Black Metal

Hailing from the rustbelt wasteland of Michigan, SUMMON are one of the very first black metal bands to hail from American soil. Originally formed in 1991 and with ties to the equally cult Masochist, SUMMON were very much the proverbial black sheep in a landscape dominated by death metal. Nevertheless, feeding off the fiery acts overseas in Scandinavia as well as the despair and disgust in their homeland, the band made their official debut with the Fire Turns Everything Black demo in 1995, which would soon form the foundation for their blasphemous ‘n’ belligerent Dark Descent of Fallen Souls in ’97. Grim and primitive but suffused with a sulfurous spirit, SUMMON’s debut album saw the power-trio bash and thrash one mini-anthem after another, strafing against the dominant death metal of the day whilst not sacrificing any of its inherent power. Additionally, subtle and well-placed usage of synths added the requisitely moonlit atmosphere of the time. Altogether, Dark Descent of Fallen Souls is very much a record of its time, and yet, 20 years later, it’s lost none of its hateful magick and, in fact, sounds remarkably fresh. Hail one of the unsung pioneers of American black metal, at long last available again on compact disk!

Black Metal

Formed in 1996, SURRENDER OF DIVINITY are the oldest black metal band to hail from Thailand, and more importantly one of the first bands to put Southeast Asian black metal on the international map. A handful of demo and split tapes followed during the late ’90s and into the new millennium, all before the fateful release of their debut album, Oriental Hell Rhythmics, in 2001. A statement of pride as well as of intent, Oriental Hell Rhythmics soon became a classic work of caustic, cryogenic black metal steeped in the early Norwegian tradition. A seemingly odd proposition on paper, but given SURRENDER OF DIVINITY’s date of origin as well as how much slower life moved during the zine & tape-trading days, their sound then was not all that surprising. Regardless, the freezing fury they whipped forth across the deceptively epic album (six songs in 49 minutes) could not be denied: on cyclonic hypnosis alone, SURRENDER OF DIVINITY were superlative, and served as a fuck-off counterpoint to all their old influences who had wimped out by the end of the ’90s. Idiomatic “Norsecore” delivered with exotic flair. SURRENDER OF DIVINITY are Christ-beheaders eternal!

Swedish Black Metal

The second album available again on quality CD.

Swedish Black Metal

The third album available again on quality CD.

Black Metal

Black metal duo from Melbourne, Australia, SYLVAN AWE, present their third full length, ‘Pilgrimage’.

Formed in 2015, S. Callinan and A. Horsman forged their own path within the realms of black metal with their first album ‘Offering’.

Their sophomore release ‘Transcend’ released in 2021 on Northern Silence Productions presented a more focussed and mature sound with success.

Here they present ‘Pilgrimage’, a further exploration into black metal yet unbound from its restraints. A more progressive and melodic approach, from acoustic explorations spanning toward triumphant and defiant, visceral expressions.