HYPOTHERMIA Rakbladsvalsen (Total Holocaust) cd 14.98
Another gloriously grim and frostbitten slab of ultra depressive black metal dirge from these Swedes. Their last two discs were serious AQ faves, their monochromatic blackened plod totally mesmerizing and entrancing. And this one is no different. Rakbladsvalsen begins with an epic 34 minute blast of suicidal black stomp, but like the last few discs, there is a seriously melodic element lurking beneath the buzzing and pounding. In fact, at moments, the melody is almost dreamy, like some jangly indie rock band was possessed by the dark lord, transforming their bright jangle into dark buzz, but never fully letting go of that innate melodic purity.
Mournful and melancholy, the main riff repeated over and over and over and over, the drums shifting occasionally from simple plod to stumbling blast and back again, the vocals harsh and haggard, so pained and anguished, but again, like the music, strangely pretty (in a strangled to death sort of way). The song is relentless, the only real shifts over the 30+ minutes are when the drums drop out, leaving the riff to buzz and hover briefly, until the drums once again kick in and the band lurches back into it's crushing black dirge. Theoretically, even though the disc is separated into 4 tracks, they are parts one through four of the same track, and minus the gaps, they do sort of sound like it, the same (or very similar) key, the same lurching loping tempo, harsh and brittle and buzzing and black, but always subtly jangly.
The final track is the surprise, expanding on what the band had only hinted at before on past releases, a gorgeous post rock jam, simple and minor key, the guitar sound clean, the riff moody and melancholy, the drums a simple math rock groove, the guitar switches lazily between muted minor key melodies, like some June Of 44 or Slint rehearsal recording, two simple parts, both quite lovely, no blown out buzzing blackness, just a dreamy extended instrumental workout, that demonstrates quite well, that slow and moody can be just as powerful and dark as grim and buzzy.
MPEG Stream: "Part III"
MPEG Stream: "Part IV"

HYPOTHERMIA Veins (Insikt) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally after years of demos and splits and cassette tape releases, the first proper full length from Swedish suicidal black metallers Hypothermia. You might remember Hypothermia from their split with Dimhymn, in the review of which we described their sound as "Epic fuzzed out glacial dirge, with thick riffs spread out in a black smear, the drums a caveman plod, and some of the most fucked vocals ever: weird, something-caught-in-the-throat sort of strangulated grunts and mewls, guttural growls and strange falsetto-y squeaks." And not too much has changed. In fact, Hypothermia's final track on that split was an "epic 16 minute midtempo buzzscape, [with] looped riffs, totally repetitive and hypnotic..." and dang if Veins isn't three of those, each a massive buzzing midtempo black dirge, slowly pounding drums, simple raw hypnotic riffing, repeated and repeated, into a mesmerizing musical mantra, the relentless buzz blurring into near drones, and anguished, cries of utter agony, over swirls of dismal black buzz.
Definitely for fans of Burzum, Nortt, Make A Change... Kill Yourself, Silencer, Xasthur and other purveyors of doomic black hate.
And if the music weren't depressed and dismal enough, the sleeve sports some seriously horrific and blood drenched images, bloody slit wrists, the word failure carved into an arm, a bathtub splattered with blood, and all the lyrics written in blood on blood soaked paper towels...
MPEG Stream: "Isolation"
MPEG Stream: "Failure"

HYPOTHERMIA Veins (Insikt) cassette 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on cassette!! A much more appropriately grim and cvlt and frosty format for the first proper full length from Swedish suicidal black metallers Hypothermia. You might remember Hypothermia from their split with Dimhymn, in the review of which we described their sound as "Epic fuzzed out glacial dirge, with thick riffs spread out in a black smear, the drums a caveman plod, and some of the most fucked vocals ever: weird, something-caught-in-the-throat sort of strangulated grunts and mewls, guttural growls and strange falsetto-y squeaks." And not too much has changed. In fact, Hypothermia's final track on that split was an "epic 16 minute midtempo buzzscape, [with] looped riffs, totally repetitive and hypnotic..." and dang if Veins isn't three of those, each a massive buzzing midtempo black dirge, slowly pounding drums, simple raw hypnotic riffing, repeated and repeated, into a mesmerizing musical mantra, the relentless buzz blurring into near drones, and anguished, cries of utter agony, over swirls of dismal black buzz.
Definitely for fans of Burzum, Nortt, Make A Change... Kill Yourself, Silencer, Xasthur and other purveyors of doomic black hate.
And if the music weren't depressed and dismal enough, the sleeve sports some seriously horrific and blood drenched images, bloody slit wrists, the word failure carved into an arm, a bathtub splattered with blood, and all the lyrics written in blood on blood soaked paper towels...
MPEG Stream: "Isolation"
MPEG Stream: "Failure"

HYPOTHERMIA / DURTHANG Lead Yourself To Failure (Northern Sky Productions) cassette 5.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
You might remember Hypothermia from their amazing split with Dimhymn a while back, and we review the killer Durthang tape elsewhere on this list. But these two Swedish purveyors of bleak lifeless doomic black metal are the perfect match up.
Hypothermia's side is an ultra lo fi blast of midtempo buzz, super murky, almost like a practice space recording, with strangled vocals, and some killer riffing. Definitely some serious cult black brutality.
The flipside is two loooong tracks from Durthang, and further convinces us that this could very well be one of our new favorite black metal hordes. A strangely clean sound, but nice fuzzy riffing and way up in the mix drumming. Mournful melodies over relentless double kick drumming. Cool arpeggiated guitar lines over swirling buzzing blackness and blown out distorted vocal shrieks. A darkly depressive Burzumic buzz wrapped around melancholy minor key misery. So good. And so far the only Durthang recording available are on ultra cult cassette tape only!!
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!

I SHALT BECOME In The Falling Snow (No Colours) cd 16.98
We listed this grim black gem earlier this year, but sold out almost immediately. Finally managed to get handful back in, so don't miss out again...
Yet another archival release from grim suicidal one man black metal outfit I Shalt Become, aka S. Holliman, who hails from Illinois of all grim places, and who, as far as we can tell, has been pretty much inactive for the last decade. This release was recorded way back in 1998 and was originally released as a demo credited to Birkenau, the name Holliman used before fortunately switching to I Shalt Become.
Like Wanderings before it, In The Falling Snow is a fantastic, and fantastically twisted chunk of sorrowful black misery. As doomy as it is black, heavily indebted to Burzum of course, but I Shalt Become shares much in common with other more modern practitioners of this sort of ultra grim, plodding midtempo blackness, Xasthur, Krohm, Nortt, Make A Change Kill Yourself, the riffs buzzing and crumbling, the temps loping and dirgey, the mood grim and dour, super atmospheric, not lo-fi necessarily, but murky and muddy and washed out sounding, dreary and drone-y, sweeping swaths of epic keyboard, and the vocals, an exhausted miserable sounding croak, as if most of the lifeforce has already drained away, not leaving enough vitriol to howl or shriek, just enough energy to barely get out these last words from a moldering old deathbed, the wasted, dead quality of the vocals perfectly matching the depressive mood of the music.
But even as miserable and despondent and depressive as these sounds are, they're also hauntingly and harrowingly beautiful, soaring strings, minor key melodies, super dramatic and ultra personal, everything weirdly soft focus and dreamlike, the buzz and plod blurred into gauzy dronemetal soundscapes, the double kick, a pulse buried beneath thick layers of billowing fuzz, the riffs looped and repeated into black buzzing mantras. Way recommended of course, for the miserable and the black hearted.
MPEG Stream: "Burning"
MPEG Stream: "In The Falling Snow"

