Friday the 13th of June won’t be an unlucky day for funeral doom lovers, as Svart Records will release a double treat for them – Profetus‘ third album “All Seasons Die” and Rippikoulu‘s first release in 21 years, “Ulvaja”. Artwork and track lists as follows:
1. The Rebirth of Sorrow
2. A Reverie (Midsummer’s Dying)
3. Dead Are Our Leaves Of Autumn
4. The Dire Womb Of Winter
https://www.facebook.com/SaturnineDoom
1. Ulvaja
2. Loputon
3. Jää hyvästi kaunis kesä
In 1984, Mikko Mattila put all his passion and devotion for metal into a fanzine called Isten. It soon would build a respectful reputation, not only for the info it provided but also for its demanding, picky nature. Taneli Jarva, former member of the extinct Sentenced, even said “If you happened to get a favourable mention of your demo in Isten you’d peaked. You’d fuckin’ made it.”
Now, 30 years later, Svart Records is proud to announce that it will release “Don’t Break The Ghost”, an 800-page hardcover anthology of Isten, written by Mattila himself, Janne Sarna and Professor Black. Scheduled for September, the book will feature careful reproductions of nearly all of Isten’s issues plus over 60 pages of unpublished interviews, handwritten letters and photos that were never made public.
“We’re extremely pleased to be working with SVART,” says Mattila. “It is important to do this right, and to do it right now. There’s only going to be a diehard edition. It’ll be svart and heavy.”
The ever singular Sabbath Assembly have recently premiered the new video for their latest single, I, Satan, from their third album Quaternity. The album is set for international release via Svart Records this Friday (28th March 2014). The video for I, Satan, which can be viewed below, was created entirely by the band themselves. The song itself features text from sacred Process Church of the Final Judgment scriptures, all written from the standpoint of the Lord of the Underworld. The song delivers a brutal assault with lines such as “Burn the chaff of humanity, dance proud around the leaping flames,” and “Put aside your litanies, priest, Satan does not retreat.” Additional lyrical inspiration comes from Inno A Satana, a classic poem used in Satanic liturgies since it was published in 1865, written by Italian Nobel Prize Winner Giosue Carducci.
Sabbath Assembly online:
http://sabbathassembly.com
http://facebook.com/sabbathassembly
Having signed with Svart Records, Finnish psychedelic stoner/doom metal band Tombstoned are about to release their debut full-length album. Simply self-titled, “Tombstoned” will see the light of day on November 14th. However, one can have a glimpse of it through the track “Daze Of Disintegration“, now available for streaming at the label’s Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/svart-records/2-daze-of-disintegration
Track listing:
1. Through Days
2. Daze of Disintegration
3. Rat Race
4. The End
5. Faded
6. Last Waltz
Finnish psychedelic doom band Seremonia is ready to show the world its second full length, after last year’s self-titled debut (review here). Their label Svart Records has announced this will happen on October 18th and that will be called “Ihminen” (“human”). Track-list as follows, cover art right below:
1. Noitamestari
2. Itsemurhaaja
3. Ovi
4. Suuri Valkeus
5. Painajaisten Maa
6. Luonto Kostaa
7. Ihminen
8. Itsemurhaaja II
9. Vastaus Rukouksiisi
10. Tähtien Takaa
11. Hallava Hevonen
Last April, “Ovi” (“door”) was released as a single and gives you an idea of what to expect from this “Ihminen”. If you missed it, you can listen to it at https://soundcloud.com/svart-records/seremonia-ovi.
