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Special promo price to launch new album, due out May 2025!!

Four panels digipak with booklet

The long work is coming to an end: Italian/Polish black metal band Amalekim, with a new line-up, is ready to reveal their latest work, Avodah Zarah. 

Once again, the ultimate aim is to question all that is sacred and all that is profane in this age of ours. Avodah Zarah contains many influences and many different experiences, both on a musical and a personal level, seeking to present itself as something new in the purest tradition of the genre. With this work, Amalekim decisively turn over a new leaf compared to their previous work, HVHI, with conceptual and musical maturity, seeking to maintain the melodic aspects that distinguish them, implemented by dissonances and greater compositional complexity.

Avodah Zarah revolves around the concept of the inversion of values, taking much from the Old Testament tradition, occultism and alchemy, always in an attempt to bring to the ears and eyes (starting from the cover) of the listeners an ever-present revolt, but without the obviousness and generality that too often mark today's world.

Gigantesca operazione di recupero da parte di century media
l'intero materiale dei finnici Necropsy, tra le band death metal anni 90 rimaste nel limbo dell'underground e mai realmente esplose.

Limited 4LP slipcase with Petrol Green vinyl. With booklet.

Tomb Of The Forgotten - NECROPSY's early demos to be re-released on vinyl in January via Svart Records. NECROPSY is one of the few truly legendary bands of the obscure Finnish death metal scene of the late 80s/early 90s. Dark and twisted Death Metal in the vein of early SENTENCED, early AMORPHIS, CONVULSE, DEMIGOD, PURTENANCE, DEMILICH and ABHORRENCE. Hailing from Lahti, Finland, the band formed in 1987 and released the material featured on this compilation before taking a 14-year hiatus beginning in 1994. Founding member Janne Kosonen and his brother Tero reformed NECROPSY in 2008 and are still active today.

Tomb of the Forgotten (The Complete Demo Recordings 1989-1993), originally released by Century Media in 2013, is the first ever official demo compilation fully authorised by the band and features all of NECROPSY's early recordings with 40 tracks in total. All audio material has been carefully remastered from the original master tapes by DMS Mastering (GRAVE, MORBID, ASPHYX) for the best possible audio quality. Includes an extensive interview with the band, tons of pictures, scans of concert flyers, demo artwork, fanzine reviews and more.

Rotten Bowel Of Pestigore – Complete works of obscure Finnish death metal maniacs PESTIGORE available on vinyl for the first time ever

Classic Finnish grinding death metal demos by PESTIGORE compiled together for the first time ever on vinyl via Svart Records! Take a vomit-soaked time machine back to the early days of truly ghoulish death metal with the putrid sounds of these five demos spanning from 1991-1992. Rotten Bowel of Pestigore, originally released only on CD through Headsplit Records in 2023, holds all the recorded material of PESTIGORE before the band’s untimely disbandment in 1993, plus rare photos & liner notes from vocalist Kari Kräkin. Killer stuff and essential listening for fans of classic death metal.

PESTIGORE was founded in 1990 in Järvenpää, Finland. They were an active part of the first wave of Finnish death metal scene back in the day, but decided to call it quits after only three years of existing. In 2015 the band reactivated with founding members Kari Kräkin (vocals), Saku Manninen (guitar), Teme Grönberg (guitars) and Pekka Sauvolainen (bass) along with Pete Raatikainen (drums) in order to annihilate venues again.

Rotten Bowel Of Pestigore – Complete works of obscure Finnish death metal maniacs PESTIGORE available on vinyl for the first time ever

Classic Finnish grinding death metal demos by PESTIGORE compiled together for the first time ever on vinyl via Svart Records! Take a vomit-soaked time machine back to the early days of truly ghoulish death metal with the putrid sounds of these five demos spanning from 1991-1992. Rotten Bowel of Pestigore, originally released only on CD through Headsplit Records in 2023, holds all the recorded material of PESTIGORE before the band’s untimely disbandment in 1993, plus rare photos & liner notes from vocalist Kari Kräkin. Killer stuff and essential listening for fans of classic death metal.

PESTIGORE was founded in 1990 in Järvenpää, Finland. They were an active part of the first wave of Finnish death metal scene back in the day, but decided to call it quits after only three years of existing. In 2015 the band reactivated with founding members Kari Kräkin (vocals), Saku Manninen (guitar), Teme Grönberg (guitars) and Pekka Sauvolainen (bass) along with Pete Raatikainen (drums) in order to annihilate venues again.

