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On September 25th internationally, Primitive Reaction is proud to present the long-awaited third album of Finland’s Flame, ‘Ignis Draconis Daemonicus’, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Formed back in that fateful year of 1998 in Kuopio Rock City by erstwhile members of Barathrum and Urn, Finland’s Flame soon took on a (fiery) life of its own. A couple demos burst forth from the void before a split with the cult Devil Lee Rot in 2001; another demo came in 2004, followed the next year by a split with Australia’s late / great Ghastly. But it was Flame‘s debut album, ‘Into the Age of Fire’, where the band’s iron-fisted glory was fully revealed. Here, the band summoned forth triumphant epics of gnarliness that were equal parts ancient Black Metal and Thrash (or Blackthrash) and just-as-ancient bestial metal, all at a time when both idioms were far less fashionable than they are now. It would take six long years before another full-length torch was revealed, but Flame’s second album, aptly titled ‘March Into Firelands’, proved that the Finns’ unholy conflagration was as potent as ever: dynamic yet immediately headbanging, rooted in the old ways yet never recreating anyone’s past glories, but then, silence once again.

But like their foundational idioms, Flame are immortal, no matter when they choose to appear and raze the scene. And raze they did with 2020’s ‘Ignis Spiritus’ mini-album, released to widespread acclaim by Primitive Reaction, and they’ll raze further and fierier with their long-awaited third album, ‘Ignis Draconis Daemonicus’. It’s only logical that this full-length shares a titular similarity with its short-length predecessor, as it’s a progression both musically and lyrically. Indeed, ‘Ignis Draconis Daemonicus’ is immediately recognizably Flame, combining the grime & grandeur of their first couple albums plus the atmospheric elevation that ‘Ignis Spiritus’ brought. In a word, poised: the Finns convey a never-overstated, almost-quiet confidence that lends a prouder & more powerful aspect to their characteristic incendiary execution. The album’s title translated from Latin is ‘Fire of Demonic (or Daemonic) Dragon,’ which is further extrapolated into finding one’s key to their own ‘true will,’ ‘inner power,’ and ‘magickal transformation,’ all topics that have led to Flame’s new lyrical direction, guided by founding vocalist / guitarist Blackvenom. While the Finns’ first two albums spit blasphemy, later-days Flame sees Blackvenom writing poetry based on occult / esoteric traditions and practices, from Thelema to Typhonian / Draconian, Chaos Magick to Luciferian philosophies, conveying the spiritual awakening he underwent ten years ago and fully mirroring his own soul’s evolution. An eternal Flame, for sure!

Of especial note is the sound itself on ‘Ignis Draconis Daemonicus’. As Blackvenom explains, “We set our bar high for this album to sound the strongest, heaviest, and at same time as dynamic as possible so far. We were fascinated about soundscapes at Priory Recording Studios in the UK after we heard Adorior’s latest ‘Bleed on My Teeth’, and we wanted studio owner Greg Chandler (Esoteric) doing mixing for us, too. Using Greg wasn’t the cheapest option, so Chris Nunravager (ex-Adorior, recorded the album at his Rat Nest Recording studio) put up his own label, Acid Orgy Records, and teamed together with Primitive Reaction to share the mixing and mastering costs. Greg did a fantastic job! He created the perfect soundscapes that combine heaviness, rawness, and epic atmospheres, but still keeping our overall sound rooted in the underground spirit!”

Totaling nine new metallic hymns of Thrashing Black Metal magick steel (plus mood-setting intro), ‘Ignis Draconis Daemonicus’ offers a 47-minute gateway to the beyond to explore your own darkest occult realms. Flame take you on a ride on dragon wings, forever Finnish warriors of mighty Satan’s horde!