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In their endless quest to push and support current underground acts that perpetuate the odor of vintage Death Metal, on October 20th internationally, Memento Mori is proud to present Thaumaturgy’s highly anticipated second album, ‘Pestilential Hymns’, on CD format.

Thaumaturgy was spawned in the American Midwest by an enigmatic musician that goes under the alias Kt, driven by the urge to play a vicious blend of dark, doom-laden, chasmic, and cavernous Death Metal, taking influence from a wide range of outsider music. Thaumaturgy attempt to push the boundaries beyond the genre’s forerunners in order to invoke contemplation upon the super-mundane realms that their name implies. Previously an outright Death-Doom Metal act with a darkened edge, the band has morphed into an entity whose musical offering is crammed with furious, ripping riffs, contrasted by crushing, echoing doom passages, as well as a surprising element of dark melody, evoking comparisons to the more diabolical early bands from Sweden, such as Necrophobic and Grotesque, although combining that approach with the tenebrosity and the murkiness of Incantation and Krypts, the violent and chaotic assault of Morbid Angel, the aggressiveness of Dutch bands like Sinister and Pestilence, the modern approach of acts like Grave Miasma and Cruciamentum, and even the sheer lightlessness of bands such as Demoncy and Adversarial.

Active since 2021, Thaumaturgy released its debut EP, Charnel Gnosis, that same year; two years later came the full-length Tenebrous Oblations. Now a power-trio after the addition of Tg and Ds to their ranks, Thaumaturgy present their second album, ‘Pestilential Hymns’, and the fullest, foulest display of their still-growing strength. A descent into both despair and madness, ‘Pestilential Hymns’ instills a warped, charcoal-coated headspace that’s strangely addicting. Riffs race and rearrange with palpitating tension, seemingly going both faster and slower simultaneously; tight but never-robotic drums keep up in kind, speaking in slithering counterpoint to that sooty riffing; touches of haunting synth occasionally linger just at the threshold of perception, poignantly highlighting the mangled melody that sometimes surfaces from this rush of crush; and then the vocals spit pain and confusion in a manner most Martin Van Drunen-esque, effectively underlining the palpably human aspect to this otherwise-alien assault. To qualify Thaumaturgy as “blackened” would not be unfair, but ‘Pestilential Hymns’ as a (w)hole wholly feels like a Death Metal record – just one on the fringes of unorthodoxy and angularity, unbound but never belabored. Still, despite this forward-thinking approach, Thaumaturgy retain a sense of the ancient, of elder days in the underground when diabolism truly began to bloom in Death Metal. Capping this madcap experience is suitably ancient cover artwork by Daniel Hermosilla of Nox Fragor Art: this is music to mangle your mind!

One more absolute great addition to the next batch of WolfKult Religion tapes: Bentala.

Unearthed from the most mysterious and obscure depths of South East Asia, ‘Anantabhoga’ translates an occult and arcane atmosphere into some of the best Raw Black Metal ever to come from these regions. With its strong, skin crawling riffs and its exotic, piercing atmosphere this one-man project’s debut offers something truly different, yet strangely familiar.

This debut will be released on cassette tape and is currently being manufactured. Its estimated time of arrival is September this year.

Following a sensational demo in “Lutum”, Costa Rican Death/Doom Metal band Perishing boasting members of Astriferous, Mortual, Necroferum, etc. in their lineup, have returned with their much awaited debut full length. It’s an extension of their style of playing slow, torturous, dread-filled Death/Doom Metal, which will appeal fans of Disembowelment, Rippikoulu, Mortiferum, Winter, Thergothon and Inverloch, where every note carries weight and with it deathly implications.

A fetid stench pervades the entire proceedings, which is overpowering when combined with the sickly tunes and vocals lingering in the air as if emanating from beyond the grave. The entire experience is morose, sickening, and yet strangely comforting just because it is done so well. The music transitions beautifully from the ponderous Doom trudges to the trotting Death Metal parts without losing its asphyxiating grip on the listener, and just as smoothly eases back into the slowly churning maelstrom of death.

Maintaining a suitably organic sound and being selective with their tunes to create the best impression, Perishing have created an album that fans of this kind of punishing, slow Death/Doom Metal music will find impossible to resist.

Season of Mist is proud to present ‘Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration’, the seventh full-length from Finnish Death/Doom stalwarts Hooded Menace. A ghostly convergence of cinematic horror and classic heavy metal, the album channels the spirit of Candlemass, Mercyful Fate, and Cathedral while unveiling a macabre new palette: from icy synths and cello flourishes to a Duran Duran cover dipped in Doom. Harrowing and haunted, this is Hooded Menace at their most melodically unhinged.

