Despite being formed in 1992 (!), Riga, Latvia based act Claustrum did not actually realize a proper full length. There were some CDr’s before, live and split material, but Legion Of Silence seems to be this project’s very first ‘real’ full length. But believe me if I say that is was worth waiting for!!! Legion Of Silence, consisting of thirteen beautiful hymns, gets released via the mighty Old Captain label in a digipack edition, and this limited to 300 copies.
The Polish horde Aryman was formed at the very beginning of this century, but initially it was a band without name, without an aim (besides playing Black Metal!), without any official and professional recording or release. I guess it was in 2006 when main members Nefarius and Non Serviam decided to baptise their sonic brainchild as Aryman.
I recognize Pär Boström’s name from the (great) Cities Last Broadcast project (expect a review on The Humming Tapes, released via Simon Heath’s Cryo Chamber label, in a very near future). But apparently he and his twin sister, Åsa, have a mutual project going on as well, called Hymnambulae, as well as a new label, Hypnagoga Press.
Chasmbound are a young New York-based one-man army, formed in 2014 by Jun and now debuting with Sourpop via Montréal-based Deathbound Records. This first album was produced by Jun and engineer Jaime Marcelo, and mastered at GAB Recordings with Garry Brents. It’s recorded with the assistance of two additional session vocalists (A. Toussi and R. Gill), and the whole album lasts for about half an hour.
It seems like a farewell, this title: The End Of It All. For a part, that’s correct, since it’s the last chapter in another trilogy by Swedish duo Beyond Sensory Experience. They had a first trilogy during last decade, being done via defunct Cold Meat Industry, and there was a second one that was released via Old Europa Café.
Phragments, the main outfit of Slovakian artists Matej Gyárfáš and Nenad Branković, return with their fifth studio recording, after 2013’s New Kings And New Queens. That last one did slightly differ from the first recordings, for being less martial and orchestral in nature, yet rather Drone-oriented than before. And that indeed is sort of the direction this album goes on once again.
Humanitas Error Est, hailing from Leipzig, Germany, debut with Human Pathomorphism, an eleven-tracker that lasts for fifty-six minutes. The band, with former and current members of e.g. Rogash, Goatfuck and Grabak, was founded in 2013, and recently they signed to Satanath Records to have this debut released and distributed (once again in an unholy partnership with Abstruse Eerie Radiance and Black Plague Records).
I have to be honest, but I hadn’t heard of Inwolves before. This project seems to be an outfit of Karen Willems, whom you might know from her collaboration and inwolvement, sorry, involvement with e.g. Dirk Serries, Zita Swoon and Yuko. And apparently there was an album before under this moniker, released in early 2014 (Air+), both as digital download and on vinyl.
A quick one, but too interesting not to review: Voices Of Regret, the debut of The Great Wound. It’s a new outfit by Basque musicians Tristan Iniguez (ex-Darkness By Oath) and Ekaitz Garmendia (ex-Legen Beltza, Extinction). They did record (+ mix & master) this debut at the Auryn Studios (also in the Basque Country), and it lasts for forty-five minutes.
Blood Fire Death, Erzsebet and so on… I am dreaming of my favourite countess right now…
A quick one: Atomic Cucumber is a re-release of the original album from 2013, re-released in an edition of 500 hand-numbered copies via Dark Front and Zombie Records, with distributional assistance by Satanath Records. It’s a filthy piece that irritates the listener’s consciousness for half an hour, but in case you’re a masochistic entity, it might be a pleasure…
