Signal Rex

Formed in 2015 and hailing from the United States, SERPENTSHRINE are a black metal power-trio literally out of time. Theirs is a sound that proudly and authentically heralds the ancient ways of the 1990s. Raw and rabid but not without a certain nightsky majesty to their blitzed attack, SERPENTSHRINE are poised to elevate themselves out of self-imposed obscurity with the release of their second full-length, Allegiance to the Myth.

Indeed accurately titled, Allegiance to the Myth recalls trace elements of a grand host of noble influences: from prime Throne of Ahaz and Thy Primordial to equally debut-era Ancient and Enthroned, from Malicious-era Gorgoroth and earliest Immortal to old Primigenium and Isvind, SERPENTSHRINE transport the listener to forgotten realms and glorious times. However, such foundational stones would be for naught if it weren't for the trio's skillful songwriting and impassioned execution - the former spanning speed and swirl with deftness and nuance, the latter emitting an otherworldly aspect whilst retaining tangible physicality - altogether making Allegiance to the Myth a record that could be respectably placed within such an archaic timeline.

Hailing from Poland and making their public debut with the demo Ancient Darkness Triumphant in 2020, TEUFELSBERG are a band out of time. The modern "black metal underground" is a vacant void to be shunned, spit upon; for the trio, the elder ways of black metal militancy reflected in the Polish underground during the glorious '90s are to be proudly upheld. And upheld they did with a successive split with comrades MINNESJORD last year, once again through the auspices of SIGNAL REX, in the process building their own dead Christ commune.

And now, TEUFELSBERG fortify it further with their full-length debut, Ordre du Diable. No great changes have been made, thankfully - cold and grim is their march, rendered in raw-yet-clear tones that remarkably retain an era-authentic vibe - but the trio's songwriting has undoubtedly advanced, moving at many speeds and effortlessly evincing a focus that's fiery and finessed in equal measure. Further, their integration of synths is subtle and tasteful, coloring Ordre du Diable in rich hues of velvety purple emanating from deepest black. More simply stated, TEUFELSBERG deliver a record that could've easily come out in 1995: that same mysticism is alive and well here, and DEAD.

Opening with a fug of crypt-dwelling ambience, and the distant howls of the bloodthirsty Wampyre, building through riff and atmosphere towards a clearer skied climax in the more epic medievalism from Ages of Blood. A perfectly ascendent split with euphoric trajectory from the raw to the radiant, balanced by the pivotal Beulenpest who features in both projects.

Maurice De Jonge is one of this millennium's most insanely prolific musicians. Focusing almost entirely on solo-projects, the Dutch master is widely known for the terrifying (and terrifyingly unclassifiable) Gnaw Their Tongues, as well as for a myriad of black metal-oriented projects: among them, De Magia Veterum, Cloak of Altering, Pyriphlegethon, Golden Ashes, Grand Celestial Nightmare, The Black Mysteries, and Dodenbezweerder. And yet, even amongst all those bands and countless more, De Jonge has also created a number of dungeon synth-oriented projects: Schemer Heer, Druk Yul, and most prominently Vetus Supulcrum.

Like many/most of Maurice's projects, Vetus Supulcrum stays true (VERY TRUE) to a subgenre's aesthetic sensibilities but then unabashedly interjects his own personality, making for a journey that's familiar and refreshing simultaneously. In this case, with the latest recording fittingly titled A Shroud of Desolation, Vetus Supulcrum aims for the most bombastic and folkloristic end of the wider dungeon synth spectrum. The root inspiration is very much still black metal, and its themes focused solely on the dark arts and the occult. But with its soundfield sparkling and 3D, A Shroud of Desolation most definitely conveys a soundtrack sensation, one of high fantasy and epic questing, given occasional narration - ominously, authoritatively - by De Jonge himself. It doesn't break any barriers, nor should it have to; the sum effect is simply immersive to the Nth degree.

Highly recommended for those who prize Summoning and Druadan Forest's most orchestral soundscapes, as well as those whose imagination is open to vast green splendor - Vetus Supulcrum will enwrap you in A Shroud of Desolation!