Seremonia online:
www.facebook.com/seremonia666
www.facebook.com/svartrecords
www.svartrecords.com
Today, doom legends Candlemass premiere the new live track Under the Oak at the Roadburn Festival website. The track hails from Candlemass‘ vinyl-only Epicus Doomicus Metallicus – Live at Roadburn 2011 album, set for international release on June 14th through Svart Records. Candlemass‘ debut album Epicus Doomicus Metallicus is a genre-defining classic if there ever was one – the starting point of modern epic doom metal, even. In 2010 and 2011 Candlemass invited the original Epicus vocalist Johan Längqvist back into the fold for a few select shows celebrating the album’s 25th birthday. This vinyl-only release captures the band performing Epicus Doomicus Metallicus album live at the sold-out Roadburn Festival in Holland, April 2011. Mixed from a professional 32-track recording and mastered vinyl under the supervision of the band’s founder and mainman Leif Edling, this is the ultimate live version of the classic. Candlemass‘ Under the Oak (live) can be heard in its entirety here, at this location.
The Svart release has the album spread over three sides of vinyl and an etching on side D. The two LPs are wrapped in a gatefold jacket, and the set is available on black or white vinyl. Both versions are limited to 400. Leif Edling comments:
No volcano could stop us this time to perform the Epicus album at the Roadburn festival in Holland. It was a very special day, filled with great music, incredible fans, and a band that had a lot of fun doing this! After 25 years original, Epicus singer Johan Längqvist is onstage with us to perform something that people say is one of the doom metal classics. And I think we did a pretty good job there at Roadburn. We played well, and the show was a total success! So here it is, Candlemass live at the Roadburn festival… As it was, no overdubs… Recorded on 32 channels… A fine slice of legendary doom released on big, fat, double-packed vinyl!
Candlemass online:
http://www.candlemass.se
http://www.facebook.com/candlemass
http://www.twitter.com/candlemass
http://www.myspace.com/candlemass
Today, Noisey (Music by VICE) premieres the exclusive new video for Hexvessel‘s His Portal Tomb. The song hails from Hexvessel‘s second and latest album, No Holier Temple, released last week by Svart Records. With all music and lyrics written by vocalist/mastermind Mat McNerney, the video for Hexvessel‘s His Portal Tomb was directed by Marja Konttinen for Brutal Gardener, with source material from Lot In Sodom (1933) by James Sibley Watson. McNerney explains the concept behind the His Portal Tomb video: “Images and inscriptions on Egyptian coffins magically place the mummy of the deceased at the centre of a miniature version of the universe. The body as a way in and out of existence. The tomb as a portal. Our mortal prison, where we’re to endure the wrath of god and the punishment of angels. Jude 1:7 records that both Sodom and Gomorrah were ‘giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.’ I wonder what the sarcophagus would tell us, if he could recall his life of earthly pleasures?” The video for Hexvessel‘s His Portal Tomb can be viewed exclusively here.
Hexvessel‘s No Holier Temple fuses the acoustic ’70s folk vibe of its critically acclaimed Dawnbearer predecessor into a more psychedelic, electric, doom-folk sound with Manzarek-like keys, screeching & rhythmic Velvet Underground violins, Miles Davis trumpets, and hypnotic freakouts. Weaving the uncanny songs together are the narrative vocals of Mat McNerney – who on this album has matured into the bastard child of Burke Shelley, young Jon Anderson, and Paul Simon – and inspired by the progressive, spaced-out haze of bands like Amon Düül II, Van Der Graaf Generator, and Ultimate Spinach – whose song “Your Head Is Reeling” they cover with religious abandon – their sound now expands outward from their eerie, signature, ritual-esque intros into a genre-twisting cauldron of otherworldly rock and the late-night, dreamy spoken-word of artists such as Jim Morrison (An American Prayer) and Ken Nordine.
The front cover (below) is by the artist Bastian Kalous and represents the reverence to the native forest and nature that Hexvessel wish to raise awareness and preservation of. The themes of the album “are inspired by the work of great men like Scottish-American naturalist and preservationist John Muir and more recent radical environmental advocates Dave Foreman and Howie Wolke,” discussing the definition of what makes something holy and sacred.
