Agalloch – The Grey EP Label: Eisenwald Tonschmiede – Eisen151 Format: CD, EP, Reissue Country: Germany Released: 29 Nov 2019 Style: Black Metal, Avantgarde
Remastered re-issue with original artwork and bonustrack.
Eisenwald presents The Grey EP: A collection of destroyed & rebuilt songs from “The Mantle”.
The Grey is the first installment of two companion releases, originally released in 2004. This new edition includes the original artwork and arrives with exclusive bonus track recorded in 2003, that has never been released on any format. créditos se lanzó el 29 de noviembre de 2019
Empyrium – Über Den Sternen (2 × Vinyl) Label: PRO304 LP Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, 180g Etching Country: Germany Released: 26 Feb 2021 Style: Symphonic Metal, Neofolk, Black Metal
With their sixth full-length, «Über den Sternen», an allegorical German rendering of their band name meaning «Above the Stars», EMPYRIUM still draw from the magic and spirits of wild places, nature’s beauty, and human relics of ages long past. «Über den Sternen» echoes this reconciliation of the old with the new on a musical level as well. The Franconian duo is putting more emphasis on the electric guitars and harsh vocals again, which marked their first two albums and stood strong upon the band’s melodic black metal foundations. Yet EMPYRIUM also revisit the dark folk style, which the Germans had progressively embraced on their third and fourth albums.
What used to appear to be a crossroad in their musical development has now merged into one breath-taking sound. The combined force of mastermind, multi-instrumentalist, clean and extreme vocalist as well as producer Markus «Schwadorf» Stock and classical singer Thomas Helm, who lends his amazing voice also to the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, is painting a radiant sonic picture. It comes with the melancholic grounding of the sophomore album «Songs of Moors & Misty Fields” (1997), adds brushstrokes of the fairy-tale tempera colours of «Where at Night the Wood Grouse Plays» (1999), and also makes use of a few hues from the palette that DEAD CAN DANCE have infused with world music, which EMPYRIUM have already employed on «The Turn of the Tides» (2014). The crowning varnish is diligently crafted from rougher elements that reach all the way back to the Germans’ legendary debut » A Wintersunset…» (1996). EMPYRIUM have reconciled their early vintage sound with the acoustic expression of later recordings.» Staying true to the Romantic tradition, EMPYRIUM continue to take inspiration for their lyrical flights of fantasy from the local myths, ancient places, and natural wonders of the Rhön Mountains and their Lower Franconian homeland in the West of Germany. A circle is closing, and with EMPYRIUM’s label Prophecy Productions, which were originally founded with the mission to release the band’s debut album, celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2021, it happens in more than one way.
Emanation – The Emanation Of Begotten Chaos From God (2 × Vinyl) Label: Sentient Ruin Laboratories – SRUIN150, CAVSAS – CS003 Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Stereo Country: Spain Released: 05 Nov 2021 Style: Black Metal, Experimental
Emanation is a side project from CG Santos, the mastermind behind drone act Like Drone Razors Through Flesh Sphere. An intense, esoteric and surreal combination of black metal, noise and industrial with a lo-fi production and occult lyrical themes, this is not an easy listening or approachable album by any stretch but the deranged and eerie sounds produced by Santos across the debut album The Emanation of Begotten Chaos from God make it a unique and rewarding listen for those who can penetrate its strange depths.
The album is 71 minutes long and with just six tracks four of them are ten minutes and above. The first one Cyclic Metamorphosis begins with an eerie clean melody, a slow and tinny drumbeat and noisy electronics for the first few minutes before the guitars come in with a scathingly harsh tone to them, which when accentuated for the noisy electronics makes for a dense sound even with the incredibly lo-fi production. At this point the guitars seem there more for their slow and heavy texture than for the addition of any melody, until it kicks off about six minutes in with the simple drumbeat increasing in tempo,the scratching of guitar picking up the pace while an eerie melody continues in the background. Each texture is so massive and there’s a lot of layers resulting in a sound that at first sounds incredibly lo-fi, disjointed and dissonant. But repeated and active listening reveals the esoteric melodies present under the scratchy guitars and electronic din, and the lo-fi sound all gives it an eerie and caustic atmosphere, all accentuated by this dissonant layering. It’s mostly very slow and incredibly raw and dense, but the industrial noisy elements make it sound unlike most other black metal. When the vocals finally come in, a harsh scream that’s fuzzed out by effects, it’s buried quietly in the mix, and with the off-beat drums and scraping overlapping sound of the other elements it’s a psychedelic nightmare. The following track Ritual Asphyxia starts off like a Sunn O))) guitar drone fed through a dozen noise pedals, screeching and clanking with an off-beat industrial strangeness. When the vocals come in the guitar gets more furious and more twisted by these industrial elements in a harsh and inaccessible wall of effects laden blackened noise. Some slow black metal melodies shine through once again in the background, and the tinny drums are so simplistic as to seem at odds with the array of harsh textures that make up the wall of sound, and it is truly caustic and occult sounding. Just after the half way mark it all explodes into a faster pounding piece of intensely harsh and layered black metal. Ritual Asphyxia indeed.
