BALMOG

“Nausea” 7inch EP

(Bloody Productions)

 

A lovely piece of vinyl comes our way courtesy of Bloody Productions. There are 2 songs of Spanish black metal for us to spin and this is hand numbered & limited to only 500 copies. The release comes with a cool little parchment style booklet. Some good classic style riffing and the hymns just seem to drip with hate and darkness. The vocals are a little more on the unorthodox maniacal side of things. As opposed to the classic grinding rasp of this old black metal style. All in all two great hymns of blasphemy and cruel darkness but I need to hear more from them. I will keep my eyes out for more Balmog releases in the future.  – Dale

http://www.balmog.com/   http://www.bloodyprod.com/

 

 

Black Goat
s/t LP - Lyderhorn/NWN

 

Black Goat's self-titled album was originally released in 1998 as a CDR and later repressed on CD by Nuclear War Now!. Now the LP-version of this excellent San Fransisco-band is available through Lyderhorn Records and NWN productions. Black Goat plays traditional thrashy black metal and featured members with relations to such bands as Weakling and Lord Weird Slough Feg. This high quality LP-pressing features brand new artwork by Ben West (Oaken Throne).  - Jeffrey Kusbel

 

 

Ereshkigal
The Raping Of The Divine LP - Temple Of Darkness

 

The roots of this unholy creation can be traced way back to 1988, when, as FLEGTHON, the band were first inspired by the myths and legends of their native Greece. “The Raping of the Divine†was composed between 1996 and 2005, and is imbued with the atmosphere of ancient Greece. The music is in the vein of : ROTTING CHRIST, VARATHRON NECROMANTIA or THOU ART LORD. Pressed on red vinyl.  - Jeffrey Kusbel

 

 

Naer Matron / Voice Of Hate
split 7" ep - Temple Of Darkness

 

NAER MATARON (Gr) Was formed in 1994. This band plays quality Black Metal, with the true Hellenic touch. Their contribution to this unholy union is a pure Black Metal hymn, with excellent riffs and acoustic parts giving it a melodic and epic touch. The strength of experience possessed by the members of Spain's VOICE OF HATE enables this band to experiment successfully with styles far removed from Death Metal. Here, their extraordinary cover version of VELVET UNDERGROUND'S Venus in Furs gives ample proof of how successful this experimentation can be.   - Jeffrey Kusbel

 

 

Sonne Hagal
Nidar 10" vinyl

 

Truly beautiful acoustic folk and sometimes ambient from Germany in a somewhat similar vein to bands like Of The Wand And The Moon, Orplid, Tenhi but sometimes much dreamier and contemplative. This is a highly limited vinyl release pressed on marbled and translucent red vinyl. Foil embossed sleeves and just the highest quality packaging all around.  - Jeffrey Kusbel

 

 

WYQM
Wyqm - 2009 12" vinyl

(Death Agonies And Screams Records)

 

This was a great surprise to receive. It is not often labels send vinyl for review (and with good reason as that shit is more expensive to press and mail out than the average record buyer would ever expect). So it is something I truly appreciate and respect dedicated labels such as DAS records that believe in their band and message so thoroughly. The packaging on the vinyl is nice (though black print on black jackets never stands out very well, but apparently that is what they were going for) and my copy is yellow with black splatter. There is also a green version with black mist – the whole thing is limited to 500 copies (200 yellow & 300 green). So now on to the music itself. This is some exceptionally harsh and raw black metal. The recording is low-fi and coarse as far as sound quality goes. But when it comes to blitzkrieg, cold as a crypt black metal, then I rarely have a problem with it. In fact, the energy is so primal and dark that it often only enhances the overall ambiance. This is the sort of thing that makes weak kneed christians tremble and quake under it’s blasphemy. Wyqm is not adverse to injecting some more somber and emotional passages. Yet, never forgetting it’s bleak reverence towards encompassing darkness and Satanic majesty. The songs are solidly crafted and backed with some excellent riffs. If you worship early 90s black metal yet mixed with modern touches & cloaked in an ambient tapestry. Then, look no farther than Wyqm, who are a fine example. My copy is #063/500.  – Dale

www.myspace.com/deathagoniesscreams   http://deathagoniesscreams.blogspot.com/