Today, Blood Harvest Records announces July 14th as the international release date for Pukewraith‘s highly anticipated debut album, Banquet of Scum, on vinyl LP format.
Sporting one of the best monikers around, Pukewraith is a solo-project of Brendan Dean, erstwhile vocalist/guitarist of Blood Harvest titans Gutvoid as well as a handful of other bands that currently includes Fumes, Soul Devourment, Wexler’s Prime, Alucard, and Simulcra. Obviously, the man is super-busy as well as -talented, and while those talents run the metallic gamut (with an obvious affection for death metal), Pukewraith is naturally his most traditionally gore-soaked work. The last couple years have seen an EP, split, and single, and finally the band’s first full-length, Banquet of Scum.
Released late last year on CD, Pukewraith‘s Banquet of Scum is now finally finding a fitting vinyl release courtesy of Blood Harvest. While there’s undoubtedly some links shared with his stellar work in Gutvoid – namely, the all-consuming sense of devourment, be it physical or spiritual – here does Dean hit with a straightforward pulse ‘n’ crush not unlike early Grave, Hypocrisy, and Sinister, all tempered with well-timed downtempo breakdowns and a bevy of mind-melted solos. And while Gutvoid‘s muse lately has been trending toward the cosmos, Pukewraith fittingly stick to the sewers, plumbing the depths of gore and depravity with relish and, daresay, fun; not for nothing is the album titled Banquet of Scum. Cruise with the Gravesmasher and begin feasting again – or for the first time – with Blood Harvest‘s new vinyl edition, which includes an exclusive bonus track!
Stream the original album in its entirety here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Pukewraith’s Banquet of Scum 1. Grime Fiend 2. 110 Crushed 3. Fleshmaster 4. Mire Stench 5. Cyclone Of Maggots 6. Cruisin With The Gravesmasher 7. Mucklord 8. Sunbound 2097
Today, Finnish black metallers Sarvekas reveal the new track “The Austerity of Northern Lands.” The track is the third to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated debut album, Woven Dark Paths, set for international release on May 26th via Soulseller Records. Hear Sarvekas‘ “The Austerity of Northern Lands” in its entirety here:
Sarvekas are a black metal duo from Southern Finland, formed in late 2018. Their style is mostly melodic and epic, yet crushing and furious. The atmospheres in their music range from harsh, dark and desolate, cold and yet hauntingly beautiful feelings to raging moments of pure fury. Sarvekas combine all this to a momentum of sinister and epic black metal, woven with heathenry, Scandinavian mythology, and devotion to the dark.
Sarvekas signed a worldwide record deal in 2020 with Soulseller Records, and the band’s first release, the Of Atavistic Fury & Visions EP, was released in December 2020. The reception and the reviews were good, and the band immediately started to compose new songs for their full-length debut. Now, in May, Sarvekas will release that first full-length, Woven Dark Paths, via Soulseller. The 8-song/48-minute album is about delving into dark ancient rites, bloodletting for the forefathers, and true Nordic spirit as well as philosophy through ancient Nordic beliefs. With preternatural ease, Sarvekas transport the listener to ancient times: both the glorious 1990s, with their incredibly era-authentic style, and more so the times long, long before that, visual and violent in equal measure. References to be made include the cult likes of Isvind, Norway’s Perished, Mithotyn, and equally early Kampfar and Thyrfing – but already, upon evidence of Woven Dark Paths, Sarvekas are well on their way to etching their own legendry. Currently, they are focusing on making live performance possible while at the same time composing new music.