Immortal Blood Coil relents on the heaviness with a noisy dark ambient piece, bereft of the wall of sound approach, and creates an eerie psychedelic sound with layers of synth, chimes, drums, noise and more effects laden vocals. It relents on the heaviness but not on the dark atmosphere. Synesthesia of the Lesser Sphere is the droniest of the lot, with a droning guitar wail providing the backdrop for the creaking twisted sound of the knob twiddling electronics and harsh drawn out vocals over the top. Now and then throughout the track, the guitar stops and the electronics continue by themselves, and there’s a quiet, understated but creepy melody running in the background throughout. It’s kind of like if Anaal Nathrakh decided they wanted abandon their brand of apocalyptic devastation to create some of the creepiest fucking music of all time instead.
The final two tracks Inorganic and Sands of Totemic Silence are the two longest on the album at 18 and 15 minutes respectively. The electronics on the former are so harsh, dissonant and noisy it sounds like the breakdown of some mechanic behemoth and the lo-fi trebly sound of the guitars sings its eerie black metal wail over the top with melodies that are slow to reveal themselves -it’s intelligent, melodic and caustic blackened noise. The closer starts with eerie dark synth ambient in one of the few moments that isn’t a complete clusterfuck of noise, but still sounds dark as all hell before kicking off with more off-beat drums as layers upon layers of guitar, synth and noise all drone away with a slow and deranged din, breaking down towards the end into a noisy electronic mess.
The Emanation of Begotten Chaos from God has to be one of the most original black metal releases I’ve heard in the last few years, and it’s so dissonant, surreal and nightmarish it has to be heard by anyone interested in pushing the genre’s boundaries with it’s harsh and twisted explorations – it it will take more than few listens to unravel the depths of what’s going on as it might sound like a messy din at first, but reveals itself to be a caustic and surreal masterpiece.
«Urknall» is a 7CD box set with all studio recordings of Valborg until 2015. As such, it contains the band’s first five albums «Glorification Of Pain» (2009), «Crown Of Sorrow» (2010), «Barbarian» (2011), «Nekrodepression» (2012) and «Romantik» (2015) as Digipak CDs with entirely new artworks as well as the early demos «Songs For A Year» (2002-2003) and «Radio Valborg» (2004-2006) as cardsleeve CDs. Besides the CDs, the robust slipcase box offers an exclusive, 64-page booklet. «Urknall» is limited to 500 numbered copies.
Label: Back On Black – BOBV293LP Format: Vinyl, LP, Album Country: UK Released: 07 Mar 2011 Style: Black Metal
Fallen is the eighth studio album by the Norwegian artist Burzum, released on 7 March 2011.
The cover art is taken from the painting Elegy (1899) by French painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau.
Fallen was recorded and mixed during two weeks in Grieghallen studios, using a Spector bass with alembic electronics on a VOX AC50 amp from 1965, a Ludwig drum kit (with a 26-inch kick) from 1975, a Neumann M149 microphone and stereo Schoeps CMTS 501 U microphones for vocals, an OBH Nordica Harmony 6487, a custom Stig instrument and a Peavey 23 guitar on a Peavey 6505 (120 Watt) amp.
According to Varg Vikernes himself, “Musically Fallen is like a cross between Belus and something new, inspired more by the debut album and Det som engang var than by Hvis lyset tar oss or Filosofem. The sound is more dynamic – we mastered the album as if it was classical music – and I was more experimental than I was on Belus in all respects. Lyricwise it is similar to the debut album, in the way that it is more personal and focuses on existential issues, but the mythological undertone known from Belus is still there. I have also included some ambient tracks – a short introduction and a longer conclusion”.
Burzum – Fallen Format: Vinyl, LP, Album Ref: BOBV293LP (Solo envíos a España)
€29.75 EUR Envío y manipulación €6,95 EUR (correo certificado con numero de seguimiento) Total €36,70 EUR
Ab’bhau – Devastaciones Bajo El Fulgor Del Vacío (Vinyl, 12″) Label: CAVSAS – CS004 Format: Vinyl, 12″, Album, Limited Edition Country: France Released: 25 Feb 2022 Style: Black Metal, Dark Ambient, Doom Metal, Drone
Ab’bhau’s debut album was forged in fire in the year 2018 after mysterious live apparitions and rehearsal sessions. The aim behind this first exploration was void invocation, void materialization.
