Vinyl

Soft touch, gatefold sleeve with poster

The Sinister Initiative is proud to announce that the 11-year re-issue of SHINING's infamous "8 ½" compilation has been scheduled for release in the cold month of November. This anniversary edition features the now celebrated five tracks of demo recordings on which BEASTCRAFT/URGEHAL maestro Lars Erik Frøslie added his nightmarish keyboard soundscapes, raising the bar of creepiness a few steps higher on the ladder. Meanwhile, for each composition, one specifically appointed frontman lent his very own horrifying and "feverish" ideas, guaranteeing every listener a mental downfall into the bottomless, dark depths of the human psyche.

Regarding the specific guest vocalists, Maniac (SKITLIV) and Pehr Larsson (ALFAHANNE) contributed wholly unique touches. The remaining three revered artists leapt even further into the realm of the unexpected by translating the original lyrics into their respective native tongues, offering audiences a taste of what SHINING could have sounded like if Kvarforth wasn't born Swedish: Attila Csihar (MAYHEM/TORMENTOR) therefore performed in Hungarian, Famine (PESTE NOIRE) in French and, last but certainly not least, Gaahl (TRELLDOM) in Norwegian!

Niklas Kvarforth has, on countless occasions, mentioned the month that he spent together with Christian Larsson and Yusaf Parvez (DHG) in an apartment that they rented in Finland's capital. The three resolved to use this space as a base in which to write, experiment and cause various forms of unspecified damage before heading to Varberg to record the new album. For years, the band has wished that these infamous demo tapes could be released officially somehow. We here at TSI, who recently issued the definitive edition of the very album for which these songs were created, feel that the time has now come to release the recording that the band themselves have stressed: "Is in so many ways far superior to the actual album itself".

Niklas Kvarforth has, on countless occasions, mentioned the month that he spent together with Christian Larsson and Yusaf Parvez (DHG) in an apartment that they rented in Finland's capital. The three resolved to use this space as a base in which to write, experiment and cause various forms of unspecified damage before heading to Varberg to record the new album. For years, the band has wished that these infamous demo tapes could be released officially somehow. We here at TSI, who recently issued the definitive edition of the very album for which these songs were created, feel that the time has now come to release the recording that the band themselves have stressed: "Is in so many ways far superior to the actual album itself".

Limited edition ocra-dark yellow vinyl - 200 copies

Blackened death metal one-man band Light Dweller will release their new studio album through Unorthodox Emanations. After making waves in the metal underground with four studio releases, Light Dweller is poised to unleash its fifth full-length album titled The Subjugate, which will see the light in early 2024. Since 2017, the project has forged a distinctive path within the dissonant realms of metal, evolving with each release by seamlessly blending dissonance with melody and juxtaposing aggressive onslaughts with haunting, deliberate passages. The Subjugate will represent Light Dweller's boldest sonic statement yet, marking a significant evolution in sound and cementing their status as a formidable presence in the modern metal landscape. "Cessation Of Time" is the first single from Light Dweller new record, which will see the light in early 2025 via Avantgarde Music death metal division, Unorthodox Emanations.

One-off edition, limited to 150 copies

Sivyj Yar is a post-black metal band formed almost twenty years ago in the countryside south of St. Petersburg. Since 2014, multi-instrumentalist and composer Vladimir Vishniakov has been working closely with Avantgarde Music to release his music endeavors, and A Scarlet Sunset Over The Horrid Abyss marks a new milestone in the artist’s path.

Sivyj Yar has always been about the history and darkest times of the Russian people, and this new album makes no exception. In Vladimir’s words, this work is about the innocent, the tortured, the murdered, the broken, and the forgotten. About those who were destined for unbearable suffering. About the sacrifice that they made. The wheel of terror turns faster. The darkest parts of history repeat themselves if they are erased from human memory or replaced with false images. Entire nations can easily be plunged into darkness for years. Icy fear fetters souls, mutilates them.

A Scarlet Sunset Over The Horrid Abyss features poetry by Andrei Bely, symbolist Russian poet from the early XX century, as well as archival photographs taken in the Kolyma camps — one of the most terrible places in the new history of Russia, a remote, eastern area of the Russian country where dozens of gulags held Soviet POWs and political prisoners in extreme conditions until the ‘70s.
 

