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Reissue of critically acclaimed 1990 full-length on limited-edition (300 copies) radiation green with orange haze colored vinyl. M-Theory Audio will reissue “Harsh Realities,” the debut album release from Seattle thrashers, Bitter END. The group's 1990 release, originally released by Metal Blade Records, was produced by Randy Burns (Megadeth, Kreator, Death, Nuclear Assault) and featuring cover artwork by Jim Warren (Loudness, Lizzy Borden, Heir Apparent) - garnered critical acclaim and a cult following for a thrash metal assault that bludgeoned ears with musical precision that appealed to fans of acts such as Megadeth, Forbidden, and Testament. The band were mainstays of the late 1980's pre-grunge Seattle heavy metal scene that also gave rise to fellow Pacific Northwest promising thrashers such as Forced Entry and Panic. Bitter END signed with Metal Blade Records and released “Harsh Realities,” after the success of their “Meet Your Maker” demo tape hailed by fanzines, underground/college radio, and tape traders. The album received strong reviews at the time from Metal Forces and Kerrang!, and the music video for the title track received airplay on MTV's “Headbanger's Ball.” The band cultivated their live presence with prolific shows in their hometown scene alongside future giants such as Soundgarden and Alice In Chains and toured alongside fellow thrash greats such as Sacred Reich and DRI. The group began tracking their follow-up record at Robert Lang Studios in Seattle with famed producer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney) handling mixing duties, however the shifting tides of the music industry and creative differences resulted in the dissolution of Bitter END in 1992 before their next album could be completed.

If you’re a fan of any kind of ’70s heavy rock – Southern Boogie, New Wave of British Heavy Metal, MC5/Stooges Detroit Punk, Junk Shop Glam or straight-up Classic Rock – we are willing to bet Ian Blurton’s Future Now has something for you. If you’re the kind of person who might geek out on the vintage gear used to record that music, we’ll double down on that wager. A mainstay in the Canadian scene since the ’80s, Ian Blurton may have come along after hard rock’s heyday, but he has parlayed his love of the era’s musical sensibilities into a career as both a musician (Change of Heart, C’mon, Public Animal) and a producer (Cursed, Tricky Woo, Weakerthans, Cauldron). For the follow up to his acclaimed solo debut, 2019’s Signals Through the Flames, he is pulling out all the stops, sourcing the best of the best for all elements. Formed to tour Signals, Future Now features some of the top talents heard on that record: drummer Glenn Milchem (Blue Rodeo) and bassist Anna Ruddick (City and Colour). To complement the powerhouse rhythm section, and recreate live the Wishbone Ash/Judas Priest–inspired harmonies that define the album, Aaron Goldstein is drafted for second guitar. In tandem with planning the Signals dates, Blurton was accepted as an Artist in Residence at Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre, in Calgary. The residency presented an opportunity to pack up the band – hot from a string of live shows – and head west to track a follow up album with the country’s most enviable collection of musical equipment. Second Skin was recorded using the famed Rolling Stones Mobile studio that Mick, Keef, and Co. used to make Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street. The unit was also loaned out for Led Zeppelin III and IV, and Deep Purple’s Machine Head, before eventually landing at the NMC. Combining the RSM with the institution’s selection of rare guitars formerly owned by Randy Bachman, amps from Neil Young, and an array of vintage gear borrowed from Calgary friends, Future Now had the ingredients for a dream session. Throw in an early ‘80s Mellotron, and the band had all it needed to cook up a crushing collection of sludgy riff-driven rockers and Prog epics, all with clean vocals, thunderous bass/double-kick, and the kind of guitar solos you wish you could play.

