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Black Metal history written by the Czech messengers of darkness!

In 1988 two years prior to the iron curtain’s fall and at a time when playing Rock music could easily land you in jail for violating communist law, Jiří “Big Boss” Valter and Petr “Blackosh” Hošek decided to join forces to found ROOT. Adverse conditions and very low funds couldn`t prevent the eager bunch from marching forward, though. When Big Boss who wasn`t yet the band’s singer but played drums before switching to vocals for good on the fourth demo and ROOT’s guitarist Blackosh found the late Dr. Fe who did vocals on the first 3 demos and Dr. Zet on second guitar, ROOT were ready to strike.

During their initial pre-album stage ROOT managed to come up with 4 legendary demos before eventually releasing their debut album Zjeveni in 1990. Although influences from BATHORY and VENOM are apparent especially on the first 3 demos, ROOT – right from the start – managed to carve their own idiosyncratic niche. Thrashy riffs, a total lack of bass, stomping, primitive drums and Dr. Fe’s original Czech vocals are mingled with and interspersed by acoustic interludes, strange spoken word passages, incantations and samples from movies resulting in an eerie, off-kilter cocktail unheard of even today. It wasn’t until the fourth demo The Trial when Big Boss finally took over vocal duties that ROOT had finally found their unmistakable sound, though. In terms of songwriting and recording quality undoubtedly the best demo of the bunch, The Trial has everything ROOT would go on to develop further on their subsequent albums.

Exactly 10 years after ROOT’s tape box was released by Darkness Shall Rise we are extremely thrilled to offer you this luxurious compilation of the first 4 groundbreaking demos of one of Black Metal’s founding fathers on various formats.

For the first time ever all audio-files were restored and mastered from the original tapes by Patrick W. Engel.

2CD jewel-case, 32-page booklet.

Thrashy Death Metal excellence from the pits of the Norwegian Metal underground

CADAVER was the first Norwegian band to push the limits of speed with blast beats that the scene hadn’t yet witnessed. From the DIY “hairdryer-and-distortion” effects used to simulate thunder in their early intros to their avant-garde approach to songwriting, this release is a essential document of a band that refused to fit into a box.

Prior to Norway becoming synonymous with Black Metal, the land of fjords gave rise to many a noteworthy Death Metal band too. After having recently reissued THOU SHALT SUFFER’s whole musical history, we at Darkness Shall Rise productions are immensely pleased to offer you another slab of historically important Norwegian Death Metal. Founded by underground legend Anders Odden in 1988, CADAVER produced a couple of highly influential demos eventually securing them a deal with CARCASS members’ Jeff Walker’s and Bill Steer’s label Necrosis records for their landmark album Hallucinating Anxiety in 1990.

This long-overdue compilation covering the whole output produced by Norwegian Death Metal kings CADAVER before the release of their landmark album will surely please any fan of the band and then some.
Coming with a huge booklet in old fanzine style and containing a shitload of pics on top of a very detailed interview with Anders about the early days of CADAVER, this retrospective release is both mandatory for fans of CADAVER and anyone interested in the early days of Death Metal.

A vital document of early Norwegian Death Metal history.

The songs were completely new remastered from the original tapes by Patrick W. Engel at the Temple of Disharmony.

2CD jewel-case with 32-page booklet.

Blackened Heavy Metal hex STREGA unveils its first spell: "Stryx Strega Strygae" drops three astonishing songs which seems to be summoned from a never existed old dark fantasy saga of a unique bewitching charm.

With members of Ponte Del Diavolo, Darkend and The Headless Ghost, "Stryx Strega Strygae" features a style mixing 80's Heavy Metal classics with the eerie voices of Black Metal and sinister, theatrical scenarios. Furthermore, all lyrics are in Arrakyan, the band's peculiar language.

The hex has been cast. Expose your soul to the curse and get bewitched!

FFO: Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, King Diamond, Bewitched, Morgul Blade, Black Magick SS.

MEK NA VER is the parallel dimension, the invisible and astral realm where only the deepest sensations dwell, the feelings words cannot describe, the unseen. It is the place where pain, regret, and abandonment arise and exist in pure form, without the need for definitions.

With a line-up featuring members of the legendary Symphonic Black Metal band OPERA IX and ex-ABORYM, this second album "Noctivaga" is a must-listen for every hard-core fans of the genre. More specifically, Atmospheric music in the vein of Saor and the Northern Silence releases, with a strong backbone of second wave black metal.

This album is a descending journey into witch-related mournings, an ontological widowhood, the radical rejection of linear time and light. Through witchy archetypes, it explores the stages of the disintegration of the veil.

The artwork, painted by Dipsas Dianaria herself, depicts a wintery landscape inhabitated by an owl; a perfect depiction of the album's atmospheres and symphonies: cold, sheer and magical.

Steeped in an esoteric folklore of decadence, "Noctivaga" is an invitation to lose yourself in the call of the dark.

IMBOLC third album "Sette Cornici di Purificazione" displays a sound and style that ranges from classic up-tempo Melodic Black Metal to passages featuring classical-acoustic guitars, very often supported by synths inspired by '70s and '90s horror films, with a surprising result of various influences in a pretty much old school formula.

The riffing is still a powerful backbone of the IMBOLC sound, supported by a notable melancholy and, musically speaking, a mixture of second-wave Melodic Black Metal and Post-Black Metal in the vein of Agalloch and first-era Satyricon. The themes are once again centered on inner suffering, the discomfort of everyday life and the worthlessness of human beings, once again with references to the old horror movies.

