News: Throne of Malediction

USA Black Metal band Throne of Malediction just released a new split album with the band's side-project Irreverant Soul, titled Rites.
The EP contains 13 tracks, including the Candlemass cover by Throne Of Malediction, the Sepultura cover by Irreverant Soul, and a collaboration with Vrangsinn of Carpathian Forest on the track What Will Never Be.  

You can download Rites from the band's Bandcamp profile:

http://throneofmalediction.bandcamp.com/download?enc=mp3-320&id=402569794&ts=1353586937.1209812277&tsig=968f45cd233a54df39cfa2f3a30880c4&type=album

Or you can listen to it only:

http://throneofmalediction.bandcamp.com/album/rites

Rites tracklist:

01. Throne of Malediction - Born of Innocence 
02. Throne of Malediction - A Burden of Ages 
03. Throne of Malediction - Not Meant For Me 
04. Throne of Malediction - What Will Never Be - (Featuring Vrangsinn from Carpathian Forest)
05. Throne of Malediction - The Circle 
06. Throne of Malediction - Solitude - (Candlemass cover) 
07. Throne of Malediction - The Sins Within 
08. Throne of Malediction - Sweet Sorrow - (Demo) 
09. Irreverant Soul - Waltz of The Macabre 
10. Irreverant Soul - From What Is Dead 
11. Irreverant Soul - Moonlight and Death 
12. Irreverant Soul - Troops of Doom - (Sepultura cover) 
13. Irreverant Soul - Grief 

Read more in:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Throne-of-Malediction/43044974933

News: IRAE

Portuguese Black Metal band IRAE will re-release their two last demos In The Veins of Satan and 7 Hatred Manifestos but this time all together in one CD which will be limited to 300 copies through Infinite Darkness Productions. You'd better run if you want a copy!
For orders, trades or more information, please contact:

inf.darkness@gmail.com

or

vulturius666@gmail.com

News: Tsjuder

Season of Mist will re-release Desert Northern Hell, the third album of Norwegian Black Metal band Tsjuder, but this time with bonus stuff. This time it will include four bonus tracks recorded live in Quebec City in 2001, as well as the long sold-out Norwegian Apocalypse DVD, filmed in 2005.
The release will come out on the 15th of February 2013 (and on the 19th of February 2013 in North America) as CD and gatefold LP formats, both of them including the bonus DVD.

Desert Northern Hell tracklist:

01. Malignant Coronation

02. Ghoul

03. Possessed

04. Lord of Swords

05. Helvete

06. Mouth of Madness

07. Unholy Paragon

08. Sacrifice

09. Morbid Lust

10. Primeval Fear [live]

11. Daemons Journey [live]

12. Beyond the Grave [live]

13. The Gate of Nanna [live] 

Read more in:

http://www.season-of-mist.com/news/tsjuder-2012-11-27

Review: Ragnarok's latest album "Malediction"

Ragnarok, Norwegian Black Metal band released through Agonia Records their seventh full length called Malediction.
If you are a fan of traditional Black Metal you will enjoy this album a lot.
If you expect atmosphere, feeling, darkness, you won't.
Starting with the artwork cover, it shows us a throne with a "skulled" character similar to a saint sitting on it. Meaning, even though there is all the ancient look and the halo, this character has no face or head, but a skull instead. Hanging on their neck there is a reversed cross as in a Rosary, but just upside down.
On the lap of this character lies a faint woman bearing a few cuts on her right arm and at their feet lays a naked angel, as innocent as a baby, just dead.
Regarding the album, it has ten tracks, not very original. It is the typical "blast beat Black Metal", where the drums sometimes sounds like a machine never stopping for even one second. It's true that Ragnarok plays this traditional Black Metal awesomely good, they really know how to play it, but in terms of content, there's not much to say about it. There are few melodious riffs, pretty chords, but again, not much more than that. The song Dystocratic is perhaps the surprising one, showing some musicality, which is not very patent in the rest of the album unfortunately.
It is a bit hard to understand the point the band tried to make with this album, since they are so experienced but for some reason not able to show us something better or at least a bit different. It's not that a band should change their style or anything like that, but a bit of improvement is always good, and even though they are all very good musicians, the result is more of the same.