Atlantis Ascendant is the fifth studio album by English metal band Bal-sagoth. It was released in April 2001 through Nuclear Blast. This was the first Bal-Sagoth album to be recorded (albeit only partially) with digital recording technology. The album's primary story and lyrical concept as written by vocalist-lyricist Byron Roberts centres on the exploits of a fictional nineteenth century British archaeologist and adventurer named Professor Caleb Blackthorne III, who has dedicated his life to the field of antediluvian anthropology and to seeking out evidence as to the true nature of humanity's origin. As with many protagonists in the Lovecraftian fashion, his investigations lead to madness and death. Bal-Sagoth are a symphonic black metal band from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, formed in 1989. Originally an epic symphonic black metal band with strong death metal elements, vocalist/lyricist Byron Roberts took the name 'Bal-Sagoth' from the Robert E. Howard short story "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth". Their first demo was recorded in 1993, and Bal-Sagoth have since released three albums on Cacophonous Records, and three with Nuclear Blast.

Paradoxx's mini-album "Plan Of Attak" is one of the rarest heavy metal releases. It was pressed in 1985 and it is rumored that only a few surviving copies exist, handed out to press and friends of the band. Over the years, this release became the Holy Grail of US metal for collectors all over the world. Paradoxx continued performing live for a few more years, and a few more songs were recorded besides the four tracks of the original EP release. Those tracks are included in this official reissue supervised by the Paradoxx founder and guitarist John Dobbs, who finally offered to the metal world THE Complete Worxx of one of the most wanted reissues in the history of underground metal!

Brand new EP from darkwave masterrs Lycia. The current lineup of the band is John Fair, David Galas, Tara Vanflower and Mike VanPortfleet, who has bee the only constant member since the band’s formation.Lycia's sound is characterized by rich soundscapes and layers of heavily effected guitars, dark atmospheric keyboards, heavy reverb drenched drum machines, VanPortfleet's somber raspy vocals and Vanflower's vivid melodic voice.

Founded 1988 in Stockholm/Sweden, Dismember were among those responsible for Death Metal's big break through. The debut album, Like An Ever Flowing Stream from 1991, clearly showed that Dismember are an uncompromising band which resulted in their rise to cult status and within a short period of time the album took the scene by storm. Extensive touring with bands like Death, Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse showed that Dismember are a live force to be reckoned with and the number of fans grew steadily. The band then released the 5-track EP, "Pieces", and went out on tour again instead with Napalm Death and Obituary. They played for thousands of fans throughout Europe thus reinforcing their status as one of the best live bands on earth. Dismember set a new path and in 2004, they released their sixth studio album titled Where Ironcrosses Grow which sounds close to Hate Campaign and is heavily inspired by Iron Maiden and Autopsy.

Founded 1988 in Stockholm/Sweden, Dismember were among those responsible for Death Metal's big break through. The debut album, Like An Ever Flowing Stream from 1991, clearly showed that Dismember are an uncompromising band which resulted in their rise to cult status and within a short period of time the album took the scene by storm. Extensive touring with bands like Death, Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse showed that Dismember are a live force to be reckoned with and the number of fans grew steadily. The band then released the 5-track EP, "Pieces", and went out on tour again with Napalm Death and Obituary. They played for thousands of fans throughout Europe thus reinforcing their status as one of the best live bands on earth. The second album, Indecent & Obscene, sounded more mature and accessible than its predecessor without casting aside the band's Death Metal roots. The tour which followed (with Deicide, Suffocation and Vader) took Dismember to America for the first time where they left an astonished audience behind after tearing through the US of A like a runaway train before returning to Europe to take part in the first Nuclear Blast Festival tour with label mates Hypocrisy, Amorphis and Benediction. 1995 saw the release of the third album, Massive Killing Capacity, through which Dismember became a legend in their own right. The Swedes had never been better.

