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Heavy Psych Sounds is really proud to announce a brand new series of split albums that will be called Doom Sessions. We are going to release a bunch of compilations with doom bands from Heavy Psych Sounds roster featuring some of the heaviest bands of the world doom scene. Each volume will host two bands. This record you are holding is VOL. 3 – a split album between the US "Relapse records" legendary sludge-hardcore riffers 16 and the Italian heavy sludge band Grime. All the tracks are new and never released before. Almost half an hour of angry and aggressive heavy doom and sludge riffs !!! Awesome artwork by the mighty Branca Studio.

"From The Graveyard" is the second full length of the Occult Doom band 1782. In this album there is a leap in quality as the production is much better than the previous releases. Eight tracks and 43 minutes of pure dark Doom, with slow and powerful riffs, and heavy and massive drumming. After the recording of "Doom Sessions Vol.2", the band immediately enters the studio and records the heaviest tracks they have done so far, and they have done it while maintaining that catchy state they have always had. Here too there are featurings, Nico Sechi on organ (Hammond in "1782" and "Celestial Voices" in the debut album) and Alfredo Carboni's Synth. As in the eponymous debut album, the artwork was done by the mighty Sscvlt. "From The Graveyard" was recorded, mixed and mastered in November 2020 by Alfredo Carboni at "rks Studios" in Ossi, Sardinia (Italy).

According to an apocryphal book, the mythical character of Ahasver refused to help Jesus on his way to Golgotha. For this reason, he was denied the right to die and was condemned to wander the earth forever. This myth accompanies the entire printed history of humanity. In an age when fiction is stronger than reality, some say that the first man who will not die is already walking the earth. The eight songs of “Causa Sui” are the contribution of the band Ahasver to the continuation of this narrative. It took the Frenchmen four years to write and record their debut album. The pooling of the artistic individualities embodies the evocation of what Ahasver might have seen among the ruins of this dying world: equity, sharing, inclusion and resilience. So much for the approach of the musicians from Toulouse and their first album “Causa Sui”. In other words, Ahasver is a band that likes to work on concepts and challenging their own creativity. Involved are members of Eryn NON DAE, Gorod, Psykup, Zubrowska, Dimitree and Drawers, who with Ahasver have formed a formation that moves in the shallows of progressive metal. The field of activity of the Frenchmen cannot be narrowed down further. The quintet does not accept stylistic boundaries and likes to change its way of playing. The debut of the group on Lifeforce Records develops multilayered and along a constant reinterpretation of the composition of the heavy sounds. Tension and special moments are abundantly offered on “Causa Sui”. Interestingly, it even happens that the debut of Ahasver can be followed without any problems despite its bulky approach and is even suitable for recognizable moments.

Excelsior! It’s the hail of yore that one should go ever onward and upward. And so, fittingly Onwards And Downwards is the occultist Swedish band ALASTOR’s clever call to arms... and also a reflection of the collective dark state of mind these days. “If our last album Slave To The Grave were about death, this record is more about madness,” says guitarist Hampus Sandell. “You can look at the whole record as one person’s gradual slip into insanity. An ongoing nightmare without end. It also sums up the state of the world around us as this year has clearly shown.” Alastor is heavy doom rock for the wicked and depraved. Drenched in heavy, distorted darkness and steeped in occult horror that will make one’s skin crawl and ears cry sweet tears of blood, the band is revitalized in 2021 with meticulously crafted songs and new drummer JIM Nordström bringing a hard-hitting and precise energy. “It’s a more focused record but at the same time it’s more personal and naked. More raw emotion and pain,” Hampus says. The band recorded the album with the help of Joona Hassinen of Studio Underjord, who has helped with mixing since their Blood On Satan’s Claw EP in 2017. Christoffer Karlsson of THE Dahmers also assisted with overdubs and encouraged the band to demo the material early on, aiding in the album’s more deliberate and tighter feel.

The wait is over... Finally, classic heavy metal merchants Alien Force will break the 35-year silence and release a new collection of songs! “We Meet Again” is the eagerly awaited new Alien Force studio album, and it doesn’t disappoint: it’s melodic, it’s tight and it bears that classical sound that made the Danes a band to be reckoned in the international scene. Few bands could hold the pressure of three decades and a half of accumulated expectations, but Alien Force do it in spades! In 1982, the band known as Alien Force started playing music under the name Zeyking. Started by two brothers Henrik Rasmussen (guitar) and Michael Rasmussen (drums) the style was classic heavy metal. Together with Peter Svale Andersen (vocals) and Michael Østerfelt, (bass) Zeyking released the single “Get It Out”. In 1985, the band changed its name to Alien Force and released their first LP “Hell And High Water”. Up through the 90’s it was difficult for the band to survive. Band members were replaced, the name and style changed, but it was all in all a difficult period and the band decided to stop after playing at many festivals and club gigs. In 2008, the band was invited to play a reunion concert in the famous rock club The Rock. The concert was a great success and Alien Force once again got the desire for metal back. Shortly after, the band entered their home studio with new energy and new ideas for songs and got more invitations to play festivals again, but unfortunately their guitarist Michael Wenzel lost his life to cancer and it was a great blow for the band again. After a long break, in 2018, Alien Force was invited to play Keep It True, one of Germany’s largest underground metal festivals. Alien Force presented themselves with the original line-up from the “Hell And High Water” album and the concert served as a turning point. In 2020, Alien Force hit the studio again, inspired by the many concerts in Europe after the Keep it True experience. Together with Peter Brander in Media Sound Studio, they have recorded ten new with an A&R team composed by Michael Stützer (Artillery), Tom Noble (Tygers Of Pan Tang manager) and Kim Vestergaard (Artillery manager). The title of the album says it all: WE Meet Again

Fire and brimstone from Icelandic Black Metal band Altari, as their volcanic new album Kröflueldar erupts via Svart Records on 14.04.23. Named after a series of eruptions that happened at Krafla in Iceland in 1975, Kröflueldar represents the constant threat of ash that Altari’s music lives under. Kröflueldar was a 9 year series of eruptions, and since the album took almost 9 years to create, Altari felt that it was a fitting title for their scalding and ferocious music.

Fans of Craft, Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord and the more well known Icelandic Black Metal bands like Misþyrming and Sinmara will revel in digging into Kröflueldar’s rotten soil, but there is something far more experimental and avant-garde to be reaped within the whirlwind of sound that Altari produces. With their foundations of sound in the classic eras of early Judas Priest, songs like Leðurblo?kufjandinn call to mind the discordant soundclash of bands like Voivod, Virus and even Sonic Youth in the interplay of melody and disharmony. The bewildering, but utterly charming frenzy of taking the raw sound of metal to the limits breaks through from Altari’s literal geological location in a landscape in constant upheaval. Guitarist and Vocalist Ó.Þ.Guðjónsson notes that; “bands such as Blue Öyster Cult, Interpol, Killing Joke were a big inspiration for us as well for the use of clean guitars as the sound for leads. I expressed a desire to find some balance between the overdriven rhythm and melodic yet clean leads. These bands helped us find that.”

It is through these uncommon and almost blasphemous influences that Altari proves to be a rare gem in the much vaulted Icelandic Black Metal crown, giving Kröflueldar the dna of a band that feels they have so much potential and fervor brewing up in their molten kiln. Tracks like Sy?rulu?ður with the vocals of Gyða Margrét are as delicate and subtle, cloaked in smoky atmosphere, as they are dark and brooding, giving hints of bands like This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins.

When Guðjónsson states that the intention was an “overall desire for us to get away from the sound that has been a gateway for others here in the scene” they imbued Kröflueldar with a beguiling essence that’s hard to pin down, but magnetically unique. The co-production work of Stephen Lockhart, a staple of the Icelandic Black Metal scene and sound, is of quality but something very different from his signature work, born from what Guðjónsson describes as a need for a “new sonic approach,” Kröflueldar’s sonic eruptions, from the low earthy rumblings to the cacophonic and epic high notes, feels thoroughly worked but raw enough to be unsettling in the new ground it uncovers. Svart Records head honcho Tomi Pulkki expands on the reasons behind his new signing, saying that; “I found their approach refreshingly idiosyncratic in the way it mixes cleaner sounds with distortion. Altari brings something new to Black Metal and that is a rare thing these days”.

Adorned with the psychedelic album cover by guitarist K.R.Guðmundsson, which evokes the storms that come when a volcano erupts, Kröflueldar is a worthy song of praise to the wild and destructive threat of nature unleashed.

Fire and brimstone from Icelandic Black Metal band Altari, as their volcanic new album Kröflueldar erupts via Svart Records on 14.04.23. Named after a series of eruptions that happened at Krafla in Iceland in 1975, Kröflueldar represents the constant threat of ash that Altari’s music lives under. Kröflueldar was a 9 year series of eruptions, and since the album took almost 9 years to create, Altari felt that it was a fitting title for their scalding and ferocious music.

Fans of Craft, Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord and the more well known Icelandic Black Metal bands like Misþyrming and Sinmara will revel in digging into Kröflueldar’s rotten soil, but there is something far more experimental and avant-garde to be reaped within the whirlwind of sound that Altari produces. With their foundations of sound in the classic eras of early Judas Priest, songs like Leðurblo?kufjandinn call to mind the discordant soundclash of bands like Voivod, Virus and even Sonic Youth in the interplay of melody and disharmony. The bewildering, but utterly charming frenzy of taking the raw sound of metal to the limits breaks through from Altari’s literal geological location in a landscape in constant upheaval. Guitarist and Vocalist Ó.Þ.Guðjónsson notes that; “bands such as Blue Öyster Cult, Interpol, Killing Joke were a big inspiration for us as well for the use of clean guitars as the sound for leads. I expressed a desire to find some balance between the overdriven rhythm and melodic yet clean leads. These bands helped us find that.”

