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Iron Bonehead announced new Invocation album: "Upon first blush, thankfully, very little has changed in the Chileans' sound; restless, roiling, and most definitely RIPPING..."

July 23, 2024

Iron Bonehead Productions is proud to present the highly anticipated debut album of Chile’s Invocation, ’The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures)’, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

It was but the early autumn of 2018 when Invocation released ’The Mastery of the Unseen’ EP through Iron Bonehead. Although only two songs, ’The Mastery of the Unseen’ was presciently titled, for the Chilean power-trio made masterful strides since their debut CDR in 2016 and the extremely promising Seance Part. I demo released later that year. Exhibiting the same sulfurous energy as the first works but now displaying a uniquely feral poise, that two-song salvo set the stage for yet another presciently titled work in early 2020: ’Attunement to Death’, again released by Iron Bonehead. Indeed with this mini-album did Invocation reach a hellish harmony with their classic South American diabolism, but on ’Attunement to Death’ did they imbue it with an ever-deeper – and ever-more-unique – aspect that bountifully displayed their authentic grounding in the occult.

At long last, nearly a decade after their formation, Invocation unleash their full-length debut: ’The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures)’. Upon first blush, thankfully, very little has changed in the Chileans’ sound; restless, roiling, and most definitely RIPPING, their teeth-gnashing gnarliness is squarely situated between black metal and death metal, with no compromise nor fence-sitting to be found. But, where the mini-length predecessor saw the trio exhibiting confidence to spare, ‘The Archaic Sanctuary’ utterly EXPLODES with it. Tight yet loose, wild yet locked-in, primitive constructions played with flowing finesse – Invocation’s songwriting and execution have mostly stayed the same but somehow grown to enviable proportions, punishing mind and body with oft-overwhelming and yet always-mesmerizing METAL brewed in the cauldrons of the ancient and occult. No more but definitely no less, this is exactly the sort of debut album Invocation needed to deliver: canvassing past, present, and future and fittingly framing it with another gritty analog recording rich with sulfurous fire and sepulchral echoes.

It was only a matter of time before Chile’s Invocation delivered a debut album to capitalize on the massive potential they displayed on their short-lengths. With ’The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures)’, they now can enter the hallowed ranks of fellow cult countrymen Unaussprechlichen Kulten, Force of Darkness, Slaughtbbath, and the sorely missed Hades Archer for standard-bearers of classic South American madness.

More info: Invocation [CHL]; Iron Bonehead Productions;

Iron Bonehead Productions ready to release Deathless Void's debut album: "...on 'The Voluptuous Fire of Sin', there's a palpably late '90s feel in both songwriting and production, such that one could psychically slot the album among the No Fashion Records roster back then"

July 19, 2024

Iron Bonehead Productions is proud to present Deathless Void’s highly anticipated debut album, ‘The Voluptuous Fire of Sin’, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Hailing from the resurgent Dutch Black Metal scene, the then-mysterious Deathless Void made their public debut with a self-titled EP in early 2022, released by Iron Bonehead. Across its three-song / 15-minute runtime was a vacuum of violent, post-modern death energy. Their foundation was undoubtedly Black Metal, but their vision was not blinkered by the past; if anything, the jet-stream of crushing chaos across Deathless Void was futuristic, albeit a ruined vision of such.

Reprising two of those EP tracks, ‘The Voluptuous Fire of Sin’ becomes the penultimate first statement from Deathless Void. Much of that foundation is fortunately still in place – palpitating physicality mutated into cold, cutting, gleaming-yet-bloodstained steel – but the now-quartet have excised some of the noisier crags of that EP in favor of a more organic soundfield, which exceptionally amplifies the latent nightsky melodicism of their Black Metal. In terms of that EP, one could point to later Katharsis or Antaeus or especially turn-of-the-millennium Thorns as touchstones; on ‘The Voluptuous Fire of Sin’, there’s a palpably late ’90s feel in both songwriting and production, such that one could psychically slot the album among the No Fashion Records roster back then. Still, said EP whipped forth its own dread and delirium, and Deathless Void duly maximize that sensation here. The riffs and rhythms may attack in a somewhat-familiar manner, but coursing through their bloodstream is a haunting aspect that hovers both above and below, each texture daubed in nightmarishly psychedelic color – all emanating from BLACK. Not for nothing does the record (violently) begin with ‘Psychedelic Warfare’ on to ‘Purple Triad,’ with ‘The Ecstasy of Sin’ able to be tasted when ‘Crossing the Threshold’ until, finally, there’s a ‘Curse Upon You’…

The start of THE END begins again: Deathless Void’s ‘The Voluptuous Fire of Sin’!