Founded 1988 in Stockholm/Sweden, Dismember were among those responsible for Death Metal's big break through. The debut album, Like An Ever Flowing Stream from 1991, clearly showed that Dismember are an uncompromising band which resulted in their rise to cult status and within a short period of time the album took the scene by storm. Extensive touring with bands like Death, Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse showed that Dismember are a live force to be reckoned with and the number of fans grew steadily. The band then released the 5-track EP, "Pieces", and went out on tour again with Napalm Death and Obituary. They played for thousands of fans throughout Europe thus reinforcing their status as one of the best live bands on earth. "Dismember" is the ultimate death metal album from one of the finest Swedish bands. Dismember have lost nothing in terms of intensity. The sheer pace and passion of the songs are blistering and the vocal sounds as pissed off as ever. Powerful riffs that are not in short demand, plenty of lead works and amazingly melodic harmonies are what the metal scene needed and Dismember have them in huge spades. This is definitely one of the best death metal releases in many, many years.

Founded 1988 in Stockholm/Sweden, Dismember were among those responsible for Death Metal's big break through. The debut album, Like An Ever Flowing Stream from 1991, clearly showed that Dismember are an uncompromising band which resulted in their rise to cult status and within a short period of time the album took the scene by storm. Extensive touring with bands like Death, Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse showed that Dismember are a live force to be reckoned with and the number of fans grew steadily. The band then released the 5-track EP, "Pieces", and went out on tour again instead with Napalm Death and Obituary. They played for thousands of fans throughout Europe thus reinforcing their status as one of the best live bands on earth. Like many of the other Scandinavian death metal bands, Dismember began softening their sound in the mid-1990s, with 1995's Massive Killing Capacity having more melodic approaches. Nevertheless, they attempted a return to style with 1997's Death Metal.

Founded 1988 in Stockholm/Sweden, Dismember were among those responsible for Death Metal's big break through. The debut album, Like An Ever Flowing Stream from 1991, clearly showed that Dismember are an uncompromising band which resulted in their rise to cult status and within a short period of time the album took the scene by storm. Extensive touring with bands like Death, Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse showed that Dismember are a live force to be reckoned with and the number of fans grew steadily. Tracks one through three are from Dismembered (1988), four through six are Last Blasphemies (1989), and seven through nine are Reborn In Blasphemy (1990).

Devotional is a rapturous and heady offering of wordless vocalizations, droning guitars, and heaviness explored in unexpected and intoxicating ways. Inspirations came from deep listening to Indian classical music, as well as a fascinating look at the chaotic and unbelievable life of Ma Anand Sheela and the Rajneesh community.

Through a haze of incense, flowing robes, and secret mantras, Haden's voice rings out over constant drones in ecstatic chants throughout this musical investigation into the myriad of ways in which worship can lure and intoxicate. This is a journey that Haden and Anderson go on together, the guitar and vocals combined like the call and response of a guru and their congregation. Greg Anderson comments on the album, "I'm extremely happy with the recordings we made together. Petra's vocals bring a whole new dimension to the heaviness."

Petra Haden comments, “It was so much fun getting to play and sing on Sunn O)))’s album ØØ Void. 20 years later, I’m on stage with them at The Mayan Theater in Los Angeles singing and playing on the encore. I was in heaven! After the show, Greg and I talked about working on more music together. When I heard his ideas, I already had melodies in my head. I recorded some ideas at home and it developed from there. Greg is a really deep listener and he’s so much fun to work with. Getting to collaborate with Greg reminds me why I love to sing and improvise. I feel free and happy. That’s what music is all about."

