News
Aedes to release debut EP via Blood Harvest Records: "Trainspotters might also reference the angularity of '90s Immolation or the "refined barbarity" of Peru's Mortem or especially the truer-than-true Sadistic Intent..."
December 8, 2024
Blood Harvest Records is proud to present a worldwide edition of Aedes’ debut mini-album, ‘Odious Imprecation’, on CD, 12″ vinyl, and cassette tape formats.
Formed in 2023, Finland’s Aedes immediately made their name known in the Death Metal underground with their debut mini-album, ‘Odius Imprecation’, self-released later that very year. The quintet’s resume is quite varied – Verge, Foreseen, Rivette, Initiated, and Force Kill are but a few – but with Aedes, the focus is firmly within the wider ’90s Death Metal pantheon. It’s not unjust to suggest that the spectre of Morbid Angel looms large over ‘Odious Imprecation’; from murky, almost-in-reverse riffing to cyclonic descents into the abyss to leads that are melodic yet mind-melted, the altars are indeed full of madness and the sick are dutifully blessed.
Still, this deep understanding of the elder gods extends more to songwriting and texture rather than replication of someone else’s glories – and Aedes stir their cauldron with the poise and intention of adepts. Trainspotters might also reference the angularity of ’90s Immolation or the “refined barbarity” of Peru’s Mortem or especially the truer-than-true Sadistic Intent, but the four songs comprising the 24-minute ‘Odious Imprecation’ lay out plenty of diabolic terrain on which to tread. And tread further Aedes soon will, for the band are currently preparing their debut album for Blood Harvest!
More info: Aedes; Blood Harvest;Invictus Productions and The Ajna Offensive present new Necromaniac album: "Necromaniac's first full-length is everything its weighty title promises...and more!"
December 7, 2024
Invictus Productions in conspiracy with The Ajna Offensive are proud to present Necromaniac’s long-awaited debut album, ‘Sciomancy, Malediction & Rites Abominable’, on CD and vinyl LP formats. Invictus will handle the album’s release for Europe while Ajna will handle its North American release. The CD version is scheduled for release on January 13th, 2025 to coincide with the Wolf Moon, while the LP version will be released at a later date.
Forged in heretical fire while lurking in the darkest shadows of the underground for the past 13 years, this London-based (UK) band formed by Swedish, Spanish, Greek, and Polish musicians has crafted a debut album that’s guaranteed to send cold shivers down your spine. A truly sinister musical journey containing 9 forbidden rites steeped in witchcraft, necromancy, and an overall occult atmosphere, Necromaniac’s first full-length is everything its weighty title promises…and more!
Those who were possessed by their 2015 demo tape and 2018 7″ EP don’t need to worry, as the Necromaniac sound of old is reanimated here. Only now it’s given delirious flight on demon wings of ecstasy: blacker, more metal, more epic, more atmospheric, more “mature,” more of MORE. Joining these morbid ghouls on their devilish quest are guests A.A. Nemtheanga of Primordial, Negative Plane’s Nameless Void, and one A Corpse Without a Soul, whose signature throat should not be unknown to astute underground dwellers. The sum effect of ‘Sciomancy, Malediction & Rites Abominable’ is a sonic bacchanalia informed by the ageless wisdom of Hell’s Heavy Metal.
No mercy, no forgiveness, no salvation, no return…MORBID METAL TO THE DEATH!
More info: Necromaniac; Invictus Productions; The Ajna Offensive;WolfKult Religion to release Salacious Gods’ 30th Anniversary album: "...a veritable anthology from the band's now three-decade-long career"
December 3, 2024
To add extra lustre to the 30th anniversary of Dutch Black Metal band Salacious Gods, the band and the also Dutch WolfKult Religion label have joined forces. The result is ‘A Chrestomathy of Blasphemous Supremacy’, a veritable anthology from the band’s now three-decade-long career. Release is due for December 20th 2024.
The album consists of songs recorded live in Winschoten (2024), Rotterdam (2023) and Groningen (1999), covering all four of the band’s full-length albums. From the 1999 released ‘Askengris’ debut (ColdBlood Industries) to the most recent ‘Oalevluuk’ (2023) released by HammerHeart Records. And, to cover the band’s entire history, two slightly refreshed tracks from their 1998 demo and 2002 promo have been added.
