Vinyl

ON LIMITED BLACK / WHITE GALAXY VINYL!!! Having dropped their third album Choir Of Babel in early 2020 just before the world shut down, the forces of pandemic did not succeed in silencing NYC’s Ruin Lust for good. Though confined to their fallout bunker, the band, with martial fervor, began work on what has now, three years later, emerged as their fourth album Dissimulant.

In the final phase of imperialist rot, Ruin Lust declares war against the festering delusions of a devolving species. The most withering aspects of modern death metal, grinding war metal and black metal’s more bestial tendencies compel this audial exorcism, poisoning the well like a bioweapon spread through open air, suffocating and contemptuous. By the time album closer “Chemical Wind” is done, all that remains are parched bones and desiccated shadows.

Barbarically pestilent yet compositionally deliberate, Dissimulant casts a bitter pall and leaves an open wound on the death metal scene for 2023. A militant milestone in the Ruin Lust discography.

Having dropped their third album Choir Of Babel in early 2020 just before the world shut down, the forces of pandemic did not succeed in silencing NYC’s Ruin Lust for good. Though confined to their fallout bunker, the band, with martial fervor, began work on what has now, three years later, emerged as their fourth album Dissimulant.

In the final phase of imperialist rot, Ruin Lust declares war against the festering delusions of a devolving species. The most withering aspects of modern death metal, grinding war metal and black metal’s more bestial tendencies compel this audial exorcism, poisoning the well like a bioweapon spread through open air, suffocating and contemptuous. By the time album closer “Chemical Wind” is done, all that remains are parched bones and desiccated shadows.

Barbarically pestilent yet compositionally deliberate, Dissimulant casts a bitter pall and leaves an open wound on the death metal scene for 2023. A militant milestone in the Ruin Lust discography.

***Greasy Texas Death Metal! The long awaited debut from the Texans TORTURE TOMB! It's been three years since their proper introduction to the world with the release of Killing To See How It Feels. That first demo was rabidly consumed by the underground masses, numerous waves were unleashed and Transylvanian has been working on giving their tunes the vinyl treatment! Features a torturous eye-grabbing hellscape by MARK RIDDICK on the cover.

Black Vinyl

With their seventh full-length entitled "Narkissos", FORTÍÐ have finally delivered a masterpiece that should easily make it into the top part of those end of the year lists. The Icelandic trio has not even changed much, they are just doing everything even better than before. FORTÍÐ forge melodic riffing from black, death, thrash, and heavy metal threads into one sharp weapon. The Icelanders don't care about any particular genre, but focus entirely on writing excellent songs. As a result "Narkissos" features nine catchy and fiery metal anthems. FORTÍÐ determined the musical coordinates of their long journey with the ambitious "Völuspá" album trilogy, which was released from 2003 to 2010. Their early combination of harsh black and death metal riffing with a pinch of thrash and a penchant for epic melodies, versatile vocals as well as a heavy dose of "Icelandic sound" was continuously refined on the acclaimed "Pagan Prophecies" (2012) full-length and the following "9" (2015) album. With the dark and deadly "World Serpent" (2020), FORTÍÐ charted the current course that led via the two-track EP "Dómur um dauðan hvern" (2022) straight to "Narkissos". Lyrically, FORTÍÐ remain on an Old Norse and pagan course. Guðmundsson has woven a yarn in a Nordic context about a character with the so-called narcissistic personality disorder that runs as a red thread through "Narkissos". FORTÍÐ present a contemporary metal album that is both musically and lyrically taking the Icelanders to a new peak, and by firmly placing substance over style will find its audience.

Australian experimental metal band Bolt Gun return with their 3rd full length album The Tower. Since their first release in 2014, Bolt Gun have continued to push the boundaries of heavy music, adopting a semi-improvised style that combines elements of black metal, post-metal, noise and dark ambient. 

The Tower is inspired by the literary works of Brian Evenson, Franz Kafka and Shirley Jackson and explores themes of isolation, extinction, absurdity and nihilism. Written throughout 2020 to 2022, the album expands on Bolt Gun’s interest in the dynamic possibilities of using ambient music within extreme metal.

The expansive tracks pull listeners into tornadoes of drone, noise and saxophone which then explode into more post-metal/black metal sounds. The music on The Tower is heavily influenced by 2nd wave black metal, experimental heavy bands such as Locrian and Swans in addition to the work of Colin Stetson and Bohren & der Club of Gore.

Artwork by Tomasz Winiarski.

BANDCAMP DOWNLOAD CODE INCLUDED 

Based out of the frigid capital of the colonial state known as Canada, Dismal Aura surfaced with their self-released debut, Praeagia Tristia in 2021. The trio blend second-wave black metal with crust punk and grind elements, an offering as bleak and chilling as it is melodic and impassioned.

Composed of members with diverse cultural backgrounds and lived experiences, Dismal Aura explores socio-political topics such as colonialism, state-terror, and environmental destruction.

Produced by Topon Das (Fuck the Facts, Gorguts) and Mike Bond (Crusades, Loviatar), the band’s sophomore album was recorded in deep winter forest of Wolf Lake Studios.

Inspired by the essay Necropolitics by Achille Mbembe, Imperium Mortalia spans eight compositions that reckon with the grim relationship between the individual and the state, the exploitative nature of power, and the reduction of human life to commodity.

BANDCAMP DOWNLOAD CODE INCLUDED

Grift’s fourth studio album, “Dolt land” (‘Hidden land’), is a profound exploration of humankind’s bond with nature. With folkloric sounds and heartfelt lyrics, the multidisciplinary Swedish music project takes listeners on a journey into the heart of the wild.
“Dolt land” diverges from the more metal-oriented “Budet” (2020); instead, it continues the acoustic approach of the EPs “Vilsna andars boning” (2018) and “Vilsna andars utmark” (2022). Like the aforementioned two seven-inches, “Dolt land” pays homage to Kinnekulle - a mountain whose nature, legends, and traditions have served as Grift’s main source of inspiration since the project’s conception in 2011.Erik plays all the instruments himself - including acoustic guitar, melodica, glockenspiel, analogue synth, and percussion - and has also sampled nature sounds to create a truly immersive listening experience. Soothing and stirring, yet still feral and untamed; Grift’s evocative music will resonate with fans of Sangre de Muerdago, Anna von Hausswolff, and Nebelung.

Translucent Gold w/ Swamp Green/Red/White - Splattered Vinyl

Vinyl reissue of INCANTATION’s acclaimed 2000 full-length The Infernal Storm! First released at the turn of the century, the band’s album The Infernal Storm has more than weathered the test of time and still stands as a punishing, top-tier extreme metal release today.