Also hear the previously revealed “Of Bloodlust & Nightside Sorceries” HERE and “The Scryer of Bones” HERE, both at Soulseller‘s official YouTube channel. Preorder info for world can be found HERE while preorder info for the Americas can found HERE. Cover artwork, courtesy of Roni Ärling, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Sarvekas’ Woven Dark Paths
1. Rite Of Transcendence 2. The Scryer Of Bones 3. Of Bloodlust & Nightside Sorceries 4. Embers Of Pagan Fire 5. Woven Dark Paths 6. The Austerity Of The Northern Lands 7. Soaring Over The Battlefields 8. The Great Winter
Today, Norwegian black metallers Nattverd reveal the new video “Det Stormer I Norge.” The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated fourth album, I Helvetes Forakt, set for international release on May 26th via Soulseller Records. See & hear Nattverd‘s “Det Stormer I Norge” video in its entirety here:
Hailing from Bergen, Nattverd was initially started in the ’90s, but due to reasons beyond control, the band’s official formation was delayed until 2014. A few tracks were written during this period by founders Ormr (vocals, guitar) and Atyr (guitar), which later culminated in Nattverd‘s debut album, Vi vet gud Er En Løgner, in 2017. On this album, Ormr and Atyr recruited Serpentr on drums, and the record received great critical acclaim in the underground scene. A year later, they released the EP Skuggen, which featured Skjolden on guest drums, from Norway’s infamous Fester. Shortly after this EP, they wrote their second album, Styggdom, and recruited drummer Antichristian (ex-Tsjuder) and bassist Sveinr (Nordjevel, ex-Ragnarok).
Thereafter, Nattverd scored a record deal with Osmose Productions, and eventually released Styggdom in 2020 through the label to high praise in the media. In 2021, they released their third album, Vandring – also through Osmose – and were signed by Flaming Arts Agency to take their music to the live arena. On this album, Aven joined the band on guitars, and after the album, they parted ways with drummer Antichristian. They were then joined by drummer Renton (ex-Urgehal, ex-Sarkom), which then led to the band recorded their fourth album in Caliban Studio Storsjøen.
Titled I Helvetes Forakt, Nattverd‘s fourth album is their first with new label home Soulseller Records, longtime fans of the band. Much as its cover art forecasts the contents ahead, I Helvetes Forakt effortlessly transports the listener to wintry, alluringly desolate landscapes, working as much atmospherically as they do aggressively. More than ever, Nattverd embody the cryogenic majesty of classic Norwegian black metal, conjured during the glorious 1990s but by no means tethered to that past. If anything, the quintet have their sights set on the distant future, patiently pushing their sound forward to icier heights (and depths) whilst maintaining their distinct poise and personality. And to punctuate the release of I Helvetes Forakt, Nattverd are confirmed to play Steelfest Open Air 2023.
Also hear the previously revealed “En Poesende Eim I Vinden” HERE, also at Soulseller‘s official YouTube channel. Preorder info for world can be found HERE while preorder for the Americas can be found HERE. Cover artwork, courtesy of Misanthropic-Art, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Nattverd’s I Helvetes Forakt
1. Det Stormer I Norge 2. Vandring I Elver Av Blod 3. En Poesende Eim I Vinden 4. Oeyne I Natten 5. Forbannet Vaere 6. Helvete Kjenner Alt, Selv Naar Taaken Har Lagt Seg 7. En gammel Kriger Trosser Vind Og Vaer 8. Gudsforlatt 9. Elvedjuvet 10. I Moerke Skip Innover
Today, lawless black metallers Thanatomass stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Hades. Set for international release on May 12th via Living Temple Records, hear Thanatomass‘ Hades in its entirety here:
The origins of Thanatomass are shadowy, but their first public recording – 2018’s MMXV-MMXVI demo – reveals some hints as to that mystery. From there, the conflagration was lit; the power-trio continued to expound upon their lawless black metal ultraviolence, exploding with more eldritch energies and ever-more-ravenous devotion with each successive strike. The following year’s Darkest Conjurations EP saw Thanatomass link up with current conspirators Living Temple, becoming more barbaric and atmospheric simultaneously, which then reached a fever pitch with 2021’s Black Vitriol & Iron Fire EP. These two short-lengths evinced exceptionally more ideas and of course far more violence than records twice their length, and suitably etched the band’s name into the underground as one to watch…and be fearful of.
