Cemetery Lament

  As some of you know I've been talking about doing a podcast for at least two years now. And for two years I just haven't gotten off my ass to do it. Now before you just assume I'm a lazy shit bag (okay maybe a little), in my defense I have had a lot of other bullshit going on in my life. A lot of times it has effected how often I was able to post to this blog let alone try to maintain a show scheduled for a podcast.  Another big issue was having the resources to create a decent product. I didn't want the show to sound like complete and total garbage so I had to be in a position where I could get the right equipment and learn the programs involved with all this craziness.  So... after much ado, I'm happy to announce that I have started recording the first episode of the soon to be released... Cemetery Lament Podcast. My goal is to have the first show recorded and out on the black market by the second week of October 2020. So if you aren't busy or whatever maybe...

  I honestly don't know much about 0 (I'm assuming the band name is "Zero" and not the just the letter O) but since most of their Bandcamp site is in Icelandic I'm not 100% sure. Anyway, regardless of what their name is... (I'm going with Zero), they are fucking amazing. If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times, my favorite things about sites like Bandcamp and Soundcloud are all the incredible unsigned, underground artists you can find there. Right out of the rip the first track, None, is an eight minute and fifty second beast that sets the tone for the rest of the album. The vocals range from demonic screams, brutal growls and a moody "clean" chanting of sorts. Musically there is definitely no lack of talent and each track has a unique sound that keeps you engaged from beginning to end.  I don't what genre of music they consider themselves (again, Icelandic) but I would go with Atmospheric Black Metal. So if you are in search o...

  ASARMOTH is the new solo project from Gigi Casini the former Bass/Vocalist of the Italian Death Metal band MIND SNARE. Casini's new project merges the influences of early 80's extreme metal acts like Venom, Bathory and Celtic Frost with early death metal bands like Obituary, Deicide, Morbid Angel and Death Vader. Princess of the Darkness is an interesting blend of old school metal and death metal with a toned down driving bass and drum line that runs thought the album tying all the tracks together like a brooding death march. Casini has done some interesting stuff on this album and incorporated some elements that you don't often hear in metal. Listening to this album for the first time I picked up a slight prog-metal  influence on a few of the tracks with echo effects and what sounds like a simple yet classic keyboard synthesizer. Don't get me wrong, isn't a bad thing at all and I really like it when artists take influences from other genres and work them into th...

Unholy fucking Jesus!!!  Has 2020 been a clusterfuck shitbomb of a year so far. Aside from yours truly losing his job (okay, maybe that wasn't the worst thing that has happened because I hated that fucking job.) but on top of that all the absolute stupidity that is happening all over the U.S. with riots and cops shooting people and people being assholes etc. It's amazing we haven't just blown ourselves up yet. But since we haven't I guess we will just have to make the best of a bad situation.  A few months ago I let a few people I work with on a regular basis know that I was exploring the podcast format for Cemetery Lament. That hasn't changed and I'm still very much looking at this as something I plan to launch this fall hopefully by October 2020 if possible.  The reason for the delay on this project has to do with the legal aspects of a music podcast. Even with unsigned, underground music there is still a layer of red tape that needs to be worked around before...

WEREWOLF RECORDS is proud to present FAUSTIAN PACT's highly anticipated debut album, Outojen Tornien Varjoissa, on CD and vinyl LP formats. Since 2007, FAUSTIAN PACT have been one of Finnish black metal's best-kept secrets: "those who know, know." Their first three demos, one following the other between 2008-2010, poignantly presented a magickal, folkloric aspect long missing from serious black metal. They were a band out of time, seemingly - "born too late," not fit for these increasingly modern times. Now, nearly a decade after FAUSTIAN PACT's last demo, this trio of sorcerers bring the past into the present with their LONG-awaited debut album. Outojen Tornien Varjoissa by FAUSTIAN PACT Titled Outojen Tornien Varjoissa, FAUSTIAN PACT's full-length debut is the grand culmination of all the gloriously bewitching work they brewed across that trio of demos. Exploding with an effervescence that's addicting and undeniable, their swor...