WolfKult Religion proudly releases this latest work on both CD and cassette tape, both of which have a slightly different tracklist. The booklet is adorned with dozens of photos from the band’s deep archives and liner-notes by Henri Sattler (God Dethroned and chief of ColdBlood Industries), among others.
More info: Salacious Gods; WolfKult Religion;Balefire's debut EP will be released by Iron Bonehead Productions: "Aesthetic signposts include Sadistic Intent, '90s Vader, Peru's Mortem, Finland's Belial, Mexico's Cenotaph, and even earliest Incantation themselves"
November 30, 2024
Iron Bonehead Productions is proud to present Balefire’s striking debut mini-album, self-titled ‘Balefire’, on 12″ vinyl format.
Balefire is a new project of Chuck Sherwood, longtime bassist of Incantation and former bassist of Blood Storm. Fittingly, with Balefire do Sherwood and crew stoke the fires of ancient-style Satanic Death Metal. Comprising six songs in 15 minutes, the band’s self-titled first statement surges & churns with malevolent intent, retaining a sooty sound that’s old-school but never belabored. Aesthetic signposts include Sadistic Intent, ’90s Vader, Peru’s Mortem, Finland’s Belial, Mexico’s Cenotaph, and even earliest Incantation themselves. Familiar yet fiery in its execution, songwriting straightforward but subtly atmospheric, Balefire is an understated triumph of timeless, trend-free values.
More info: Balefire; Iron Bonehead Productions;Hesperia returns with new album released by Hammerheart Records: "...accompanied by Medieval Black Metal with significant ‘90s influences (Immortal and Satyricon in particular)..."
November 26, 2024
The Italic spirit returns… Winter Medieval Black Metal from the Mounts of Sibylla!
Hesperia is a one-man concept band focused on Italian culture and history. Hesperia is the ancient and obscure name of the Italic lands ruled by the mythological sovereign Hesperus.
After exploring the pre-Roman era with a tetralogy based on the Roman poem Aeneid and the Roman era with two volumes about Rome, it’s now time for the Medieval Italic age: ‘Fra Li Monti Sibillini (Black Medieval Winter Over The Sibylline Mounts)’ is a Medieval journey through the Sibylline Mounts, located in central-eastern Italy (Marche region, the region of Hesperus), filled with obscure legends and a truly dark history: heretics, witches, alchemists, necromants, goat fairies, the Inquisition, hidden villages/mountains/gorges, and… the sorceress Sibylla.
Legend and history intertwine, real places and real stakes, legendary characters and real people, accompanied by Medieval Black Metal with significant ‘90s influences (Immortal and Satyricon in particular), with elements of authentic medieval music and ambient parts that will truly transport the listener to these obscure places. This album is your ultimate key and path to the subterranean realm beneath the Mounts of Sibylla.
More info: Hesperia; Hammerheart Records;Mavorim recorded their fifth album and is ready for release: "...'In Omnia Paratus' sees a stridently cleaner, more martial Mavorim."
November 24, 2024
Purity Through Fire is proud to present Mavorim’s highly anticipated fifth album, ‘In Omnia Paratus’, on CD, A5 digipack, double-LP vinyl, and cassette tape formats.
By now, the name Mavorim should be more than familiar to those who follow the crimes of Purity Through Fire. Since the band’s formation in 2014, mainman Baptist has restlessly and relentlessly pursued his stark, austere style of Black Metal, resulting in four full-lengths and seven other shorter-length works. In just a decade, Mavorim have come to define – and influence – the new breed of German Black Metal that hearkens back to the old guard: Teutonic to the bone, harsh and harrowing yet heralding triumph.
Following a busy 2023 – the release of fourth album ‘Ab Amitia Pulsae’, plus Purity Through Fire unearthed four full-length demos dating back to 2017, all of which directly preceded their ‘Silent Leges Inter Arma’ debut album – Mavorim return with ‘In Omnia Paratus’. Picking up where its predecessor left off – Baptist’s subtle-yet-concerted integration of keyboards and other synth sounds, which altogether added an exceptionally dynamic contour to otherwise-straightforward aggression – ‘In Omnia Paratus’ sees a stridently cleaner, more martial Mavorim.
