Grenadier (USA) – Trumpets Blare in Blazing Glory LP

Black Metal

One of the most accomplished newcomers Signal Rex has come across in recent years, the shadowy entity of Valais burst from the voidal womb fully formed in the middle of 2021 with their self-titled debut album. Despite existing in the vast (and vastly inconsistent) wilderness of Bandcamp, Valais in fact imparted a power and poignancy that takes most bands at least a couple records to reach, if at all. Both classically composed and forward-thinking, Valais understood right from the start the core tenets of true black metal, but equally understood how to inject their own personality and poise into such to create something that adds to the language of BLACK METAL rather than mimics its speech patterns (and sloppily so).

No, Valais as a work is a towering monument of tension and release, skillful contours and subtle dynamics, richly malevolent melody and slipstreaming violence. Aesthetic touchstones include the likes of Slidhr, latter-day Leviathan, and even Blut Aus Nord at their wiliest, but Valais also exhibit an understated sense of the pagan – perhaps stemming from their native Ireland, or perhaps from some strange cosmos far beyond our comprehension… Either way, all of this coalesces into a whilrlwinding five-song/37-minute experience that feels far vaster than that succinct runtime otherwise suggests. As such, Signal Rex is honored to rightfully release this tome in all physical formats.

Black Metal

Burier IV – Wielding Malignity – an auditory altar, forged to conjure a series of surreal, blood drenched nightmares, permeated by abstract and otherworldly expressions of rage, pain, and horror.

Originally planned in concept as 7″ format, the material overflowed and the result is a 12 track 40min full length release.

Recorded at the end of the Australian summer MMXX, Burier IV is comprised of tracks that are short in length and aggressive in nature, bursting forth with a sharpened edge.

Burier IV could be considered a conceptual anomaly, yet is undeniably congruous with the Burier catalog of recordings so far, employing similar palettes of darkly coloured, complex instrumentation and tortured, shrieking vocals, dynamically pulsating, here wielded with a heightened sense of ferocity.

Exclusive import from Goatowarex (CHINA).

Black Metal

Originally released as cassette by Mahamvantara Arts Records earlier this year, RÜNDGARD’s first public recording is one literally out of time. Mainman Lord Valtgryftåk is a prolific veteran of Chile’s increasingly potent black metal underground, concurrently handling the likes of Pyreficativm, 13th Temple, Gryftigæn, and Winterstorm among others. And while a number of those bands and satellite entities belonging to the Pure Raw Underground Black Metal Plague are indeed the rawest of the raw, with RÜNDGARD does he delve into ancient times, medieval majesty, and grim splendor somewhere between the earliest Nordic works and contemporaneous Polish ones.

Recorded during two periods over the course of MMXX/MMXXI and now featuring a mix & master by Rudrah Studios, Stronghold of Majestic Ruins suitably evokes its namesake both sonically and thematically. Empirically, the recording evokes the ancient passages and memories of a distant land submerged in mist and an interesting story behind ruins. As Lord Valtgryftåk explains, “Originally, this entity is directly related to those archaic dimensional Valdivian forces that still inhabit our realms, those forces from the past written in blood and guarded by solemn towers and fortresses that still remain alive.” And truly, that past comes alive across the album’s succinct-yet-expansive 25-minute runtime, maintaining a faithful respect for the old traditions and the sound of glorious times with an interesting melodic register at the same time very organic. No record-collector-nerd “raw black metal” here: only authentic ancient vintage!

For those nostalgic for forgotten realms and archaic ages, RÜNDGARD returns from a deep slumber with the fortifying Stronghold of Majestic Ruins!

Black Metal

And so it goes with the band’s sixth full-length, Esoteric Atavism. Ever aptly titled, Esoteric Atavism’s contents embody that title in a most provocative manner. While BLACK CILICE is esoteric in the extreme, more so is the entity atavistic, and indeed are those energies the cornerstone of this record. Characteristically coated in miles of miasmic rawness that’s an instrument unto itself, the lyrics of Esoteric Atavism delve into the OLD – old energies, old spiritually – and the music follows suit by reconstituting elements from elder BLACK CILICE recordings. Always in the red but now deeper into the black, that’s not to say Esoteric Atavism is a deliberate throwback or crass “return to the roots”; rather, the band’s birth pangs are given a deeper wisdom and wider-screened hysteria for the listener to drown himself in…or avoid, revoltingly stratifying as BLACK CILICE’s black metal may be. More pointedly, riffs are more forthright, with experimentation subtler, and songs in kind shorter: the proverbial ouroboros, then, forever feeding on the past.

Black Metal

The awaited return of the United States Raw Black Metal entity VAMPIRSKA is spearheaded by the unveiling of “Torturous Omens of Blood and Candlewax” re-issued for the first time by INFERNA PROFUNDUS RECORDS.

“Torturous Omens of Blood and Candlewax” is the debut LP of Raw Black Metal entity VAMPIRSKA, who has established itself as a titan among the scene of this Lo-Fi and enchanting style of black metal. Originally released in Autumn 2020, “Torturous Omens of Blood and Candlewax” pushed VAMPIRSKA into the eyes of many after a large release on CS, CD and LP format. Six tracks with a consistent blend of furious, depressive, and elegant melodies carried into existence with punishing drumming.

Black Metal

Producto de conspiración con el nuevo sello chileno Templo del Sol Muerto, traemos ante ustedes el trabajo debut de este joven proyecto del sur de Chile.

Caracterizado por ejecutar un Black Metal con sonido un tanto diferente a lo acostumbrado por estos lados del orbe: ritmos a medio tiempo, voces desgarradas, atmósfera medieval, cruda y melancólica, Kerasfóra nace desde los místicos vientos del sur para entregarnos cuatro tracks llenos de solemne oscuridad.

Dejamos el track promocional ‘Night’s Symbol’, para que se sumergan bajo el manto de la noche y esperen la llegada a este plano de esta nueva banda que de seguro nos seguirá hipnotizando.