Today, German black metallers Furis Ignis stream their brand-new mini-album, Turm. Set for international release on July 1st via Iron Bonehead Productions, hear Furis Ignis‘ Turm in its entirety here:
It was but the beginning of 2022 when Furis Ignis emerged from the inky depths with their debut album, Decapitate the Aging World, for Iron Bonehead. Its title something of a call to arms or at least strong signifier of the contents therein, Decapitate the Aging World presented an iron-willed newcomer well versed in the old arts – black metal back before the internet, social media, and other modern trappings. And yet, Furis Ignis weren’t simply playing by-the-numbers “classic” black metal; within their debut full-length lurked a muscular physicality quite at odds with nowadays’ fake(d) rawness.
Striking while the iron’s red-hot, Furis Ignis return with a five-song/33-minute mini-album titled Turm. The foundation thankfully remains much the same – old Germania in the mold of Moonblood and equally early Desaster and Katharsis, deftly dissected and reassembled, this time spiced with old Abigor and Marduk – and the attack continues to be ghoulish and grim. Compared to the robust swelter of its full-length predecessor, Turm unapologetically maintains a much rawer aspect that nevertheless still clangs, throbs, and thrusts with legitimately live execution. Therefore, even with the blizzard beasts banging on its door, Turm remains an exquisitely gutted and grimy spin, with the spectral fog eventually clearing to reveal something akin to late ’90s (and too-overlooked) Darkthrone residing in a lonely castle.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Furis Ignis’ Turm 1. Vanguard of Black Years 2. To Trespass the Commandments of Tangible Being 3. From Unremembered Dark Pagan Dreams 4. Turm 5. Die Enthauptung Der Alternden Welten
Today, pan-international black metallers Eschatology stream the entirety of their highly anticipated self-titled debut mini-album. Set for international release on June 30th via Shadow Records (distributed & marketed by Regain Records) on CD and cassette tape formats – the vinyl version will follow later this year – hear Eschatology‘s Eschatology in its entirety here:
Featuring the members J.K. (Craft) and B.L. (Mordbrand, God Macabre [live]) both on guitar & bass and M.S. (Medico Peste, Over the Voids, Mgła [live]) on vocals & drums, Eschatology indeed carry high expectations for a brand-new entity. The prime directive is raw, no-frills black metal, and the band rise to the occasion across the four-song/27-minute Eschatology. It would be reasonable (and at least halfway accurate) to characterize this Eschatology as a sonic summation of the members’ other ongoing bands, but on evidence of their debut mini-album, this entity are striving toward a parallel realm of experience where shards of old & archaic black metal are re-arranged in darker and more dazzling shapes. Their songs are stout yet swirling, pounding with presence but fully enraptured within the moment, hooks mined and then malformed, and the overall attack retaining the requisite rawness and yet never hiding behind it. No, Eschatology absolutely CONFRONTS the listener with its world-eating ways, and then proceeds to devour that listener whole…as in, a black hole.
No niches, no capes, no fun: This is Eschatology. The past and present are on fire, and those flames are coming for you.
Preorder info can be found HERE at Regain Records‘ Bandcamp. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Eschatology’s Eschatology 1. Cataclysm I 2. Cataclysm II 3. Cataclysm III 4. The Wound
On August 26th internationally, Personal Records is proud to present Mystic Charm‘s cult Hell Did Freeze Over EP in an expanded CD edition, including the full session from 1993’s Lost Empire EP.
Founded in Olst, Overijssel, The Netherlands, Mystic Charm was formed in December 1989 by Herwing Schulling and Rini Lipman. Inspired by old Celtic Frost, Black Sabbath, and Trouble, the band started playing heavy doom riffs with many breaks and ultra-rough vocals from female vocalist Rini Lipman.
After some line-up changes, which brought Mystic Charm one-and-a-half year down, it was in January 1992 when they have completed their lineup again with Gerard van Assen on drums and Gerlach Timmer on bass. Due to this, Mystic Charm strongly improved in writing and arranging songs and matured a lot. They recorded a low-budget rehearsal tape to check out the interest in the band and discover that there indeed was a lot of interest in a band like them.
