CD

Info : Since their formation in 2007, MINENWERFER have pursued a proud 'n' pure vision of black metal idiosyncratically focused on World War I - idiosyncratic, in the sense that the band hail from America but mostly sing in German. What has resulted is a startlingly accomplished canon that has quietly built itself into prolific proportions, with their first album arriving in 2010, followed by albums in 2012 and 2019, and a slew of split releases and EPs in the interim.

Of those many short-length releases, Der Rote Kampfflieger is the oldest and perhaps most curious. Here, MINENWERFER offered the new track “Ace of Aces,” the reworked “Albatros in Flammen,” and two very surprising covers: deep martial industrial artist Striider's “Schüzengraben” and legendary shredder Yngwie J. Malmsteen's early scorcher “I am a Viking.” MINENWERFER for sure have their own identifiable sound, but they're not afraid to push it in strange directions from time to time.

Info : Since their formation in 2007, MINENWERFER have pursued a proud 'n' pure vision of black metal idiosyncratically focused on World War I - idiosyncratic, in the sense that the band hail from America but mostly sing in German. What has resulted is a startlingly accomplished canon that has quietly built itself into prolific proportions, with their first album arriving in 2010, followed by albums in 2012 and 2019, and a slew of split releases and EPs in the interim.

That second album, Nihilistischen, took a moodier turn from MINENWERFER's throttling debut album, Volkslieder. But while a relative expansion of dynamics made their songs sound even more epic, the duo likewise upped the muscle to their attack, arriving at a thicker soundfield than that no-less-considerable predecessor. What results is a work equally steeped in the ugly underground and the yonder battlefields of professionalism.

OSMOSE PRODUCTIONS have been fans of MINENWERFER for years, and is honored to Of unleash their once-underground back catalog on the wide scale it so deserves.
 

Behind Dim Lights hides Finnish award-winning composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Ville Pallonen, founder of Chaoswaves Composing and better known to the extreme metal world as V-Khaoz. After receiving great praise with several black metal projects, namely Vargrav and Olio Tahtien Takana, Pallonen decided to (temporarily?) put metal aside and focus on pure electronic music, and dystopic and futuristic tunes are what you should expect while making your way through Dim Lights dreamy, melancholic notes. The work of great composers and electronic producers coexist inside V-KHaoz music, the offspring of both the ‘80s cyberpunk and the ‘20s videogame culture.

Stjärnfält is a musical project led by M. Originally from Australia, at some point the mysterious multi-instrumentalist relocated to Sweden, where he still lives to this day.

Lapporten is the project sophomore album and follows two years after the debut Ascension. These four, atmospheric, trancey tracks are a detail of M.'s travels through northern Sweden, and attempt to capture it's contradicting nature of isolation and expanse; bleakness and beauty.

Let Stjärnfält guide you up the “Kebnekaise”, Sweden’s highest mountain, wander with him through the green area of “Bruksleden” and behold the magnificent “Polarsken” and Séracs. Lapporten itself stands for “The Lapponian Gate”, a u-shaped valley located in Lapland.

Merging dreamy, hypnotic atmospheric metal with icy electronic trance soundscapes, M. describes Stjärnfält's music as "melancholic optimism".

6-panel digipack version, comes with a 28-page booklet.
 

Digibook CD with UV spot varnish and golden hotfoil embossing on cover, and booklet.

FALKENBACH were originally conceived as a solo-project by Vratyas Vakyas and officially came into being with the "Læknishendr" demo in 1995. On his third full-length, "Ok nefna tysvar Ty", the German continued to navigate straight along the course that he had set on the previous two releases. This meant a further reduction of obvious black metal elements, while adding more melodic and folkish parts. Yet musically as well as in their lyrics, FALKENBACH firmly went on to spearhead the pagan metal style that became so very popular only a few years down the road. Vratyas Vakyas starting to work with guest musicians from this album on, gave his sound more of a band feeling as well.

Digibook CD with UV spot varnish and golden hotfoil embossing on cover, and booklet.

FALKENBACH were originally conceived as a solo-project by Vratyas Vakyas and officially came into being with the "Læknishendr" demo in 1995. When FALKENBACH's second album " ...Magni blandinn ok megintíri..." appeared in 1998 it offered a refined, matured and more melodic continuation of the blackened pagan metal style that took influences from both Bathory and the second wave of Nordic black metal, which the German multi-instrumentalist had established two years earlier on the debut full-length " …En their medh riki fara…" (1996). " ...Magni blandinn ok megintíri..." is widely considered to be an important milestone of its genre.

Digibook CD with UV spot varnish and golden hotfoil embossing on cover, booklet and bonus track "Skirnir".

FALKENBACH were originally conceived as a solo-project by Vratyas Vakyas and officially came into being with the "Læknishendr" demo in 1995. With the fourth full-length, "Heralding – The Fireblade" (2005), the German released material that was originally intended for the debut album, but due to production issues got delayed and later re-worked. This meant a somewhat hybrid album that to the delight of their early fans had more of the black spirit of the legendary first full-length " …En their medh riki fara…" (1996), but also featured the matured pagan metal sound, which FALKENBACH had gained over the course of the following two albums.

Digibook CD with UV spot varnish and golden hotfoil embossing on cover, booklet and bonus track "Asaland".

FALKENBACH were originally conceived as a solo-project by Vratyas Vakyas and officially came into being with the "Læknishendr" demo in 1995. After the interlude of their fourth album, which partly featured reworked earlier material, the next full-length from the German composer and multi-instrumentalist who was again joined by musicians appeared to be a summary of all the elements from his previous works. "Tiurida" (2011) put the emphasis on the band's epic melodic pagan metal side, which was generously spiced with some earlier black metal elements. The album still evokes an overall impression of confident and experienced songwriting. FALKENBACH had reached the point where they not only exactly knew their musical destination but also how to get there.
 

Comes in digibook packaging with a gold foil logo on the front. It has a 12-page booklet inside.

Track 8: The Heralder is marked as a bonus track.

Comes in a 4-panel digipack with a 12-page booklet.

The wonderfully productive Swiss atmospheric Black Metal band AARA return with urgency to unleash "Triade II: Hemera", their 4th full-length since 2019 and the second chapter of the Melmoth trilogy.

Based upon the 1820 Gothic novel 'Melmoth the Wanderer' by Charles Robert Maturin - and closely connected in style and atmosphere to 2021's initial instalment "Triade I: Eos" - each of the 6 brutally melodic tracks follows the book's chronological mid-point narrative in a dazzling critical examination of theism and scepticism through the medium of top-tier Black Metal.

Although conceptually aligned with part one of the trilogy, "Triade II: Hemera" further-advances the AARA sound into realms of progressive extremity: defined once again by the beauteous lead melodies of composer/guitarist Berg, the record combines a raw violent undertow with subtle rhythmic shifts, left-field riffs/refrains and sublimated vocal savagery - interweaving Christian choirs, the Jewish shofar horn and traditional Indian vocal samples into yet another outstanding offering from an unstoppable young band overflowing with ideas and confidence.

E-L-R's sophomore full-length "Vexier" oscillates elegantly between velvet darkness and flaring bursts of high energy. The style of the Swiss has been dubbed 'doomgaze' and 'post-metal' and both terms apply loosely to the trio's meandering, down-tempo doom-epics. E-L-R's hypnotic phrases that are constantly varied and warped in repeating loops are reminiscent of shamanic rituals imbued with psychedelic colours. The trio weaves a subtle tapestry with diligence and persistence that depicts a labyrinth full of intricate details and hidden treasures.