It is through these uncommon and almost blasphemous influences that Altari proves to be a rare gem in the much vaulted Icelandic Black Metal crown, giving Kröflueldar the dna of a band that feels they have so much potential and fervor brewing up in their molten kiln. Tracks like Sy?rulu?ður with the vocals of Gyða Margrét are as delicate and subtle, cloaked in smoky atmosphere, as they are dark and brooding, giving hints of bands like This Mortal Coil and Cocteau Twins.

When Guðjónsson states that the intention was an “overall desire for us to get away from the sound that has been a gateway for others here in the scene” they imbued Kröflueldar with a beguiling essence that’s hard to pin down, but magnetically unique. The co-production work of Stephen Lockhart, a staple of the Icelandic Black Metal scene and sound, is of quality but something very different from his signature work, born from what Guðjónsson describes as a need for a “new sonic approach,” Kröflueldar’s sonic eruptions, from the low earthy rumblings to the cacophonic and epic high notes, feels thoroughly worked but raw enough to be unsettling in the new ground it uncovers. Svart Records head honcho Tomi Pulkki expands on the reasons behind his new signing, saying that; “I found their approach refreshingly idiosyncratic in the way it mixes cleaner sounds with distortion. Altari brings something new to Black Metal and that is a rare thing these days”.

Adorned with the psychedelic album cover by guitarist K.R.Guðmundsson, which evokes the storms that come when a volcano erupts, Kröflueldar is a worthy song of praise to the wild and destructive threat of nature unleashed.

For the 15th anniversary of their most melancholic piece of art, AMORPHIS finally reissue “Silent Waters” on vinyl After the great comeback success with new singer Tomi Joutsen and magnificient album "Eclipse" in 2006, AMORPHIS once more dug deep in the Finnish national epic Kalevala, creating another dark and beautiful masterpiece: "Silent Waters". "We have put a lot of energy and emotion into this album", says guitarist and band founder Esa Holopainen, "and hopefully it will reflect". Shining with exquisite vocals between clean melancholy and powerful growls – once more worked up with the help of Marko Hietala (NIGHTWISH, TAROT) – plus gorgeous folkloristic melodies embedded in straight Rock outfits, "Silent Waters" pleases with songs like the fleet-footed 'Towards And Against', the touching single 'Silent Waters' and the stirring 'Her Alone'. A strong and pithy, yet sensitive album, emphasizing AMORPHIS' status as one of the most outstanding Rock acts nowadays. Founded in Helsinki back in 1990, AMORPHIS constantly worked their way up, developing from a harsh Death Metal band into a serious Rock group. The big break-through came in 1994 with their last really extreme album "Tales From The Thousand Lakes“, scoring a big coup in the worldwide Metal scene. After intensive touring, AMORPHIS decided to discover new musical grounds and hired Pasi Koskinen, who additionally worked with clean vocals, as new singer, leaving guitarist and former singer Tomi Koivusaari the chance to focus more on his six string work. In 1996, AMORPHIS released "Elegy", a Progressive / Folk Metal masterpiece which even managed to climb to # 67 in the German album charts. Three years later, "Tuonela" showed up, combining Modern Rock music with Finnish character and psychedelic 70s influences. A highly successful mix that even topped the triumph of "Elegy", achieving a brilliant # 46 in the German charts again.

For the 15th anniversary of their most melancholic piece of art, AMORPHIS finally reissue “Silent Waters” on vinyl After the great comeback success with new singer Tomi Joutsen and magnificient album "Eclipse" in 2006, AMORPHIS once more dug deep in the Finnish national epic Kalevala, creating another dark and beautiful masterpiece: "Silent Waters". "We have put a lot of energy and emotion into this album", says guitarist and band founder Esa Holopainen, "and hopefully it will reflect". Shining with exquisite vocals between clean melancholy and powerful growls – once more worked up with the help of Marko Hietala (NIGHTWISH, TAROT) – plus gorgeous folkloristic melodies embedded in straight Rock outfits, "Silent Waters" pleases with songs like the fleet-footed 'Towards And Against', the touching single 'Silent Waters' and the stirring 'Her Alone'. A strong and pithy, yet sensitive album, emphasizing AMORPHIS' status as one of the most outstanding Rock acts nowadays. Founded in Helsinki back in 1990, AMORPHIS constantly worked their way up, developing from a harsh Death Metal band into a serious Rock group. The big break-through came in 1994 with their last really extreme album "Tales From The Thousand Lakes“, scoring a big coup in the worldwide Metal scene. After intensive touring, AMORPHIS decided to discover new musical grounds and hired Pasi Koskinen, who additionally worked with clean vocals, as new singer, leaving guitarist and former singer Tomi Koivusaari the chance to focus more on his six string work. In 1996, AMORPHIS released "Elegy", a Progressive / Folk Metal masterpiece which even managed to climb to # 67 in the German album charts. Three years later, "Tuonela" showed up, combining Modern Rock music with Finnish character and psychedelic 70s influences. A highly successful mix that even topped the triumph of "Elegy", achieving a brilliant # 46 in the German charts again. "Am Universum" was added to the discography in 2001, opening up a new chapter in AMORPHIS' sound with featured electronic soundscapes and saxophone parts. Follow-up "Far From The Sun" eventually fascinated with a PINK FLOYD-esque touch and relaxed atmosphere, but also some more harder Metal elements back from the old days. Many fans hailed the album as the best since the legendary "Elegy".

Limited smoke colored vinyl LP pressing. La Raza is the sixth studio album by heavy metal band Armored Saint, originally released in 2010. Armored Saint reformed the entire Symbol of Salvation lineup to record La Raza in 2009 after an eight-year hiatus.

Ars Veneficium, one of Belgium’s most prominent black metal acts is back with their 3rd full length album “The Lurking Shadow of Death”, 4 years after the release of their 2nd full length album “Usurpation of the Seven”. With their new album The Lurking Shadow of Death it is clear that Ars Veneficium has not taken the song writing for granted and managed to overthrow their previous work once more with delivering only the best of their best on this record. From the compositions to the production to the artwork, one can undoubtedly say that this is their best work thus so far. The lead guitars by Ronarg deliver some amazing melodies variated with some aggressive chords where the bass guitar (once again) plays some beautiful underlaying solo notes to create that extra atmosphere which is more or less the Ars Veneficium signature by now. The drum work has been delivered by no one else than Flo Musil (Theotoxin) who blasts his way throughout the album with some outstanding, highly skilled details giving the extra punch that this album absolutely deserves. The vocals by S. are more furious than before and deliver a much wider range and diversity which lifts the whole album to a new level. With The Lurking Shadow of Death, Ars Veneficium has delivered an absolute beast of a black metal album that every fan of old school, satanic or melodic black metal would appreciate! Raging black metal filled with atmosphere, melodies and pumping energy! A must have! 1. Death is Light2. Eye to Eye with the Devil 3. De Glorie van Dood 4. One with the Cosmos5. Into the Void 6. My Tomb Under the Stars7. Pale Image of I

Azusa have inked new partnerships with Indie Recordings and Solid State Records to release “Loop Of Yesterdays”, the highly anticipated follow up to 2018’s critically acclaimed “Heavy Yoke”. Although equally broad in scope, “Loop Of Yesterdays” finds the band with more to say but less to prove, achieving a more aerodynamic and accessible approach to their intricate sense of song-writing and inherently technical style. On their sophomore release, Azusa step off the tightrope and stand with feet on solid ground. Expanding on ideas first presented on 2018’s album Heavy Yoke, Azusa seek to captivate audiences with their unique blend of melodic-thrash, jazz-fusion, hardcore and early 90’s riff pop sensibilities.

Azusa have inked new partnerships with Indie Recordings and Solid State Records to release “Loop Of Yesterdays”, the highly anticipated follow up to 2018’s critically acclaimed “Heavy Yoke”. Although equally broad in scope, “Loop Of Yesterdays” finds the band with more to say but less to prove, achieving a more aerodynamic and accessible approach to their intricate sense of song-writing and inherently technical style. On their sophomore release, Azusa step off the tightrope and stand with feet on solid ground. Expanding on ideas first presented on 2018’s album Heavy Yoke, Azusa seek to captivate audiences with their unique blend of melodic-thrash, jazz-fusion, hardcore and early 90’s riff pop sensibilities.