Svart Records proudly present the Black- and Doom Metal pioneers Unholy’s compilation of early material – Demology out on July 19th

“Unholy are arguably the most original, avant-garde, definitive, and important Finnish extreme metal band. The paths they have walked have always been lonely and unknown, entering to the deepest celestial forests and psychic graveyards, and the treasures found there dark and exquisite. This compilation consists of their three legendary demos, of which Trip to Depressive Autumn is the best recording ever done in Finland, of any genre or style”.
- Albert Witchfinder, Reverend Bizarre

Svart Records is set to release the compilation album “Demology” by Finnish avant-garde death doom metal band Unholy. Including their early demo recordings "The Procession of Black Doom" (1990), "Demo 11.90" (1990) and "Trip to Depressive Autumn" (1992), this is the first time these demos are in the same package with exclusive liner notes.

Unholy emerged from the eastern Finnish town of Imatra in the late '80s. After changing their name from Armageddon to Holy Hell and eventually to Unholy, their mission was simple; to create harder, heavier, and slower music than their idols Black Sabbath and Celtic Frost. The lyrical themes and ideas for the songs came from Satanism, mysticism, anti-Christianity, mushroom trips, and shamanism among others. Finnish deep ecologist Pentti Linkola also inspired the band and their music. Some of the songs came up naturally by jamming riffs and others entirely by improvisation.

While the first two demos already made Unholy a force to be reckoned with, the release of “Trip to Depressive Autumn” caught the attention of the underground metal scene and various labels. The band was hungry for a recording contract, and it finally came into realization when Lethal Records released their debut album “From the Shadows” in 1993.

“Demology”, mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano at Orgone Studios, is out on July 19^th. Available formats include the Svart exclusive 2LP black/white marble vinyl, 2LP limited transparent red vinyl, 2LP classic black vinyl, and the 2CD edition.

If we take a look back at the very dark past of the birth of Finnish death metal, Disgrace was one of the originators among bands like Abhorrence, Belial, Xysma, Beherit, Funebre, etc. The late '80s were days of active tape trading, playing gigs wherever possible—mostly in local youth centers—and creating new music out of sheer frustration. Was it the geographical location of Finland, with its long winters and absence of light, that gave Finnish death metal that extra feeling of gloom and darkness? Even though you can hear some sort of “trademark” sound that comes to Finnish bands, the scene was vital in those days, and everyone was doing their own thing.

Disgrace recorded their first demo in 1989, which has been buried in time and dust. Luckily, their "Beyond the Immortalized Existence" and "Inside the Labyrinth of Depression" demos—both recorded in 1990—and the "Debts of God" EP (1990) have survived and are compiled into the "1990" release, which is now available again in a limited edition of 500 vinyl copies. These demos and EP document Disgrace at their most brutal and primitive, yet young and bloodthirsty. This is true grinding and murky death metal where you can hear influences from fellow bands like Xysma and Funebre, but also from UK and Swedish bands like Carcass (just listen to the track "Deprive My Innermost"), Bolt Thrower, Carnage, and Nihilist. Disgrace wasn’t afraid to include some doomier and groovier rocking parts into their sound even in the early days. Disgrace guitarist and vocalist Jukka Taskinen himself said that the Canadian band Voivod was the biggest influence to start the band, and there’s an obvious nod to those Quebecian sci-fi thrashers in the intro of "Debts of God."

Finnish death metallers Disgrace released a bunch of demos and one EP before their first full-length album, “Grey Misery,” which was released in 1992. The Finnish metal scene was flourishing with releases during those days—many of them are recognized as immortal classics among die-hard maniacs around the world: Slumber of Sullen Eyes, Member of Immortal Damnation, The Karelian Isthmus, Children of the Scorn, to name a few. And, of course, Grey Misery!