Frontman and founder Mat McNerney says of the album: “The songs were written specifically to be channeled by a group. This is the sound of a cult, all focused on summoning the same magic, joined in prayer, haunted by the same demons. We actively pushed for a new way to evolve our sound. I purposely strove to make this album a calculated move-on from Dawnbearer. This isn’t about using symbols of the occult. This is about a way of living that returns the old gods to their rightful place. We’re a family that worships nature through word and sound. We hope you will join us.”
Today, Sabbath Assembly premiere a new track from their forthcoming second album, Ye Are Gods. Entitled We Give Our Lives, this eerie, next glimpse into the magick and majesty of Ye Are Gods can streamed in its entirety here. Tastemaking website Invisible Oranges fittingly states that they “just can’t decide if they are kvlt or just creepy.”
Due to the elaborate packaging, the release date for Sabbath Assembly‘s Ye Are Gods has been adjusted to September 28th for Europe and the UK (through Svart Records) and October 5th for North America (through The Ajna Offensive).
As on the critically acclaimed Restored to One debut, released in 2010 by The Ajna Offensive, Ye Are Gods presents the hymns of the Process Church of the Final Judgment, a religious movement that emerged in the late 1960s as an apocalyptic shadow-side to the flower power and New Age movements.
Reaching beyond the scope of Restored to One, Ye Are Gods incorporates the ritual text and structure of the Process Church’s highest and holiest mass, the “Sabbath Assembly” liturgy from which the band is named.
Ye Are Gods is led by vocalist Jamie Myers, a veteran of Hammers of Misfortune (The Locust Years) and Wolves in the Throne Room (Diadem of 12 Stars, Malevolent Grain). Dave “Christian” Nuss remains drummer and co-producer.
The album features Genesis P-Orridge serving the role of High Priest(ess), aka “Sacrifist,” Eyvind Kang plays viola for the liturgical “Declaration of the Gods,” and guitarist/vocalist Imaad Wasif offers a chilling rendition of the hymn We Give Our Lives. In addition, Timothy Wyllie, an original Process Church member, provides a homily from Process Church founder Robert DeGrimston’s Gods on War. Mr. Wyllie is the author of Feral House’s LOVE SEX FEAR DEATH, which offers an insider’s perspective of the Church and its true leadership.
The album offers a first-ever glimpse into the Process’s most sacred liturgical text, taking the astute listener through the mysterious Gnostic journey of the unification of Christ and Satan; the bliss of total submission to the gods Jehovah, Lucifer, Satan, and Christ; the wilds of the Apocalypse and a face-to-face encounter with the Angel of Death; and finally the moment of spiritual renewal in which the Process’s “Law of the Universe” is revealed.
The influential Process Church opened chapters in London, Europe, and across the USA, dressing in black cloaks and walking the streets with German Shepherds. To promote their controversial theology, they sold intricately-designed magazines, three of which are documented in full-color reproductions in the recently issued Propaganda and Holy Writ of the Process Church of the Final Judgment (Feral House/Ajna).
Today, esteemed doom authority TheObelisk.net premieres Seremonia‘s Antikristus 666, the second track to be premiered off the Finnish band’s self-titled debut album, set for international release through Svart Records on September 14th. Seremonia‘s Antikristus 666 can be streamed in its entirety here. As Seremonianears release next week, the album has been picking up steam with the worldwide press, as the tastemaking BrooklynVegan.com last week premiered Seremonia‘s Lusiferin Kaarmeet here.
There are a few bands from Finland that play some sort of old-school psychedelic hard rock, but none of them sing in their native language. The debut album by SEREMONIA (Finnish for “ceremony”) features fuzz-laden guitar riffage, out-of-control drum grooves, spacey synthscapes, eerily beautiful female vocals, and esoteric and apocalyptic lyrics sung in Finnish.
