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Back in stock - Extreme Metal and Dark music
Svart Records proudly present the Black- and Doom Metal pioneers Unholy’s compilation of early material – Demology out on July 19th
“Unholy are arguably the most original, avant-garde, definitive, and important Finnish extreme metal band. The paths they have walked have always been lonely and unknown, entering to the deepest celestial forests and psychic graveyards, and the treasures found there dark and exquisite. This compilation consists of their three legendary demos, of which Trip to Depressive Autumn is the best recording ever done in Finland, of any genre or style”.
- Albert Witchfinder, Reverend Bizarre
Svart Records is set to release the compilation album “Demology” by Finnish avant-garde death doom metal band Unholy. Including their early demo recordings "The Procession of Black Doom" (1990), "Demo 11.90" (1990) and "Trip to Depressive Autumn" (1992), this is the first time these demos are in the same package with exclusive liner notes.
Unholy emerged from the eastern Finnish town of Imatra in the late '80s. After changing their name from Armageddon to Holy Hell and eventually to Unholy, their mission was simple; to create harder, heavier, and slower music than their idols Black Sabbath and Celtic Frost. The lyrical themes and ideas for the songs came from Satanism, mysticism, anti-Christianity, mushroom trips, and shamanism among others. Finnish deep ecologist Pentti Linkola also inspired the band and their music. Some of the songs came up naturally by jamming riffs and others entirely by improvisation.
While the first two demos already made Unholy a force to be reckoned with, the release of “Trip to Depressive Autumn” caught the attention of the underground metal scene and various labels. The band was hungry for a recording contract, and it finally came into realization when Lethal Records released their debut album “From the Shadows” in 1993.
“Demology”, mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano at Orgone Studios, is out on July 19th. Available formats include the Svart exclusive 2LP black/white marble vinyl, 2LP limited transparent red vinyl, 2LP classic black vinyl, and the 2CD edition.
If we take a look back at the very dark past of the birth of Finnish death metal, Disgrace was one of the originators among bands like Abhorrence, Belial, Xysma, Beherit, Funebre, etc. The late '80s were days of active tape trading, playing gigs wherever possible—mostly in local youth centers—and creating new music out of sheer frustration. Was it the geographical location of Finland, with its long winters and absence of light, that gave Finnish death metal that extra feeling of gloom and darkness? Even though you can hear some sort of “trademark” sound that comes to Finnish bands, the scene was vital in those days, and everyone was doing their own thing.
Disgrace recorded their first demo in 1989, which has been buried in time and dust. Luckily, their "Beyond the Immortalized Existence" and "Inside the Labyrinth of Depression" demos—both recorded in 1990—and the "Debts of God" EP (1990) have survived and are compiled into the "1990" release, which is now available again in a limited edition of 500 vinyl copies. These demos and EP document Disgrace at their most brutal and primitive, yet young and bloodthirsty. This is true grinding and murky death metal where you can hear influences from fellow bands like Xysma and Funebre, but also from UK and Swedish bands like Carcass (just listen to the track "Deprive My Innermost"), Bolt Thrower, Carnage, and Nihilist. Disgrace wasn’t afraid to include some doomier and groovier rocking parts into their sound even in the early days. Disgrace guitarist and vocalist Jukka Taskinen himself said that the Canadian band Voivod was the biggest influence to start the band, and there’s an obvious nod to those Quebecian sci-fi thrashers in the intro of "Debts of God."
Finnish death metallers Disgrace released a bunch of demos and one EP before their first full-length album, “Grey Misery,” which was released in 1992. The Finnish metal scene was flourishing with releases during those days—many of them are recognized as immortal classics among die-hard maniacs around the world: Slumber of Sullen Eyes, Member of Immortal Damnation, The Karelian Isthmus, Children of the Scorn, to name a few. And, of course, Grey Misery!
