CD

Giving a follow up to a masterpiece like Black shining leatherà was hard, but C.F. confirms their unique class in creating a waird opus like this, true Black Metal.
 

The band is not newcomers, but they are bringer of new impulses. Challenging the spiritual possibilities of seeing beyond the void and into the nothingness of nothing. Opening your ears and hearts to the underworld of nihilism and despair. Taking their name from the Mesopotamian monster figure Anzû. Described as a divine storm bird who could breathe fire and water or in some descriptions as a lion-headed eagle. Either also as the personification of the southern wind and the thunder clouds.

Their music speaks for itself, however. Fabolous musicianship on every instrument and a great live band, they have managed to create their own sound and image of another world in their own special way.

This new opus plunges into the abyss, where ancient rites and mythic forces collide. From the crumbling remains of mortality to the furious storm of Sumerian fiends, KUR pulses with raw emotion, evoking despair, awe, and a confrontation with the unknown. Amidst these powerful themes, the eternal dance between life and death, pride and submission, unfolds.

Prepare to be cast into the depths of KUR, where you’ll be beckoned to confront the void—and in doing so, transcend it.

Digipak Limited 200

NOVEMBERS DOOM return with their twelfth full-length album, which is entitled "Major Arcana". Following six long years after their acclaimed latest opus "Nephilim Grove" (2019), the American dark metal stalwarts have raised the stakes even higher by creating a conceptual album that thematically draws inspiration from tarot and divination. This overarching theme reflects in the artwork and design of "Major Arcana" as well as in the lyrical storytelling throughout the album. Founded in 1989 in Chicago, Illinois by vocalist Paul Kuhr, NOVEMBERS DOOM have continued to grow and evolve over more than three decades. Initially emerging as one of the leaders of American death doom, their debut album "Amid Its Hallowed Mirth" in early 1995 set the band firmly on a dark musical course. Over the following years, they have gradually refined and developed a style that they have coined "dark metal". NOVEMBERS DOOM's mastery of seamlessly blending their death metal and doom roots with progressive, folk, and classic rock influences has allowed the band to grow and change in fresh and surprising ways, while always retaining their signature feel and atmospheres that have remained a constant throughout the band's career. From the hauntingly ethereal vibes of the opening track, 'June', through brutally crushing songs like 'Ravenous', as well as the epic sadness and yearning of tracks like 'Mercy' and 'Bleed Static' to the frenetically energetic hooks found on 'The Fool' and 'Dusking Day', their twelfth opus witnesses NOVEMBERS DOOM covering a wide range of sounds and emotions. Get ready to hear "Major Arcana" and to see it unleashed onto an eagerly anticipating world!

The most prominent and significant American death/funeral doom emissaries EVOKEN succeed their 2018 landmark Hypnagogia album with their seventh full-length opus Mendacium set for release on Oct 17. A work that will reveal itself as one of the darkest and most oppressive EVOKEN albums among their unparalleled repertoire.

Where 2018’s Hypnagogia would see the band capture and focus on a more melancholic, tangible, and even more of an accessible sonic design, Mendacium takes that acute shift back to the monumental dirge-like dread and woeful catacombic and disharmonious heaviness reminiscent of the band’s Quietus and Antitheses of Light masterworks. All while still encapsulating the tectonic-shifting nature of their Caress of the Void and Atra Mors releases while venturing more through classic gothic audial textures and even treading a little down experimental mire as well, reminiscing an aura seeping from such luminary artists as Dead Can Dance, Monumentum, and Disembowelment.

To signal this shift in sound harking back to this previous era, the band would recall the services of producer Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal who worked with EVOKEN on their Antithesis of Light and Quietus albums respectively. The result being Mendacium capturing a sepulchral heaviness saturated in ambience with even more of an emphasis on deathlike dread and anguish; an ambience reflecting the depths and catacombs of an ancient cathedral or monastery, ultimately defining Mendacium as EVOKEN’s most powerful sounding album to date.

VG+ / VG+

(a few light scratches caused by the cd player, on the recorded surface)

VG+ / VG+

(a few light scratches caused by the cd player, on the recorded surface)

Pain Effulgence, the third album from Innumerable Forms sees founder Justin DeTore (Dream Unending, Sumerlands) and crew (who comprise of members from bands such as Iron Lung, Power Trip, Mammoth Grinder, and Genocide Pact) deliver their most powerful tectonic-shifting release yet. Pain Effulgence sees IInnumerable Forms elevate the trajectory, initially brought forth with their Punishment In Flesh debut and 2022’s Philosophical Collapse, to a new plateau of megalithic death/doom artistry. Old-school early ’90s Finnish death metal coalescing with early ’90s UK death / doom (i.e. old Paradise Lost and old Anathema) continues to be the blueprint upon which Innumerable Forms contrive their sound from and with Pain Effulgence, it continues to become that much more towering and imposing. Akin to feeling the weight of an immense ancient stone of granite being lowered upon you, overwhelming suffocating darkness and monumental mournful triumph, Pain Effulgence was produced by Arthur Rizk and features art by Katie Muller.

Debut album of Philadelphia unholy metal band after several EP releases

For fans of Vastum, Krypts, Phrenelith, Master, Incantation, Abhorrence, Funebrarum, Disembowelment

Manchester’s savage sons Wode return with their fourth album, Uncrossing The Keys, marking a confident expansion of their already formidable sound built upon a shadowy foundation of feral black metal and ironclad heavy metal heft. Having evolved from the more straightforward methodology of the debut album, Wode has continuously added elements from various dark corners of the underground across its discography, with songwriting that has grown leaner yet more intricate, focused and melodic than ever.