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Greek black metal from the early to mid-1990s is rightfully one of the most celebrated convergences of time and place in the history of the genre.
Comes with an A2 poster of the cover artwork.
"Adelain" was recorded and mixed at Storm studio, June 1995.
Bonus tracks D1 + D2 from Promo Tape 1995, D3 from Promo Tape 1994.
Recorded live 31.08.2024 at Obscure Selections Vol. 1, MeetFactory in Prague, Czech Republic.
Mixed and Mastered by Matti Kynsijärvi, Graphic Design: Kalle Pyyhtinen.
An amazing soundboard recording of their performance captured in Prague CZ.
A true testament to their live ritual power that conjures darkness from beyond human existence.
Total playing time: 67:24
Recorded live 31.08.2024 at Obscure Selections Vol. 1, MeetFactory in Prague, Czech Republic.
Mixed and Mastered by Matti Kynsijärvi, Graphic Design: Kalle Pyyhtinen.
An amazing soundboard recording of their performance captured in Prague CZ.
A true testament to their live ritual power that conjures darkness from beyond human existence.
Debuting on NWN! Productions after six years in the making, the upcoming album “Inexorable Nexus” represents a convergence of power and influence wielded by the nihilistic might of Diocletian in the underground over the last twenty years. The album brings to the forefront their masterful combination of Black, Speed, Grind, Doom, and Death, wreaking havoc and bringing Total War and Total Death upon the listener.
This is the war praxis of dominating underground forces and the unstoppable convergence of Will, leading to the inevitable outcome, which is the new album “Inexorable Nexus.” Chaos reigns. Destroy all with all!
“Inexorable Nexus” conveys an unbreakable or relentless connection between powerful, dominating forces or entities, signifying an unstoppable convergence leading to a particular outcome or state.
Debuting on NWN! Productions after six years in the making, the upcoming album “Inexorable Nexus” represents a convergence of power and influence wielded by the nihilistic might of Diocletian in the underground over the last twenty years. The album brings to the forefront their masterful combination of Black, Speed, Grind, Doom, and Death, wreaking havoc and bringing Total War and Total Death upon the listener.
This is the war praxis of dominating underground forces and the unstoppable convergence of Will, leading to the inevitable outcome, which is the new album “Inexorable Nexus.” Chaos reigns. Destroy all with all!
“Inexorable Nexus” conveys an unbreakable or relentless connection between powerful, dominating forces or entities, signifying an unstoppable convergence leading to a particular outcome or state.
To understand the defining traits of Greek Black Metal, one need only to listen to “The Tressrising of Nyarthotep” by the mighty Varathron. This track, first appearing on the “genesis of Apocryphal Desire” demo, possesses all of the victorious grandeur and tragic melancholia that are the essence of the early 1990’s Greek Black Metal sound. Along with contemporary releases by Rotting Christ and Necromantia, Varathron’s demo material firmly established a style that is thoroughly Grecian in character. Thick with a damp and heavy Hellenistic darkness, Varathron explored a sound that was infused with the epic and the ancient. As with so much of the most evocative and potent Black Metal, the ancient currents are revealed through the expression of the modern. Varathron’s music is as mystical as it is visceral. The recordings on this compilation comprise the earliest seeds of what would become one of the greatest bands in the history of the genre. This collection contains all of Varathron’s work leading the band toward the creation of their monumental debut LP, “His Majesty at the Swamp.” The two demos, “Procreation of the Unaltered Evil” and “Genesis of Apocryphal Desire” reveal the steps that Varathron took that would later come to fruition on their first album. This collection also contains the more refined tracks that were utilized on their first vinyl releases – the “One Step Beyond Dreams“ EP and “The Everlasting Sins” tracks from the split LP with Necromantia – and three additional bonus tracks recorded during the early years. As with the forthcoming Rotting Christ demo collection that NWN! will soon release, the songs on this compilation of Varathron’s early recordings reveal the painstaking emergence of a band’s identity. Absorbed in the context of early works by Varathron’s Greek contemporaries, one also witnesses the development of a sound uniquely specific to a geographic region, so specific, in fact, that it is impossible to imagine such a multidimensional approach to Black Metal originating anywhere else. Both the Regular and Die Hard editions of this release will feature gatefold jackets with artwork by Manuel Tinnemans and layout by Tilmann Benninghaus as well as a 48 page zine booklet. The Die Hard edition will also come with a separate LP (with jacket) featuring the “Live at the Swamp” demo material. Originally released on tape in 2004, “Live at the Swamp” features a live recording and rehearsal recording from 1991. These recordings have been remastered and cleaned up by James Plotkin and the sound quality on this LP, although still quite raw, is markedly better than the original tape version.