 A grand, dolorous meeting of unclean spirits, Memories from the Fullmoon Forest of Melancholy, in Memoriam Vrolok 1991 – 2021 compiles six exclusive songs across 50 filthy minutes from the bloodthirsty likes of WAMPYRIC RITES, DUNGEON STEEL, VAMPIRSKA, Ecuador’s sorrowful, the mysterious CRÎSSÄEGRÎM, and the brand-new AURAE LUNAE. The occasion for this malfeasance is to celebrate the death of Ecuadorian warrior Vrolok, known in the underground for his work in WAMPYRIC RITES and DUNGEON STEEL – may this compilation provide the soundtrack for his spirit to unshackle itself from the bonds of earthly reality!

V/A - Memories from the Fullmoon Forest of Melancholy, in Memorian Vrolok 1991 - 2021 - CD

Limited to 200 copies!

- Compact Disc Audio with white base

- Jewel Box standard with black tray

- Booklet for Compact Disc 4-page printed on 180g matte paper

A sonic blood pact between two of the nowadays black metal underground’s most promising hordes, this split album between CAPEL BEULAH and OLKOTH features seven exclusive tracks spread across 44 minutes. CAPEL BEULAH are up first, and strike with four ghoulish tracks that are manic delirium incarnate. Righteously raw yet somehow strangely spacious, blitzed and brittle but overwhelmingly physical, almost to the point of perverse headbanging, the UK quartet’s entry here invokes a diabolically authentic first-wave atmosphere. Names thus invoked include very earliest Mayhem, Hungary’s Tormentor, and Germany’s Poison, but there’s a wonderfully strange balance here between ghostliness and trashiness. 

Total of nine tracks, aprox. 40min of pure and raw underground black metal hailing from the depths of the Ecuatorian catacombs.

Combination of the last 2 EP's, MMXIX and MMXX.

From the creative and unmeasurable mind of Sebastien Besson from DYSYLUMN, we present you ABYSSAL VACUUM. MMXIX MMXX  is a compendium of AV most recent EPs released in 2020 and early this year.

Fear not, intense and striking Black Metal from the deep of cosmos!

NOTE: The digital sound of this compilation is not exactly the same as on the respective EPs. A specific treatment was made for the vinyl release to harmonize the two EPs, some samples were also reduced, etc...

"Devilworship Ritual" is the first output by international duo The DEMIURGKH. Proto Satanic Black Metal under total influence of the 60'ies Church Of Satan movement!

Worship or die!

"Devilworship Ritual" was recorded during 2021.

Tracks 1-4 recorded in the abyss of studio during 2021.

Track 5 recorded in rehearsal dungeons during 2020.

Shadows Call comprises a total of 37 minutes and two epic-length tracks, one each from Signal Rex‘s most striking discoveries in recent years, Nathr and Ordo Cultum Serpentis. Nathr are up first with “The Burial,” a nearly-20-minute track that duly lives up its namesake. Plaintive and placid, yet unsettlingly so, for more than half its massive duration, “The Burial” mesmerizes with a strangely beautiful aspect before exploding into a slo-mo crush akin to the cosmos crumbling away, deceptively peaceful in its resigned oblivion. Ordo Cultum Serpentis are second, with the nearly-17-minute “Filii Serpentis Nigri.” Much like their two celebrated EPs last year, the duo sonically approximate a massive boulder ritualistically opening into an impossibly vast tomb. But, like their split-mates, halfway through the track, they surprise with a jarring-yet-somehow-seamless transition into ritualistic blasting, sealing that same tomb with utter finality.

Simply put, blackened doom doesn’t get much better than this. And Nathr and Ordo Cultum Serpentis together a create a complementary work rather than a split “album” full of throwaway tracks. Feel their Shadows Crawl!

Shadows Call comprises a total of 37 minutes and two epic-length tracks, one each from Signal Rex‘s most striking discoveries in recent years, Nathr and Ordo Cultum Serpentis. Nathr are up first with “The Burial,” a nearly-20-minute track that duly lives up its namesake. Plaintive and placid, yet unsettlingly so, for more than half its massive duration, “The Burial” mesmerizes with a strangely beautiful aspect before exploding into a slo-mo crush akin to the cosmos crumbling away, deceptively peaceful in its resigned oblivion. Ordo Cultum Serpentis are second, with the nearly-17-minute “Filii Serpentis Nigri.” Much like their two celebrated EPs last year, the duo sonically approximate a massive boulder ritualistically opening into an impossibly vast tomb. But, like their split-mates, halfway through the track, they surprise with a jarring-yet-somehow-seamless transition into ritualistic blasting, sealing that same tomb with utter finality.

