Black Metal

. By the time they released their third full-length album “Vi Sonus Veris Nigrae Malitiaes,” in 1996, on Full Moon Productions, IT had parted ways with ALL and recorded the album alone. With “Vi Sonus…,” IT pushed Abruptum to new extremes, cultivating a sound that is cold, opaque, and lifeless. The album also marked an inflection point for Abruptum, for soon after the release of “Vi Sonus…,” IT recruited Morgan “Evil” Håkansson, best known as the guitarist and founding member of Marduk.

Black Metal

“The Ghostly Tyrants of Ancestral Shadows return from the crypt… “Eldritch Illuminations” incorporates the New England native’s tragic history and dark folklore of Witchcraft into a new opus of Bone Chilling Black Me-tal! A departure from previous feature full length releases… With a strong focus on elite craftsmanship of memo-rable compositions and melodic riffing supremacy! Once again featuring grim artwork by A.W.S. The Emissaries of Elite Darkness perform the cursed act of witch immolation, releasing a nightmare of eldritch entities upon the world…”

Black Metal

Although “Wolven Mysteries of Ancient Lore” is shorter; the lore, style and essence remain untouched, with a little variation in terms of the atmosphere, using some Dungeon Synth passages and interludes.
Production-wise is maybe a bit “dirtier” (so to speak) than its predecessors; vocals in here are more in the back-ground, resembling more to an echo rather than an actual voice, and function more as an complementary atmos-pheric element. Other than that, all the instruments are well differenciated and easy to isolate, but they also come as a whole. The harmony and consonance between all the songs is very solid.
Eight songs, half of them being instrumental interludes and the other half consisting of four long passages, which I am unable to highlight one of them. “Stronghold of the Black Abyss” is their most generic (with a good conno-tation obviously) in terms of style, with a remarkable second half; “Black Autumn Silence” is their most saddest and melancholic song to date, with more than half of it being instrumental and with feminine voices/chants (which has become a trademark of this band since day 1) and griefing riffs. The homonymous song if the most complex of them four, with a Dungeon Synth bridge functioning as a tempo changer.
“Wolven Mysteries of Ancient Lore” is another highly remarkable piece of Black Metal by the New Hampshire fellas. Captivating, full of identity and atmospheric melancholy.

Black Metal

Originating in Hutchinson, Kansas in the early-mid 90′s, Arcane Shadows unleashed a very raw and sinister brand of American Black Metal. This LP collects the “Enthroned Mysticism” demo from 1995, “X.E.S.” demo from 1996, and unreleased tracks. For fans of early Black Funeral/Sorath and Demoncy.

Tracks 1-2: “Enthroned Mysticism” demo (1995)
Tracks 5-6: “X.E.S.” demo (1996)
(other tracks previously unreleased)

Death Metal

Conceived between immensity and eternity, echoing from the edge of forever and stirring the dust of ages comes ‘By the Light of Their Destruction,’ the fourth original full-length album by Ares Kingdom.

Black Metal

Forgotten Czech black metal demo recording from 1995, resurrected once again for maniacs of early 90′s Eastern Bloc black metal like Torr, Drakar, Amon, and Root. This is the band’s first demo, which was followed two years later by “Demo 1997,” which has also been unearthed and presented on vinyl by Nuclear War Now!

Black Metal

Often regarded as the first Beherit album, “The Oath of Black Blood” is a compilation of Beherit’s “Demonomancy” demo and the “Dawn of Satan’s Millennium” EP, both of which were originally released in 1990. Beherit never intended for these recordings to be released as a compilation LP; a dispute with their label, Turbo Music, resulted in the label’s unilateral decision to compile the earlier recordings rather than wait for a proper album of new material, as Beherit intended. Nevertheless, for many people, “The Oath of Black Blood” was their introduction to Beherit, causing many to assume it was recorded as a proper album. Both “Demonomancy” and “Dawn of Satan’s Millennium” represent inflection points in Beherit’s evolution.

Black Metal

Often regarded as the first Beherit album, “The Oath of Black Blood” is a compilation of Beherit’s “Demonomancy” demo and the “Dawn of Satan’s Millennium” EP, both of which were originally released in 1990. Beherit never intended for these recordings to be released as a compilation LP; a dispute with their label, Turbo Music, resulted in the label’s unilateral decision to compile the earlier recordings rather than wait for a proper album of new material, as Beherit intended. Nevertheless, for many people, “The Oath of Black Blood” was their introduction to Beherit, causing many to assume it was recorded as a proper album. Both “Demonomancy” and “Dawn of Satan’s Millennium” represent inflection points in Beherit’s evolution.