PIcture disk, black cloth casewrapped gatefold jacket with black on black foil stamp, 16 page 12″x12″ booklet glued to the left gatefold panel, vinyl sticker.
NO FLAG / NO PATCH
Caixão (“Coffin”) boldly inserted itself into the consciousness of the underground with the release of the otherwise untitled “2020 Demo.” Hailing from Portugal, Caixão is entirely the work of one man, referred to as JG, also known for his superb “Fall to the Idol” zine. Caixão’s debut album, like the demo, exhibits sophisticated composition and musicianship, as well as a staggering breadth of influences deftly woven together to achieve a sound both novel and rapturous. One hears in Caixão the Mediterranean majesty of bands like Varathron, Rotting Christ, Zemial, Kawir, early Moonspell, and Mortuary Drape; the tropical occultism of Mystifier; the hypnotic northern coldness of Beherit and Black Crucifixion; and the outsider unorthodoxy of Master’s Hammer, Root, and Sigh.
Though best known for their magnificent but obscure 1988 album День Гнева, the Soviet band Магнит’s earlier recordings show them in transition as they adopted a heavier sound and moved away from the prog-rock covers of classical pieces on their first self-titled recording. Amid the decline in popularity of classical music and the increasing influence of Western rock ushered in by the opening of the Soviet Union through Gorbachev’s glasnost reforms, Магнит set aside the classical covers in favor of highly technical, melodic hard rock and power metal compositions.
Formed in 1985, Магнит evolved from playing prog rock covers of classical pieces to energetic hard rock and, finally, to the relentless power metal of their lone vinyl release, “Dies Irae.” Following that album, in 1989, the band underwent a schism, and for a while there were two parallel bands operating under that name. Alexander Bobrov, the visionary founder of Магнит, assembled a new group of musicians and recorded a follow-up album called Платим за всё, which was first issued as a reel-to-reel tape in 1990 under the Магнит name, but changed it to Кредо for the vinyl edition.
Though active for just a few years, from 1985 to 1989, Магнит’s only full-length vinyl release, День Гнева, has since achieved cult status among fans of Soviet-era metal, bringing the band international recognition. As with most obscure rock and metal bands from the former Soviet Union, the details surrounding Магнит’s history are murky. Formed by keyboardist Alexander Bobrov, who primarily acted as the band’s art director and only occasionally performed on the recordings, Магнит evolved out of the Фантазия ensemble, which was associated with the Moscow Philharmonic and, since the mid-1970s, played traditional folk music before gravitating toward more popular sounds. Магнит emerged in 1985 as a symphonic rock band, performing renditions of classical pieces by composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Bartok, Prokofiev and Frescobaldi. The earliest incarnation of the band featured three keyboard players, accompanied by a guitarist, bassist, and drummer, all of whom were classically trained. Through the patronage of the Belgorod Philharmonic Society in St. Petersburg, Магнит recorded their first self-titled recording, consisting entirely of classical music played in something of a prog-rock style, which they self-released on reel-to-reel tape—then a common format in the Soviet Union. By that time, however, classical music’s popularity was on the decline as contemporary styles were gaining cultural momentum, causing Магнит to pivot toward a heavier rock sound, shedding and replacing some former members in the process. (All told, more than a dozen musicians contributed to the band during its brief existence.) In 1987, Магнит released Детектив (“Detective”), a four-song EP showcasing their new heavy rock-oriented sound. Later that same year, Магнит released another