***BACK IN STOCK!!! NWN demons SIEGE COLUMN return with their second long-play album. Instead of jumping to new studios and engineers, the band continues to use simple equipment and production tools as they have in the past. If you are looking for something polished, advanced or otherwise consistent with industry standards—prepare to be disappointed. What you have here, instead, is advanced songwriting, better vocal delivery and savage energy across the board. Siege Column focused on solely making a great metal album that balances being unique and remaining familiar. That balance, combined with the band’s complete disregard for what their peers are doing, resulted in a unique record that is totally unlike what you hear in the “overground” metal world. Siege Column represent evil metal before sub genres put every style into a box and the period before there were clear lines of what extreme thrash could sound like. One listen of Darkside Legions will make you understand that this is the kind of album you can put on and accidentally crash your car to.
LP $19.25
09/04/2020
***BACK IN STOCK!!! One of the most infamous Norwegian black metal bands, IMMORTAL, arose from the ashes of its lesser-known death metal incarnation, AMPUTATION. Although Immortal achieved greater renown than its predecessor, Amputation deserves its own place in death metal history, rather than just a footnote. To this end, Nuclear War Now! is proud to present the first widely-available version of Amputation’s two demos, plus an additional 1989 rehearsal, on one compilation. Entitled Slaughtered in the Arms of God, this collection includes the demo of the same title from 1990 and the preceding “Achieve the Mutilation” demo from 1989. Amputation’s original recording lineup consisted of Harald Nævdal (aka Demonaz) on guitars and vocals, Truls Kvernhusvik (guitars), Padden (bass), and Jørn Inge Tunsberg (drums). Kvernhusvik exited the band prior to the recording of the second demo, leaving the remaining trio as Amputation’s final lineup. Confirming its place in Scandivanian metal history, the Slaughtered in the Arms of God demo was recorded at Grieghallen Studios, where many of the Norwegian legends—like Mayhem, Emperor, Enslaved, and Immortal—ecorded their early albums. May this collection now serve to immortalize Amputation’s recordings both in the eyes of those already versed in the band’s dark brand of death metal, as well as those previously uninitiated.
LP $19.25
08/21/2020
CD $11.00
08/07/2020
***VOOR is among the many bands that emerged in the 1980s, released a handful of tracks, and disappeared leaving behind them just two demos which, although nearly perfect, have been relegated to obscurity for the past 25 years. Evil Metal combines both of the band's cult demos of evil speed/death metal from 1985. Second pressing of 250 copies.
LP $19.25
08/21/2020
***Detonator emerged from the Hungarian town of Mezőkövesd in 1986 and existed for approximately five years, during which time it recorded two demos of evil thrash metal with pronounced elements of death and black metal. Although it was active in the same underground metal scene and shared the same stage as the storied Tormentor, Detonator never achieved the same level of notoriety as its contemporary. In fact, it followed much the same trajectory in that regard as another of its compatriots, Angel Reaper, along with whom it also gigged and recorded in obscurity. Also like Angel Reaper, Detonator chose its native Hungarian tongue as the language of its blasphemes, which was a likely factor in the band never attaining proper international recognition. Nuclear War Now! seeks to rectify this oversight by presenting Detonator’s most accomplished recording, “Demo 1990,” on vinyl LP. Accompanied by an insert that features a rare interview, photos, and flyer images that document Detonator’s live appearances with its aforementioned Hungarian counterparts, this seven-track demo LP is an essential artifact for all who worship early Eastern European extreme metal.
LP $19.25
08/21/2020
***In the mid-‘90s, the Norwegian metal sound took hold in different pockets of the North American landscape, including in the unlikely location of Hutchinson, Kansas. This small, Midwestern city was home to relatively obscure bands like Arcane Shadows, Epitaph, Xaphan, and Anwyl. Two others to emerge from Hutchinson were Enkil and Nephilim, each of whom adopted a sound very similar to that most commonly associated with Norway. Enkil recorded a single, self-titled demo in 1995, and Nephilim recorded a total of two, in 1994 and 1996. Nuclear War Now! hereby presents a split LP including the solitary Enkil demo and Nephilim’s Black Earth (1996) demo. Both of these recordings demonstrate the cold, raw black metal style in the Norse tradition shared by these two, which is a sound not dissimilar to that of other U.S. contemporaries like Black Funeral and Sorath. This compilation serves as a monument to a nearly forgotten cult hidden in the American heartland, which is now re-exposed on vinyl for the very first time since the original demo cassettes were circulated approximately twenty-five years ago.
