taken on the bulk of the composing for Defeated Sanity. Whether he’s hammering his snare, pinging between cymbals or riding a colossal groove, The Chronicles of Lunacy flows like a never-ending stream of filth.
“Lille’s drumming is just ridiculous”, Jacob Schmidt says. Schmidt – who toured with Obscura behind Cosmogenesis – joined as the other half of Defeated Sanity’s chaotic rhythm section for the band’s beloved second album. His nimble, belching bass give the new album’s lead single “The Odour of Sanctity” a dizzying bounce. “He’s the face of the franchise, so we’re never going to abandon those head-scratching moments that set Defeated Sanity apart”.
Indeed, Chronicles of Lunacy isn’t Defeated Sanity for dummies. Heck, the lyrics are wrapped up in the twisted ways that delusions can rot the human psyche. This heady concept was made flesh by none other than Jon Zig. Drawn in painstaking detail by his wicked right hand, the album’s cover shows that the birth of some ideas look an awful lot like a gory and sex-crazed nativity scene.
“Each song on Chronicles deals with a different form of mental corruption”, Josh Welshman says”. “Odor” stinks of religious fanaticism. “A Patriarchy Perverse” cracks open the mind of co-ed killer Ed Kemper, while “Extrinsically Enraged” practically foams at the mouth with squealing hammer-ons. “That one’s more literal”, says Welshman with a hearty laugh. “It’s about contracting rabies”. If it weren’t for Disposal of the Dead / Dharmata, then Defeated Sanity would’ve chewed through as many vocalists as they have albums, but after a brutal showing on their last one, Welshman is back with more guttural vengeance. His growls ooze from the pit of his gut on “Temporal Disintegration”, stomped out like the innards of a cockroach by the gravity-defying slams.
While it still hits from every odd angle, Chronicles of Lunacy does draw a jagged red line back to Defeated Sanity’s brutal origins. After all, the band now share a label with their namesake. In true, DS fashion, the first song written for this album was “Heredity Violated”, a headbanging grand finale that never stops chugging. “This album isn’t as tough on the brain as the last two”, says new guitarist Vaughn Stoffey, whose chunky riffs whip “Accelerating the Rot” into the fastest song in the band’s canon. “It’s rawer and more straightforward, which gets back to what fans love about Psalms of the Moribund“.
To dig up the sheer brutality that long-time fans have come to crave, Defeated Sanity returned to Thousand Cave Studios. New York City’s most vile underground hotspot also served as the excavation site for the Billboard-charting The Sanguinary Impetus, which shoveled a fresh layer of dirt over the “polished” production of Passages into Deformity. But the band encouraged producer Colin Marston to get down and dirty with Chronicles of Lunacy. “We still wanted some of the high fidelity that you hear on modern death metal records”, Schmidt says, “but this album has the same crushing low-end as Psalms or Chapters of Repugnance“.
The band execute this two-headed approach to monstrous effect on “Condemned to Vascular Famine”. At just under six minutes, the song delivers the longest ass beating on Chronicles of Lunacy. At times, all four members sound like they’re climbing up the walls in separate asylums, but after slipping in a brief nod to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the band come slamming down into the album’s ugliest breakdown.
“That’s one of our favorites”, the band says. “It lands at a crossroad of the DS sound that we ended up with on Chronicles of Lunacy. Even though it gets pretty fucking weird at times, there’s still an emphasis on heavy, straight-up slamming”.
None of their albums are ever going to follow a straight line, but on Chronicles of Lunacy, Defeated Sanity return to sheer brutality.
Lineup: Josh Welshman – Vocals Vaughn Stoffey – Guitars Jacob Schmidt – Bass Lille Gruber – Drums
Guest Musicians: Danny Nelson & Paolo Paguntalan provide backup vocals on Amputationsdrang and Accelerating the Rot
Recording Studio: Thousand Caves Studio in January 2024.