Mystic Charm then decided to record a real demo in a professional studio, and the result was the demo Endless Sickness. This demo got them a lot of interest from various people, magazines, and labels, and when the band got offered a 7″ EP deal by Shiver Records, they decided to go with it. They entered the studio again to record a bunch of new tracks, from which two would end up on their debut 7″ Lost Empire. The reactions towards the EP were really positive, praising the band for its talent and musical abilities. The EP showed that Mystic Charm was a very promising and talented band indeed.
After several negotiations between the band and Shiver Records, both parties decided to go for the big thing and Mystic Charm signed a three-album deal with Shiver Records. The band recorded eight new tracks plus an intro for their debut album. Some of the tracks were indeed brand-new, other were also on the demo and EP, but they were heavily changed because the band wrote new arrangements for all these tracks. Not only did this give a new edge to the music, it also made the songs even better than on any of the previous recordings. But not only was their songwriting really great, but Rini Lipman’s vocals were devastating for most ears. That album, Shadows of the Unknown, was released in 1994, and sadly, afterwards did the band split.
In 1999, Herwig Schuiling and Gerlach Timmer tried to make a new start and recorded some of the songs that were written for the successor of Shadows of the Unknown with another lineup. There was interest by record companies and some festivals, so a resurrection seemed like a good idea… Hans Spijker and Rein Doze took care of the drums and vocals back then, and they did a hell of a job, but it never had the real Mystic Charm vibe to it, so Herwig and Gerlach decided to not release this Hell Did Freeze Over EP and call it quits again sometime in 2001.
In spring 2017, Mystic Charm re-recorded the Hell Did Freeze Over songs, but this time with Rini back on vocals – truly, Hell DID freeze over! And there again did that elusive Mystic Charm vibe return, in full force, and Personal Records stepped forward to release this cult EP on CD with the full sessions from the Lost Empire EP as bonus tracks, making for a 10-song/48-minute runtime. Ready at long last, this CD edition is a virtual time-warp to the mid ’90s and essential listening for those into CULT doom and death metal!
In the meantime, hear the re-recorded Hell Did Freeze Over track here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Mystic Charm’s Hell Did Freeze Over +bonus reissue 1. Hell Did Freeze Over (intro) 2. Beyond The Darkside 3. Bloodshot Eyes 4. Into Thy Hands 5. Recipe Of Fear 6. Lost Empire 7. Endless Sickness 8. Deadly Embrace 9. Crushed Virginity 10. Beyond Darkness
tracks 1-5 = re-recorded Hell Did Freeze Over tracks 6-10 = full Lost Empire sessions
Today, blackgrind barbarians Hellfire Deathcult stream the entirety of their highly anticipated third album,Al Nombre de la Muerte. Set for international release on June 30th via Helter Skelter Productions (distributed & marketed by Regain Records) on CD and cassette tape formats – the vinyl LP version will be released on November 25th – hear Hellfire Deathcult’s Al Nombre de la Muerte in its entirety here:
For nearly a decade now, Chicago’s Hellfire Deathcult have doggedly pursued an uncompromising and fiercely focused vision of blackgrind. From their debut EP, 2014’s Ave Mors – which Helter Skelter reissued in late 2018 – on to two full-lengths as well as prolific assaults on the live front, this power-trio have proven dependable and DEADLY. Theirs is a world-eating sound, and hypnotically so, whose bulldozing physicality recalls classic Archgoat, Goatpenis, Black Witchery, and Morbosidad but with a punishing persona all their own.
Nearly four years on from their last full-length, Hellfire Deathcult return to an ever-cursed world with their third album, Al Nombre de la Muerte. Immediately, the gutted blackgrind is recognizably Hellfire Deathcult – primitive, primordial, powerful – and is encased in a sweltering production that skillfully highlights all the nuance and nous of this uncompromising, unmerciful sound. However, scratch deeper below the barbed-wire surface and one will find that they’ve subtly perfected the art of catchiness across Al Nombre de la Muerte: anchored by gnawing & clawing riffs with a nuclear fuckton of bottom end, Hellfire Deathcult almost effortlessly dole out hummable hymns – but of course, ones that authentically breathe the blackest essence of this arcane art, all through a grimy gasmask. So, while their aesthetic foundation remains firm, with this new record Hellfire Deathcult challenges to be included in that (black)list of (un)hallowed names.