It’s a tradeoff that works in spades: the usually quick-galloping pace feels even more breathless and bravado-laden, and the synths swirl with even-more-magickal mysticism, still very much a secondary element but a crucial one nevertheless. As such, Baptist’s riffing feels fierier and airier simultaneously, a paradoxically ice-cold swoosh of heated hatred; the sharp ‘n’ taut drumming underpinning it all keeps a comparable clarity, making this one of the nastiest “clean” Black Metal records around. Which is all to say that Mavorim’s content is consistent, righteously and remarkably so, even if the form becomes more refined. And it all comes to a dramatic climax in ten-minute closer “der letzten Sonne Untergang,” which is not to be missed. Bavaria über alles!
More info: Mavorim; Purity Through Fire;Purity Through Fire ready to release Vspolokh's third album: "Their alternately surging / swaying attack is more muscular than ever, with that physicality taking on a nearly world-eating aspect at times."
November 22, 2024
Purity Through Fire is proud to present a worldwide edition of Vspolokh’s third album, ‘Mertvozem / Мрьтвоземъ’, on CD and A5 digipack formats.
Formed back in 2004, what Vspolokh lack in quantity of recordings, they ably make up for in quality of vision. In the ever-vast field of Russian Black Metal, Vspolokh stand strong, maintaining the triumphant-yet-tragic element so endemic to the best quarters of that scene whilst just as equally evincing a patiently plied style of songcraft that’s consistent with their judiciously spare discography.
Purity Through Fire released Vspolokh’s debut album, ‘Печаль о прошлом’, in 2010 and then two well-regarded splits in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Alas, silence ensued until 2020, with the release of ‘Помре’. Thankfully, no great changes were made to their rigorous aesthetic – strident physicality but never overly exerted, a subtly hummable melodicism that never wanders near the saccharine, a view toward epic constructions without any bloat – and now they continue that still-extended trajectory with their third album, ‘Mertvozem / Мрьтвоземъ’.
Originally released in the Russian market this November, ‘Mertvozem / Мрьтвоземъ’ is arguably Vspolokh’s strongest work to date. Their alternately surging / swaying attack is more muscular than ever, with that physicality taking on a nearly world-eating aspect at times. Those moments of aggression are strategically deployed, delivering sweet release – or vice versa – after the spiraling segments of bittersweet beauty, betraying all the bloody tragedy spilled on Russian soil over so many centuries. Everything moves with almost monk-like patience, but that slow-burn movement is mesmerizing no matter the tempo. Laid upon a framework of utterly huge production, ‘Mertvozem / Мрьтвоземъ’ irrevocably recasts Vspolokh as a unique sort of pagan Black Metal that’s somehow modern – and plausibly, powerfully so.
More info: Vspolokh; Purity Through Fire;Sixth album of Membaris to be released by W.T.C. Productions: "Tellingly titled, 'Black Plasma Armour' is a fever-dreaming screed of kaleidoscopic aggression."
November 22, 2024
On January 21st, 2025 internationally, W.T.C. Productions is proud to present Membaris’ highly anticipated sixth album, ‘Black Plasma Armour’, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Forming in the dark, fateful days of 1999, Membaris have long been a lingering force within Germany’s oft-overlooked Black Metal underground. From the band’s very first demo in 2002 onward, Membaris have kept their feet firmly rooted in Black Metal’s foundational second wave, but always with an eye to expand upon that noble firmament. Reverence is key, as is passion, and the seamless, unselfconscious combination of both has become a hallmark of Membaris.
In that cursed year of 2020, Membaris emerged from the shadows after eight years with ‘Misanthrosophie’. Despite the darkness of the times, founding members Obscurus and Kraal unleashed a torrent of Technicolor Black Metal majesty – at the time, Membaris’ strongest full-length work to date…until now, with ‘Black Plasma Armour’.
