Season of Mist are proud to announce the re-signing of HOODED MENACE. The Death Doom outfit will release their next full-length via the label. HOODED MENACE‘s previous album ‘The Tritonus Bell’ was released on August 27, 2021 and can be listened to via various digital platforms HERE. HOODED MENACE comment: “We’re looking forward to work with Season of Mist for more Hooded Menace music! This is the first time for us to re-sign to any label, so that says a lot, I suppose. Since we are not playing live anymore, but went back to being a “studio band” only – just like Hooded Menace was meant to be in the beginning – we’ve decided to part ways with Teemu Hannonen (rhythm guitar) in good spirits and continue as a three-piece.“
Line-up Harri Kuokkanen – Vocals Lasse Pyykkö – Guitars, bass Pekka Koskelo – Drums
Today, Brazilian occult-doom metallers The Evil premiere the new track “Pride.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second album, Seven Acts to Apocalypse, set for international release on March 31st via Osmose Productions; the album features guitarist Iossif, AKA Wagner Antichrist, formerly of Sarcófago and Sepultura. Hear The Evil’s “Pride” in its entiretyToday, Brazilian occult-doom metallers The Evilpremiere the new track “Pride.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated second album, Seven Acts to Apocalypse, set for international release on March 31st via Osmose Productions; the album features guitarist Iossif, AKA Wagner Antichrist, formerly of Sarcófago and Sepultura. Hear The Evil‘s “Pride” in its entirety here:
Humanity has failed miserably, and on its filthy throne, the fallen angel laughs sordidly… The battle for the souls of those who inhabit this dying habitat known as Planet Earth has been won by evil… A planet dominated by genocidal rulers; religious spreaders of hatred; criminals who rejoice in chaos and a corrupted justice; dominated by their parasites, aka homo sapiens; A planet strutting its way to the final destruction… Our final days will be marked by our acts.. Acts driven by the sadness of our Envy and stupid Pride… Acts to feed our Greed for money and power… Acts that you, in your weakness and Sloth, refuse to face… Acts aimed at satisfying our Lust and unbridled Voracity …. Acts brought with violence by filthy Wrath armies… Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for The Evil (Brazil)’s Seven Acts to Apocalypse 1. Envy [7:08] 2. Pride [5:01] 3. Greed [5:53] 4. Sloth [6:30] 5. Lust [5:56] 6. Voracity [5:56] 7. Wrath [6:47]
Today, Helter Skelter Productions (distributed & marketed by Regain Records) announces May 12th as the international release date for Warcoe‘s striking debut album, The Giant’s Dream, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Warcoe are a power-trio hailing from Italy, that land rich in doomed materials. Naturally, Warcoe honor their national identity with a ’70s-entrenched vision of pure DOOM METAL as first laid out by Ozzy-era Black Sabbath. In fact, in vocalist/guitarist Stefano Fiorelli, you will not find a more uncanny Ozzy doppelganger.
Warcoe began their journey in 2021, first with a couple digital singles and then an EP, all of which coalesced into their debut album, The Giant’s Dream. Likewise released digitally, The Giant’s Dream was also self-released on CDR and tape in true DIY fashion. So smitten with these authentically vintage vibes, Helter Skelter is now releasing The Giant’s Dream on CD and vinyl with hopes of spreading the Warcoe name far and wide.
Indeed, that should be simple enough given the strength of The Giant’s Dream‘s songwriting and charisma. No more but definitely no less, Warcoe here brew up a thick ‘n’ heady potion of hard-rocking proto-metal, warm in tone but definitely supernatural in aura. True, that spectre of classic Sabbath looms large across The Giant’s Dream, but the trio manage to massage new sensations from that eternal archetype whilst staying reverent. Thus, it’s not inaccurate to liken Warcoe to immediate Sabbathian progeny like Witchfinder General and Trouble – very esteemed company, to be sure. Your “new” old-doom trip begins here!
