Despite more than two years of age, it still is more than interesting to focus on Pretium, until now being the sole official full-length release by Russian / Belarussian act Atra Haeresis. On this recording, the band consists of Alexey Veselov aka Fenrir, whom you might know from Bestial Deform or Ethir Anduin (bass), as well as Sergei Ambrazevich (vocals) and Alexander Antygin (guitars).
Sometimes a prophetic message is written in the starlight. A gathering of divine spirits, a stronghold of celestial deities, a revelation of astral and cosmic energy; it is like Space and Time being somehow gathered to purport the contemplation of a majestic occurrence. It comes in an aural form, unphysical, impregnable, unassailable.
For more than a decade, Gôr Mörgûl dwell around to bring us their message of blasphemy and black magic. With Elohim, this band from Sardinia, Italy, brings forth their third full length opus, continuing the path they started in 2010 with In The Sign Of Blackness, followed by the EP Ruins Of The Icons Of God (2014) and the second full album, Heresy (2015). One again we had to wait quite some time, but Elohim might be worth waiting for so long.
Well, this was something I did look forward to so passionately! When Aleksey Korolyov told me there would be a new Abigorum album, I couldn’t wait to listen to it. I was (and still am) very impressed by all former material he created under this moniker. But there was more. Apparently he did not create this album on his own anymore. No, this time he co-operated with some other musicians, turning Abigorum from a solo-outfit into a real band.
SURPRISE!!!
…hope I didn’t scare you. But please continue reading – consider it a warning – for this split might scare you off for sure!
Two weeks ago, I posted a review on the re-release of the Striborg recording Spiritual Catharsis, originally released in 2004 and now re-issued by a partnership of Satanath Records and Death Portal Studio (see: http://www.concreteweb.be/reviews/striborg). So, I am not going to write a new full introduction on this Tasmanian one-man horde, but I’d like to refer to that recently published article.
I can easily sum up tens of Black Metal bands and projects from Australia, but when talking about the Southern island Tasmania, there are only three names that immediately come to mind: Astral Winter and Atra Vetosus, both projects with Josh Young (Immortal Frost Productions) and Striborg. The latter is a very, very, extremely very much very productive outfit by one Sin Nanna (real name: Russell Menzies).
From the bleak, Arctic soil of New Mexico hail Aetranok, a quintet that started earlier this decade. At the very beginning of 2014, the band released a first album (on compact disc), Grande Invokation, via Colorado-based Death Portal Studio, re-released a couple of months later, also on CD and digitally, through Senseless Life Records from the U.K. (nowadays known as Sepulchral Silence).
Finally! After five years of silence, Italian combo Gôr Mörgûl return with their second full album, called Heresy. Okay, I am sort of exaggerating, for the band released an EP in 2014 (Ruins On The Icons Of God). This quartet from the isle of Sardinia was formed in 2007, and did record this new material in very early 2015.
Satanath Records’ head commander Aleksey let me know, a couple of weeks ago, to look out for some auditive quality from my home country, i.e. Vlaanderen / Flanders, eh, I mean Belgium. And indeed, Zardens are the first Belgian band on this superb Russian label. Actually, sub-label SODP had some stuff from right here in a recent past (Scum Noise and Vox Impia), and in mean time also Angakok signed to Satanath.
