CD

Much as its title forecasts, I Skyggen mellom liv og død
brings together two Norwegian black metal entities: SOLUS GRIEF, with whom PURITY THROUGH FIRE followers should know from their two albums in as many years, and ALTERTUM; both bands' respective mainmen shared a split album, Ulf's Keptr, shared a split year with their other respective bands UNHOLY CRAFT and VORGFANG. Here, SOLUS GRIEF continue their ascent / descent with two 10-minute tracks (and joining instrumental) that see mainman Peregrinus returning to a more anguished, almost-DSBM sound that nevertheless evinces unique traits - among them, a guitar tone alternately rippling / clanging, an attention to ever-so-tense dynamics, and a superbly "live" feel for an otherwise-one-man band. It's unsurprising, then, that these three throwback-to-1995 tracks were written & recorded during this past winter. For his part, ALTERTUM mainman Lord G also wrote & recorded his four tracks here during that same winter, and it shows: a cryogenic blast of ancient northern darkness, violent and spectral in equal measure. It's not so much that these four ALTERTUM songs evoke deja vu - one can hear symphonic shades of very earliest Limbonic Art, Obtained Enslavement, and Norway's Troll as well as the rawest pulse of Hat-era Gorgoroth, the cult Kvist, and even Ulver's Nattens Madrigal - but these blizzard-blown coordinates are rearranged in such a manner that they become a new destination in itself, nostalgic and without time simultaneously. I Skyggen mellom liv og død is against the modern world!

An aptly titled record no matter the language, Naturmystik brings together two modern stalwarts of mystical black metal. HÄXANU - whose acclaimed second album, Totenpass, was released last year by AMOR FATI - is the duo of multi-instrumentalist Alex Poole (Chaos Moon, Krieg, Skáphe, Ringarė, etc) and vocalist/lyricist L.C. of Lichmagick. Much as that album had equal footing in Nordic snow and Hellenic melody, so, too, do their four exclusive songs here. Stargazing as ever but perhaps bringing back some of the violent hysteria of their early work, HÄXANU hammer their point home with a triumphant fury. Sweden's GREVE, of course, is yet another work of ever-restless Ancient Records linchpin Swartadauþuz (BEKËTH NEXËHMÜ, GNIPAHÅLAN. Trolldom, Musmahhu, Azelisassath, Digerdöden, Mystik, Summum, Daudadagr, Daudadagr). To date, GREVE have released two equally massive full-lengths through PURITY THROUGH FIRE, 2019's Nordarikets Strid and 2022's Föllo af Svavel, Lifvets Dimridå. Naturmystik features the first music from the trio since, and their four songs here carry that same torch: shimmering 1996-vintage obsidian, emitting that racing-yet-floating sensation which made GREVE's two albums such modern classics. Together on Naturmystik, both HÄXANU and GREVE once again prove that black metal classicism can be a boundless wellspring of brilliance.

ringing together two of Finnish black metal hottest / coldest newcomers, Kaksi liekkiä Saatanalle is pure nastiness distilled into 20 tundra-deep minutes; with two songs a piece here, both AESTHUS and SIELUHAASKA delivered debut albums under the banner of PURITY THROUGH FIRE in 2022 and 2023, respectively. AESTHUS are up first, and whip forth the freezing filth which made their Hänen temppelinsä varjoissa so celebrated in the underground. No more but definitely no less, the quintet stick to classic Finnish black metal in the turn-of-the-millennium tradition, here arguably sounding both more melodic and frantic than said debut album. SIELUHAASKA, for their part, put a more measured twist on Finnish black metal - pensive, anguished, and strangely anthemic - with their Kun aurinkoni kuoli debut, and here continue their hypnotic ways with even more anguish and arguably more mesmerizing gait. Almost honorarily Teutonic by design, their folkish fire might remind of Finnish dark horses like Noenum or Mortualia. Kaksi liekkiä Saatanalle proves, once again, it's always darkest up north...

Double CD / Ltd Digipack

Influenced by Thrash Metal Royalties Slayer, Kreator, Destruction and Exodus'earlier works, ETERNAL EVIL was formed in Stockholm - Sweden in 2019. The band has intended to carry on the legacy of early High energy early Classic Thrash insanity.

Reissue of the debut Yoth Iria EP including new artwork and a bonus track. Jewelcase CD with booklet. Limited to 500 copies worldwide.