In the meantime, stream the album in its entirety here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Warcoe’s The Giant’s Dream 1. Giant’s Dream 2. Cats Will Follow 3. Omega Sunrise 4. Fire and Snow 5. Winternaut 6. Thieves, Heretics and Whores 7. Scars Will Remain 8. Church of Void
Today, Helter Skelter Productions (distributed & marketed by Regain Records) announces a partnership with cult kings Beastmaker for an extensive reissue campaign of the band’s many (and crucial) EP releases. In lieu of this announcement, Beastmaker also confirm that they have returned from their self-imposed hiatus and will be recording new music and playing shows again – as always, on their own terms.
Formed in 2014, Beastmaker began with a flurry of activity and only intensified that activity over the next five years. Following two demos and an EP, the power-trio then released two albums – Lusus Naturae (2016) and Inside the Skull (2017) – through Lee Dorrian’s esteemed Rise Above Records. Naturally, that pairing proved fruitful, for Beastmaker were indeed cut from a doomed cloth, but Beastmaker founder Trevor Church (who’d soon form the equally prolific Haunt) showed he had so much more to his vision than sticking within scene boundaries. Thereafter, between 2017 and 2019, the band released a staggering 11 EPs before breaking up, with another EP – Body and Soul – released posthumously in 2020.
Now, longtime fans Helter Skelter Productions step forward to reissue this goldmine of Beastmaker godliness on all formats. The reissue campaign will include Body and Soul joined with the bonus material on the Who Is This? compilation, thereby making it a full-length, and which will be released on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats. Then, EP. 1 and EP. 2 will be joined together on CD and tape formats, followed by the pairings of EP. 3 and EP. 4, EP. 5 and EP. 6, EP. 7 and EP. 8, and finally EP. 9 and EP. 10: thus, full-length releases for all, and each on vinyl and tape formats. All ten of these EPs will also be available on a special 5CD boxset. This reissue campaign is tentatively slated to start in April and then conclude by November; release dates and preorder info to be revealed in time.
A statement from Church reads as follows: “I’m very excited to announce that the EP collection from Beastmaker will see a new pressing from Helter Skelter / Regain Records. This collection of work shows the artistic vision of horror I had writing in my home studio during 2015-2018. I was watching so many old horror movies during these times to inspire the song craftsmanship. Mario Bava always a huge inspiration in my music. The imagery of poster lobby cards also played a part of the writing process during these times. I’ve booked a festival for 2024, and Beastmaker will rise from the coffin once again. Thanks to all the fans that have supported us during our hiatus. We are not gone! Rather, we have descended further underground waiting for the right time.”
Today, Shadow Kingdom Records announces January 27th, 2023 as the international release date for Iron Void‘s highly anticipated fourth album, IV, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats. “Slow and steady wins the race,” and so it is the same in the doom scene. Iron Void was originally formed by Jonathan “Sealey” and Andy Whittaker (Solstice, The Lamp of Thoth) in 1998 in order to create an old-school doom metal band, worshiping at the altar of doom legends such as Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Pentagram, etc. The band re-formed in 2008, and proceeded to release a live album, an EP, and a digital single, each exactly two years apart, before delivering their self-titled debut album in 2014. The Doomsday follow-up came a year later, with 2018’s critically acclaimed Excalibur arriving via new label home Shadow Kingdom.
Consolidating Iron Void‘s position as proud ‘n’ pure purveyors of dependable doom metal is the aptly titled fourth album, IV. This new record sees the arrival of “new” drummer Scott Naylor, who’s actually been with the band since 2018, and who’s renown for his work in Reign of Erebus, Heathen Deity, and Atra Mors among others. Together, this new-look power-trio look back to the old, to Iron Void‘s roots, and create a stripped-down DOOM METAL album. Whereas Excalibur had a concept encompassing the historical past and legend, IV by contrast takes a long, hard look at everyday matters: real-world themes that are darker and more tangible, particularly in these days of Covid-19 and political unrest across all nations. Musically, Iron Void match form to content with direct, hard-hitting doom steeped in the old school, but they’re equally adept at varying their dynamics whilst retaining their core sound. Like many bands during these dark days, Iron Void had to write the whole album remotely during lockdown using file-sharing software, something Sealey says was admittedly “probably the hardest record to write” since they’d never previously done such before. However, the recorded results of IV burst with energy and personality, proving that these old dogs are anything but tired!