Beasto Blanco was founded by Chuck Garric and Chris Latham. They set out to create a raw, powerful rock & roll band with a blistering, theatrical live experience. Then came Calico Cooper, rock vixen and offspring of Garric's boss, legendary shock rocker Alice Cooper, and a renegade German rhythm section, and Beasto Blanco's inimitable sound and image was born.Blood, sweat and gas fuel Beasto Blanco's explosive rock sound. A band and an audience united in an inseparable bond of musical thunder and sensational spectacle: welcome to the world of Beasto Blanco. Whether under the spotlights of huge arenas or headlining packed theatres and clubs, the band's mission is unwavering: to create an immersive experience where everyone is welcome to join an extended family whose support is unconditional and authentic.At the helm of Beasto Blanco is a powerful triumvirate. Band co-founder, frontman, lead singer and guitarist Chuck Garric, distinguished by his considerable legacy as a touring and recording musician, including 22 years playing bass with Alice Cooper, is a creative force of nature. "Beasto Blanco is my inner beast, my Hulk, my wolfman, the thing I turn into when I step onstage", he says.Calico MachineGirl Cooper is the band's high priestess and serves as an inspirational archetype. "I get approached by women who say, 'Thank you for being so strong and so powerful'"'she explains. Her interaction with Chuck - who she's known for chasing around the stage with a spiked baseball bat - captivates the audience with a dynamic that blurs the line between combat and romance. "We're not just a band, we're a lifestyle".The future is a beast and we are here to ride it. – Chuck Garric 1. Run For Your Life2. Nobody Move3. Heavy Is The Head4. Unreal5. Kill Us Off With A Smile6. Slide7. Skull Rider8. Lowlands9. Diamond In The Dirt10. Bad Thoughts11. Fight

If you’re looking for a band that embody everything hardcore punk should be, then you’re looking for Birds in Row. Sonically, they’re fearless. Lyrically, they’re as poetic as they are recusant. And live, they’re a ruthless force, matching the power of their music with boundless, must-see energy. After debut album You, Me & the Violence sparked listeners’ imaginations, 2018 follow-up We Already Lost the World was an unyielding inferno of brazen ideas. Metal Hammer UK called it “intelligent, poignant art,” writing that “this downward spiral changes pace and weight at every turn.” It screamed for mutual respect in a world of increasingly extreme political divides, and used the vehicles of punk, post-hardcore and post-metal to carry its cries. Now comes Gris Klein. Birds in Row’s third full-length album is their most genre-bending and timely declaration yet. “Water Wings” opens, its scraping guitar strums a ticking clock, counting down to the inevitable barrage of hardcore to follow. “Noah” revs up over its six gargantuan minutes. Its singing slowly spirals into apoplectic screeches. “Trompe l’oeil” is half folk, half punk, and “Winter Yet” has no qualms about busting out seismic metal guitars at its climax. It’s an amorphous beast of an album: always unpredictable, but never out of character for this creative collective. Gris Klein’s lyrics were sculpted by the Covid-19 pandemic, eloquently summarizing the cruel and sometimes nonsensical nature of mental illness. “Trompe l’oeil”, for example, sings, “Most of the times I feel lonely are when my friends are around.” “This is the exact moment where you should feel like you’re surrounded by people you love and you’re not alone,” the band add. “It asks, ‘If I can’t feel loved in this specific moment, then when can I feel that?’” Gris Klein is a portrait of a world enduring its most chaotic era in a generation. Yet throughout, the Birds in Row manifesto is the same as it’s always been: love each other. “We really want people to know that they’re not alone, and that they can count on each other,” they say. “The way we treat each other is political. It’s OK to trust each other. All the movies about catastrophes show people turning against each other, but that’s not what would happen. When people are in the shit, they help each other. That’s what we’re trying to transmit with this record: hold each other’s hands.” Not even a world-shaking pandemic could damage Birds in Row’s invention, compassion and brutality. Now three albums in, they remain the model portrait of punk. – Matt Mills, May 2022

Black Rainbows are back with a brand new album! This time they are delivering 12 new and fresh tunes. Recorded and produced by Fabio Sforza, who was also behind the previous album Pandaemonium. “Cosmic Ritual Supertrip” has a monolithic force; guitars, drums and bass are all glued together to give the listener a punch in the face! This album gets its magic power from mixing together a 70’s attitude with a doom-occult and stoner rock sound in a masterful way. We can count a bunch of singles, such as “Isolation” and “Master Rocket Power Blast”, as well as a couple of doomy songs like “Universal Phase” and “Saacred Graal” and also more catchy tunes like “Radio 666” and “At Midnight You Cry”. This is the 8th album of the band and we believe the best one so far. Recorded at Forward Studios in Rome on a huge Neve desk, this new gem will be out May 1st, on Heavy Psych Sounds Records.
The amazing artwork, made by the one and only Robin Gnista, is matching in its entirety the album music concept.

Black Rainbows are back with a brand new album! This time they are delivering 12 new and fresh tunes. Recorded and produced by Fabio Sforza, who was also behind the previous album Pandaemonium. “Cosmic Ritual Supertrip” has a monolithic force; guitars, drums and bass are all glued together to give the listener a punch in the face! This album gets its magic power from mixing together a 70’s attitude with a doom-occult and stoner rock sound in a masterful way. We can count a bunch of singles, such as “Isolation” and “Master Rocket Power Blast”, as well as a couple of doomy songs like “Universal Phase” and “Saacred Graal” and also more catchy tunes like “Radio 666” and “At Midnight You Cry”. This is the 8th album of the band and we believe the best one so far. Recorded at Forward Studios in Rome on a huge Neve desk, this new gem will be out May 1st, on Heavy Psych Sounds Records.
The amazing artwork, made by the one and only Robin Gnista, is matching in its entirety the album music concept.

Golgotha is the sixth studio album by Bleeding Eyes. After Gammy (©2014 Go Down Records) the band embarked on a different stylistic and compositional path. Starting from long and substantial jams, the five-piece band extrapolated and deepened 7 tracks lasting almost 50 minutes. The influences are getting darker. Black on black. The esoteric doom mixed with the tipically sludgy attitude, give to their personal existential ordeal a picture in which Simone Tesser’s lyrics fit perfectly. Golgotha’s topics tell about saints and unbelievers, the latter ones in constant conflict with life and death. This new interpretation, that also takes inspiration from the heretic gospels of the apocalypse (first 2 tracks), represents the steady and never ending spiritual detachment, that our capitalist society has lived in for several decades. With mocking irony and lots of sarcasm a post-dogmatic dark way is proposed by the band to deal with the ordeal of everyday life. The studio recording process lasted several months and was handled by Jason Nealy and Marco Dussin (guitarist and bassist respectively). Drums and rhythm guitars were recorded at the music club Benicio Live Gigs, located in the suggestive woods of the Montello hill in Italy. While the final steps, mixing and mastering took place at BadRum studio in Asolo, Italy. Golgotha has a really deep and dense meaning for the band and the graphic part plays an important role too; that’s why the Bleeding Eyes has chosen the Lorenzo Ferraro’s photography. The album artwork consists in pictures taken right after the passage of the devastating storm Vaia, that heavily damaged the band’s hometown surroundings. The desolation post Vaia matches perfectly with Golgotha’s magmatic darkness. The event proved our disarming weakness in front of an untamed force of nature, that can unleash destroying powers yet unknown. The album title itself is therefore -calvario- the combination of a natural imagery that reveals the misery of the precarious human condition.

Golgotha is the sixth studio album by Bleeding Eyes. After Gammy (©2014 Go Down Records) the band embarked on a different stylistic and compositional path. Starting from long and substantial jams, the five-piece band extrapolated and deepened 7 tracks lasting almost 50 minutes. The influences are getting darker. Black on black. The esoteric doom mixed with the tipically sludgy attitude, give to their personal existential ordeal a picture in which Simone Tesser’s lyrics fit perfectly. Golgotha’s topics tell about saints and unbelievers, the latter ones in constant conflict with life and death. This new interpretation, that also takes inspiration from the heretic gospels of the apocalypse (first 2 tracks), represents the steady and never ending spiritual detachment, that our capitalist society has lived in for several decades. With mocking irony and lots of sarcasm a post-dogmatic dark way is proposed by the band to deal with the ordeal of everyday life. The studio recording process lasted several months and was handled by Jason Nealy and Marco Dussin (guitarist and bassist respectively). Drums and rhythm guitars were recorded at the music club Benicio Live Gigs, located in the suggestive woods of the Montello hill in Italy. While the final steps, mixing and mastering took place at BadRum studio in Asolo, Italy. Golgotha has a really deep and dense meaning for the band and the graphic part plays an important role too; that’s why the Bleeding Eyes has chosen the Lorenzo Ferraro’s photography. The album artwork consists in pictures taken right after the passage of the devastating storm Vaia, that heavily damaged the band’s hometown surroundings. The desolation post Vaia matches perfectly with Golgotha’s magmatic darkness. The event proved our disarming weakness in front of an untamed force of nature, that can unleash destroying powers yet unknown. The album title itself is therefore -calvario- the combination of a natural imagery that reveals the misery of the precarious human condition.

Brass Against are back with their 2nd longplayer. Finally.Brass Against covers classics of Rage Against the Maschine along with other protest songs from the whole musical spectre. There are songs from bands like Tool, Black Sabbath, Audioslave and Led Zeppelin. Their videos are guaranteed viral hits. On the microphone you will find singer extraordinary, Sophia Urista.The band says: ,In this politically challenging era, it's time to stand up against the machine. We want the music we perform to sound inspiring and resonate with people's emotions, encouraging them to act. We combine rock and edgy hip-hop to play music that's powerful and empowering. Brass Against is exceptional music with a political edge. We are angry, we are inspired, we are ready for change_and we hope our music amplifies this energy in everyone who listens."The band got quite a name through several viral hits on Youtube. Brass Against`s version of ,Wake up" got more than 19 million views in the meantime.

Classic black vinyl!The contemporary Belgian music scene keeps spawning awesome bands, and B R I Q U E V I L L E - the spaces in between the letters are part of their moniker are among the most intriguing and compelling of them. The meditative heaviness of their sound and the carefulengineering of the visual aspects of their mesmerizing live-performance rituals are awe-inspiring and challenging in equal measure.After 2017's dazzling instrumental opus ,II", the Flemish 5-piece finally return with their 3rd studio album, one of the first real pandemic-albums to be released on Pelagic. The band members had to finish the album in separation, which worked outbetter than they had initially expected: the forced distance allowed them to take distance not only to each other, but alsotowards their own song material. Some pieces grew larger than originally intended, others were stripped down to the essentials and reinvented.The end result is a staggering album that is sophisticated and smothering at the same time, made up of altogether shorter songs as compared to the previous release, and there is a more prominent focus on those tasty electronics, which have always been an integral part of B R I Q U E V I L L E 's sound. The album is also the first one with an album title: Quelle means ,source" in German, and ,which" in French. ,We strongly feel that this record keeps all the ingredients of previous recordsand explores them further than we ever did before. The theme of a 'source', and the 'which' linking it reflexively to our previous album artwork gave us the feeling that we stayed true to our original concept, music, artwork and clips. Water and sand as a source of life and death. How an isolated soul deals with these elements", says a nameless band member... What? Yes, B R I Q U E V I L L E is a band shrouded in mystery. The black Nazgûl-robes and golden masks that all members wear on stage give their presence the air of an occult ritual... butthe band is not chasing (a) Ghost; in fact t...