I SHALT BECOME In The Falling Snow (No Colours) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We managed to get FIVE copies on VINYL of this grim depressive classic, direct from the band. WAY out of print. It was crazy limited. These are the only copies we'll ever be able to get, so grab one quick...
Yet another archival release from grim suicidal one man black metal outfit I Shalt Become, aka S. Holliman, who hails from Illinois of all grim places, and who, as far as we can tell, has been pretty much inactive for the last decade. This release was recorded way back in 1998 and was originally released as a demo credited to Birkenau, the name Holliman used before fortunately switching to I Shalt Become.
Like Wanderings before it, In The Falling Snow is a fantastic, and fantastically twisted chunk of sorrowful black misery. As doomy as it is black, heavily indebted to Burzum of course, but I Shalt Become shares much in common with other more modern practitioners of this sort of ultra grim, plodding midtempo blackness, Xasthur, Krohm, Nortt, Make A Change Kill Yourself, the riffs buzzing and crumbling, the temps loping and dirgey, the mood grim and dour, super atmospheric, not lo-fi necessarily, but murky and muddy and washed out sounding, dreary and drone-y, sweeping swaths of epic keyboard, and the vocals, an exhausted miserable sounding croak, as if most of the lifeforce has already drained away, not leaving enough vitriol to howl or shriek, just enough energy to barely get out these last words from a moldering old deathbed, the wasted, dead quality of the vocals perfectly matching the depressive mood of the music.
But even as miserable and despondent and depressive as these sounds are, they're also hauntingly and harrowingly beautiful, soaring strings, minor key melodies, super dramatic and ultra personal, everything weirdly soft focus and dreamlike, the buzz and plod blurred into gauzy dronemetal soundscapes, the double kick, a pulse buried beneath thick layers of billowing fuzz, the riffs looped and repeated into black buzzing mantras. Way recommended of course, for the miserable and the black hearted.
MPEG Stream: "Burning"
MPEG Stream: "In The Falling Snow"

I SHALT BECOME Poison (Moribund Records) cd 15.98
A brand new record from Illinois one man black metal I Shalt Become is always cause for much excitement around here. The aQ metalheads can't get enough of ISB's haunting Burzumic creep, dirgey and doomy and depressive, but as we've mentioned before, ISB takes Burzum's black template and transforms it into something much more lush and washed out and dreamlike, incorporating strings, and swaths of shoegaze-y ambience, we often compare ISB's black metal to very UN black metal soundmakers like Philip Jeck and Tim Hecker, it's got that sort of warm gauzy quality, all blurred and bleary and otherworldly. Which is what we were expecting on Poison, and while that is still present, the sound seems to have shifted dramatically, with the blackness and the buzz taking a backseat, to the orchestration, cellos and violas, symphonies, synthesizers, pizzicato violin melodies, swirling clouds of frenzied cinematic strings, it's kind of shocking, not because classical music and black metal are strange bedfellows, but more because of how the two are mixed here, the result at first is jarring, and as much as we were imaging more of that lush textured murk, this is something way more far out, and fucked up and awesome. It's almost like a black metal score for some Hollywood blockbuster, dramatic and emotional and intense, but those soundtracky elements underpinned by howling metal shrieks, and droning buzzing riffage, that stuff in the background, as opposed to the other way around, it's weird, but seriously cool.
The opening track is all classical fanfare, until the drums come in, and some growled groaned vokills, but they're almost more textural, as horns moan, and the strings soar, it's depressive, but in a wholly different way than we're used to, the drums are matched up with booming tympanis, choral arrangements are rendered in shades of grey and black, there are moments of buzz, but those usually dissipate into something much more atmospheric, letting strings, or orchestral swells drive the tracks, the murky buzzing blackness off in the background, in some ways it's almost more like industrial music, that sort of martial neo classical, MZ412 or Toroidh or Von Thronstahl, Teutonic, epic, majestic, just a bit more metal, but only a bit.
Lots of metalheads will probably be screaming foul, as it was, ISB's sound was already bordering on the avant garde, more minimal and dreamlike, than grim and black, but this has definitely pushed the sound even further afield, but it sounds incredible to us, and just leaves us one question, when is some visionary Hollywood director gonna hit this guy up to score a film??
MPEG Stream: "No Quarter at the Somme"
MPEG Stream: "Harlow's Vertical Chamber Apparatus"
MPEG Stream: "Black Swan Events"

I SHALT BECOME The Pendle Witch Trials (No Colours) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A new disc from one man black metal outfit I Shalt Become is always welcome around these parts. The washed out weary blackened blurscapes are for us, the black metal equivalent of Tim Hecker or Philip Jeck, a sort of black metal Pop Ambience, the various sounds distinctly black metal, but in ISB's strange otherworldly drift, rendered in shades of grey instead of black, the guitars warm whirring smears, the drums murky pulses, the vocals a croak barely audible over the heaving swells of soft buzz. The melodies mournful and miserable, the tempos lugubrious, the vibe grim and forsaken, depressive black metal nirvana for sure.
Sonically, ISB probably has the most in common with Xasthur, but where Xasthur's sound is distinctly lo-fi, almost stumbling at times, the music of ISB manages to be both lo-fi and incredible lush, the sheets of dreamlike buzz spun into lush expanses of warm shimmer, traditional blast and buzz has no place in ISB's windswept sonic wasteland, instead, the buzz is worn smooth, and spread out like gauzy low hanging clouds, there is no blast, only plod and pound, lope and lumber, there are keyboards everywhere, but they are at one with the guitars, adding dense texture, creating soft shadows, occasionally manifesting as super dramatic streaks of sonic melancholia.
The songs tend toward one, maybe two parts, hypnotic and so mesmerizing, almost looped sounding, repeating over and over, totally trancelike, blackly blissful and dismally dreamy.
Near the end of the record, several of the tracks grow fairly aggressive and get about as heavy as any ISB gets, but even then, the sound is infused with the strange choral sounding atmosphere, the instruments wreathed in delay and reverb, everything slowly melting together into one gorgeously bleary and blown slow motion sprawl, culminating in the two chord, storm drenched bliss drone outro.
Some seriously gorgeous depressive black metal for sure, that like past releases, is so blurred and blissy, that it might possibly appeal to folks into stuff like Nadja, Jesu, Fear Falls Burning and other dronedirgedoom outfits as well.
MPEG Stream: "Enstasy (The Theory Of Maxwell's Demon)"
MPEG Stream: "The Serpent Song"
MPEG Stream: "A Ritual Killing"

I SHALT BECOME Wanderings (Moribund) cd 16.98
Originally released in 1996, this slab of suicidal blackness finally gets unearthed and resurrected by the doomed souls at Moribund. I Shalt Become inhabit a completely bleak and barren world of abject misery. A doomy minor key slow motion black metal miserabilism. There's Burzum worship, and then there's taking your Burzum worship to an even more anguished and desolate, wretched and forlorn extreme. Think Xasthur, Burzum, Krohm, Make A Change... Kill Yourself, but then imagine those bands even more despondent, more hopeless, recording with razor blade inches from exposed wrist. A gorgeously bleak and buzzy expanse of minor key arpeggiated guitars, draped like black cloth over thick swirls of monochrome buzz. Riffs are looped and repeated, melodies become murky mantras and the vocals are so distorted and buried in the mix they just sound like whispery squalls of static. So mournful and melancholy. Wanderings is often so slow and fuzzy, so dreamlike that it almost ceases being metal, and becomes some abstract experimental drone music, an ambient soundscape of reverb drenched guitars, a loping black doom waltz, so goddamn sad sounding and so so beautiful.
This reissue tacks on three bonus tracks, not quite as murky and lo-fi but just as tortured and tormented: Two Judas Iscariot covers and of course, an even more morose (is that were even possible?) version of Burzum's "En Ring Til AA Herske".
MPEG Stream: "Fragments"
MPEG Stream: "The Funeral Rain"
MPEG Stream: "Winter Lights"

I.C.E. Apocalyptic End In White (Crash Music) cd 15.98
A few years ago, the UK metal magazine Terrorizer had an April issue that featured what we all imagined was the coolest black metal band EVER: Arktyk! From Alaska, all of their song titles were frosty and chilling tales of blizzard beasts and frozen wastelands. They all had crazy snowy names and the picture accompanying the article of course had the corpsepainted band posed in huge drifts of snow. How could we not become immediately obsessed? Well, we soon discovered that the band was made up and the article was an April Fool's Day joke. But here it is, several years later, and we're tempted to think we're being duped yet again. But the proof is right here in our hands. The new record from I.C.E, aka Imperial Crystalline Entombment. The cover art is a fantasy painting of four figures in white hooded cloaks, and white masks, wielding huge staves of ice, surrounded by icy demons. The band members are named Bleak, Mammoth, Blisserred, and of course, Icesickkill. And the song titles: "Cryogenic Communion", "Astral Frost Invocation", "Hypothermic Possesion", "Apocalyptic Blizzard Regime", "Convulsing Frigid Death" and on and on. Which is all quite appropriate when you finally throw it on and hear the demonic strains of a band bowing in worshipful reverence before Norwegian black metal masters Immortal, circa Blizzard Beasts which, if you're anything like us, is a very good thing. Buzzing, blurry, frosty and ultra grim black metal, with shrieking wails of demonic possesion, thrashing hyperspeed blast beats, and maniacal riffing. Pretty fucking great. And while I.C.E. may be from Maryland, their hearts are firmly packed in blackened Nordic Ice!
MPEG Stream: "Cryogenic Communion / Astral Frost Invocation"
MPEG Stream: "Onward Banshee Legions"