LP $19.25
08/21/2020
***Very few black metal bands hailing from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus have gained much recognition in the relatively short, but prolific, history of the genre. That said, one that deserves particular attention is Godblood, which was formed in 1990 by Deceased (vocals) in Nicosia. However, it wasn’t until three years later, in 1993, when Mephisto (guitars) joined the band and they began to play live and define their sound, which to a large extent reflected the signature warm-climate black metal of their continental neighbor to the northwest, Greece. In fact, the two bands would eventually share the same stage in 1995, shortly after the release of “Non Serviam” and during the apex of Rotting Christ’s illustrious early years. Godblood released its first demo, “Flowers,” in November of 1994, and its 666 copies were spread surreptitiously outside the island’s confines by tape traders and mail-order outfits. This six-track recording is now reissued for the first time on vinyl by Nuclear War Now! in order to properly celebrate a black metal band whose geographic isolation undoubtedly prevented it from garnering the exposure it originally deserved.
LP $19.25
08/21/2020
***With its self-titled Warfare Noise (2017) and Black Noise Command (2018) demos, Finland’s Warfare Noise has established itself as one of the most devastating of the currently-active black grind bands. The band moniker itself is more than sufficient to aptly describe the sounds of these atrocities, which resemble the styles espoused by the infamous Blood (Germany) and Naked Whipper. Nuclear War Now! has seen fit to further proliferate these assaults by releasing the vinyl edition of Pervertin Guerrillas, a collection of both demos as previously compiled on cassette by Headsplit Records in February 2020. Prepare for an anti-sensory nihilistic attack!
LP $19.25
08/21/2020
***BACK IN STOCK ON GREEN VINYL!!! The relationship between Abigail and NWN! goes back to the 2002 vinyl release of the band’s first album, “Intercourse and Lust.” Since that time, Abigail and NWN! have each mutated into different beasts; however, the relationship between these two forces has remained intact through the years. To honor the nearly 20 year legacy of Abigail, NWN! is proud to present this vinyl collection of some of the band’s earliest work. Along with pioneers Sabbat and Sigh, Abigail have long been recognized as among the most influential Black Metal bands to have emerged from beneath the banner of the Rising Sun. While, in recent years, Abigail has shifted its focus to a more depraved blackened thrash sound, the early work presented on this LP is pure Black Metal played in a manner that is harsh and hostile. This LP opens with the five Abigail tracks featured on the band’s 1995 split CD with Funeral Winds. This material, which has never before been released on vinyl, displays the characteristic wickedness that permeates all of Abigail’s work. These tracks are not merely excursions in sound, however. Each song stands out on its own and the work as a whole evinces a sophisticated level of composition and production. Side B of this LP contains the tracks from Abigail’s first two EP releases. Nearly impossible to find now, “Descending from a Blackened Sky” and “Confound Eternal” contain some of Abigail’s most powerful and blackened revelations. The 1993 “Descending from...
LP $19.25
08/07/2020
LP $19.25
08/07/2020
***Although its debut album and only prior recording was executed in the early 1990s, the existence of Canada’s Antichrist was not widely recognized until Nuclear War Now! exhumed and properly released “Sacrament of Blood” in 2011. Over twenty-five years since this recording, Antichrist returns with five new tracks to reaffirm its status as an original member of the Vancouver area scene of the time known as the Ross Bay cult. This recording is a worthy successor to “Sacrament of Blood” and is perfectly complemented by the contribution of four tracks plus an intro from Estonia’s Goatsmegma. Although this unholy entity is not closely related in geography or history to Antichrist, the two entities share an unrelenting and uncompromising approach to bestial black metal, which makes for an entirely cohesive and utterly destructive split release.
LP $19.25
08/07/2020
***BACK IN STOCK!!! Throughout their long history, Carpathian Forest have covered a wide range of sonic territory. This double LP collects the earliest demo material that the band released, and it is easily among their best output. Despite the fact that they were all released nearly contemporaneously, the two demo recordings and a studio rehearsal on this compilation – “Bloodlust and Perversion” (1992), Rehearsal (1992), and “Journey Through the Cold Moors of Svartjern” (1993) – cover a vast spectrum within the Black Metal genre. The tracks on the “Bloodlust and Perversion” demo are predominantly mid-paced and, at times, even doomy evoking a sound more akin to Samael, Hellhammer or even Goatlord. The atmosphere that Carpathian Forest attains with this sound is distinct from those or any other band’s output, however. While more sludgy and visceral than much of the Norwegian Black Metal of that era, Carpathian Forest still manage to create the sense of isolation and solitude characteristic of the Norwegian landscape that is so often associated with that region’s output in the early 1990s.
