Avantgarde Music

100 copies limited - black double vinyl in gatefold cover

Pioneering French dark atmospheric music since 1996, Dark Sanctuary is back with their eighth album, Cernunnos, the first in fourteen years. Following the EP Iterum released in 2022, it marks the group's return to the front of the stage.

Cernunnos is an ancient Gaulish god who embodied the biological cycle of nature, simultaneously reflecting life and death, germination and decay, like the deer, the animal that represents him, who loses its antlers in winter to recover them in spring. This title perfectly symbolizes the history of Dark Sanctuary after these years of artistic break and this rebirth.

Composed during the year 2022, the 11 songs of this album make it one of the most varied that Dark Sanctuary have made so far, oscillating between what has characterized the band for two decades and new musical horizons. Both dark and emotional, Cernunnos is a new milestone in the history of the group.

Mixed and mastered by Øystein G. Brun at Crosound Studio in Bergen

Cover Artwork by Valnoir/Metastazis

Hailing from the cascadian gloom of British Columbia, Canada, Ulvik,
formed by Jade Fadel and George Allen, released a double length with
Avantgarde Music in 2019, Volume I & II. After spending the opening
months of the 2020 pandemic creating Isolation Motifs, a short concept
instrumental album and corresponding video series, Ulvik finished writing
and recording their sophomore album, Cascades.
Cascades is a hypnotic, atmospheric black metal album, incorporating the
old, organic textures of plucked and bowed bouzoukis and violins to create
ethereal interludes, in contrast to the visceral aggressive tone of each track.
This melding is mirrored by shared dual vocals, creating a counter balance
that weaves and crashes between malevolent and haunting.

Digipak CD with booklet

Five long years after their fascinating debut, Milan-based duo A Pale December deliver their sophomore album, Death Panacea. Compared to The Shrine Of Primal Fire, Death Panacea steers towards more aggressive, warring sounds. The “atmospheric black metal” label which so aptly described their debut album, is now just one of the many, partial definitions which could be used to define the band’s music.

When asked about their new opus, multi-instrumentalists Riccardo Di Bella and Ernesto Ciotola provided the following, strong statement: “While many metal albums seem to appeal to a feeling of fierceness, a call to war, an urge to fight something, we wanted to express the opposite. Death Panacea is an album about defeat and hopelessness, about the inherent futility of human strife and all our laughable attempts at masking this unescapable nature.

We wanted to praise failing and giving up, as opposed to perseverance, pride and the grinding mentality. We wanted to praise the rejects above the leaders, who naively think they can escape this race towards oblivion, and the coward above the fighting man, whose only fault was believing in the frail concept of nation and a false sense of belonging.

While distancing ourselves from these delusional sentiments, we also didn't want to fall into optimistic nihilism; the idea that the awareness of an impending void can grant any peace is simply preposterous. 

Ultimately, this is the meaning that lies behind the title of the album: death is what keeps us in check and yet is the one and only panacea to all our anguishes. In all this, one could almost find a cold comfort, knowing that the top step of the podium is eventually just a springboard to the abyss”.

Olio Tähtien Takana is one of the artistic expressions of Finnish multi-instrumentalist v-KhaoZ (Vargrav, Druadan Forest and many others), here joined in his artistic endeavour by singer Hellwind Inferion (Desolate Shrine, Sargeist).

Spectral Katharsis is the third album by Olio Tähtien Takana, and is described by Hellwind with a series of key terms: “Cosmic, majestic misanthropy and ultimate devil worship”. Expect fury, rage and patterns of keyboards to surround you and bring you on your journey through the cosmos.

On the musical side of things, v-KhaoZ says: “We wanted something different than our other bands, a more straightforward, yet melodic approach. To this we added a varied singing style and otherworldly, space-like keyboards, to reach the multidimensionality we were aiming for”. Spectral Katharsis will tickle fans of Limbonic Art, Odium and the mid-’90s symphonic black metal scene.

The band's very name is probably the best expression to describe what v.KhaoZ and Hellwind Inferion are trying to accomplish with their collaboration, as Olio Tähtien Takana is Finnish for 'A Creature Beyond the Stars'.

