***"Few active bands embody the authentic spirit of black metal as convincingly as Belgium’s Perverted Ceremony. Beginning with its 2016 Demo I and later punctuated in 2017 with the debut full-length, “Sabbat of Behezaël,” Perverted Ceremony has proven that the most effective music in this subgenre is that which emphasizes an aura of vileness and evil over the sterility that often results from modern recording and production techniques. It is in part this approach that has led to comparisons between Perverted Ceremony and some of the most respected names in black metal, with a particular resemblance to the Finnish tradition promulgated by such revered cults as Beherit and Barathrum. Although such high praise would be expected from the label charged with releasing the band’s work, it is substantiated by the fact that both the demo and album have already sold out multiple pressings over the course of the past year. As was the case with these previous releases, Nuclear War Now! has again conspired with the band to release the self-titled Perverted Ceremony EP on twelve-inch vinyl format. Prefaced with an intro and featuring two longer tracks, 'Graveyard Sacred Worship' and 'Malformed Procreation,' this recording resumes where 'Sabbat of Behezaël' left off..."—C. Conrad
12" $18.50
03/10/2023
***REISSUED!!! In 2016, it is relatively rare but refreshingly authentic to discover a band that has nurtured its craft and spread its disease through more traditional underground means. Formed in shrouded obscurity in Belgium in 2011, PERVERTED CEREMONY harnessed the ritualistic vitriol of influences such as Beherit, Archgoat, and Demoncy to record its own unique six-song promo/demo during the first half of 2012. Rather than relying exclusively on the ubiquitous convenience of the internet to spread its demented gospel, the band first circulated a handful of dubbed copies of this recording to its closest contacts and then sent a limited number of the same self-released cassette to a few respected underground distros. It was in this time-honored way that the band caught the attention of Nuclear War Now!, who was impressed enough to offer to further the metastasis of a sound that the label immediately recognized as one inhabiting the same infernal spheres as early Beherit and Barathrum. As such, this unholy alliance of band and label was spawned and NWN! now proudly presents the very same Demo 1 as a pro tape with appropriately updated artwork and layout. Recorded in the evil incubator of the band’s original rehearsal space in subterranean Brussels on analog eight-track equipment, the ceremonial squalor of this demo perfectly matches the truly underground spirit in which it has been disseminated, thus serving as an ominous harbinger of the currently in-progress Perverted Ceremony debut album, also to be released under the auspices of Nuclear War Now!
MC $12.00
03/25/2022
***REISSUED!!! A mere matter of months since it released its first official recording, Demo I, PERVERTED CEREMONY returns with its uniquely abominable variety of black metal, hereby presenting its debut full-length album, Sabbat of Behezaël, under the very same banner of Nuclear War Now! First discovered by NWN! through the time-honored underground tradition of the band spreading self-produced cassettes to a limited number of contacts, Perverted Ceremony’s music reflects the same authenticity and dedication to their craft as their original manner of clandestine distribution. Although the band lists such revered acts as Demoncy, Mystifier, Von, Blasphemy, Profanatica, Archgoat, and Beherit, as their primary influences, their sound tends to gravitate somewhat more towards the latter two (along with Barathrum), who represent the Finnish tradition of bestial black metal. That said, Perverted Ceremony’s style is not easily compartmentalized according to their influences. On the contrary, with their distinctive approach to songwriting, production, and atmosphere, they have achieved a ritualistic blend of black metal that is unique unto itself. Additionally, Perverted Ceremony has proven with this album that the work recorded on its demo, which was already impressive in its own right, was only a snapshot in the band’s development, and one which has now been superseded.
MC $12.00
03/25/2022
LP $23.50
03/10/2023