One of the most mysterious projects from Spain lately is this one: Hic Iacet, known from quite an interesting demo (Hedonist Of The Death, released on vinyl too), and the 7”EP Prophecy Of Doom. And now this project returns with the first full studio album, which lasts for thirty eight minutes (six tracks).
The scene from New Zealand might not be as big as the Australian one, but there are quite some promising acts dwelling out there lately.
Vircolac from Ireland… Codex Perfida, their debut, lasting for 23:36 minutes (four tracks). ‘at once grounded in filth, bulldozing and palpitating, doomed-out and disgusting’, or a ‘study of contrasts, set amongst a haunting ‘n’ harrowing soundfield and shot through with violent execution’. What do you think?... Are you willing to continue reading? Of course you are…
Unaussprechlichen Kulten are probably one of the most legendary bands ever from Chilean soil. Their last album, People Of The Monolith, was nothing else but a masterpiece, and I was quite happy to notice that now, finally, after six years of impatience, the band does return with their third full length, Baphomet Pan Shub-Niggurath. Iron Bonehead will release the stuff on vinyl.
Something of a surprise from the Czech scene, Cult of Fire mix some notable ferociousness of their own into the typical black metal formula.
There are many bands that are called Abyssal, but this review deals with the second album by the so-called band from the United Kingdom, recorded shortly after the release of 2012’s Denouement.
I honestly had never heard of FŌR before (even though there uses to be a full length, called Kundaz), but ‘they’ do really surprise me with the vinyl-record Blakaz Askǭ Hertô (and as from now on I am searching for that debut!). The concept deals with the witch Gullveig and the Ulfhamir, the bloodline of wolves and the whole spiritual histories behind it. No, it’s not original anymore, but it does fit once again!
I only knew this Czech band from their collaboration on last year’s split with Germany’s Vindorn and Sator Marte; the latter is a band that shares Triumph, Genus’s instrumentalist Svar, by the way. Triumph, Genus consists of this multi-instrumentalist, as well as vocalist / lyricist Jaroslav, and this first full length comes on both CD and vinyl (the latter, however, limited to 300 copies only).
Sacrocurse are a very young act, formed in 2012 by Mexican sweetheart Carlos ‘Zolrak’ Montes, whom you might know from acts like Unholier, Obeisance, Nokturnel, Adumus, Morbosidad or Nodens. With friendly assistance of a friendly guy called Godslaying Hellblast, Zolrak and his Sacrocurse-project debut with a four-track demo-tape, Sulphur Blessing.
Since I am a divine appreciator of these two bands’ earlier efforts, I was extremely pleased to find out they did joined forces, more or less, with resulting in a split-collaboration. All together: hurray! Actually it was released in 2012 for the American market especially via Red Stream, and the vinyl freaks will appreciate the re-release on EP for sure.
