Black Metal

Both triumphant and melancholic, violent and resigned, hysteric and finessed, Queen of Frost brazenly displayed the full swathe of FUNERAL FROST’s considerable arsenal. With a raw-yet-robust soundfield neither dampening nor exaggerating any of their dynamics, here did the Swedish trio spelunk in dungeons and raze battlefields alike, their screaming-into-the-nightsky sound surprisingly medieval and moody. Likewise, compared to so many of their blastbeating-all-the-time contemporaries, FUNERAL FROST shifted speeds often and never lingered too long in one, with the drums in particular ringing with authentically analog clarity. Add to this a subtle daubing of synths and Queen of Frost stands as a crucial tome for those into classic Arckanum, Kvist, Sorhin, and Norway’s Perished.

Black Metal

One of the most notorious names in the still-thriving Finnish black metal scene, GOATMOON has been an uber-prolific force of iron will since the band’s creation in 2002, all guided by the monomaniacal hand of BlackGoat Gravedesecrator. The band’s earliest efforts were extremely raw and punk-oriented, but it was with 2007’s Finnish Steel Stormwhere GOATMOON truly came into its own, exhibiting a sense of refinement rarely heard in such hateful-yet-epic black metal whilst retaining its core identity, and a title by which BlackGoat Gravedesecrator has fulfilled on all successive recordings. Of them, the subsequent third and fourth albums – 2011’s Varjotand 2014’s Voitto tai Valhalla, respectively – saw GOATMOON continue that refinement with equally compelling results, and in the process garner a more fanatic fanbase…and further infamy.

Finnish Black Metal

Originally released in 2011, Varjot was the sound of mainman BlackGoat Gravedesecrator truly hitting a fever pitch of creativity. Over the course of the band’s first two albums, 2004’s Death Before Dishonour and 2007’s Finnish Steel Storm, GOATMOON sharpened its punkish black metal attack to a sterling degree, injecting a bit of triumph ‘n’ tragedy into the latter that would then fully bloom on Varjot. Not for nothing is Varjot rightfully regarded as a classic: refined and even regal, the barbarism of old is recast in a truly epic light, whisking the listener away to forgotten realms of magick, mysticism, and dark deeds. Thereafter could GOATMOON etch its name into the annals of legend, and the band’s controversial climb to the uppermost echelon of Finnish black metal was assured. Witness that legend again, or for the first time, with this long-overdue reissue of Varjot!

Black Metal

In 2017, GOATMOON truly etched its name its Finnish black metal legendry with Stella Polaris, a monument of cosmic, snow-capped majesty. The entirely dungeon synth Silver Serpent followed in 2021, but now arrives GOATMOON’s full-length return to black metal with What Once Was… Shall Be Again. As presaged by its title, there’s an undeniably yearning and nostalgic aspect to the band’s characteristically epic ruminations, occasionally/often dusted by folkloric synths. But if one were to assume that What Once Was… Shall Be Again would further continue that refinement – and indeed, in large part, it does – the album equally takes GOATMOON back to their earliest, rawest roots, here temped by the steely-eyed austerity of older age and wisdom. It’s a skillful balance pulled off with aplomb, proving that the band honor their history but rarely repeat themselves. And more than anything, it provides another dazzling new canvas on which warriors and dreamers can explore…but no safe spaces here, of course. No other words necessary: What Once Was… Shall Be Again!

Dungeon Synth

Limited album of +30 min of deep dungeon synth.

Four-panel single fold digipak.

Black Metal

Classic full-length available again on CD.

Slightly darker cover – redesigned layout.