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Il carrello è vuoto
Il carrello è vuoto
With a past that stretches back to the late '90s and a patient path that began in 2013 with a moniker change, Brazil's THE KRYPTIK burst forth into brilliance when they aligned with PURITY THROUGH FIRE. In the autumn of 2019 came their acclaimed second album, When the Shadows Rise, a startlingly immersive gem of symphonic black metal, and many finally took notice. A year late came the 40-minute Behold Fortress Inferno, which poignantly expanded on their vast canvas despite "only" being a mini-album. Between these two records especially, THE KRYPTIK proved that "symphonic black metal" need not be a dirty word; with no outside influence from the nowadays "black metal" scene, the duo dependably practiced their mystical arts and erected a grand citadel of sound - an atavistic awakening of when all was simply BLACK METAL, heedless of appellations.
And so it goes with THE KRYPTIK's massive third album, A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom. Truly titled, the seven-track/70-minute A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom reveals the duo's grandest vision yet: neo-ancient symphonic black metal drenched in the dark waters of the cosmos, a castle of crystalline ice whose spires reach into boundless space. The band's ebon flow continually crests and cascades, synths swirling all about and with utterly magickal effect. The production here in this Darkest Kingdom is clear and sharp - all murk excised for maximum immersion, gorgeous swell, and pulsing violence - altogether sounding incredibly vintage and era-authentic yet somehow fresher than most nowadays black metal recordings. But, that magick largely resides in THE KRYPTIK's songwriting, as each song is an epic in its own right and then are all threaded together as one fever dream: melodicism, majesty, and malice in perfect balance. Thus, A Journey to the Darkest Kingdom follows logically in THE KRYPTIK's continuum whilst pushing their creativity to even-more-breathtaking heights. Have they delivered a classic on par with Witchcraft, The Sad Realm of the Stars, or even Stormblåst? Only time shall be the judge...
This is an Instrumental/Ambient Album!
The new Bergrizen Black Metal Album "Die Falle" will be ready until end of 2023!
For 15 years now, BERGRIZEN have been standard-bearers for the new wave of Ukrainian black metal which honors the old. The work of one Myrd'raal, BERGRIZEN have released five studio albums and even a live album, nearly all of which have been released in some manner by PURITY THROUGH FIRE.
Now, some six years since that last studio album, BERGRIZEN prepare a unique full-length as a precursor to their next album. Titled Orathania, the record marks a new approach to creation for the band. Otherworldly to the max, BERGRIZEN's approach here is largely based on alternately stirring/soothing ambient with a touch of dark folk and fierce-yet-fleeting moments of black metal. Almost entirely instrumental with some blackened ululations, Orathania inhabits its own world and wholly transports the listener into this magical realm; it will take you on a journey through picturesque landscapes and ancient spirits, as every song represents the ethnocultural regions of Ukraine - the album title itself, actually, means the poetic name of Ukraine. The music was composed by the band's drummer, except for some of the tracks that were taken from the archive of traditional Ukrainian music; Myrd'raal together with the guest musicians Olgerd (Kroda) and Ogrim (ex-BERGRIZEN guitarist, Wolftomb) also contributed to the album's creation.
While we wait for the next regular BERGRIZEN album to be released by PURITY THROUGH FIRE, it should be noted that Orathania is more than just a stopgap recording: it is dedicated to their motherland Ukraine and the whole Ukrainian nation, which is unprecedently fighting for freedom.
Winter Suicide (2007) Demo
Verzweiflung (2008) - Full Lenght
Ambient Stuff
A still-mysterious quintet hailing from the black metal hotbed of Finland, AGANTHROS formed in 2021 and digitally released their debut demo a year later. Those two songs served as a swift foretaste of the band's forthcoming debut album, Syntiset Saatanat Kurjat, which is at last at hand.