Review: Forgotten Tomb's latest album "...And Don't Deliver Us From Evil"

Italian Depressive Black Metal Forgotten Tomb released recently their latest album called ...And Don't Deliver Us From Evil, through Agonia Records. This is their sixth album.
The album consists of seven tracks and it's very close to perfection.
Digipack CD has a bonustrack which is no more no less than a cover of Transmission, originally by Joy Division.
Vinyl version has a bonustrack too, which is a cover of Sore, originally by Buzzov•en.
Starting with the artwork cover, it is a black and white image of a creepy tree from where an apple is hanging. In one of the branches there is a raven staring at a girl who is trying to collect the apple. It's very melancholic and symbolic work, very Autumny, which is just another sign of the "almost perfection" of this album since it just came out in the peak of Autumn. All it seems to resemble the sin and forbiddance in the act of collecting the fruit by what could be a devilish child.
Musically, it is very melodic, very powerful, very intense and emotional. Still depressive. Good depressive if you wish. It has some similarities to the band Shinning though.
There is no redundancy here as sometimes there is in Depressive Black Metal bands, (where you only need to listen to one song to know how the whole album will sound). ... And Don't Deliver Us From Evil is a fine example of how you can pass on some idea without being boring and repetitive.
Here and there, there are acoustic guitar riffs and melodies that will fill your soul, sometimes accompanied by the so suffered growls of Herr Morbid. Not surprisingly but very pleasantly there are some clean voices too, very melodic. Forgotten Tomb is a band that has the power of making us "feel" properly. 
For Lachryma Christi, the most remarkable song may be Love Me Like You'd Love The Death, which makes us want to scream along and rip our hearts off. So very incredibly emotional!
This album has everything to be one of the top 10 albums of 2012 to Lachryma Christi. 

Lachryma Christi's playlist for the week

For the ones who don't know it yet, Lachryma Christi is made of one member only. Meaning, it's easy to share with you some of the albums that are currently in the player for the week. From now on, every Monday Lachryma Christi will post the playlist for the week (let's try to keep it weekly!). This week it is today, Tuesday, because the idea came up today really.
The point is not to try to influence your taste nor to mark good or bad albums. The point is only to share and give you ideas of what you could eventually listen to. The order of the names of the bands doesn't mean they are the best or the worse. And not all of them are recent.

So here we go! 10 of the albums for the week:

Forgotten Tomb - And Dont't Deliver us From Evil
Saille - Ritu
Ragnarok - Malediction
Eïs - Wetterkreuz
Tsjuder - Desert Northern Hell
Endezzma - Erotik Nekrosis
Marduk - Serpent Sermon
Vreid - V
Anaal Nathrakh - Vanitas
Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast

Review: Acrimonious' new album "Sunyata"

Sunyata is the name of the new album of the Black Metalers Acrimonious, from Greece, just released through Agonia Records.
Artwork is colorful, very symbolic and sort of ritualistic, from Kyle Fite and Vampress Imperium.
It's an ok album. Doesn't bring a lot of new things, sounds very typical. Maybe they could benefit from less blast beats.
The album starts with a dark and even sad intro. A very good one, really. But then when the album starts properly, it doesn't follow the same line. As if the intro was out of place (or the opposite, hard to say). 
It is a master's work: was recorded, mixed, and mastered in Sitra Ahra and Unreal Studios with the assistance of Necromorbus Studio (Watain, Adorior, Ondskapt, Destroyer 666). Still, it's not an album to get stuck to, nor an album with many memorable tracks. The second track called Lycaria Hecate is much more melodic and varied than the rest of the album. It has some keyboards works that definitely change everything but that follow the line of the introduction and not of the rest of the album. And it's a bit sad not to listen to more of this interludes in the album, because that would have probably made all the difference.
Sunyata is aggressive as all Black Metal is and should be, but a bit repetitive. Has a mix of progressiveness at some points, which is a good idea, but quickly gets back to the same line and hardly gets out of it again. 
Production is amazing, very good quality, every little sound is easy to understand, so nothing bad to point out here.
A bit more of variety, melody, atmosphere would do the trick!