Tellingly titled, ‘Black Plasma Armour’ is a fever-dreaming screed of kaleidoscopic aggression. Membaris waste no time kicking into the album, with the title track leading off proceedings – surging, spiraling, askew – before dazzling shapes outside the mien of Black Metal begin to come into recognition. Always shifting, forever churning, breathlessly passionate, the six stout tracks comprising the 44-minute record go many, MANY places as themes and textures flow into and out of each other. Each one is as memorable as the last, often hanging upon a yearning / desperate hook or crest of beautiful annihilation; it’s almost as if each climax is not enough, that another is right over the brink. Membaris’ execution – searingly tight and yet recognizably human – lifts these creations higher / deeper, penetrating body and soul with a power that’s blanching. As the slipstream of ‘Black Plasma Armour’ continues, it’s almost alarmingly easy to lose sight that this is, in fact, a Black Metal record: no compromise, but no boundaries. And as the closer ‘Onwards to the Last Blink of Reason’ races to its cathartic conclusion, it’s a fitting summation of the journey just experienced and the next to begin, ad infinitum.
More info: Membaris; World Terror Committee;Hammerheart Records signs Czech Death Metal act Pandemia: "We are looking forward to release Pandemia's sixth full length album, the best Death Metal album ever coming from Czech Republic."
November 21, 2024
Hammerheart Records are proud to announce the signing of Czech Death Metal masters Pandemia! The new album is set for a release in May on CD, LP and digital. Full album details and the first single will drop in December.
Pandemia have been around since the year Hammerheart Records came into existence; 1995 that is! New album delivered for listening to record label, record label checks album and is simply blown away by the intensity, brutality and quality. So, we go for it, together.
We are looking forward to release Pandemia’s sixth full length album, the best Death Metal album ever coming from Czech Republic. Top notch songs, skillful playing, killer production and insane guitar solos complete an album that will be appealing to fans of high quality Death Metal for sure.
Pandemia comments:
“Signing with Hammerheart Records feels like a dream realized. We’ve admired their work since our demo days in the 90s, watching them cultivate and champion the most authentic voices in Extreme Metal. Our sixth album, and first release in a decade, represents Pandemia at its absolute peak – it’s fast, intense, and varied enough to keep you headbanging into the late hours of the night. Each member has delivered their best performance to date, pushing our abilities to new heights. With such devastating material in hand, we couldn’t ask for a better partner than Hammerheart to help us spread our Death Metal message. Their dedication to the genre makes them the perfect home for this release, and together, we’re ready to show the world the true potential of Pandemia!”
Nefarious Dusk announces third full-length to be released by Purity Through Fire: "As expected, the duo raise high the banner of second-wave classicism, but surprises still abound."
November 21, 2024
Purity Through Fire is proud to present Nefarious Dusk’s highly anticipated third album, ‘Death Beneath a Starless Sky’, on CD and LP formats. The CD version is out now while the vinyl version shall be released on December 25th.
Residing in the dankest dungeons of the UK Black Metal scene, Nefarious Dusk have been spreading their infections since 2011. A trio of demos, an EP, and a split all issued forth before their debut album for Purity Through Fire, 2019’s ‘The Wanderer of the Cold North’. A self-titled album arrived two years later for the label. Through it all, the iron fist of the ever-prolific Dominus has ruled, who currently also counts the considerable Thy Dying Light and Úlfarr among his activities.
Now joined by Úlfarrbandmate Nosdrahcir on drums and synth, Dominus has assembled the third Nefarious Dusk full-length: ‘Death Beneath a Starless Sky’. As expected, the duo raise high the banner of second-wave classicism, but surprises still abound. Nefarious Dusk’s foundation is as firm as ever – a chilling-yet-rousing canvas of ancient atmosphere and hypnotic pulse, tastefully dusted by a subtle fog of synth – but one could rightfully argue that ‘Death Beneath a Starless Sky’ is a deliberate “regression” of sorts, back to the very earliest ’90s and not strictly within a Scandinavian context. Witness the utterly shredded, sublimely ethereal guitars which recall the very earliest wave of Polish Black Metal. Then witness the synths float upward from that shimmering mass, creating a solemn-yet-stargazing effect no matter the tempo. For indeed do Nefarious Dusk shift among more tempos here, from the rockin’ side of the self-titled album to the blazing-the-Northern-sky surge of the debut, and the songwriting in kind embarking upon the epic; of the six here, two songs average around eight minutes and another tops ten. Whatever way you approach ‘Death Beneath a Starless Sky’, Nefarious Dusk remain against the modern world!
More info: Nefarious Dusk; Purity Through Fire;