2022 Official reissue on digipak CD

Like new copy, but with a small ding on one corner of the digi (almost invisible)  

84 pages Artbook with CD

Limited to one edition only in this format, printed on fine art book-paper and hard cover with goild foil details 

Three years after the second full-length 'Faunalia', the singer/keyboardist Selvans returns with a new EP.
'Dark Italian Art' is definitely the Manifesto of the Italian composer. Selvans confirms the prog rock and symphonic influences introducted in the previous work (with Goblin and Devil Doll ruling the roost), imprinting them definitely in his folk-horror scenery.

The EP introduces 'Corvo Morto' (Italian for 'Dead Crow'), a character created by Selvans in collaboration with the horror writer Luigi Musolino and to whom the track 'Verrà Corvo Morto' (Italian for 'Corvo Morto will come') is connected, as well as the homonimous tale attached to the 80 pages digi-book version of the EP.
Aside from the second new track 'Iò Pan!' and the outro 'L'Errante', Selvans celebrates the artistic heritage of his country with the cover of 'The Hanged Ballad' taken from the first Death SS' album and a cover medley of the legendary album 'Inferno' by Metamorfosi, a progressive italian rock band from the 70's.

This will be the first work in which Selvans is joined by his full live band, made of valid musicians who are with him since several years of concerts.
Learnt the lesson of the great masters of the horror and the absurd in music – with Screamin' Jay Hawkins and King Diamond above all – Selvans offers a decandent and peculiar interpretation which is brazenly Italian.
Walking among woods and ruins of ghost villages, Selvans leads a procession of outcasts hidden behind animal masks, on a muddy stage weaved with roots, whispering rituals of rural magic and cursed doggerels.
Curtains up!

The Belarusian quintet delivers a fast-paced, cold and pure black metal which is looking at both the classic European sound and its more contemporary interpretations. You will find loads of riffs, as well as the odd solo and melodic hook, which will relentlessly drag you toward the Darkness.

200 copies limited edition run - black splatters on red vinyl

Moonlight Sorcery, the Finnish symphonic black metal sensation of 2022, is back with a new mini album featuring three brand-new tracks and a cover.

While hard at work on their debut studio album, Loitsumestari Taikakallo, Haaska and Ruttomieli took a divergent path that brought them to compose and record what would become Nightwind: The Conqueror From The Stars. This has been one of the best kept secrets of 2022, but now the time has come to unveil the new spells which have been conjured in the magical dungeons of Moonlight Sorcery.

Nightwind is in every aspect the follow-up to the acclaimed debut EP Piercing Through The Frozen Eternity, which means an illuminating, blasting example of how symphonic black metal from the ‘90s can be composed and performed three decades later without losing an ounce of its urgency and fascination. And magic. And malice. And evil.

500 copies limited edition run

Moonlight Sorcery, the Finnish symphonic black metal sensation of 2022, is back with a new mini album featuring three brand-new tracks and a cover.

While hard at work on their debut studio album, Loitsumestari Taikakallo, Haaska and Ruttomieli took a divergent path that brought them to compose and record what would become Nightwind: The Conqueror From The Stars. This has been one of the best kept secrets of 2022, but now the time has come to unveil the new spells which have been conjured in the magical dungeons of Moonlight Sorcery.

Nightwind is in every aspect the follow-up to the acclaimed debut EP Piercing Through The Frozen Eternity, which means an illuminating, blasting example of how symphonic black metal from the ‘90s can be composed and performed three decades later without losing an ounce of its urgency and fascination. And magic. And malice. And evil.

Since their inception in 2010, Grá has relentlessly worked to shape their music to be both a perfect example of Swedish black metal and a very personal interpretation of its classic sound. Their new studio album will mark the first cooperation between the band from Stockholm and Avantgarde Music, and we thought best to leave frontman Heljarmadr complete freedom to introduce the opus.

Lycaon is our fourth full length album and ever since we started Grá in 2010, we have been striving for constant evolution, to challenge ourselves as musicians and composers with every release.

Where our last album Väsen was extremely intricate and bombastic, with an "all in" approach to keyboards, orchestral parts, acoustic guitars and choir arrangements, Lycaon is heading in the opposite direction. It has fewer layers and with that, every layer needs to be meticulously measured and well thought out to carry the right atmosphere forward.