Review: Endezzma's new Album "Erotik Nekrosis"

Norwegian Black Metal band Endezzma just released their new album called Erotik Nekrosis through Polish label Agonia Records. As many of you know, this is a very special album, since it was one of the last releases where Trond Bråthen, aka Trondr Nefas (also from Urgehal and so many other bands, in fact his contribution to Black Metal was enourmous) took part before his death. This was one of the causes for the so gossiped delayed release of the album, awaited for so many metalheads all over the world, even though Endezzma is still kind of recent. "Kind" because it actually was born from an old project called Dim Nagel, more precisely from 1993. 
So, starting with the artwork cover, it represents two corpses highly decomposed, one male and one female, weirdly resembling the traditional Death Metal "design" for artwork. It is all black and white, which makes it a little bit darker and obscure, which puts the Death Metal look a bit aside.
Musically it is varied enough, where you can find atmosphere, darkness, melody,very good solos, and all that concerns the traditional Black Metal, but also rock and roll, which makes a very interesting combination. In one word: result! 
First thought after listening to Erotik Nekrosis: wow, this is so easy to get into! (in a good way)
The influences of 90's Black Metal are obvious and justified. Still, you can notice the influence of other different styles. It's not a boring, traditional, "more of the same" Black Metal. It is good, fluid, when it ends you think "already over?", and well, let's hope these guys keep doing more of this good work. Sadly, without Trondr Nefas, to who this album ended up being a fair tribute.


Erotik Nekrosis tracklist:

01. Junkyard Oblivion
02. Enigma of the Sullen
03. Against Them All
04. Swansong of a Giant
05. Hollow
06. Krossing the Rubikon
07. Soulcleansing

News: Koldbrann

Norwegian band Koldbrann finally released details of their new album Vertigo, such as the tracklist and artwork cover. The album is supposed to come out on the 25th January 2013 (and on the 22nd in America) through Season of Mist.
Vertigo will be available as CD, transparent gatefold double LP and black gatefold double LP and you can pre-order it on the following link:

http://e-shop.season-of-mist.com/en/titles/vertigo/21838

Vertigo tracklist:

01. IntroVertigo
02. Totalt Sjelelig Bankerott
03. Hjertets Holodomor
04. Drammen
05. Stolichnaya Smert
06. Terminal Transnistrii
07. Phantom Kosmonaut
08. Goat Lodge
09. I Eklipsens Skimmer
10. Sans Soleil
11. Inertia Corridors

Read more in:

http://www.season-of-mist.com/bands/koldbrann

Review: Dordeduh's album "Dar De Duh"

Dordeduh released their album Dar De Duh on the 28th of September 2012. For those who don't know, Dordeduh is a band born in 2009 after Hupogrammos and Sol Faur left the romanian band Negură Bunget.
They first released an EP called Valea Omului in 2010, and now they just released the new album Dar De Duh through Prophecy Productions.

Regarding artwork, it shows us a brownish nature image that looks like wood or cork with the word Dordeduh carved in the center in a circle.

Regarding music, it sounds much like Negură Bunget.

The album consists of eight tracks. These tracks explore in varied backgrounds the meaning and symbolism of the number seven. It is a very introspective album, very atmospheric, very intense and even very aggressive at parts.
It's not easy to describe it if you are not listening along to know exactly what is described here, as it sounds so improvised at times. You can't just make up your mind about what you think of this album if you listen to one song only, because every song is a different experience.
It starts with a song called Jind de Tronuri that after 2:43 minutes of dark introduction explodes into the very strong and unexpected first trip of the album, but not without in between you hear the words "Și primul dar a fost tăcere" (or close enough!) which is Romanian for "The first gift was silence".
From song to song there is always a kind of passage, dreamy, sometimes scary, spiritual, ghostly, natural, beautiful. 
E-an-na is probably the quietest song in the album, very dark and acoustic with clean voices.
Last song Dojană sounds almost like an hymn, very ritualistic and shamanic.
But the most remarkable song for Lachryma Christi in this album is Flăcărarii, the second track. It's very powerful, very strong, majestic, pure, proper pagan (or atmospheric folk) Black Metal with a touch of progressiveness. Keyboards play an essential role in here as well. Actually keyboards are present in all album, especially in unexpected passages, but it is very especial in this track.
Lachryma Christi had the pleasure of seeing Dordeduh live in the past 1st of October, and honestly speaking, doesn't work as well as listening to the studio version. Studio version is really emotional, it's not easy to keep that level live. It was a good show though.