SHADOW KINGDOM RECORDS is elated to reissue the seminal sophomore album of Italy’s BULLDOZER, The Final Separation.Italy's BULLDOZER is a name that commands respect and awe. In the thrash and black metal underground of the 1980s, they were the uncompromising counterparts to legends like Venom and Motorhead. Known for their raw energy and wild performances, BULLDOZER carved their niche with ferocious anthems and a chaotic aesthetic. Their frontman, AC Wild, epitomized the band's untamed spirit. They were the definition of a cult band before the term became a staple in metal lore. Simply put, there was, and is, only one BULLDOZER.The BULLDOZER saga continued with unrelenting force with the release of their second album, The Final Separation, in 1986. From the first explosive riffs of the title track, The Final Separation cements itself as a powerhouse of relentless thrash and blackened fury. The album is a maelstrom of aggressive riffs, thunderous drumming, and AC Wild's unmistakable snarls. With tracks like "Ride Hard - Die Fast" and "We are...Italian," BULLDOZER showcased their ability to blend high-speed ferocity with anthemic choruses, creating a sound that is both punishing and infectious. 1.The Final Separation 04:532.Ride Hard - Die Fast 04:013.The Cave 04:354.Sex Symbols' Bullshit 03:335."Don" Andras 03:066.Never Relax! 05:377.Don't Trust the "Saint" 04:308.The Death of Gods 10:10

In cooperation with Metal Blade, Subsounds Records has announced an exclusive, limited Tape edition of the upcoming Cannibal Corpse album. The album title already tells you everything you need to know about Cannibal Corpse's fifteenth hellish opus. Comprised of eleven brutal tracks, Violence Unimagined is state of the art death metal played with passion and breathless precision, making for another flawless addition to what is inarguably one of the premier catalogues the genre has thrown up. “It really follows the path we’ve been going down for a few years now,” states bassist and founding member Alex Webster. “I think we approach the writing in a similar way most every time: each of us try to write the heaviest, most memorable songs we can. We want each song to have its own identifiable character. Showing my age, I like to say you can ‘drop the needle’ on any point of one of our albums and quickly tell which song you’re listening to.” While they continue to do what they do with aplomb, the one substantial change to Cannibal Corpse is the addition of guitarist Erik Rutan to their ranks, joining Webster, founding drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz, guitarist Rob Barrett and vocalist George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. Known for his roles in Morbid Angel, Ripping Corpse and most notably fronting the mighty Hate Eternal, Rutan has long established himself as one of the most dynamic forces in contemporary death metal. Simultaneously, he has built up a reputation as one of the most in demand producers in metal, having previously produced four Cannibal Corpse albums (in addition to Violence Unimagined), alongside the likes of Goatwhore, Soilent Green and Belphegor. Filling in live on guitar since 2019, in 2020 he became a full member, contributing to the writing process. Already well known for the level of extreme technicality they bring to every record, on Violence Unimagined, Cannibal Corpse have further upped their game, particularly in Mazurkiewicz’s drumming. “I think we all pushed ourselves a bit technically on this one, with Paul probably pushing the hardest. This album is probably the most drum-intense album we’ve done yet. Part of that could be a result of Erik joining the band. His song writing style often features technically challenging drumming, probably owing to his years of experience in high speed death metal.” And with typically dark and warped lyrical content, Mazurkiewicz came up with the fitting title of the record, “summing up what the band is about in every facet, and taking violence to another level of extremity.”

As with a choice few truly great bands, the first self-financed cassette recording by Cathedral - made available in October 1990 - was a pioneering underground masterpiece in its own right; the sound of a young band exploring its newfound chemistry, finding confident variations on a flawless list of influences and cultivating a sound and style that would prove hugely inspirational throughout the 1990s and beyond, being a major influence on everyone from Electric Wizard through to Reverend Bizarre.
Where most demos are little more than a dry run for the first album, "In Memoriam" still has its own distinct and important identity in the Cathedral canon. The debut LP that followed, "Forest Of Equilibrium", has a sombre, devout, melodic and mystical grandeur all of its own - but 'In Memoriam' has a far murkier, earthier, more deathly intent. Creepy, cryptic and bowel-looseningly heavy, it represents the first time that the doom metal stylings of Trouble, Saint Vitus, Pentagram and Witchfinder General had been rendered in a new, more extreme metallic form. At the beginning of the new decade, it was really only Cathedral who were proud to assert the influence of true doom metal - a perennially unfashionable genre, but especially in a turn-of-the-decade metal scene so obsessed with speed, technicality, brutality and modernity.

North Carolina’s Cosmic Reaper comes crashing through the speakers with their self-titled debut album. Dripping with a classic 70’s attitude, mixing sci-fi oriented lyrics, brief but satisfying moments of prog exploration, all while keeping one foot firmly planted in modern doom, you start to get an idea of the interstellar journey that awaits. The heaviest elements are there and are guaranteed to move planets. The stars align and engines ignite as Cosmic Reaper claws at the soul of the genre. Biography Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, Psych-Doom outfit Cosmic Reaper delivers classic doom & stoner metal elements dipped in psychedelia. In its infancy, bass player Garrett Garlington and guitar player Dillon Prentice, together in Garrett’s kitchen, mixed heavy and fuzzy harmonies with crushing riffs. Not long after, the duo added Thad Collis. His ethereal vocals and impassioned guitar harmonies are what built the band’s foundation. Jeremy Grobsmith, a Colorado Springs metal veteran (The Great Redneck Hope, Matterhorn and Worry) had recently moved to The Queen City, befriended the guys and was quickly asked to join. His hard-hitting and eclectic drum style rounded out the Cosmic Reaper sound and the band was born. Following a year of practice and fine tuning their sound, Cosmic Reaper made their live debut in July of 2019. In September of that same year, they recorded the Demon Dance EP at Greensboro’s recording studio The Parliament House, along side owner and maverick Jacob Beeson. Noteworthy exposure from doom metal focused podcasts and web-zines helped in the success of their first offering. Following the release, the band continued to perform regionally and then capitalized on the time afforded by the unfortunate shutdown of venues and they began writing their first full length album. The band returned to Beeson’s studio in the summer of 2020 to start recording. Laden with droning riffs and down tempo walls of monolithic sound, they completed their crushing Self-titled debut full length. The start of 2021 ushers in a new and monumental era for the guys as Cosmic Reaper becomes part of the Heavy Psych Sounds family.

DEAD ICARUS is Alex Varkatzas (ex-Atreyu), Gabe Mangold (Enterprise Earth) and Brandon Zackey. An uncompromising, brutal, impassioned, confessional assault, Dead Icarus are set to release their debut album ZEALOT. “To me, Dead Icarus means freedom and fun,” says frontman Varkatzas. “There are no rules. There are dark moments in life, but Dead Icarus is a way through all of it for us. It’s a way to navigate and quantify those negative emotions. I’m just so proud of what we’ve made.” 1. The Unconquerable2. Bearing Burdens and Saving Skin3. Zealot4. 1 Million Days5. Temptation’s Kiss6. Fountains of Death7. Casting Spells8. Hell Opens Its Mouth9. Vada Retro Satana10. Secrets In The Dark11. Betrayal Shaped Daggers

Dead Register, hailing from Atlanta, have expertly weaved elements of Post Punk, Goth, Doom, and Shoegaze into a Post Rock wet dream of melancholy and soaring melodies since their demo Trvns Blvk in 2014. The band have been genre bending for the last 8 years and improving with each and every release from their debut album Fiber to their latest single, Don't Fail Me Now, released last year and recently remixed by Death Beat/Darkwave guru Snakes of Russia just a month ago now. Dead Register's sophomore full length, Alive, is the band's magnum opus, and one I cannot personally get enough of. In a universe where singles reign supreme, Dead Register have crafted a perfectly balanced album that works best when experienced from beginning to end. The cover art for Alive is noteworthy as it may be the very last album to ever feature the late great Stephen Kasner's (Sunn0))), Isis, Justin Broadrick, etc) work. Upon first hearing Dead Register over 6 years ago now, it was surprising to discover there is not one traditional guitar present on any recording. Everything you hear is coming from either a Fender Bass VI (made popular between 1961-1975) or a 4 string bass and synthesizers. While we can come to assume 95% of bands in the metal and rock world operate within the ordinary box of the "guitar, bass, and drum" paradigm, this trio approach writing a bit differently which is evident in every bit of music they create. I cannot stress the sheer brilliance of this masterpiece enough, and I dare say, Dead Register may be the only band that can fill the void left by the infamous Brooklyn 4, Type O Negative, albeit in their own way for the next generation.

Heavy Psych Sounds is really proud to announce a brand new series of split albums that will be called Doom Sessions !!We are going to release a bunch of compilations with doom bands from Heavy Psych Sounds roster featuring some of the heaviest bands of the world doom scene. Each volume will host two bands.This record you are holding is VOL. 666 – a split album between the UK occult-doom riffers Dead Witches and the french doom sensation Witchthroat SERPENT.All the tracks are new and never released before. An occult-doom explosion !!! Awesome artwork by the one and only Branca Studio.