Second press, same vinyl color, shipping on / around 15.02

Since their inception in 2010, Grá has relentlessly worked to shape their music to be both a perfect example of Swedish black metal and a very personal interpretation of its classic sound. Their new studio album will mark the first cooperation between the band from Stockholm and Avantgarde Music, and we thought best to leave frontman Heljarmadr complete freedom to introduce the opus.

Lycaon is our fourth full length album and ever since we started Grá in 2010, we have been striving for constant evolution, to challenge ourselves as musicians and composers with every release.

Where our last album Väsen was extremely intricate and bombastic, with an "all in" approach to keyboards, orchestral parts, acoustic guitars and choir arrangements, Lycaon is heading in the opposite direction. It has fewer layers and with that, every layer needs to be meticulously measured and well thought out to carry the right atmosphere forward.

This is a project of Cernunnus (Manes), Kalmos (ex-Barathrum), Rainer Tuominkanto (Ajattara) and Niklas Kvarforth (Shining).

THE BAND STATES:

"Länge Leve Döden" is our monumental celebration of the great Lord of Death. A perfect alignment of five songs that were written under a awful unhealthy process over the course of two years. Expect Black Metal the way it used to feel and sound back in the early nineties and rejoice!"

This is a project of Cernunnus (Manes), Kalmos (ex-Barathrum), Rainer Tuominkanto (Ajattara) and Niklas Kvarforth (Shining).

THE BAND STATES:

"Länge Leve Döden" is our monumental celebration of the great Lord of Death. A perfect alignment of five songs that were written under a awful unhealthy process over the course of two years. Expect Black Metal the way it used to feel and sound back in the early nineties and rejoice!"

Digipak CD in slipcas4e with 16 pages booklet 

“A house, high on a hill, filled with a mystical air.”

Emerging from the burgeoning Ordo Vampyr Orientis circle, black metal entity Bad Manor's energetic and whimsical debut The Haunting weaves a series of dark tales surrounding the band's titular mansion. Inhabited by dark spirits and curses alike, Bad Manor's vision of black metal looks not to grim forests and minimal musical ideas but rather vivid, imagination-driven scenes, curious tales, and sinister, active musical ideas alike. Featuring a paired book illustrated by artist Landis Blair and with stories recounted by the mysterious author and medium Stephen R.C. Sicreeve, The Haunting's multidisciplinary approach to black metal – filled with secrets and hidden passages – is as sprawling and chaotic as the house itself. Lose yourself in its hallways, but don't let yourself disappear. Listeners and readers alike: beware.

Each new homage becomes a portrait, each new portrait becomes our legend.

3rd press / blue in ultra clear  with 180 grams upgrade! 

Let the moonclad twilight veil the forests once again!

Moonlight Sorcery is a Finnish black metal trio formed in early 2018. The band’s black metal is a symphonic and melodic variety by nature. Inspired by many black metal classics as well as classic heavy metal and melodic death metal, the band indeed has a huge palette of influences, which is directly reflected in the versatility of the song material.

Piercing Through the Frozen Eternity, the band first EP, was worked on as the icy winds blew and winter did its magic. In all the peace and quiet. The silver-saturated nights of the moon rushed to the melodies that breathe sorrow and the eternal majesty of the cold stars. 

3rd press / white vinyl  

Let the moonclad twilight veil the forests once again!

Moonlight Sorcery is a Finnish black metal trio formed in early 2018. The band’s black metal is a symphonic and melodic variety by nature. Inspired by many black metal classics as well as classic heavy metal and melodic death metal, the band indeed has a huge palette of influences, which is directly reflected in the versatility of the song material.

Piercing Through the Frozen Eternity, the band first EP, was worked on as the icy winds blew and winter did its magic. In all the peace and quiet. The silver-saturated nights of the moon rushed to the melodies that breathe sorrow and the eternal majesty of the cold stars. 

"Exegeses" is Anicon (New York City) debut album after an handful of eps and demos!
The band comprises members from the raging outfits of Krallice, Trenchgrinder, Geryon.. to name a few of their past and present CVs.