More info: Deathless Void; Iron Bonehead Productions;

Phenocryst and Blood Harvest Records team up to release new EP: "Forward-thinking traditionalism? Perhaps..."

July 3, 2024

Blood Harvest Records is proud to present Phenocryst’s highly anticipated debut album, ‘Cremation Pyre’, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.

Hailing from Portugal, Phenocryst was formed in early 2020, during the recording of their debut EP. The band is based in the outskirts of Lisbon, and the origin of such conjuration is a rigorous consequence of a vibrant underground activity in the city.

The band wanted to create the foundation of a Death Metal act crossing other influences like doom and some psychedelic vibes, to illustrate soundscapes of disastrous, catastrophic, and annihilating volcanic and natural events. There are not many artists actually singing about this specific topic, if any, and therefore, the lyrical content is also something to explore. As such, the moniker Phenocryst is fitting.

That debut EP, aptly titled ‘Explosions’, was released by Blood Harvest in late 2021 to international acclaim. Across its 23-minute runtime, Phenocryst unsettled with preternatural ease, reeking of death stench and obscure delirium. It was a noble foundation, to be sure, and one that allowed for further liberation of the rich language of Death Metal.

Speaking more confidently and boldly than ever and armed with a reconfigured lineup, Phenocryst at last deliver their debut album in ‘Cremation Pyre’. Another aptly titled record, ‘Cremation Pyre’ indeed sonically approximates its namesake: somber yet furious, coiling with both inexorable dread and steely-eyed austerity, portentous and spacious in equal measure, and of course Molten. Upon first blush, Phenocryst’s debut full-length is perhaps purer Death Metal than its short-length predecessor; riffs are hulking and heaving, with a clearer production imparting a gleaming tank-like sound not unlike mid ’90s Bolt Thrower.

But even within this seemingly more “standard” carapace, odd & adroit sensations get malformed into miasmic shapes, and what seems like a no-less-awesome iteration of gleaming meat & potatoes Death Metal soon starts sliding and slipstreaming into a vortex of cosmic ash as the second half of the album begins to dig in its supernatural claws and frightening spaciousness opens up. And that’s to say nothing of the subtly reverberating-into-the-abyss bits of melody dotting this sooty landscape…

Forward-thinking traditionalism? Perhaps, but the real beauty of ‘Cremation Pyre’ is that it’s open to myriad interpretations; one only need step into its lava. Phenocryst prove, once again, that Only Death is Realer!

More info: Phenocryst; Blood Harvest;

Blood Harvest to release Gutvoid's new EP: "...one can easily do the math and surmise that Gutvoid here are stretching out into epic territory"

July 1, 2024

Blood Harvest Records is proud to present Gutvoid’s highly anticipated new mini-album, ‘Breathing Obelisk’, on CD, 12″ vinyl, and cassette tape formats.

Since their formation in 2019, the ascent of Canada’s Gutvoid has been nothing if not meteoric. From their initially digital-only debut EP, ‘Astral Bestiary’, receiving a physical release courtesy of Blood Harvest to the ‘Four Dimensions of Auditory Terror’ four-way split shared with Blood Spore, Coagulate, and Soul Devourment the following year – again, via Blood Harvest – Gutvoid churned forth a world-eating Metal of Death that duly devoured the listener whole. Still, massive potential lurked, and it arrived with one of the most fully-formed Death Metal debut albums in 2022’s ‘Durance of Lightless Horizons’. Hailed far and wide upon its release and thereafter, ‘Durance of Lightless Horizons’ simply intensified all the hallmarks of their sound – heaving, vertigo-inducing, spiraling like tar-thick smoke – and then sharpened them with a sterling sense of clarity, allowing their yearning, come-hither melodicism to evoke both melancholy and malice.