No other words needed: Iron Void are doom metal maniacs, for doom metal maniacs. IV is your unlucky number!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Grave Dance”
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Iron Void’s IV 1. Call Of The Void 2. Grave Dance 3. Living On The Earth 4. Pandora’s Box 5. Blind Dead 6. She 7. Lords Of The Wasteland 8. Slave One 9. Last Rites
Blackened Death Doom outfit STRIGOI are now proudly releasing their brand new single ‘An Ocean of Blood’, which is taken from the band’s upcoming album “Viscera”. The track can now be listened to here:
The album is set for worldwide release on September 30, 2022 via Season of Mist and can already be pre-saved HERE. Pre-orders are still live HERE.
STRIGOI comment: “We chose this track as the third single taken from our new album VISCERA due to it’s almost cinematic take on the internal and external conflict of existence. A transformational journey into the bloodshed and horror of the human condition.”
The cover artwork for ‘Viscera’, which has been created by Brian Sheehan of Legerdemain Art, can be found below along with the track-list and further album details.
Track-list 1. United in Viscera (6:44) 2. King of All Terror (2:38) [LISTEN] 3. An Ocean of Blood (4:13) [WATCH] 4. Napalm Frost (2:26) 5. Hollow (6:20) [WATCH] 6. A Begotten Son (3:51) 7. Bathed in a Black Sun (4:19) 8. Byzantine Tragedy (5:28) 9. Redeemer (2:38) 10. Iron Lung (7:55) Total: 46:32
Unsettling: it’s a word which can be used to describe a good swathe of the music which has come from the mind of Greg Mackintosh over the years, but in the context of Strigoi, it feels particularly apt.
Formed immediately after previous side project Vallenfyre had run its course, Strigoi found Greg and Vallenfyre bassist Chris Casket reconfiguring the aesthetics of that band. Their 2019 debut, Abandon All Faith, was a notable transition, taking the crust punk, death metal and grind influences which had defined Vallenfyre and deriving from those an extreme music amalgam which was altogether more…well, unsettling.
But if Abandon All Faith was a record where the memory of Vallenfyre exerted an inevitable, but important, influence, then second album Viscera is where Strigoi define and express themselves on their own terms.
“It’s the second album and we’re pushing those limits,” says Chris Casket. “The longer songs are longer; the shorter songs are shorter. It’s fully realising the concept. When we did the first album, there were certain expectations as we were coming from Vallenfyre. I felt that it was a really good transition from one to the other. But I feel that with this record, it’s more of a fully fleshed out concept. It’s pushing the light and shade further out.”
“The first album was us giving it its own identity separate from Vallenfyre, even though it’s kind of an obvious continuation, in a way,” adds Greg. “But with Viscera, it’s a combination of pushing the envelope a little bit, making it a bit less raw. Because, we had done that to the Nth degree with Vallenfyre. I’d also say there’s a bit of sound design in there, too, to make it very creepy and, yes, unsettling, sound wise.”
With Covid thwarting Strigoi’s plans to do shows to promote Abandon All Faith, Greg and Chris used the down-time to work on what would eventually become Viscera.
“We have a strange way of working,” says Chris. “I will send words, prose, whatever it may be to Greg. He likes that process, because he reads what I’ve written and it inspires the music he comes up with. I’ve never worked that way before. But that and the added time we had, the space away from things, is what I think has made Viscera what it is.”
Greg adds, “If it’s a song where Chris’ lyrics sound angry, I’ll do a song that’s more, I guess, grounded in the essence of early grindcore. Something that expresses that mood. But if it’s something more sombre or unnerving, then I’ll start with a bit of sound design and work towards riffs. I’ve always thought of music in terms of visuals, and that might come from the lyrics. The last song on the album, ‘Iron Lung’, for example: I actually said to Chris that I had an idea for a song where it feels that you can’t breathe, that it feels like you’ve got a weight on your chest. And the result is probably the toughest going song on the record to get through. But I think it does get that across.”
Viscera, then, clearly defines the Strigoi sound and vision – as Chris says, it’s a “mix tape of misery” and points at ways in which the band may develop in the years ahead.