Unlike the vast number of bands honoring their homeland's prevailing black metal paradigm, AGANTHROS walk their own left-hand path both lyrically and especially sonically. Those lyrical themes of course include Satanism and the left-hand path; others more or less include the noble tragicalness of humanity and life. Gazing within instead of outside and walking the sewers of the individual and collective subconscious, AGANTHROS on their debut album musically illustrate such pathos through a wide-ranging but always-melodic sturm und drang style of black metal that bears similarities to Finnish iconoclasts Enochian Crescent and Trollheims Grott - or, thinking further afield of Finland, the avant-garde angularity of Ved Buens Ende meeting the spiraling melodicism of Mgla. However, such references are merely a springboard from which to meet AGANTHROS on Syntiset Saatanat Kurjat. From its disarming folk-inflected opening on through the rest of its 41-minute runtime, the album bracingly balances a whole host of extremities that the band masterfully wrangle to their own design, reaping triumphant rumbling on to twisted nightmare psychedelia. You never quite know what's coming next, but AGANTHROS thread it together with punishing physicality and serpentine flow. Refreshingly different and yet timeless all the same, Syntiset Saatanat Kurjat sounds the trumpets for the new/now sound of Finnish black metal.
Formed in 2020, VAMPYRIC TYRANT are a Teutonic black metal duo forged in the fires of old. The band is helmed by ex-Grabunhold member Graf Nekromant, joined by drummer Akatash. As foretold by their moniker, VAMPYRIC TYRANT indeed offer an iteration of vampiric black metal, but one locked in the dungeon of the '90s, as well as equally pursuing the epic ruminations of the legendary Moonblood.
Now joined under the banner of PURITY THROUGH FIRE and with the addition of bassist König Grausamkeit, VAMPYRIC TYRANT enter their next epoch with a four-song/19-minute EP fittingly titled Zorn und Hass. Grim yet stately, raw yet refined, the ghoulishness they offer here is as ethereal as it is insistent. More than that, each of the four tracks offers its own labyrinth of nostalgia and despair, perhaps hitting its sorrowful peak with the crying-orc instrumental "Ein Traum." Then, Zorn und Hass concludes in mesmerizingly hooligan fashion with the six-minute, organ-led "Totschlag."
UNHOLY CRAFT is the work of one Peregrinus, whose concurrent SOLUS GRIEF is newly initiated into the PURITY THROUGH FIRE cult. Indeed, UNHOLY CRAFT play traditional, CULT black metal from ancient Scandinavia, taking influence from the obvious - Darkthrone's Peaceville trilogy, Hat-fronted Gorgoroth, the first Ancient album - to, more so, the very cult likes of Kvist, Sorhin, and Fimbulwinter. As such, the band's Naar All Tid er Omme debut is a veritable blast from the past, but one thankfully exuding personality and a freshness of approach.
For one, Peregrinus' fully physical execution maintains a more blown-out rawness in line with the modern raw black metal scene. But, for another, that rawness doesn't mask a lack of ability. Far from it, actually: the mainman exudes equal skill on all instruments and puts those enviable chops to use across songwriting that keeps it traditional and yet puts interesting, almost-deviant twists to it along the way. In that sense, UNHOLY CRAFT's craft honors second-wave black metal's initial unorthodoxy, when most of its earliest bands each maintained their own approach - when the future lay wide open, as it were. That's in the past now, but Naar All Tid er Omme resurrects those glorious times with magickal ease and elan. UNHOLY CRAFT are coming to a church near you!
UNHOLY CRAFT is the work of one Peregrinus, whose concurrent SOLUS GRIEF is newly initiated into the PURITY THROUGH FIRE cult. Indeed, UNHOLY CRAFT play traditional, CULT black metal from ancient Scandinavia, taking influence from the obvious - Darkthrone's Peaceville trilogy, Hat-fronted Gorgoroth, the first Ancient album - to, more so, the very cult likes of Kvist, Sorhin, and Fimbulwinter. As such, the band's Naar All Tid er Omme debut is a veritable blast from the past, but one thankfully exuding personality and a freshness of approach.
