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Founded in 1991, Belial only lived a short career but burned with a bright flame. The band opened the gates to success – and hell – right from the start with their demo tape and mini-album “Wisdom of Darkness” (1992). Belial's debut full length album “Never Again” (1993) was well received by fans and even had some commercial success cementing their name as one of the cruelest and darkest-sounding Finnish death metal band of their time.
 

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.
 

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."

Founding members of In The Woods and Green Carnation return to their classic origins in Strange New Dawn. Heavy psychedelic and progressive Doom, Strange New Dawn from Kristiansand, Norway unveils epic new album New Nights of Euphoria set for release via Svart Records on 24th of November 2023.

From the cold dank fog of Portland, Oregon USA re-emerges Petrification with their highly anticipated sophomore album nearly 5 years in the making titled “Sever Sacred Light”! Conjuring all the dark powers of DEATH, DOOM, PUNK and THE OCCULT, Petrification brings their most barbaric, heavy, and yet sophisticated release to date. This new full-length opus will be released on Svart Records 9^th of February 2024.

“Sever Sacred Light” paints a mental landscape of a crumbling universe magnified through the hysterical mind of a deranged and rottenly eccentric undead enigma “Arach-Ned”.  “Sever Sacred Light” illustrates vast musical growth from the critically acclaimed 2017 demo “Summon Horrendous Destruction” and the 2018 full length debut of “Hollow of the Void”. They continue to advance and evolve while honoring the traditions and influence of ungodly masters of Autopsy, Bolt Thrower, Coffins, and all the celebrated favorites of the early 90’s Finnish death metal scene such as Rippikoulu and Demigod. With Petrification’s top tier sonic depravity this album is promised to be looked back at as the measuring stick of what an old school death metal album of this era should be.

From the cold dank fog of Portland, Oregon USA re-emerges Petrification with their highly anticipated sophomore album nearly 5 years in the making titled “Sever Sacred Light”! Conjuring all the dark powers of DEATH, DOOM, PUNK and THE OCCULT, Petrification brings their most barbaric, heavy, and yet sophisticated release to date. This new full-length opus will be released on Svart Records 9^th of February 2024.

“Sever Sacred Light” paints a mental landscape of a crumbling universe magnified through the hysterical mind of a deranged and rottenly eccentric undead enigma “Arach-Ned”.  “Sever Sacred Light” illustrates vast musical growth from the critically acclaimed 2017 demo “Summon Horrendous Destruction” and the 2018 full length debut of “Hollow of the Void”. They continue to advance and evolve while honoring the traditions and influence of ungodly masters of Autopsy, Bolt Thrower, Coffins, and all the celebrated favorites of the early 90’s Finnish death metal scene such as Rippikoulu and Demigod. With Petrification’s top tier sonic depravity this album is promised to be looked back at as the measuring stick of what an old school death metal album of this era should be.

• Digipack

After years of lurking in the deepest, darkest corners of the Black Metal underground, the entity known as Death Like Mass finally rears its head again, this time presenting us with 45 minutes of relentless Black Metal Magic. An album that will divide the herd with its unabating fury, maniacal madness and theatrical grandeur. A stab in the heart of nowadays Black Metal, this album comes at a futile time of a long lost genre, awakening spirits of old whilst never straying away from their by now signature audial Darkness.

Chaos in Order, Order in Chaos.

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.

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.
 

High Roller Records, reissue 2024, black/ neon green galaxy effect vinyl, ltd 500, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover with high gloss lamination, insert, 2 x poster

Mastered by Patrick W. Engel at TEMPLE OF DISHARMONY
Cutting by SST Germany on Neumann machines for optimal quality on all levels... The ultimate reissue of this eternal classic!

Snake - vocals
Piggy (R.I.P. 2005) - guitars
Blacky - bass
Away - drums