For closing in on two decades, Hooded Menace have stood not as a bridge but the pillar between two underground realms. The band’s upcoming seventh album still paves the way for metal legions who prefer headbanging to more creepily, crushing tempos. However, while ‘Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration’ is still rooted in a cultish obsession with the classics, these stewards of Death/Doom remain far from stuck in their ways.

Starting as a teenager in the late ’80s, founding member Lasse Pyykkö got his start in Joensuu, Finland with the band Phlegethon. But the undead spirit that’s guided Hooded Menace since its 2007 conception first appeared back when he was just a young hesher. Dracula, Poltergeist, A Nightmare on Elm Street and other horrors piqued his morbid curiosity. Though later on, it was feasting on the cult classic Tombs of the Blind Dead that spawned the band’s accursed two-track demo.

“It’s the dark element”, Lasse recalls when asked what Hooded Menace draws from its source material five albums removed from the band’s terrifying breakthrough ‘Never Cross the Dead’.

The blind dead still stand watch over ‘Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration’. Returning cover artist Wes Benscoter recreates the Knights Templar in all their glowingly ghoulish glory. ‘Pale Masquerade’ paints a familiar scene, summoning Amando de Ossorio’s flesh-eating muse with a fresh heap of Lasse’s bone-crunching chugs. “The dead army grows”, Harri Kuokkanen commands with growls that reek of the crypt. Lifelong converts will quickly fall in line behind steadfast drummer Pekka Koskelo, who dips ‘Daughters of Lingering Pain’ into the same dripping vat of wax as the band’s 2010s effigies for Relapse Records. The lasting influence of Candlemass and Paradise Lost hasn’t vanished without a trace. But Hooded Menace continue to break the mold they helped set for Death/Doom right from the album’s opening jump scare. Neon keys beam through ‘Twilight Passages’ as if firing up a time machine.

Reinvention isn’t new to Hooded Menace. While a menacing vocalist in his own right, Lasse passed the proverbial mic torch to Kuokkanen for the gloomier melodies that haunted the band’s initial offering after signing with Season of Mist late in 2016. Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed was also pulled more from the shadows of their imagination as opposed to the silver screen. ‘Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration’ trends further in that direction; the lyric sheet unfurls like a house of psychological horrors, where the hallways are hung with shattered mirrors and faceless portraits. Only this time around, the trio really hammered home the influence of ’80s Heavy Metal that was rung in by previous long-player ‘The Tritonus Bell’. ‘Lugubrious Dance’ twists between the hallucinogenic spires of Cathedral in conspiracy with King Diamond before cranking into a chorus that’s classic Hooded Menace.

MicroPitching and other effects aren’t the only tricks of the trade that are pulled out from under Hooded Menace’s cloak. Traditional Death/Doomers might have been pleasantly surprised by the band covering W.A.S.P., so imagine the delighted screams upon hearing a Top of the Pops’ gem like ‘Save a Prayer’ splattered in their signature blood-soaked dread. Lasse’s riffs still cement the rock-solid foundation beneath ‘Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration’, but even he was surprised when sculpting its lead single. What should appear from the double bass swirling amidst ‘Portrait Without a Face’ but the moan of a cello. Like an echo from beyond the grave, the cry of strings reappears during the album’s grand finale. Former live bassist Antti Poutanen sorrowfully saws as the band marches, gallops then sinks back “Into Haunted Oblivion”.

On ‘Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration’, Hooded Menace cast Death/Doom in a ghostly new light.

Altare proudly presents a split release featuring two of the most prominent names in the Portuguese underground: Nidernes and Candelabrum.

Nidernes continues its journey through dense and grandiose Black Metal, now enriched with new sonic textures that deepen its atmospheric intensity. On the other side of the split, Candelabrum unveils three new compositions of its signature keyboard-driven Black Metal—an extension of the sound explored on the acclaimed ‘Transmutations’ album, marked by the same haunting melodies and melancholic spirit.

Limited vinyl edition released by Altare and Black Gangrene.

Altare proudly presents the second full-length album by Consummatio, entitled “Circulus’, which will be a limited vinyl edition, available exclusively through Altare.

Following the highly acclaimed debut released in 2022, Consummatio returns with a darker, more emotional, and atmospheric record. ‘Circulus’ expands upon the band’s unique sound with captivating melodies and more intricate compositions, solidifying Consummatio’s position as a leading force in the Portuguese underground scene.

