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One has to be a decided connoisseur of alternative music culture to associate the title "Sentimentale Jugend" (sentimental youth) with the short-lived experimental noise act of the same name, founded by Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten) and his then significant other Christiane Flescherinow (also known as Christiane F. from the bestselling non-fiction book "We Children From Bahnhof Zoo") in the early 1980s. However, it is for a reason that Italian indie rock flagship Klimt 1918 names its latest double album after this footnote of pop history, namely a conscious hint at the underlying mood of the songs. "Sentimentale Jugend" captures West Berlin in its pulsating, nihilistic glory during the late 70s - just as David Bowie did with his Berlin Trilogy of the albums "Low", "Heroes" and "Lodger" - and processes notions from Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's award-winning movie "The Lives Of Others", be it the foggy winter atmosphere in East Berlin during the early 80s or the female protagonist's melancholy.

CD Digisleeve "Sentimentale"

One has to be a decided connoisseur of alternative music culture to associate the title "Sentimentale Jugend" (sentimental youth) with the short-lived experimental noise act of the same name, founded by Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten) and his then significant other Christiane Flescherinow (also known as Christiane F. from the bestselling non-fiction book "We Children From Bahnhof Zoo") in the early 1980s. However, it is for a reason that Italian indie rock flagship Klimt 1918 names its latest double album after this footnote of pop history, namely a conscious hint at the underlying mood of the songs.

On "The Dead Light," Fen explore the beauty that comes from destruction. Representing the vanguard of contemporary UK post black metal, the band offers its heaviest, most direct album to date. It is the sixth full-length in a career of less than 15 years and marks another recalibration for the three-piece that, while always daring to use unconventional structures, found that the predecessor "Winter" (2017) was the apex in this respect

The colour of every FEN album points towards its lyrical and musical content. For the first time in their career, the East Anglian post-black metal trio has used the colour red on the cover artwork of their seventh full-length "Monuments to Absence". FEN describe the album as an expression of anger, hopelessness and despair – anger at the desperate futility of a human species hell-bent on self-destruction. This is reflected in the decidedly harsh and black sound of "Monuments to Absence", which is undoubtedly FEN's most extreme recording to date, even though there are still moments of atmospheric glory, spatial clean sections, heaving doom, and full-blown riffs, which augment the furious expression of rage. FEN took their name from the Fens of East Anglia when the trio formed in 2006. These desolate and bleak landscapes have left a deep mark in the post-black metal sound, which the band pioneered in the UK when the English scene revitalised in the wake of forerunners FOREFATHER with bands such as FEN, WINTERFYLLETH, and WODENSTHRONE coming to the fore. When FEN released their debut full-length "The Malediction Fields" (2009), the band made good on the huge promise of their previous EP "Ancient Sorrow" (2007) by delivering a first album that already combined the black metal tradition elegantly with a dedicated atmospheric twist and gentle experimentation beyond the perceived narrow confines of their genre. With each following full-length, from "Epoch" (2011), via "Dustwalker" (2012), "Carrion Skies" (2014), "Winter" (2017) to "The Dead Light" (2019), FEN have expanded both their musical range and following, while also perfecting their recognisable and unmistakable sound. "Monuments to Absence" marks FEN's welcome return to a dark and fierce sound.

CD Digipak

Self-titled albums usually suggest either a questionable "return to the roots" or a band reinvention of sorts. For brooding black metal beasts, Bethlehem, however, the release of the eponymously titled ‘Bethlehem’ marks the 25th anniversary of the group, which the German group celebrates in their own wayward style.

‘Bethlehem’ is a welcome rejuvenation in every respect. When the line-up that recorded their 2014 release, Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia, fell apart, founding member/mastermind Jürgen Bartsch took the bull by its proverbial horns and matters into his own deviceful hands.
 

Re-issue of the groundbreaking debut album

With their groundbreaking debut album, Bethlehem gave name to an entire genre: "Dark Metal". To celebrate the 20th anniversary of this classic, a reissue in Digipak format with bonus DVD will be released. The DVD contains a video recording of a complete Bethlehem concert in Poland from 1994 and is thus a highly interesting document of the early stages of one of the most influential metal bands from Germany.

Digipack

On the third regular PAYSAGE D'HIVER album "Die Berge" ('The Mountains'), mastermind Wintherr has perfectly captured the dark essence of his mountainous Swiss home beyond those pretty picture postcard landscapes. Ragged peaks that unfathomable tectonic forces have crushed upwards and out of the thin cold crust of this planet create a harsh and hostile environment for humans, which is reflected within the sound of raw black metal. Note for note, these grey giants of rock come awake to life in song. Majestic, powerful, dangerous, threatening, and yet also inherent of a fierce beauty, these massive tracks of epic length echo the huge proportions of their source of inspiration and amount to a playing time of more than 100 minutes. With each release, PAYSAGE D'HIVER narrate a new chapter of a continuing story about a mysterious protagonist called 'Der Wanderer'. "Die Berge" takes the wanderer into the 14th chapter, which might end up as his last. The main theme of "Die Berge" is death and this time the enigmatic wanderer's journey is comparable to that of a Zen monk who hikes to the peak of a mountain on feeling that his time has come. Founded in 1997 in the Swiss region of Bern, PAYSAGE D'HIVER remained a strictly underground phenomenon at first. Wintherr unleashed a steady stream of 10 full-length "demos" and 4 split-EPs that earned him an excellent reputation while a massive following grew by word of mouth. When the Swiss came "out of hiding" with "Im Wald" ("In the Forest") in 2020, their regular debut album even entered the German charts, which meant mainstream recognition despite standing firmly with both feet in the underground. With "Die Berge", PAYSAGE D'HIVER continue to expand the horizon of Nordic black metal without ever stepping away from their roots.

The second release by these Victorian gentlemen

"Opportunistic Thieves of Spring" already is the second testimony of the musical-alchemistical skills of A Forest of Stars and contains a previously unheard-of ghostly and hypnotic music, filled with the spirit of the glorious Victorian Age - a harrowing testimony of their many spiritual and sensual excesses. Prick up your ears and listen attentively: A Forest of Stars are the future of British Black Metal, and the future starts right now!

This re-issue of Lifelover's third album, "Konkurs", is the band's first release on Prophecy. "Konkurs" paints a bleak, dystopian vision of modern urban despair with elements of black metal, indie-pop, post-punk, and shoegaze. Whether you love it or you hate it, "Konkurs" will forever alter your perceptions of what can be done with black metal or extreme metal.

Gatefold 2LP (clear/black smoke vinyl) in polylined inner sleeves and protection sleeve (500 copies)