For one, Peregrinus' fully physical execution maintains a more blown-out rawness in line with the modern raw black metal scene. But, for another, that rawness doesn't mask a lack of ability. Far from it, actually: the mainman exudes equal skill on all instruments and puts those enviable chops to use across songwriting that keeps it traditional and yet puts interesting, almost-deviant twists to it along the way. In that sense, UNHOLY CRAFT's craft honors second-wave black metal's initial unorthodoxy, when most of its earliest bands each maintained their own approach - when the future lay wide open, as it were. That's in the past now, but Naar All Tid er Omme resurrects those glorious times with magickal ease and elan. UNHOLY CRAFT are coming to a church near you!
Although they made their public debut in 2020 with the full-length ...gedenken wir der Finsternis, EISENKULT have quickly become a flagship band for PURITY THROUGH FIRE. Perhaps it's not surprising given that they include members of labelmates MAVORIM and TOTENWACHE, but EISENKULT's swift ascent was built on the back of that first full-length and the successive ...von Himmel, hoch herab album and a split with new labelmates ATRONOS, these collective recordings displaying the purest Teutonic BLACK METAL steel: proudly and unapologetically traditional, forged in the fire of the mid '90s but by no means blinkered by the past - and of course, perfect for PURITY THROUGH FIRE's banner.
Striking while the iron's white-hot, EISENKULT now unleash their fourth recording in as many years, Vulgäre, deutsche Hassmusik. For those with even a faint familiarity with German, the title to EISENKULT's third album should roughly & rudely say everything it needs to - indeed, a steel-toed assertion of the trio's core values. But whereas the preceding full-length upped the folkloristic side of their second-wave classicism, EISENKULT further finesse that side with their latent hooliganism: instantly catchy, almost major-chorded in its triumphant surge, but still a tragic element coursing through their medieval surge. And whereas the band employed evocative 8-bit-styled intros on their preceding records, here on Vulgäre, deutsche Hassmusik do they integrate those baroque textures across the whole album, thereby making the 40-minute work that much more stunning as well as unique. Again, very much BLACK METAL in all caps, but also respectful enough of the artform to gird it with stouter and arguably more stunning chainmail.
From their first two demos in 2018 and then their breakout self-titled debut album the following year, NACHTIG have stormed the gates of sadness with some of the most soul-penetrating black metal melancholy of recent times. Mainman V. V. is no stranger to the scene, of course, numbering as he does labelmates VALOSTA VARJOON and COSMIC BURIAL, but NACHTIG is arguably his most personal project, on myriad levels. The successive Der stille Wald full-length in 2021 proved this with a passion and poignancy that was spellbinding - and spellbindingly SAD - to behold.
That album maintained a monolithic aspect at a towering 55 minutes, and thus does NACHTIG return with a comparatively more compact record in Eisig' Romantik. It's still epic, to be sure - four songs in 45 minutes, each one hovering around the 11-minute mark - but it's the sensations within that truly render the album an EPIC of breathtaking, daresay-beautiful sadness. Its predecessor spiritually nodded to early '90s doom-death, with the Spartan piano of yore largely replaced by a haunting fog of synths; Eisig' Romantik maintains a purer black metal core, but the synths hover ever more dramatically here, often directing the crescendo of emotion to cathartic heights - or, rather, depths. But it's V. V.'s characteristically heartaching riffing that really pushes the record into the halls of greatness, as layers of majestically melancholic riff seamlessly twine into said synths and utterly damning catharsis continues as each minute builds and blends and builds some more, all without dipping down the tempo. There's actual energy to this sadness, and it MOVES.
From their first two demos in 2018 and then their breakout self-titled debut album the following year, NACHTIG have stormed the gates of sadness with some of the most soul-penetrating black metal melancholy of recent times. Mainman V. V. is no stranger to the scene, of course, numbering as he does labelmates VALOSTA VARJOON and COSMIC BURIAL, but NACHTIG is arguably his most personal project, on myriad levels. The successive Der stille Wald full-length in 2021 proved this with a passion and poignancy that was spellbinding - and spellbindingly SAD - to behold.
