Black Metal

Founded in 1997 in the Swiss region of Bern, black metal solo-project PAYSAGE D’HIVER remained a strictly underground phenomenon at first. Mastermind Wintherr unleashed a steady stream of 10 full-length so-called “demos” and 4 split-EPs that earned him an excellent reputation and large following When the Swiss came “out of hiding” with “Im Wald” (“In the Forest”) in 2020, his regular debut album even entered the German charts underscoring the organically achieved status. Each full-length release, including the so-called “demos” and regular albums, constitutes a chapter of a continuing story, which PAYSAGE D’HIVER narrate about a protagonist called “Der Wanderer”, who roams an otherworld realm. In “Geister”, the Wanderer has a lucid dream in which he meets beings from another dimension, which is in fact our world. To him, we terrestrials appear as the ghosts. Our only means of contacting the Wanderer in the world of PAYSAGE D’HIVER is through the rites of winter, such as the Tschäggättä, which is a traditional mask cult from the Lötschental, a valley in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Such a hereditary mask is depicted on the album cover and the lyrics are set in the local dialect.

Ambient

Paysage D’Hiver’s double album “Im Wald” was recently released and immediately became a favorite among both fans and critics. Now Wintherr offers us an addendum in the shape of the EP “Im Traum”, which contains two album songs as re-imagined versions.

“In my inner ear,” the Swiss artist explains, “I heard deeper levels of music when recording ‘Le Rêve Lucide’ and ‘Kaelteschauer’, which are not possible to include in the limited physical audio spectrum, as it often happens with Paysage D’Hiver. So these two tracks, wherein it seemed particularly clear and intense to me, are a realization of these deeper levels for the first time.”

Black Metal

With 120 minutes playing time, “Im Wald” is not only Paysage D’Hiver’s longest effort so far but also another chapter in the tale of winter travel (thus the French name Paysage D’Hiver) that runs through the project’s entire work like the proverbial golden thread. In the context of his highly detailed narrative, Wintherr locates it after “Steineiche” and “Schattengang” (both 1998) which describe the beginning of the travel, and before “Das Tor” (2013), “Kerker” (1999) and “Die Festung” (1998), which are set at the end.

Packaged in a sealed black envelope, shrinkwrapped, with the barcode given on a sticker on the shrinkwrap. Assembled by hand.

Black Metal

A unique journey through the desolation of the night.

Packaged in a sealed black envelope, shrinkwrapped, with the barcode given on a sticker on the shrinkwrap. Assembled by hand.

Black Metal

The best demo ever recorded.

Packaged in a sealed black envelope, shrinkwrapped, with the barcode given on a sticker on the shrinkwrap. Assembled by hand.

Black Metal

The first material of PdH available for the first time on CD.

Black Metal

Utterly dark and cruel black metal hymns inspired by victorious times. Purity Renaissance’s debut promo cassette offers 6 hymns (plus intro and outro) of desolate, yet triumphant black metal infused with pure European glory. Rarely has a North American act managed to sound so close to European bands like Odal or Cultus. This recording, previously released as a highly limited promotional cassette, has been remixed by the band and remastered by Baron Yrch Malachi of Blood Tyrant.

Ambient

The entire ‘Flying Fish Ambience’ album with 2 bonus tracks ‘black magic spreads through the ecosystem’ and an alternate version of ‘phosphorescence on rowing oars at night (club mosses edit)’, the companion EP ‘jellyfish reproduce black magic’ (coming as a stand alone vinyl release later in the year) and the title cassette ‘seashell altars’ with 2 twisted side stepping ambient herbal ecologist compositions.

Black Metal

Triumphant, melodic, raw black metal that breathes new vibrance to the genre, with Black Banner Of War, Forest Sentinel returns to expand upon his brilliant first strike earlier this year. Continuing to refine the Ravenbolt approach without losing any of the vibrance and appeal so ever-present on Dark Medieval Blood. What made Dark Medieval Blood so compelling was how Forest Sentinel could craft melodic, atmospheric, and almost symphonic black metal without falling prey to the easy and obvious tropes that have often driven the genre into the realm of pastiche. With Black Banner Of War, he continues this trend of shirking the opulence that tainted this sub-genre previously and instead using all elements of the composition to focus on the malicious, ruthless, and spiteful aspects of the subject matter to bring a more caustic atmosphere to the forefront. Dark Medieval Blood was a fully-formed realization of this fierce approach, and yet Black Banner of War has built upon this radiantly.

Black Metal

New CD featuring 29 minutes of medieval Black Metal.

Black Metal

Black Metal Barbarism from the Southern lands.

Classic 1997 demo from the project that would become COMMAND.