Seremonia‘s hard rocking is influenced by the muddy sounds of Anglo-American proto metal, the weirdly fuzzy grooves of Latin psychedelic rock, the experimental ideas of Finnish progressive rock, and universal D.I.Y. punk rock ethics. The guitar riffs are doomy and the lyrics are dark, but Seremonia rolls on with an uplifting spirit. The band plays with uncontrollable abandon, furiously stumbling through the songs. Upon the wild fuzz jams, vocalist Noora Federley delivers the lyrics in a chillingly cold-blooded manner. Boring modern production standards don’t seem to interest SEREMONIA at all. The album is a part of a great and age-old lineage of eccentric rock ‘n’ roll.
Although Seremonia‘s music is informed by the heavy rock of the past decades, it is music for these apocalyptic times. Visions of environmental catastrophes or themes of natural and supernatural evil have never been more current topics. Love for nasty guitar riffs and demented rocking are never out of fashion.
Engineer andmixer Teemu Markkula plays a very important part on the overall sound of the album. Markkula also plays guitar in Seremonia‘s live line-up. The album’s lyrics are written by Ilkka Vekka. The music is composed and arranged collectively by everyone in the band.
Seremonia‘s first official release was a music video for the song Rock’n’rollin Maailma (loosely translated in English to World of Rock’n’Roll). The song and the video directed by Sami Sänpäkkilä caused a bit of a stir in the Finnish music media. Music blogs and discussion forums started arguing about the mysterious new band. A bunch of redundant and unnecessary questions were raised. Is the band serious? Are they true? Are they ironic art-school hipsters? These useless questions are easily answered: Yes, Seremonia makes their music with a burning passion, seeking only artistic triumphs and being dead serious about their vision of great rock music. With the first album now in the can, they are getting ready to record more (and more) albums in the future. Take a listen and stay tuned. You may or may not enjoy their brand of ghoulish hard rock. Either way, Seremonia keeps on keeps on going.
One of the most memorable pioneers of Finnish first-wave death metal, Convulse were there in 1990 alongside bands such as Xysma, Disgrace, and Abhorrence to create a scene which was to become legendary. Formed in Nokia in early 1990, the band was quickly snapped up by Thrash Records from France, and the future cult classic World Without God appeared a year later.
After an 18-year break, Convulse returned in 2012 and played a few comeback shows in Finland this year. The band has already been confirmed to play Maryland Deathfest 2013, with more live appearances in the works for the near future. A new Convulse vinyl EP, with two brand-new tracks, is scheduled for a November release, and a new full-length album can be expected in 2013. The band has signed to Svart Records, who will handle both the EP and the album worldwide.
“Our new material has a strong old school death metal feel to it, and the band is tighter than ever before,” says Rami Jämsä, the man responsible for lead guitars and vocals. “When recording, we plan to concentrate on the energy brought on by playing everything live – no triggers or ProTools. Nothing beats a well-rehearsed band playing live, be it on stage or in the studio.”
For proof of this statement, recent Convulse rehearsal footage can be viewed below.
For more info, consult www.facebook.com/convulse.
Sabbath Assembly
Ye Are Gods
Released: Fall 2012
Devotional Rock
Released Via Anja Records / Svart Records
“We are the servants of GOD, no less.” With this phrase starts Sabbath Assembly’s latest creation.
As soon as I started listening, a flashback to the years that my mum, as a good catholic, made me go to church; a chant, a priest talking and then a lady with a guitar playing some song. Logic says that because of this connection I’d absolutely hate it, but the music is incredibly pleasant.
After the first whole listen what came to me was “a mix of hippie rock with Gregorian chants”, especially has this hippie bong fire round feeling.
In terms of lyrics, the songs are based on hymns of The Process Church of the Final Judgment, so if you are no familiarised with this cult, it might be a little confusing. Overlooking that fact, the music is incredibly engaging and exciting. I am most definitively not the flower power/praise out Lord Jesus type, but there is something fascinating about them.
Throughout the album, a story about the four main characters (Christ, Jehovah, Lucifer and Satan) is narrated. Form their love/hate relationship to the effects of them in our lives. The story of the apocalypse and the new beginning is told and a terrible character is introduced to us (for the second time, I believe): Abbadon, both villain and sort of unsung hero. The mix of church organs with heavier instruments added up to the constant listening of the names Christ and Satan make his one of the most interesting things your ear will ever have the pleasure to listen to.