That album maintained a monolithic aspect at a towering 55 minutes, and thus does NACHTIG return with a comparatively more compact record in Eisig' Romantik. It's still epic, to be sure - four songs in 45 minutes, each one hovering around the 11-minute mark - but it's the sensations within that truly render the album an EPIC of breathtaking, daresay-beautiful sadness. Its predecessor spiritually nodded to early '90s doom-death, with the Spartan piano of yore largely replaced by a haunting fog of synths; Eisig' Romantik maintains a purer black metal core, but the synths hover ever more dramatically here, often directing the crescendo of emotion to cathartic heights - or, rather, depths. But it's V. V.'s characteristically heartaching riffing that really pushes the record into the halls of greatness, as layers of majestically melancholic riff seamlessly twine into said synths and utterly damning catharsis continues as each minute builds and blends and builds some more, all without dipping down the tempo. There's actual energy to this sadness, and it MOVES.
By now, the name MAVORIM should be more than familiar to those who follow the crimes of PURITY THROUGH FIRE. Since the band's formation in 2014, mainman Baptist has restlessly and relentlessly pursued his stark, austere style of black metal, resulting in three full-lengths and seven other shorter-length works. Collectively, MAVORIM have quickly come to define the new breed of German black metal that hearkens back to the old guard: Teutonic to the bone, harsh and harrowing yet heralding triumph.
And so the battle wages on with MAVORIM's fourth album, Ab Amitia Pulsae. Immediately and dramatically, this is classic MAVORIM - charging hard onto the battlefield, bloody swords raised, rough-yet-rousing melodicism to the fore, with Baptist's gruff, exhortative throat leading the charge - but as Ab Amitia Pulsae plays on, new vistas of their signature sound are revealed. While still qualitatively a black metal record, MAVORIM's fourth album displays deft layering of sounds, particularly Baptist's subtle-yet-concerted integration of keyboards and other synth sounds, altogether adding an exceptionally dynamic contour to otherwise-straightforward aggression. Further, his guitar leads display a much wider swath of feeling as well as texture, each song seemingly featuring something quite new in the greater MAVORIM dialect, while drumming co-conspirator Valfor occasionally add his choral voices to poignant effect. And it's gripping and urgent all the way through to the 53-minute album's end...again and again and again.
At times tragic, at times folkloric, melancholy giving way to bloodlust, Ab Amitia Pulsae proves once again that MAVORIM are uniquely adept at fully coloring within the lines of black metal with the boldest and bravest hues.
Black Vinyl
By now, the name MAVORIM should be more than familiar to those who follow the crimes of PURITY THROUGH FIRE. Since the band's formation in 2014, mainman Baptist has restlessly and relentlessly pursued his stark, austere style of black metal, resulting in three full-lengths and seven other shorter-length works. Collectively, MAVORIM have quickly come to define the new breed of German black metal that hearkens back to the old guard: Teutonic to the bone, harsh and harrowing yet heralding triumph.
And so the battle wages on with MAVORIM's fourth album, Ab Amitia Pulsae. Immediately and dramatically, this is classic MAVORIM - charging hard onto the battlefield, bloody swords raised, rough-yet-rousing melodicism to the fore, with Baptist's gruff, exhortative throat leading the charge - but as Ab Amitia Pulsae plays on, new vistas of their signature sound are revealed. While still qualitatively a black metal record, MAVORIM's fourth album displays deft layering of sounds, particularly Baptist's subtle-yet-concerted integration of keyboards and other synth sounds, altogether adding an exceptionally dynamic contour to otherwise-straightforward aggression. Further, his guitar leads display a much wider swath of feeling as well as texture, each song seemingly featuring something quite new in the greater MAVORIM dialect, while drumming co-conspirator Valfor occasionally add his choral voices to poignant effect. And it's gripping and urgent all the way through to the 53-minute album's end...again and again and again.
At times tragic, at times folkloric, melancholy giving way to bloodlust, Ab Amitia Pulsae proves once again that MAVORIM are uniquely adept at fully coloring within the lines of black metal with the boldest and bravest hues.
A newcomer hailing from Norway, SOLUS GRIEF is the work of one Peregrinus, who handles all instruments, vocals, and mixing & mastering. And where so many "one-man black metal bands" sound as much (or worse), SOLUS GRIEF buck that trend with a righteously robust sound and fully in-the-moment style of execution. In other words, Peregrinus sounds more like an actual band than many "bands" do.