Preorder info can be found HERE at Regain Records‘ Bandcamp. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Hellfire Deathcult’s Al Nombre De La Muerte
1. Grand Invocation Ov Black Death 2. Consumed By The Eternal Darkness Ov Death 3. Devoted To The Order Ov The Black Light 4. Within The Depths Ov The Godless Void 5. Divinity’s Damnation 6. Blessed By The Ritual Fires 7. Goddess Ov The Abyss 8. Beneath The Black Moons Incantation 9. Ritualistic Sacrifice Ov Sacred Blood 10. Black Plague Apocalypse 11. As Above, So Below…Reign Ov Luciferian Light
On June 24th, Hells Headbangers will release a special new full-length from Perdition Temple, Merciless Upheaval, on CD and cassette tape formats (the vinyl version will follow later this year). Hear Perdition Temple‘s Merciless Upheaval in its entirety here:
In 2020, Perdition Temple blasted back into the spotlight with Sacraments of Descension, the band’s second album for Hells Headbangers (and third overall). While it had been five years since the release of a Perdition Temple full-length, the reinvigorated lineup – vocalist/guitarist Gene Palubicki (Angelcorpse, Malefic Throne, Blasphemic Cruelty), bassist Alex Blume (Ares Kingdom, Blasphemic Cruelty), and drummer Ron Parmer (Malevolent Creation, Bloodmessiah, Brutality) – kept their trademark sound but made it unfathomably more feverish and finessed. Truly, power-trios didn’t come more deadly than this! But, above all, the band’s songwriting across Sacraments of Descension was stronger than ever, and the record rightfully reaped widespread acclaim.
Meanwhile, as the world plummeted further into chaos, Perdition Temple recorded a special full-length, Merciless Upheaval. Comprising four new songs and four covers for a total of 34 fiery minutes, Merciless Upheaval is indeed aptly titled and serves as a fitting, equally feverish counterpart to Sacraments of Descension. Much of that is down to the same lineup being in place, as iron-fisted as ever as they effortlessly unleash cyclones of classic death metal. Each member delivers a masterclass here, much as they did on the record’s predecessor; their crush is chaotic and controlled simultaneously, their precision betraying no small amount of power. Of the four covers, we’re treated to Perdition Temple‘d renditions of Infernal Majesty, Pestilence, Mexico’s Shub Niggurath, and of course Morbid Angel, making for an album-length experience which handily straddles past, present, and future.
Perdition Temple thankfully continue to keep their irons in the fire, so plunge into Merciless Upheaval post-haste!
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Perdition Temple’s Merciless Upheaval 1. Merciless Upheaval 2. Execution Swarm 3. Redemption Abattoir 4. In Thrall of Malevolence 5. Skeletons in the Closet [Infernal Majesty cover] 6. From The Stars, Nyarlathotep [Shub Niggurath cover 7. Blood on My Hands [Morbid Angel cover] 8. Parricide [Pestilence cover] MORE INFO: www.facebook.com/perditiontemple
WEREWOLF RECORDS is proud to present the long-awaited eighth album of Germany’s MORRIGAN, Anwynn, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
PLEASE NOTE: the CD version will be released on June 24th, while the vinyl version will follow later this year.
For those who’ve lurked within the black metal underground for the past two decades (or even longer), the name MORRIGAN should be more than familiar. As Mayhemic Truth from 1992-2000, the band released a steady stream of demos that bowed before the ancient altar of the almighty Bathory. The shimmering darkness that Mayhemic Truth created back then was an untrendy counterpoint to black metal’s increasingly mainstream aspirations during that period, and also served as an oft-overlooked pillar of Germany’s black metal underground. However, when the band changed their moniker to MORRIGAN at the dawn of the new millennium and released their debut album, Plague, Waste and Death, in 2001, changes were afoot – and they were grand. For the rest of the ensuing decade, MORRIGAN moved on from Bathory’s more hard-charging style into the glorious “Viking era” marked most poignantly by the dual classics of Hammerheart and Twilight of the Gods. Their exploration of Quorthon’s pagan ruminations soon became an almost parallel realm of unrecorded Viking Bathory work, both sincerely devoted to those twin tomes and simultaneously expanding upon them, the latter largely through the exploration of Celtic mythology. In short, this was the true sound of MORRIGAN, and they quietly led others into new-yet-old pagan vastlands.
