Vinili

All copies on black vinyl.

Hailing from the forever-thriving Finnish black metal underground, FÖRGJORD is one of that scene's stranger and more unique entities. Existing since the mid '90s, the trio have largely shied away from the spotlight - even when that spotlight is blacklit and dim - and patiently parcel out their releases, with a sparse-yet-solid discography to date. Sielunvihollinen - their second album, released to critical acclaim in 2012 - furthered the idiosyncratic FÖRGJORD aesthetic, but now with Uhripuu, they've triumphed yet again with a scabrous 'n' unorthodox journey into black metal's most rotten depths. But for however maldorous their melodicism is, it is precisely that - meldodicism - which makes FÖRGJORD so bewitching, the way oddly hummable passages push past the ripped-raw soundfield and create a wild, entrancing disconnect. It is this aspect which fondly reminds of France's Black Legions, the eternal struggle between trance and trash, but naturally, a distinctly Finnish air of melancholy permeates the mildewed black metal at hand.

Cult Black Metal from Poland. Demo’95 on one-sided 12″

Floga Records, white vinyl, printed inner sleeve, silk-screened b-side

12" vinyl w/ insert

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Hailing from Sweden, TØRONTO formed in 2017, partly out of the ashes of the sorely missed Morbus Chron – vocalist/guitarist Edvin Aftonfalk and bassist Dag Landin, here under the stage names Eddie Flawless and 79-83, respectively – and also powerhouse drummer Leo Ekström Sollenmo, from the well-respected Lethal Steel and Temisto, under the name Lt. Oxtreme as well as Seb Cyborg on guitars, also from Temisto. With this lineup in place, the quartet released their debut demo in 2018 and then the Nocturnal High tape on DYING VICTIMS later that year. That latter title alone suggested that something strange ‘n’ salacious was indeed afoot…

Regular edition on black vinyl, with insert, poster, sticker, post card and download code.

It was at the dawn of 2019 when a strange little demo inconspicuously announced itself from the other side and introduced the sound of the bloody iris. Titled Erste Beschwörung, it was the first public recording of one HEXENBRETT, the work of a mysterious duo revealing themselves as Josto Feratu and Scarlettina Bolétte. This was a literal bolt from the blue, sounds that were as refreshingly new as they were authentically old. “Cemetery sounds” is what the band called them, but that only told half the story. Wild and wily, HEXENBRETT unloaded a dizzying payload of sounds both traditional and unorthodox, dumping into its hot-rockin’ cauldron spices from first-wave black metal, Iron Curtain-era speed metal, outsider doom, and even old-school deathrock. It was a kaleidoscopic spin, and caught the attention of Caligari Records (who did a wider cassette release) and then DYING VICTIMS with their 12” vinyl version toward the end of the year. Lots of other, strange-starved ears picked up on it, too.
 

One of the metal underground’s best-kept secrets, WARLUST began their assault on the false in 2012. The title of their debut demo, 2014’s Unholy Attack, said everything it needed to: here was blackthrashing METAL, steeped in the spirits of old and with genuinely evil blood coursing through its veins. However, it was 2017’s Morbid Execution debut album where WARLUST first truly took flight – on burning wings of flame! More intense, more epic, more heavy fucking metal, Morbid Execution carried on the noble work started by founding fathers Desaster in their homeland and Deströyer 666, Zemial, and Aura Noir abroad.

But, while that debut LP was still tethered to more traditional-style blackthrash, with Unearthing Shattered Philosophies do WARLUST’s songwriting chops blossom with startling strength and crushing clarity. It’s all immediately WARLUST, for sure, but within the album’s eight-song/45-minute runtime lurks a travelogue of terror and triumph, of melancholy and malevolence.