€0.00
Your cart is empty
Back in stock - Extreme Metal and Dark music
Black Vinyl
When FLAGG burst from the void in June 2020 with their debut album, Nothing But Death, the veil of secrecy had yet to be lifted. Which mattered not, when presented with black metal of such sterling quality: both ancient and ageless, old yet new. Their attack was immediately intense, exhibiting a restlessness that's roiling and raging, always moving but always with a target in sight. Eventually, it was revealed that FLAGG hailed from Finland and was the work of selfsame multi-instrumentalist Flagg, who was a part of reanimated old Finnish cult Annihilatus, and vocalist Tyrant, whose hordes include the esteemed likes of MALUM, Infernarium, and Kalmankantaja.
With that lineup thus set, FLAGG return little more than a year later with their second full-length, Cosmic Chaos Manifest. An immediately harsher spin than its not-inconsiderable predecessor, Cosmic Chaos Manifest duly lives up to its title through a shapeshifting style of ultraviolence that retains a unique gleam, one that's paradoxically grittier for all its seemingly on-the-surface clarity. As ever, FLAGG's songwriting strikes true through a skillful balance between burning fire and nightsky melodicism, here actually sounding more richly 1990s - specifically, the oft-overlooked late '90s - than the comparatively modernist grime of Nothing But Death. But, just like that bolt-from-the-blue debut, FLAGG understand archaic expressions, the Old Language of Black Metal, where medieval atmosphere and ghostly portent informed even the most straightforward forms, rendering an air of aristocracy to that of belligerent bravado; now, they're just rendered in more restless, dizzying form.
Isen’s debut album delivers a powerful blend of melodic black metal, diving deep into the aggressive essence of late Norwegian second wave while weaving in melodic elements reminiscent of classic Swedish black metal, yet with a unique twist. Cutting riffs, bleak atmospheres, and organic production converge to form an album that honours the genre’s golden era, yet forges its own dark and evocative path. Each track unfolds like a puzzle piece in a haunting journey through frozen emotional landscapes, where melancholy and fury coexist in eerie harmony. A must-have for any fan of the genre
Limited Transparent Vinyl • Poly-Lined Innersleeve • 3 mm Spined Jacket with UV Spot Print
Written alongside “...And Again into the Light” (2021), this companion piece trades distortion for acoustic resonance – banjo, mandolin, resonator guitar, and twin violins painting a soundscape steeped in frost, memory, and resilience. While the palette is gentler, the themes remain no less weighty: the burden of regret, the passage of time, and the quiet act of holding on – not for oneself, but for those who remind us of our worth.
Inspired by songwriters like Blaze Foley and Townes Van Zandt, “Laurentian Blue” is a record of stark beauty and quiet defiance. It stands as a testament to Panopticon’s ever-evolving spirit – wherever the sound may go, the heart remains the same.