2XLP $28.75
08/07/2020
***Considering its emergence approximately eighteen years ago, The Funeral Orchestra’s body of recorded work is relatively sparse. However, rather than surrender to the temptation to equate quantity with quality, this enigmatic entity has instead opted to publish only the work that it deems fully deserving of its creative endeavor. Cloaked in black robes and golden masks since 2002, The Funeral Orchestra released three demos prior to its 2003 debut album, “Feeding the Abyss,” which introduced its apocalyptic minimalist doom to a wider audience. That same year, the band made its first live performance in its native Gothenburg, Sweden, but not many in the local scene at the time understood its music or obscure doom atmosphere. Since that time, it has released only a handful of splits, singles, and an EP, the latter of which contained two songs from a recording session that was intended to result in its second full-length. This album never came to be, however, due to a general dissatisfaction with the songs and sound captured at the time. Other attempts were subsequently made to meet or surpass the quality of “Feeding the Abyss,” but that goal was never met… until now. In 2019, the orchestra felt the correct timing and inspiration had coincided to reemerge for the purpose of producing a worthy successor to the original full-length and initiating a series of live performances. This new album, “Negative Evocation Rites,” was recorded in early 2020 in Studio Trauma and Abysmal Noise Studio in Sweden, with additional recording...
LP $19.25
08/07/2020
***2020 repress of the first vinyl version of Brutal Mutilation, originally released in 2011. Compiles the ful discography, including two demos and a live recording, from one of the most obscure Brazilian deathrash/deathcore bands to have emerged from the fabled Minas Gerais region of the late 1980s. For fans of Sarcofago, Vulcano, and early Sepultura.
LP $19.25
08/07/2020
***For 15 years, Ohio’s Prosanctus Inferi has unassumingly amassed an impressive catalog of deviant black/death metal. Their sound is distinctive and warped, as are the accompanying conceptual explorations and aesthetic visions. On Prosanctus Inferi’s third full-length, “Hypnotic Blood Art,” the band has further refined its approach, painstakingly sculpting the songs, chiseling details and carving away superfluous material. In the early days, Prosanctus Inferi was a duo consisting of guitarist/vocalist Jake Kohn and drummer Steve Mercer, who was later replaced by Antichristus until his death in 2010. Since then, Kohn has remained the only consistent member. For the last full-length, 2013’s “Noctambulous Jaws Within Sempiternal Night,” Prosanctus Inferi operated as a three-piece, but this new album finds them active once more as a duo, with Kohn accompanied by drummer Jeremy Spears, who has been in the band since 2010. With each release, the Prosanctus Inferi has tightened and focused its sound, perfecting its pummeling power. On “Hypnotic Blood Art,” Kohn sheds some of the technicality and velocity of his prior performances in favor of a heavier sound, reflecting, in many ways, a return to the band’s foundations.
LP $19.25
08/07/2020
***Nuclear War Now! reprises its support of The Satan’s Scourge, which first manifested itself in its release of the band’s 2011 self-titled compilation LP, by presenting the vinyl reissue of Threads of Subconscious Torment, an EP originally released on CD in 2016. In addition to the ten tracks of chaos and savagery from the original EP, Side B of this vinyl edition includes eight bonus tracks. Like the band’s previous recordings, Threads of Subconscious Torment is an authentic example of classic South American metal, cast in the die originally forged by the legendary Cogumelo bands of the mid-to-late 1980s.
LP $19.25
08/07/2020
***Last year, NWN! reissued “Knights From Hell,” the obscure, underappreciated classic debut album released in 1999 by Sweden’s Vassago. The reissue rekindled interest in the band and now NWN! is joining forces with Vassago once more, this time for the release of the band’s earlier material. Vassago was a project formed by Niclas “Pepa” Andersson and Micke “Sin” Backelin, both of whom were better known at the time for their involvement with Lord Belial. With Vassago, however, the two delivered a bestial, yet intricate onslaught of black death. Self-released on the band’s Total War label in 1994, the “Nattflykt” demo is a severe statement of intent, which the band perpetuated with the 1996 self-released “Hail War!” split LP featuring Antichrist (Ger). This new LP collects all the tracks from both the demo and the split LP. (Two songs, identical versions of which appeared on both recordings, have been omitted from the “Hail War” side.) These recordings are a stepping stone to the brilliance of “Knights From Hell,” but they are also outstanding in their own right, presenting a unique sound that is generally not associated with the mid-90s Swedish black metal movement. Though more primitive and less frenetic in its execution compared with the album, this material possesses a bludgeoning forcefulness and piercing intensity that characterizes this early incarnation of the band. The tracks are furious, reckless, yet not lacking melody or composition. Sin’s raptor-like vocals howl and seethe wrathful vengeance, punctuating the spectral fury of the instrumentation. This LP...