Production: Recorded, mixed and mastered by Colin Marston. Produced by Colin Marston and Defeated Sanity.
Cover Art: Artwork by Jon Zig Title lettering by Liz Schmidt Layout by Alex Eckman-Lawn
Today, Belgian speed metallers Bütcher reveal the new video “Keep the Steele (Flamin’ Hot).” The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated third album, On Fowl of Tyrant Wing, set for international release on October 25th via Osmose Productions. See & hear Bütcher‘s “Keep the Steele (Flamin’ Hot)” in its entirety here:
Bütcher have exploded onto the scene and have been making a name for themselves internationally. Their music caters to the blackened souls who love old-school speed, thrash, heavy, and black metals. Cuts such as “Iron Bitch,” “45 RPM Metal,” and “666 Goats Carry My Chariot” are now part of the canon of the old-school metal community.
After an avalanche of successful shows and festivals throughout Europe, Bütcher are proud to present their third album, On Fowl of Tyrant Wing. After the rabid debut Bestial Fükkin’ Warmachine (Babylon Doom Cult Records, 2017) and the heralded sophomore album 666 Goats Carry My Chariot (Osmose Productions, 2020), they delve deep into their specific mixture of the golden ’80s and extreme ’90s.
Bütcher have always mixed ancient speed and thrash metal with NWOBHM, classic hard rock and black metal. On side A of the new album, they continue their very own legacy. On side B, they double down on that premise. It’s a concept side with an overarching unique story (written by R Hellshrieker) and a fully composed tour de force (by KK Ripper) where tempo changes, interwoven melodies, sitars, organs, and various percussion instruments create an unexpected musical journey.
Heavy, death, and black metals counter the speed metal, and nobody will see it coming. Both progressive and very traditional, this album is sure to opiate fans and critics alike.
Also hear the previously revealed “Blessed by the Blade” HERE, also at Osmose Productions‘ official YouTube channel. Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover artwork, courtesy of the legendary Kris Verwimp, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Bütcher’s On Fowl of Tyrant Wing 1. A Divine Wind 2. Speed Metal Samurai 3. Blessed By The Blade 4. Koraktor’s Iron Rule 5. Keep The Steele (Flamin’ Hot) 6. A Sacrifice To Satan’s Spawn 7. A Gypsy’s Tale (Of Sex and Seance) 8. An Ending In Fyre
Today, Swedish black metallers Seid stream the entirety of their highly anticipated fifth album, Hymns to the Norse. Set for an international release on October 18th via De Tenebrarum Principio – a division of ATMF – hear Seid‘s Hymns to the Norse in its entirety here:
Hymns to the Norse – the new album from Seid, active since 2009 and purveyors of proud pagan black metal in the ancient tradition – takes great inspiration from the old folk music of the Scandinavian region. In many ways, this album is more of a concept album than 2022’s preceding Svart Sól was. The sejd drum intro “Hymn To Ivar” opens it up in an even-more-traditional fashion, but then you get brass sections and the sound develops more and more throughout the album towards something more recognizably black metal. “Hymn to the North” closes the album, referring to the fact that all the songs you just heard were hymns: previously untold but, in our common ancestry, deeply buried.
With Seid‘s raw, lo-fi sound, eerie vocals, sejd drum, Hammond organs, and haunting atmospheres, this album pushes the boundaries of black metal while exploring the Norse roots. Hymns to the Norse takes you to the past…and brings the past into you.
North American preorder info can be found HERE; European preorder info can be found HERE. Cover artwork, courtesy of Frank Dicksee (1873), and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Seid (Sweden)’s Hymns to the Norse 1. Hymn To Ivar 2. The End Of Days 3. My Kingdom Rise 4. White Beast From Hel 5. Nordmænnens Raseri 6. Light Up The Sky 7. Allfadir 8. Hymns To The North
Blood Harvest Records is proud to present Nogothula‘s striking debut album, Telluric Sepsis, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats. The tape version will be released on October 25th, the CD on November 29th, and the vinyl on December 13th.
Hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, Nogothula formed in 2021 originally as a trio, including vocalist / guitarist Colton Deem of the mighty VALDRIN and vocalist / bassist Eric Payne of regional heroes Verment. Alex Hooper rounded out the band on drums, and together they released the Gore Vortex Ascension demo a year later. The title itself gave more than a small indication of the sci-leanings the band would soon explore across their surging & slamming style of death metal. Guitarist Nick Moeller would later join, and as a quartet, Nogothula would record their debut album, Telluric Sepsis.
Released digitally in April 2024, Telluric Sepsis now sees a physical release courtesy of Blood Harvest. And for good reason: sharper, strangely concise, and yet also more mind-bending, Telluric Sepsis is prime progressive-leaning death metal that never loses sight of the original essence of DEATH METAL. References are many – early 2000s Decapitated, Pierced From Within-era Suffocation, pre-Obscura Gorguts, late ’90s Cryptopsy – but Nogothula possess an elusive nous that minces and mangles those sturdy signposts in a manner that’s familiar and foreign in equal measure. While the sci-fi element isn’t as pronounced as, say, Nocturnus’ first couple albums, there’s nevertheless an undercurrent of “supernatural spaciness” to the overall atmosphere of Telluric Sepsis – part production, perhaps, or part songwriting itself. For the latter, the songwriting found within the nine-song / 43-minute albumslices & sluices with deadly precision, keeping momentum always moving forward but equally unsettling the listener; linear trajectories are to be found here, but the sum effect is swarming and cyclonic. And even amidst the brutal breakdowns, the razor-wire riffing runs riot across Telluric Sepsis, peppered with fleeting-yet-furious leads while Deem and Payne’s dual vocals make that swarming / cyclonic effect hit that much harder. Feel the lacerating vibrations of Nogothula and behold their labyrinthian sunken spires!
In the meantime, stream Telluric Sepsis in its entirety here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Nogothula’s Telluric Sepsis 1. Pinnacle Of Death 2. Astonishing Devastation 3. Pyres Of The Altar 4. Incandescent Debris 5. Embers Of An Ancient Fire 6. Volcanic Winter 7. Fogo Nas Entranhas 8. Burial Swamps
Next month, True Vampyric Metal Punks Spiter will embark on a tour of the American East Coast. Joining them as support will be New Hampshire deathpunks Diabolus. UPDATED list of confirmed dates as well as poster art are as follows:
11/1 Worcester, MA @ Ralph’s Diner 11/2 New Brunswick, NJ @ Cinco De Mayo 11/3 Richmond, VA @ Cobra Cabana 11/5 Atlanta, GA @ Boggs Social 11/6 Jenson Beach, FL @ Dark Riff Records 11/7 Orlando, FL @ The Cobalt 11/8 Pensacola, FL @ Subculture 11/9 New Orleans, LA @Siberia 11/10 Memphis, TN @ The Hi Tone 11/12 Louisville, KY @ Portal 11/13 Asheville, NC @ Eulogy 11/14 Raleigh, NC @ The Pour House 11/15 Long Island City, NY at El Bunker Diablo 11/16 Philadelphia, PA at Fotoclub
It was but the summer of 2022 when Spiter burst from the fucking grave with their debut album for Hells Headbangers, Bathe the Babe in Bats’ Blood. Featuring members of labelmates Shitfucker and Devil Master, the power-trio made plain – and vulgar – their infernal & infectious True Vampyric Metal Punk: a raw-yet-anthemic blend of cult blackthrash, obscure hardcore punk, and even the wildest deathrock. The album sowed its seeds of sanguine depravity and Spiter took their madness on the road, cementing their cult status immediately.