Black / Trash Metal

With its previous releases from the likes of Reencarnación and Nemesis, Nuclear War Now! has demonstrated its affinity to the “Ultra Metal” scene that was endemic to the city of Medellín, Colombia in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This strain of unhinged fury was spawned by the great Parabellum, who is recognized as the first extreme metal band to emerge from Colombia and one of the first from the entire continent of South America. Upon Parabellum’s disbandment in 1986, the similarly-styled Blasfemia was born. Founded by two members of Parabellum, Ramón Restrepo (vocals / bass) and Jhon Jairo Martínez (guitars), Blasfemia sought to outdo the rawness and brutality of its predecessor in a sound that reflected the harsh reality of existence in a place ruled unofficially but unequivocally by the sinister hand of a powerful drug cartel. To execute this vision, the two founding members called upon the services of neighborhood friend and percussionist Luis Fernando Cano. Between 1986 and 1988, Blasfemia performed live a handful of times with bands such as Reencarnación, Nemesis, Astaroth, Profanación, Necromantie, Glöster Gladiattor, Necrofilia, and others. It also recorded several demo tracks and, most notably, a four-song EP entitled “Guerra Total.” The EP was released on 12-inch vinyl format in two separate iterations by two different entities in 1988. The more limited version was apparently pressed on only 100 copies and is identified by its gray center labels, but it was not fully endorsed by all members of the band. The other edition, which features red center labels and a secret needle mark, was pressed on 500 copies. Alternate versions of two previously-recorded tracks were also released on two different compilations in 1988 and 1989 before Blasfemia essentially disappeared until its reemergence in 2011.

Black Metal

This is where it all began for the French duo CÉNOTAPHE.

Four tracks of Black Metal splendor and misery.

Death Metal

In 1991, Dark Opera was formed in Łódź, Poland, the very same city in which the band’s compatriots of similar ilk in Pandemonium had united approximately two years earlier. Dark Opera’s first year of existence was plagued by several lineup changes, but it stabilized later that year when the band began to write its own songs and played its first live gig in Łomża. The following April, Dark Opera recorded its first demo, “The Day of Pariah,” at Ariadna Studio in Łódź. Originally, this cassette was self-released, but the band was later signed by Carnage Records, who released a second iteration of the tape with alternate artwork. In 1993, the band added a second guitarist and recorded its first and only album, “Calling the Legend,” in April of that same year. Like the demo that had preceded it, the album was released by another Polish label, Baron Records, who made it available on cassette format only. Like the aforementioned Pandemonium, Dark Opera’s music was reminiscent of the great Samael and others like Alastis and Taranis, but it also incorporated a somewhat greater influence from both death and doom metal. Nuclear War Now! is proud to be the first to reissue both Dark Opera recordings on vinyl and thus continue its neverending objective of rekindling the great fires once set and then left unattended in the most obscure caverns of the underground.

Death / Doom Metal

In 1991, Dark Opera was formed in Łódź, Poland, the very same city in which the band’s compatriots of similar ilk in Pandemonium had united approximately two years earlier. Dark Opera’s first year of existence was plagued by several lineup changes, but it stabilized later that year when the band began to write its own songs and played its first live gig in Łomża. The following April, Dark Opera recorded its first demo, “The Day of Pariah,” at Ariadna Studio in Łódź. Originally, this cassette was self-released, but the band was later signed by Carnage Records, who released a second iteration of the tape with alternate artwork. In 1993, the band added a second guitarist and recorded its first and only album, “Calling the Legend,” in April of that same year. Like the demo that had preceded it, the album was released by another Polish label, Baron Records, who made it available on cassette format only. Like the aforementioned Pandemonium, Dark Opera’s music was reminiscent of the great Samael and others like Alastis and Taranis, but it also incorporated a somewhat greater influence from both death and doom metal. Nuclear War Now! is proud to be the first to reissue both Dark Opera recordings on vinyl and thus continue its neverending objective of rekindling the great fires once set and then left unattended in the most obscure caverns of the underground.