LP $19.25
08/07/2020
***With a history of metal steeped in horror and the occult – as previously established by bands like Death SS, Black Hole, and Mortuary Drape – Italy has proven itself a fertile breeding ground for extreme music that explores these themes. Formed in 2018, Scolopendra is the latest to continue in this tradition, as evidenced on its debut album, “Those of the Catacombs.” Unlike its Italian ancestors, however, who have more typically opted for the sounds of doom or black metal, the vehicle that Scolopendra has chosen to deliver its horror-tinged themes is that of death metal. This aspect adds an element to the band’s output that distinguishes itself from its predecessors, thus making it a unique addition to its genre. Consisting of two members with a history of many years of collaboration in several bands, including Abhor, Scolopendra boasts both the pedigree and chemistry to give “Those of the Catacombs” the deathly authenticity that is obvious upon first listen.
LP $21.95
08/07/2020
***Two of Finland’s black metal hordes unite to compile and recite “Dead Christ Prayer,” an eight-track split release that represents both the country’s unique tradition and its future. Witchcraft, whose style pays reverence in no subtle way to the great Beherit, returns to expand its imprint and demonstrate its continued adherence to the unrefined bestiality that its primary inspiration pioneered thirty years ago. Its co-conspirators in Aske first inhabited the same time and space as Beherit, but then began an eighteen-year hiatus in 1998, returning in 2016 to embark on a second blasphemous stint of new recordings, which have culminated in this effort. “Dead Christ Prayer” thus presides over the exsanguination of the lifeless body of the false savior and the ensuing transfusion ritual, combining the old blood of Aske with the new blood of Witchcraft to perpetuate the cycle of evil.
LP $19.25
08/07/2020
***25 years after its initial release comes the first vinyl edition of this classic recording of Finnish black metal. Formed by DEMONOS SOVA in 1990, BARATHRUM has long established itself as a pillar of the second wave of black metal and a progenitor of the Finnish sound, along with their peers Beherit and Impaled Nazarene. Between 1991 and 1995, Barathrum released a succession of demos, all of which were good, but clearly showed a band still in the process of self-discovery. It was with the 1995 debut full-length, Hailstorm—released on the legendary Nazgul’s Eyrie label—that Barathrum carved out a truly unique space. On Hailstorm, Sova dispensed with the usual guitar-driven composition, and instead used a dual bass performance to channel a gloomier subterranean sound. The immense weight and inertia of the distorted basslines, at once percussive and melodic, carry the mid-paced riffs, elongated and stretched to their limits.
2XLP $28.75
07/10/2020
***BACK IN STOCK!!! The debut full-length of bestial black metal, featuring members of BLASPHEMY, GOATPENIS and ANTICHRIST. In 2018, BLASPHAMAGOATCHRIST was first summoned by the gods of war to continue the siege that its members had separately waged previously in such notorious hordes as Blasphemy, Goatpenis, and Antichrist (Can). With its debut demo, Black Metal Warfare, the band laid to rest any skepticism that may have arisen prematurely in response to the thought of another black metal “supergroup” managing to bear the flame that its members’ main projects had first lit decades earlier. Blasphamagoatachrist now triumphantly returns with its debut full-length, Bastardizing the Purity, which further solidifies this cult as an entity of its own and one worthy of its members’ collective pedigree. As the demo did two years earlier, Bastardizing the Purity serves as a present-day example of the ferocity with which early-to-mid 1990s bestial black metal emasculated the more impotent varieties of output demonstrated by most contemporaries. Each irreverent hymn is propelled by the combined tactical strikes of SABBAOTH (bass) and TYRANT VIRRUGUS (guitars), while INCINERATOR OF LACERATED ANGELS AND COFFIN DESTRUCTION (drums) carpet bombs the battlefield, and NOCTURNAL GRAVE DESECRATOR AND BLACK WINDS (vocals) commands the relentless annihilation from above. The final outcome of this eleven-track onslaught is one that establishes Blasphamagoatachrist independently above and beyond the list of pretenders to the throne of today’s bestial black metal scene.
LP $19.25
07/10/2020
***LP reissue of CEMETERY LIGHTS’ first demo of necromantic occult black metal, previously only available on cassette. While it is often true that distinct musical styles are unique to a given location and era in history, occasionally this axiom is broken by a band that somehow manages to fracture the paradigm and insert itself as a welcomed anachronism in the present day. In this vein, Cemetery Lights, though a native of North American soil, convincingly channels and combines the musical spirits of European metal forefathers such as Mortuary Drape, Samael, and Tiamat, and melds them with the literary traditions and culture of Ancient Rome to create something that is both reverent to the past and equally relevant to the present. The band’s debut demo, Lemuralia, was first disseminated on cassette in very limited numbers on the ninth of May, 2018, to commemorate the advent of the Lemuralia festival, an ancient Roman celebration featuring exorcism rites to banish malicious spirits from the home. A few short months later, Nuclear War Now! Productions saw fit to release Cemetery Lights’ second demo, The Church on the Island. Now, in an effort to make the first recording more widely available, NWN! offers reissue LPs of both albums for the enjoyment of disciples of the aforementioned traditions.