Now, the deviants of Spiter return with a ripping new mini-album, Enter the Gates of Fucking Hell. This six-song / 26-minute recording sees the lineup scaled back to vocalist / guitarist / songwriter Richard Spider (Daemon Bitch of Shitfucker) and drummer Snake (Disjawn) – they continue to be a trio for live purposes – and remarkably shows even more fire and focus than that not-inconsiderable debut album. Somehow, those six(-six-six) songs sound shorter and more epic simultaneously, with Spider showing his songwriting chops between wild & winding mania and ghoulish catchiness. The production, in kind, is colder and harsher but clearer and heavier, assaulting the listener with arguably more undead energy than said debut. And then, over before it began, you’re again possessed to press “play” and enter those fucking gates over and over…again, until it fucking hurts.
Stream Spiter‘s Enter the Gates of Fucking HellHERE at Hells Headbangers‘ Bandcamp. Order info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Spiter’s Enter the Gates of Fucking Hell 1. Enter The Gates Of Fucking Hell 2. Drowning In Darkness 3. Tears Of Blood 4. The Creeping Serpent Psychosis 5. 666 On The Crucifix 6. Reflection Of The Vampire
Today, Iron Bonehead Productions announces December 13th as the international release date for Luring‘s highly anticipated third album, Malevolent Lycanthropic Heresy, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Belonging to the Order of the Broken Sword circle which includes labelmates Azathoth’s Dream and Wuldorgast, Luring made their public debut in 2018 with the Interitu Caret Devotione ad Coronam Satanas demo. From there, with the successive full-lengths Victory Fires Ablaze Under the Banner of Lucifer and the Iron Bonehead-released Triumphant Fall of the Malignant Christ last year, Luring have slowly-yet-assuredly become one of the most exciting developments in American black metal of recent years, effortlessly finessing a stridently classicist form that doesn’t point toward preceding idioms too obviously nor overly.
Perhaps reaching their apotheosis of such, Luring now deliver Malevolent Lycanthropic Heresy. The trio’s third album features much of the same foundation as its two LP predecessors – rippling physicality fused with otherworldly texture, inspired by contemporaneously early Abigor and Gorgoroth as equally as turn-of-the-millennium Nocternity and Lunar Aurora – but here do Luring intensify the extremes of their sound. On one hand, that physicality goes a more gutted direction, digging deep into sepulchral catacombs almost deathly. On another hand (and especially as the album plays on), their once-subtle melodicism goes to bolder lengths: some more melancholic, others more triumphant, but always with a fully developed narrative arc. Interestingly, half the album is given to instrumental tracks that aren’t strictly “ambient” in the usual black metal sense(s), imparting haunting / alluring atmospheres that thread seamlessly into Malevolent Lycanthropic Heresy‘s overall sensory experience; however, there are touches of true ambient within the other four, otherwise-black-metal songs. Altogether, and armed with a cleaner and yet still-analog production, Luring render their third full-length a never-belabored masterclass in black metal both authentically ancient and refreshingly modern.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Dying Wolf Beneath the Stars” here:
Tracklisting for Luring’s Malevolent Lycanthropic Heresy 1. Ravaged By the Teeth of a Feral God 2. Chalice of Splintered Dreams 3. Born With the Devil’s Marking 4. Black Death Elixir 5. The Odious Gaze of Chronos 6. We Come From the Shadows at His Command 7. Dying Wolf Beneath the Stars 8. Burial Opus
Today, Iron Bonehead Productions announces December 13th as the international release date for Wuldorgast‘s striking debut album, Cold Light, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Wuldorgast are a new formation belonging to the Order of the Broken Sword circle, which includes labelmates Luring and Azathoth’s Dream among others. Like those two bands, Wuldorgast likewise underline this exciting new development in American black metal of recent years: a stridently classicist form that doesn’t point toward preceding idioms too obviously nor too overly, but not completely without precedent.