Taken individually, each of Gutvoid’s recordings builds upon the last but offers surprising twists of the knife. And so it goes with the band’s brand-new mini-album ‘Breathing Obelisk’. Totaling 31 minutes across four tracks, one can easily do the math and surmise that Gutvoid here are stretching out into epic territory. Fittingly, they open up their world-eating sound to include looser execution, more fist-pumping mid-tempos, hypnotic repetition of melody, linear-but-not-really songwriting, and a strange style of grooviness…or “grooviness” in that it’s akimbo and angular and yet still supremely rhythmic in a manner most surprising for tried-and-true Death Metal. Here, the band eschew much of the doominess of their preceding work and instead allow those vast vistas of space pregnant with tension & terror to be built back up with rolling tank-treads of mountainous might. The cover art to ‘Breathing Obelisk’, then, begins to make more sense in the context of this textural shift; it’s Gutvoid at their most approachable and most alien – clearly recognizable, fully in focus, and yet somehow incomprehensible for the strange transmissions they’re emitting from some unknown outpost. That these four songs run anywhere from six minutes to nearly ten bespeaks not bloat, but rather a desire to patiently unfold their dread landscapes – and then do so with a remarkable memorability that’s not predictable verse/chorus formulae. And the rougher, dirtier production heightens this unfussy uniqueness that much more.

Cementing their status as one of the best still-young Death Metal entities around, Gutvoid challenge you to stand before their ‘Breathing Obelisk’.

More info: Gutvoid; Blood Harvest;

Insineratehymn signs deal with Memento Mori: "Simply, Insineratehymn is Death Metal for Death Metal maniacs, by Death Metal maniacs..."

June 29, 2024

In our endless quest to push and support current underground acts that perpetuate the odor of vintage Death Metal, we’re extremely thrilled to announce a new signing: Insineratehymn, from U.S.A.

Hailing from Los Angeles, California, Insineratehymn has managed to position itself in the taste of underground extreme Metal fans with its powerful Death Metal clearly influenced by classic bands, giving a masterclass in 90’s Death Metal, from the spiraling vortexes of early Tampa to the sewage to come from New York, through the eerie emanations from Europe and the dissonance at the dawn of the new millennium.

Naturally, the band bend those classic tropes in a variety of ways, all of which bespeak their own identity: scuzzy, slicing, clanging, angular, brutal beatdown, ignorant stomp, or just straightforward killshot: no weapon is left aside. Simply, Insineratehymn is Death Metal for Death Metal maniacs, by Death Metal maniacs who understand and appreciate the rich-yet-codified history of the genre. This is for fans of Sadistic Intent, Monstrosity, Suffocation, Deicide, Grave, Edge of Sanity, Demigod, Sentenced…

Insineratehymn’s third full-length is due out on October 21st, 2024. Memento Morii will release the CD version and Rotted Life will take care of the LP and tape versions.

More info: Insineratehymn; Memento Mori; Rotted Life Records;

Deceitome ready to release new album via Raw Skull Recordz: "Perhaps it’s cause Estonia was under Swedish rule 3 centuries ago but the massive HM2 chainsaw is all over the place"

June 26, 2024

Keep your eyes and ears wide open for one of the heaviest, hardest and most ferocious releases of the year! It is with great delight we present you the amazing cover art is done by Priit Salusoo for for the self-titled 2nd album of Deceitome.

Although the band is no stranger to the Raw Skull family we’re amazed at what this Estonian quintet pulled off on this album. Perhaps it’s cause Estonia was under Swedish rule 3 centuries ago but the massive HM2 chainsaw is all over the place.

The destructive cocktail of Stockholm 90s Death Metal mixed with a heavy Bolt Thrower / Incantation atmosphere is a guarantee for some serious banging of the head!

More info: Deceitome; Raw Skull Recordz;

WolfkKult Religion and Merg & Been Records to release Mergelland cassette: "This special release features four tracks from the original sessions..."

June 22, 2024

During the lockdowns, the idea emerged to translate the rich history of Limburg into a unique Black Metal sound, giving birth to Mergelland. After the first demo ‘Verloren in de Groeve,’ the plan for a full album titled ‘Lichtenberg’ was conceived. However, this album never saw the light of day, and Mergelland faded away. The original concept lived on, evolving into what we now know as Wurgilnõ.

Four years later, WolfKult Religion and Merg & Been Records proudly present ‘De Lichtenberg Sessions 2020’, to be expected in August. This special release features four tracks from the original sessions, carefully preserved and now finally available on a beautifully crafted tape. Limited to only 50 copies, with 10 of them in a special edition, this is a unique opportunity for collectors and fans to own a piece of this remarkable history.

More info: Mergelland; Merg & Been Records; WolfKult Religion;

Revel in Flesh into a state of slumber: "...album No.6 won't be released as they were supposed to be"

June 19, 2024

Ralf “Haubersson” Hauber made the following statement:

Servants of the Deathkult,
Haubersson speaking:

The evolution of 2023 and a bunch of long-term conflicts within the band finally marked the end of the last known line-up. Fabian, Magge and Henrik announced their departure from Revel in Flesh and the common firm that connected all four core members. This line-up reached its interpersonal and creative end. All further live appearances have been canceled and at the current stage the last remaining recordings of what should have been album No.6 won’t be released as they were supposed to be. Obviously because it would be nothing more than a compromise that no one really wants.