LP $19.25
07/10/2020
***LP reissue of CEMETERY LIGHTS’ second demo of necromantic occult black metal, previously only available on cassette. While it is often true that distinct musical styles are unique to a given location and era in history, occasionally this axiom is broken by a band that somehow manages to fracture the paradigm and insert itself as a welcomed anachronism in the present day. In this vein, Cemetery Lights, though a native of North American soil, convincingly channels and combines the musical spirits of European metal forefathers such as Mortuary Drape, Samael, and Tiamat, and melds them with the literary traditions and culture of Ancient Rome to create something that is both reverent to the past and equally relevant to the present. The band’s debut demo, Lemuralia, was first disseminated on cassette in very limited numbers on the ninth of May, 2018, to commemorate the advent of the Lemuralia festival, an ancient Roman celebration featuring exorcism rites to banish malicious spirits from the home. A few short months later, Nuclear War Now! Productions saw fit to release Cemetery Lights’ second demo, The Church on the Island. Now, in an effort to make the first recording more widely available, NWN! offers reissue LPs of both albums for the enjoyment of disciples of the aforementioned traditions.
LP $19.25
07/10/2020
***BACK IN STOCK!!! The first official album released by the Canadian speed metal legends, and the band’s first recording of any kind in over 30 years. Although they only released a few demos and a 12” EP during the band’s original active period (1984-1990), WITCHES HAMMER occupies a prominent place among the pantheon of Canadian Speed Metal masters. Witches Hammer’s name may not have been widely known during the band’s existence, but they were a crucial piece of the Vancouver extreme metal scene, most notably through their influence on the members of Blasphemy.
LP $19.25
07/10/2020
***Seven long years after the release of their sophomore album, Contragenesis, Ignivomous return with their third full-length album Hieroglossia. Released in conspiracy with NWN! Productions, Hieroglossia unveils eight tracks of organic, primal death metal—the kind the band has become synonymous with in its 13-year existence within the death metal underground. Borne out of the members desire to see a resurgence of a heavier, more dissonant style of death metal, Ignivomous were among the first wave of bands to reignite interest in the genre in the first decade of this century. Hieroglossia preserves the core membership of the band present throughout its tenure—Sean Hinds (guitar), Chris Broadway (drums) and Jael Edwards (vocals)—and presents the recording debut of Lewis Fischer on guitar (Altars) and Chris Jordon (Inverloch, Eskhaton) on bass, both of whom have cemented the band’s live assault for the previous few years in a campaign of high-profile shows in their native Australia. This lineup in its current form has secured and built upon the band’s unrelentingly legacy, oozing raw, sinister death metal pushed a step further into the void, creating an album which synthesizes the bands influences with a definitive and individual vision. While projecting a murky and atmospheric take on the Death Metal template, Heiroglossia avoids sacrificing the primacy of the riff for reverb-drenched formlessness or song writing in favour of dissonance for its own sake.
LP $19.95
06/19/2020
CD $11.00
09/27/2019
***A collection of studio recordings from 1987 to 1990. From Negative Insight Zine: "Agathocles are less of a band than they are an institution. They have a discography that is beyond expansive and daunting. It is the textbook example of when fans say 'I don’t know where to start.' But aside from the size of their discography, Agathocles is much more important for their political grindcore that has been staunchly committed to supporting and bringing attention to animal rights issues, political and social justice, and environmental causes since their inception. They also have remained steadfastly committed to DIY ethics throughout their entire career, even during the late 1980s and early 1990s when grind became commercialized and saw many bands jump at the chance to sign to bigger labels (with major label distribution), mainstream press, and whatever other 'opportunities' they could get. Agathocles instead eschewed such dangling carrots in favor of remaining vehemently anti-commercial."
LP $19.95
06/19/2020
***In a remarkably short period of time, France’s Cénotaphe have risen from obscurity to become one of the most distinctive voices in black metal. Traced from the band’s auspicious inception, the grand arc of Cénotaphe’s ascent is mapped out in the constellation of releases in its catalog—from the promising spark of 2016’s La larve exulte demo through the explosive burst of last year’s Empyrée MLP, to this, the band’s debut full-length, Monte Verità, a brilliant supernova of melodic entanglements, erudite lyrics, and transcendent composition. Though loosely inspired by a specific mountain in Ascona, Switzerland that, beginning in the early 19th century, attracted a stream of outcasts, artists, and intellectuals in search of solitude and respite from the chaotic world below, the concept behind this album is more allegorical and metaphysical. The lyrics, written in French and delivered in anguished bellows by vocalist Khaosgott, are contemplative and poetic, rich in imagery and allusion. Progressing in stages, each track on the album recounts an individual’s journey, spurred by necessity and guided by instinct, toward detached seclusion from the world of men—observing from a vantage point high above, where the lives of others condense into an indistinct hum vibrating in the valley below. The epiphany may be short-lived, for even after reaching the summit, the lure of society—its traps and its vices, the vulgar pursuits and banal routines of existence—are a constant source of temptation, drawing the individual away from that elusive, enlightened truth. In the title track, Khaosgott depicts the culmination of...