Heavy Psych Sounds is really proud to announce a brand new series of split albums that will be called Doom Sessions !!We are going to release a bunch of compilations with doom bands from Heavy Psych Sounds roster featuring some of the heaviest bands of the world doom scene. Each volume will host two bands.This record you are holding is VOL. 666 – a split album between the UK occult-doom riffers Dead Witches and the french doom sensation Witchthroat SERPENT.All the tracks are new and never released before. An occult-doom explosion !!! Awesome artwork by the one and only Branca Studio.

Heavy Psych Sounds is really proud to announce a brand new series of split albums that will be called Doom Sessions !!We are going to release a bunch of compilations with doom bands from Heavy Psych Sounds roster featuring some of the heaviest bands of the world doom scene. Each volume will host two bands.This record you are holding is VOL. 666 – a split album between the UK occult-doom riffers Dead Witches and the french doom sensation Witchthroat SERPENT.All the tracks are new and never released before. An occult-doom explosion !!! Awesome artwork by the one and only Branca Studio.

Heavy music’s evolution has always been a murky swamp of sub-genres. So, combining Thin Lizzy’s glistening twin guitar harmonies with Melvins-grade sludge and a hearty dose of proto-metal psych probably shouldn’t sound so revolutionary as it does in the hands of L.A. quartet Deathchant. But theirs is a special, transcendent sound. Waste, the band’s sophomore album and first for Riding Easy Records, is anything but. The thirty three-minute, seven-song blast flows seamlessly from song to song, aided by droning segues, while simultaneously slithering between genres and moods. Rumbling noise, chiming guitar melodies, bluesy boogie, Nwobhm thrash, COC grunge and punk fury all rear their head at times, sometimes all at once. Though one wouldn’t be able to tell by the concise structures and well-crafted songs, a lot of Deathchant’s music is improvised, both in the studio and live. That’s not to suggest their songs are jammy— they’re very tightly organized compositions. But the four musicians have that special musical telepathy that allows them to keep the song structures open-ended. “Improv is a huge things for us and always has been,” singer / guitarist T.J. Lemieux says. “The musical freedom to look at the other dudes in the band and be able to take things wherever we want to go is magical. I like the feel of flying off the hinges.” Likewise, the band itself is similarly amorphous in its membership. “We run the band with an open door. No lineup is definitive,” Lemieux explains. On Waste, the lineup is: Lemieux, George Camacho on bass, Colin Fahrner on drums, and John Belino on second guitar. Waste was recorded live in a rented cabin in the mountains of Big Bear, CA. “We packed a big-ass van and set up in the living room and kitchen,” Lemieux says. “Tracked it live, with overdubs after.” The whole album was recorded over two separate weekends, engineered by Steve Schroeder, who also recorded the band’s 2019 self-titled debut album. “I’d say it has sort of a DIY LA punk aesthetic,” he adds. “Very ironically going hand in hand with a classic metal vibe: Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, classic Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and other melodic heavy rock bands.”

An Endless Feast For Hyenas is the Decasia debut album.A creative turning point is gradually taken, looking for more heavy psych and krautrock touches. The first trials of this debut album AN Endless Feast FOR Hyenas are directly tested on stage to feel their live impact. This album is a complete and deep dive into the Decasia’s universe : a wide, eclectic and powerful effort. The trio drags us quickly with a psychedelic rock sound nuanced with stoner and almost narrative instrumental passages. Taking the path of improvisations to write and compose, the album is recorded in the middle of the countryside in Auvergne (France). The house is transformed into a studio with instruments installed in the barn and the control room in the living room. Recorded & mixed by Thomas de Fraguier. Mastered by Erwan Le Mao. Artwork by Decasia, pictures taken by Mariette Briand.

An Endless Feast For Hyenas is the Decasia debut album.A creative turning point is gradually taken, looking for more heavy psych and krautrock touches. The first trials of this debut album AN Endless Feast FOR Hyenas are directly tested on stage to feel their live impact. This album is a complete and deep dive into the Decasia’s universe : a wide, eclectic and powerful effort. The trio drags us quickly with a psychedelic rock sound nuanced with stoner and almost narrative instrumental passages. Taking the path of improvisations to write and compose, the album is recorded in the middle of the countryside in Auvergne (France). The house is transformed into a studio with instruments installed in the barn and the control room in the living room. Recorded & mixed by Thomas de Fraguier. Mastered by Erwan Le Mao. Artwork by Decasia, pictures taken by Mariette Briand.

An Endless Feast For Hyenas is the Decasia debut album.A creative turning point is gradually taken, looking for more heavy psych and krautrock touches. The first trials of this debut album AN Endless Feast FOR Hyenas are directly tested on stage to feel their live impact. This album is a complete and deep dive into the Decasia’s universe : a wide, eclectic and powerful effort. The trio drags us quickly with a psychedelic rock sound nuanced with stoner and almost narrative instrumental passages. Taking the path of improvisations to write and compose, the album is recorded in the middle of the countryside in Auvergne (France). The house is transformed into a studio with instruments installed in the barn and the control room in the living room. Recorded & mixed by Thomas de Fraguier. Mastered by Erwan Le Mao. Artwork by Decasia, pictures taken by Mariette Briand.

Disfear built upon the foundations of early 80's Swedish raw punk and Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing era Discharge. The result is an unrelenting barrage of ferocity that will have you pounding your fist and banging your head. I remember this record causing a stir when it was released. At the time people were critical of the new wave of "dis" bands aping Discharge. But rather than a homage or a slavish copy, Disfear and there contemporaries were moving this style of hardcore forward into a unique and new style of Swedish hardcore.

Magnetic Eye Records presents a blistering live document of flagship Magnetic Eye Records band Domkraft annihilating onstage at the "Day of Doom" label showcase at Brooklyn's Saint Vitus Bar. This once-in-a-lifetime gathering was held in November 2019 to celebrate MER’s first decade. It featured nine roster acts performing back-to-back, with the four headline sets captured live by Chris Johnson (deafheaven, Summoner) to commemorate the event as a set of exclusive live albums.

We are so stoked to present a big comeback, a dream come true!
Heavy Psych Sounds Records is reissuing first three albums of the Swedish legendary band Dozer: In The Tail Of A Comet (2000, Man's Ruin Records), Madre De Dios (2001) and Call It Conspiracy (2003, both out via Molten Universe). Three masterpieces of the European stoner scene. These three records elevated the scene to a higher level and gave Dozer the scepter of the Scandinavian stoner movement. In the post-Kyuss era, Dozer, along with bands like Los Natas and Acid King, brought a flurry of pure, desert-style monolithic riffs and tons of fuzz guitars. The songwriting on all these three albums was what really distinguished Dozer from the other bands of the early 2000's. The band had a very big influence on the European stoner bands and we can definitely say Dozer are one of the European stoner godfathers. Dozer's last album was Beyond Colossal in 2008, we don't know if they will ever return back with a new release but in the meantime we can enjoy this special “threesome”...

Red flame with black hues vinyl, limited to 300 copies.In the fall of 2016, Jacob Lee (Hellish Form, PlasticBag FaceMask) and Stephen Muir (Cabin Fire) wanted to form a bleak and abrasive grindcore band with sludge and black metalinfluences. Inspired by acts such as Trap Them, The Secret, and Rotten Sound, Jacob and Stephen formed Elder Devil as a DIY studio project with Stephen providing vocals and lyricswhile Jacob handled music and production. They released their first EP Graves Among the Roots (Medusa Crush Recordings) in 2017 and followed up with the full length The LightDimmed Eternal (Crown and Throne Ltd./Roman Numeral Records) in 2019. Shortly after, Elder Devil began playing as a full band with good friends Ryan Urquidez (dontcryformeimalreadydead, Cabin Fire) on bass and Pete Ruacho (Amenthes, Nani SS) ondrums. Their 2021 EP, Fragments of Hell (PlasticSkull Records/SludgeLord Records), marked their first release as a full lineup.On signing with Prosthetic, Elder Devil says: "It's both exciting and humbling to be working with a label as prolific as Prosthetic. It's an honor to be among the great bands and alumni from Prosthetic's past and present. We really can't wait for people to hear the songs for our upcoming Prosthetic full length debut."

Magnetic Eye Records presents a blistering live document of flagship Magnetic Eye Records band Elephant Tree tearing it up onstage at the "Day of Doom" label showcase at Brooklyn's Saint Vitus Bar.

Growing up with Bathory’s epic era in their hearts it was inevitable that the music Ereb Altor were to create was going to be influenced by their house gods. So with Bathory’s anthems as their spiritual foundation they set out to create an own branch of the so called ”Epic Viking metal” genre. However a few years after the inception of the band it went on hiatus and only after more than a decade Mats and Ragnar decided to breathe new life into their sleeping beauty. A recording was done late 2003 with some of the over ten years old songs (slightly modified). The demo was named “Awakening”. The songs were put online for people to listen and it was also pressed in aprox 100 copies with a color layout. The response was great but nevertheless n proper album was never unleashed, and the years passed... But in early 2007 Mats and Ragnar heeded the call from the one eyed old man and went into studio Apocalypse in Gävle to record a full-length album, without having a record deal, hoping that someone was willing to release it. Needless to say we at I Hate jumped at the chance, cause this is first class heavy metal, meaningful, epic, heavy, melodic, melancholic and true to the style created by Bathory, Scald and Doomsword with elements of Candlemass and Isole. Put simply; if you have the slightest affinity for musical grandeur ”By Honour” will put a berserkers grin on your face!