At long last, Thanatomass‘ first official full-length arises with Hades. Here, immediately, past and present are consumed by unquenchable fire, an absolute bloodlust that cannot be sated – a near-overwhelming display of ultraviolent physicality that takes on a supernatural aspect, so impossibly askew is their attack. With but a minute-long intro to set the stage and prepare the unsuspecting for the cosmic onslaught ahead, Hades kicks into contorting/spiraling form with the 10-minute epic “Templvm Carnalis / Vomit Ceremony,” which mainlines the OTT diabolism of Sarcofago’s INRI into the vortextural slipstream of classic Katharsis. But as the album plays on – and as the listener’s will is reflexively, irrevocably broken down, submission turning to hypnotism and eventually immolation – those sonic signposts are successively uprooted, and it’s brazenly displayed that Thanatomass are operating with a decidedly unique approach to songwriting. Still ultraviolent, sure, and arguably one of the most dangerous displays of such within nowadays’ underground, Hades presents clear & caustic ideas hammered to their logical conclusion only to birth yet more vulgar shapes that then contort and distort themselves into continually frightening contours…all with nary a pause for breath. But lest one think that Thanatomass are “chaotic” or “dissonant” or other such loaded descriptors, it must be stressed that their chops and execution are superlative: natural and “live,” as it should be, with no fake punch-ins and the like, honoring the ancient ways of heavy metal fire. And, just like their prior recordings but especially more so here, Thanatomass are undeniably a black METAL band, flying the flag of the first wave but prepared to burn any banners or standards as needed.
At seven songs across 44 minutes, with two songs topping eight minutes each and another two topping ten, Hades is a tower of ceremonial debauchery writ in shattered-glass sonics. That David Glomba provides stunning cover and interior artwork further underlines the magnitude of Thanatomass‘ debut album, and altogether stands as the momentous event it was destined to be. Submit to everlasting fire!
Also see & hear a recent Thanatomass live performance HERE. Preorder info can be found HERE at Living Temple‘s Bandcamp. Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Thanatomass’ Hades
1. Katabasis (Intromass) [1:04] 2. Templvm Carnalis / Vomit Ceremony [10:01] 3. Gravedance Sabbath [2:18] 4. Living Tombs Of Tartaros [8:31] 5. Sorcery Of Hades [8:52] 6. The Bone Nimbus [1:19] 7. Retromass (Morbid Ordinance Of Doom) [11:27]
Today, Signal Rex announces June 16th as the international release date for Geist of Ouachita‘s highly anticipated debut album, Imprisoned in the Graven Wood, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette formats.
One of the best new developments in American black metal, Geist of Ouachita is the work of one Roanake, who numbers nearly a dozen other projects the past three years, some of them even cross-continental. With Geist of Ouachita, the focus is on unremittingly grim yet alluringly melodic BLACK METAL: black metal from the ancient dungeons of the ’90s, and also black metal from the raw renaissance of the past decade – the latter, largely under the auspices of Signal Rex, who’ve made household names of Portugal’s most intimidating cults.
After a split with Eternal Tomb earlier this year courtesy of Signal Rex, Geist of Ouachita arrive with their full-length debut, Imprisoned in the Graven Wood. With ghastly and ghostly aplomb, Roanoke reaps a whirlwind of dungeonic hideousness tempered with an askew melodicism that makes the six-song/33-minute record strangely hummable. Such did France’s eternal Black Legions do so back in the mid ’90s, but Geist of Ouachita expand the narrative quality latent to such melodies and wind through them deceptively epic corridors. Similarly, Portugal’s own Black Circle provide an aesthetic foundation, but Roanoke continually evinces his own personality here in the remarkably varied songwriting, often underpinned by a subtle (and sensual) fog of synths, altogether making for an engaging listen even when faced with such a stratifying soundfield. Resistance is futile once one becomes Imprisoned in the Graven Wood!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “From a Tree I Hang in Chains” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Geist of Ouachita’s Imprisoned in the Graven Wood 1. Vampyric Exhumation [5:22] 2. Awakening of Ancient Blood [4:58] 3. Lust of Ichor [4:55] 4. From a Tree I Hang in Chains [5:41] 5. A Vengeful Spirit Imbued by Hatred [4:52] 6. Imprisoned In the Graven Wood [6:15]
Texan black metal outlaws NECROFIER will be releasing their second full-length ‘Burning Shadows in the Southern Night’ on June 2, 2023 via Season of Mist Underground Activists!