King Howl's new album, titled "Homecoming" will be released by Electric Valley Records on June 9, 2023. The work represents a new chapter in the band's stylistic universe, spurring King Howl's trademark sound while mixing it with new compositional and sound influences. A mix of blues, stoner, psychedelia, and classic rock that paints the soundscape of an on-the-road story set in 1960s America, a narrative plot that permeates the entire work, accompanied by a constant sonic evolution, always on the road. Thus, King Howl returns to the theme of travel, the band's favorite concept from the beginning. In this story, a young protagonist escapes from a rural setting witnessed by the blues sounds of opener "The Rooster" and rock'n'roll anthem "From the Cradle," followed by the beginning of the journey on the Kyussian railroad of "The Train." This leads to the nineties echoed Spoken-word of "John Henry Days" to the classic rock sounds of "Motorsound," a true ode to the big truck engine's vibrations. Consequently, the sonic journey flows into the oblivion of "Slowly Coming Down." Here, doom and psychedelia carry a dark foreboding. "Tempted," on the other hand, is a successful mix of country blues and stoner rock, an influence more and more present in the desertic "Jupiter," a track inspired by one of the characters in writer James Anderson's novel "The Never-Open Desert Diner." At the album's heart, the theme of travel and change symbolizes the animal world with the powerful "The Great Blue Heron." This song is marked by the sound of the Hammond organ, which makes the piece even more granitic. "Homecoming" then pays homage to the great Rolling Stones with the sixties classic "Gimme Shelter." Then it concludes this incredible journey with "Home," an angry but hopeful homecoming. An epic in music, a round trip of growth and change, of damnation, redemption, and rebirth. The album was recorded in Sardinia by Roberto Macis and Willy Cuccu and mixed by Nene Baratto and Richard Behrens at Big Snuff Studio in Berlin, a key production hub for international heavy Psych (Kadavar, Samsara Blues Experiment, Elder, Wucan). A sound production focused on an "organic" analog sound, thanks to the use of vintage gear and a reel-to-reel master made by Nene Baratto at the Berlin-based Morphine Raum Studio.

New Heavy Sounds is proud to present the new album by Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard. now known simply as Mwwb. There has been some speculation amongst fan circles that the final part of the trilogy of albums that preceded this, marked the end of Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard's five-year mission. Not so. We can categorically confirm that having officially slimmed their name down to the acronym, Mwwb are continuing their voyage through the far reaches of the galaxy. The first phase of that journey is their new album 'The Harvest'. 'The Harvest' is the band's fourth album, and of course it is a record shot through with the trademark heavy Mwwb sound, and their unique blend of metal and shoegaze. However it also sees the band adding more experimentation, a progressive approach, and going a bit more left field conceptually. Nine tracks flowing into one another. Space age riff monsters segueing into shorter musical interludes, where John Carpenter, rubs shoulders with Pink Floyd and a maelstrom of moog and mellotron. There are surprises, and of course a bucketload of heavy shit. With 'The Harvest' Mwwb have refined and honed their sound, it's a carefully crafted distillation of ideas, written, conceived and sequenced to be listened to in its entirety (preferably in one sitting). Mwwb have always loved film scores and this new album is in many ways, the soundtrack to a film. Mwwb provides the musical narrative (the song titles also provide a pointer) and the listener's imagination does the rest. From a scene that is often perceived (wrongly) to be populated solely by fat blokes in beards and tees, spouting Satan and listening to troglodyte riffs whilst drinking ale, Mwwb are a thrilling proposition. They demonstrate that you can seamlessly mix crushing power, experimentation and delicate vulnerability into something that transcends any genre. Mwwb are Jessica Ball, vocals and synths. Paul Michael Davies, guitar and synths. Stuart Sinclair, bass and Dom McCready, drums.

Brown vinyl!

One of two hellish new Scheich in China albums, the malefic form of ‘Arschgesichter des Todes’
looms like a soundtrack to petrifying night terrors with a devil-baiting parade of ungodly
pleasures. The harder hearing among you may be familiar with Philipp Meiers and Alsen Rau’s
work in this guise from a number of LPs issued on local Hamburg labels since 2014, and should also
recognise this one as closest to source, mostly ditching the drone and technoid elements in favour
of pure death metal throttle and blizzard dynamics.
Riddled with dread and venom, the album shells a cavalcade of enslaved drum machine and wiry
guitars (ir)resplendent in typically lo-fi recording virtues and hungry to gnaw the nerves of any
poor soul in earshot. Of course it’s an outright buzz if you like this stuff, shy of the sort of vocal
theatrics that can put some heads off, but with steely, uncompromising focus on the textures,
energy and an end-of-earth primordial thrust that makes Death Metal, proper, such a uniquely
extreme proposition.
At its longest, ’Nosebleeding Diarrhea Pus Mucus’ sums up the sound literally and viscerally, while
the rest of it tends to more succinct assaults on the senses, spanning the heck-raising charge of
‘The Virgin Witch’ thru the inferno-in-the-next-room of ‘Deine Gebeine’, tape sodden squall of
‘Satan Needs no Forks’ and martial mini-epic ‘Postatomicwat Hookers’, with their sick sense of
humour epitomised in the title and grindcore flay of ‘The eBook of Dead’.