Sadly, the MORRIGAN camp has been quiet since the release of 2013’s Diananns Whisper; only a far-too-short split with fellow Germans Blizzard came the following year. At last, they emerge from darkness and doubt with the surprise full-length Anwynn. The years have been kind to MORRIGAN: not only do they sound utterly invigorated with their solemn, hymnic pagan metal, but the rest of the wider underground has perhaps caught up with how far ahead they were in looking back, now able to appreciate the immensity and poignancy of MORRIGAN in their prime. Indeed, Annwyn is arguably the band at their peak of their powers; from beginning to end, the album magickally reminds of Bathory’s Viking era AND immeasurably adds to it, whisking the listener far away to forgotten realms and high adventure. “Epic” almost seems too cliche of a word to describe the thick-yet-spacious landscape MORRIGAN unfurl here – ominously rippling chords layered mountain-high, the subtle swell of mystical synth and various battle-oriented sound FX, the measured-yet-regal gait of everything, all of it simply HUGE – but it’s pretty much the (mayhemic) truth. As ever, the impassioned voice of founder Beliar imparts a blanching intensity to everything, the man imperfectly pouring his heart out with his clean tenor, but still equally able to utilize a blackened rasp for dramatic effect. Likewise, tempos occasionally dip into (dramatic) blasts, again expanding upon hints hidden within the Viking Bathory paradigm. All told, Anwynn is 53 minutes of classic MORRIGAN: no more and no less, and nothing else needed!
Today, Hells Headbangers announces July 15th as the international release date for the long-awaited fourth album of Ohio’s Manticore, Endless Scourge of Torment, on CD and cassette tape formats. The vinyl LP version will follow later this year.
Formed at the dawn of the new millennium, Manticore have been a persistent and prolific force in the black/death underground, always sticking to their guns and defying convention with quality over quantity. That they released their pivotal Ritual Cleansing of the Whore EP through Judas Iscariot’s late/great Breath of Night label in 2002 should not go understated: from the very beginning, Manticore managed to create a wild ‘n’ warring sound that marries the muscularity of death metal with the graven aura of black metal, all performed with possessed and ritualistic execution. And although they’re just now set to release their fourth full-length, the power-trio have released a treasure trove of splits with the likes of Morbosidad, Bestial Mockery, Grave Upheaval, Sweden’s Kill, Canada’s Necroholocaust, and Obeisance among others, underlining their dedication to the true underground, when tape-trading, zines, and fliers were still king.
Still, a Manticore album is always a momentous event, and especially more so for the forthcoming Endless Scourge of Torment – the band’s first full-length in ten interminably long years. Indeed, while they did release a split 7″ with the aforementioned Kill last year, Manticore here sound filthier and more refreshed than ever, their pulsing ‘n’ pustulent sound sharper than ever. And therein lies the magic of Manticore in general and Endless Scourge of Torment in particular: for such a gnarly ‘n’ gnawing sound, one inherently drowned deep in the primordial muck, the trio evince a startling clarity, which only serves to make their ever-sturdy songwriting that much stronger. To that, Manticore‘s songwriting here efficiently straddles the line between bursts of angular bestiality and slow ‘n’ swirling doom, the latter perhaps strangely crystalized by a surprise cover of Twisted Sister’s “Captain Howdy.” Elsewhere, Markus Kolar (ex-Kommandant, Forest of Impaled, Sarcophagus etc) provides the album’s intro and subtle orchestration on various songs, and it’s all topped off by nightmarishly detailed cover art courtesy of NetherTemple Design and interior art for each song by Dahmer Art.