IBEX THRONE Total Inversion (Goatowarex) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Thfe second full-length from Utah's blackened beast known collectively as Ibex Throne. The Zodiac, Lord Dying, Mictlan, Desecrator and Judas Drexor Arawn have reassembled as the blasting buzzing black metal juggernaut that is Ibex Throne. A musical blast of pestilence and pure hatred for all things. An utter loathing for all belief systems as well as a constant striving for the absolute eradication of all humanity. A furious blasting burst of black buzz, with occasional stretches of Xasthur-ish moodiness, minor key chords fingerpicked over sheets of white hot black brutality. For the most part this is blown out blackness, a furious fast fist full of metal, blast beats and guitar buzz, demonic shrieks and screaming feedback all twisted into big metal nails that will seal the coffin that keeps the corpse of humanity below ground. Ibex Throne offers no sympathy, just hateful, blasphemous, nihilistic anti-trend Black hatred Metal!
Amazing cover art, full on high school binder rendering of winged demons eviscerating a naked woman on an upside down cross!
MPEG Stream: "Humanity Is Worthless"
MPEG Stream: "Insidious Wrath"

ICE BOUND MAJESTY A Tomb To Erect (Frequency Thirteen / Night Angels Serve) cd-r 7.98
We knew we were in for something special when we discovered the amazing Frequency Thirteen cd-r label (thanks to loyal AQ customer Andrew S. for turning us on to these guys). Bands with names like Ice Bound Majesty, Skultroll, Raperack, Black Vomit, Karaoke Vocal Eliminator. Each disc emblazoned with the label's mantra: TRUE SHEFFIELD BLACK PSYCHEDELIA. Which is pretty much the perfect description of this stuff. We might have also offered: grinding corrosive blackened hypnorock, or perhaps blacknoizemetal, or something similar, perhaps blackkrautnoizerock. Whatever you call it, this stuff is dark, and distorted, blown out and heavy as fuck, hypnotic, rhythmic, and seriously genius.
In the case of the geniusly named Ice Bound Majesty we might have to come up with an even more abstract descriptor, something like surreal free folk black metal ambient experimentalism, or epic melodic blackened folk flecked post rock. Actually, like all the best bands, these guys are pretty impossible to describe in a single sentence. The sound is heavy and distorted, blown out and of course black and psychedelic indeed, but IBM are seriously deranged, their songs are like sonic worlds unto themselves, weaving elaborate soundscapes, rhythmic and melodic, with keyboards, and flutes, fluttering flutes, harsh demonic rasps, simple riffing, warm thick black ambience, all woven into an incredibly intense and mind blowing space psych black noise fucked folk kraut rock jam.
The first track is the perfect example. Beginning with some Lustmordian dark ambience, that gives way to folky flute and distant shimmer, which is immediately crushed by a funeral doom plod, the tape speed fucked with so the riffs slow down mid-riff, adding to the tripped out vibe. The flute returns, drifting above the roiling blackness, distant chimes and muted harmonics surface too, then a killer clean guitar riff, and suddenly harsh shrieked vocals, the band sounding like it's about to launch into a frenzied grind, but instead, the sound sprawls out into a looped psych rock jam, with relentless double kick, and those harsh vocals, weird Western whistling, throbbing bass, it could go on forever and we'd be perfectly happy, but suddenly the doooooom returns, even more distorted and in-the-red and crumbling than before. The melancholy melody continues to drift in the background, until the band launches right back into that black kraut jam, this time, everything murky and bass heavy, finally leaving just that clean guitar riff to fade outÉ
How the fuck do you write a song like that, let alone play it? Just writing about it wore us out. The whole record is like that, chaotic, heavy, brutal, black, but strangely beautiful, mysterious and abstract, drifting in a shimmery haze one second, exploding into a black blast the next. Elsewhere the band do some sort of monklike chant over shuffling post rock grandeur, but even then, it quickly gets swallowed up by mechanical monster riffing, and processed evil vocals.
The title track, the 12 minute long "A Tomb To Erect" begins as a bleak, rumbling Wolf Eyes style abject expanse of glittering alien FX and slow slithery rumble, before the drums kick in, WAY distorted and blown out, pounding out a slow motion mathrock rhythm, while in the background, the drones get more and more intense, the track weaves from super hot, high end, to mumbly muddied low end, the drums remaining constant, pounding away relentlessly, until near the end, when a super catchy clean guitar riff joins the fray, and transforms what was sort of an abstract noise rock rhythm jam, into something super intense, emotional and cinematic. The bombastic booming distorted crashes exploding like land mines, spread out along the moody meandering melodic expanse of the songs newly found heart and soul.
Like we said, it's a bit hard to explain what these guys are doing, or even how, but all that means is it's something special, and something we can't stop listening to. Rare is the record as beautiful and mysterious as it is heavy and fucked up.
MPEG Stream: "Book Of Jalends"
MPEG Stream: "A Tomb To Erect"

IDES OF GEMINI Constantinople (Neurot) cd 14.98
At the risk of repeating ourselves, there's a visual component to this witchy blackened trio, that is certainly worth mentioning again, and seems to tie directly into the strange occultic vibe of the music. Imagine two willowy women, both beautiful and with long black hair, each wearing what seems to be an old white wedding dress, one at the mic, the other behind the kit, while the guitar player, quite willowy himself, sits in a chair hunched over his guitars, the trio remaining mostly motionless, but evoking a strange sort of vibe, like some ancient ritual, enacted for hundreds of years in different permutations, this one being in the form of a musical trio, the medium now a sort of blackened dirgery. Not so much metal as slightly metallic, and as we mentioned in our review of Ides Of Gemini's debut, we found they seemed to have much more in common with Warpaint or Mazzy Star. But the opening of the first track definitely throws down a black metal gauntlet, unfurling a frenzied buzzing black metal riff, underneath which, the drums pound tribally, yet instead of exploding into some furious blast, the sound shifts into a sort of funereal march, all simple stumbling drums, doomy riffage, and then the vocals, mesmerizing and ethereal, but still powerful, the harmonies haunting, the sound blossoming like some blackened liturgical incantation, the overall effect quite mesmerizing.
The whole record's a series of ritualistic sonic spells, driven mostly by the vocals, but constantly underpinned by simple blackened droned out riffing and driven by the spare martial drumming.
All four of the tracks from the demo are re-recorded and presented here again, including our favorite, the utterly spellbinding "Resurrectionists", which is essentially a gorgeous slab of indie pop slowcore, with a killer main riff/melody, and an insanely catchy refrain/chorus, the sort of song that you'll find yourself returning to again and again, the new version (of this and the other three demo tracks) so much heavier, and so much more lush, wreathed in warm swaths of reverb and echo, as if these sonic rituals were being performed on a crumbling altar in some old stone cathedral, the listener hunched in an alcove, hidden by shadows, letting Ides Of Gemini's mournful musical lamentations wash over them...
MPEG Stream: "Resurrectionists"
MPEG Stream: "The Vessel & The Stake"
MPEG Stream: "Starless Midnight"

