Nuit Noire (FRA) – Fantomatic Plenitude LP

Black Metal

Originally released as cassette by Mahamvantara Arts Records earlier this year, RÜNDGARD’s first public recording is one literally out of time. Mainman Lord Valtgryftåk is a prolific veteran of Chile’s increasingly potent black metal underground, concurrently handling the likes of Pyreficativm, 13th Temple, Gryftigæn, and Winterstorm among others. And while a number of those bands and satellite entities belonging to the Pure Raw Underground Black Metal Plague are indeed the rawest of the raw, with RÜNDGARD does he delve into ancient times, medieval majesty, and grim splendor somewhere between the earliest Nordic works and contemporaneous Polish ones.

Recorded during two periods over the course of MMXX/MMXXI and now featuring a mix & master by Rudrah Studios, Stronghold of Majestic Ruins suitably evokes its namesake both sonically and thematically. Empirically, the recording evokes the ancient passages and memories of a distant land submerged in mist and an interesting story behind ruins. As Lord Valtgryftåk explains, “Originally, this entity is directly related to those archaic dimensional Valdivian forces that still inhabit our realms, those forces from the past written in blood and guarded by solemn towers and fortresses that still remain alive.” And truly, that past comes alive across the album’s succinct-yet-expansive 25-minute runtime, maintaining a faithful respect for the old traditions and the sound of glorious times with an interesting melodic register at the same time very organic. No record-collector-nerd “raw black metal” here: only authentic ancient vintage!

For those nostalgic for forgotten realms and archaic ages, RÜNDGARD returns from a deep slumber with the fortifying Stronghold of Majestic Ruins!

Black Metal

Building upon that grand fortress is a four-song/22-minute mini-album likewise truly titled: The Oath of the Black Wolf. Here, ORGREL have gone a-hunting, their ’90s black metal classicism stalking and striking with a hunger only hinted at previously. Still, fueled by this fire they may be, the Italians across this mini manage to maximize their epic side, with the predecessor’s flat-yet-full soundfield now becoming slightly more chromatic in the process. Lead lines portend dark truths, ever building in tension and then grandeur, but the record’s swift-yet-satisfying runtime reveals the darkest, most intrinsic truth: black metal doesn’t need to “become” anything when it already IS. Hail The Oath of the Black Wolf!

Black Metal

Two great bands together in a covenant of Black Metal, each one parading its unique approach and both building a strong split, a brilliant release.

Black Metal

In the womb of one of the secrets of time lies an inalienable resonance between the roots of man and his history cognizance. Oftenly, the seeking of an endless spirit endowment engulfs him with a veil of barren knowledge, that commonly ties his thoughts and reflections to the boundaries of an ordinary living, dragged by a flux of invisible strands that may craft a path leading nowhere. Sometimes, this delivers into a self-inducted catharsis where the glorious pursuit of ancient trails in own’s blood turns imperative. Despite it being minimum or gigantic. Pure as a child’s heart or intertwined as a chimera. This seed is what made man within and not without. Empowering him to step above all his previous versions yet giving birth to what will become his spiritform.

Black Metal

2022 version released by Darker than Black, new layout and gatefold.

Black Metal

2022 version by Darker than Black, new layout.