CD

This split album brings together two entities - one quite prolific, the other brand-new - in the oft-overlooked UK black metal scene. ÚLFARR's name should be more than familiar to those who follow UKBM as well as the crimes of PURITY THROUGH FIRE, for mainman Dominus released the band's debut album through the label in late 2019. Now joined by vocalist Jatvardr, the reinvigorated ÚLFARR quickly whip forth a cold fury on their four exclusive tracks here. Like the '90s never ended, the duo staunchly stick to traditional black metal - no more, but definitely no less - and still come recommended for maniacs of classic Darkthrone and early Ancient. MALFEITOR follow next with four exclusive tracks of their own. The band is the work of one Nosdrahcir, who also numbers the equally-new Wretched Malediction among his current endeavors. Here, MALFEITOR exhibit a comparable grimness, but work with a more measured pace as well as a melancholic melodicism. While making the UK their home, the band's stylistic location would most certainly be Finland, of which PURITY THROUGH FIRE has had a sizable hand in fostering, as exemplified by MALUM, SARKRISTA, GOATS OF DOOM, SACRIFICIM CARMEN, KRYPTAMOK, RIIVAUS, LICHT DES URTEILS, AESTHUS, and many, MANY others. Raise the banners for UKBM!

UHRITULET is the work of one V P, who handles all vocals, instruments, and recording. Much like labelmates SARKRISTA but in reverse, UHRITULET are Finnish by geography but German in sound - specifically, the martial nastiness of olde-worlde Teutonic standard-bearers Luror and Hellfucked. Uhritulet is the band's first public recording, comprising six strident songs in 32 minutes. Pure & proud BLACK METAL, no more but definitely no less, UHRITULET's debut album strikes a blow to modernity, harkening to clandestine days of the '90s underground; the recording alone, a cold & cruel rawness akin to the French Black Legions, feels palpably physical and cannot be faked. Hooks are minimalist but maximally executed, with V P marching forward with a melancholy endemic to his homeland, and a barely concealed / simmering-to-a-boil anger guiding those hooks onward to spiritual victory. As the record plays on, Uhritulet surprises, both within the strictured-yet-textured songcraft but also the mystical synths that crop up during the album's final two songs, "Yhtenä Heistä" and "Yön Soihduissa," closing the record in climactic fashion. Folkloric filth against the modern world, UHRITULET have arrived to ruin your day with Uhritulet!

Collector's Edition in 4-panel digipack with 8-page booklet, limited to 1000 copies.

Only 5 months after their 2023 mini-album "Wastelands", Heretoir release their new intense full-length "Nightsphere"! The new record is a concept album dealing with the struggle between the forces of nature and a world of machines. Humanity is in the midst of this confrontation, and the dichotomy between living as an animal among animals and existing as a cog in the wheel of progress determines the course of the story the five songs tell.

"Nightsphere" is a dark album that weaves atmospheric black metal parts with melodic clean passages, swirling blast beats with calm post rock and ambient sounds, and the intensity of desperate screams with the poignant emotionality of melancholic clean vocals into a musical journey through an archaic world. It is also the first album that was entirely written by the full band, featuring contributions of every single member.

The album features ambient sounds of the long-time befriended project "Hidehidehide" as well as guest-appearances of two giants of the (post) black metal genre - Tim Yatras of "Austere" who fuels the song "Twilight of the Machines" with his anguish and Nikita Kamprad of "Der Weg einer Freiheit" who delivers intense and powerful vocals on "Glacierheart - Nightsphere Part II".

"Nightsphere's" natural and organic but powerful sound was crafted by David Deutsch and Justin Felder at 1408 Productions in Hannover, who were responsible for the mix of the record. Furthermore Nikita Kamprad of "Der Weg einer Freiheit" took care of the mastering of the album. Prepare to dive into a highly atmospheric night-realm and emotional maelstrom with "Nightsphere"!

With a past that stretches back to the late '90s and a patient path that began in 2013 with a moniker change, Brazil's THE KRYPTIK burst forth into brilliance when they aligned with PURITY THROUGH FIRE. In the autumn of 2019 came their acclaimed second album, When the Shadows Rise, a startlingly immersive gem of symphonic black metal, and many finally took notice. A year late came the 40-minute Behold Fortress Inferno, which poignantly expanded on their vast canvas despite "only" being a mini-album. Between these two records especially, THE KRYPTIK proved that "symphonic black metal" need not be a dirty word; with no outside influence from the nowadays "black metal" scene, the duo dependably practiced their mystical arts and erected a grand citadel of sound - an atavistic awakening of when all was simply BLACK METAL, heedless of appellations. 

