CD

One of the most fully formed black metal entities of recent times, GRANITADER burst into brilliance with their debut full-length, Der Wald zwischen den Welten. After but an EP last year, the German quintet's first full-length displays a masterful grasp of songwriting and dynamics as well as confidence and charisma to spare. GRANITADER are old souls who exude the effervescence of the new; their continually cresting surge recalls pagan touchstones like Windir, Falkenbach, or Germany's Horn closer to home, as well as Drudkh's more cinematic moments. However, the wind beneath the wings of Der Wald zwischen den Welten is the album's overarching theme: a homage to their - as well as PURITY THROUGH FIRE's - home area of Erzgebirge, the Ore Mountains that are an UNESCO world heritage site, as well as older German history. Truly, it all comes together as one breathtaking blast of classically austere German black metal, but poignantly brimming with a heroic, almost-positive aspect that's simply impossible to deny. The spiraling lead-work is categorically sublime, and helps elevate GRANITADER to the top of today's pagan black metal pack. Completing this complete package is the professional & powerful production, encasing their bravado in a sheen wholly befitting of its majesty. Let GRANITADER guide you through Der Wald zwischen den Welten!

alternate version, yellow goat on front, incredibly great sounding - unofficial although Black Mark is stated ont he back cover

4 panel digipak with lyrics and exclusive artwork

Sometimes in a band's history, there's a moment where the calm comes after the storm – when their first output burns brightly, making itself almost impossible to compete with. To simply repeat it would be a mistake, so it's time to change. A significant change, but not in the core of the music, just a change in tonalities, from harsh to smooth, from pained to beautiful…

This is not the case with Acathexis.

Jake, Dany & Déhà return with their searing style of atmospheric black metal. Like the ebb and flow of the human experience, light-speed blast beats interweave with introspective passages to express a flurry of emotions and energy, with heartrending screams, harsh guitars that veil solemnity, produced triumphantly but with the mark of each member imprinted clearly upon it. They haven’t changed, and they have much more to say with the sound which has become their signature.

Heavy, blues-based rock that you can dance to!

Quebec rockers Tonnerre emerge with La nuit sauvage, a heavy dose 70s-inspired rock that takes cues from AC/DC and Blue Öyster Cult—complete with French-sung lyrics! 

There is something in the air in rural Quebec, Canada. Known for its deep, long winters, not to mention its thick, unyielding forests, Quebec’s pastoral beauty evokes the kind of prolonged, deep-into-the-night gatherings by a fire (with some libations, too) that some can only dream about. But for the members of Tonnerre, it is part of the fabric that brought them together to create a timeless form of blues-based rock that bobs the head and shakes the hips. The band’s debut album, La nuit sauvage, was created from the very nights the band spent in the countryside with friends, drinking the aforementioned beer while telling stories and listening to music. And like night itself, La nuit sauvage is an album that gets darker and more mysterious as it unfolds.

TOXODETH ‘Mysteries About Life and Death’ 1990 cult debut album finally re-issued and completely remastered by guitar player and founding member Raul Guzman. Toxodeth was (and is) one of the very first extreme death black metal bands from Mexico, formed in 1985. Massive booklet remake by RaDesign (Possessed, Sacramentum, Varathron). As bonus comes the demo ‘Phantasms’ from 1988.

official reissue on Vic Records

Released in 1997 A DEEPER KIND OF SLUMBER is the most experimental TIAMAT album and a native progression from the fully successful WILDHONEY. Produced by: Dirk Draeger

Recorded in Woodhouse studio in Germany Jan-March 1997. Featuring Anders Iwers (In Flames, Cemetery, Dark Tranquillity). Produced, mixed and mastered at Woodhouse Studios by Siggi Bemm (Kreator, The Gathering,  Melechesh). Produced and engineered by Dirk Draeger (Morgoth, Despair). Photography art by Harald Hoffmann (Apocalyptica, Heaven’s Gate, Kreator).

After many years of silence, the legendary death metal force of NECROPHAGIA, one of the very first death metal acts, has reawakened. The band’s revamped line-up have signed to Time To Kill Records for the release of the their final album, “Moribundis Grim”.

In the years of 2016-2018, the band’s last line-up - Killjoy, Serge Streltsov, Shawn Slusarek and Jake Arnette - composed and started recording what became their final opus, “Moribundis Grim”.

Unfortunately in 2018 Killjoy passed away before finishing the album. In 2022 with the help of special guests and former Necrophagia members - John McEntee from Incantation, Titta Tani (ex Goblin) and Mirai Kawashima from Sigh - the album was finally completed.

In a way, it is quite sensational to see another NECROPHAGIA album released at this point in time, meaning 40 years after their first demos were released!

With a legacy of audial treasures now spanning more than 35 years & with the fountain of creativity ever flowing, Norway’s Darkthrone return with their latest venture through classic riffs & vintage sounding metal in the shape of the epic new seven track studio opus, ‘It Beckons Us All’. 

Seeing the longstanding duo of Fenriz & Nocturno Culto uniting once more, ‘It Beckons Us All’ follows on the heels of 2022’s revered ‘Astral Fortress’ album, with what could be considered an even more refined, challenging & diverse set of timeless metal anthems from the uncompromising trailblazers; from the melodic, to the sombre & atmospheric, to the blackened dirges emanating from Darkthrone’s highly distinguishable riffing, as well as a nod to influences such as Celtic Frost along the way. 

Recorded once again at Chaka Khan Studios in the band’s native Norway, ‘It Beckons Us All’ was mastered by Jack Control at Enormous Door, with artwork courtesy of Polish artist Zbigniew Bielak. 

With an expansive catalogue consisting of a multitude of various genre classics, Darkthrone first arrived on the global stage with their atmospheric & technically accomplished death metal debut, ‘Soulside Journey’ back in 1991, followed by the milestone in black metal that is ‘A Blaze In The Northern Sky’ released only the following year, after the intended second album ‘Goatlord’ was essentially scrapped to make way for something more primitive & paving the way for Darkthrone’s close association with the black metal genre over many years. And so, with an endlessly progressing (and even regressing) evolution which has seen the band successfully delving into many sub-genres of metal & punk, ‘It Beckons Us All’ stands as one of the band’s most complete & vast works to date.