ΣΑΤΑΝΑΣ

http://thisispast.blogspot.com
ΣΑΤΑΝΑΣΣΑΤΑΝΑΣΣΑΤΑΝΑΣΣΑΤΑΝΑΣΣΑΤΑΝΑΣΣΑΤΑΝΑΣΣΑΤΑΝΑΣ

The Beast awakens...
Dødsengel - Imperator
Fields of the Nefilim - Ceromonies
This is Past - Μισανθρωπία
Pseudogod - Deathwomb Catechesis
Aldebaran - Embracing The Lightless Depths

AMSG

Imperator

You have been told that black metal is dead with no hope of delivering anything new, exciting and interesting.

You have been brainwashed, mostly by scribes of american origin and european late comers-indy kids, that black metal is nothing more than a music style, just like any other. Anyone can and has the right to mess with it, they said. 

You have witnessed a fair amount of downfalls and possibly uncountable disappointments.

You have been more than tolerant with clueless kinds and fucking imbeciles, from all over the world, that have been desecrating an art form that has been crucial for your sanity, your development and your spiritual advancement. 

You have seen mongoloids like Liturgy in their flowery shirts, taking black metal's name in vain and not being thrown into Kaiadas in order to cleanse one more stain in the filth that is the human kind.

The omens were gathering...Something great was bound to happen.

The skies roared, the earth trembled and the beast with the countless heads, that is Imperator was unleashed upon us.

Yes you fucking morons...Black metal is dead...Black metal is just like any other kind of music...Anyone has the right to create within the borders that define black metal.

Now, you can just die a painful death an vanish from the face of this earth, just to let us become one with Dødsengel 's crowning achievement.

I shall say more, when I am ready to do so.

AMSG

Imagination and passion versus monomania and stagnation

At the same time that Mgła release one of the most important black metal records of the modern times, Vikernes manages to prove that he can make a record even more boring than the two 'ambient' ones he recorded while he was in jail.
On their second full album Mgła continue refining their craft, offering what is easily the best 'orthodox' black metal record of the last several months. Is With Hearts Toward None the band's magnum opus? Only time will tell but one can shiver at the thought that this is only a sign of what is to come in the future and not their crowning achievement. As always, Mgła number the album's tracks instead of naming them, not allowing the listener to view their creation as a mere collection of songs...and they have every right to do so. Every Mgła record is a holistic experience that cannot be separated in its individual features. One could comment the spiraling guitar riffs, the inhuman shamanic drum performance, the coldhearted, intelligent and almost calculated execution of their material that is at the same time passionate and full of absolute satanic devotion. Yet too much words wont do justice to this record. Mgła rely on the sheer power of their work and belief without need for too much talking, even with no need for any extravagant or fancy artwork.
'Have ye courage, o my brethren?' If yes, then respond to the band's challenge and you will not lose.

On the other hand Burzum's new record is a test for the listener's nerves. After the excellent Fallen, this one is by far the worst record by Vikernes. Too much talking, spoken word and laughable singing, no inspiration, no intelligence whatsoever consist the man's creative nadir. Once more his lyrical concerns are of absolutely no interest and irrelevant but this time his music is surprisingly boring, to the point that it is more effective than any sleeping pill you can find. On top of all these come his hilarious promotional photographs. This whole case doesn't deserve more words. I assume that even the average imbecile would have something more constructive to do than give a second chance to that record.

Reveal - Nocturne of Eyes & Teeth

I avoid making this shithole a place for label press releases. There have been some notable exceptions in the past and this is another one. Reveal's Nocturne of Eyes & Teeth has been a vinyl only release, and a tough one to find, so far. Invictus Productions will be issuing one of the best records of the last couple of years on cd on the 31st of March.
Reveal's cavernous black heavy metal is to my ears europe's answer to Negative Plane.
On March 31 the deaf shall hear and the blind shall see.
http://invictusproductions.net/





Five spears on god's ribs...
Αίμα - Αίμα demo
Chaos Dei - Arising From Chaos
Mgla - With hearts toward none
Morgirion - Infinite Retribution Upon Paradise
Asphyx - Deathhammer