Simply put, blackened doom doesn’t get much better than this. And Nathr and Ordo Cultum Serpentis together a create a complementary work rather than a split “album” full of throwaway tracks. Feel their Shadows Crawl!

High quality cassette, noble gold ink over black cardstock j-card, black ink over gold cassette shells housed in gold norelco audio cassette cases.

Limited to 100 pieces.

High quality cassette, noble gold ink over black cardstock j-card, black ink over gold cassette shells housed in gold norelco audio cassette cases.

Limited to 100 pieces.

High quality cassette, noble gold ink over black cardstock j-card, black ink over gold cassette shells housed in gold norelco audio cassette cases.

Limited to 100 pieces.

High quality cassette, noble gold ink over black cardstock j-card, black ink over gold cassette shells housed in gold norelco audio cassette cases.

Limited to 100 pieces.

Hailing from the modern black metal hotbed of Iceland, ÓREIÐA are an enigma within a scene rife with enigmas. A nameless but by no means faceless entity, ÓREIÐA made its/their first public recording with Demó I in 2016, which was soon released on cassette and 7" vinyl formats at the beginning of 2017 by HARVEST OF DEATH. Ensorcelled by the entity's monolithic trance-out black metal, HARVEST OF DEATH released in late 2017 ÓREIÐA's one-track/20-minute Demó II on cassette, which was soon followed by a split 10" with Portuguese comrades HOLOCAUSTO EM CHAMAS the following year. 

Formed in 2019 in Barcelona, Arna started as a project influenced by more current groups like Spectral Wound but with references in the riffs of more classic groups like Arckanum. Indeed, traces of both - as well as the spectrum of second-wave black metal tropes between the two - are found in plentiful, poignant supply on Dragged to a Lunar Grave, the duo's debut album.

Strangely familiar yet foreign, Arna's sumptuous swell of sound retains mysticism and majesty in equal measure, METAL surge and triumph whilst remaining mysteriously melodic. Those pronounced melodies across the aptly titled Dragged to a Lunar Grave contrast with torn and tortuous voices trying to convey the concept of the album. Death, rituals, personal despair, ancient deities; all these themes are threaded together to explain the introspective character of the human being as thinking and being tormented in all aspects of his life. Conceptually removed, Arna show a mastery of songcraft here, displaying high drama and passionate execution across the album's four succinct-yet-expansive tracks. All told, 29 minutes of epic and windswept black metal classicism, crisp and clean but betraying no small amount of dirt underneath that effervescent exterior.

Initially self-released digitally within the wilds of Bandcamp, Dragged to a Lunar Grave was just far too superior to linger within the morass of mediocrity that platform has largely become. Arna's swords are sharp, gleaming with menace and imagination, and they're aiming straight for your heart!

New mini-album from Poland's fast-rising KRYPTA NICESTWA, Sarkofagi nocnych zjaw, on single-sided 12" vinyl format. Although a relatively new entity, forming in 2018, KRYPTA NICESTWA have feverishly built a considerable canon across two demos and two splits. Across those short-lengths, the duo have duly displayed their geographical constitution, honoring their noble roots with a grim 'n' mystical sound that's poignantly Polish in a most mid-'90s manner. Now, with the four-song/21-minute mini-album Sarkofagi nocnych zjaw, KRYPTA NICESTWA transcend their prior work and strike upon a new sort of mastery. Still grim as ever, the duo's ruminations here are more restless and definitely more haunting, suggesting ghostly expanses in between their reverberating-through-the-night notes. Their black metal is melodic yet miserablist, devilish and delirium-inducing, hitting an absolute peak with the medieval, synth-led swell of "W sferze pzoagrobowego trwania," suggesting cobwebbed corridors they'll explore in the future. Prepare for the Celtic winter with KRYPTA NICESTWA's Sarkofagi nocnych zjaw!

Cold Winds Cleave the Earth boldly and brazenly displays HOLLOW WOODS' full potential across its six-song/39-minute duration. Epic but never belabored, physical but finessed, straightforward but never simplistic: no gimmicks, just hateful black metal. HOLLOW WOODS are always working within the framework of devotion to the primal world and nature mysticism; both can be felt, subtly but assured, across the entirety of Cold Winds Cleave the Earth. The artwork and inspiration for the album's theme stems from Finnish linguist and ethnographer Kai Donner (1888-1935), taken during his expeditions to Siberia.

So pure, so cold, so boundless within its boundaries: HOLLOW WOODS present a new grim majesty with Cold Winds Cleave the Earth.