IDES OF GEMINI Constantinople (Sige) lp 21.00
NOW ON VINYL!!
At the risk of repeating ourselves, there's a visual component to this witchy blackened trio, that is certainly worth mentioning again, and seems to tie directly into the strange occultic vibe of the music. Imagine two willowy women, both beautiful and with long black hair, each wearing what seems to be an old white wedding dress, one at the mic, the other behind the kit, while the guitar player, quite willowy himself, sits in a chair hunched over his guitars, the trio remaining mostly motionless, but evoking a strange sort of vibe, like some ancient ritual, enacted for hundreds of years in different permutations, this one being in the form of a musical trio, the medium now a sort of blackened dirgery. Not so much metal as slightly metallic, and as we mentioned in our review of Ides Of Gemini's debut, we found they seemed to have much more in common with Warpaint or Mazzy Star. But the opening of the first track definitely throws down a black metal gauntlet, unfurling a frenzied buzzing black metal riff, underneath which, the drums pound tribally, yet instead of exploding into some furious blast, the sound shifts into a sort of funereal march, all simple stumbling drums, doomy riffage, and then the vocals, mesmerizing and ethereal, but still powerful, the harmonies haunting, the sound blossoming like some blackened liturgical incantation, the overall effect quite mesmerizing.
The whole record's a series of ritualistic sonic spells, driven mostly by the vocals, but constantly underpinned by simple blackened droned out riffing and driven by the spare martial drumming.
All four of the tracks from the demo are re-recorded and presented here again, including our favorite, the utterly spellbinding "Resurrectionists", which is essentially a gorgeous slab of indie pop slowcore, with a killer main riff/melody, and an insanely catchy refrain/chorus, the sort of song that you'll find yourself returning to again and again, the new version (of this and the other three demo tracks) so much heavier, and so much more lush, wreathed in warm swaths of reverb and echo, as if these sonic rituals were being performed on a crumbling altar in some old stone cathedral, the listener hunched in an alcove, hidden by shadows, letting Ides Of Gemini's mournful musical lamentations wash over them...
MPEG Stream: "Resurrectionists"
MPEG Stream: "The Vessel & The Stake"
MPEG Stream: "Starless Midnight"

IDES OF GEMINI Hexagram (Magic Bullet) 7" 8.98
A special Record Store Day release from this witchy blackened dreampsych trio, featuring rock scribe J. Bennett on guitar, along with Sera Timms (of Black Math Horsemen), and Kelly Johnston, on guitar and bass respectively, two willowy women, both of whom very much look the part of the witchy temptress, performing live hey both wear old white wedding dresses, looking like they stepped right out of some old daguerreotype, and who provide the haunting harmonies, which are definitely what make ion so magical and mysterious sounding.
While their past records were laced with a bit of black buzz, the sound here is much more moody and minimal, the A side sounds a bit more like nineties slowcore filtered through a more modern shoegaze aesthetic, but even here, Bennett introduces some blackness, in the form of his slo-mo black metal riffing, which is transformed into something more hazy and washed out, a doomy drifty churn, the song slipping into some full on dirginess, a heaving, heavy, reverbed creep, the whole thing a little bit noisy, a little bit gothy, the vocals keeping the sound grounded, transforming what might otherwise be some minimal doominess, into something more ethereal and hauntingly transcendent, the plodding minimal drumming, adding a primal pulse to the blurry buzzy dreaminess. The B side gets even more dreamy, ditching all the buzz and plod, in favor of something more atmospheric, lilting minor key piano, wreathed in a gauzy sonic haze, seems to blur and drift, the vocals doused in echo and reverb float spectrally above, the whole thing a dreamlike sprawl of gothic slowcore ethereal dreampop soft-psych bliss, the vocals reminding us of Cheslea Wolfe or Zola Jesus, but set amidst a landscape much more cinematic and abstract. So gorgeous.
This was in fact a 2013 Record Store Day release, and thus super limited, but we did get a whole bunch - however once we sell out, these are probably gone for good.
The record comes in different colored sleeves, and multiple colors of vinyl, includes a nice printed insert with lyrics.

IHSAHN The Adversary (Candlelight) cd 14.98
Latest lashings from erstwhile Emperor imperator Ihsahn. Being the guitarist/vocalist/main songwriter for one of the most important and innovative Norwegian black metal acts ever, anyone with any interest in that scene will be interested to hear what Ihsahn is up to on his own, with The Adversary being his very first solo album.
And as such, remember, it's not an Emperor album... and that's fine, really. In fact, although most frontmen gone solo *don't* do this, the idea behind a solo album should be, well, to do something different than what one does in their main band. But then again, it's more like an Emperor album than a lot of things! However, it's a lot closer to being a Peccatum album (Ihsahn's other prior project with his wife and brother in law). And that's maybe not such a good thing. Tends towards the overwrought. And that's what you've got here, Ihsahn indulging in some overly dramatic, keyboard-theatrical black metal melded with, well, all sorts of things. Maybe a few too many things. It's a trifle too diverse in scope. And while we can hang with the trad heavy metal elements (including, up to a point, Ihsahn's use of his King Diamondesqe falsetto) and the extremities of blackened, mathy prog mania, it's what sounds like cheesy, adult contemporary melodiousness crammed into much of these songs that makes us wince. Enough with the clean vocals, Ihsahn! Still, his undeniably impressive musicianship (he plays everything on here but the drums) and progressive ambitions do result in an album that definitely holds rewards for those into the likes of Opeth, Borknagar, and Hammers Of Misfortune -- even if what Emperor once accomplished without trying, it sometimes sounds like he's trying too hard to do.
MPEG Stream: "Invocation"
MPEG Stream: "Called By Fire"

ILDJARN Forest Poetry (Northern Heritage) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

ILDJARN Ildjarn is Dead (Northern Heritage) 2cd 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ildjarn is a black metal legend. A recently released tribute featured a who's who of the black metal elite paying homage: Leviathan, Xasthur, Forgotten Tomb, Nachtmystium, Urfaust, Azaghal, Grimfaug and more. And rightfully so. Who is more grim, more cult, more legendary than Ildjarn? Having performed as a member of Thou Shalt Suffer and Sort Vokter it wasn't until Ildjarn struck out on his own that he truly discovered his muse, which led him to produce a truly infamous body of work, from super lo-fi black metal buzz to ambient synthesizer suites. This double disc collection compiles the first recorded Ildjarn material from 1992, the mega rare 1993 demo, and the Minnesjord - The Dark Soil demo as well as a bunch of unreleased stuff as well.
The sound of Ildjarn is ultra, ultra, ULTRA lo-fi black metal buzz, with blown out guitars, uncertain drumming, howled demon vocals, with that totally raw practice space recording feel. The really cool thing about Ildjarn Is Dead, is the multiple versions / parts of each song, sometimes as many as 7 or 8 versions, each with varying amounts of fidelity, each it's own sort of lo-fi recording, some muddy and murky, some brittle and high end, resulting in a constantly fluctuating recording quality that is much an instrument as the drums or the guitar. This is the blackest of metal, think Darkthrone, Mayhem, but dig even deeper, closer to the pits of hell, deeper into the black of night, grim and raw and cult as fuck.
There are some brief glimpses of some of the more avant Ildjarn to come later, with some interludes of gristly Earth-like distorted guitar drones complete with record crackle and a strange almost classical / New Age sounding coda, with sweeping synths, and haunting disembodied vocals.
Disc two includes more than 20 minutes of unfinished material 1993-1994, which is completely amazing, some parts are just bass and drums, a skeletal outline of a never realized track, some are fully realized blasts of buzz and hiss, some have strange dropouts and tape warble, giving the whole thing an inadvertently avant sheen, like some strange unearthed decaying tapes a la Basinski (which I guess is sort of what they actually are).
Amazingly packaged and gorgeously printed. An oversized fold out sleeve, printed in black, grey and silver, with a huge insert that features a massive sixteen thousand-word last statement written by Ildjarn, also included are lyrics to all the tracks and the cd sleeves within include the original artwork and more text. Absolutely beautiful. It's released by Northern Heritage, the label that put out the brilliant Crushing The Holy Trinity compilation a while back, packaged in a similarly oversized sleeve, although the design on the Ildjarn is a lot more subtle and visually stunning.
And if you're still not sure if this is essential, how about a few words of warning from Ildjarn himself?
"Before purchasing this product you should take great care in observing the following requirements in relation to it:
After long-term use of this product you may experience increased hatred, thus a lust to kill partcipants of your own breed subsequent to and while operating this product may consequently occur. The copyright owner of this audio product and all its accompanying propaganda declares that it is in compliance with the essential requirements of antilife, and hereby assumes all liability for any injury or death caused by the use of this product. If inexperienced with the kind of hateful and suicidal contents distributed through this product, you should seek the advice of experienced misanthropists and death-worshipers before operation, to assure proper use and to prevent the interference of alien thoughts originating from philanthropists, which will most likely harm the process that may be the result of using this specific product. This product is furthermore solely intended for use in a solitary confinement, and should not be subjected to any other use. Following these rules, this recording and the accompanying words will provide a lifetime of pure frustration, caused by the newly acquired knowledge of the insufficiencies and absurdities of earthly life. If failing in the harsh process of submitting to these rules subsequent to your purchase, users are strongly urged to give away this product to a being willing to obey to the unwritten laws conceived by the sources of death's path, and ultimately the annihilation of the self. Again, be sure to consider all the above requirements prior to your purchase."
MPEG Stream: "Unknown Truths II (2nd Session)"
MPEG Stream: "Unknown Truths III (2nd Session)"
MPEG Stream: "Seven Harmonies Of Unknown Truths XV (Original)"