Tellingly titled, The Awakening displays yet more sides to this still-unfolding entity. To be sure, Valravn's poise and power are firmly accounted for here - you can still FEEL every note, so vital, virile, and vivid - and they've even added a bit of death metalled muscle, too, but the songwriting itself is where their second album truly takes flight. Sharp and yet never sterile, thanks to a production that's on the right side of polished, there's an acute balance of contrasts across The Awakening's 44-minute runtime; each of the album's eight songs features some twist of melancholy and militancy, of bursting color and bristling monochromatism, of stoic resignation and steadfast determination, of man-on-the-mountain spaciousness and stuck-in-the-catacombs claustrophobia. Concluding with the literally breathtaking "Charge of the Last Cavalry," The Awakening consolidates all the strengths of its predecessor and indeed leads Valravn into a new charge for glory. 

An otherwise-new entity, Valravn nevertheless evince a mastery beyond their short time as a band with their first public recording, the full-length Prey. Arriving very fully formed, Valravn's debut album no doubt displays characteristics of Finland's now-world-renown black metal sound - cryogenic melody, raw 'n' rugged execution, an unapologetic assertion of traditionalism - but in other, more telling aspects, Prey asserts its own identity counter to this prevailing paradigm.

Valravn truly sound like a band, as in four individuals playing together in the same room rather than the usual copy/paste practices used by so many studio-only "bands." This very tangible physicality bleeds over into the overall emotion of Prey, whereby the listener can literally FEEL every note...and every note is vital, virile, vivid. Of course, Valravn are a black metal band, and black metal by definition is monochromatic, but that vividness is writ large across the album's eight central tracks, each one as cutting 'n' concise as the next. As such, Prey feels a lot larger than it should, for the band pack in an almost-cresting sense of the epic into these tight 'n' taut tracks.

Crystal Clear vinyl limited to 400 copies.

GRÀB offer both, continuity and change, on their sophomore full-length "Kremess". The Bavarian black metal project founded by vocalist Grànt continues to revolve lyrically around tales and traditions narrated in the local dialect of Germany's southernmost Alpine state: Bavaria. "Kremess" means 'funeral feast' in that language and death plays a leading role on this album. Musically, GRÀB still feature a prominent traditional instrument of their region, the hammered dulcimer. This gets combined with particularly Norwegian strands of black metal such as early GEHENNA, ULVER, and DARKTHRONE as well as taking inspiration from German pioneers of the genre namely NAGELFAR and LUNAR AURORA. Adding to the local sonic colours are many fresh ideas and sounds that came with English guitarist Gnàst, who has replaced previous main songwriter Grain in the meantime. A host of guest musicians including members of EMPYRIUM, TRIPTYKON, and DARK FORTRESS among others has further enhanced the musical spectrum. GRÀB, meaning "old and grey" in the local dialect, were conceived by former DARK FORTRESS frontman Grànt who wanted to bring a particularly Bavarian expression to black metal. The earlier collaboration between Grànt and guitarist Grain resulted in the release of the debut full-length "Zeitlang" in 2021, which channelled the black metal spirit of the early 90s much to the delight of both critics and fans. With "Kremess", GRÀB are infusing Bavarian black metal with new power that is bound to expand their growing empire far beyond the borders of their homeland.

Green, white and black marbled 12" double vinyl (33rpm) in deluxe gatefold with spot gloss and 30cm x 60cm poster.
Limited to 350 copies worldwide!

Hailing from the mist-clad highlands of Scotland, SAOR is a band that breathes life into history with their majestic blend of black metal intensity and Celtic folk melodies. Guided by the spirit of Caledonia, SAOR's music transcends time, echoing the ancient tales of their homeland.
Amidst the melancholy ruins and the grandeur of nature, their new album, ‘Amidst the Ruins’, majestically intertwines the past with the present. From the haunting echoes of “Glen of Sorrow” that recounts the betrayal of the Massacre of Glencoe, to the forest's whispered secrets in “The Sylvan Embrace” featuring cellist Jo Quail, each track is a portal to Scotland’s rich heritage. With “Echoes of the Ancient Land” and “Rebirth”, listeners are invited on a journey through weathered glens and ethereal hills, where each melody reveals a narrative of strength, sorrow, and renewal.
This album is a tribute to the timeless landscapes and ancestral spirits, capturing the soul of a nation in every note.