In 2002, Black Witchery were just beginning to establish themselves in the underground. Likewise, NWN! had just completed its first two vinyl LP releases (Blasphemy’s “Live Ritual” and Morbosidad’s self-titled debut) and was still in its embryonic stages. It was in this context that NWN! released the vinyl version of Black Witchery’s “Desecration of the Holy Kingdom.” (Although licensed from Full Moon Productions, the vinyl version of the album was conceived and executed by NWN!.) At the time, “Desecration of the Holy Kingdom” represented the most morbid necromantic invocation of Blasphemy and Sarcofago and others like them that had yet been summoned forth. No other band fully captured these bands’ intense and ritualistic sound with the same violence and dedication to chaos. And yet, while the influence of these bands is undoubtedly found within their work, Black Witchery defined their own sound relying upon their mentors merely to establish a stream in which to create their own dark current. Black Witchery’s sound on “Desecration of the Holy Kingdom” is furious and focused. The instruments are so carefully connected to one another that the sound is an almost mechanical. And yet the songs are not driven so much by the frenetic riffs and blast beats but by Impurath’s maniacal vocal performance. These characteristics made Black Witchery’s sound distinctive, and in this way, the band’s purpose was immediately clear. Black Witchery was not out to emulate the bands by which they were influenced; instead, they embodied the very essence of the genre....
CD $10.50
03/04/2014
LP $23.50
03/10/2023
***Fifteen years ago, Black Witchery and Conqueror, both still virtually unknown outside of a small cult of maniacal blasphemers, united for the split release entitled “Hellstorm of Evil Vengeance.” Exploring a style that few North American bands dared approach at that time, Black Witchery and Conqueror inherited their extremist tendencies from the likes of Blasphemy and Sarcofago among others. Looking back, the release can now be regarded as something of a statement of intent in that it signified the establishment of a second wave of Bestial Black Metal and set the course for the future of the genre. Although external circumstances would necessitate the termination of Conqueror’s mission immediately following the release of the split, J. Read continued treading the path of the Superion with Revenge and R. Forster was initiated into the ranks of Blasphemy. Black Witchery also persisted through the years, assuming a well-deserved, prominent place among the bestial legions. Since the split release in 2000, Black Witchery and Revenge have shared numerous stages all over the world and maintained a united front within the underground. Similarly, NWN!, which also began its campaign of atrocities in 2000, established its dominion over the chthonic depths of the Bestial Black Metal underground. Having settled into their respective roles as progenitors of a particular faction of extreme metal, it is time to assemble the unholy triumvirate of Black Witchery, Revenge, and Nuclear War Now! once more. For this release, Black Witchery turn in one of the band’s most primitive and punishing...
PIC12 $23.50
TBD
12" $20.25
03/10/2023