CD

Building upon the symphonic Black Metal stylings of their masterful 2022 debut "The Ashen Abhorrence", enigmatic Finnish duo PESTILENT HEX return with second opus, "Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow", to herald a new era of malevolent grandeur and melodic aggression.

The work of multi-instrumentalist L. Oathe (DESOLATE SHRINE, CONVOCATION, ORDINANCE) and vocalist/lyricist M. Malignant (CORPSESSED, TYRANNY, PROFETUS), "Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow" is still primarily inspired by legendary '90s second wave Black Metal but diverges from the neoclassical and baroque undertones of the debut into more contemporary, complex and exquisitely labyrinthine realms.

Averaging an album per year since their 2018 formation, this latest expression from the rightly-revered Swiss Atmospheric Black Metal band AARA shows no drop in quality, nor let-up in their perpetually questing sense of purpose.

In follow up to 2023's "Triade III: Nyx" - the climatic installment of the 'Melmoth' trilogy based on Charles Robert Maturin's classic Gothic novel - the band now break away from the literary and apply their stunning musicality to real-world events.

"Eiger" is conceptually focused on the 3967 meters mountain of the same name in the Bernese Alps. Since 1935, at least 64 climbers have died attempting to conquer the Eiger’s sheer, ice-covered north face which has earned it the nickname of 'Mordwand' ('murder wall'). The album specifically examines an attempt to climb the Mordwand in July 1936 which ended in tragedy, as four young mountaineers succumbed to treacherous conditions and disappeared, presumed caught in an avalanche.

AARA's music has evolved dynamically in tandem with the subject matter, becoming more visceral, tangible and hauntingly powerful. An organic and spacious production allows the trademark elegiac, spirited leads and reverberant acoustic guitars of main-composer Berg to give increased emotional weight to a performance of on-the-edge savagery from vocalist/lyricist Fluss. The icy melodies, pensive moods, vibrant plummets and shifts/drifts contrast the wonderment of the natural world with a heightened sense of existential malaise and ultimately horror.

Comes in a 4-panel digipack w/ an 8-page booklet

Cinematic Black Metal project ERSHETU was formed in 2021 by conceptualist/lyricist Void and composer Sacr to explore formulations of Death within particular civilizations or religions.

After tackling Mayan mythology via evocative 2023 debut "Xibalba", new album "Yomi" finds the band – now featuring Vindsval (BLUT AUS NORD) on lead vocals - growing in confidence and stature, heading to deeper and darker climes as they immerse themselves in the death folklore of Japanese Shinto.

Composer Sacr has woven an aptly-dualistic tapestry where ritual percussion, orchestration and atmospherics - including tones derived from the Koto, Shamisen and other traditional musical instruments of Japan - meet full-throttle and cerebral Black Metal power, as earworm melodies resolve into tumultuous states of mind and shadowed existential meditations.

Remastered 10th Anniversary re-release of SYLVAINE's debut album.

Limited Digipak CD with album download

The Suns of Perdition IV concludes with its ultimate offering "To Shadow Zion" - a multi-layered title fusing the definition of Zion, in the context of "a heavenly place" or "utopia" coupling with the Jungian concept of the Shadow - together forming the vile,  repressed nature of humanity with that of the sacred and of the holy. SUNS IV, in its final analysis is the last sounds of a borrowed world, where earth's last picture is painted - the terminus of all paradises lost - at Shadow Zion.

Digipak CD edition with 8-page poster booklet and album download

Returning from time apart to a world forever changed, dread-fuelled duo A SWARM OF THE SUN bring with them their fourth studio album, ‘An Empire’; its brooding, yet beautiful, melancholic narrative arc allows the band to dig ever deeper into desolation whilst a newfound lyrical focus adds a tenderness that is both harrowing and heartwarming at once.

With the early bones of forthcoming ‘An Empire’ tabled by events beyond their control in 2019, Erik and Jakob came together years later and scrapped them in favour of creating something entirely new; something distinctly different to break the cycle, defy categorisation and reflect the uncomfortable uncertainties of the times we now live in. The result is astounding; continuing the thread of narrative composition seen on ‘The Woods’, ‘An Empire’ is a six-track tale told in four distinct movements that are nothing short of devastating, from plaintive piano ballads to raw, full-band fury.

Sepulchral Voice, 2 panel digipack, poster booklet

‘Burning in Celestial Poison‘ is not only a statement and lesson in audio-violence, it is a 44 minutes long manifest of radical DEATH Metal causing mental lacerations and chaos! A record supposed to shock, because of its ecstatic ruthlessness and massive fanatical malevolence, hovering deep below the compositions. It opens the doors to a world that is so unbelievable vast, that you risk to lose yourself in it, its depths defy exegesis. 4 curses are woven into 4 hymns of utter death-magic, which will lead you into the black abyss of the grand divine. The album was again produced by master Arthur Rizk, who cuts through all expectations with extraordinarily dense and destructive fidelity and production. ‘Burning in Celestial Poison’ sounds like created with the magick, formulas, codes and keys of a world beyond.

With just four compilation tracks and one 7" EP issued in the early 1980s, Hollow Ground did have a rather low profile at the time of the original New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. However, their first and only single »Flying High« (issued on the collectable Guardian Records label) became an instant collector's item. Today copies with the scarce picture sleeve fetch rather insane prices. Before the release of the single Hollow Ground had recorded the four songs 'Rock On', 'Fight With The Devil', 'Flying High' and 'The Holy One' for the Guardian compilation album entitled »Roksnax«. Hollow Ground carried on to record more material (such as 'Promised Land', 'Easy Action', 'Rock To Love' and 'Loser') but an album deal was not on the cards. As a result singer Glenn Coates left to join local rivals Fist. As a result, Hollow Ground split up in mid-1981. With 21 songs the Hollow Ground anthology album on High Roller Records contains virtually everything the band has ever recorded professionally. In comparism to some of the more conservative-sounding New Wave Of British Heavy Metal acts at the time (for example Fist), Hollow Ground did show a lot of promise. Guitarist Martin Metcalf knows why: “I think we had a wider range of influences as opposed to just heavy bands, we took things from all over the rock spectrum. We were like sponges soaking everything up, from the funk of Aerosmith, the hard-rock of Montrose to the proginess of Rush.” The song 'Fight With The Devil' was chosen by Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich for his »N.W.O.B.H.M. '79 Revisited« compilation released in 1990. Hollow Ground have recently played two re-union gigs: 2007 at Headbangers Open Air in Northern Germany and in late February 2014 at Newcastle's own Brofest.