LP $23.50
06/19/2020
***EKG’s one and only recording from 1992 available for the first time on any format to the public at large. The Czech black metal scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s has earned the distinction of being one of the most celebrated in the history of the genre. Anchored by well-known acts such as Master’s Hammer, Root, and Törr, the black metal that originated in this country and era is easily distinguishable and difficult to mistake due to its own particular idiosyncrasies, not the least of which is the preference for using the region’s native tongue in the lyrics and vocals, which to the uninitiated listener adds a foreign element of unknown evil. In the decades since, during which this scene’s indelible mark on the historical black metal landscape has become increasingly appreciated, several previously unknown bands from it have become more widely discovered, and the revered Czech black metal canon has grown as a result. Two entities which to this point have not received their deserved accolades are EKG and Immortallity, the latter of which was spawned from the former. Inspired by metal bands worldwide, and Czech stalwart Olympic’s work from the 1980s in particular, the first output from this group consisted primarily of cover songs from more renowned metal acts. Before long, however, they had moved on to writing and performing their own material in the same spirit as the previously-cited Czech legends who had begun to do so not long before.
LP $19.95
06/19/2020
***Immortallity’s one and only recording from 1992 available for the first time on any format to the public at large. The Czech black metal scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s has earned the distinction of being one of the most celebrated in the history of the genre. Anchored by well-known acts such as Master’s Hammer, Root, and Törr, the black metal that originated in this country and era is easily distinguishable and difficult to mistake due to its own particular idiosyncrasies, not the least of which is the preference for using the region’s native tongue in the lyrics and vocals, which to the uninitiated listener adds a foreign element of unknown evil. In the decades since, during which this scene’s indelible mark on the historical black metal landscape has become increasingly appreciated, several previously unknown bands from it have become more widely discovered, and the revered Czech black metal canon has grown as a result. Two entities which to this point have not received their deserved accolades are EKG and Immortallity, the latter of which was spawned from the former.
LP $19.95
06/19/2020
***For more than 20 years, French multi-instrumentalist Fog (aka Fog the Necropope) has dedicated himself to an all-consuming pursuit, a creative drive that permeates his existence. Over that time, he has contributed to nearly two-dozen different bands and projects—most commonly as a drummer, but also sometimes vocals, bass, guitar, recording, mixing, mastering, and even artwork—and has released a number of these projects on his own label, Ossuaire Records. Recently, Fog’s work in Cénotaphe, for which he writes and performs all of the music (vocalist Khaosgott supplies the lyrics), has showcased his expansive talent and garnered well-deserved accolades, but Norman Shores remains perhaps his most personal endeavor. The project began in 2011 when, exhausted by the endless creative compromises intrinsic to band settings, Fog desired a creative outlet over which he exercised complete dominion. Born in the Normandy region of France, Fog drew inspiration from the land and the traditional ancient cultures that once flourished there. According to Fog, through Norman Shores he attempts to “sublimate my native Normandy around legends and historical facts” and “describe the dying nature and the decadence of humanity.” Released in 2019, “De l’ombre surgit la lumière,” is the fourth album released under the Norman Shores banner. It is also the most intricate and fully realized album in the catalog, though all of the Norman Shores recordings are spellbinding in their own right. Musically, Fog draws influence from classic second wave Scandinavian black metal bands, weaving together sounds reminiscent of Ulver, Darkthrone, Dissection, Borknagar, and In...
LP $19.95
06/19/2020
***NOW AVAILABLE ON CASSETTE!!! Active from 2001-2005, the highly revered side project of LEVIATHAN's JEF WHITEHEAD, LURKER OF CHALICE, is mostly known for the 2005 self-titled full-length. Prior to that album, however, WREST recorded two CD-R demos under the Lurker of Chalice name, each of which was limited to approximately 50 copies or less and sold at a single record store in San Francisco, near where he was living at the time. Like the full-length, both demos were eponymous, though the first demo was identified only by the initials L.O.C. written in runes. While a few of the songs from the demo era bear indicia of black metal, the material from that period is generally far more experimental, defying any effort to be neatly categorized. For Tellurian Slaked Furnace, Wrest has distilled the best material from the early period of the project and edited, collaged, and compiled it, weaving together something more coherent and album-like. In this way, there seems to be something of his current artistic sensibility projected onto these recordings from nearly two decades earlier.