News: Uncreation's Dawn

Uncreation's Dawn, Black Metal band from Finland just released their new album Holy Empire Of Rats, through Finnish label No Sign of Life Records.
You can buy the album on the following website:

http://www.nosignoflife.com/uncreations_dawn_fi_holy_empire_of_rats_cd

Holy Empire of Rats tracklist:

01. Holy Empire of Rats 
02. Devouring Blight 
03. Jaws of Pestilence 
04. Serpent of the Old (The Everwrathful One) 
05. Sepulchral Madness 
06. Operation Ragnarök 
07. Wotanic Shocktroops 
08. Abandoning the Prison of Flesh 
09. Aardse Verdoemenis 
10. Sudenveri 
11. Outro 

Read more in:

http://www.nosignoflife.com/uncreations_dawn_fi_holy_empire_of_rats_cd

Review: Eïs' new album "Wetterkreuz"

As many of you certainly know, German band Eïs just suffered a change on the lineup and on the name as well (they used to be called Geïst). Their new album recently released and called Wetterkreuz is like the result of the mentioned changes. 
Wetterkreuz is all about nature, ice, ravines, solitude, all in a very atmospheric way. Here we are "face to face" with a proper atmospheric Black Metal album, influenced by the Northern Black Metal, with deep melodies and very sentimental riffs. It's as fast as expected, as sharp as expected, as aggressive as expected, not more, not less, just very good. 
The cover of the album shows us a very greyish colored image of snow falling over some icy ravines, and in the middle we can see an enormous weather-cross. It's an awesome artwork, even majestic.
As for the album, first track called Mann aus Stein (meaning something like "man made of stone") starts with the wind, creepy wind, gelid and strong wind. Wind followed by words, and suddenly the music just rips the atmosphere leading us to a very introspective experience through the ravines and cliffs and even the sky. 
All five tracks seem to be linked to each other, with perfect short windy intros always reminding us of the frosty and wintry place we are in. 
All said, if even after all the conceptual and dramatic and even romantic description you want to hear the obvious blast beats, spooky keyboards, powerful voice, and maybe feel some goosebumps, go for Wetterkreuz, it's a masterpiece that will certainly be among the albums that will make the 10 best Black Metal albums of 2012 for Lachryma Christi.
To finish, production is amazingly good, everything sounds very clear and all the rawness is there. This album is a good example of how a clear and limpid sound doesn't have to interfere on any crudity or aggressiveness in a song or even in an entire album. 

Interview with Pestilence (ITA)

Tonight, Lachryma Christi would like to present you a (very raw) Black Metal band from Italy, called Pestilence. The band was born in 2010, by Ungoliant and Cadaver, and it has remained a two members band, swinging from theme to theme as the albums go by and with a very raw production. Three months ago they released their new album called Frosbitten Whispers Against Starry Nightsky. Let's see shortly what Ungoliant has to tell us about Pestilence.

Can you tell a bit of the story of Pestilence? How did it start?
The idea was born from cadaver and initially we were called "Tower". Due to various reasons we had to split up, and then, after a year, I suggested to Cadaver to re-found the band under the name of Pestilence.

Why the name Pestilence?

There isn' t a clear reason, initially we wanted to give a hint of "rot" and "disease" to the band, and at the same time I was very fascinated by the plagues that afflicted Europe in ancient times.

What are your lyrics about?

We change a lot the themes, album after album. We have a particular way of writing the lyrics, mainly Cadaver is the main lyric compositor, as I said, the first demo was based on violence, putrefaction, Anti-Christianity and blasphemy (for example "Fustigation of Christian's Flesh", "Crucified and Rotten"). In the next demo we preferred to talk about the beauty of nature such as forests, mountains and the night sky.. (for example Dreams of Forgotten Forests and Nocturnal Glowing Eyes). In this last period, instead, we are moving on themes such as witchcraft, necromancy and vampirism.

How does the writing process works? What comes first?

Everything starts with the musical parts, I compose some riffs, than Cadaver writes the lyrics. So we record guitars and drums simultaneously . We assemble bass, second guitars, keyboards and vocals.

