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Born for Burning: The History of Black Metal tells the fierce, shadow-drenched story of one of heavy music's most extreme and transgressive movements. From its gestation in the early 80's under raw, primitive riffs, Satanic imagery, and underground ferocity, to its darker peaks in the Norwegian scene and its global, multifaceted evolution, Matías Gallardo maps every blistering beat, every distorted chord, and every howl that defined what became Black Metal.

Drawing on over 100 interviews with legendary cult figures from all over the world - Venom, Bathory, Celtic Frost, Master's Hammer, Profanatica, Blasphemy, Tormentor, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Burzum, Emperor, Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, Ulver, Watain, Agalloch, Xasthur, Leviathan, Alcest, Misþyrming and many more - this is a chronicle of artistry and outrage, of beauty and brutality, Gallardo not only explores the music, the influences and the aesthetics, and the sonic innovations, but also does not shy away from the crime, the chaos, the church burnings, and the acts that shocked the world.

With a prologue by Dan Lilker (Nuclear Assault), and an introduction by Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone), Born for Burning is a powerful, unflinching journey through terror, transgression, and uncompromising passion. For fans, scholars, or anyone curious about how the underground became myth, this book is essential - and it burns.

386 pages

Vinsta wiads – it gets dark. On its debut album, VINSTA leads us into the mountains of the Salzburg Alps.

The seven dramatic compositions allure with sceneries rich in contrast and with vocals sung in the regional dialects of the home lands of band founder Christian Höll.

Thus, the music might sound familiar and eclectic at once: While some influences obviously shine through, VINSTA undoubtedly develops its own approach, blending grim melodic death metal with folk inspired acoustic arrangements (performed a.o. on violin and hammered dulcimer).

Christian realizes his stirring compositions with the help of talented musicians who share his passionate approach to creating music.

“Vinsta Wiads” explores dark aspects of challenges which might bring you to your knees – and finally let you grow. In Christian’s own words: “It's passionate music which takes the listener on a journey through darksome, yet beautiful emotions.”

While the debut album "Vinsta Wiads" (2017) portrayed an "Impending Darkness" in the Alpine mountains, Austrian metal innovator VINSTA now focuses on wintry landscapes with the new album "Drei Deita" ("Three Foreboders").

Multi-instrumentalist Christian Höll continues where he left off: his compositions blend epic melodic Death Metal with acoustic folk passages into landscape-painting music of its own kind. When was the last time you heard hammered dulcimer and yodeling in harsh metal - and it worked?!

VINSTA's second album tells the story of a wanderer facing the forces of nature, taking up traditional motifs and the primeval dialect of the Salzburg Alps. At the end of his seemingly errant hike through the Alpine winter world, the protagonist meets three foreboders and finds himself confronted with perspectives larger than (human) life...

Occult and Vampyric symphonic Black Metal Magick from the depths of Astral Chaos! Recorded in the Serpent's Chamber from 1996 - 1997 on a portable 4 track recorder, this cult underground second album, that did not originally see a release until 2005 is finally out again on CD. Officially approved by founding/remaining member of the band Scorpios, "Under the Serpentine Spell" is one of the most underrated albums of its era. Spellbinding atmosphere filled with synth-scapes and lyrics that lift the veil from the Abyss, revealing the Serpentine path! .... for Tiamat lays Dead, but Dreaming... and the Cult of the Crimson Moon remains eternal!

Pure Vampyric Black Metal majesty and darkness!
This is an official rerelease of this cult 1996 debut album from Crimson Moon approved by Scorpios.
Filled with Occult mysticism and bloodlust, "To Embrace the Vampyric Blood" has stood the test of time and remains one of the most revered pieces of haunting Vampyric art from not only the 90's but also to this day.
With original cover art, sigils and fonts from the legendary Blood Moon Ausar, this rerelease is for all those who missed the original CD from the 90's.
Remastered by Scorpios.
CD limited to 300 copies.

Limited to 1000 hand numbered copies
Tracks 13-16 from the 1985 Anvil Bitch Demo
Tracks 17-22 from the 2008 reissue of the Sanctity E.P.

With his second official full-length, "The Funeral of Being" (2003), XASTHUR mastermind, multi-instrumentalist, and singer Scott Conner aka Malefic walked further down the harsh, raw, frightening, and yet also melancholic path that set his band apart from most of the US black metal scene. Despite its unique and solitary approach, "The Funeral of Being" is still widely held to constitute a cornerstone and classic of the American underground. XASTHUR were originally conceived by Scott Conner in California, USA in the year 1995. The project started out in the vein of bleak black metal in the tradition of the Nordic second wave. Over the course of nine albums and a host of split-singles, EPs, and occasional demos, XASTHUR's individual, particularly depressive style became highly regarded within the extreme genre. In 2010, Scott announced the end of XASTHUR and returned with an acoustic dark folk project under the banner of NOCTURNAL POISONING. In 2015, the American artist returned to the name XASTHUR, but insisted that his black metal days were over. On his so far latest album, "Inevitably Dark", XASTHUR have partly lifted the self-imposed ban on black metal, simply because Conner felt like it and therefore did it.