In celebration, the band is now sharing the vicious new single “Forbidden Light of the Black Moon” along with a music video! The song and video can be found here:
The album was recorded at legendary Studio G in Brooklyn, NY by 6xGrammy nominated and 1xLatin Grammy nominated engineer, producer and musician Joel Hamilton (UNSANE, IGGY POP, TOM WAITS). The album will follow up the band’s debut record ‘Prophecies of Eternal Darkness’ which was released in October of 2021.
‘Burning Shadows in the Southern Night’ is available for pre-order HERE and can be pre-saved on various streaming services HERE.
The cover artwork for ‘Burning Shadows in the Southern Night’ was created by Burney and can be found below along with the tracklist.
Track-list: 1. The Fall from Heaven (3:24) 2. Total Southern Darkness (5:43) 3. To the Wolves (3:54) [WATCH] 4. Forbidden Light of the Black Moon (5:20) [WATCH] 5. Destroying Angels (5:09) 6. Whispers That Burn in the Dark (4:40) 7. The All Seeing shadows (4:44) 8. On Wings of Death We Burn the Sky (3:50) 9. Call to the Beyond (4:29) 10. Burnt by the Sacred Flame (6:00) [WATCH] Total: 47:12
Deep within the scorching cauldron of Texas, the alchemists of Necrofier have brewed another potent dose of American black metal with their sophomore full-length, ‘Burning Shadows in the Southern Night.’ The Houston four-piece honors the time-tested virtues of traditional black and heavy metal, even taking an organic sonic approach, tapping seven-time Grammy-nominated producer and engineer Joel Hamilton (Unsane, Tom Waits, Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, etc.) to lend his magic touch for a natural sound.
“The goal going into the new record was to start setting ourselves apart from our contemporaries,” explains Necrofier drummer Dobber Beverly. “One of those ways was changing what the record sounded like. Moving away from the clinical and sterile nature that most productions suffer from and back into a real room with real instruments and performances. Our friend and esteemed producer/engineer Joel Hamilton had expressed interest in venturing back into the metal world and offered to make the record with us at his facility, Studio G Brooklyn. With a full vintage Neve front end and a host of Telefunken and Neumann microphones we tracked a record the old way, mostly. The results will speak for themselves hopefully, as this record breathes and spits fire wherever it’s played.”
“Joel is one of the world’s best engineers,” adds Necrofier guitarist and vocalist Bakka. “Dobber and Joel have become good friends since they recorded the last Oceans of Slumber album with him. After that, Joel wanted to record something heavy, so we made the trip to New York City to record in his legendary studio. It was an amazing experience in a great studio; besides having all the gear, he also created an environment where we challenged ourselves and brough everything up to the next level.”
‘Burning Shadows in the Southern Night’ doesn’t just simply pick off where Necrofier’s debut album left off, but displays a conscientious effort to double down on the elements that made ‘Prophecies of Eternal Darkness’ successful. The solos are more plentiful and intricate, the hooks are more anthemic, and the overall musicianship is bolder and more daring. Speaking of the band’s evolution, Bakka explains, “I think this collection of songs represents us very well. We have grown together as a band and it shows in the new songs. Also, for this record we flew to NYC and recorded all day long for 10 days straight. I love recording this way because it captures a certain magic. The whole band is immersed in the process and it’s all we would think, do, live and breathe during the process.”
Another core facet of Necrofier’s allure is being a black metal band from Texas. “Where you live always helps shape someone,” says Bakka. “It helps shape our style and tone in ways, it’s hot most of the year, so as we burn, it gives us warmer tones and more of a heavy metal influence than when compared to our brothers from the North. Also, Texas has a style all of its own; everything is heavier, louder and we are always trying to outdo the rest of the world.”
To that avail, Necrofier isn’t your typical black metal band, and so this isn’t your typical black metal record as there’s a healthy amount of traditional metal influences, particularly within the guitar work. While conceptually, the band doesn’t heavily rely on Satanic themes, exploring deeper human philosophies and the occult like burning for your dreams or spiraling out on a psychedelic trip and exploring the beyond. “While there isn’t overt satanic worship in the lyrics, I would still say that he is a friend of ours,” Bakka cheekily says. “There are Occult themes on this record, but at the same time, it does take a philosophical approach.”