AMSG

Paper and tape

The Paper
It seems that Metalion's 'Slayer Mag Diaries' has prompted a lot of people to focus on underground printed publications again. Even if the book itself has nothing to do with certain people's decision to release a fanzine, it surely has to do with the fact that there is now at least a handfull of nostalgic assholes like myself with renewed interest in reading about music on a printed paper than the fucking computer screen.
Two zines were those that attracted me in the past couple of months. One is new, the other is old.
Chips and Beer magazine comes from the Left Hand Path team and is intended to be more of a magazine than a fanzine. In a relatively short period of time it has already its second issue out. So far I have only read the first one and it is hands down the best metal magazine you can find today, focusing on all things metal. From the lengthy Manilla Road extravaganza to the imaginative Eerie Von interview that is presented as a comic, from classic and contemporary great bands like Pentagram, Negative Plane and Vanhelgd to underground metal related artists like Putrid and B.A. Vierling, this extremely well written magazine is essential for everyone that is interested in the heavy metal subculture.
Isten fanzine has been going on and off since 1984. This double edition is the newest work of Miko Mattila and it is two 16 pages pamphlets that are being read in one breath. And the next day they challenge you to read them again. Featuring Superchrist, High Spirits, Dawnbringer, Primordial, Forced Kill, Negative Plane, Spiritus Mortis, Lord Vicar, Züül, and Quicksand Dream,a 'split 7'' interview' of Sólstafir and The Wounded Kings plus a couple of other short and clever features it is obviously a fanzine dedicated to the whole metal spectrum and as always highly recommended. 
Hopefully Chips and Beer and Isten could turn some people on well written printed journalism. It would be a pity if one more generation would musically grow up with the Terrorizers of this world.

The Tape 
There has been a bunch of very interesting death metal bands coming from germany those last couple of years. Deathronation, Obscure Infinity and Venenum has offered proper dark death metal that honours the genre's tradition. There is one specific band though whose aura has challenged me to focus much more and that would be Alchemyst. The average downloader will find absolutely nothing on the net. A couple of tracks on the band's pages but nothing to download. When the beggars are away the ones those who are truly willing to investigate further will be rewarded by Alchemyst's sulfurous occult death metal. I have recently heard their Blood and Ember tape which is basically a compilation of the demo of the same name plus four other tracks. The tape was out last year by Iron Bonehead and it is a fucking cassette that oozes darkness from the first second til the last. Heavy, dark and cavernous, oppressive as fuck this is one of the best death metal bands you will find around. Soon they will have their debut (titled Necromanteion) released and they seem ready to take the world by storm. The ones that will be not ready will be doomed. You have been warned.


Poison...
Alchemyst - Blood and Ember
Diocletian - Demo  2005
Pilgrim - Misery Wizard
Züül - Out of Time
Shub Niggurath - A Deadly Call from the Stars
Alchemyst - Blood and Ember

The hammer of the Master to smash your fucking face

http://www.mastershammer.com/

http://www.mastershammer.com/VKNM-audio.html

Fuck you all

The soundtrack to the ending of your worthless lives...

Aptorian Demon - Libertus

Anguish - Through The Archdemon's Head

Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones

Argus -  Boldly Stride the Doomed 

Bestia Arcana - To Anabainon Ek Tes Abyssu

Possession Ritual - Incense Of Opened Gates 

Aptorian Demon - Libertus

The general principle is not to write about a record before the dust is settled. There are times though that the first few spins of a record makes you feel sure about its value and the enthusiasm and nostalgic feeling they create makes you feel some kind of an urgent impulse to type some fucking words about it while in the heat of the first 48 hours (and after listening to the record a dozen times in a row).

The norwegian black metal scene has been relegated to the second or even third rate in terms of quality, in the late 90s and especially the previous decade. The 'true norwegian black metal' slogan has ended up as a joke, with all the leading bands of the second wave having abandoned the ship after 1995 or so. The result was that the norwegian bands ended up as mere followers and the poor relatives in a global scene that was slowly standing on its own feet again. A great change for a country that claimed black metal as its own but finally managed to limit it sound wise and sometimes has been a source of frustration for many people that where around from the beginning of this whole thing.

The only signs of life were coming from the local scene of nidaros (trondheim) that from the mid 00s was the obvious hope that all was not lost and there were still bands that were keeping the spirit alive. Bands like Mare, Black Majesty and later  Dødsengel (the only prolific band of the lot) have been sporadically poisoning the air with their own brand of occult black metal. Aptorian Demon had left their mark in the underground having recorded only a 7'' seven years ago. Libertus is the first full length and is the first record after many years that reminded me the days of 1990 or 1991. It is not so much the sound of it, that is rooted in the early days of black metal. They would not be the first to do that. It is mostly that the feeling they create is reminiscent of the sinister feeling of the first days. The sound is coming from the depths of moisty dungeons where the scent of incense is unbearable for the uninitiated. There is nothing new here for those that are obsessed with innovation over quality, talent and soul. There are bells, there are acoustic guitar intros and breaks into the songs (and no, they are no folk bullshit). There is the familiar guitar tone, that at least to these ears is more lava than ice.

Libertus is a ritual constructed around the thirteen minutes of the self titled track. A ritual that still haunts you for hours after being exposed to it. The bells and creeping atmosphere of  Var Aere Er Troskap echoes in your head, the chanting of Ignitus and  the acoustic Amir al-Mu`minin, resonates down to your very guts. All in all a sinister work that is better lived through vinyl and in total darkness. 

I haven't been that exited about a pure, 'traditional' black metal record in ages. 

This is true fucking black metal you bastards.

Die.