We do not use sophisticated methods to record, we always try to get a sound raw and primordial.

What bands have inspired you the most?

Bands like Behexen, Taake, Hellvetic Forest and obviously Satyricon.

Looks like the Underground Black Metal scene in Italy has grown quite a lot lately, what is your opinion about this?

For sure, Black Metal isn't dead, but we think that the old Black Metal cannot be compared with the current one.

What can we expect of Pestilence in a near future?

We will try to keep the same Black Metal sound of the past to homage this scene. We are currently working on new material..

Any message you would like to leave to Black Metal followers and Pestilence followers?

We want to thank all those who support us and the underground Black Metal scene. Keep on burn the angels!

Lineup:

Ungoliant- Vocals, Guitars
Cadaver- Drums, Keyboards, Bass

Latest release:

Frosbitten Whispers Against Starry Nightsky (2012)

You can find more information and music of Pestilence in:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pestilence/228056907291263

Review: Koldbrann's EP "Totalt Sjelelig Bankerott"

As you may know, Koldbrann signed recently a deal with french label Season of Mist. They will be releasing a new album called Vertigo in January of 2013. But before that, while you wait, you can indulge yourself with the just released EP Totalt Sjelelig Bankerott. The EP came out on the 16th of November and Lachryma Christi would advise you to get it quickly if you really want it, as it may be sold out very soon since only 300 copies were made of such a good work.
Koldbrann are one of the most prestigious bands in Underground Norwegian Black Metal and this EP shows it well. You may expect the usual fast and clangorous riffs, the also fast and assured drums and the throaty voice singing in their natural language and sometimes almost reciting. There is nothing very new in it, but there is nothing disappointing in it either. It's true Norwegian Black Metal!
If we were all waiting since 2006 for something new, this is actually a very welcome release, just too bad that it is only a single. If it was an album, maybe it would be one of Lachryma Christi's top 10 releases for 2012. Still, it is a good starter while waiting for Vertigo, which will not almost certainly disappoint anyone!
The cover is a bit "weird", looks a bit too "mechanized" if it makes sense. The tracks sound like old stuff, in a good way, like the best Black Metal that doesn't come out easily anymore. The cover seems to be too modern in comparison. But we all have to adjust to the passing of time and to the idea that this is actually a single from 2012 and not from the 90's at it may sound!
The 7“ Vinyl Single consists of two tracks: A. Totalt Sjelelig Bankerott and B. Kasjtjeijs Svøpe. The first track will be in Vertigo as well. 


As already posted before in Lachryma Christi, you can order the single on the following websites:

http://www.platekompaniet.no/Musikk.aspx/LP/Koldbrann/Totalt_Sjelelig_Bankerott_VINYL_-_7/?id=SUA029E
http://e-shop.season-of-mist.com/en/items/koldbrann/totalt-sjelelig-bankerott/7-ep/33040

As some of you may know, Koldbrann are:

Kvass: guitars
Mannevond: vocals 
Voidar: guitars
Folkedal: drums
S.G.J.: bass

News: Saille

Belgian Black Metal band Saille are releasing a new album in January, Ritu. (You can see review by Lachryma Christi to the same here: http://lachrymachristizine.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/review-to-sailles-new-album-ritu.html)

The band just made available a video for one of the tracks of Ritu, Haunter of the Dark, which you can watch inthe youtube link below.



Lachryma Christi takes the chance to remind you that the album will be released through Italian label Code666 Records, and that Saille will be touring with Romanian Pagan Black Metal band Negură Bunget, starting early next year.

Read more in:

http://www.saille.be/

News: Porta Nigra

Porta Nigra, German Avant-garde Doom Black Metal band just released their first album called Fin de Siècle through Debemur Morti Productions. In America the album should be released only on the 8th of January 2013.

You can watch the new video for one of the tracks of the new album, Megalomaniac, on the youtube link below.