Further illustrating the influence of their environment, Necrofier also heavily explores one of Southern America’s most fabled myths. “The new record touches on selling your soul at the crossroads,” adds Bakka. “I like to take a different approach and touch on the elements of the esoteric world and dive into the forbidden or hidden that surrounds us in our lives every day.”
As the Texan black metal outlaws saddle up for record two, they are leading the charge as one of the contemporary purveyors of black metal revivalism. ‘Burning Shadows in the Southern Night’ is certain to elicit a sense of nostalgia for those who dare to lay ears on this vicious new offering.
In their endless quest to push and support current underground acts that deliver the goods unaware of trends and hypes, on June 30th internationally, Memento Mori is proud to present Coffin Mulch‘s highly anticipated debut album, Spectral Intercession.
Hailing from Scotland, Coffin Mulch formed in 2018 and quickly set to work on their debut demo, Coffin Mulch, which was released a year later. Two years later came the Septic Funeral EP, both of which have garnered widespread acclaim in the death metal underground. Although undeniably a DEATH METAL band, the quartet come from a diverse musical background, having played in a variety of different bands throughout the years, but started Coffin Mulch to play old-school, heavy & pounding death metal influenced by late ’80s / early ’90s gods like Entombed, Autopsy, Massacre, Death, and Bolt Thrower. They’re all punks at heart, though, and the DIY ethic and aesthetic is just as important to them as the tunes.
And “tunes” they indeed have across their full-length debut, Spectral Intercession. With gutted tones just on the right side of raw and a horrifying intro to set the scene, Coffin Mulch lurch and crunch forward with ominous intent. Each of the album’s eight tracks offers ample proof of the potency of traditional, turn-of-the-’90s death metal – especially so, when it’s done with this much passion and intensity. Indeed, no matter the tempo employed (and quite often, the band stick to a headbanging gallop), Coffin Mulch make you feel every mangled riff, every ragged drum-hit, every tortured tonsil…the songwriting may be simple, but it’s not simplistic, and it’s their execution that truly puts over Spectral Intercession. Nevertheless, they’re not afraid to put a little twist here and there, whether it’s a fleeting (and subtly employed) guitar effect or an intentionally askew transition, and the rare guitar solo really hits with soul-searing aplomb. Or witness the eerie, climactic closer “Eternal Enslavement,” where a doomed morass opens up and swallows the listener whole.
There’s no shortage of “old school” death metal records these days, but it’s rare to find one with such personality that’s unselfconscious and not belabored. Coffin Mulch find that sweet spot with Spectral Intercession!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Into the Blood” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Coffin Mulch’s Spectral Intercession 1. Spectral Intercession 2. Into the Blood 3. Mental Suicide 4. In the Grip of Death 5. Fall of Gaia 6. Gateway to the Unseen 7. Infernal Mass 8. Eternal Enslavement
Today, Temple of Mystery Records announces July 5th as the international release date for Serpent Corpse‘s striking debut album, Blood Sabbath, on CD and vinyl LP formats
Hailing from the ever-rising Montreal death metal scene, Serpent Corpse are at once foreign and familiar. Blood Sabbath, their full-length debut following a demo in 2021, on first glance feels resolutely old school: straightforward songwriting, analog production, little flash but full fire. And indeed, Serpent Corpse do show noble influence from the very early ’90s – foremost among them, the world-eating enormity of classic Bolt Thrower and vigorous D-beating of early Entombed – but along with another set of tweaked influences and, more so, a maniacal manner in which to pursue them, the Canadian quartet prove that the idea of traditional all-caps DEATH METAL is undying and infinite. The further one steps into the ichor of Blood Sabbath, the more those tweaks take shape – Darkthrone during their death metal days, Seance skewing death ‘n’ roll, the DM-in-glue of classic Cianide, or especially Autopsy’s transition into Abscess – and the more the exemplary songwriting truly begins to shine…or ROT, as it were! For this nine-song/39-minute album sounds as slimy as it does headbanging – and those singed ‘n’ seared leads are the definition of haunting! Coupled with powerfully clear annunciation from vocalist/guitarist Andrew Haddad and mesmerizing cover art courtesy of Lucas Korte, Serpent Corpse deliver one of the most essential death metal debuts of recent memory. A festering death awaits!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Nemesis” here:
Serpent Corpse will be playing an album-release party on July 15th at La Sotterenea in Montreal; event info can be found HERE. Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Serpent Corpse’s Blood Sabbath 1. Spell Of The Eternal Serpent 2. Electric Eye 3. Nemesis 4. Let The Rats Feed 5. Land Of Rot And Misfortune 6. Crucifxion Shrine 7. Swallowed Whole By The Abyss 8. Dreams of Crows 9. Blood Sabbath
Today, Shadow Records (distributed & marketed by Regain Records) announces June 30th as the international release date for Grafvitnir‘s highly anticipated ninth album, Into the Outer Wilderness, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
By now, Grafvitnir require no introduction. Since their fiery birth in 2007 and successive NâHásh debut album in 2012, this still-mysterious Swedish formation have dependably – and provocatively – stoked the fires of ancient black metal, becoming veritable royalty by the end of the decade. From that fiery beginning, Grafvitnir‘s aesthetic has been firm and unyielding: exquisitely and restlessly melodic, its sulfurous fire paradoxically as cryogenic as it comes, medieval in atmosphere and literally bewitching in feel and fury. To suggest that the band harken back to a time when Dissection sired countless clones – but, crucially, each one of them as satisfying and significant as the next – is to underline the gravitas of Grafvitnir‘s particular vision of black metal: a steadfast and enduring classicism that’s timeless then, now, and forever into the future.
And so it goes with Grafvitnir‘s ninth album, Into the Outer Wilderness. No compromise, no quarter: this is Grafvitnir further distilled into 43 minutes of menace and majesty. But the title Into the Outer Wilderness is telling, as the duo here evoke that sensation of plunging into a clandestine world of witchcraft and sacred rites, spun into a delirium through somehow shimmering and even sparkling melodicism. And yet, for however organic their productions have always sounded – rough and raw, sure, but most importantly, human – there’s conspicuously more grit here on Into the Outer Wilderness as well as clarity, making for a unique entry into Grafvitnir‘s nigh-untouchable catalog. Elsewhere, it’s righteously ripping songwriting as only these Swedes can deliver, entrancing and enervating as ever; there is only one Grafvitnir then, now, and especially forever. Venture forth Into the Outer Wilderness!
Begin venturing with the brand-new track “Through the Witchcraft Door” here:
. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Grafvitnir’s Into the Outer Wilderness 1. Conjuring the Serpent Flames (Intro) 2. Into the Outer Wilderness 3. Venomous Incantations 4. Lycanthropic Litany 5. Där köldvindar skriker av hat 6. From a Thousand Ages Lost 7. Through the Witchcraft Door 8. Urtidens becksvarta arv 9. Seekers of Fire
On May 5th internationally, Eternal Death is proud to present the debut demo of Midden, Demo 2023, on cassette tape format. And today, they stream of their demo in its entirety. Hear Midden‘s Demo 2023 in its entirety here:
Midden are a new entity hailing from the West Coast of the United States. They feature within their ranks guitarist Draak, whose prior bands include Tare, who released a tape via Eternal Death in 2014, during the early days of the label.
Naturally for Eternal Death, Midden play harsh & raw black metal in the purest manner: no hope, no light. The band’s first public recording, Demo 2023 features six songs within 28 minutes of cold & cruel obsidian. True to their word, Midden is an ode to the remnants of the human blight. It looks both inward and outward, infatuated with the destruction of self and the crumbling of the scourge that is collective humankind. Demo 2023 swiftly accomplishes that, with sounds at once hammering and desolate, spiraling out of control into the abyss and austerely navigating its orbit. True ancient-days BLACK METAL, not for trendy ears – herald the beginning of Midden!
Preorder info can be found HERE at Eternal Death‘s Bandcamp. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Midden’s Demo 2023 1. III 2. IV 3. VII 4. VIII 5. XI 6. V