Five years in the making Berlin-based Sludge/Noise stalwarts are unleashing their new album "New World Hoarder": Six new tracks pushing the boundaries of heavyness and urgency. While its predecessor "Under The Manchineel" was a bristly beast of dark and thunderous swill pounding monstrous riffs and bleak lyrics mostly into the area underneath your chest, the new effort cuts higher, right at the heart and brain, although no less heavy.For fans of Eyehategod, Neurosis, Melvins, Sleep

Der Reprint von IN FLAMES "Battles" erscheint als silberne Doppel-LP. Limitiert auf 500 Exemplare!

Black Ice Vinyl, limited to 300 copies.AN AUTUMN FOR CRIPPLED CHILDREN have become a staple act in both black metal and shoegaze circles, delivering hauntingly evocative missives of introspective, yearning andsorrow alike. On Closure, the Dutch band continues to push the sonic template of their disparate influences to its limits, resulting in a sound that nurtures their ethereal sensibilitiesas much as their wall of sound approach to the genre's more extreme inclinations.Closure is the 10th full length album from Dutch blackgaze outfit, An Autumn For CrippledChildren. It's fused with dreamy, melancholic, blackgaze landscapes that lean with far moreconviction into their aesthetic than ever before.

Svart Records unveils “Sutra”, the new album from grand master avant-garde overlords Yakuza.

Formed in 1999, Chicago based heavy hybridizers Yakuza, are in a genre all of its own, which Pitchfork describe as a “a specialized and strange alloy”. So eclectic and hard to pigeon-hole, their music has been described over the years as everything from avant-garde metal, progressive metal, alternative metal to experimental rock, jazz metal, art metal and post-metal. Incorporating psychedelic rock jams that sprawl into heavy, sludging Doom with jazz influences, while also incorporating breakneck grind riffs and grooves, makes Yakuza’s new album “Sutra” a long awaited and insanely enjoyable feast of frequencies.

From their break-out debut album “Amount to Nothing” in 2000, which was met with critical acclaim, Yakuza have been a phenomenon in the world of heavy music, hot on the tongues of those who know. Their second album “Way of the Dead” in 2002 landed Yakuza a deal with Century Media and worldwide notoriety, securing them live slots with like-minded progressive heavyweights like Candira, Opeth, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Lacuna Coil and Mastodon. Several albums of top tier eccentric metal followed with “Samsara” in 2006 which was recorded by Matt Bayles (Isis, Botch, Pearl Jam) and featured Sanford Parker, and Mastodon’s Troy Sanders, the jazzier and spaced-out “Transmutations” in 2007, and “Of Seismic Consequence” in 2010 and “Beyul” in 2012 respectively released on cult underground label Profound Lore. With a diamond back-catalogue of flawless genre breaking metal, having no stylistic constraints, Yakuza are maestros of highly creative, extreme music, ever ahead of the game.

Over 10 years after their last release, Yakuza have returned with “Sutra” losing none of their expansive and wildly artistic approach to pushing the boundaries of heavy music. “Sutra” leans in on redefining the limits of heavy and eclectic metal, with songs like Echoes From The Sky’s epic sung vocals and zig zagging slabs of juggernaut riffing, all sewn together with Voivod chords and King Crimson structures, never coming apart but embracing the delightfully chaotic. Like John Coltrane jamming with Napalm Death, Bruce Lamont (saxophone, clarinet, vocals) has discussed an appreciation for Pink Floyd, Huun Huur Tu, Peter Brötzmann, Battles, Enslaved, Brighter Death Now, George Orwell, Ethiopian music, and Blut Aus Nord, perfectly picking up on the multifaceted angles that Yakuza exhibits.