Of course this announcement will be a shocker to all supporters, but the music of the Revel in Flesh discography lives on. And most of all your support will always be a part in a decent box of good memories. Thanks from the bottom of the heart!!!

At the current stage I am the only remaining core member of the lineup. We wanna thank session member Jonas for his contribution since 2021.

There are still a lot of mixed emotions, but parting ways offers new possibilities in life for all of us.
I wish well to everyone.

Revel in Flesh will embark now into a sort of slumber status. I need a break to get back to strength again (health issues) and to think about how the legacy of the Deathkult could develop or not. Since we deal with DEATH METAL you never know when the corpses come back from the dead.

More info: Revel in Flesh;

Burial Remains and Raw Skull Recordz announces new album: "The dynamics between fucked up thrashy riffs and pounding midtempo parts on this album really gets the best out of these songs."

June 19, 2024

Risen from the unholy grave, and more alive then ever… Burial Remains.

We are excited to finally show you the sickening artwork for their brand new upcoming album ‘Adversarial’
Dutch Death Metal powerhouse Burial Remains offers us 9 tracks of crushingly, heavy old school Death Metal with a saw that’s ready to buzz. Some of the songs on the tracklist are ‘King Of Kings’, ‘Soulreaper’, ‘Rejoice The Fall’, ‘Miasma Of Guilt’ and ‘Know Thy Kingdom’. ‘Adversarial’ will be released by Raw Skull Recordz (CD) and Into It Records (cassette) on October 25th.

For buyers of physical formats, there is a bonustrack that will not be on spotify or any other shitty streaming service. So you’d better be buying!

With a new drummer in their ranks they entered the FDMP studio for the recordings of their third album. Mixing and mastering was in the hands of multi-talented youngster Xander Bridge (Eternal, Blood Loss) this time around.

Wim de Vries (vocals/guitars) commented: “The dynamics between fucked up thrashy riffs and pounding midtempo parts on this album really gets the best out of these songs. We really wanted to capture the energy of our live shows on this album. I think Xander Bridge really got that in the mix and made sure the intensity will explode from your speakers while listening.”

NO COMPROMISES!

More info: Burial Remains; Into It Records; Raw Skull Recordz;

Lucifericon to release new EP via Invictus Productions: "Sabatraxas' is about heralding the darkness, finding yourself in it and finally becoming it..."

June 4, 2024

Invictus Productions is proud to present a special EP from Lucifericon, ‘Sabatraxas’, on 12″ vinyl format.

For 15 years now, the Netherlands’ Lucifericon have been crafting a noble Metal of Death that’s both traditionally rooted and boundless in its inspiration. From early EPs ‘The Occult Waters’ (2012) and ‘Brimstone Altar’ (2016) to the breakout debut album ‘Al-Khem-Me’ in 2018 and its masterful follow-up ‘The Warlock of Da’ath’ in 2022, Lucifericon have never been ones to rush this craft; each recording is deliberate, imparting a particular sensation unique from the last but always somehow sounding like the same band. Inertia Metal this is not: deeply personal occultism given sonic form, free-flowing yet focused, has been their stock in trade for a decade and a half.

To celebrate this particular Left Hand Path, Lucifericon are now releasing a special anniversary EP titled ‘Sabatraxas’. Evenly split into two halves, the first three songs are leftover tracks from ‘The Warlock of Da’ath’ sessions, which impart lurking dread and hulking surge, dusted with tastefully fleeting lead work – muscular, serpentine, sooty, and unmistakably Lucifericon without a whiff of the over-familiar or retreading past glories. The three tracks that follow are live readings of ‘Khidir’s Urn’, ‘Qliphotic Trance’ (both from ‘The Warlock of Da’ath’), and ‘Sevenfold’ from ‘Al-Khem-Me’. Passionately performed and powerfully rendered, Lucifericon prove they are as potent live as they are on record.

“‘Sabatraxas’ is about heralding the darkness, finding yourself in it and finally becoming it,” the band expound. “It is walking the solitary and lonely road – exactly as we have been doing since Lucifericon’s inception. It is about the lore and custom of this cunning arte.”

More info: Lucifericon; Invictus Productions;