Witness Wuldorgast‘s first public work, the full-length Cold Light. Vaguely eldritch Scandinavian in approach but not the usual suspects, the duo’s black metal is one that’s asskicking yet atmospheric, equally martial and rowdy as fuck. Superficial first-glances might suggest late ’90s Darkthrone or early 2000s Carpathian Forest, but cast your gaze to the darkest not-so-distant past and one could liken Wuldorgast here such cults as Tangorodrim, Thesyre, Torka, and especially Germany’s unsung Graupel: not the most worn-out references, thankfully, and finessed in such a manner that locates the essence rather than the result. Thus is everything stripped down to bare-bones, brass-knuckled rudiments and then built back up with a triumphant delirium fueled by blood and alcohol – and an abundance of heraldic leads, adding a crucial distinction of character. No more but definitely no less, Cold Light is real BLACK METAL for real black metal people!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Dawn of the Black Sun” here:
Tracklisting for Wuldorgast’s Cold Light A1. Obscured in Shadows [7:06] A2. Natural Life is Eternal Battle [3:47] A3. Cold Light of Reason [4:47] B1. Labyrinth of Control [6:02] B2. Cipher to Eternity [4:48] B3. Dawn of the Black Sun [5:33]
Today, Purity ThroughFire announces November 17th as the international release date for Unholdun‘s highly anticipated debut album, Fœhn, on CD format.
The work of one Alexis Chiambretto, Unholdun made their public debut in 2022 with a self-titled EP through Purity ThroughFire. At the time, the mainman modestly said, “I didn’t try to revolutionize black metal with this EP; it’s more like ‘a tribute’ to the good, old black metal. So, I would like to feel a little bit the ’90s vibe, even in the artwork.” Nevertheless, Unholdun‘s pleasures were simple but sublime, exhibiting a sweepingly melodic surge that favorably recalled the Québec scene that’s made waves in the underground for the past couple decades.
While Chiambretto still calls France his home (and he’s here joined by session drummer Rémi Serafino), Unholdun‘s sound has become bigger and bolder with Fœhn, the band’s full-length debut. The unadorned and awe-inspiring cover artwork spells out the magick of Fœhn in no uncertain terms: epic, expansive, elemental, but frighteningly focused. Unholdun‘s template hasn’t changed so much as the execution of such has. Electric, exciting, restlessly roiling but ripping with a joie de vivre that’s impossible not to get windswept up by, paradoxically, the band’s influences are more upfront and yet relatively more varied – classic Arckanum, late ’90s Darkthrone, similarly late ’90s Kampfar, 2000s Khold, first-era Deathspell Omega, all templars of BLACK METAL all unbounded in approach – but Chiambretto manages to mix & mince those various DNA in such a manner that what emerges is idiosyncratic and infectious. Pushed to greatness by powerful production that’s clear, gritty, and wholly human, Fœhn has all the hallmarks of a quiet triumph. Face towering solitude and explore the peaks with Unholdun!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Forêts” here:
Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Today, Osmose Productions announces November 29th as the international release date for the highly anticipated seventh album of France’s Gorgon, For Those Who Stay, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
With For Those Who Stay, the cursed phalanx of Gorgon is back with its wildest work to date!
Eleven new uncompromising titles to continue the trilogy, started on Osmose with The Veil Of Darkness (2019) and Traditio Satanae (2021). Sharp guitars, thumping drums, sense of melody: Gorgon continues to impose its vision of black metal which started in 1991.
The Scriptures talk about the seven deadly sins, the seven-headed beast of the Apocalypse – they will soon talk about the band’s seventh album!
First track premiere to be revealed on November 4th. Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Gorgon (France)’s For Those Who Stay 1. For Those Who Stay [5:05] 2. Tod. Mort. Death. [2:39] 3. Next To The Mill [3:11] 4. Hypnotic Fire [3:49] 5. Vatican’s Fall [3:11] 6. The Art Of Dying [2:58] 7. Despicable Beggars [4:56] 8. Shelter [3:33] 9. When It Rains In Hell [3:47] 10. Troops Of The Fallen [4:13] 11. Deserters As Prey [3:17]