ILDJARN Nocturnal Visions (Northern Heritage) cd ep 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

ILL LITERATURE #17 magazine 3.95
One of the bigger and better 'underground' metal mags in the US. This issue: cover boys Emperor, plus Iron Maiden, Neurosis, Gehenna, Meshuggah, Enslaved, and many others, including even Helix! Pages and pages of reviews too.

IMMORTAL All Shall Fall (Nuclear Blast) cd 14.98
RETURN OF THE BLIZZARD BEASTS!
Black Metal legends Immortal emerge after a few years of inactivity, and we are happy to report that the only noticeable difference is that things have gotten bigger and better and FASTER. And while the sound remains relatively unchanged, the strength of Immortal's songwriting and their unbelievable musicianship are enough to ensure All Shall Fall's status as a classic that will sit nicely alongside Pure Holocaust and Blizzard Beasts.
No matter how many black metal albums make their way to aQuarius, certain groups stand out, and Immortal will always be one of those bands we never tire of. Why? Because they're pretty much better than anything and everything else, that's why. While other groups have come and gone, or changed their style drastically with the trends of the day, Immortal continue to remain true to themselves, and with the two years it took to write and record All Shall Fall, you can safely bet that the band has delivered an album that is, in it's own way, absolutely perfect. All the elements of classic Immortal are here: supercharged riffing with a nod to classic metal (and hell, classic ROCK too), rumbling and relentless bass playing, and yes, INSANE, incomprehensibly fast drumming. Of course, none of that would mean shit if the songs weren't great, which they most certainly are. They are 100 percent black metal, but also surprisingly catchy, super melodic but brutal, and fucking EPIC. And like all Immortal records, the songs revolve around the band's self created fantasy realm of Blashyrkh, with lyrics handled by out-of-commission guitarist Demonaz. Go ahead and laugh; while every other black metal band sings their stupid bullshit about Satan, Immortal instead created an appropriate metaphor for the REAL darkness and evil that so many other bands could never truly conceive of.
We could go on about individual songs, but this is the kind of album you will want to listen to front to back. Everything ties together perfectly as you would expect, the production is spot on, and the band sounds amazing as always. Definitely one of the best metal albums of 2009, you could spend some time checking out the sound samples, but do you really need to? It's fucking Immortal.
MPEG Stream: "All Shall Fall"
MPEG Stream: "Hordes Of War"
MPEG Stream: "Arctic Swarm"

IMMORTAL All Shall Fall (Nuclear Blast) lp 38.00
RETURN OF THE BLIZZARD BEASTS!
Black Metal legends Immortal emerge after a few years of inactivity, and we are happy to report that the only noticeable difference is that things have gotten bigger and better and FASTER. And while the sound remains relatively unchanged, the strength of Immortal's songwriting and their unbelievable musicianship are enough to ensure All Shall Fall's status as a classic that will sit nicely alongside Pure Holocaust and Blizzard Beasts.
No matter how many black metal albums make their way to aQuarius, certain groups stand out, and Immortal will always be one of those bands we never tire of. Why? Because they're pretty much better than anything and everything else, that's why. While other groups have come and gone, or changed their style drastically with the trends of the day, Immortal continue to remain true to themselves, and with the two years it took to write and record All Shall Fall, you can safely bet that the band has delivered an album that is, in it's own way, absolutely perfect. All the elements of classic Immortal are here: supercharged riffing with a nod to classic metal (and hell, classic ROCK too), rumbling and relentless bass playing, and yes, INSANE, incomprehensibly fast drumming. Of course, none of that would mean shit if the songs weren't great, which they most certainly are. They are 100 percent black metal, but also surprisingly catchy, super melodic but brutal, and fucking EPIC. And like all Immortal records, the songs revolve around the band's self created fantasy realm of Blashyrkh, with lyrics handled by out-of-commission guitarist Demonaz. Go ahead and laugh; while every other black metal band sings their stupid bullshit about Satan, Immortal instead created an appropriate metaphor for the REAL darkness and evil that so many other bands could never truly conceive of.
We could go on about individual songs, but this is the kind of album you will want to listen to front to back. Everything ties together perfectly as you would expect, the production is spot on, and the band sounds amazing as always. Definitely one of the best metal albums of 2009, you could spend some time checking out the sound samples, but do you really need to? It's fucking Immortal.
MPEG Stream: "All Shall Fall"
MPEG Stream: "Hordes Of War"
MPEG Stream: "Arctic Swarm"

IMMORTAL At The Heart Of The Winter (Osmose) cd 13.98
The return of Immortal!!! These frosty warriors may have hung up their spiked gauntlets, but their legacy still looms large. Easily one of our favorite black metal hordes EVER, these records have been frustratingly tough to keep in stock over the years. Thankfully, they've all been reissued, in all their frostbitten black blurred glory!
At The Heart Of Winter is from way back in 1999, but is one of the later albums by these blizzard beasts. You might be disappointed by the lack of blurred blast beats and blazing Arctic riffs but you certainly won't be disappointed with the results of these corpsepainted Norwegians' last photo shoot! A newfound obsession with pro wrestling and a new, very large and perpetually shirtless drummer (sporting a black metal belly girdle!) make this cd great to look at, but it's actually a great listen as well. As mentioned, gone is the speed of their previous effort Blizzard Beasts --in it's place is a stripped-down, more midtempo, straight-ahead heavy metal sound. Better, more professional production than in the past, plus catchier riffs combined with stumbling, propulsive drumming make this a record that Andee and Allan both love (while big Immortal fan Josh from The Champs votes this as the *worst* metal album of the year--go figure).
Note: in the years since this album came out (1999) ol' Josh has had a change of heart and now admits that it's a pretty good record! And Allan rates it as his favorite Immortal opus ever. Andee places it at number two, right behind the classic Blizzard Beasts!
MPEG Stream: "Withstand The Fall Of Time"
MPEG Stream: "Tragedies Blows At Horizon"

IMMORTAL At The Heart Of Winter (Osmose) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl for a limited time! Along with almost all the other albums in the Immortal discography -- we're missing only Battles In The North ('cause the shipment to our supplier arrived damaged) and Sons Of Northern Darkness ('cause it wasn't released by Osmose). Like the rest, this At The Heart Of Winter vinyl edition comes packaged in a gorgeous gatefold sleeve, with new photos and design. Here's what we had to say about the cd back when it came out:
You might be disappointed by the lack of blurred blast beats and blazing Arctic riffs but you certainly won't be disappointed with the results of these corpsepainted Norwegians' last photo shoot! A newfound obsession with pro wrestling and a new, very large and perpetually shirtless drummer (sporting a black metal belly girdle!) make this cd great to look at, but it's actually a great listen as well. As mentioned, gone is the speed of their last effort Blizzard Beasts --in it's place is a stripped-down, more midtempo, straight-ahead heavy metal sound. Better, more professional production than in the past, plus catchier riffs combined with stumbling, propulsive drumming make this a record that Andee and Allan both love (while big Immortal fan Josh from The Champs and Weakling votes this as the *worst* metal album of the year--go figure).
Note: in the years since this album came out (1999) ol' Josh has had a change of heart and now admits that it's a pretty good record! And Allan rates it his favorite Immortal opus ever.