And so it goes with THE KRYPTIK's massive third album, A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom. Truly titled, the seven-track/70-minute A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom reveals the duo's grandest vision yet: neo-ancient symphonic black metal drenched in the dark waters of the cosmos, a castle of crystalline ice whose spires reach into boundless space. The band's ebon flow continually crests and cascades, synths swirling all about and with utterly magickal effect. The production here in this Darkest Kingdom is clear and sharp - all murk excised for maximum immersion, gorgeous swell, and pulsing violence - altogether sounding incredibly vintage and era-authentic yet somehow fresher than most nowadays black metal recordings. But, that magick largely resides in THE KRYPTIK's songwriting, as each song is an epic in its own right and then are all threaded together as one fever dream: melodicism, majesty, and malice in perfect balance. Thus, A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom follows logically in THE KRYPTIK's continuum whilst pushing their creativity to even-more-breathtaking heights. Have they delivered a classic on par with Witchcraft, The Sad Realm of the Stars, or even Stormblåst? Only time shall be the judge...

Collector's Edition in 4-panel digipack, limited to 500 copies.

Hån's third album "Conquering Magnificent Halls" marks a significant evolution in the band's song structures while maintaining their trademark infectious melodies and steadfast aggression. Mixed and mastered once again at Liquid Aether Audio Studio, this album promises to showcase Hån's relentless dedication to pushing the boundaries of Black Metal.

Collector's Edition in 4-panel digipack with 12-page booklet, limited to 500 copies.

Boréalys is a black metal project formed in northern Québec (in Abitibi). It was around 2015 that Abstrus (ex-Brumes) gave birth to the first guitar riffs, which will eventually serve the EP "Là où les eaux se séparent" (label: Winter Sky/Les Fleurs du Mal/ Non Posse Mori, recorded in the ''Black Amp Studio'' and ''Dans l'Antre'') and the first album "L'héritage" (label: Northern Silence Productions, recorded in the ''Black Amp Studio'' and ''Dans l'Antre''). Somewhere in 2018, Julius (from Black Empire) joined the project for the drums, and later K. (from Wendess) for bass and mix/mastering. In 2020 K. left the band and it is Abstrus who took over the bass for the album "L' héritage", now making Boréalys, a duo.

Only in French, Boréalys is rooted in its history, these tales, and these legends of its terroir. In a defined atmosphere that tells you the memories and customs of their past, the wounds and efforts of their ancestors who colonized this land, but also, a feeling of freedom coming from the infinite forests and the many rivers that make it their fortress. In order to pay tribute to its native language, faithful to its Francophone origins, Boréalys is, and will remain, a project only in French. 

In a heavy and melancholic atmosphere, Boréalys draws its influences from the Scandinavia of the '90s and bands such as Drudkh and Abyssic Hate.

Collector's Edition in 8-panel digipack, limited to 500 copies.

While Arcas’ debut self-titled album took listeners on a mesmerizing journey through serene landscapes, "Where The Light Once Shone" ventures into uncharted territories, delving deeper into the abyss of raw intensity. The contrast between blistering, high-speed black metal passages and moments of eerie tranquility remains at the heart of Arcas' songwriting. However, in “Where The Light Once Shone”, the intensity has been magnified, with ferocious blast beats, razor-sharp riffs, and venomous screams intertwining to create an atmosphere that seethes with aggression and raw power. 

"Where The Light Once Shone" is the product of Enzo's relentless pursuit of perfection. Tirelessly honing his craft, he has poured his heart and soul into crafting this captivating experience. With painstaking attention to detail, Enzo has meticulously recorded, mixed, and mastered each track, ensuring that the album's ferocity is captured in all its glory. 

“Where The Light Once Shone” is an auditory journey that will challenge your senses and transport you to the furthest reaches of your emotional spectrum.

A still-mysterious quintet hailing from the black metal hotbed of Finland, AGANTHROS formed in 2021 and digitally released their debut demo a year later. Those two songs served as a swift foretaste of the band's forthcoming debut album, Syntiset Saatanat Kurjat, which is at last at hand.

Unlike the vast number of bands honoring their homeland's prevailing black metal paradigm, AGANTHROS walk their own left-hand path both lyrically and especially sonically. Those lyrical themes of course include Satanism and the left-hand path; others more or less include the noble tragicalness of humanity and life. Gazing within instead of outside and walking the sewers of the individual and collective subconscious, AGANTHROS on their debut album musically illustrate such pathos through a wide-ranging but always-melodic sturm und drang style of black metal that bears similarities to Finnish iconoclasts Enochian Crescent and Trollheims Grott - or, thinking further afield of Finland, the avant-garde angularity of Ved Buens Ende meeting the spiraling melodicism of Mgla. However, such references are merely a springboard from which to meet AGANTHROS on Syntiset Saatanat Kurjat. From its disarming folk-inflected opening on through the rest of its 41-minute runtime, the album bracingly balances a whole host of extremities that the band masterfully wrangle to their own design, reaping triumphant rumbling on to twisted nightmare psychedelia. You never quite know what's coming next, but AGANTHROS thread it together with punishing physicality and serpentine flow. Refreshingly different and yet timeless all the same, Syntiset Saatanat Kurjat sounds the trumpets for the new/now sound of Finnish black metal.