A bunch of classic albums, each with its own distinct sound and style, emerged during that time. Disgrace stepped up their game from their demo days, recording and mixing Grey Misery at Timo Tolkki’s TTT studio in May 1991. It was originally released on vinyl, CD, and tape by the Modern Primitive label in 1992. The band remembers that everything went smoothly during the recording process. It is evident that Disgrace practiced a lot and sharpened their songwriting skills without compromising the brutality in their delivery. Grey Misery takes the listener through nine tracks of organic, gloomy, groovy, and heavy-as-hell grinding death metal. Jukka Taskinen and Toni Stranius’ guttural double vocals still remind us of Bill Steer and Jeff Walker from Carcass. Some of the riffs also bear a resemblance, no doubt about that, but Disgrace managed to present their own blend of Finnish brutality with groove and almost prog-rock-like technical parts in some tracks. After Grey Misery, Disgrace decided that their days of death metal were over and transitioned to a brighter style with garage punk and rock’n’roll. That is a whole different story altogether.
 

Ole Alexander Halstensgård, Kristoffer Rygg, Tore Ylwizaker and Stian Westerhus – went full isolation in their studio below the haunted hill, fantasizing about bygone nights of slasher, exploitation, and giallo. Three or four months went by, the band returned to the living, and sent their radiophonic workshop experiments off to the Dogs of Doom, France, where friend and fellow film freak, Carpenter Brut did a razor-sharp mix before taking it to Thibault Chaumont (Deviant Lab) for the master.

Scary Muzak, on one hand a homage to Carpenter’s themes – five out of twelve tracks are covers whereas the rest comes from the outer realms – and on the other zooming out on the aesthetics of the late ’70s and early ’80s popular culture. It is perhaps the Norwegians’ most hauntological moment, whirling up themes and moods, horrors and mysteries hidden in the foggy back alleys of your youth. Imagine the gloomy siblings of Les Humphries, Gert Wilden, and their respective orchestras, armed to their teeth with synths, pads, FX. Sometimes classy and chilling, other times amusingly smooth and sleazy, and at times outright beautiful in its suspense-filled vigour, Scary Muzak is an inspired, goblinesque addition to the ever-expanding Ulver catalogue. Interior films, remember?

The re-release of a startling album

Vemod from Trondheim/Norway are one of the most promising and visionary bands of the vibrant, eclectic contemporary metal underground and have already made quite an impact in well-informed circles. Combining such diverse influences as Ulver, Dead Can Dance, Brian Eno and Paysage d'Hiver, the three musicians pursue a unique musical and aesthetical approach, thus reaching a distinct expression and atmosphere at an early stage of their career.
Vemod's first full length album "Venter På Stormene" (English: "waiting for the storms") was originally released in 2012 and is now reissued by Prophecy on a larger scale. Separated into the two parts "Over jord, vandrende" ("throughout the earth, wandering") and "Over himmel, flammende" ("throughout the heavens, flaming"), the album is conceived as a twofold manifestation of inner movements and a rising star, a contemplation upon the yet-again-sacred. The marriage of dark ethereal metal and atmospheric ambient soundscapes celebrates and cultivates the Vemodian essence within the realms of deep feeling: the result after years of slow but steady maturation and a bridge towards the future. Beyond sun and moon, we are born anew.

Double CD digibook - 2022 edition

jewelcase

CD in JakeBox with 12-page booklet.
The JakeBox is an eco friendly packaging product.
Its most significant characteristic is the folded "claw" that holds the disc, and in an eye-catching way unfolds itself, presenting the disc, lifting it up and making it easily accessible.

When Gaerea emerged out of pandemic limbo, the masked band came branded with a vision of black metal that was guided not by myths or pagan beliefs but a purging of emotion. The world quickly came to share that vision, following them from the gates of Hellfest to tours through China and the U.S.
But with ‘Coma’, Gaerea are no longer strictly black metal. Though once again produced by trusted confidant Miguel Tereso, their fourth album broadens their signature sound by taking it in two seemingly opposed directions. There are more moments of intense beauty, but they only heighten the ensuing blows.
“World Ablaze” ignited this new era of Gaerea by holding a more conventional song structure over fiery tremolo picking. “Hope Shatters” upends even the loftiest of fan expectations; after the song collapses under its blistering heaviness, the melody hangs perilously in the air, like a swaying chandelier, before it’s smashed to pieces by hammering bass and concussive blast beats. “I’ve known faces within me”, their unnamed vocalist cries in the wake of a slow and somber guitar solo before “Unknown” snaps into a razor-sharp hook. “I transform with every passing moment”.
With ‘Coma’, Gaerea surface to the top of extreme metal.

For fans of MGLA, UADA, NUMENOREAN, THE GREAT OLD ONES.