The very young Tampere, Finland-based label Saturnal Records suddenly appear out of the blue with some highly interesting releases; On Death’s Wings by Blood Red Fog and Hellspirit with Dawn Under Curse will be the first releases, available as from May 26th on, and at the end of July one can expect Anticipation For Blood Leveled In Darkness by super-group Voodoo Gods. Look out for the upcoming reviews.
Ad Patres are a French combo that recently signed to Grind / Death label Kaotoxin. As a first result of this collaboration, there will be a re-issue of Scorn Aesthetics. Scorn Aesthetics is an album originally released in 2012 on CD, and it will be available right now on vinyl (limited to 500 copies only, amongst which half of them on red vinyl) and on cassette (limited to 100 copies), albeit remastered.
The Russian one-man army Vir’ (something like ВирЬ) was formed at the end of last century by multi-instrumentalist / vocalist Sergey Milushkin in the city of St. Petersburg. Throughout the years, he worked with session drummers to record the material he wrote. Vir’ released a first album in 2006, called Nizhny Les, and a second one in 2008, which was entitled Horna.
UltraMantis is the alter ego of a famous professional wrestler who is mainly active in the Chikara competition. He won a couple of times, and when he does not need to fight, he works as commentator for other wrestling matches. His professional nickname is based on the fact that he wears a mantis-mask, as part of his wrestling image. Anyway, he joined forces with members of Punk-band Pissed Jeans in what eventually became UltraMantis Black.
Treha Sektori are a project by Dehn Sora, whom we do know, of course, from the excellent Sembler Deah-project (which includes members of AmenRa). He also joined the Paris-based Black-horde Glaciation, but everyone also recognises his name as visual artist (i.e. painter / graphic designer), creating artwork for hands full of bands and projects.
Temtris are a band from Australia, formed at the end of last century as Labyrinth. After a while, the moniker changed to Labyrinthia, and under the current moniker they released two full length albums, Threshold in 2003 (self-release), and Masquerade in 2007, their debut for Battlegod Productions. After quite a period of silence, the band returned in January 2014 with a new single, called Your Time Has Come.
The Brooklyn-based quartet (Brandon and Chris Cruz, Danny Moncada and Etienne Vazquez) So Hideous are one of the most exciting surprises I met lately. The band, formed in 2008, debuts with Last Poem / First Light, which was originally self-released last year, but now it gets a proper promotion after signing to Prosthetic’s roster earlier this year.
Schammasch are an act from Basel (a historical city in Switzerland, close to the border with both Germany and France), which was formed in 2009. The name is based on the Babylonian god of the sun. The band released a first album, called Sic Lvceat Lvx, in 2011, and they performed live on stage with the likes of Forgotten Tomb, Evoken, Temple Of Baal, Jex Thoth or Vorkreist, amongst others.
The Norwegian trio Purple Hill Witch (Kristian-g, v; Andreas-b, and Øyvind-d) was formed in 2011, and their 7”EP Alchemy was received with open arms within the Doom-underground. They were recently signed by The Church Within Records, and they now release their self-titled debut full length, which lasts for forty seven minutes.
Rome-based act Hour Of Penance was formed more than fifteen years ago in the capital of Italy, Rome, and they recorded a first demo in 2000, which drew attention of Xtreem Music. On this label they released two full lengths, Disturbance (2003) and Pageantry For Martyrs (2005), followed by 2008’s The Vile Conception and 20101’s Paradigma, both via Unique Leader Records.