The album is available in amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/mn/search/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=bestblcom0c-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=Porta+Nigra+-+Fin+de+Si%C3%A8cle&url=search-alias%3Daps

Fin de Siècle tracklist:

1. Dekadente Nächte 
2. Megalomaniac 
3. Der Spiegel 
4. Absinthfee 
5. Aas der Meere 
6. Fin de Siècle 
7. Tod meiner Lust 

Read more in:

http://www.facebook.com/PortaNigraBand

Review to Saille's new album "Ritu"

Belgian Symphonic Black Metal Saille will be releasing a new album through Code666, on the 18th of January of 2013 and it will be called Ritu.
This album could be described in one word only: Fantastic.
But let's get into some more detailed description:
Artwork cover is done by Michal Karcz, Polish digital landscape artist, and it is all in green tones, showing a semi secret building embedded in a rock, over a large extension of sand as in a beach. There are dark clouds covering the rock, but in the horizon it is still possible to see some lurking light.
Ritu is a conceptual album, inspired by ancient death rites. It is very melodic, dramatic, strong, emotional, dark, atmospheric, it's hard to find the right words as it is so good!
It is made of nine tracks, all very powerful and fast and properly Black Metal sounding, giving no space for doubts, if you ever had any. The keyboards are very prominent, making it all sound a bit ghostly and even more engaging.
The guitars are always very well aligned and in perfect harmony with the keyboards and the usual throaty voice of Mr. Dennie Grondelaers. There is the female voice in tracks like Runaljod, which helps this all sounding a bit ritualistic itself and also a bit cliche, as (whether you like it or not) is always implicit in good Black Metal stuff! The cliche, that is.
There are also acoustic parts, leading us to somewhere else, almost like a pagan place and time.
Can't help mentioning the instrumental track, A Titan's Sacrifice. Thrilling, obscure, shadowy, whisperous, perfect.
It's still a while until the album comes out, but it's worth waiting!

Review: Blutmond's new album "Revolution is Dead!"

Swiss band Blutmond is releasing a new album through Code666. Scheduled date is tomorrow, the 19th of November 2012. New album is called Revolution is Dead! and consists of 12 tracks. The artwork by 10XIXt (Farsot) cover represents something like a blindfolded woman made of stone in a leather couch holding a megaphone. Which gives the impression that not only revolution is dead but also everything that causes it and everything that comes from it. 
There are many guest musicians on this album: Anna Murphy (Eluveitie), Markus Baltes (Autumnblaze), Managram (Varg), Schwadorf (The Vision Bleak), Christoph Ziegler (Vinterriket), Fredy Schnyder (Nucleus Torn), Dorian M. Nellen (Amon), Chrigel Glanzmann (Eluveitie), Uli Fuchs and Eugene Wiebe.
First thing that came to mind was: Black Metal? But again, Blutmond left the traditional Black Metal long ago and are now into what we call Avant-garde Black Metal. So don't expect anything traditionally Black Metalish because you will not find any. It sounds a bit more hardcoreish where you can actually and weirdly hear some sort of experimental and unexpected parts, and when you think "I'm totally lost", there comes the most melodic and sweet thing you've ever heard (which may make you feel even more lost).
It's a very provocative and emotional album, musically following the line of Thirteen Urban Ways 4 Groovy Bohemian Days but leaving even more the Black Metal influences behind and losing a bit the balance they achieved in that album.
Female voice comes all unexpected in a very baffling way which makes it all even more chaotic, making very present and strong the idea the band has about not staying quiet even if it seems there is no point in revolution anymore. Sounds a bit desperate, ironic, sarcastic, confused and also confusing, out of control. Conceptually they may have made their point though. 
Sometimes the idea of wanting to do something different is a good idea. But wanting is not enough. It worked better on the previous album.

News: Wallachia

Wallachia, Epic Back Meta band from Norway just released their new album called Shunya though Debemur Morti Productions. 

You can stream the whole album in the following link:

http://www.legacy.de/exklusives/item/24343-exklusiver-albumstream-wallachia-shunya

You can also see a trailer for the album on the video below.

Shunya tracklist:

01. Dual Nothingness 
02. Gloria in Excelsis Ego 
03. Ksatriya 
04. Enlightened by Deception 
05. Hypotheist 
06. Nostalgia Among the Ruins of Common 
07. Harbinger of Vacuumanity 
08. Emotional Ground Zero 

Read more in:

https://www.facebook.com/wallachiaband

http://www.legacy.de/exklusives/item/24343-exklusiver-albumstream-wallachia-shunya