New album - what we can say? I believe everyone will love it! 3rd album from project featuring original Totalitär members

No one album could ever capture the claustrophobia-to-catharsis of an Eyehategod show, but this compilation of live tracks and demos comes as close as it gets. Giving you an idea of Eyehategod’s uncompromising, single minded purity of expression and exertion of raw nerve, “10 Year Of Abuse” is a monumental document all the way from the demo era to their later, legendary relentless live tour set. Many other bands have tried unsuccessfully to emulate Eyehategod and have never quite captured their dynamic. Formed in 1988 in New Orleans they have become one of the most well known bands to emerge from the Nola metal scene. Eyehategod note bands like Melvins, The Obsessed, Discharge, Black Flag, Black Sabbath and Saint Vitus as major influences, but are often mentioned in the same breath as any of these legendary bands. Drawing comparisons to Grindcore, Crust Punk and Sludge Metal, their heavy bluesy, detuned rock and roll has been a lynchpin for the misanthropic and disenfranchised. Eyehategod has released five studio albums to date with a sixth in the works and have toured all over the world in a career spanning over thirty years. Though the band has never released a live album, we are left with “10 Years” as the only official witnessing document to decades of decimating live sonic abuse. Released on May 29, 2001, “10 Years” spans seven live tracks from their European tour in 2000, a live radio show from August 1994 and four songs from an early 1990 demo. The result is a feedback-laced window into that wonderful, brutal Eyehategod “sound”, that addictive, lower-than-low note that nestles somewhere in the pit of your burning, alcohol-soaked, nauseated stomach. The booklet alone is a delight for anyone who worships at the altar of Eyehategod’s oppressively heavy, crushing riffs. With personal liner-notes, that set the scene and describe the unique vibe of the band’s sound and live show, including old flyers and posters from concerts and photos of the different line-ups from 1990 until today, the package is an immersive insight into one of the paramount heavy Sludge bands of our time. A vision of pain and neglect, they’ve done thousands of shows, never predictable in their tension and ultimately, release. Glory in their downtuned vision of depravity and despair, for the End Times aren’t coming, they’re here and they’ve always been here. Revel in the power of Nines, in the power that is Eyehategod. Licensed from Century Media and released in a limited edition of 600 on black vinyl, and 400 on green splatter vinyl. Expertly remastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Paradise Lost, Cathedral, Ghost).

No one album could ever capture the claustrophobia-to-catharsis of an Eyehategod show, but this compilation of live tracks and demos comes as close as it gets. Giving you an idea of Eyehategod’s uncompromising, single minded purity of expression and exertion of raw nerve, “10 Year Of Abuse” is a monumental document all the way from the demo era to their later, legendary relentless live tour set. Many other bands have tried unsuccessfully to emulate Eyehategod and have never quite captured their dynamic. Formed in 1988 in New Orleans they have become one of the most well known bands to emerge from the Nola metal scene. Eyehategod note bands like Melvins, The Obsessed, Discharge, Black Flag, Black Sabbath and Saint Vitus as major influences, but are often mentioned in the same breath as any of these legendary bands. Drawing comparisons to Grindcore, Crust Punk and Sludge Metal, their heavy bluesy, detuned rock and roll has been a lynchpin for the misanthropic and disenfranchised. Eyehategod has released five studio albums to date with a sixth in the works and have toured all over the world in a career spanning over thirty years. Though the band has never released a live album, we are left with “10 Years” as the only official witnessing document to decades of decimating live sonic abuse. Released on May 29, 2001, “10 Years” spans seven live tracks from their European tour in 2000, a live radio show from August 1994 and four songs from an early 1990 demo. The result is a feedback-laced window into that wonderful, brutal Eyehategod “sound”, that addictive, lower-than-low note that nestles somewhere in the pit of your burning, alcohol-soaked, nauseated stomach. The booklet alone is a delight for anyone who worships at the altar of Eyehategod’s oppressively heavy, crushing riffs. With personal liner-notes, that set the scene and describe the unique vibe of the band’s sound and live show, including old flyers and posters from concerts and photos of the different line-ups from 1990 until today, the package is an immersive insight into one of the paramount heavy Sludge bands of our time. A vision of pain and neglect, they’ve done thousands of shows, never predictable in their tension and ultimately, release. Glory in their downtuned vision of depravity and despair, for the End Times aren’t coming, they’re here and they’ve always been here. Revel in the power of Nines, in the power that is Eyehategod. Licensed from Century Media and released in a limited edition of 600 on black vinyl, and 400 on green splatter vinyl. Expertly remastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Paradise Lost, Cathedral, Ghost).

HELLS HEADBANGERS is proud to present FUNERAL STORM's highly anticipated second album, Chthonic Invocations.It was but 2019 when FUNERAL STORM made their grand entrance onto the international metal stage with their acclaimed debut album, Arcane Mysteries, courtesy of HELLS HEADBANGERS. While their history goes back to 2001, activities didn't begin in earnest until 2012, and hard graft became their watchword. But it was Arcane Mysteries that majestically consolidated all of FUNERAL STORM's considerable promise into one grand statement of classic Greek black metal in an authentically early '90s style. It certainly didn't hurt that that debut album featured Varathron founder Necroabyssious on vocals. Two years came a split 7" with Greek comrades Synteleia, appropriately titled The Ancient Calling, also courtesy of HELLS HEADBANGERS.That split featured a scaled-back lineup of Necroabyssious and guitarist Arcania and founding guitarist/bassist/drum-programmer Wampyrion, and thus fortified does FUNERAL STORM's second full-length follow. Likewise appropriately titled, Chthonic Invocations further explores the steadfast theme of the Cthulhu mythos. More specifically, FUNERAL STORM's second album in general focuses on death, in every form, for Arcania and Wampyrion were totally isolated during the lockdown and Necroabyssious was heavily infected with Covid-19 to a point where the band didn't know what would happen. However, after he was healed, Necroabyssious delivered an exceptionally aggressive performance, suiting to his bandmates' more surging yet more mystical music. Truly, Chthonic Invocations sounds like FUNERAL STORM 666%, and harkens even further into the ancient past: to say that the album could've been released in 1993 on Unisound is an understatement to end all understatements. But again, just like its full-length predecessor, Chthonic Invocations easily avoids lazy "throwback" status on both the strength of its songwriting and its era-authentic synths, handled by both Arcania and Wampyrion. 1.Whispers From The Beyond2.Behold the Dark 06:433.The Void 05:254.Funeral Pyre5.The Epitaph of the Dead6.The Covenant of Old7.Mistress of the Night (The Gathering Begins)8.The Calling of the Father

Göden, the spiritual successor of Death Doom legends Winter, returns with a new album out in May 2024

Göden is back, and on their latest album the sound is heavier than ever. Creator Stephen Flam is best known for his previous work with the band Winter, whose sludgy dirge earned a cult following for decades to come. Göden is the spiritual successor to Winter. One could say Celtic Frost is to Triptykon what Winter is to Göden. Their debut album, “Beyond Darkness” stood on its own in creating a distinctive world.

Now, four years later, they explore new sonic territories with their second album, “Vale of the Fallen”. While "Beyond Darkness" was a concept album that propelled listeners into space, whether inner or outer, “Vale of the Fallen” brings us back to twisted reality. Their more in-your-face approach should only intensify the experience-much like a walk through a post-apocalyptic landscape in the bleakest imaginable conditions.

Sound-wise, Stephen Flam's heavier-than-life riffs, Vas Kallas' sardonic delivery and Tony Pinnisi's keyboards create oppressive atmospheres atop Jason Frantz's powerful drumming, while in contrast Margaret Murphy’s violin weaves ghostly motifs. Like its predecessor, “Vale of the Fallen” features interludes which provide brief respites between some tracks, only to return to the crushing heaviness in yet another avalanche of sound.

This might be your favorite album of 2024.

Göden, the spiritual successor of Death Doom legends Winter, returns with a new album out in May 2024

Göden is back, and on their latest album the sound is heavier than ever. Creator Stephen Flam is best known for his previous work with the band Winter, whose sludgy dirge earned a cult following for decades to come. Göden is the spiritual successor to Winter. One could say Celtic Frost is to Triptykon what Winter is to Göden. Their debut album, “Beyond Darkness” stood on its own in creating a distinctive world.

Now, four years later, they explore new sonic territories with their second album, “Vale of the Fallen”. While "Beyond Darkness" was a concept album that propelled listeners into space, whether inner or outer, “Vale of the Fallen” brings us back to twisted reality. Their more in-your-face approach should only intensify the experience-much like a walk through a post-apocalyptic landscape in the bleakest imaginable conditions.

Sound-wise, Stephen Flam's heavier-than-life riffs, Vas Kallas' sardonic delivery and Tony Pinnisi's keyboards create oppressive atmospheres atop Jason Frantz's powerful drumming, while in contrast Margaret Murphy’s violin weaves ghostly motifs. Like its predecessor, “Vale of the Fallen” features interludes which provide brief respites between some tracks, only to return to the crushing heaviness in yet another avalanche of sound.

This might be your favorite album of 2024.

Our First-Time-On-Vinyl series continues, next in line will be one of the greatest Death/Grind albums ever: ‘Only Tools And Corpses’ by British gentlemen Gorerotted. Recorded something like 20 years ago and originally released on CD by Metal Blade Records in 2003, this record contains some of the most brutal sounds you could want, combining nasty riffs and ridiculously fast drumming with guttural grunts and coarse shrieks, for a relentless and ruthless assault from start to finish, all seasoned with horror/gore references and sick humor. “Frantic, full of energy and very much of its time” says Goreskin, then adds “It’s idiot proof. If you like Death Metal, Horror movies and beer it’s well worth a punt!” This special release will be available wholesale on black vinyl limited to 400 copies worldwide, housed in a deluxe gatefold sleeve, also including detailed track by track liner notes by Goreskin and a drunk-drenched history piece by Fluffy Offalstench, definitely a must have for every fan of the band.

