Back in stock

"Ukrainian blackened death/doom metal offensive 1914 continue to reflect the gruesome tales of World War I, its soldiers’ fate, their death, fear and feats to be never forgotten, and unleash their new opus, Where Fear and Weapons Meet, on October 22nd, via Napalm Records. Its eleven tracks of pure historic harshness follow up to the band’s sophomore full-length, The Blind Leading the Blilnd (2018), and debut, Eschatology of War (2015), both highly acclaimed amongst critics, and create a sophisticated variety of massively brutal blackened death metal accented by dramatic and realistic audio soundscapes and disquieting melodies spiced with the approach of sludge and doom!

Reissue 2023

Fantastic debut album of Blackened Death/Doom/Sludge warmachine from Lviv, Ukraine dedicated to WWI and coming with fresh and powerful sound in veins of HAIL OF BULLETS, ASPHYX and BOLT THROWER with strong martial atmosphere. The album covers the whole theatre of fighting the Great War - the Battle of Gallipoli and the involvement of Ataturk, Brusilovsky breakthrough, the Battle of Verdun, gas attack at Ypres, Italian troops Arditi, Christmas truce and the bombing of London by German Zeppelins. WWI does not explored very often in metal, but these Ukrainian brave soldiers make a damn solid case for it. It's stomping, it is heavy as all hell, and just makes you want to get up and march toward death.
 

Transparent green 12" vinyl in gatefold.
Limited to 250 copies worldwide.

PONTE DEL DIAVOLO emerged from the underground of Turin in 2020, born from members of Feralia, Inchiuvatu, Abjura and Askesis. Blending doom, black metal, post-punk and wave, they forged their own aesthetic - blackened post-punk.
‘De Venom Natura’ marks the Italian band’s most daring incarnation yet: an alchemical meditation on the poisons of nature - seductive, transformative, and deadly. Recorded live to preserve raw tension and imperfection, the album channels the atmosphere of their stage presence: dual basses thrum beneath haunted vocals, guitars flicker like burning incense, and drums strike with primal urgency.
Produced by Danilo Battocchio (Deepest Sea Studio, Turin) and mastered by Magnus Lindberg (Redmount Studios, Stockholm), the record unfolds like a fevered vision... Equal parts decay and revelation.

For fans of MESSA, CHELSEA WOLFE, ESBEN AND THE WITCH, DEAD CAN DANCE, DOOL, ELECTRIC WIZARD, DARKTHRONE.

DRUDKH is a venerated entity in the realm of atmospheric and pagan black metal. Renowned for their evocative storytelling and profound musical compositions, DRUDKH stands as a paragon of artistic depth, seamlessly melding the corporeal with the ethereal.
With ‘Shadow Play’, DRUDKH offers a mesmerizing odyssey through themes of exile, the cyclical dance of life and death, and a poignant yearning for one's origins. An album which invites you into a realm where silence battles storm, and light intertwines with shadow. A 6-track journey - "Scattering the Ashes" stirs the soul with its introspective melancholy, while “April” envelops you in a meditative trance. The narrative evolves with “The Exile”, capturing the essence of displacement, and continues with the poignant echoes in “Fallen Blossom”. “The Eve” stands as a meditative contemplation on life’s fleeting beauty, and the expansive “The Thirst” culminates this exploration with a profound reflection on human yearning.
‘Shadow Play’ is an evocative experience that challenges you to confront your shadows and revel in the intricate dance of light and dark. Let DRUDKH’s newest release illuminate your path through the bleak human experience.

For fans of AGALLOCH, WINTERFYLLETH, SAOR.

CORONER came up with an even more daring, unconventional album in 1993's ‘Grin', which abandoned much of the thrash-based aggression of their early days and focused on challenging dynamics and eerie atmospherics. This move proved too radical even for longtime fans, ironically, and they remain split over the album's merits, some seeing it as a total sellout, while many others consider it the band's greatest triumph.

2CD jewel-case, 28-page booklet.

Revealing Emperors’ dark past…

Founded by Samoth and Ihsahn in 1991, EMPEROR became widely acclaimed for their innovation and sophistication. They unquestionably rank among Black Metal’s most seminal bands. Throughout their exceptional career, they released landmark albums that will forever belong to the genre’s canon. Given EMPEROR’s status and popularity, it may then come as a surprise to some that this legendary band was a side-project of the Norwegian duo. This is especially true given that, at the time that EMPEROR was established, Samoth and Ihsahn’s main band was THOU SHALT SUFFER.

Although quite a short-lived entity and bound to forever dwell in the shadows of its members’ celebrated offshoot, the material which had spawned under the name THOU SHALT SUFFER is notable and worth being paid attention to. Even though the three recordings which comprises of a five-track-rehearsal, the EP Open The Mysteries Of Your Creation, and the demo Into The Woods Of Belial that the horde managed to unleash in 1991, are no less dark than what EMPEROR came up with subsequently, THOU SHALT SUFFER weren’t a Black Metal band, but were sworn to Death Metal of a distinctly tenebrous nature. Like many Norwegian bands, including IMMORTAL, ENSLAVED, BORKNAGAR, and HADES ALMIGHTY – who began as Death Metal acts under different names in the late 1980s and early 1990s before shifting towards Black Metal, Ihsahn and Samoth, aided by various members, (most infamously Ildjarn on bass), cut their teeth in a Death Metal outfit. It is sonically somewhat comparable to the earliest period of DARKTHRONE, PARADISE LOST, SENTENCED and the like when all of them still played Death Metal, and with some hints of CARCASS, which are especially audible in the fast parts, THOU SHALT SUFFER put to tape some great Death Metal darkness of lasting quality.

Despite the members being very young at the time the recordings were done, the tracks are proficiently composed and competently performed. They frequently shift between doomy, mid-tempo, and fast sections that are accompanied by Ihsahn’s morbid growls, which have nothing in common with his high shrieks that he would later be known for. This, plus some obscure keyboards on top, which adds a sombre layer to the compositions, the band were able to turn their music into a mandatory feast for devotees of dark Metal.

Darkness Shall Rise is very proud to present this re-release, which features the three recordings that THOU SHALT SUFFER had released during their short lifespan. As usual, we went to great lengths to turn this re-release into something out of the ordinary. Not only was all the music mastered for vinyl to achieve the best sound by Patrick W. Engel, but we didn’t spare any effort to create a thick booklet featuring old pictures, of which many are unpublished, and a lengthy interview with Samoth. Also for this release, the band has opened their vault and for the VERY FIRST TIME EVER, obscure material prior to THOU SHALT SUFFER has been exclusively featured. Namely XERASIA with rare rehearsal tracks from 1990, EMBRYONIC rehearsal tracks, and the official EMBRYONIC demo The Land of The Lost Souls from 1990.