Black Metal

No strangers to the ever-fertile Portuguese black metal underground, GINNUNGAGAP preceded the esteemed likes of TRONO ALÉM MORTE, ORDEM SATANICA, and VOËMMR. To date, they’ve delivered two extremely limited tapes, but now are even more embraced by the cold and frosty winds of the Aldebaran Star. Witness Heliacal Arising. What is set to be a new landmark not only for the Circle but for the wider Portuguese underground, GINNUNGAGAP here conjure a bewitching storm of strangely soothing mysticism. Shadows and secrets still remain, but Helical Arising moves with etheric might – “raw” on a very basic or simplified level, but embellished with a rare refinement that makes their musings simply otherworldly. Is there synth in there, or some unorthodox twist of strings? Is it recorded live in the rehearsal room, or painstakingly layered with an auteur’s touch? Only GINNUNGAGAP know, but thankfully, the faithful reap the rewards: Heliacal Arising is transportive black metal par excellence, an effortless throwback to ancient-days atmosphere.

Black Metal

GNIPAHÅLAN is one of the main projects of Swartadauþuz – lynchpin of Ancient Records and also in such esteemed cults as GREVE, BEKËTH NEXËHMÜ, Trolldom, Musmahhu, Azelisassath, Digerdöden, Mystik, Summum, and Daudadagr among many others – handling all voices, strings, and synths and various session drummers. As GNIPAHÅLAN, modernity is choked dead in favor of staunch ‘n’ strict mid-’90s classicism, specifically the retroactively-applied “second wave” of black metal across Scandinavia. With half a dozen demos, a couple splits, an EP, and a debut album from 2016, Swartadauþuz and cohorts have pursued a breathtaking vision of boundless traditionalism draped in hues of purple (and purple-blue).