IMMORTAL Battles In The North (Osmose) cd 13.98
The final installment in the recent long overdue campaign of Immortal reissues (the rest of which we reviewed a few lists back).
The return of Immortal!!! These frosty warriors may have hung up their spiked gauntlets, but their legacy still looms large. Easily one of our favorite black metal hordes EVER, these records have been frustratingly tough to keep in stock over the years. Thankfully, they've all been reissued, in all their frostbitten black blurred glory!
As we've said before, you just can't go wrong with Immortal. It's like a big cold hug. For grim black metalheads that is! Everyone has their favorite Immortal. The raw early records, the slow more melodic later releases... and while we definitely love both, our hearts were originally captured by the brief two album black blizzard of buzz that was Blizzard Beasts (1997) and this here slab of frosty grimness Battles In The North. Originally released in 1995, BITN was the record that found Immortal finally unleashing their inner frost giant, from the album art, images of the band members crouching in the snow in full corpse paint with their instruments, to the much more explicit themes of winter and frost and blizzards and ice and snow, to the much frostier sound, a black metal white out, flurries of impossibly fast drumming, blinding swirls of buzzing riffage, the raspy winterdemon like vocals, Battles In The North is fastfastfast, a buzzy blinding blur, brief moments of folky guitar or droney ambience surface here and there, but for the most part this is a black metal avalanche, a huge white wall of black sound. Blizzard Beasts would up the fast and frosty ante a couple years later, but Battles In The North remains a pure and primal explosion of gloriously ultragrim Northern darkness!
MPEG Stream: "Battles In The North"
MPEG Stream: "Throned By Blackstorms"
MPEG Stream: "Grim And Frostbitten Kingdoms"

IMMORTAL Battles In The North (Osmose) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl for a limited time! Packaged in a gorgeous gatefold sleeve, with new photos and design.

IMMORTAL Blizzard Beasts (Osmose) cd 13.98
The return of Immortal!!! These frosty warriors may have hung up their spiked gauntlets, but their legacy still looms large. Easily one of our favorite black metal hordes EVER, these records have been frustratingly tough to keep in stock over the years. Thankfully, they've all been reissued, in all their frostbitten black blurred glory!
This is absolutely the best Immortal record (sez Andee!) and easily one of the most important and most essential black metal releases ever. Released in 1997, Blizzard Beasts find Immortal hovering between the total grim primitive chaos of their earlier records and the sharp tight black metal majesty of their later releases, which kind of makes sense when you realize this is their final record as Blizzard Beasts, after this they would proceed to slow down, write longer songs, massive midtempo epics filled with classic metal riffing as well as more traditional metal song structures. It's almost as if they knew this was their last hurrah, so they went all out, made the tempos faster, the arrangements more complex, the guitars that much more buzzy and blown out, the vocals as inhuman as humanly possible, without losing their uncanny knack for hiding hooks amidst all that black buzz, or their distinctly classic Norwegian sound. The ultimate blast of forsty, wintery black metal, a furiously frigid barrage, an amazingly trance-inducing, complex blur of drums, rasping howls and icicle guitars, stopping and starting but at never less than 100mph! So totally amazing. Up there for sure with Burzum's Filosefem and Darkthrone's Transylvanian Hunger as far as absolutely essential black metal is concerned.
MPEG Stream: "Blizzard Beast"
MPEG Stream: "Nebular Ravens Winter"
MPEG Stream: "Frostdemonstorm"

IMMORTAL Blizzard Beasts (Osmose) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl for a limited time! Packaged in a gorgeous gatefold sleeve, with new photos and design. Here's what we had to say about the cd (not a lot, but believe us, it's quite possibly our very favorite Immortal record): Highly-regarded Black Metal band (weirdly enough, Steve Albini's favorite) unleash their latest frigid barrage, an amazingly trance-inducing, complex blur of drums, rasping howls and icicle guitars, stopping and starting but at never less than 100mph. Their best album yet (as of 1997) and certainly their most Morbid Angel.

IMMORTAL Damned In Black (Osmose) cd 13.98
The return of Immortal!!! These frosty warriors may have hung up their spiked gauntlets, but their legacy still looms large. Easily one of our favorite black metal hordes EVER, these records have been frustratingly tough to keep in stock over the years. Thankfully, they've all been reissued, in all their frostbitten black blurred glory!
Damned In Black was originally released in 2000, and was the second to last release before the band called it quits. Immortal, by the time Damned In Black was released, were THE elder black metal statesmen, true members of the Norwegian black metal elite, Abbath (not as in "please take..."!) on guitars and Popeye vox, big ol' drummer Horgh, and new guy Iscariah on bass, (with the sidelined Demonaz still writing lyrics) return after their groundbreaking "At The Heart of Winter", the disc that slowed down (a bit) the previously way FAAASSSTTT tempos characteristic of their speedy-demon classics "Battles In The North" and "Blizzard Beasts" and added more melody, more trad metal riffing, and mo' better production courtesy of Peter Tagtgren & his Abyss studio. "Damned In Black" follows the "Winter" blueprint, being kind of like a "At The Heart of Winter Part II" but without the amusing wanna-be WWF wrestler band photos that garnered so much attention/ridicule last time around. And while the title might suggest some sort of Satanic theme, the Immortal boys stick with their personal mythology of a frosty Northern dimension full of ice, wind, and cold. Immortal fans everywhere (even the ones here in San Francisco who got dissed by the band when they didn't show up to play and went to Mexico instead) should put on some mittens and enjoy this evil icecapade. AGAIN!
MPEG Stream: "Triumph"
MPEG Stream: "Damned In Black"

IMMORTAL Damned In Black (Osmose) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl for a limited time! Packaged in a gorgeous gatefold sleeve, with new photos and design. Here's what we had to say about the cd:
The new Immortal has arrived. True members of the Norwegian black metal elite, Abbath (not as in "please take..."!) on guitars and Popeye vox, big ol' drummer Horgh, and new guy Iscariah on bass, (with the sidelined Demonaz still writing lyrics) come back atcha a year after their groundbreaking At The Heart of Winter, the disc that slowed down (a bit) the previously way FAAASSSTTT tempos characteristic of their speedy-demon classics Battles In The North and Blizzard Beasts and added more melody, more trad metal riffing, and mo' better production courtesy of Peter Tagtgren & his Abyss studio. Damned In Black follows the Winter blueprint, being kind of like a At The Heart of Winter Part II but without the amusing wanna-be WWF wrestler band photos that garnered so much attention/ridicule last time around. And while the title might suggest some sort of Satanic theme, the Immortal boys stick with their personal mythology of a frosty Northern dimension full of ice, wind, and cold. Immortal fans everywhere (even the ones here in San Francisco who got dissed by the band when they didn't show up to play and went to Mexico instead) should put on some mittens and enjoy this evil icecapade.

IMMORTAL Damned In Black (boxed version) (Osmose Productions) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Remember back on list #90 when we first got "Damned In Black" in, and we said that someday we'd be seeing some sort of 'boxed' import version but didn't know if it would be worth the wait and the bucks. Well here it is. Seeing as it doesn't cost much more, maybe it is worth it if these guys are your favorite frostdemons. You get the jewelcase version of the album (digipaks are all gone now anyway) snugly concealed inside a handsome cardboard box with artwork (a hellish cover painting) not to be found elsewhere. Otherwise, it's the same, no extra tracks or other goodies or anything. In case you missed the description before, here's a condensed version: True members of the Norwegian black metal elite, Immortal come back atcha a year after their groundbreaking "At The Heart of Winter", the disc that slowed down (a bit) the previously way FAAASSSTTT tempos characteristic of their speedy-demon classics "Battles In The North" and "Blizzard Beasts" and added more melody, more trad metal riffing, and mo' better production courtesy of Peter Tagtgren & his Abyss studio. "Damned In Black" follows the "Winter" blueprint. And while the title might suggest some sort of Satanic theme, the Immortal boys stick with their personal mythology of a frosty Northern dimension full of ice, wind, and cold. Immortal fans everywhere should put on some mittens and enjoy this evil icecapade.

