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Digipak CD with 12 pages booklet

Ysyry Mollvün is a conceptual project created by Zupai Ulen in 2012. In November 2015, Antonio Sanna (Downfall Of Nur) met Zupai and offered to be the producer. As time passed by, Sanna got involved in the crating of this project, composing arrangements for acoustic guitars and native instruments such as the charango, sikus, flutes and percussions. The band’s name comes from the words “river” in the Guaraní language, indigenous people from South America (Ysyry) and “blood” in the language of Selk'nam people, the indigenous tribe from southern Argentina (Mollvün).

Ysyry Mollvün tells the story of K'aux, a being that was once a human who was educated by the Selk’nam gods to teach the tribe what was necessary to outlive in the harsh conditions of the extreme south of the world. K'aux betrayed his oath and did not pass on what he learned, and for this reason he was condemned to lie forever, neither dead nor alive, in the center of the earth.

A thousand years later Espíritu del Monte, the god who punished K'aux couldn't understand what happened to the other deities since, except for the god of death (San la Muerte), they were no longer on this earth. All had changed, the people who lived on this earth were more, the flora and fauna that had inhabited no longer existed and everything that was for thousands of years was longer as it had been. Because of this, el Espíritu del Monte decides to wake up K'aux so that he can see with his human's eyes what happened and what must be done so that everything goes back to what once was.

Following their early EPs "My Angel" (1991) and "Constellation" (1994), ARCTURUS finally released their debut album "Aspera Hiems Symfonia" in 1996. The Norwegians derived their name from the brightest star of the Northern hemisphere and were obviously influenced by the massively expanding black metal scene of their homeland. Already featuring such well-known protagonists as ULVER's Garm and MAYHEM's Hellhammer, the line-up on "Aspera Hiems Symfonia" saw Samoth replaced by excellent guitarist Carl August Tidemann and outstanding ULVER bass player Hugh "Skoll" Mingay also joining the band. Despite their audible black roots, ARCTURUS clearly begged to differ by daring to experiment and adding an avant-garde twist with strange sonorous vocals complementing those piercing shrieks, Sverd's cinematic keyboards, the technical guitar solos, and more elements that to this day mark the band from Oslo as progressive innovators.

LP in galaxy effect, oxblood with green. Printed innersleeve

Please note, if you are an Avantgarde Music Circle of Wax subscriber, this release is a part of bundle #3 (February bundle)

Five long years after their fascinating debut, Milan-based duo A Pale December deliver their sophomore album, Death Panacea. Compared to The Shrine Of Primal Fire, Death Panacea steers towards more aggressive, warring sounds. The “atmospheric black metal” label which so aptly described their debut album, is now just one of the many, partial definitions which could be used to define the band’s music.

When asked about their new opus, multi-instrumentalists Riccardo Di Bella and Ernesto Ciotola provided the following, strong statement: “While many metal albums seem to appeal to a feeling of fierceness, a call to war, an urge to fight something, we wanted to express the opposite. Death Panacea is an album about defeat and hopelessness, about the inherent futility of human strife and all our laughable attempts at masking this unescapable nature.

We wanted to praise failing and giving up, as opposed to perseverance, pride and the grinding mentality. We wanted to praise the rejects above the leaders, who naively think they can escape this race towards oblivion, and the coward above the fighting man, whose only fault was believing in the frail concept of nation and a false sense of belonging.

While distancing ourselves from these delusional sentiments, we also didn't want to fall into optimistic nihilism; the idea that the awareness of an impending void can grant any peace is simply preposterous. 

Ultimately, this is the meaning that lies behind the title of the album: death is what keeps us in check and yet is the one and only panacea to all our anguishes. In all this, one could almost find a cold comfort, knowing that the top step of the podium is eventually just a springboard to the abyss”.

Limited edition, one-press 300 copies

Please note, if you are an Avantgarde Music Circle of Wax subscriber, this release is a part of bundle #3 (February bundle)

After two decades devoted to the dark arts within obscure black metal, Wraith (Vanquished) and Luzifaust (Kaifrun, Hostium) present a new chapter, going by the name of Vastatum.

An ancient parallelled entity born into modern existence. Rich with atmospheric maturity and an emphasis on existential impermanence, Vastatum have executed the sonic experience of passing beyond life into death’s immeasurable grasp. Thus melding the elusive soundscapes of disembodiment with the haunting distinctions of absolution. Poetic, and potent, melodic and malevolent.

Vastatum is driven by the dark innate will of creativity and the seductive allure of the occult, and Mercurial States Of Revelation is the first chapter in the band's history. A chapter written in black metal and contemplations upon human existence.

Mercurial States Of Revelation reflects upon the conceptual philosophy that since time immemorial the earth, world and existence (as we comprehend it) have been in a constant state of flux and continual transformation. Thus compelling all planetary inhabitants toward perpetual states of adaptation within a world that is rapidly evolving and transcending beyond the depths of the human species.

Through mighty riffs deeply rooted in both the classic sounds of Norway in the early ‘90s and the Cascadian tradition of the ‘00s, Vastatum find a perfect balance between the old, the contemporary and the esoteric, picturing visions of growing shadows and perishing bodies.

Blue vinyl - official 2022 reissue

Official 2022 reissue