A bunch of classic albums, each with its own distinct sound and style, emerged during that time. Disgrace stepped up their game from their demo days, recording and mixing Grey Misery at Timo Tolkki’s TTT studio in May 1991. It was originally released on vinyl, CD, and tape by the Modern Primitive label in 1992. The band remembers that everything went smoothly during the recording process. It is evident that Disgrace practiced a lot and sharpened their songwriting skills without compromising the brutality in their delivery. Grey Misery takes the listener through nine tracks of organic, gloomy, groovy, and heavy-as-hell grinding death metal. Jukka Taskinen and Toni Stranius’ guttural double vocals still remind us of Bill Steer and Jeff Walker from Carcass. Some of the riffs also bear a resemblance, no doubt about that, but Disgrace managed to present their own blend of Finnish brutality with groove and almost prog-rock-like technical parts in some tracks. After Grey Misery, Disgrace decided that their days of death metal were over and transitioned to a brighter style with garage punk and rock’n’roll. That is a whole different story altogether.
Ole Alexander Halstensgård, Kristoffer Rygg, Tore Ylwizaker and Stian Westerhus – went full isolation in their studio below the haunted hill, fantasizing about bygone nights of slasher, exploitation, and giallo. Three or four months went by, the band returned to the living, and sent their radiophonic workshop experiments off to the Dogs of Doom, France, where friend and fellow film freak, Carpenter Brut did a razor-sharp mix before taking it to Thibault Chaumont (Deviant Lab) for the master.
Scary Muzak, on one hand a homage to Carpenter’s themes – five out of twelve tracks are covers whereas the rest comes from the outer realms – and on the other zooming out on the aesthetics of the late ’70s and early ’80s popular culture. It is perhaps the Norwegians’ most hauntological moment, whirling up themes and moods, horrors and mysteries hidden in the foggy back alleys of your youth. Imagine the gloomy siblings of Les Humphries, Gert Wilden, and their respective orchestras, armed to their teeth with synths, pads, FX. Sometimes classy and chilling, other times amusingly smooth and sleazy, and at times outright beautiful in its suspense-filled vigour, Scary Muzak is an inspired, goblinesque addition to the ever-expanding Ulver catalogue. Interior films, remember?
The re-release of a startling album
Vemod from Trondheim/Norway are one of the most promising and visionary bands of the vibrant, eclectic contemporary metal underground and have already made quite an impact in well-informed circles. Combining such diverse influences as Ulver, Dead Can Dance, Brian Eno and Paysage d'Hiver, the three musicians pursue a unique musical and aesthetical approach, thus reaching a distinct expression and atmosphere at an early stage of their career.
Vemod's first full length album "Venter På Stormene" (English: "waiting for the storms") was originally released in 2012 and is now reissued by Prophecy on a larger scale. Separated into the two parts "Over jord, vandrende" ("throughout the earth, wandering") and "Over himmel, flammende" ("throughout the heavens, flaming"), the album is conceived as a twofold manifestation of inner movements and a rising star, a contemplation upon the yet-again-sacred. The marriage of dark ethereal metal and atmospheric ambient soundscapes celebrates and cultivates the Vemodian essence within the realms of deep feeling: the result after years of slow but steady maturation and a bridge towards the future. Beyond sun and moon, we are born anew.
Pagan black metal band formed in 1991 in Wrocław, Poland.
Graveland’s style has changed from raw black metal on the early albums to a more epic sound which is inspired by Hammerheart-era Bathory. Lyrically, on the early works Rob Darken was inspired by Celtic beliefs, now he’s Wotanism-orientated and calls his music “epic pagan metal”.
FOSSILIZATION, one of the most acclaimed and praised newcomers in the underground recesses of the contended and highly demanding Death Metal feud, are finally back with their first full album 'Leprous Daylight', their most crushing and brutally wrenching release! 8 new savage tracks soaked in doomy despair, maliciously crafted and fiercely executed, a must have for all the fans of the brazilian band and the whole Death Metal genre! For fans of Dead Congregation, Krypts, Spectral Voice, Incantation.
Dive into the sonic abyss with Borgne’s new album. Between chaos and hypnotic melodies, the Swiss band redefines the boundaries of industrial black metal. An immersive, cold, and suffocating masterpiece where hammering rhythms and synthetic layers merge into a nihilistic whirlwind. For those who crave raw intensity and mesmerizing soundscapes. Much more than a simple album, it's a manifesto, a reincarnation, a cry emanating from nothingness. This new opus marks an essential quest: to reappropriate a dissolved identity, to draw on the darkness to be reborn in a strange, infinite world devoid of hope. Each track is a catharsis, a journey between destruction and reconstruction, where darkness becomes a creative force.