The project is formed by established musicians of the Spanish underground noise, experimental, and metal scene. Connections to bands and projects like Black Earth, Suspiral, Inhumankind, Phicus, Triple Zero, Gárgara, or Sudaria can be traced.
The ritualistic essence of this artistic incarnation is based upon the rupture of repetitive patterns through improvisation as a medium to convey abject forces into the shape of what the band has called ‘Black Metal Destruktion’, stemming Heideggerian terminology. A form that appears to disappear or to be registered, but impossible to reproduce.
Even though the recordings vary on the album formats, they are the same album, the same whole, the same essence… exhaled through three different forms of sonic manifestation. Artwork by Heresie Studio.
Double CD with 31 songs, fantastic retrospective vision of the prolific career, in addition to unreleased songs from The Wyrm, limited edition of 50 copies, A5 size book with 28 pages designed by the author.
Doble CD con 31 canciones, fantástica visión retrospectiva de la prolifica carrera, ademas de temas ineditos de The Wyrm, edición limitada a 50 copias , libro tamaño A5 con 28 paginas diseñadas por el autor
The Wyrm is the one man band solo project dedicated to experimental folk, neo and darkfolk, ritual and ambient and is the longest project in the Spanish music scene in this kind of music since 2002, having its base in Madrid.
His inspirations comes from Waldteufeld, Moon Lay hodden Beneath a Cloud, Blood Axis and the first time of Der Blutharsch. Dark, enigmatic, evocative, pagan and ritualísistic. Just a legend
Alcest – Souvenirs D’Un Autre Monde Label: Prophecy Productions – PRO 090LPX, Prophecy Productions – PRO090LPX Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Repress, 10th Anniversary Edition Country: Germany Released: 2017 Style: Black Metal, Shoegaze
Released in 2007, Alcest’s debut album, «Souvenirs d’un autre monde», marks the starting point of the band’s extraordinary career.
With the release of «Souvenirs d’un autre monde», Alcest mastermind Neige forged a luminous new sound that floats on the fringes of metal, yet incorporates emotions of euphoria, bliss and nostalgia. The singer and multi-instrumentalist dedicated the album to his childhood memories of experiences in a spiritual otherworld; personal themes that would become conceptual cornerstones of subsequent Alcest albums.
«Souvenirs…» became known as one of the fundamental releases of the Blackgaze / Post-Black Metal genre, a record that continually influences countless other bands in its wake, and was selected by Pitchfork as one of its «50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time».
Anniversary LP edition: – 180g vinyl (black) – Gatefold cover featuring original LP cover artwork (Not used since the first pressings!) – Din A2 poster with original LP cover artwork – protection sleeve
Tracklist: 1. Printemps Emeraude 2. Souvenirs D’Un Autre Monde 3. Les Iris 4. Ciel Errant 5. Sur L’Autre Rive Je T’Attendrai 6. Tir Nan Og
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.
Empyrium – The Turn Of The Tides (Vinyl, LP) Label: Prophecy Productions – PRO 154LP Format: Vinyl, LP, Album Country: Germany Released: 2014 Style: Black Metal, Neofolk
With their fifth album, Empyrium embark on a new creative phase
Twelve years after their last studio effort «Weiland», Empyrium – the masters of natural ambiances set to music – return with a much-anticipated new album. Notwithstanding their creative break, «The Turn Of The Tides» is an Empyrium-album par excellence, although it bears strong testimony to the artistic and personal growth Schwadorf and Helm have undergone since 2002. The pre-published songs «The Days Before The Fall» (from the compilation «Whom The Moon A Nightsong Sings», 2010) and «Dead Winter Ways (released in November 2013 as a limited vinyl-EP) have already implied that for their new material, Empyrium draw on different forms of musical expression more confidently than ever, yet do not shy away from the wide range their oeuvre has offered so far. Concurrently with the music, the conceptional aspect of «The Turn Of The Tides» attests to a mature and evolved elaboration on Empyrium’s essence. Nature and human emotion as reflected in it still remain subject matter of the songs, but here, too, Helm and Schwadorf choose a more abstract approach. «The Turn Of The Tides» adresses cycles, both within nature – the tides of the sea, the change of seasons, the eternal circulation of water – as well as human life, and insinuates how everything rediscovers itself in everything.
1. Saviour 2. Dead Winter Ways 3. In The Gutter Of This Spring 4. The Days Before The Fall 5. We Are Alone 6. With The Current Into Grey 7. The Turn Of The Tides
