Eternal Death

Black Sorcery

Deciphering Torment Through Malediction

Eternal Death

***Rooted in two decades of Rhode Island black metal lineage—with members hailing from past bands Bog of the Infidel, Sangus, Nefarious, and Sorcery—America's Black Sorcery emerged out of the plague days of early 2020. Fittingly for such origins, the quartet play a consciously regressive style of music that rejects the bloated aesthetics of most modern American black metal and embraces the arcane forms of the past. Whether it's the paradigmatic early days of Gorgoroth or the contemporaneous turn-of-the-millennium work of Behexen and Satanic Warmaster serving as the aesthetic foundation, Black Sorcery truly sound like they do not belong to this decade nor this country. Crude and rude but not without a sense of regal refinement, the band's Deciphering Torment Through Malediction debut album storms right out of the gate and leaves little to the imagination: this is all-caps BLACK METAL forged in the fires of old and tempered with the patience of longtime zealots. Each song of this 40-minute work combines cold, somber melodies with raw, visceral aggression in an unapologetic homage to the early waves of black metal. No matter the tempo—rippingly fast, folklorish downshift, hypnotic pulse—Black Sorcery keep proceedings orkish and medieval, such as they were back in the glorious times of Sombre, A.M.S.G., and Drakkar Productions. Form meeting content, their lyrical expression revolves around the themes of torment and mutually-assured destruction in the form of curses wrung from a severe disdain towards all human life, and butchered rituals performed in the heat of pure resentment, resulting in...

Gauntlet, The

Dark Steel and Fire

Eternal Death

***THE GAUNTLET plays extreme heavy metal. The band was started in 2019 by Ace Meggido, with a first single previewing that year. 2020 would see another single release of "Old Lord," which would later appear on the band's debut EP, War and Guilt, which saw a limited cassette release through Nihil Verum Nisi Mors Productions. The Gauntlet's style is difficult to describe in one word, and certainly is not what you might expect from the cover. The band has been described previously as pounding black metal, rocking death, or more jokingly as "stadium Bathory." Simply put, Dark Steel and Fire is extreme heavy metal. The musical synthesis of motorcycles and epic fantasy, this 9-track full-length covers a lot of unexpected ground while maintaining a coherent and consistent form. The Gauntlet takes influence from the past, and the nods to Bathory, Venom, and Celtic Frost are apparent throughout, but has its own distinct American identity. Don ​The Gauntlet, ​fire up the chopper, and ride forth into Dark Steel and Fire! Third pressing on red vinyl. Edition of 100 copies.

One Master

The Names of Power

Eternal Death

***After six long years of lycanthropic reclusion, ONE MASTER unveil a new full-length recording: The Names of Power. Taking its title from the ancient occult idea that if one learns the true name of a deity, access to its power can be obtained, the theme of the album is on the power of language, with each song being focused on its use in a different context: religion, heresy, a cult, solitude, the universe, and modernity. Comprising six songs over 54 minutes of music, The Names of Power is the long-running band's first double LP. Active on the recording front since 2002, One Master is here keep to their well-worn path of traditional black metal, but more so make the album their most diverse release to date, incorporating more mid-tempo sections, atmospheric dirges, and even some acoustic guitar. It's both unmistakably One Master yet surprising all the same—and no compromise either way. Limited edition 2xLP box set of 100 copies.

Ritual Clearing

Penitence

Eternal Death

***Ritual Clearing have returned, building off of the cold depravity of their 2020 demo and now unleashing their debut full-length effort, Penitence. Continuing their unholy alliance with Eternal Death, this new record showcases six epic tracks of dark, brooding black metal. The band's noble influences they displayed across that well-received first demo—Bathory, Sacramentum, and Lord Belial—have been built upon and refined here, revealing riff labyrinths not unlike the cult '90s work of Sorhin but further fleshed out by bouts of nearly hardcore-punk mania and especially a raw hideousness not unlike their American brethren in the Black Twilight Circle. Still, Ritual Clearing and clearly their own masters, and the alternately linear / darting depths of Penitence open wide to devour the listener in hypnotic, harrowing splendor. Still as melodic-yet-cutting as ever, it's not surprising that the album was written during the grim landscape of the global plague; there's an undeniable sense of dread across Penitence, laced with a resigned melancholia (sickly) colored by opportunely timed acoustics. Fucking RIFFS for days, Ritual Clearing provide this offering as the overture to a sick and dying world. Edition of 100 copies.