CD

numbered digipak / 300 copies

VENTR hail from Portugal, the reigning hotbed of raw black metal. However, with their Numinous Negativity debut mini-album in 2020, the mysterious entity soundly proved their strident black metal was of a palatably professional constitution: fully formed, expertly executed, "orthodox" in the classic sense, and emitting a bewitching melodicism that hauntingly recalled the mid '90s.

Now VENTR unveil the full fathom of their powers with Ubique Diaboli Voluntas, their long-awaited first full-length. Released in conjunction with their live performance at this year's Howls of Winter fest, Ubique Diaboli Voluntas retains the noble foundation of its shorter-length predecessor - grim & ghastly intensity, haunting lead-lines, cobwebbed atmosphere - but the duo step up their songwriting to an even-higher plateau. Across the album's six-song / 42-minute duration,

Teitanblood returns to claim underground metal’s most lawless frontier. “From the Visceral Abyss” is an all-engulfing tide of unfettered, raging chaos – where black and death metal collapse into a maelstrom of destruction. Its force is neither random nor aimless but guided by an instinct sharpened over decades.

This is Teitanblood at their most unhinged, yet wholly assured in execution. Dissonance and precision collide in monstrous, writhing riffs, underpinned by percussive violence that shifts between merciless blasting and dirge-like weight. Layer upon layer of bile-drenched vocals coil through the cacophony, forging a suffocating atmosphere of grotesque grandeur.

As ever, the album is steeped in the restless spirit of the late Finnish artist Timo Ketola, who stood as both interpreter and architect of Teitanblood’s visual world. Ketola’s oracular visions provided the scripture from which these lyrics emerged – his legacy not merely preserved but carried forth beyond the grave. The tradition of transmuting sound into imagery continues, with Dávid Glomba filling the booklet’s pages with a dense tapestry of illustrations, sigils, and hand-scribed invocations.

With its tenth full-length album, Svartsyn delivers a work rooted in both its present vision and primordial past. “Vortex of the Destroyer” unfolds in two intertwined chapters: four new compositions alongside six resurrected relics from Chalice, the entity that would become Svartsyn in 1994.

The first half of “Vortex of the Destroyer” embodies a refined yet relentless approach, shaped by instinct and hindsight alike. From the ruin of Atlantis to the flames of Surtr and Fenrir, these songs channel Svartsyn’s pursuit of apocalyptic grandeur – a descent into the abyss.

The latter half harks back to the autumn of 1992, breathing new life into six compositions first forged under the Chalice banner. Conceived at the dawn of the second wave of Black Metal, these tracks honour the band’s origins. Re-recorded with present clarity, their essence remains untouched: wild, sinister, and unmistakably Ornias.

After a couple of silent years, MORAST are back with their third album called “FENTANYL”. Carried by grief, loss and the abyss of emotional pain, they have managed to turn this energy into a celebrating resurrection. Their urge to create a dark and sinister atmosphere is still inherent, but this time their approach seems more aggressive, ecstatic and raw. A six song trip to the bleakest corners of human existence. A monolith of abhorrence and filth.

After the 2023 debut album “Hiding Amongst Humans” ArsGoatia pursue their chaotic and psychedelic musical agenda. "Agitators Of Hysteria" is a stirring black metal expression where you can find something infectious in every track. An uncompromising attack that leaves you shivering in anticipation of what's next. A sonic nightmare with unimaginably beautiful guitars, imbued with the furious call from the hottest point of Hell…“

„Agitators Of Hysteria“ is ArsGoatias second album. Furious outbursts, emerging from the bottom of an impenetrable abyss, preaching Luciferian truths, imbued with perversion, sinister malice, unrelenting violence and death.

The band's fifth full-length brings an essential dark stir of eerie, haunting & melancholic total Norwegian Black Metal! Fronted by Doedsadmiral of Nordjevel, NATTVERD have created an album to top their legacy, and to dwell in sinister realms for ages to come! Featuring guest vocals by Hoest (Taake) and Von Hellreich.

Necrogod is the perfect expression of atavistic death metal brutality spearheaded by none other than Rogga Johansson (Paganizer, Revolting, Eye of Purgatory) who has teamed up with the revered The Master Butcher (Morbid Stench, Insepulto) to make this feat possible. It's a product of careful deliberation and years of experience, with Rogga Johansson laying down the heaviest music of possibly his entire career and The Master Butcher just taking things to another level with his barrage of unearthly roars. This is the culmination of death metal mastery, a groovy, pummelling record that imbibes the best elements of Swedish and American death metal  scenes to create a truly fearsome record without parallel. What's surprising is that despite the face-blasting aggression and unbridled vocal delivery, the music is well-rounded with thought-out structures, tempo changes, build-ups, solos and even traces of sick melodies. Clearly a marked deviation from the usual Rogga Johansson fare that one is acquainted with, this is some next level old school brutality that will knock you flat and will have you crawling back for more.  

For fans of - Undeath, Grave, Paganizer, Cannibal Corpse, Broken Hope, Baphomet, Of Feather and Bone, Malignant Altar

Cutterred Flesh have evolved to play what’s beginning to resemble a progressive form of brutal death metal. Without reducing the wholesome girth, they are able to pull off amazing feats that will stop the listener in his tracks and have him mentally slot them in a higher category than what he had originally pegged them at. While not as slick as some of their contemporaries skittishly moving about with hardly any impact, Cutterred Flesh’s music carries real weight and boasts of similar diversity if not more and is littered with unpredictable parts. Each of the songs on their sixth full length have a special thing going on and close listens only reveal the intricate structuring and even traces of emotive facets. It’s rare to come across a brutal death metal album that scratches the bludgeoning heaviness itch and also leaves a lasting impact that’s not purely external. Cutterred Flesh have clearly mastered their craft at this stage and come up with an album that is unfathomably heavy yet versatile and engaging which easily stands out from the one-dimensional ones languishing in the narrow confines of the brutal death metal realm.

For fans of: Benighted, Aborted, Cattle Decapitation, Monument of Misanthropy, Devourment, Enragement