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Iron Bonehead Productions is proud to present Azathoth’s Dream’s highly anticipated second album, ‘Solitary Forest Necromancy’, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

A lynchpin among America’s Order of the Broken Sword circle that includes labelmates Luring, Wuldorgast, and now Sigorspéd, Azathoth’s Dream immediately made their presence known in 2023 with the debut album ‘Nocturnal Vampyric Bewitchment’. Aptly titled, the then-one-man band’s Black Metal was of a vampiric and undeniably late ’90s French vintage, maintaining a similarly necrotic-yet-aristocratic mysticism not unlike Osculum Infame, Bekhira, Winter Funeral, and very early Seth. One could also liken their sound to the uprising of raw vampiric Black Metal in the U.S., spearheaded by Sanguine Relic, Vampirska, early Lamp of Murmuur, and Geist of Ouachita among others.

Now expanded to a two-piece, Azathoth’s Dream likewise expound upon their core sound with their second full-length for Iron Bonehead, ‘Solitary Forest Necromancy’. Much as the not-inconsiderable debut album titularly presaged its contents, ‘Solitary Forest Necromancy’ likewise sounds exactly as it should – and show Azathoth’s Dream to be far more than just another “raw Black Metal” newcomer. Still raw to an extent, the duo sharpen their swords with some degree of clarity whilst evincing the requisite grit to make moonlit Black Metal work. The foundation’s largely unchanged – said French vanguard, especially, as well as aesthetic forebears Black Funeral – but the riffing’s become both bittersweet and triumphant, melancholic yet invigorating. Coupled with a pronounced usage of mystical synths, sometimes even leading the (forest-bound) way, ‘Solitary Forest Necromancy’ quickly becomes an engrossing experience, and one which cements Azathoth’s Dream’s standing among American Black Metal’s new vanguard.

On July 1st internationally, Dominance of Darkness Records is proud to present Beleth’s Trumpet’s highly anticipated debut album, ‘Chapel of Bones’, on CD and vinyl LP formats. Korpituli Productions will be handling the cassette tape version.

Formed in 2023 in the northern depths of Finland, Beleth’s Trumpet create uncompromising black art for the glory of Satan. The quartet released their debut demo the next year, which went through two different pressings courtesy of the respected Korpituli Productions. No more but definitely no less, Beleth’s Trumpet’s public debut was paradigmatic Finnish Black Metal, played with passion and authenticity.

And so it goes with their full-length debut, ‘Chapel of Bones’. Everything that earmarked that demo is amplified here: songwriting full of freezing fire, austere ‘n’ arrogant execution, fully-felt physicality and yet no shortage of mystical atmosphere. For sure, Beleth’s Trumpet remain committed to their aesthetic – not for nothing has Finnish Black Metal become the reigning paradigm since the dawn of this cursed millennium – but across the seven-song / 43-minute album do they display subtle degrees of development; Black Metal doesn’t need to “be” anything other than Black Metal, after all. Thus, grim ‘n’ glorious waves of early 2000s nostalgia shimmer across this ‘Chapel of Bones’, for it is dedicated to the timeless King, Death itself. With the scent of bottomless graves and the sound of clattering bones, they blow the Beleth’s Trumpet! “A monument for those who walked this path before me…”

Thorn has a knack of churning out punchy, rotten Death Metal hymns rife with some nasty, lurching grooves. ‘Nebulous Womb of Eternity’ will have the listener rocking back and forth in its asphyxiating grasp like a pin-pricked voodoo ragdoll. The stench of sickness is thick and pervades the entire recording. Brennen has come up with meatier, denser, chuggier songs on this record while retaining the band’s primal essence and there is more Death Metal than doom found on this recording.

There are still moments where gleaming leads come in and brighten up the proceedings but it remains a dark, fetid and glutinous affair through and through. The corpulent grooves stand out the most and form the bulk of this recording. If you like the idea of Death Metal sounding massive, ponderous, and packed with heaving, earth-rumbling parts, this album is most certainly meant for you.

Vincent Crowley stated the following on the Acheron facebook account:

Purity Through Fire is proud to present a new mini-album from Iku-Turso, ‘Wolfheart’, on CD and 12″ vinyl formats. The CD version will be released on June 6th while the vinyl version will follow in the autumn.

Forming in 2017 and soon releasing their debut album, ‘The Great Tower’, that same year, Iku-Turso have quietly become a force in the ever-fertile Finnish Black Metal scene (vocalist Lafawijn hails from the Netherlands). The band includes members with a vast array of underground experience, spanning all sorts of extreme metal styles, and a couple of members currently retain membership in labelmates Order Of Nosferat. As such, Iku-Turso’s sound is far from strict “Finnish Black Metal” that’s come to be the definition the past couple of decades. Rather, the band cast their gaze back to the cold, dark days of mid ’90s Scandinavia, and render it with a (darkly) dramatic flair.

