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Since 2005, Greece's SAD have been a madly prolific bastion of pure 'n' cold black metal. Their canon is vast and varied - VERY relatively so, given that this is all-caps BLACK METAL after all - with the longstanding duo of instrumentalist Ungod and vocalist Nadir exploring the darkest corridors of their souls every step of the way. They did so across a half-dozen albums for such esteemed labels as Drakkar, Obscure Abhorrence, and Old Temple among others as well as a dozen splits, but then joined forces with PURITY THROUGH FIRE in 2020 for the release of their seventh album, Misty Breath of Ancient Forests, and again in 2023 for Black Metal Craft.

Proudly remaining in the PURITY THROUGH FIRE stronghold, SAD return with their ninth(!) album, Fullmoon's Bestial Awakening. While its title might be something of an aesthetic misnomer - this is NOT bestial metal, thankfully - Fullmoon's Bestial Awakening does keep intact the nastiness of Black Metal Craft, making for a complementary record to its cantankerous predecessor. SAD here are characteristically unconcerned with anything in "black metal" during this millennium, still harkening to the glorious late '90s heyday of Sombre Records or the aforementioned Drakkar and yet tempered with the wisdom & resolve surely established by a band who've been around 25 years now. No more but definitely no less, Fullmoon's Bestial Awakening is raw & ripping orkishness shot through with a touch of the melancholic but all stirred malevolently, where hypnotic speed - cruise, gallop, headbang, or any combination thereof - often rights itself into something somewhat regal or at least triumphant. And just like that not-inconsiderable predecessor, SAD's ninth full-length similarly stretches toward the epic, encompassing eight songs in 55 minutes of righteous obsidian splendor. Cold, old, and still no surrender!

Clear/Red Limited to 150 

WINDSWEPT is yet another creative vehicle for the esteemed Roman Saenko, known worldwide for his pioneering work in Drudkh, Precambrian and Hate Forest among others. While most of his musical creations stem from black metal, thankfully, WINDSWEPT is consistent in this regard and unapologetically restrictive, retaining Saenko's characteristically hypnotic riffing coasting atop a wintry atmosphere.

Now, after a couple albums with Season of Mist, WINDSWEPT join forces with PRIMITIVE REACTION, who released the debut album of his PRECAMBRIAN project in 2020, with the brand-new mini-album Der eine, wahre König.
Uniquely, this four-song / 28-minute recording features two equally esteemed vocalists - Winterherr of Paysage D' Hiver, and Meilenwald of Ruins of Beverast - with both men splitting duties evenly. Indeed, with such a structure, Der eine, wahre König is a portrait of evenness: unwavering, unflinching, immovable, engrossing.
Movement manifests in subtlety, as is Saenko's stock in trade; further and deeper listens reveal a wealth of nuance even if it's not always apparent.

All four tracks comprising the record feature all-German lyrics, evoking a different-yet-related sense of austerity from the mainman's proudly Ukrainian ruminations, and both vocalists rise to the challenge of pushing their respective throats to the limit whilst remaining rooted to WINDSWEPT's core consistency.
That Der eine, wahre König attacks from the very first second and successively expands, concluding with the near-11-minute "Jedes Todes Lohn," and retains its astute balance of urgency and epicness speaks to Saenko's never-faltering mastery.

Fourth album by Norwegian stalwarts Nifrost. Epic and melodic black metal in the vein of Windir, Borknagar and Enslaved. With "Briseld" Nifrost are back with a powerful, clean and epic sound reminiscent of the best epic moments of second wave black metal.

REISSUE 2015

REISSUE 2015