In four short years of existence, Green Lung have risen from the murk of the UK heavy underground to become a true cult band with a devoted following. Debut album Woodland Rites, released independently in early 2019, quickly garnered attention, resulting in a single being named ‘Track of the Week’ in the Guardian, plays on Daniel P. Carter’s Radio One Rock Show, a tour with fellow UK heavies Puppy and festival appearances across Europe.

This brought the band to the attention of the wider music industry, and after multiple offers from a variety of labels, the band decided to stay true to their roots and sign with the Finnish audio wizards at Svart Records, home to several of their doomy inspirations including Reverend Bizarre and Warning. Svart’s deluxe reissue of the album, and the preceding EP Free the Witch, sold out several pressings.

Two years later, the folk horror-obsessed fivesome have re-emerged from their mulchy catacombs armed with dozens of freshly-whittled riffs. Black Harvest, the sequel to Woodland Rites, is a more colourful reimagining of the band’s sound - Dawn of the Dead to its predecessor’s Night of the Living Dead.

Recorded at Giant Wafer Studios in rural mid-Wales over the course of two weeks with longtime producer Wayne Adams (Petbrick, Big Lad), it’s a more expansive and textured record than anything the band have done before, boasting a cinematic quality and more attention to detail. All samples were sourced from the local countryside and from instruments found in the studio, including the haunting opening vocal of ‘The Harrowing’ which was recorded on a whim after the band broke into the local church (the organ can be heard creaking in the background). The album was recorded in late autumn, and the seasonal atmosphere seeped into the music, which is redolent of mists, falling leaves, and the crumbling glory of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries of London, the city the band call home.

The album also soaks in new sonics beyond the ‘Black Sabbath meets Brian May’ blueprint of what went before. ‘The Harrowing’ takes the band’s tradition of instrumental opening tracks to dizzy new heights, like Atomic Rooster jamming with Boston, while ballad ‘Graveyard Sun’, based on the folklore around the ‘Highgate Vampire’, adds gothic synth lines that would give Type O Negative pangs of jealousy. That’s not to say the hooks n’ heaviness approach that made the band’s name isn’t here in abundance, as the Sabbath-meets-Purple chug and groove of revolutionary lead single ‘Leaders of the Blind’ and the Hammer Horror riff frenzy of ‘Upon the Altar’ prove. Closer ‘Born to a Dying World’ is unlike anything the band have written before; an endtimes ballad with an almost gospel feel, tying the band’s omnipresent nature themes to the Anthropocene.

Mastered by John Davis at Metropolis (Led Zeppelin, Royal Blood), Black Harvest comes packaged in stained glass artwork by renowned artist Richard Wells (Doctor Who, Dracula, Ben Wheatley’s In the Earth), and is available in gatefold vinyl and CD formats.

Scandinavian jawbreakers Harmagedon offer up a nightmare future on their debut album Dystopian Dreams, with a refreshingly modern concoction of melodic death metal and crust punk.

Three piece riff machine from Stockholm Sweden, Harmagedon is a raw festering carcass of dynamic grind and roll. Featuring members of Martyrdöd and Freedom raising hell once again, Harmagedon’s debut record Dystopian Dreams is a fusion of heaviness that is difficult to pin down but makes all the damn sense in the world! With focus on primal minimalism but maximum animalism, Dystopian Dreams is the ground zero of an explosive power trio summoning raw energy into being. With no frills and no gimmicks, just relentless heaviness, Harmagedon is a matured brew of “crust punk” or “d-beat” (“kängpunk” for the diehards) infused with ravishing death-metal. Dystopian Dreams is made by adepts of distortion and grime to be imbibed by connoisseurs of rage and chord-fury.

Recorded live at their own studio, Dystopian Dreams was conjured with the help of Fred Forsberg of Mass Worship at the controls, capturing Harmagedon’s wildfire and blending this dense stew together. With the addition of Magnus Lindberg of Cult of Luna mastering it, Dystopian Dreams has that exceptional flavour of a future classic, where all the cogs and wheels of this merciless weapon fire on all cylinders.

Black Sabbath, Entombed, Neurosis & High on Fire spring to mind, as the calibre of Harmadgedon’s riff whirlwind is of the finest quality, the antithesis of royalty but epic and majestic in delivery. Dystopian Dreams’ hulking magnetism leads you expertly to headbang and worship at the altar of timeless metal, without the slightest remnant of doubt.

Songs like Reptilian and Controlled Chaos groove and churn, but pack a hell of a concrete punch, with nihilistic, gravelled guitars and spewing vocals of molten brimstone.

Guitarist and vocalist Tim Rosenquist says:

“Controlled Chaos is about propaganda actions and distractions but Reptilian is about how hard work makes you into this emotionless beast of a being. That song is best served blasting on the factory floor or in the car on your way to the office! Reptilian’s themes are at the core of what Harmagedon is about”.

Look to the masters to deliver true heavyweight metal when the current scene lacks enough muscle and teeth. From a band made up of underground titans, Harmagedon is drawn from the well of eternal heaviness, living in death forever, what nightmares are made of.

Harmagedon is:

Tim Rosenquist - Guitars & Vocals

Magnus Berglund - Bass

Jens Bäckelin - Drums

Scandinavian jawbreakers Harmagedon offer up a nightmare future on their debut album Dystopian Dreams, with a refreshingly modern concoction of melodic death metal and crust punk.

Three piece riff machine from Stockholm Sweden, Harmagedon is a raw festering carcass of dynamic grind and roll. Featuring members of Martyrdöd and Freedom raising hell once again, Harmagedon’s debut record Dystopian Dreams is a fusion of heaviness that is difficult to pin down but makes all the damn sense in the world! With focus on primal minimalism but maximum animalism, Dystopian Dreams is the ground zero of an explosive power trio summoning raw energy into being. With no frills and no gimmicks, just relentless heaviness, Harmagedon is a matured brew of “crust punk” or “d-beat” (“kängpunk” for the diehards) infused with ravishing death-metal. Dystopian Dreams is made by adepts of distortion and grime to be imbibed by connoisseurs of rage and chord-fury.

Recorded live at their own studio, Dystopian Dreams was conjured with the help of Fred Forsberg of Mass Worship at the controls, capturing Harmagedon’s wildfire and blending this dense stew together. With the addition of Magnus Lindberg of Cult of Luna mastering it, Dystopian Dreams has that exceptional flavour of a future classic, where all the cogs and wheels of this merciless weapon fire on all cylinders.

Black Sabbath, Entombed, Neurosis & High on Fire spring to mind, as the calibre of Harmadgedon’s riff whirlwind is of the finest quality, the antithesis of royalty but epic and majestic in delivery. Dystopian Dreams’ hulking magnetism leads you expertly to headbang and worship at the altar of timeless metal, without the slightest remnant of doubt.

Songs like Reptilian and Controlled Chaos groove and churn, but pack a hell of a concrete punch, with nihilistic, gravelled guitars and spewing vocals of molten brimstone.

Guitarist and vocalist Tim Rosenquist says:

“Controlled Chaos is about propaganda actions and distractions but Reptilian is about how hard work makes you into this emotionless beast of a being. That song is best served blasting on the factory floor or in the car on your way to the office! Reptilian’s themes are at the core of what Harmagedon is about”.

Look to the masters to deliver true heavyweight metal when the current scene lacks enough muscle and teeth. From a band made up of underground titans, Harmagedon is drawn from the well of eternal heaviness, living in death forever, what nightmares are made of.

Harmagedon is:

Tim Rosenquist - Guitars & Vocals

Magnus Berglund - Bass

Jens Bäckelin - Drums

Pulverizing grindcore meets raging powerviolence perfection. Need we say more? Horrible Mess collects everything Hatred Surge recorded between 2005 and 2007. This is the first time these tracks have been available on vinyl since they were originally released.

Sometimes a band grows so exponentially from one record to the next, it’s almost jarring. Hell Fire has already established themselves as the preeminent masters of a new hybrid breed of Bay Area thrash and Nwobhm in just a few short years, but their fourth album Reckoning is the type of ascendance that truly sets a band apart. Reckoning is their Master Of Puppets, their Number Of The Beast, their Defenders Of The Faith. From the very first notes of the album opening title track, you can feel a vital new energy and inspiration to their music. To say Hell Fire used the recent global downtime to dig within and fully refine their sound would be an understatement. It truly is a reckoning. With no touring on the horizon in 2020, the band hunkered down and recorded nearly a full album in preproduction home demos. The band’s heightened professionalism also brings in guest bassist Matt Freeman (rancid, Operation Ivy) on the album after original bassist Herman Bandala departed the band amicably during the initial writing process. New bassist KAI SUN joined Hell Fire in Fall 2021.

Limited edition golden double vinyl in a lush gatefold incl. two bonus tracks. This was the ardent wish of thousands of fans calling out to Andi Deris, Michael Kiske, Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner and Dani Löble during the Pumpkins United World Tour - and their dream has come true! With the upcoming album, simply titled Helloween, the band opens a new chapter after 35 years of a glorious career. The future of one of the most influential German metal bands from now on will feature three singers. Originally planned for the live performances only, it was the birth of a unique seven piece metal alliance. Skyfall begins with a bang. The epic track describes an alien landing on earth and a dramatic chase while Kiske, Deris and Hansen duel with each other in a breathtaking manner and create a vocal broadband adventure. Produced by Martin Häusler, it is the most elaborate video clip in the history of the band; shown with 3-D animation and having a cinematic look, this video is a real high end experience. ”fear OF THE Fallen” – the second single is a fast paced, melodic track done the way only Deris can do it. ”I had so much fun not only writing a song for my voice but also for one of the greatest singers out there. I always have an extremely broad smile on my face when I hear Michi singing my melodies“, says Deris and Kiske adds: ”The whole process, including the spirit, was just ideal. If I had the feeling that one of the parts would not be really fitting, I asked Andi if he would sing it and vice versa. There was no competition whatsoever – what counted was what is best for the respective song. I am thankful to be (again) a part of this crazy family. I love them all”.