This release also marks a pivotal moment in the band’s trajectory, serving as a prelude to their first live performances, scheduled for 2026.

Blood Harvest Records is proud to present a worldwide edition of Impending Rot’s latest EP, ‘Anatomical Discorporated Aberration’, on 12″ vinyl format.

Impending Rot is another creative vehicle of erstwhile Stenched mainman Adrián. However, Impending Rot preceded Stenched by a year, likewise emanating from the sewers of Monterrey, Mexico. Two EPs, a split, and a demo all belched forth from the earth in that first year of 2022. However, in 2023 is when Impending Rot released its penultimate recording to date: the seven-song / 21-minute ‘Anatomical Discorporated Aberration’ EP.

Initially released digitally at the dawn of 2023, ‘Anatomical Discorporated Aberration’ soon saw a couple super-limited physical pressings. More importantly, it most potently nailed the Impending Rot aesthetic: a mangled mix of early Grave at their most tank-treaded, earliest Paradise Lost at their deathliest, and the skewed catchiness of prime Impetigo. Undeniably, this is all-caps Death Metal of a most old-school nature, but there’s a free-flowing effervescence to Impending Rot’s attack here that makes their foulness sound that much fresher. A paradox, yes, but all the more suiting that Blood Harvest is now making this quick-hitting slab of slime available in a worldwide edition across two different colors of vinyl.

Purity Through Fire is proud to present Redenção Pelas Chamas’ highly anticipated debut album, self-titled ‘Redenção Pelas Chamas’, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Hailing from Portugal’s always-vital Black Metal underground, Redenção Pelas Chamas released their first demo in 2022. However, this quartet aren’t the usual paradigmatic Portuguese rawness, even though that demo suggested as much on the surface. To wit: Redenção Pelas Chamas’ self-titled debut album.

Like a cold breath of turn-of-the-millennium air, ‘Redenção Pelas Chamas’ emits an exquisitely vintage air largely forgotten in favor of trendier, Bandcamp-born sounds. Stoically pulsing with an elusive “rough polish” that’s era-authentic, Redenção Pelas Chamas play melodic & melancholic Black Metal that honorably nods to such ancient-days southern-latitude paragons as Bekhira, Italy’s Imago Mortis, Grima Morstua, Sombre Chemin, or even domestic mystics Medo. Which is all to say that ‘Redenção Pelas Chamas’ could’ve been released during Drakkar Productions’ peak, so superlative is this stripped-down surge of unselfconscious sophistication. Those who know, know…and they should know Redenção Pelas Chamas.

One of the new upcoming releases on WolfKult Religion, that will see its appearance in the late Summer of this year, is the second album of Argentinian one-man army Hexenshade. If, after four decades, bands like Bathory, Hellhammer, Venom and Sabbat (Japan) are still the real deal for you, be sure not to miss out on this amazing piece of regressive Black Metal.

As if time stond still, this album was meticulously crafted in true 80’s fashion, consequently positioning itself among the works of such bands as Warhammer, Megiddo, Incriminated, Apokalyptic Raids, Usurper…

By now it should be clear: wimps and posers, leave the hall!

Shadow Records is proud to present Ofermod’s highly anticipated fifth album, ‘Drakosophia’, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

By now, Ofermod requires no introduction. Steered by Belfagor aka Mika Hakola since 1996, the Swedish horde have sewn influence and infamy in equal measure.

Now marks the long-awaited arrival of ‘Drakosophia’, the band’s fifth full-length, in which Belfagor is joined by North American vocalist Adeptus, Austrian session drummer Florian Musil, and bass by the one and only Devo, ex-Marduk. ‘Drakosophia’ is genuine Orthodox Black Metal, a subgenre that Belfagor forged nearly 30 years ago as a vessel for Theistic Satanism / left-hand-path esotericism in sonic form. Invoked right from the beginning, ‘Drakosophia’ is both classic Ofermod and a continual unfolding of their unique characteristic sound, dynamically sinister and vigorously menacing. Open your third eye and let Lucifer crush all cosmic illusions of time and space and become born anew in the LVX of Phosphorus. An alchemical nigredo for the neophyte, however, a metamorphosis for the initiate who finds this Great Work rewarding.

‘Drakosophia’ is a vessel for the Draconian current, bound and initiated to the traditions and teachings of the dark magical order Dragon Rouge – Ordo Draconis et Atri Adamantis. Embrace our sonic Left Hand Path sorcery and mysticism OR stay far away from the sinister audial art of Ofermod!

Lepaca Nox Draconis! Ho Drakon Ho Megas!