IMBOLC line-up features members of the notable Occult Black Metal band Darkend, along with relevant italian Death Metal bands such as Demiurgon and Unbirth.

Eleven years after their last album, the Turin-based ADVERSAM, a historical staple of the Italian Black Metal scene, return with "Daimon".

Best known for their acclaimed 1999 debut "Animadverte" (Scarlet Records), ADVERSAM's force is all but spent: with "Daimon", the band confirms its ability to evolve a style rooted in classic Black Metal while constantly regenerating through modern and original insights.

The resulting sound is often suggestive in its expression, yet consistently fierce and visceral. Rhythmic speed remains the cornerstone of ADVERSAM's style, expertly balanced by atmospheric, gloomy synths and elevated by a meticulous technical attention to details.

Thematically, the lyrics of "Daimon" — inspired by the reflections of C.G. Jung and the intuitions of G. Rol — delve into the meaning of existence and the dark nature of humanity. The album questions the essence of evil and explores the vast potential of the mind and consciousness.

For fans of: Emperor, Abigor, Immortal, Dark Funeral, Handful of Hate

Aggression, freezing atmospheres, razor-sharp melodic tremolo picking, and galloping thrash rhythms: these are the elements on which SCYTHE OF MEPHISTO build their wall of sound.

The architecture of the compositions on “Till Life Do Us Part” relies on guitar harmonies that evoke a sense of majestic melancholy, often transitioning into sinister soundscapes; the percussion maintains a relentless onslaught of blast beats and sophisticated fills, providing a high-energy backbone. Vocally, the performance delivers a venomous, high-pitched rasp that cuts through the mix.

Each track feels like a calculated descent into a moonlit abyss, where the songwriting prioritizes memorable hooks and triumphant crescendos over mindless noise. Ultimately, the synergy of these elements captures a distinct sound and aesthetic that remains both sophisticated and unapologetically extreme.

Following the tradition of legendary Swedish Black Metal bands, SCYTHE OF MEPHISTO channel the savage energy of the underground into “Till Life Do Us Part,” balancing relentless, aggressive Swedish Black Metal with atmospheric interludes and memorable clean passages.

For fans of: Dissection, Unanimated, Lord Belial, Necrophobic, Watain

After the previous acclaimed EP "Stryx Strega Strygae", the Blackened Heavy Metal hex STREGA opens a new chapter of the Arrakyan saga: "Mors Mortiys Morte".

With this three-songs new EP, STREGA furthermore sharpens its dark, blackened classic Heavy Metal flair. With a stylistically enhanced 80's Metal core and Goblin-inspired keyboards sections, this new record enhances both epicness and theatricality in STREGA's music, unfolding its character, attitude and atmosphere. Refined song's structures, style-changing vocals, rhythmic variations, quality classic Heavy Metal riffing and enigmatic yet technical keyboards sections are key points in STREGA's style, whose mix of influnces outline a unique formula.

FFO: Iron Maiden, King Diamond, Goblin, Bewitched, Morgul Blade, Black Magick SS, Nite.

Gli Alberi are an Atmospheric Post-Metal band formed in Turin in 2012. Their lyrics explore themes such as nature, spirituality, environmental issues, and the end of the world. They have released two albums: The Glimpse (2017) and Reinhold (2022); this last one being a concept album about the Messner brothers' ascent of Nanga Parbat.

“Maturafine” is their third record and is a concept album about deserts: the desert as an arid place, but also as a place without man, even if populated by different forms of life. Deserts of prayer, of temptation, of loss—such as the Rub' Al-Khali, the "Empty Quarter" of the world; the Australian desert, with its myths of the Dreamtime; or the Kazakh desert, with its fishing boats lying motionless on the dried-up bed of the Aral Sea. These are ecosystems that we have transformed and plundered, adapting them to our idea of civilization. Over all of them blow the same sands and the same warning: the time is ripe—the end looms over us.

Musically, it is a long journey through various genres such as Doom, Post-Rock, and Blackgaze, in a world where synths and arrangements based on both Rock and Metal take the listener through a meaningful and touching path. Female, male and extreme vocals will be your guides.

FFO: The Gathering, Les Discrets, Alcest, Messa, We Lost The Sea, In Tormentata Quiete

Intense razor-sharp Swedish Black Metal attack!
Formed in Stockholm in 2016, Flykt emerged as an essential creative outlet for those involved and as a sign of defiance amid decay,
operating from the periphery rather than the center.
In 2019, the band released its debut full-length album, “Charnel Heart”, through Folter Records. Later the same year, Flykt followed up with
the two-track EP “Through the Earth and Through the Sun”. Since then, Flykt has continued its work away from view, shaping the material
for its second full-length album.
In 2025, the band signed with Hammerheart Records. Their second full length album “Sinister Strain” is set for release in the summer of 2026.

Graveir, forged in the oppressive underground of Brisbane in 2014, deliver a uniquely unorthodox take on black metal—melding dissonant, riff-driven weight with warped, unsettling melody. Known for their intense, unease-soaked live shows and uncompromising sound, the band continues to carve their own path.

The Festering Triad, their third album, is a bleak vision of societal decay and corrupted power. Across eight tracks, bile-fuelled aggression surges through anxiety-ridden drums, convulsing guitars, and serpentine basslines—forming a suffocating, venomous descent into rot.

For Fans Of: Marduk | Shining | Gorgoroth