Bethlehem – Mein Weg (2 x Vinyl) Label: Prophecy Productions – PRO 107LP Format: 2 x Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue Country: Germany Released: Jul 8, 2022 Style: Doom Metal, Goth Rock
Experimental Black/Doom Metal band from Grevenbroich, Germany, active since 1991. They call their style «Dark metal», which is the term they coined in the debut album title.
Until Dictius Te Necare, Bethlehem faced censorship and was even banned from playing in some German cities. It started when Matton gave one copy of their first demo to a 14-year-old boy. After a while his mother started to call the band, saying that because of their music, her son became aggressive and built a «Satanic altar» in his room. In cooperation with other parents, they started a crusade against Bethlehem and their «satanic» music (ironically, Bethlehem were never satanic).
Nordvargr – Pyrrhula (Vinyl, LP) Label: Cold Spring – CSR98LP Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Remastered Country: UK Released: May 21, 2021 Style: Dark Ambient, Drone, Doom Metal
Recorded winter/spring 2008 at Villa Bohult, Sweden.
This edition has been restored from the original masters, and further refined for the vinyl format.
Based on Swedish doomlord mythology.
Partly based on an old Swedish folktale, Pyrrhula (“doomlord”) is a pitch black journey into utter darkness. This is a tale of foreboding doom… a portent of dark times to come… a blight on the face of this earth. These eight Black Ambient / Doom / Droneworks were brought forth from the abyss of Villa Bohult exclusively for Cold Spring and contain the malevolent vocals of Lord Nordvargr himself!.
“Beware the small creatures of light, they only bring misery and death upon the enlightened ones. For they will paint their breast with blood and reap your unborn angels.”
Ltd x 500 copies on pale amber vinyl. Black Fruit Of The Loom Heavy Cotton t-shirt with front and back print.
Composed By – Henrik Nordvargr Björkk Recorded winter/spring 2008 at Villa Bohult, Sweden. Artwork – Abby Helasdottir Mastered By – Martin Bowes
Reviews:
«What is most remarkable about ‘Pyhrrhula’ is given how unrelenting it is, it is an easy album to listen to. There are some pretty great melodies hidden in there… If ‘Pyrrhula’ was colour it would be vantablack, or more correctly the spectrum of darkness, and black, ending in vantablack. It’s an album that feels like it sucks the air out of the room. It makes you sit still and take notice, but most importantly, it still sounds as epic and devastating as it did 13 years ago.» (Vital Weekly)
Lotus Thief – Oresteia (Vinyl Gatefold LP | Red) Label: Prophecy Productions – PRO273LP Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Red Country: Germany Released: 2020 Genre: Rock Style: Avantgarde, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Post Rock
San Francisco avant-gardists Lotus Thief create visionary music that incorporates elements of doom and black metal as well as post rock. Transcendent in sound and substance, the band has released two acclaimed albums («Rervm» in 2014, and their Prophecy debut «Gramarye» in 2016), that draw insight from ancient texts for present-day life. History is preserved and ignited, a sonic re-imagining for a world where the human race learns from its past.
With their third record «Oresteia,» Lotus Thief pushes their sound further than ever, focussing on both male and female singing, feral screams, melodic versus ferocious guitarwork and soaring violins. The result balances the atmospheric with the devastating.
In retelling the namesake epic trilogy from ancient Greece by tragedian Aeschylus, mastermind Bezaelith once again addresses distinctly modern topics, as the blood-drenched story of the mythical House of Atreus prompts several questions, ranging from the ethics of killing to gender roles.
«Oresteia» is an intentional narrative and boasts Lotus Thief’s most sophisticated production so far. A five-headed hydra of distinct personalities and stylistic backgrounds contributes to the record’s depth and diversity like the masked actors in an ancient stage play. It is no wonder that with its strong dynamics and ambient intersections, the tracks mirror an experience not unlike attending a performance in an amphitheater.
Add to this maybe the heaviest moments ever in Lotus Thief’s oeuvre, their new full-length embodies the ingenuity and intensity of contemporary extreme music.