Standing in a world utterly of their own making, Yakuza’s unique mind-melting post-rock has never felt more ripe and fitting for the current state of the planet. A thinking person’s extreme and inventive metal band. Listen to "Sutra" and have your expectations and understanding of heavy music turned upside down and inside out.

Limited Colored Vinyl. The leaders of the New School of American Death Metal, Undeath, set to release their live,Sirius XM stream, "Live...From the Grave", recorded in concert on May 27th, 2022 from Pop'sin Sauget, IL. Featuring tracks from their 2022 Album of the Year LP, "It's Time To Rise...FromThe Grave", the live album was recorded by John Wallace and Mixed/Mastered by ArthurRizk (Power Trip, Code Orange, Sacred Reich)

"Sumerian Cry" is the debut album by Swedish gothic metal veterans Tiamat, originally released in 1990. The album was recorded at Sunlight Studio, Stockholm, Sweden, in 1989, when the band was known under the original name Treblinka. The track "Sumerian Cry, Pt. 1" is a re-interpretation of the intro melody from "Crawling in Vomit", the first track off Treblinka's first demo. Since the mid-90's Tiamat has been employing a live keyboard player for all of their concerts, hiring them from well-known metal acts such as Opeth, Dark Tranquillity, Cradle of Filth and Evergrey.

"Skyforger" is the ninth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis, originally released in 2009. The album's sound has been described as melodic death metal with influences from progressive metal, power metal and folk. This "must have" album will now be available as limited edition splatter vinyl courtesy of Back On Black Records.

Grave Bathers have been decimating audiences with high decibel, high energy live performances since their formation in 2018 and quickly gained notoriety with their ambitious Feathered Serpent/Death Hand 7” EP released via Seeing Red Records in 2020. Upon first listen, The Sleeping Shaman hailed the band’s, “epic riffs, piercing Robert Plant vocals, tales of outlaws and bloodshed, all above some truly gorgeous bass work,” while Doomed And Stoned lauded “a sound that shuffles well with the rockier side of Pentagram, Black Sabbath, and Portland street doomers R.I.P.” Added Metal Temple, “Grave BATHER’s EP is the epitome of doom metal, and resembles every corner of the atmosphere through their clouded movements… the EP deserves a listen through the graveyard.” The band’s authentic blend of bombastic boogie, booty shaking hard rock, heavy psych, and episodic doom earned them both critical acclaim and the momentum to pick up endorsements by Orange Amplifiers and Ampturco Guitar Werks. Grave Bathers continues to make strides in the streets by writing, touring, and playing with great acts such as Ruby The Hatchet, Blackwater Holylight, Rifflord, Deathchant, Warcloud, Tower, Scorpion Child, Zed, Howling Giant, Amplified Heat, Ecstatic Vision, Holy Death Trio, Heavy Temple, Mick’s Jaguar, and many others. Their momentum is no surprise: the band boasts the decibel-smashing guitarist Jaret Salvat-Rivera of Heavy Temple as their lead riff ripper and later added drummer Sean Lafferty of Yatra into the fold to forge their most dominant lineup yet. The talent-stacked Voltron has since earned thousands of fans online through their iconic style, viral gear porn, vintage analog recording methods, and Spotify presence; all with only three singles out.

Founded 1988 in Stockholm/Sweden, Dismember were among those responsible for Death Metal's big break through. The debut album, Like An Ever Flowing Stream from 1991, clearly showed that Dismember are an uncompromising band which resulted in their rise to cult status and within a short period of time the album took the scene by storm. Extensive touring with bands like Death, Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse showed that Dismember are a live force to be reckoned with and the number of fans grew steadily. The band then released the 5-track EP, "Pieces", and went out on tour again with Napalm Death and Obituary. They played for thousands of fans throughout Europe thus reinforcing their status as one of the best live bands on earth.