Black Metal

Formed in 2019, LUNAR CHALICE comprise prolific veterans of the German metal underground. Under the alluring moniker LUNAR CHALICE, the band quickly set upon a slew of releases, first with the Walpurgis Dance demo in 2019 and the Night Poetry EP right after, exhibiting a subtly refreshing approach to classics-minded black metal. The next year came the even-stronger Medieval Cults of Heresy EP, thus setting the stage for the band’s debut full-length.

Taking a relatively longer time given their feverish creativity, LUNAR CHALICE now deliver the grand statement of their so-far-undiscovered powers, Transcendentia: The Shadow Pilgrimage. With one steel-toed boot planted under a funeral moon and the other in a world without end, LUNAR CHALICE give a masterclass in stripped-down
songwriting rich in nuance and dynamics. Their black metal is like a boulder gathering momentum down a mountain and rumbling across valleys; the movement is inexorable, and portends doom, and simply cannot be stopped. LUNAR CHALICE, in effect, extend a spectrum of black metal sonics that’s feral and unhinged on one hand and mercilessly martial on the other; that their almost-overwhelmingly physical onslaught is deliberately (and eerily) clipped betrays both a depth of vision and a rare grace in a landscape usually laden with filth. Which isn’t to say that Transcendentia doesn’t sound “dirty” (it does), but rather that that’s not the overarching thematic – that there’s a sense of ceremony or even regality at play here. Credit due to the absolutely madman vocals of bassist E.I.-M., who more often than not channels a clean tenor that’s more disturbing than most “black metal” vocals.

Black Metal

Active from 2001-2005, the highly revered side project of Leviathan’s Jef Whitehead, Lurker of Chalice, is mostly known for the 2005 self-titled full-length. Prior to that album, however, Wrest recorded two CD-R demos under the Lurker of Chalice name, each of which was limited to approximately 50 copies or less and sold at a single record store in San Francisco, near where he was living at the time. Like the full-length, both demos were eponymous, though the first demo was identified only by the initials “L.O.C.” written in runes. While a few of the songs from the demo era bear indicia of black metal, the material from that period is generally far more experimental, defying any effort to be neatly categorized. For “Tellurian Slaked Furnace,” Wrest has distilled the best material from the early period of the project and edited, collaged, and compiled it, weaving together something more coherent and album-like. In this way, there seems to be something of his current artistic sensibility projected onto these recordings from nearly two decades earlier. In keeping with the confusing taxonomy of the project, the tracks on this LP are unnamed. The album opens with a song previously called “Lurker of Chalice” on the 2002 demo but is untitled on this release. The song showcases the haunting minimalism of Lurker of Chalice as slow acoustic guitars revolve around one another, arpeggiated chords ringing out above percussive accents. With the second track, a more sinister energy emerges, advanced by the first and only appearance of Wrest’s seething vocals.

Black Metal

Necro Black Metal, to worship the times of Old.

Black Metal

The demo from 2012 available again on single LP.

True Black Metal from Quebec.

Black Metal

Cult full-length from 1998 available again on LP.

NOTE: Pre-order – Sent on 09/26/2025

Black Metal

Glorification is the first EP by Swedish black metal band Marduk.

It was recorded and mixed at The Abyss in May 1996.