“The more things change, the more they stay the same,” or so the cliche goes. That “black/death” underground has undoubtedly changed since the year 2000, but Manticore are still here – still potent, still feral, still very much Manticore. This is the Endless Scourge of Torment the faithful deserve!
In the meantime, hear the recently revealed track “Empty Eyes, Hollow Temples” here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Manticore (Ohio)’s Endless Scourge of Torment 1. The Fields of Torment 2. Thy Seed through the Fire 3. Breath of Plague 4. Empty Eyes, Hollow Temples 5. Halo of Vermin 6. Defiled by Supremecy 7. In Dark We are Enslaved 8. Captain Howdy [Twisted Sister cover] 9. Enveloped In Hatred 10. Requiem for a Worm 11. Abrahamic Obliteration
Today, Signal Rex announces September 11th as the international release date for Mons Veneris‘ highly anticipated fifth album, Inversados d’Um Abismo de Podridão, on CD and cassette tape formats. The vinyl LP version will follow later this year.
For those who know and truly understand actual underground black metal, Mons Veneris require no introduction. For nearly 20 years now, this shadowy and insanely prolific Portuguese cabal have pursued a uniquely vile vision with an unquenchable thirst. From hammering primitivism to medieval melancholy, volcanic drone to chaotic oblivion, nods to the French Black Legions to frequencies far outside of metal, there’s never any guarantee of how Mons Veneris‘ vision will manifest itself – only that they’ll explore a darkness few have the constitution to tread.
And so it goes with their fifth album, Inversados d’Um Abismo de Podridã, which is intended as a homage to the original wave of Portuguese proto-black metal – namely Black Cross, Filii Nigrantium Infernalium, and Summum Malum – and thus is their native tongue invoked here. Mons Veneris full-lengths come when they come, always with countless EPs, splits, and demos in between, but rarely are a summation of what’s come before; for example, see the unsettling experimentalism of 2016’s Sibilando com o Mestre Negro, comprised entirely of classical guitar and violin. And while 2020’s Mistérios Satânicos Disformes Infernais featured two half-hour improv-heavy compositions, Inversados d’Um Abismo de Podridão sees Mons Veneris pursuing more song-based chunks of coruscating violence and primal-scream therapy. In other bands’ hands, such a return to more palatable “songs” would spell insufferable normalcy, but Mons Veneris are not like other bands. Each of the album’s eight songs shimmer with harrowing hues of disgust, dread, and disease; sometimes they headbang, sometimes they’re hummable, and sometimes they implode upon themselves; but most of all, they CHALLENGE the listener to withstand – to withstand not only the “noise” presented, but more so the NOISE within one’s soul, that calls unfalteringly and seductively, truth and taboo devouring each other like the Ouroboros. Or, simply know that Inversados d’Um Abismo de Podridão was not made for you.
No other words needed: this is Mons Veneris. A more righteous and rigorous exploration of black metal’s original unorthodox impulses one will not find nowadays.
Begin exploring those impulses with the brand-new track “Satanás Impera” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Mons Veneris’ Inversados d’Um Abismo de Podridão 1. Crueza Lúgubre 2. As Garras do Velho Escrito 3. Urna da Virgem Desalmada 4. Sê a Minha Morte 5. O do Fosso da Vida 6. Satanás Impera 7. No Trono do Desconhecido 8. Discípulo do Mal
Today, Signal Rex announces August 26th as the international release date for Wampyric Rites‘ highly anticipated second album, The Wolves Howl to the Moon, on CD and cassette tape formats. The vinyl LP version will follow later this year.
Wampyric Rites hail from the ever-rising Ecuadorian black metal underground, and have had a major hand in shaping its prominence and notoriety across countless short-length releases since 2019. However, it was last year’s full-length The Eternal Melancholy of the Wampyre where Wampyric Rites displayed the full gait of their potential: classic (and unapologetic) vampiric black metal deeply rooted in the idiom’s earliest days whilst evincing a spectral aura all their own. The duo may belong to the Pure Raw Underground Black Metal Plague, which includes now-labelmates Winterstorm and Ründgard, but Wampyric Rites truly had found the cosmic keys to their creations and times.