With interesting messages and beautiful melodies, Sabbath Assembly created a gift to our senses. Hopefully y will give this album a try so you and discover its full beauty.
4/5
María Mata
Today, Svart Records announces October 23rd as the North American release date for Bedemon‘s long-awaited Symphony of Shadows, the first-ever set of all-new material by the band regarded by many as the original true U.S. doom band. While the album will be hitting major retail outlets on that date, it can be ordered immediately through the Housecore website (the label of Down frontman Phil Anselmo) here.
To celebrate this event, esteemed doom authority TheObelisk.net is exclusively premiering the track The Plague from Bedemon‘s Symphony of Shadowshere. An extensive interview with Bedemon drummer/songwriter (and original Pentagram member) Geof O’Keefe shall be appearing shortly on TheObelisk.net.
Inspired by the goriest of fright films and the most menacing of music at the time, guitarist/composer/journalist/author Randy Palmer churned out the very first doom songs written on North American soil. This understated innovator recruited the help of his bandmates, Pentagram co-founders Geof O’Keefe (drums) and Bobby Liebling (vocals) as well as schoolmate Mike Matthews (bass). Throughout the 1970s, the band recorded numerous sinister, doom-drenched slabs of metallic gold — Black Sabbath were Palmer’s idols — that illegally floated around on sub-standard bootlegs for decades. Finally, in 2004 to much fanfare, these rough, never-intended-for-public recordings were collected, repaired, and released as Child of Darkness: From the Original Master Tapes.
Since then, Bedemon has seen a surge in popularity due to their intertwined history with the original Pentagram, in addition to their music being featured in the critically acclaimed award-winning documentary, Last Days Here (Sundance Selects/914 Pictures), chronicling the life and times of Pentagram and original Bedemon vocalist Bobby Liebling.
Literally a decade in the making, Bedemon now proudly issues their sophomore release, Symphony of Shadows. Shortly after completing recording of the basic rhythm tracks in April 2002, band founder Randy Palmer was involved in a tragic car accident and passed away in August of that year. O’Keefe, Matthews, and new vocalist Craig Junghandel worked with recording engineer Shawn Hafley over the next decade to finish the project both in tribute to Randy and also because they felt so passionately about the strength of the material; the result is nine bone-crushingly heavy slices of pure ’70s-flavored doom metal.
Clocking in at just under 60 minutes, Symphony of Shadows will be released as both a single CD and deluxe 2-LP vinyl set, chock-full of photos, lyrics, liner notes, and intimate stories from the surviving members of this very special band.
Regarding the album, drummer/guitarist/composer Geof O’Keefe says,“This is dedicated to Randy. His songwriting is so far advanced beyond the Child of Darkness material. The album sounds like a classic ’70s metal release, which is very intentional!”
Svart Records president Tomi Pulkki heard the album and knew it was perfect for SVART, saying, “As a label that is perhaps best known for releasing Pentagram and Reverend Bizarre on vinyl, I didn’t think twice when the chance to work with Bedemon was offered. We’re happy to help bring their final opus to the world.”
Essenz
Mundus Numen
Released: May 2012
Doom Metal/ Black Metal
Released via Svart Records
‘Mundus Numen’ is the second album from the German occult metal band Essenz. According to a recent press release the album is built around the overall theme of: “The acquisition of ones deepest will, which enables to transform the world from an instance to a suggestible setting. A manic boundary experience.”