“I get bored easily,” Greg laughs. “I’ve got a very short attention span. I love doom metal, I love funeral doom, crust punk, grindcore…all these things. But usually after two songs of each I’m thinking, ‘Right, what’s next?’ And that’s my problem, but it does determine what this band and this music is like.”
“There’s not much light on this record at all. If there’s any, it’s there just to emphasise how dark the shade is, really. And what I loved about early death metal, which is when I got into it, is that everything had its own feel back then. That was at the back of my mind the whole time when making Viscera – that I wanted to give it its own feel. But the listeners are going to have to decide whether that was successful or not.”
Today, Me Saco Un Ojo Records and Dark Descent Records announce September 15th as the international release date for Dead Void‘s highly anticipated debut album, Volatile Forms, on vinyl LP and CD formats, respectively.
After some silence since their magnificent demo, Dead Void return from the depths to bestow a crushing debut LP upon us. Drawing in on doomy yet certainly not-meek atmospherics, the sheer monstrous tone of which will pin you to the wall, it is clear this is something unwieldy. Murmuring bass seeps through buzzing guitars in a manner that sounds profoundly unwelcoming, while the daunting vocals and crashing drums give no alleviation from the bludgeoning force. While the hostile and claustrophobic sounds of the record cannot be ignored, equally impactful are the grooves which hit like a hammer of pure malice when carefully spliced with the caverns of eerily contorting death metal. When the pounding drums break through the guitars, they have a real hard tone, while the seeping filth of the strings is not overshadowed. Clearly, the three demos and spacing between have allowed the band to develop into the best version of themselves, as on this debut album, we hear a refined-but-unpolished and inhospitable cut of truly awesome music take form.
Moving forth, the hooks, the grooves, and the expanses of doom and desolation all conjure something inescapable and dread-tinged while the malignant hammering of pure old-school violence is not lost or forgotten, as warped riffs and blastbeats meet gutturally spewed vocals and occasional lead oddities. Contrasting often-nuanced moments with an assault of bestial ferocity, there is no predictability or obvious pattern – rather, a chaotic and honest approach to all of the songs. These tracks move in a lumbering fashion with organically composed structures while not feeling formulaic or running in circles with the same idea. Dead Void fantastically curate their most vile elements into a cohesive and ultimately expansive experience that takes the promise shown on the demos to unfathomable new heights. This is not simple or easily pigeonholed death metal to follow a tiny niche; this is barbarity, extremity, and atmospherics in death metal contorted to a whole new template of their own, which isn’t followed easily, but this defining debut album certainly makes the vision clear, for those who seek it in the murk.
Mark the day, for it shall be your last, when you hear Dead Void‘s definitively obliterating debut album. Additionally, catch their album launch show at Loppen in Copenhagen on August 26th. (text by Jørgen Sven Kirby, Nattskog webzine)
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Perpetually Circling the Void” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Dead Void’s Volatile Forms 1. Atrophy [9:41] 2. The Entrails of Chaos [6:16] 3. Sadistic Mind [8:03] 4. The Reptilian Drive [9:00] 5. Perpetually Circling the Void [11:01]
Finnish funeral doom icons Shape of Despair are now premiering their entire new album ‘Return to the Void’. The record will be released tomorrow, February 25 via Season of Mist.
Listen to the new album here:
‘Return to the Void’ is available in the Season of Mist shop on CD and vinyl HERE. The album will be available on all digital streaming platforms tomorrow. Add the album to your library HERE
The cover artwork which was created by Mariusz Krystew. It can be found below together with the tracklist.
Tracklist: 1. Return To The Void (09:14) 2. Dissolution (08:59) 3. Solitary Downfall (11:06) 4. Reflection In Slow Time (08:08) 5. Forfeit (08:00) 6. The Inner Desolation (11:48) Total: 0:57:15
Finnish funeral doom icons SHAPE OF DESPAIR return from the wintry Nordic gloom on their new album, Return to the Void. Between the success of the majestically downtrodden Monotony Fields (2015) and today, the members of SHAPE OF DESPAIR have been composing (glacially) and otherwise ensconced writing/performing with their other projects like FINNTROLL, IMPALED NAZARENE, THROES OF DAWN, and COUNTING HOURS. The Finns have never been or found the need to be prolific, however. The race into the cold darkness is a contemplatively unhurried task. Return to the Void is musically and thematically that same journey, one of perpetual solitude and aching hopelessness, driven straight into the heart of frigid twilight. As ever, this is cheerless music for sunless days.
