CD

ASTRAL SPEAR are a newcomer with an old sound. Hailing from Poland, indeed do the mysterious entity harken to their homeland's ancient black metal style - cold, mystical, defiant - and with similarly strong songwriting to boot. However, to say that Astral Spear stands in the glare of burning churches isn't entirely accurate. With their own fire blazing brightly, ASTRAL SPEAR erect surging monuments of stoic darkness, under a funeral moon but taking their torch to other dread places. Righteous and robust in their physicality but equally emitting an ethereal aspect, ASTRAL SPEAR's opening salvo is a 22-minute journey to forgotten realms: truly named!

Forming in 2022, Finland's Victimarum quickly set to work on upholding the sterling standards of their nation's underground black metal scene. A demo and an EP followed the next year, the latter including a Horna cover, which indeed underlines the lineage from which they spring: cold and yet intensely melodic, "freezing fire" of a most early 2000s vintage. Those who know already know the names, and it's a banner still worth raising.

And Victimarum raise it even higher with their full-length debut, Seitsemän soihdun valossa. With strength & honor and Satanic black devotion, the quartet here unload nine screeds of melancholic misery set to speeding stun. Incensed but not without a certain sense of ragged glory, Victimarum uphold that iron-clad template set out by their forebears and bolster it with strong songwriting and even-stronger execution. The sounds may be familiar, but as the album plays on, the Finns' personality shines through, with deft shifts in tempo and a slightly-more-pronounced propensity for the climatic coming to the fore. Likewise, Victimarum wisely locate a production style that's on the right side of polished, the grit coming not through the sound itself but rather through the playing: you FEEL this, every second of its 44-minute runtime.

CD in 6-page Digipak.

Formed in Ukraine, DRUDKH have long shaped a body of work defined by atmosphere, patience, and inner exile. Their music consistently privileges emotional continuity over exposition, drawing strength from restraint and repetition.
‘Thaw’ stands as a direct continuation of the album ‘Shadow Play’, conceived during the same creative period and sharing its emotional and thematic foundation. Rather than expanding outward, the EP turns inward, presenting three compositions that function as a distilled appendix to the album’s world. ‘Thaw’ explores transition as instability, as a moment where movement begins while the surrounding landscape remains frozen. The songs unfold slowly, marked by suspended melodies, unresolved structures, and a heightened sense of stillness. Themes of memory, liminality, and fragile transformation are allowed to surface without emphasis or climax. The EP’s reduced scope sharpens its focus, rewarding attentive listening and quiet immersion.

For fans of HATE FOREST, BURZUM, AGALLOCH.

For the first time in more than 20 years, we present the official represses of one of the rarest albums from Sweden, Blodsband (Blood Religion Manifest) by the legendary Sigrblot.
Originally released in 2003, this masterpiece of melodic and fierce Swedish Black Metal has been long sold out since ages and will be finally repressed on all formats.
These deluxe editions include a majestic gatefold, poster and all the best features you can expect quality wise.
Officially licensed by Nordiska Förlaget (P & C)

4 panel digipak CD, thick INSIDE OUT cardboard and BLACK FLOOD, 12 PAGES BOOKLET and GOLD CD.

Since 1981, singer/guitarist CHARLY STEINHAUER and drummer AXEL BLAHA have been active in various formations in Würzburg, Lower Franconia. In the beginning, however, the group names and other members are constantly changing, so it is only in February 1986 that you can speak of a real band and rename yourself to PARADOX.

PARADOX's two full-length albums, PRODUCT OF IMAGINATION and HERESY, released in 1987 and 1989 respectively, have become undisputed masterpieces, and their extensive demos, recorded in 1988 and 1990, are equally invaluable but have never been released.

Awakening Records is proud to be licensed by PARADOX to officially release these materials. This excellent compilation is titled "THE DEMO COLLECTION VOL. 2 1988-1990". The 16-page booklet features numerous rare photos, flyers, a biography of the band, and a specially created PARADOX family tree. A must-have for your collection!

Spikes. Leather. Over-the-top attitude. Broken English lyrics full of swear words. And manic speed/thrash riffing. Shitloads of it. It may sound like a crude and a tad too cliché description yet it fits MAGNUS like a glove. To say that one of Poland most famous extreme metal pioneers had to face insane struggle and obstacles in their early days while the Iron Curtain was just starting to crumble and soon to collapse would be quite a wild understatement.

Spikes. Leather. Over-the-top attitude. Broken English lyrics full of swear words. And manic speed/thrash riffing. Shitloads of it. It may sound like a crude and a tad too cliché description yet it fits MAGNUS like a glove. To say that one of Poland most famous extreme metal pioneers had to face insane struggle and obstacles in their early days while the Iron Curtain was just starting to crumble and soon to collapse would be quite a wild understatement.

Named after a giant, serpent-like demon that embodies the ancient Egyptian mythos of chaos and darkness, German death metal band APEP draws its Egyptology-laden musical cues from well-respected bands such as NILE, NEPHREN-KA, RUDRA, MELECHESH, and BEHEMOTH.

Formed in 2016 out of the ashes of CARNAGE, the trio of drummer Merlin Friedrich, guitarist Oliver Pikowski, and vocalist Christopher Fleckeisen set out to create a more technical brand of death metal, combining it with an ancient aesthetic. Philip Kühn was added in 2017 as the second guitarist, while Henrik Osterloh took over his duties last year.