A beautiful 6 panels digipack, in preorder now until release date!

Vinyl will be released in late August 2016 by Gilead Media

Ascolta su BandCamp
 

This is a preorder-only offer.... limited to 20 orders   

You get: one copy of their Digipak CD and one copy of the vinyl in "white in blue" color at a reduced price and you can save some shipping cost

As a room's confining embrace, Kamra grabs and plunges you in a world of allegories, ruminations and imagery with their upcoming debut Cerebral Alchemy. There is no shortage of uneasiness intertwined with familiarity through sounds of those who came before and left their whispers for this five-piece to interpret in a disturbing, brutal, unnerving, beautiful and even caring way.

There is a black metal atmosphere with a kick of old school death metal, while the vocals leave one questioning the genres. As such Kamra is still veiled and secretive, as it is not exactly known who the members are.

PREORDER-ONLY offer: 1 copy in oxblood vinyl + 1 copy of the digipak CD  at a reduced price

Born in 2016 in the sewers of Brno, Czech Republic, Depths Above is one of the underground’s best kept secret. The black metal act conveys the minds of four different individuals coming from different areas and even countries, each one with their own musical background and influences rooted in extreme and obscure music

Now abyssal and then ethereal, with neither boundary nor border: this is Ex Nihilo, a modern black metal album, with a plethora of different influences, from doom and death metal to sludge and post-metal.

Ex Nihilo was originally self-released by Depths Above themselves in 2018 on CD only, in a very limited run, and it never received any further distribution until now. As the band is hard at work on their sophomore album, at the Avantgarde Music hq we believed this stunning work deserved better.

This is a special limited offer - only available during preorder - for:
1x "Strata" splatter LP
1x "Strata" digipak CD 
at a nice price and save shipping money!

Released in January 2013 as a 7", this split ep is now being reissued ten years later as a 10" with some changes on the MonumentuM side:
PJ Harvey's classic "The River" is here featured in a different version from the one on the original ep, plus, to bless the two bands sodality, we are adding the song "In Misery Front Row", which originally appeared in 1998 as an instrumental track called "The Colour Of Compassion" on Misanthopy Records label's compilation Presumed Guilty, but hereby featuring Shining's mastermind Niklas Kvarforth on vocals.

Sebastian Montesi is a prolific artist, probably best known for his endeavors in Mitochondrion and for being one of the founding members of Auroch.
With Saturn’s Cross, the Canadian took a very different path, delving into cold wave territories, which little have to share with the bands he is usually associated to. Yet, when we listened to what Sebastian crafted, we had no doubt, and we gladly welcomed this new project to our roster. With neither hope nor fear, Saturn’s Cross unveils Cheat Death.  Now operating as a two piece, with 1908 entering the fold on bass and
vocals, Cheat Death disregards genre with wild abandon in favour of something that is at times overwhelmingly abrasive and at others intoxicating.
This is a willing exploration of the endless labyrinth and a lamp of pitch black glass intended to serve as a beacon in the lightless depths of the human spirit. This is a headlong dive into the soul's psychic darkness, with nothing to break the fall. This ushers in a new era Saturn's Cross.

Sebastian Montesi is a prolific artist, probably best known for his endeavors in Mitochondrion and for being one of the founding members of Auroch.
With Saturn’s Cross, the Canadian took a very different path, delving into cold wave territories, which little have to share with the bands he is usually associated to. Yet, when we listened to what Sebastian crafted, we had no doubt, and we gladly welcomed this new project to our roster. With neither hope nor fear, Saturn’s Cross unveils Cheat Death.  Now operating as a two piece, with 1908 entering the fold on bass and
vocals, Cheat Death disregards genre with wild abandon in favour of something that is at times overwhelmingly abrasive and at others intoxicating.
This is a willing exploration of the endless labyrinth and a lamp of pitch black glass intended to serve as a beacon in the lightless depths of the human spirit. This is a headlong dive into the soul's psychic darkness, with nothing to break the fall. This ushers in a new era Saturn's Cross.

Black Vinyl

new copy, but arrived with two corners slighly bent/hit during transport.... nothing dramatic, still in great shape... but we can't sell it as mint of course