UNREQVITED mastermind 鬼 (Ghost) has a penchant for beautiful musical creations that reveal their claws and fangs only at closer inspection after spending some time on them. This solo project is firmly rooted in blackgaze sonic soil but has also sent out tendrils into ambient, post-rock, post-black metal, and other related stylistic strata. The seventh album, "A Pathway to the Moon", is taking an impressive evolutionary leap. One element of this significant sonic development of UNREQVITED is the novel exploration into a predominantly lyrical realm. This step away from mostly expansive soundscapes towards more singing is also due to the transition of UNREQVITED into a touring band. 鬼 carefully crafted "A Pathway to the Moon" with live performances in his mind. The result is an album that resembles a blackgaze soundtrack – a legacy further underlined by the artbook bonus track, which features a cover of the Hans Zimmer "Interstellar" composition 'Cornfield Chase'. Despite the divergence into more lyrical dimensions, "A Pathway to the Moon" keeps the use of lighter and more uplifting passages that were increasingly employed among the expected dark twists on "Beautiful Ghosts" (2021). The significant use of clean vocals throughout the album turns out in hindsight as writing on the wall about developments to come. The core elements that have shaped UNREQVITED in the past remain in active service as well: Thus, the massive anthemic refrains from "Mosaic I: l'amour et l'ardeur" (2018) are equally present as the simple melancholic melodies from the 2016 debut album "Disquiet" and the orchestral grandeur of "Empathica" (2020). Ever since 鬼 conceived UNREQVITED as the musical vehicle for his multi-faceted creative output and brought it to light in 2016, his project has been a constantly shape-shifting and stylistically wide roaming beast. With "A Pathway to the Moon", the Canadian has once again gathered the strands of his previous works but he has also taken a creative leap of faith. "A Pathway to the Moon" takes UNREQVITED closer to a traditional rock and metal album based on songs than ever before – yet it is also the soundtrack of a most fascinating sonic journey.

Canada's Unreqvited has been a musical proving ground that defied categorization right away, thus being a perfect addition to our roster. With a highly acclaimed back catalog that was assembled only within the last few years, it is easy to imagine that this prodigious artist will get very far in the future. Two years after his 2016 debut "Disquiet", which had married black melancholy with electronic opulence, both "Stars Wept To The Sea" and "Mosaic I" showed different tacks, delving into the cosmos and orchestra pit respectively.

With his sixth UNREQVITED album, "Beautiful Ghosts" driving force and sole member 鬼 has set out to fearlessly explore this for headbangers rather "scary" emotion. According to the multi-instrumentalist there are strong themes of love, passion, and devotion on this record.

As a result of journeying into his mind and collecting a wide range of emotions, 鬼 has included many lighter and more uplifting passages than previously on "Beautiful Ghosts", although dark twists are balancing the score. New elements include a significant use of clean vocals throughout the album and there are even playfully progressive rhythms as in the opening track 'All Is Lost'. The core elements that have shaped UNREQVITED in the past remain active as well. The massive anthemic refrains from "Mosaic I: L'amour Et L'ardeur" (2018) are equally present as the simple melancholic melodies from the 2016 debut album "Disquiet" and the orchestral grandeur of "Empathica" (2020).

Depressive and uplifting; a journey of massive peaks and bottomless caves. Unreqvited’s take on post black metal is one that paints a canvas of musical diversity, with elements of expansive post-rock, tortured dsbm vocals, shimmering blackgaze melodies and grandiose orchestral segments.

With their debut LP “Disquiet”, Unreqvited lays down the foundation for their somber, melancholic sound by using hallmark principles of black metal like torrential blast beats and tremolo sparingly. Instead, opting for emphasis on melodies and synthesizers to invoke thoughts of frozen woodlands and a troubled internal state.
 

"Neverland", the fourteenth studio album by ULVER is the sound of an escape. A journey into undiscovered lands.

Following three albums – "The Assassination of Julius Caesar" (2017), "Flowers of Evil" (2020), and "Liminal Animals" (2024) – rooted in more traditional song and production structures, "Neverland" marks a new chapter in the revered Oslo band's history.

"With 'Neverland' we embraced a more 'punk' spirit – more dreaming, less discipline – freer, quite simply", the band comments on the creative process behind the album.

Bursts of daybreak synths and whooshes of sound set the atmosphere, before the wolves start digging into the dynamics of ambient calm and anarchic mysticism. Dreamy and transportive textures develop into trippy percussive energies, and as the album unfolds, a lush and vibrant, and at times exotic space opens.

Apart from a few recurring distant voices and vocal chops, "Neverland" is a largely instrumental record, reminiscent of the mood and structure of that place where late '90s IDM sounds met the meandering structures of post-rock.

The ghost of premillennial sample culture surely haunts "Neverland", and some might even hear echoes from earlier acclaimed works like "Perdition City" (2000), or the "Silence" EPs (2001), or more recently "ATGCLVLSSCAP" (2016).

Still, "Neverland" sounds and feels like something else, something fresh in ULVER's continuous journey of perennial reinvention. Pop music from in-between worlds? A sonic hallucination? Or better: a collage of dreams. It's up to you.