Yoth Iria is the brainchild of Greek black metal veterans Jim Mutilator and The Magus - the duet which developed and pioneered the underground scene back in the day. Originally released in January 2020, “Under His Sway” was the duet’s first release. It was an initial taste of what’s to come from the duo that developed and pioneered the underground scene back in the day: a grand blend of heavy/doom and epic black metal that travels the underground into dark realms and silent hills. A year later, the band released the debut full-length album “As the Flame Withers” via Pagan Records to critical acclaim and what many would consider as one of the most important metal albums of 2021.

The lead single, off the upcoming new SACRILEGIUM album. The single contains two versions of the title track; an album and demo version. It also comprises of remixes done by guest artists: In Slaughter Natives (industrial), Zenial (experimental, avant-garde), ROD (Slavonic folk-dubstep) and Echoes of Yul (post-rock). The title track of the single (in both album and demo versions) is an example of what to expect of the band on their upcoming full-length release in 2016: that traditional black metal sound they are known for, however, with a brutal and more aggressive kick and, yet, not lacking their unique touch of melancholy.

30 minutes of music in total released in noble DigiFile CD limited to 500 copies.  

Jewelcase CD with 24-page booklet.
Second album from Polish post death metal act Pandrador, ispired and spiritualised by the heritage of Scandinavian culture.

"Seiðr" is a story of pride, betrayal and downfall told over the course of the album. Pandrador is not only inspired by monumental works of Scandinavian culture, but also enters into an active, open dialogue with them. They also refer to revenge tragedies, legends and chronicles written down by Saxo Grammaticus, Elizabethan dramas or the concept of theater of cruelty. However, despite an almost academic approach to the subject matter covered, a fair amount of hermeticism, abundant allegories and spinning the tale as much by outlining the plot as by archetypal references, "Seiðr" is as far from a dry, scholarly treatise as possible. The bond of the story are human emotions, and at its heart - reflection - as personal as it is very universal.

"Seiðr" is a contemporary heroic poem, and its protagonist is every listener. It is a commentary on what was, is and (perhaps) will be.

The story spun by the band is inseparable from the music. They complement each other, set the pace and mood for each other. It spirals through a spectrum of emotions, from unbridled rage, through denial, painful understanding and powerlessness in the face of one's own tragedy, to the final statement - "too late."

The band itself, represented by its leader – Bartłomiej "Bard" Bardon, comments on the contents of the album as follows:
"The last few years (not only for known reasons) have left us disillusioned with the reality in which we have lived, the events and their consequences we have experienced. This has led us to reflect on what "Seiðr" is - a commentary on the "conventionality" of our surroundings; a look at the human desire to oppose one extreme in order to fall into the next one in emotion; the desire to be someone important because we are driven by satisfaction and conventional values, and often conventional complexes. In the midst of all this, there is also the deluding of ourselves with apparent benefits and rationalizing quietly how pathetic we actually are in our actions."

Understanding "Seiðr":
"Seiðr" is a hard-to-define term for the body of knowledge and practices that made up Nordic shamanism. "Seiðr" was a story told around a campfire explaining truths about the world. "Seiðr" was also a contact with a spiritual world, as well as a set of rituals that accompanied that contact. It was also an entrance into a trance and a journey beyond flesh and time.

The etymology of the word can be found in the Old Norse "to sing" or "to speak." Sheena McGrath in "Asyniur: Women's Mysteries in the Northern Tradition" suggests that the word has a connection to Old English "sieðe" (modern English: "seethe"), meaning "to boil with anger" or "to become quietly and slowly furious." In "Witchdom of the True" on the other hand, Stephen E. Flowers claims that it means "looking into the future."

Jewelcase CD with fold-out booklet.      

Following on from their 2016 critically acclaimed album “Księżyc Milczy Luty”, Polish nekrofolk act Furia have announced their next material. Entitled “W Śnialni” (which roughly translates to “the dream room”) the musical work, which draws comparisons to a musical drama in style, is released on 21 February 2021 via Pagan Records.

Recorded 3 November 2019 in the painting studio of Urszula Broll and Andrzej Urbanowicz in Katowice. Guest appearances: actors involved with, among others, the National Old Theatre in Kraków and a miners’ orchestra.  

„Our goal was something on the border of a radio play / theater of imagination and a music album...” - says Nihil.

Get ready to get lost in the labyrinth, the apocalypse is already going on...

Raw Black Metal from Ecuador (all acts). - Split record by 4 Ecuadorian projects