EP entitled Слушай рок (“Listen to Rock”), further defining the band’s new, heavier direction. Like the self-titled recording, both Детектив and Слушай рок were only available on reel-to-reel tape, featured no cover artwork, and remained virtually unknown until 2023, when they were first reissued on CD. But the band’s sound did not come to fruition until the release of День Гнева (“Dies Irae”) in 1988 by the state-owned record label Melodiya. Founded in 1964, Melodiya was the only label in the country until the collapse of the Soviet Union. In terms of sound, imagery, and lyrical content, День Гнева reflected new era of glasnost and perestroika advanced by Mikhail Gorbachev as he instituted a series of reforms aimed at opening Soviet society. The severe cover art mostly consisted of sharp, stylized text set against a black background with an inset image taken from a painting entitled “Hourglass” depicting Stalin peering into the lower bulb of an hourglass, watching skulls pass through the neck and accumulate at its base. The artist, Pyotr Alekseyevich Belov, who died the same year День Гнева was released, was known for his work as the head artist of the Theater of NV Gogol, and, later, the Central Theater of the Soviet Army. He produced a series of anti-Stalinist paintings between 1985 and 1988, during the twilight of the Soviet state. Political themes appear in the lyrics as well. Most notable, perhaps, was the inclusion of passages by the Russian poet Osip Mandelstam whose criticism of Stalin—whom he referred to as a “peasant slayer”—led to his temporary exile from Moscow in 1933, and, just five years later, to his imprisonment in a Gulag where he died of typhoid. By the time День Гнева was released, Магнит’s sound had undergone a complete metamorphosis. The band’s classical tendencies are still apparent on the album but channeled into aggressive power metal, their virtuosic and hyper-technical performances tempered by the raw production and unique, unpredictable composition making День Гнева one of the most successful examples of a band synthesizing classical and contemporary sounds.
Like a horror clawing its way out of the darkest pits, Profane Order’s ‘Tightened Noose of Sanctimony’ returns for the vinyl treatment. This destructive EP was originally set on an unsuspecting world in 2017, announcing the Montreal band’s arrival as feral force of bestial Black Metal. With a bristling arsenal of snarling riffs, breakneck blasting and disembodied roars, it represents the group’s first fully-formed release - a distillate of raw aggression and nightmares to come. From the disease-ridden guitar breaks of opener ‘Sick Seed Eradication’ to the slow burning torture of ‘Morbid Lust’, the first invocation of the group’s vile sound can be heard this merciless release. Now finally available in 12” vinyl format via Nuclear War Now! Productions, this special reissue includes twisted new artwork from Nether Temple Design and an insight into the band’s live form, with two bonus live tracks from the Messe Des Morts IX festival in 2019.
It is with tremendous pride that NWN! presents Nuclearhammer’s most potent manifestation to date. The album opens with a sprawling 12 minute track of atmospheric bestiality—the persistent and repetitive nature of which immediately casts a disorienting, hypnotic shroud upon the listener before culminating in a swirling and surreal display of the variegated hues of cataclysmic Luciferian splendor. Filling the interstitial spaces between the band’s hypnotic and opaque deathscapes are otherworldly electronic drone interludes punctuated by convulsive outbursts of Death/Grind violence such that the entire album dilates and contracts with cosmic grandeur. The resulting sound evinces an extreme sense of intentionality and control.
-160 gram vinyl.
-3mm jacket printed on thick cardstock.
-12″ insert.
-A2 poster of the NWN/Hospital Fest in Osaka.
