Shop

LP in galaxy effect, oxblood with green. Printed innersleeve

Info: se sei un sottoscrittore del "Circle of Wax" di Avantgarde Music, questo album sarà incluso nel bundle #3 (Febbraio)

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”.

Limited to one-press only, 300 copies

Info: se sei un sottoscrittore del "Circle of Wax" di Avantgarde Music, questo album sarà incluso nel bundle #3 (Febbraio)

After two decades devoted to the dark arts within obscure black metal, Wraith (Vanquished) and Luzifaust (Kaifrun, Hostium) present a new chapter, going by the name of Vastatum.

An ancient parallelled entity born into modern existence. Rich with atmospheric maturity and an emphasis on existential impermanence, Vastatum have executed the sonic experience of passing beyond life into death’s immeasurable grasp. Thus melding the elusive soundscapes of disembodiment with the haunting distinctions of absolution. Poetic, and potent, melodic and malevolent.

Vastatum is driven by the dark innate will of creativity and the seductive allure of the occult, and Mercurial States Of Revelation is the first chapter in the band's history. A chapter written in black metal and contemplations upon human existence.

Mercurial States Of Revelation reflects upon the conceptual philosophy that since time immemorial the earth, world and existence (as we comprehend it) have been in a constant state of flux and continual transformation. Thus compelling all planetary inhabitants toward perpetual states of adaptation within a world that is rapidly evolving and transcending beyond the depths of the human species.

Through mighty riffs deeply rooted in both the classic sounds of Norway in the early ‘90s and the Cascadian tradition of the ‘00s, Vastatum find a perfect balance between the old, the contemporary and the esoteric, picturing visions of growing shadows and perishing bodies.

Blue vinyl - official 2022 reissue

Official 2022 reissue

New press, 2022 edition, exclusive vinyl color in gatefold cover 

Silver Vinyl Limited to 300 numbered copies.
This is a Gatefold LP with a printed inner sleeve. In the other panel, there’s an inlay with graphics that completes the cover through 5 die-cut holes. The front cover has a special coating.

The promise of Eternal Life has been the crucial subject in which numerous religions and spiritual beliefs have based their foundations on. For the idea of non-existence is as troubling and inconceivable for humans as infinite itself, on the other hand, the thought of interminably experiencing more from a reality we are so accustomed to brings comfort to more than one soul. Innocence is bliss, and being forever shields us from turning our eyes to the dreadful horror of the unknown, the black pit of nothingness, the void. But it's within its contemplation that lies the secret knowledge.

"The Self-Aware Frequency", explores the mind of a cognizant being trapped within the cosmically interwoven pattern that embeds reality. The character's universe is the music itself, through which it navigates, as a sum of temporal frequencies who slowly gain consciousness, evolving across the songs, until the ultimate realization of its own undeniable truth.

The album combines elements of electronic, industrial, classical, film score, heavy metal, progressive rock, and even pop to create something unique, challenging, and engaging. Fans of forward-thinking artists such as Devil Doll, Mike Patton, Leprous, Ulver, Manes, Pain of Salvation, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Devin Townsend, Vulture Industries, and Arcturus should rejoice in the musical world illuminated throughout the album.

International guest appearances are performed by Bor Zuljan (Devil Doll), Øyvind "Mustis" Mustaparta (ex-Dimmu Borgir), Juan Manuel Flores (Cuarteto Cromano), Goran Setitus (Omnia Moritur, ex-Setherial), Alasdair Dunn (Ashenspire), Przemyslaw Kajnat (Eternal Deformity, Allone), and Lotti Wood (Woodwindz).

Three years after their full length debut “Saligia” the German black metal warriors Ius Talionis have followed up with a EP titled “Theomorphose”.