First up is ‘Extinguishing Shapes: Innermediate’ which combines the classic doom metal guitar riffs akin to Candlemass and to some extent Black Sabbath with eerie whispering vocals. Then there’s some atmospheric parts, and what appears to be a sample from German chant or spell. By contrast to this we have ‘Sea of Light: Pleroma’, which sees not only a change in pace but also in guitar and vocal style from doom towards black or death metal. Even when the pace slows down again temporarily, half way through the track, the doom metal riffs are still shadowed by the death metal style growls. In fact I’d say that ‘Sea of Light: Pleroma’ is probably the least doom metal sounding track I’ve ever heard. Not that it’s a bad thing per se, just not what I expected.
Indeed there are several moments in this album that challenge my view of doom metal as being all slow and droning. One such moment is the fast, black metal style drumming half way through ‘Extricate Spirits: Amor’. If there was ever such a genre as blackened doom metal, Essenz would be the its forefather. That’s not to say that there’s no real doom metal tracks on here. Most of them feature elements of the genre such as the guitar riffs in the first half of ‘Observed By Spectres – Paranoia’ or the creepy, ponderous instrumental ‘Observing Spectres – Schizophrenia’, which sees a fusion of doom metal with ambient noise.
Overall this is a very interesting mix of various genres which makes for some very uneasy listening. If you’re tuning into this expecting to hear some orthodox doom metal, you’re in for a massive shock!
3/5
Iza Raittila
Today, Svart Records announces August 24th as the worldwide release date for Bedemon‘s long-awaited Symphony of Shadows, the first-ever set of all-new material by the band regarded by many as the original true U.S. doom band. The UK release date shall be September 3rd, while a special North American release date for later in the fall shall be announced soon.
Inspired by the goriest of fright films and the most menacing of music at the time, guitarist/composer/journalist/author Randy Palmer churned out the very first doom songs written on North American soil. This understated innovator recruited the help of his bandmates, PENTAGRAM co-founders Geof O’Keefe (drums) and Bobby Liebling (vocals) as well as schoolmate Mike Matthews (bass). Throughout the 1970s, the band recorded numerous sinister, doom-drenched slabs of metallic gold — Black Sabbath were Palmer’s idols — that illegally floated around on sub-standard bootlegs for decades. Finally, in 2004 to much fanfare, these rough, never-intended-for-public recordings were collected, repaired, and released as Child of Darkness: From the Original Master Tapes.
Since then, Bedemon has seen a surge in popularity due to their intertwined history with the original Pentagram, in addition to their music being featured in the critically acclaimed award-winning documentary, Last Days Here (Sundance Selects/914 Pictures), chronicling the life and times of PENTAGRAM and original BEDEMON vocalist Bobby Liebling.
Literally a decade in the making, Bedemon now proudly issues their sophomore release, Symphony of Shadows. Shortly after completing recording of the basic rhythm tracks in April 2002, band founder Randy Palmer was involved in a tragic car accident and passed away in August of that year. O’Keefe, Matthews, and new vocalist Craig Junghandel worked with recording engineer Shawn Hafley over the next decade to finish the project both in tribute to Randy and also because they felt so passionately about the strength of the material; the result is nine bone-crushingly heavy slices of pure ’70s-flavored doom metal.
Clocking in at just under 60 minutes, Symphony of Shadows will be released as both a single CD and deluxe 2-LP vinyl set, chock-full of photos, lyrics, liner notes, and intimate stories from the surviving members of this very special band.
Regarding the album, drummer/guitarist/composer Geof O’Keefe says,“This is dedicated to Randy. His songwriting is so far advanced beyond the Child of Darkness material. The album sounds like a classic ’70s metal release, which is very intentional!”
Svart Records president Tomi Pulkki heard the album and knew it was perfect for SVART, saying, “As a label that is perhaps best known for releasing PENTAGRAM and REVEREND BIZARRE on vinyl, I didn’t think twice when the chance to work with BEDEMON was offered. We’re happy to help bring their final opus to the world.”
Full tracklisting for Symphony of Shadows
1. Saviour
2. Lord of Desolation
3. Son of Darkness
4. The Plague
5. D.E.D.
6. Kill You Now
7. Godless
8. Hopeless
9. Eternally Unhuman
Valkyrian Music 