IMMORTAL Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism (Osmose) cd 13.98
The return of Immortal!!! These frosty warriors may have hung up their spiked gauntlets, but their legacy still looms large. Easily one of our favorite black metal hordes EVER, these records have been frustratingly tough to keep in stock over the years. Thankfully, they've all been reissued, in all their frostbitten black blurred glory!
The legendary debut from Norway's masters of black winter darkness, lords of their mysterious frostbitten kingdom, originally released way back in 1992 (hard to believe it's been 15 years!) Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism is one of the essential cornerstones of Norwegian black metal. A buzzing snarling blur of forsty buzz guitars, galloping ice cold blast beats and winter wind banshee howls, this is Immortal at their most primitive, taking their love of Bathory and upping the intensity, the complexity and the overall blackness. Evoking the heart of the forest, pale faced demons riding black fiery-hooved horses up from the pits of hell to lay waste to all in their path. The sound is thick and viscoous, raw and blown out, a swirling dizzying blast of black metal brilliance, that over the course of their career, Immortal would sharpen and hone, but never was it more primal and more perfect than on their debut.
MPEG Stream: "The Call Of The Wintermoon"
MPEG Stream: "Cryptic Winterstorms"

IMMORTAL Pure Holocaust (Osmose) cd 13.98
The return of Immortal!!! These frosty warriors may have hung up their spiked gauntlets, but their legacy still looms large. Easily one of our favorite black metal hordes EVER, these records have been frustratingly tough to keep in stock over the years. Thankfully, they've all been reissued, in all their frostbitten black blurred glory!
Pure Holocaust was Immortal's second album (from 1993) and is classic old school Norwegian black metal all the way. Grim and frosty, buzzy and blurry. A furious black juggernaut, equal parts Bathory, Darkthrone, Mayhem, Emperor, Burzum, but with their own uniquely wintery spin on that blackened fury, growled demonic old man vocals (hinting at the Immortal Popeye growl that would feature heavily on future releases), buzzing riffs, with hauntinly majestic melodies, furious pummeling drums, everything wrapped in a thick blanket of winter chill, not sure how they did it, but the record is just so evocative of the frozen north, midnights in the forest, wolves baying at the moon.
We used to not be so into the early Immortal records, but going back we're reminded just how massive and intense and evil and amazing these records really are!
MPEG Stream: "Unsilent Storms In The North Abyss"
MPEG Stream: "Frozen By Icewinds"

IMMORTAL Pure Holocaust (Osmose) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl for a limited time! Packaged in a gorgeous gatefold sleeve, with new photos and design. We never listed the cd before (it came out before we did reviews, let alone black metal reviews) but fans should know it, and that's who'll be interested in Immortal vinyl anyway. This was their second album (from 1993) and is classic old school Norwegian black metal all the way. Grim and frosty!

IMMORTAL Sons Of Northern Darkness (Nuclear Blast) cd 14.98
From the cold frozen north (Norway) comes this, the latest cd from one of our favorite corpse-painted bands ever, Immortal. It's their seventh album but their first for new, big-time label Nuclear Blast, so expectations are high. And "Sons Of Northern Darkness" delivers, in fine Immortal fashion. It's got the unmistakable Popeye-gone-metal vocal stylings of guitarist Abbath, who rasps out the frostbitten fantasy lyrics penned by their former guitarist, the crippled Demonaz, all backed by a blizzard of drums from hefty skinbeater Horgh.
Followers of Immortal's career know that they began as your basic, howling at the moon, primitive blasting black metal outfit. They quickly developed a reputation as the fastest band out there, reaching a peak of pure speed with the classic "Battles In The North". Unable to top that, they did an album of Morbid Angel worship, the hectic "Blizzard Beasts"...and then Demonaz left the band, unable to play guitar due to "arm disease". Regrouping, Immortal shifted in a newly melodic, heavy-metal-riff oriented direction, releasing the brilliant "At The Heart of Winter". Some old fans (Josh from The Fucking Champs, you know who you are) were disappointed that the songs wasn't as fast, and the production not as "necro" (i.e. bad) as before, but the drums still blazed and the better production (courtesy of Peter Tagtgren's Abyss Studio) combined with their improved song-craft made for a true masterpiece. They followed that up with "At The Heart of Winter Part II" (actual title: "Damned In Black"), and now here we are with what is essentially part three, "Sons Of Northern Darkness". No, it doesn't top "At The Heart of Winter" but it's indeed more of the same quality Immortal, totally satisfying! While their blasting abilities are still incredible, this disc is perhaps at its best on the slower songs, like "Tyrants". Cold, cold stuff. There's even a song about Antarctica!
Immortal. Sometimes, there's nothing better.
RealAudio clip: "One By One"
RealAudio clip: "Tyrants"

IMPALED NAZARENE Nihil (Osmose) cd 17.98
Now featuring the shred-master fella from Children of Bodom on lead guitar, this Finnish "Nuclear Cybersex Black Metal" band returns, in much better form than on their rather weak, too-punk prior effort "Rapture". Slower and doomier by IN standards (but still fast and furious by most anyone else's), "Nihil" again makes IN a scary proposition.

IMPALED NAZERENE Latex Cult (Osmose) cd 16.98
They call what this Finnish band plays "cybermetal" but there're no technobeats to be found, and the lyrics fixate on S/M more than sci-fi. Perverted super super fast Black Metal thrash. Satanic sex metal, quite extreme, yet somehow good-natured. Some dainty songtitles: "Motorpenis," "Goat War," "66.6 S. Of Foreplay," "I Eat Pussy For Breakfast."

IMPERIUM s/t (Lyderhorn) 12" 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Limited edition. Black metal. Norway. Cult. Custom packaging. Stephen O'Malley from SUNNO))). That should be enough to have some of you in a froth. And rightfully so, as this is a super limited little slice of black metal history with custom packaging courtesy of Mr. O'Malley. Imperium were a Norwegian black metal band, who only ever recorded a single EP that has been unavailable until now. Featuring members of Emperor, Gehenna, Dismal Euphony and Theater Of Tragedy, Imperium spew a blackened brew of fast and raw, chaotic and buzzing, super grim and frosty black metal. Limited to 500 copies, never to be re-pressed (we only managed to get 20, not sure if we'll be able to get more) this is a one sided 12", music on one side, brown branches and bird silhouettes silkscreened on the other, packaged in a clear sleeve with a huge black bird and some spiky brambles silkscreened around the band's hard to read logo. The overall effect is quite stunning. And again VERY LIMITED.

IMPIOUS HAVOC At The Ruins Of The Holy Kingdom (Total Holocaust Records) cd 14.98

IMPIOUS HAVOC Monuments of Suffering (Total Holocaust Records) cd 14.98

IN AETERNUM The Pestilent Plague (Necropolis) cd 13.98
Swedish blackened death metal. Heavy and speedy.

IN THY FLESH Lechery Maledictions And Greiveing Adjures To The Concerns Of Flesh (Nykta) cd 13.98

INCURSUS Eternal Funeral Trance (Forever Plagued Records) cd 14.98
Featuring members of a whole mess of USBM outfits, most notably, Nightbringer, Demoncy, and Kult Ov Azazel, Incursus are a seriously grim and furious black beast, who after a brief bit of ominous piano, and crumbling ambience to set the mood, explode into a murky morass of Deathspell style gnarled blackness, frenzied riffing, soaring majestic melodies, slipping from woozy midtempo dirges to lightning speed blurred blowouts, and it's at that lightning speed that these guys spend most of Eternal Funeral Trance, but it's not all about speed, although the intense buzz and blast, creates a seriously trancelike vibe, sometimes the sound so fast and buzz drenched that it almost sounds like an undulating black drone, but the band are equally capable of conjuring up hypnotic and weirdly mesmerizing atmospheres, haunting and horrifying, every note infused with a demonic darkness, the sound a sort of Norwegian style blackness, but filtered through a twisted, tangled distinctly American underground sound, infused with the black spirit of Deathspell, Katharsis and Nightbringer, a furiously chaotic, misanthropic, ultraviolent collection of black hymns to the cursed and the fallen. Thus, 'tis WAY recommended.
MPEG Stream: "A Ravenous Despair"
MPEG Stream: "When Death Enthrones Our Darkness"
MPEG Stream: "Phantasmagoria"