Renewing their blood pact with Purity Through Fire, which commenced with the equally stout mini-album ‘Ikuinen Kirous’ in 2023, Iku-Turso return with the aptly titled ‘Wolfheart’. Featuring five new songs, the half-hour ‘Wolfheart’ is prime Iku-Turso: mystical yet nasty, they deliver something akin to a long-lost relic on Wounded Love or Samoth’s Nocturnal Art Productions. Then again, it’d be unjust to suggest that the Finns are “regressive” or at least “retroactive,” for such aristocratic ugliness can only come from those whose hearts beat with the ancients; Iku-Turso are nothing if not authentic. Still, compared to the orchestral bombast of its mini-length predecessor, ‘Wolfheart’ is much more of a slow-burn affair despite showing some upticks in tempo (see the also-aptly titled ‘Gales of Hail’), reveling in the reflective and epic and remaining just as compelling and powerful. Likewise, those hearts here beat with more of a Heavy Metal flair, not unlike reanimated contemporaries Barathrum, and they bring past to the present with a faithful-yet-Finnish cover of Emperor’s ‘Beyond the Great Vast Forest’. Altogether, ‘Wolfheart’ continues to affirm Iku-Turso’s standing among modern Finn-BM’s elite.

‘The Sinister Flame’ was originally intended as a 7″ EP, but so far only was released by Iron Bonehead Productions on cassette tape. WolfKult Religion is now presenting this magickal piece of work on its original format.

Nekromanteion is still finding that tipping point of occult sounding Mortuary Drape/Barathrum and early Samael and the almost Ross Bay Cult barbarism, all poured in a veil of rawness and mysticism. Although the band does sport the same sort of brutality as on their previous releases, on ‘The Sinister Flame’ the balance tends to tilt much more to the gloomy and occult side of things.

Iron Bonehead Productions is proud to present Affliction Vector’s highly anticipated debut album, ‘Contra Hominem’, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Formed in 2018, Italy’s Affliction Vector started as a duo of vocalist / guitarist / bassist Ans (ex-Ooze, ex-Grime) and drummer Chris (Feral Forms, ex-The Secret). Together, they made their recorded debut in 2020 with the ‘Death Comes Supreme’ EP, which was truly titled: mangled-yet-glorious Blackened Death Metal steeped in sepulchral sonics. Silence as cold as the crypt followed…until now, with their debut full-length.

Titled ‘Contra Hominem’, Affliction Vector’s first full-length displays the full power of their potential. Despite “just” being a duo, Ans and new drummer Stefano (Claustrum, Fuoco Fatuo) create a swirling mass of miasmic physicality, patiently doling out dizzying speed and stomping Doom alike; every single second – every single strike of string or drum, every howl from the abyss – is actually felt, so authentic is their execution. The humidly analog production amplifies this sensation, and their songwriting in kind continues to attack, attack, attack until gibbering delirium is instilled in the listener. But for however overwhelming their Black / Death Metal is on the surface, there’s a congruent sense of space, of almost-ethereal atmosphere lingering both above and below – in effect, Affliction Vector are offering an inter-spiritual bridge between the heavens and Hell itself. And then, after nearly a half-hour, ‘Contra Hominem’ concludes and that listener is either invigorated or drained…or both. Highly recommended for maniacs of more-recent Teitanblood or esteemed labelmates Possession and Venefixion!

Werewolf Records is proud to present Warmoon Lord’s highly anticipated third album, ‘Sacrosanct Demonopathy’, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.

Once the best-kept secret of the ever-fertile Finnish Black Metal underground, Warmoon Lord truly made their presence known with 2021’s ‘Battlespells’. Released by Werewolf, the band’s second album fulfilled the promise of 2019’s not-inconsiderable ‘Burning Banners of the Funereal War’ with superlative flair. The sound was stridently classicist, but suffused with windswept grandeur, martial surge, and orkish execution – and, perhaps above all, both songwriting and personality to spare. No longer “the other project of the Old Sorcery guy,” Warmoon Lord mainman Lord Vrăjitor made sure ‘Battlespells’ lived up to its namesake, and then some.

