Tag Archives: black metal

One Of Nine – Dawn Of The Iron (Profound Lore Records)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

Long have I listened to the songs of the Southron tongues, and low have I seen flung the banners of empires now unmoored in the tide of history.

I have traced the bloodlines of kings to the very marrow, weighed every rune that once lit the high towers.

And yet, this I cannot name.

They are the Nine. Shrouded, innominate, but ever present,
they descend across these lands like grave mist over the battle strewn dead.

Their song is the unmaking of the world. All hear the black melody dimly in the silence of Night’s shadow, as if faint voices behind the heavy door were singing to thee, beckoning to thee…

They are as crawling thunder before the Iron Shadow, Warlords and Heralds of the Hungering King.

A piercing chorus of rusted shrieking, a cloying dread of which none can find refuge, they carry not banners but the grim auspices of Doom.

Do not seek them.
Do not name them.

The Nine have risen.
Their song is heard through the door.

Cover art by Ted Nasmith.

Featuring:
Hulder as Tear Maiden
M. as Lord of All
Langon as Loremaster
S. as Luthien

Noise Trail Immersion – Tutta la Morte in un solo punto (I, Voidhanger Records)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

NOISE TRAIL IMMERSION are back on the scene with “Tutta La Morte In Un Solo Punto,” a visceral and uncompromising album that wants to get straight to the listeners’ stomachs rather than their heads, channeling all the pain, chaos and inscrutability that characterize the depths of the human soul into extremely chaotic and short tracks.

A new turning point in the musical journey of NOISE TRAIL IMMERSION, “Tutta la Morte in un solo punto” transfigures the spiritual component added by “Curia” (2021) to the Italian band’s music, in some ways resuming the cavernous, furious and desperate approach of “Symbology of Shelter” (2018), but without its more nihilistic component.

The idea was to express a deep suffering, even violent and furious, but still an integral part of a cathartic vision, which sees the human experience at its center, in a continuous dialogue and clash between matter and spirit.

Musically, the research focuses on condensing the climaxes of the tracks in specific moments, in which intricate but memorable guitar riffs take center stage, with refined harmonies and continuous interlocking, suspended in a perpetual tension between dissonances… more

All music and lyrics by Noise Trail Immersion
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Andrea Fusini at Fusix Studio
Cover artwork by Bodyhaters
Visual design by Francesco Gemelli

SPRING – FORTH (Vivarium Sounds)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

Vocals and Guitar: Laura Rintoul
Synth and Engineering : Isobel McKenna

Songs 1,3,5 written by Laura
Songs 2,4 written by Laura and Isobel

Recorded on 4 track and digitised by Isobel and Laura
Mixed and Mastered by Robert Dallas Gray

Photography taken by Isobel at an abandoned house near Kuusamo Lentoasema summer 2012

 

 


Vivarium Sounds 17

MIZMOR – Mnemonic: Ambient Mosaic (Profound Lore)

Posted by John Lithium on

Label Description:

In April of this year, A.L.N. released something new – Alluvion, the Mizmor and Hell collaboration. Now in June, A.L.N. brings you something old… or rather, renewed. Mnemonic: Ambient Mosaic is comprised of ten of A.L.N.’s earliest recordings, transformed into nostalgic drone-scapes. The artist has been making solo music under multiple monikers consistently
since age 13 (ie: The Zarconiac, 2004) and the recordings selected for this record date back almost as far.

“To create Mnemonic, I unearthed a selection of old recordings from both The Zarconiac and my eponymous hymns [2011] and repurposed them into ambient tracks, just like I did with the Mizmor song ‘Pareidolia’ (Wit’s End, 2022). I realized that there were many lamentful melodies in my old songs that I still love, despite the lo-fi quality. The idea was to create a nostalgic soundscape of inverted hymns, allowing the listener to explore the sounds of my past, obscured though they may be.” Drafts of these songs were originally published to Mizmor’s Patreon (currently inactive), one each month of the year 2024. The 12 songs were then edited down into the 10 that comprise this LP.”

About the aforementioned hymns, A.L.N. explains, “In my time as a Christian [2010-2012], I created an EP of original hymns. The life of this project was short and catalogued simply under my given name. I can count the number of people who have heard these songs on one hand. These were worship songs, but not in the traditional sense. These songs were full of melancholy, pleas of help to God. It was from precisely this prayerful place that the first Mizmor album was written not long after, when I lost my faith.”

Mnemonic: Ambient Mosaic releases June 27th on Profound Lore Records in a limited edition of 500 vinyl records and a limited edition of 100 hand-numbered cassettes (independently released by A.L.N.). Digital download and streaming will also be available.

Tribunal – In Penitence and Ruin (20 Buck Spin)

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Label Description:

Tribunal returns with their sophomore album, ‘In Penitence and Ruin’, an elegy most grievous and forlorn, descending deeper into the solemn abyss of woe. 2023’s debut ‘The Weight of Remembrance’ set a high bar for the Canadians becoming one of the year’s most notable and praised Doom releases, leading Decibel Mag to include the band’s new album in their annual list of most anticipated releases. Tribunal have taken their time and crafted an opus of enormous scope to echo evermore through halls long abandoned.

Conjured by the band’s new form as a fully fleshed out five-piece, ‘In Penitence and Ruin’ has a wider lens of cohesion and maturity weaving together the widow’s wail of doleful strings, chilling keys and percussion that tolls like the iron bell of fate. These elements ornament the monolithic foundation of crushing dirge and funereal melodies hewn from the marrow of sorrow itself. A conceptual piece, the songs form a cycle that ruminates on justice and punishment, centering on a guilty Penitent who cannot escape what they have done. The duality between the wistful, impassioned singing of vocalist / cellist / bassist Soren Mourne and agonized growls from guitarist / vocalist Etienne Flinn bind with resolute tread and stride forth into darkness, traversing a path lit only by the pale glow of distant lament.

Tribunal hath wrought a requiem most dire where beauty and ruin become one and in doing have forged a second album beyond expectations, bold in its exploration of timeless human flaws and eminently listenable as a scripture of loss. Like ivy upon the tombstone, ‘In Penitence And Ruin’ winds slowly but inexorably towards spectral grandeur and eternal oblivion.

credits

released April 18, 2025

Tribunal is:
Soren Mourne – bass, cello, vocals
Etienne Flinn – guitar, vocals
Jessica Yang – guitar
Dallas Alice – keys
Julia Geaman – drums

Additional vocals performed by Rory Say

Produced by Tribunal and Jesse Gander
Drums recorded by Jesse Gander at Rain City Recorders
Mixed by Jesse Gander at Rain City Recorders
Mastered by Greg Chandler at Priory Recording Studios

All music and lyrics written by Tribunal

Cover painting and lettering by Soren Mourne
Layout by Chimere Noire
Photography by Sav Bagshaw

Krallice – Inorganic Rites (P2 Loggia)

Posted by John Lithium on

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Label Description:

Krallice 15. final caves album.

credits

releases July 5, 2024

Nicholas McMaster: guitar, vocals
Colin Marston: synthesizers, guitar, vocals
Mick Barr: bass, guitar, vocals
Lev Weinstein: drums

recorded, mixed and mastered by Colin at Menegroth, The Thousand Caves
released with P2 loggia omerta
Menegroth trees mural and krallice logo by Karlynn Holland
mural photos by Justina Villanueva