With a Last Exhale is the evocatively titled debut of SOLUS GRIEF, self-released digitally late last year - and so entranced by its rigid-yet-unique style of black metal, PURITY THROUGH FIRE is now rightfully releasing the album on two physical formats. It would not be incorrect to assume a four-song/41-minute black metal record recorded by one man would be of the depressive/suicidal variety, and to some degree, both those appellations could be applied to SOLUS GRIEF. However, as Peregrinus soon displays, With a Last Exhale moves many, MANY places - and many of them quite surprising, despite remaining steadfastly within BLACK METAL - and with a jaw-dropping fluidity; this is NOT one-riff minimalism/"hypnosis" nor an expression living/dying on "atmosphere" alone. Indeed, with plenty of atmosphere to spare, Peregrinus' compositional skills astoundingly span the full reach of extreme metal, subtly (and tastefully) touching such boundaries as '90s melodic death metal, '80s epic doom, or even just proper heavy metal...but the expression is resolutely a black metal one, the emotions intense and inward, as befitting a title like With a Last Exhale. And the bass guitar here is something that must be experienced.
A newcomer hailing from Norway, SOLUS GRIEF is the work of one Peregrinus, who handles all instruments, vocals, and mixing & mastering. And where so many "one-man black metal bands" sound as much (or worse), SOLUS GRIEF buck that trend with a righteously robust sound and fully in-the-moment style of execution. In other words, Peregrinus sounds more like an actual band than many "bands" do.
With a Last Exhale is the evocatively titled debut of SOLUS GRIEF, self-released digitally late last year - and so entranced by its rigid-yet-unique style of black metal, PURITY THROUGH FIRE is now rightfully releasing the album on two physical formats. It would not be incorrect to assume a four-song/41-minute black metal record recorded by one man would be of the depressive/suicidal variety, and to some degree, both those appellations could be applied to SOLUS GRIEF. However, as Peregrinus soon displays, With a Last Exhale moves many, MANY places - and many of them quite surprising, despite remaining steadfastly within BLACK METAL - and with a jaw-dropping fluidity; this is NOT one-riff minimalism/"hypnosis" nor an expression living/dying on "atmosphere" alone. Indeed, with plenty of atmosphere to spare, Peregrinus' compositional skills astoundingly span the full reach of extreme metal, subtly (and tastefully) touching such boundaries as '90s melodic death metal, '80s epic doom, or even just proper heavy metal...but the expression is resolutely a black metal one, the emotions intense and inward, as befitting a title like With a Last Exhale. And the bass guitar here is something that must be experienced.
Hailing from the oft-overlooked UK black metal scene, WRITTEN IN TORMENT have been patiently perfecting their craft for nearly 20 years now. A demo and EP followed in quick succession in 2006, followed by a hiatus until 2013, when the debut album Bellum Omnium Contra Omnes was released. WRITTEN IN TORMENT, as ever, is helmed by mainman Leviathan, and he kept apace with a split in 2014, a demo in 2015, and then two full-lengths, Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum and Maledictus Dies Illa, in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
And now, at long last, WRITTEN IN TORMENT deliver their masterwork: Black Command. Presciently titled, Black Command finds Leviathan hitting a fever pitch of creativity, recasting old ghosts of '90s epic/melodic black metal - Throne of Ahaz, Abyssos, Midvinter, Prophanity, and Amsvartner among others - into dazzling new shapes. Rest assured, in word and deed is Black Command BLACK METAL to the hilt, but by no means does it strident traditionalism hinder it in the least. Ripping chops and deft textural layering take center stage across the album's six-song/41-minute runtime, creating a compact canvas that's somehow vast, which is to say nothing of the well-timed incorporation of acoustic guitars and cinematic synths. All this is filtered into a thematic framework focusing on the life and crimes of Jonathan Martin, the infamous arsonist of the Minster Cathedral in York. Joining Leviathan here - and no doubt adding further fuel to the fire - are Prometheus on lead guitars and keyboards and drummer Storm (Blasphemer, ex-Bal-Sagoth, ex-My Dying Bride).
