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Back in stock - Extreme Metal and Dark music
It is never easy to follow up with another album, especially considering the impact made by the complex wild flight of musical fantasy of "La Masquerade Infernale". ARCTURUS elegantly solved this conundrum by releasing the comparatively more straightforward third full-length, "The Sham Mirrors" in 2002. This does not mean that the Norwegians had lost their appetite for experiments. The vocals by Garm (ULVER) are more soaring and wide-ranging than ever on this release, while main man Steinar "Sverd" Johnsen keeps adding classic prog rock excursions to his repertoire. Yet, the guitars are more often set to a more conventional metal mode on "The Sham Mirrors". Still complex, still avant-garde, ARCTURUS clearly consolidated their compositions on "The Sham Mirrors" and while still using many sonic elements, those rather serve each individual song than try to stick out.
Austin Lunn’s journey carried Panopticon from the urban density of Louisville to the remote northern reaches of Minnesota. It is here, surrounded by a landscape both inspiring and endangered, that “Det hjemsøkte hjertet” took shape. The album follows an elder hermit in the final week of his life, interweaving childhood memories with a lament for an ecosystem transformed by modern encroachment.
Dense, atmospheric, and unmistakably cinematic, “Det hjemsøkte hjertet” (‘The Haunted Heart’) shifts from the icy aggression of earlier works into something richer and more saturated – a palette of purples and burning oranges fading into dusk. The folk instrumentation once associated with Panopticon has largely receded, giving way to tones reminiscent of Neil Young & Crazy Horse.
The metal foundation remains, but the record’s strength lies in composition rather than speed: layered arrangements, long-form dynamics, and a strong narrative undercurrent. A full orchestral presence runs throughout, with Charlie Anderson’s string performances adding both gravity and movement. Each song features a different guest vocalist – Aaron Charles (Falls Of Rauros, Rhun), Jan Evan Åsli (Vemod), and Jan 'Winterherz' Van Berlekom (Waldgeflüster) among them – introducing distinct colours without compromising cohesion.
Gatefold LP (white/silver/black marble) incl. padded inner sleeve and protection sleeve
Green/black ripple vinyl limited to 300 copies
With their fourth studio album "Hulders Ritual" ('Ritual of the Huldra'), SLAGMAUR break the chains of repetition and nostalgia by rewriting the rules of black metal. This does not mean abandoning the foundations of the genre, which is already indicated by working with the 'inventor' of the 'Norwegian black metal sound', THORNS mastermind Snorre W. Ruch, as an additional producer. The band's founder, General Gribbsphiiser, rather unafraid and with reckless abandon mutates and warps the traditional formula through a host of subtle innovations and tweaks of the classic sound. Although "Hulders Ritual" continues, refines, and widens the daring stylistic balance of SLAGMAUR's previous works, it adds an extra dimension of sardonic mania to its collection of sharp and vicious sonic instruments. Choice guest-contributions that include TAAKE vocalist Hoest, DIMMU BORGIR guitarist Silenoz, and MISÞYRMING frontman D.G., who cover three decades of Nordic black metal make a case in point.
This re-issue of Lifelover's third album, "Konkurs", is the band's first release on Prophecy. "Konkurs" paints a bleak, dystopian vision of modern urban despair with elements of black metal, indie-pop, post-punk, and shoegaze. Whether you love it or you hate it, "Konkurs" will forever alter your perceptions of what can be done with black metal or extreme metal.
Gatefold 2LP (clear/black smoke vinyl) in polylined inner sleeves and protection sleeve (500 copies)
Récits Patriotiques captures FORTERESSE in their rawest form: a rehearsal recording, originally made in preparation for Messe des Morts. Previously available only on CD, this intense snapshot of Québec black metal history now appears on vinyl for the very first time.
Comes in a 6-panel digipack. First batch comes in black polycarbonate CD.
"Despondency Chord Progressions", the aptly-titled and movingly dynamic third album from SELBST, finds the Latin American Black Metal band deepening, clarifying and confidently channelling the dark waters of their already elaborate sound.
Following the bludgeoning restlessness of DMP debut, 2020's "Relatos De Angustia", the band here steps forward with a fully-fledged sense of purpose - balancing introspection and anger via beautifully flowing arrangements brimming with impassioned melodies.