CD $11.00
03/06/2020
2XLP $30.45
02/07/2020
MC $7.50
07/10/2020
***With its initial self-titled demo from 2017, NECROGOSTO introduced itself as a cult worthy of the rich Brazilian metal underground that its forefathers had pioneered decades earlier. Recalling the savagery invoked by its fellow countrymen in such fabled bands as Sarcofago, Sextrash, Necrobutcher, and Expulser, Necrogosto proved that it is indeed possible to recapture the sound and spirit of one of the most historically significant scenes to have ever impacted extreme metal. Now, two years later and approximately one year since Nuclear War Now! reissued the demo, the same label and band conspire to bring us Necrogosto’s next atrocity, Ancestral Bestiality, an eight-track MLP that confirms the authenticity in style and sound first displayed on the demo. Like the preceding demo, these new tracks harken back to a particular time and place where the boundaries between the existing subgenres of metal were blurred, making clear distinctions between black and death metal difficult and somewhat futile to discern. Like its inspirations from over thirty years ago, this recording is steeped in both the barbarity of primitive death metal and the evil of first-wave black metal, which in itself shared more characteristics of thrash than its more contemporary offshoot.
LP $17.75
03/06/2020
***BACK IN STOCK!!! While the word “evil” is used in nearly every description or review of every metal record, in the case of DEMONCY's classic Joined in Darkness album, there is simply no more appropriate adjective to describe the sounds within. From the ominous intro track entitled “Hymn to the Ancients” to the melancholic chord progressions of “The Ode to Eternal Darkness,” this album distills evil into its most elemental forms. Joined in Darkness also stands out as one of the comparatively few highly successful albums written and executed by a lone musician. For Demoncy, that musician is the enigmatic entity known as IXITHRA. While the vast majority of “one-man projects” fall limp, there are some, such as Joined in Darkness-era Demoncy, that achieve a sound every bit as powerful as could be attained by a full line up. It could convincingly be argued that the solitary nature of Demoncy lends to the desolate and alien atmosphere that Joined in Darkness evokes. Even the use of a drum machine on this album (before the drum machine became the subject of nearly universal derision) enhances the inhumanly cold feeling of the music. This is representative of Ixithra’s tendency to employ only the simplest tools, but to extract from them their maximum potential. The riffs and song structures, while basic, are executed with precision and exactness. The songwriting evinces a truly visionary ability to piece together instruments and riffs in a masterfully dark manner. Ixithra demonstrates his unique ability to generate fast,...
LP $23.50
02/07/2020
***NOW AVAILABLE ON CASSETTE!!! Following the 1993 release of its third album, Disembody, Japan’s SABBAT continued a trend it had established with its first three full-lengths by releasing its fourth album in four consecutive years in 1994. Fetishism largely followed in the same vein of thrashy first-wave black metal as its two immediate predecessors, Evoke and Disembody, which would not necessarily be unexpected given the continuing lineup of GEZOL (bass/lead vocals), TEMIS OSMOND (guitars/keyboards/backing vocals), and ZORUGELION (drums/backing vocals). As with all three previous albums, founding member and original guitarist ELIZAVEAT also maintained a presence by contributing his original artwork for the cover. This enduring continuity aside, Fetishism was anything but a carbon copy of the band’s previous efforts. The average song length increased by over a minute in comparison to Disembody, and more substantively, the compositions of certain songs were characterized by increased complexity. The six-minute instrumental track “Sausine” perhaps best exemplifies this trait, as its length, elaborate construction, and varied movements serve to foreshadow the culmination of this compositional development that was to follow on the single-track album, “The Dwelling,” approximately two years later.
2XLP $28.85
02/07/2020
MC $7.75
03/06/2020
***The frigid embrace of death, infinite and profound, permeates every chord, guttural utterance, and percussive strike on SALTAS’ most recent offering, Mors Salis: Opus I. After releasing two superb demos—Currents and Parasites—on NWN! in 2018, Sweden’s Saltas have spent the last year writing and recording the material for this new full-length. Saltas is comprised of just two members—guitarist N.R. of RUNEMAGICK and THE FUNERAL ORCHESTRA, among others, and drummer C.J., known for his work in IRKALLIAN ORACLE. The duo’s music is multi-dimensional and dense, conjuring a deathlike atmosphere unmatched by the majority of their peers. Indeed, this album is more than metal; the music is ceremonial and trancelike, an arcane death ritual in which unconventional elements are utilized in the service of creating a comprehensive sonic environment that is consuming and experiential. This is not meant to suggest that the album is devoid of riffs or structure. At its core, Mors Salis: Opus I is a highly composed and coordinated work of death doom, but Saltas do not reflexively hew to the line of tradition, preferring instead to explore the esoteric regions beyond.