“Not long after Monotony Fields, I started composing for Return to the Void,” says guitarist/founding member Jarno Salomaa. “At first, the title song sounded too primitive. I thought I would make a solo album out of it, but after a while, the song reminded me of older RAVEN material. Naturally and eventually, it started to feel like a SHAPE OF DESPAIR song.”
SHAPE OF DESPAIR was formed out of the ashes of RAVEN in Helsinki in 1998. Actually, the transformation into the present-day moniker wasn’t as violent as it sounds. A simple name change—initiated by Salomaa—coincided with the Finns’ developing predilection for protracted if icy metal. SHAPE OF DESPAIR’s grand debut, Shades of… (2000), was proof that the fledgling sextet’s stately doom was already ascendant. From there, the Helsinkians morphed in membership but continued their funereal march into legend with Angels of Distress (2001) and Illusion’s Play (2004) before hibernating for almost a decade. While Return to the Void is the natural follow-up to Monotony Fields and represents over six years of songwriting development, the main narrative (and indeed the timely return of drummer Samu Ruotsalainen) is rooted in the past.
“Return to the Void isn’t the follow-up to Monotony Fields in the traditional sense,” Salomaa says. “As stated, the songwriting goes way back to the first music we put together for RAVEN. I will say my approach has changed after all these years of making music. I found new and different ways to shape the arrangements and my compositions. What matters most, I think, is that it still has the SHAPE OF DESPAIR atmosphere.”
Return to the Void is no doubt SHAPE OF DESPAIR. From the void-gaze of “Dissolution” and gelid beauty of “Reflection in Slow Time” to the collapsing cathedral in “Forfeit” and the void-fall that is the stunning title track, the Finns have outdone themselves, overcoming the heights of previous lighthouse tracks “Woundheir,” “Angels of Distress,” and “Sleep Mirrored” with surprising ease. Funeral doom is often narrow in scope, but Return to the Void defiantly opposes that with its massively scaled and forlornly inspired valleys and angelic (powered by Natalie Koskinen’s empyrean vocals) peaks. Coupled with Henri Koivula’s caliginous lyrics, SHAPE OF DESPAIR provides a masterclass display of a genre expansive and filmic.
“Return to the Void is a title we thought would best describe the album,” says Koivula. “It is a return for us in many ways. We were heading [musically] towards early SHAPE OF DESPAIR. Plus, Samu’s back in the band. Overall, my lyrics have a red line through them—a sense of solitude and depression. The state where you find that everything has lost its meaning. There is no past or future, only this one moment drifting near the firmament.”
The Return to the Void project started in 2020 and continued through May 2021. Production duties were wrested from the previous producer Max Kostermaa and in-sourced to the band directly. Ruotsalainen, Salomaa, Koivula, and Miika Niemelä engineered, respectively, at Beat Domination Studios, D-Studios, and Doom Cave Studios. The group also looked inside their ranks for mixing, handing the job off to [drummer] Ruotsalainen (FINNTROLL, METSATÖLL). The mastering was given to award-winning ace Svante Forsbäck (VOLBEAT, RAMMSTEIN) at Chartmakers West in Espoo. If the previous SHAPE OF DESPAIR productions were huge, Return to the Void is unfathomably massive. One listen to “Solitary Downfall” and the album’s crushing egress “The Inner Desolation,” and it’s readily apparent that SHAPE OF DESPAIR have crafted a temple of sound to ruminate the cruelty of existence.
“We recorded the album on our own, which allowed us the freedom to record whenever and however long we wanted,” says Salomaa. ”Everything was done in late winter, with the mixing taking place between February and March of 2021. We had a couple of weekends to mix with Samu, but most of it was done without us. The mastering was then finalized in May 2021. [The sound is] mainly raw but still heavy. The main focus was to keep our sound world intact. I think this album sounds the most accurate we’ve ever wanted our albums to sound.”