INFERI Shores Of Sorrow (Northern Heritage) cd 15.98
It's a funny thing, a lot of times, for us at least, as black metal bands get better, and tighter and more polished, they don't necessarily get better. Or more specifically, we don't actually like them any more than we did when they were struggling to realize some musical vision well beyond their technical grasp. I suppose that's true of any music maybe, but it seems more obvious with black metal in particular. When a band finally records in a studio, and has spent the last year honing their chops, it often sounds -amazing-, but just not as weird or personal or uniquely inspired. A good example is Behemoth, who we do love, still, but who are now a super tight technical, nearly overproduced, slick, fast, sharp and super complex black metal juggernaut. But in the beginning, they were making buzzing Burzumic black metal, with basically just acoustic guitars and drums. So they would be playing these classic sounding riffs, right there alongside stumbling blast beasts, but with some janky acoustic steel string guitar. And the results were totally inspired! It's that sort of inspiration and invention that can only come from absolute necessity. Which is precisely what is so appealing about so much black metal.
But there are exceptions, one obvious one being this new record from Inferi. Previous recordings (two tapes) found the band a stumbling, chaotic, mess, a glorious mess, but a mess nonetheless, lots of buzz and blackness, but terrible recording quality and some super stumbling performances, which in that case, kept the band from expressing the sounds they were hearing in their heads. But on Shores Of Sorrow, Inferi, have done everything right. The sound is loud and heavy, thick and clear, but without losing the grim buzz that so defined them. And the playing is better too, but instead of trying to become some super technical BM band, they continued to hone their gorgeously sorrowful, midtempo blackness, and the result is totally captivating. Quite possibly one of the saddest sounding black metal records ever. Each of the four lengthy tracks is a blurry, buzzing, minor key dirge, thick swirls of distortion wrapped around totally emotional and super sad sounding melodies, all draped over loping lurching midtempo rhythms. Occasionally some awesomely unexpected double kick drumming surfaces, but all it does is up the tension factor, and make the song seem even more sad and intense. The opening track sets the tone, 12 minutes of mournful acoustic guitar, a gently lilting minor key melody, drifting beneath sheets of raw blown out black buzz, sort of seasick and dreamlike, harsh vocals howl above the melancholy blackness. The drums don't even kick in until the last few minutes, and then this black near-ballad turns into a heartbreaking dirge. The next two tracks follow a similar pattern, epic and sorrowful, gloriously miserable droning buzz. It's everything we love about Burzum and Xasthur and Nortt and Make A Change... Kill Yourself, stripped to its very essence, the simplest buzzing black representation of utter misery, so completely mesmerizing and totally soul stirring. The final track is blazing fast, at least compared to the first three, a furious not quite blast beat, over dense drifts of swirling black buzz, and like the rest of the disc, still totally minor key, utterly doleful and despondent, austere and disconsolate, and so goddamned good.
Fans of any of the above mentioned bands, and any one into buzzing beautiful sad blackness might just have a new favorite disc to drown your sorrows in...
MPEG Stream: "To The Once So Sad World"
MPEG Stream: "Dance Of Shadows"

INFERI Shores Of Sorrow (Northern Heritage) lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Available on vinyl for a limited time. Gorgeous, mournful and beautiful Burzumic black metal. Different artwork, limited to 500 copies and gone before you know it...
It's a funny thing, a lot of times, for us at least, as black metal bands get better, and tighter and more polished, they don't necessarily get better. Or more specifically, we don't actually like them any more than we did when they were struggling to realize some musical vision well beyond their technical grasp. I suppose that's true of any music maybe, but it seems more obvious with black metal in particular. When a band finally records in a studio, and has spent the last year honing their chops, it often sounds -amazing-, but just not as weird or personal or uniquely inspired. A good example is Behemoth, who we do love, still, but who are now a super tight technical, nearly overproduced, slick, fast, sharp and super complex black metal juggernaut. But in the beginning, they were making buzzing Burzumic black metal, with basically just acoustic guitars and drums. So they would be playing these classic sounding riffs, right there alongside stumbling blast beasts, but with some janky acoustic steel string guitar. And the results were totally inspired! It's that sort of inspiration and invention that can only come from absolute necessity. Which is precisely what is so appealing about so much black metal.
But there are exceptions, one obvious one being this new record from Inferi. Previous recordings (two tapes) found the band a stumbling, chaotic, mess, a glorious mess, but a mess nonetheless, lots of buzz and blackness, but terrible recording quality and some super stumbling performances, which in that case, kept the band from expressing the sounds they were hearing in their heads. But on Shores Of Sorrow, Inferi, have done everything right. The sound is loud and heavy, thick and clear, but without losing the grim buzz that so defined them. And the playing is better too, but instead of trying to become some super technical BM band, they continued to hone their gorgeously sorrowful, midtempo blackness, and the result is totally captivating. Quite possibly one of the saddest sounding black metal records ever. Each of the four lengthy tracks is a blurry, buzzing, minor key dirge, thick swirls of distortion wrapped around totally emotional and super sad sounding melodies, all draped over loping lurching midtempo rhythms. Occasionally some awesomely unexpected double kick drumming surfaces, but all it does is up the tension factor, and make the song seem even more sad and intense. The opening track sets the tone, 12 minutes of mournful acoustic guitar, a gently lilting minor key melody, drifting beneath sheets of raw blown out black buzz, sort of seasick and dreamlike, harsh vocals howl above the melancholy blackness. The drums don't even kick in until the last few minutes, and then this black near-ballad turns into a heartbreaking dirge. The next two tracks follow a similar pattern, epic and sorrowful, gloriously miserable droning buzz. It's everything we love about Burzum and Xasthur and Nortt and Make A Change... Kill Yourself, stripped to its very essence, the simplest buzzing black representation of utter misery, so completely mesmerizing and totally soul stirring. The final track is blazing fast, at least compared to the first three, a furious not quite blast beat, over dense drifts of swirling black buzz, and like the rest of the disc, still totally minor key, utterly doleful and despondent, austere and disconsolate, and so goddamned good.
Fans of any of the above mentioned bands, and any one into buzzing beautiful sad blackness might just have a new favorite disc to drown your sorrows in...
MPEG Stream: "To The Once So Sad World"
MPEG Stream: "Dance Of Shadows"

INFERNAL s/t (Hellspawn) cd 16.98
"Satanic Holocaust Metal" featuring current and ex- "warriors" from several excellent Scandinavian metal outfits: Dark Funeral, In Aeternum, and the amazing Defleshed.

INFERNUM ...Taur-Nu-Fuin... (Supernal) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

MPEG Stream: "In The Black Clouds Of War"
MPEG Stream: "The Ancient Order"

INFERNUM Farewell (No Colours) cd 16.98
Final release from Polish horde Infernum, which is essentially as far as we can tell just a different version of Graveland. Although there seems to be some complicated backstory and two different Infernums from the same town. One made up entirely of session members (Rob Darken and Capricornus of Graveland) the other fronted by the protege of the original founder who killed himself. Weird. The liner notes are funny / disturbing, explaining that Darken and Capricornus were grateful that the other guy killed himself and that their only regret was that he died at his own hands instead of theirs. Woah.
But whatever, this is some awesome, buzzing black metal done Polish style. The Graveland sound is all over Infernum. The original version of this was released as a bootleg back in 1996 without keyboards or vocals, and after the death of Anextiomarus, Darken and Capricornus finished it and released it as you hear it now. Keyboards all over the place. Thick washes of epic grandiose synths, howled vocals, over furious midtempo black thrash, buzzing insectoid riffs, blasting drums, weird choral vocals, but the coolest part of this disc is the weird sort of post rocky breakdowns, with clean guitars and tribal rhythms, minor key and moody, they sort of jangle and lope along lazily until the blackness drops and the band explode again into freaked out grim black furor. Fans of Graveland will obviously NEED this, but folks into weird black metal will probably find this much to their liking...
MPEG Stream: "Black March"
MPEG Stream: "Inverted Prayer"

INFESTUS Chroniken des Ablebens (Debemur Morti) cd 15.98

INFINITAS Ardeur (Self Mutilation Services) cd 14.98