LP $19.95
02/07/2020
***The first demo and EP from one Australia’s STARGAZER, one of the most unique, innovative, and genre-defying black/death metal bands of the past twenty-plus years. Gloat is a feeding frenzy of precision death metal with unpredictable time signatures and wild riffing. Borne showcases the emergence of the elliptical riffing, effortless transitions between divergent tempos, and generally seamless composition for which StarGazer is now known.
LP $19.95
02/07/2020
***NOW AVAILABLE ON CD!!! Excavating the deep recesses of the Polish extreme metal underground, NWN! has unearthed VEHEMENT THROWER, a band that released only a single demo and one superb full-length album in its short existence. In 1987, four teenagers—their ages ranged from 15-19 years old—began playing music in the small city of Żory, located in Górny Śląsk (Upper Silesia), a generally rural region of Poland. Although there were some punk bands in the area, no one else endeavored to create anything more extreme. After a few rehearsals (one of which was recorded but is now lost), they lost momentum. Three of the members reconvened in 1989 under the name EXHAUST DEATH. After recording two demos released in 1989 and 1990, respectively—the band dissolved once more, but following yet another reconstitution of the lineup, changed their name to Vehement Thrower in 1990. With this new incarnation, the band began writing and performing in earnest. Vehement Thrower surpassed most of their local peers in terms of the extremity and brutality of their sound. Recorded during a few late-night studio sessions in 1992 and released later that year as a cassette only on Baron Records, I Come in Peace is more complex and elaborate than their previous demo. The wretched, pulsing violence of the album is sculpted and sharp. The atmosphere of the album is frenzied and manic featuring songs crafted with the sophistication of death metal and delivered with the intensity and passion of hardcore punk and grindcore. CD version includes...
LP $19.95
02/07/2020
CD $11.00
03/06/2020
***Four American bands unite to pay respect to a fallen possessed soldier of war, Ace Still of Goatlord. This compilation features the very last song recorded by Goatlord before Ace’s untimely passing on May 20th 2017
12" $17.75
01/10/2020
***The earliest emanations of the black metal movement were distinct and unique, reflecting artists’ efforts to build upon styles of metal that had run their course and were no longer viewed as sufficiently extreme. There was at that time no script or blueprint for black metal; it was an evolving genre without defined limits or constraints. Though some may quarrel over the precise origin of black metal, there is little doubt that the Norwegian scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s was responsible for bringing the genre to the attention of the greater public. In the decades since, that scene has assumed a nearly mythical stature. In 1988, a band called DISORDER formed in Sarpsborg playing thrash metal but with a penchant for conjuring the evil elements of the genre. The band quickly changed the name to PERDITION HEARSE, and began exploring darker sounds, crossing into the emergent black metal style. Mala Fide compiles the two Perdition Hearse demos from 1991 and 1992, and features STIAN "OCCULTUS" JOHANSEN on vocals, who was a co-founding owner of the infamous Helvete record store in Oslo and the vocalist in MAYEHM following Dead’s suicide.
LP $19.95
01/10/2020
***A compilation of recordings from Finnish underground metal pioneer ARI HONKONEN aka ARSKA and his unique brand of Viking/Pagan metal with punk influences as executed in two related projects. The first vinyl issue of PERKELE's Pohjola demo, accompanied by two IRONBIRD tracks from 1999 and four newly recorded Ironbird songs from 2018.
LP $19.95
01/10/2020
***Originally released in 2011 on the Tour de Garde label, DEPARTURE CHANDELIER's demo recording, The Black Crest of Death, the Gold Wreath of War, was recorded in 2010, a year after Antichrist Rise To Power, the band’s recently released debut full-length completed in 2009. With slightly heavier production than the album—an intentional act by the band—this demo nevertheless achieves the same atmosphere, one defined by the inherent discord between the visceral body of the songs and the ornate melodies reflected in the poignant interplay of guitars and keyboards, in which one hears the influence of O.T.A.L. and Strid. Musically and conceptually, Departure Chandelier explore the dichotomous relationship connecting unbridled freedom and the concomitant lust for power with tyranny and despotism. The Black Crest of Death, the Gold Wreath of War forms an essential piece of the Departure Chandelier discography, and, as such, is made widely available again with this reissue.
LP $19.95
01/03/2020
***An omnibus of DARKIFIED's complete studio recordings, eight tracks of Swedish black death metal recorded between 1991 and 1992. The Dark demo and the Sleep Forever 7-inch on a 12-inch LP. Darkified was only around for a short time but they released some of the best Swedish death metal songs ever recorded! Members went on to play in bands like MARDUK and EDGE OF SANITY. Released in cooperation with Dawnbreed Records.
LP $19.95
11/22/2019