SHAPE OF DESPAIR’s next steps are to release Return to the Void via Season of Mist. The striking cover art via long-time design partner and silent member Mariusz Krystew (David Galas, Thor’s Hammer) is yet again a reminder that the Finns are as visually engaging as they are compositionally and lyrically. That they mixed old and new for Return to the Void is proof that there’s purpose and meaning to Salomaa’s ill-lit aesthetic. Once the album is released and protocols pending, Shape of Despair hope to hit the road where they’ll pontificate their wintry despondency from the stage to audiences near and far.
Aural Music is proud to announce the signing of Gothic Funeral Doom project EMBER SUN from Greece.
The band is releasing their new album, titled On Earth and Heaven, on October 22 via code666, the cult sublabel of Aural Music.
The band commented about the signing: “When code666 contacted me and propose to release my debut album, it was like I was dreaming that such a label wanted to join their roster. It’s a blessing to us that this respected label believed in us. Now EMBER SUN are ready to uncover the deep, primordial feelings of sorrow, sinisterness, and solitude under the banner of Code666”
EMBER SUN is the new solo project born in 2021 of Lorthar (founder/ex-member of black metal band ORDER OF THE EBON HAND) from Greece, playing atmospheric funeral doom death with influences of gothic scene. Lorthar has been and still is a member of several bands in the metal music scene and also on ambient style bands. EMBER SUN is a mix of all the music styles haunting Lorthar’s temperament.
On Earth And Heaven is a hymn of solitude and sorrow. It expresses the fear of reaching our end; the despair of not seeing again all those we loved or hated; the incomprehensibility of being devoid consciousness; the sorrow of never seeing the dawn again.
Today, Blood Harvest Records announces December 17th as the international release date for Charnel Altar‘s highly anticipated debut album, Abatement of the Sun, on CD and cassette tape formats. The vinyl LP version will follow next year.
Hailing from Adelaide, Australia’s Charnel Altar formed in late 2018. Not long after, the band’s self-titled debut demo followed in January 2019. Originally self-released digitally, a cassette version was soon released by Desert Wastelands Productions and a 12″ vinyl version by Seed of Doom Records and Impure Sounds; a tape re-release then came in mid-2020 via Blood Moon Productions. With this underground momentum building, Charnel Altar released a split EP with fellow Aussies Carcinoid, which was released on tape by Headsplit Records and on 10″ vinyl once again by Seed of Doom.
During all this, Charnel Altar became a prolific force on the live front. Their first show was supporting Uada, and they went on to play with the likes of Incantation, Krisiun, Integrity, Primitive Man, Faceless Burial, Gutless, Ignivomous, and Vile Apparition. A tour with Carcinoid and others was planned for 2020, but was unfortunately cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Nevertheless, Charnel Altar make their full-length debut with the slimy ‘n’ stultifying Abatement of the Sun. Horrific and harrowing, churning and gestating with utter dread and doom, Charnel Altar‘s death metal is like a slo-mo melting of mind and matter. One could arguably qualify it as death-doom, but the band’s version of such evades easy categorization and aims more for hovering tension and paradoxically spacious density – indeed, like old(er)-school death metal dragged through tar but trudging forward like a tank. That all three members previously played together in the cult Tombsealer – who toured nationally in support of Mournful Congregation and played with such acts as Dead Congregation, Portal, Fetid, Windhand, Cough, Inverloch, and Nocturnal Graves to name a few – shows in their seemingly effortless execution, that these dreadful ‘n’ doomed-out ruminations have been simmering in their hearts for time eternal. Or, put another way, Abatement of the Sun is all-too-perfectly titled: the end is not just nigh; it’s NULL.
Face the end with the brand-new track “Vexation of Sorrow” here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Charnel Altar’s Abatement of the Sun 1. Grave Totem [8:05] 2. Vexation Of Sorrow [6:44] 3. Slaughter [8:36] 4. Wormworld [7:52] 5. Malefic Blessings [7:04] 6. Metempsychosis [8:45]