Eclipsing that feat is their brand-new second album, The Wolves Howl to the Moon. Immediately, the record sounds like Wampyric Rites – shimmering surge, velvety synths, hysteric shrieks across a dungeon deep – but the attack soon takes on deft dynamics, skillfully balancing robust physicality (often, headbangingly straightforward) and stained-glass sensitivity. The latter element is perhaps the boldest move here, as a variety of synth sounds – medieval organ, stargazing swirl, or even just the faintest daubing upon ripped-raw guitar – often play a prominent role in each of the album’s five component songs. Yet, it’s never done in a gaudy or gimmicky manner; it’s but another layer to lose oneself in, as the songwriting itself allows the mind to wander and palpably experience the landscape as The Wolves Howl to the Moon. What’s more, Wampyric Rites incorporate shockingly beautiful acoustics, albeit sparingly, making their seemingly strictured canvas far vaster than otherwise suggested by vampiric BM standards.
All told, The Wolves Howl to the Moon sets new standards for (true) vampiric black metal. Wampyric Rites stoke the fires of the imagination, and seemingly are only getting started.
Get started with the brand-new track “The Ancient Tyrant Returns from the Deep Forgotten Crypts” here:
Cover artwork, courtesy of Ainul Iblis, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Wampyric Rites’ The Wolves Howl to the Moon 1. The Ancient Tyrant Returns from the Deep Forgotten Crypts [8:10] 2. Rites Under the Fullmoon [6:06] 3. Amidst the Fog of Eternity [2:47] 4. The Wolves Howl to the Moon [9:58] 5. Captive in a Desolate Castle [8:25]
Today, Chaos Records announces August 19th as the international release date for The Sombre‘s highly anticipated third album, Monuments of Grief, on CD format.
The Sombre is the work of Maurice de Jong, insanely prolific mainman of Gnaw Their Tongues, De Magia Veterum, Cloak of Altering, Hagetisse, Golden Ashes, and countless others. With The Sombre, however, de Jong returns to his roots. Having spent his formative musical years in doom and doom-death metal bands (1989-1996: Atrocious, Cauteror, and Soulwound), de Jong here reimagines the sound of his youth: doom-death metal inspired by the “Peaceville Three” and other early ’90s doom/death pioneers.
The Sombre‘s debut album, Into the Beckoning Wilderness, was released in June 2019 in a strictly limited edition of 50 CD-Rs, which sold out immediately, of course. Fans of both his work in The Sombre and elsewhere, Chaos Records released a worldwide CD edition of Into the Beckoning Wilderness in March 2021, and now continues to foster than megaton-heavy sadness with the band’s brand-new third album, Monuments of Grief.
Almost too perfectly titled, Monuments of Grief is perhaps the most poignant distillation yet of The Sombre‘s heartwrenching style of doom-death. De Jong doesn’t step too far away from the miserable majesty of those preceding two records, but there’s an ever-so-slight expansion of atmosphere across Monuments of Grief, as the man expertly swathes his towering creations with subtle synth and plaintive piano, all while always allowing the CRUSH of sadness to wash over the listener. But, like those two preceding tomes, Monuments of Grief once again features a deftly finessed sense of space; the subterranean roar of de Jong’s voice plumbs deeper depths, but somehow with more clarity here. Most of all, de Jong’s melodies are more pronounced and earworming, evincing something of an early Katatonia vibe. All told, it’s another triumph of tragedy for The Sombre.
And, just like Chaos Records‘ well-received release of Into the Beckoning Wilderness, whether one chooses to drown in their sorrows or be emboldened by them with a suiting soundtrack is up to each individual. The Sombre will take you there either way as you contemplate these Monuments of Grief…
Begin contemplating with the brand-new track “From the Depths of Misery” here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for The Sombre’s Monuments of Grief
1. From The Depths Of Misery [6:27] 2. Alone in My Desolation [5:35] 3. The Mourning Gloom [6:38] 4. Monuments Of Grief [6:14] 5. When Death Comes I Will Be Beside You [6:39] 6. Paradise Regained [7:08]
