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Begun in 2004, BARDITUS is a studio & live project of Uwe Nolte, from the cult Orplid. In 2021, after nearly two decades since the first two initial EPs, Nolte revived the project together with Anti-Christian from Stern des Bundes. While Orplid's sound is somewhere between neofolk and neoclassical, with themes ranging from Germanic paganism and Greek mythology to the Christian symbolism of the early Middle Ages and natural romanticism, here with BARDITUS do the duo explore a sound somewhere between paradigmatic neofolk and black metal - or even "acoustic black metal," if you will. And while in Orplid the occidental bastion was defended with the quill, BARDITUS take up the sword and unconditionally profess heroism and love. Now BARDITUS raise that sword highest with their long-awaited debut album, Nibelungentreue. Comprising 14 songs in nearly an hour, Nibelungentreue is everything - and much more - adherents could've hoped for in a BARDITUS full-length. Presaged by 2023's Dein Schwert mini-album, BARDITUS' debut album exudes a parallel passion and power that will be readily recognizable to fans of Orplid, with the pastoral-on-the-surface acoustics joined in their soon-to-be-bubbling-over frenzy by sharp shards of rowdy pagan black metal. And while the latter isn't as prevalent here as on its short-length predecessor, Nibelungentreue's more Spartan soundfield is imbued with even-greater depth: in addition to verses written by Nolte himself, a text of the contemporary poet Rolf Schilling is set to music, and guest performances include Ian Read of the esteemed Fire & Ice and Freya Aswynn, who is a Dutch-born writer and practitioner whose influential works on runes, magic, and a women-centered form of Germanic neopaganism have significantly shaped the modern pagan community worldwide. BARDITUS thus collide bathos and pathos, and harness their most power when the intensity dips - solitude and repose reverberating within the soul of the ancients. Erwache!

By now OFERMOD requires no introduction. Steered by Belfagor aka Mika Hakola since 1996, the Swedish horde have sewn influence and infamy in equal measure.

Now marks the long awaited arrival of “DRAKOSOPHIA”, the bands 5th full-length album in which Belfagor is joined by North American vocalist “Adeptus”, Austrian session drummer “Florian Musil”, and bass by the one and only “Devo” ex-Marduk.

“DRAKOSOPHIA” is genuine Orthodox Black Metal, a subgenre that Belfagor forged nearly 30 years ago as a vessel for Theistic Satanism/ Left hand path esotericism in sonic form.

The essential debut full-length from funeral Doom/Death legends Evoken remastered and available again! A majestic sight of everlasting reign!

Evoken are an essential Funeral Doom Metal band. Give “Embrace the Emptiness” a listen and end up being immensely impressed...

Evoken’s Funeral Doom/Death Metal debut EP remastered and reissued! Raw, bleak and essential!

Doom Metal, perhaps the most varied of all the metal genres, has been crossing over with plenty of other genres, and surprisingly often, the crossbreeding has been fertile. While the “funeral” brand of Doom Metal sounds like something that lacks the genetics to successfully breed with other metal genres, its nihilism works surpringly well when blended with slowed down Death Metal. Among the masters of that gruesome fusion are Evoken from the United States.

This CD compilation captures the first half of INTO DARKNESS' existence, a turbulent journey to the most remote corners of the Universe, powered by the crushing, thundering sound of the best Dutch Death Metal revival ever.
Over one hour of crushing, cosmic Death Metal forged in the traditions of the old Dutch Masters.
For fans of early ASPHYX, PENTACLE, SOULBURN ...

Psychedelic sludge heaviness never stops. SATOR are back once again with their new record “The Dying Light”. Born out of the creativity and the heaviness of the first four records and of the experimental vibe of the splits with Evil Cosby and celebrated dutch experimentators Gnaw Their Tongues, this chapter goes even more back to basics after a crucial step such as 2022’s “The Cleansing Ritual”.
The Dying Light is a dark album but a bit different from what Sator has offered us so far. This time hardcore blends with psychedelic melodies and powerful sludge/metal riffs, with frenetic accelerations and abrupt stops, creating an album that embraces and explores new sounds, taking you into a dark new dimension of volume, anger, and desperation.
The trio has recently welcomed a new drummer, Gelso from experimental post-doom act Ainu and after the release of “The Dying Light” the band, stronger than ever, is ready to play live again throughout Italy and Europe bringing their heaviness on every possible stage.

Natas are back! After the celebrated debut “På veg... til helvette” the Norwegian black metal underground is ready to burst once again with “Mara”, a classic but energetic platter of dirty black metal in the best tradition of the second wave. Sustained by daring vocals and a punk-ish attitude, “Mara” points out, again and again, how Norwegians are able to handle the genre in the best of ways.
 

With this work, SEDNA reach a new synthesis of their sonic language. The album reveals a sound that is raw and instinctive yet more self-aware, one that merges the ferocity of black metal and the weight of sludge and post-metal with a refined melodic sensibility. It is an album that feels like both an open wound and a catharsis: visceral, direct, yet contemplative and profoundly human. While atmospheric black metal remains the most accurate label, to confine SEDNA within a single genre would be limiting. Their music is made of nuances and deviations, a sonic flow that crosses darkness in search of balance between aggression and introspection. “Sila Nuna” stands as the testimony of a fully matured vision, from a band that has learned to turn chaos into form and tension into language