The stage thus set, Warmoon Lord make lateral developments with all-important third album ‘Sacrosanct Demonopathy’. On the surface, the foundation is largely the same – pure & proud Black Metal of a most fantastical nature, even “medieval,” but always burning with that icy-hot passion that so fired the second wave during the mythical 1990s – but there’s a wider canvas of textures and emotions at play here. The songwriting fires on literally all cylinders – truly, variety is not a dirty word in this context – with each of these eight tracks (Quickly) moving in myriad directions, but ones that are increasingly complex and even cathartic; it’s not difficult to imagine castle spires continually ascending, so cresting and climactic are ‘Sacrosanct Demonopathy’s component songs. What’s more, the crisp & effervescent recording heightens the nightsky melodicism to a point where it almost feels paradoxically “bright” – but with stained-glass synths winding in and out of those spires, the darkness widens again and devours the listener in a purple haze. Not surprisingly, then, the central themes to the album are more personal and turned inwards – Satanic fantasy, occultism, destroying ties with the herd, and crucially “creating your own worlds,” in Lord Vrăjitor’s own words – compared to its predecessor’s ones of pride, conquering, war, tyranny, and ruling. Wide awake and dreaming is Warmoon Lord here!

The trailblazers (or, rather, church-burners) of the ’90s eventually went slicker, more “mature” directions as that decade drew to a close. A few were more successful than most, and if such is a foregone conclusion if one writes & performs pure Black Metal, then Warmoon Lord honorably uphold the exception to the rule with the epic landscape of ‘Sacrosanct Demonopathy’!

Iron Bonehead Productions is proud to present Chamber Of Mirrors’ highly anticipated third album, ‘Tales of Blood’, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Emerging with their first demo in 2022, followed by two albums released through the esteemed Drakkar Productions, Chamber Of Mirrors have swiftly cemented their place within the Black Metal underground. Spearheaded by the enigmatic Mortem, this project is an expression of his vision—a journey through the arcane realms of Black Metal, where sorcery and ancient darkness converge in a storm of hypnotic, unrelenting force.

Now joining forces with Iron Bonehead, Chamber Of Mirrors presents their most devastating work to date with ‘Tales of Blood’. This third album is an immediate and brutal assault, plunging listeners into the abyss from the very first note. Yet, to dismiss Chamber Of Mirrors as a mere exercise in nonstop blastbeats would be a grave misjudgment. Mortem’s craftsmanship goes far deeper, revealing intricate layers of melody and atmosphere woven throughout the chaos. While the influence of Demonaz-era Immortal is evident in the album’s foundation, Mortem’s riffs are both monumental and elusive—simultaneously direct and distant, imbued with a melancholy and haunting quality that set Chamber Of Mirrors apart. The subtle synths that permeate the music further amplify the band’s distinctive vision, cold and sharp as the icy winds from which they draw their essence.

‘Tales of Blood’ is a punishing experience, one that may be overwhelming to those unfamiliar with the nuances of ‘90s Black Metal, but for those with the fortitude, this album offers a relentless-yet-rewarding journey into the frozen realms of the past. Fans of Funeral Winds, Tsjuder, Akerbeltz, Cirith Gorgor, and even Judas Iscariot will find themselves enveloped in the cold, cruel, and cunning world of Chamber Of Mirrors. Approach with caution—’Tales of Blood’ is not for the faint of heart.

Signal Rex is proud to present Iätön’s highly anticipated debut album, ‘Portit Pohjolan’, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Formed in 2022, Iätön initially began as a duo of Woewrb and Penetreichtus I, with the latter having played in Hatespirit and Serpentfyre. Two demos followed, in 2023 and 2024, respectively on the well-respected Altare and Korpituli labels. Even early on, Iätön were defiant of the prevailing Finnish Black Metal paradigm. With Woewrb’s keyboards prominent in both the soundfield and songwriting, the duo’s largely mid-paced but still-energetic sound strongly reminded of First Spell-era Gehenna or, closer to home, Behexen’s majestic Eternal Realm demo and the likes of Musta Kappeli, Funerary Bell, and Orfvs: rarefied-yet-esteemed company indeed.

Now, Iätön are prepared to stake their claim to be counted among such elite names with their debut full-length, ‘Portit Pohjolan’. While the approach thankfully hasn’t changed here, it’s the subtle details as well as the charisma & confidence in which they play that render this Iätön’s undoubtedly strongest recording. The cover artwork to ‘Portit Pohjolan’ is evocative of its contents: earthy, verdant, and just a bit icy, beckoning and portending in equal measure. Expanding upon that “largely mid-paced but still-energetic” element, the band’s expansion to a quartet has provided quite the boon, filling out their mystical Black Metal with a hugeness that’s somehow intimate simultaneously – perhaps it’s those organs / keyboards of Woewrb working some strange, intoxicating magick? – and even when the pace quickens, there’s equally a mournful grace to Iätön that didn’t exist before. Any way you approach it, ‘Portit Pohjolan’ is truly olde-worlde Black Metal transported from forgotten realms and glorious times.