With their second album, “Satan Soldier of Fortune”, Departure Chandelier weave in reverse order the process of Napoleonic battlefield cleanup against self-coronation and the emperor’s ascent to deity whom profited off the fallen of both sides. While the dying are stripped naked to fertilize the countryside, boots and teeth are hurriedly taken for sale in Paris. Blood soaked coins fill the grave robber’s purse, the jangling song heard all the way to Notre Dame. Against the backdrop of the throne Illuminated by the bivouac fires, fallen men, horses and cannon wagons churn like twisted celtic knots across the sea of the battlefield as the coronation begins. Dressed in the gown of swarming Merovingian bees, a wreath of laurel arched above his skull, the Regent diamond flashes in the hilt of the Antichrist’s saber encrusted on the gold scepter – rising in his hand, yet unable to support the weight of Charlemagne’s crown. What is dark if Lucifer’s light? Compositionally wild but rich in melody, the band’s unique combination of perched guitars and impending choral keyboards beneath raw unhinged vocals spearheading lyrics of existential rebellion captures the necro sound of old French black metal. The arrangements are shorn of needless complexity, yet greater than the sum of their parts purportedly recorded on the same 4-track with the old distortions and synths used on ‘Antichrist Rise To Power’ now immortalized on their Occult Antiquities imprint. Indeed, nearly five years in the making, Their Death Is Alive Again!
STREAM TWO SONGS AT THIS LINK
With their second album, “Satan Soldier of Fortune”, Departure Chandelier weave in reverse order the process of Napoleonic battlefield cleanup against self-coronation and the emperor’s ascent to deity whom profited off the fallen of both sides. While the dying are stripped naked to fertilize the countryside, boots and teeth are hurriedly taken for sale in Paris. Blood soaked coins fill the grave robber’s purse, the jangling song heard all the way to Notre Dame. Against the backdrop of the throne Illuminated by the bivouac fires, fallen men, horses and cannon wagons churn like twisted celtic knots across the sea of the battlefield as the coronation begins. Dressed in the gown of swarming Merovingian bees, a wreath of laurel arched above his skull, the Regent diamond flashes in the hilt of the Antichrist’s saber encrusted on the gold scepter – rising in his hand, yet unable to support the weight of Charlemagne’s crown. What is dark if Lucifer’s light? Compositionally wild but rich in melody, the band’s unique combination of perched guitars and impending choral keyboards beneath raw unhinged vocals spearheading lyrics of existential rebellion captures the necro sound of old French black metal. The arrangements are shorn of needless complexity, yet greater than the sum of their parts purportedly recorded on the same 4-track with the old distortions and synths used on ‘Antichrist Rise To Power’ now immortalized on their Occult Antiquities imprint. Indeed, nearly five years in the making, Their Death Is Alive Again!
STREAM TWO SONGS AT THIS LINK
Greek black metal from the early to mid-1990s is rightfully one of the most celebrated convergences of time and place in the history of the genre.
Bonus tracks 9 & 10 from Promo Tape 1995, 11 from Promo Tape 1994.
OFC’s third and final album, An Ending in Fire, is a visionary masterpiece, the conceptual zenith of the band’s work, drawing a nexus between the chthonic depths of consciousness and the vast, black emptiness of the universe. Members went on to form Ares Kingdom, Angelcorpse, Vulpecula, etc.
OFC’s third and final album, An Ending in Fire, is a visionary masterpiece, the conceptual zenith of the band’s work, drawing a nexus between the chthonic depths of consciousness and the vast, black emptiness of the universe. Members went on to form Ares Kingdom, Angelcorpse, Vulpecula, etc.
Released in 1995, OFC’s sophomore album of martial mysticism and Promethean glory. The light of man and the sublime violence of the synaptic pulse. The dawning of the Conqueror of Fear. Released for the first time as a standalone LP. Members went on to form Ares Kingdom, Angelcorpse, Vulpecula, etc.
Released in 1995, OFC’s sophomore album of martial mysticism and Promethean glory. The light of man and the sublime violence of the synaptic pulse. The dawning of the Conqueror of Fear. Released for the first time as a standalone LP. Members went on to form Ares Kingdom, Angelcorpse, Vulpecula, etc.
OFC’s 1992 debut LP of black death metal savagery and dystopian nihilism delivered with militaristic precision. A perfect clash of Sodom/Bathory with Sacrilege/Bolt Thrower. Singular and 100% unique to this day. Members went on to form Ares Kingdom, Angelcorpse, Vulpecula, etc.