Four albums in, the convenient and generalized catchphrase for Here Lies Man’s erudite sound—if Black Sabbath played Afrobeat—might seem a little played out. But Ritual Divination is perhaps the best rendering of the idea so far. Particularly on the Sabbath side of the equation: The guitars are heavier and more blues-based than before, but the ancient rhythmic formula of the clave remains a constant. “Musically it’s an opening up more to traditional rock elements,” says vocalist / guitarist / cofounder Marcos Garcia, who also plays guitar in Antibalas. “It’s always been our intention to explore. And, as we travelled deeper into this musical landscape, new features revealed themselves.” The L.A. based band comprised of Antibalas members have toured relentlessly following their breakout 2017 self-titled debut. Their second album, You Will Know Nothing and an EP, Animal Noises, both followed in 2018. Third album No Ground To Walk Upon emerged in August 2019. All of them were crafted by Garcia and cofounder / drummer Geoff Mann (former Antibalas drummer and son of jazz musician Herbie Mann) in their L.A. studio between tours. Ritual Divination is their first album recorded as the full four-piece band, including bassist JP Maramba and keyboardist Doug Organ. This album continues with an ongoing concept of the band playing the soundtrack to an imaginary movie, with each song being a scene. Musically and sonically, the album is also self-reflexive. “On this album the feel changes within a song,” Garcia says. “Whereas before each song was meant to induce a trancelike state, now more of the songs have their own arc built in.” “We’re very conscious of how the rhythms service the riffs,” Garcia continues. “Tony Iommi’s (Black Sabbath) innovation was to make the riff the organizing principle of a song. We are taking that same approach but employing a different organizing principle: For Iommi it was the blues, for us it comes directly from Africa.”

Limited Svart exclusive box set edition. The demo LP will not be available separately.

Hexvessel and Svart Records celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Hexvessel’s debut album Dawnbearer with a set of reissues, including CD, double vinyl plus an exclusive vinyl box set with a bonus LP containing demos and early versions of tracks on the album.

“Dawnbearer is a very important album for us, being our first album but also the first original album release for Svart Records. It’s also a very special record for our fans, and one that’s particularly close to my heart, in a world of its own when compared to the other records we have made. Considering that it’s been out of print now for some time, I’m delighted to be able to oversee a reissue of this album, together with original demos and out-takes, and liner notes showing the making of this album which carries the initial DNA of Hexvessel’s musical and spiritual journey”, says band leader Mat McNerney, “We haven’t touched a thing on the original layout, but added some bonus material for the limited edition, should you wish to own a luxury edition of this, our now classic debut.”

Hexvessel band was founded by English singer/songwriter Mat McNerney (Beastmilk, Grave Pleasures, Carpenter Brut etc) after he moved to Finland in 2009. Their style of music has been referred to as “forest folk” or as Noisey/Vice puts it: “Weaving English folk, lilting Americana, and mushroom-induced psychedelia”. Their debut album 'Dawnbearer' was released worldwide in 2011 on Svart Records and is considered to be an influential classic record of the modern Occult Rock revival. Highly popular with Hexvessel fans and unique in their catalogue, featuring guitars by Andrew McIvor (Code), violin work of Daniel Pioro (who works on Paul Thomas Anderson’s soundtracks with Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead), the early production work of Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Paradise Lost), and guest vocals from Carl Michael Eide (Virus, Ved Buens Ende, Aura Noir).

“Think Woven Hand, haunted ’60s/’70s pastoral folk, or a darker riff on Midlake. McNerney covers Clive Palmer’s post-Incredible String Band crew C.O.B. and successfully transforms and darkens Paul Simon’s “Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes.” He quotes Crowley, Truman Capote, Isaac Babel, etc. Unlike black metal-ready folk, this is folk by a talented, ambitious black metal musician. But the energy’s there. As is the atmosphere.” - Stereogum

“(Part of) a new wave of bands who share many of the original occult bands' musical and philosophical characteristics, spearheaded by Ghost, from Sweden, and the Devil's Blood, from Holland – have begun to lure in a new generation of fans, predominantly from the metal scene, their names alone – Ancient VVisdom, Hexvessel, Blood Ceremony– point to a focused step back to the age of Wheatley and Hammer. ” - The Guardian (2011)

High Command returns with their second full length album Eclipse of the Dual Moons, arriving 25th November via Southern Lord and produced with Seth Manchester. Listen TO First Single "siege Warfare" Black Vinyl - Non-returnable. Swords and metal go hand in hand. That’s what crossover thrash band High Command say, having turned heads with their debut album Beyond The Wall of Desolation (2019). But it’s not solely metal music which influences the band, who cite the lustful violence of Robert E. Howard, Michel Moorcock, Jack Vance and many other legendary pulp writers of the 20th century as an impetus for their expansive storytelling. “People would also be surprised to hear we drew quite a bit of inspiration from the music of Ennio Morricone, especially in regards to writing some more of the epic, grandiose passages and chord progressions.” says the band. Now, with their second album, Eclipse of the Dual Moons, the band take their love of storytelling a step further, deepening and widening the world of Secartha, the realm of High Command’s songs. The band place themselves as omniscient narrators of the world they have created, and say that they are inseparable from Secartha and its people. “It’s one thing to make a good metal record, but it’s another to put on top of it a sort of overarching story that makes sense to listeners. The whole High Command project is enriched by lyrics articulating characters, a world, and trials faced within it. We want our records to be immersive and leave listeners with a feeling they’ve experienced something bigger than the music.” It’s not just a question of widening the world, which the band first started exploring on The Secartha Demos (2016); Eclipse of the Dual Moons sees High Command honing their process to a fine art “it’s like we started with chiseling a rock… this record is the moment the rock in question begins to look like an actual sculpture.”

Moon Colored Vinyl, limited to 500 copies. Swords and metal go hand in hand. That's what crossover thrash band High Command say, having turned heads with their debut album Beyond The Wall of Desolation (2019). But it's not solely metal music which influences the band, who cite the lustful violence of Robert E. Howard, Michel Moorcock, Jack Vance and many other legendary pulp writers of the 20th century as an impetus for their expansive storytelling. "People would also be surprised to hear we drew quite a bit of inspiration from the music of Ennio Morricone, especially in regards to writing some more of the epic, grandiose passages and chord progressions." says the band. Now, with their second album, Eclipse of the Dual Moons, the band take their love of storytelling a step further, deepening and widening the world of Secartha, the realm of High Command's songs. The band place themselves as omniscient narrators of the world they have created, and say that they are inseparable from Secartha and its people. "It's one thing to make a good metal record, but it's another to put on top of it a sort of overarching story that makes sense to listeners. The whole High Command project is enriched by lyrics articulating characters, a world, and trials faced within it. We want our records to be immersive and leave listeners with a feeling they've experienced something bigger than the music."

Magnetic Eye Records present a blistering live document of their flagship band Horsehunter destroying onstage at the "Day of Doom" label showcase at Brooklyn's Saint Vitus Bar.

Staying true to their sound whilst pushing their own limits, here on Fatal Visions do Inculter exhibit more finesse and flair, more magic and mastery. If Persisting Devolution leaned more on the raw side - understandably so, given the band's youth at the time - then the self-produced Fatal Visions sees the now-quartet getting to the heart of their sound and, with mastering by Enslaved's Herbrand Larsen, leaving a more powerful and timeless document for the ages. That expansion to a four-piece is immediately felt; the attack is tighter and more urgent, the dual-riff interplay dazzling with darkness and ever-twisting memorability. Indeed, these Fatal Visions cut quickly and sharply, their locked-in slash 'n' surge sounding almost criminally accomplished. No more red-eyed and bleeding-raw belligerence here: rather, a spiked landscape of classic heavy metal majesty rendered wild and wondrous. If anything, one could say Inculter are taking cues from cult-institution forebears Aura Noir but accelerating up the evolutionary chain far quicker...or simply that Fatal Visions is THE Now Sound of Inculter.

Recommended if you like: Aura Noir, Nifelheim, Obliteration, Nekromantheon ETC.

Staying true to their sound whilst pushing their own limits, here on Fatal Visions do Inculter exhibit more finesse and flair, more magick and mastery. If Persisting Devolution leaned more on the raw side - understandably so, given the band's youth at the time - then the self-produced Fatal Visions sees the now-quartet getting to the heart of their sound and, with mastering by Enslaved's Herbrand Larsen, leaving a more powerful and timeless document for the ages. That expansion to a four-piece is immediately felt; the attack is tighter and more urgent, the dual-riff interplay dazzling with darkness and ever-twisting memorability. Indeed, these Fatal Visions cut quickly and sharply, their locked-in slash 'n' surge sounding almost criminally accomplished. No more red-eyed and bleeding-raw belligerence here: rather, a spiked landscape of classic heavy metal majesty rendered wild and wondrous. If anything, one could say Inculter are taking cues from cult-institution forebears Aura Noir but accelerating up the evolutionary chain far quicker...or simply that Fatal Visions is THE Now Sound of Inculter.