**************** I get a shit ton of promo stuff emailed to me every day... Most of it never makes it on the blog because honestly... well it's fucking garbage... But every now and then I find something in the mail bag that really stands out from the rest. Now before anyone freaks out I know this isn't black metal or even death metal... This is old school classic metal from a group that really understands how to put out a quality retro sound. As soon as I heard Midas I knew I had to share them because this is classic rock from an era when aviator sun glasses, white high top sneakers and denim jackets were fucking boss. So dust off your battle jacket because this is the real deal kids!   **************** DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present the first two demos of MIDAS on vinyl LP, CD and digital formats under the title Demo Tapes.  Hailing from the mean streets of Detroit, MIDAS are a four-piece band of hard rock warriors. Theirs is an ancient, time...

Maybe I'm just a sucker for folk/Nordic inspired black metal, but when it's done as well as what Haljōrūna is offering who can argue with it. An interesting mix of clean and black metal vocals with a slow driving beat to the music really sets the mood for their entire Midvinterblot album.  Midtvinterblot by Haljōrūna By far my favorite track on the album is Urds Kjelde but the rest of the album isn't lacking in any regard. The marching beat of this track blended with the keyboards and drums is a perfect merger of folk and metal that few bands nail as successfully as  Haljōrūna. Head over to their Bandcamp page and give them a listen... The entire digital download is only around $6.00 (50 Sek) so be sure to Follow  Haljōrūna  and support them in any way you can!  www.haljoruna.bandcamp.com

666 Goats Carry My Chariot -  Osmose Productions, 31 January 2020 The question is not “can it be done?” The question is: “what happens when you forge classic speed metal on the anvil of wild thrash metal, and hammer it down with reckless abandon?” And the most important question is: “What happens when you take that particular piece of glowing Steele and melt it into the same massive warhead where a mixture of occult and epic heavy metal, first-wave black metal, and guitar leads of hard-rocking magnificence are already nucleating to the point of destructive atomical power?” The answer to these questions is BÜTCHER, and BÜTCHER is about one thing. One thing only. To define Metal in the way the band sees fit. Metal in the sense of the absolute riffing madness that ruled both the airwaves and the underground tape-trading scene during the late '70s, through the genre-defining '80s, and well into the early '90s. BÜTCHER’s unique blend of metal music is certainl...

Despite Enepsigos' 2017 debut album, Plague of Plagues, having been enthusiastically welcomed by fans of traditional black metal, the band itself always felt that the album did not really go far enough in establishing what Enepsigos, and its music, was all about. But now, with Osmose Productions set to release Enepsigos' sophomore album, Wrath of Wraths, on March 27th inernationally, all that is about to change. Because, according to the band, Wrath of Wraths is "a manifestation of what Enepsigos really is, and will be. Dark, disgusting, twisted, ritualistic, and violent." And today Osmose have released a single from the album to give fans a taste of what to expect. The track "Cups Of Anger" With intro and interludes by Alexander Wolf and V.I.T.H.R, vocals, guitars, and bass for Wrath of Wraths were recorded at the Bergegarda Studios in Norway, while drums were recorded at the Beastcave Studios in Italy. Mixed and mastered by Tore Stjerna at the N...

On January 24th, 2020 internationally, The Sinister Flame is proud to present Aethyrick's highly anticipated second album, Gnosis, on CD and vinyl LP formats. Formed by Gall and Exile on the winter solstice 2016, Aethyrick's medium is black metal, methods uncomplicated and motives unknown. The Finnish duo proved their potency during the closing days of 2018 with their first full-length. Duly titled Praxis, indeed did it brim with a mysticism and magick that was simultaneously aeons-old and strikingly modern. A new classic in some circles but seemingly overlooked by the rest of the novelty-choked public, Praxis nevertheless laid firm a foundation upon which Aethyrick would most surely weave ever-more-grandiose spells. ATMOSPHERIC FINNISH BLACK METAL bandcamp - album - gnosis www.aethyrick.com

All music genres are a little fucked up to begin with but black metal has got to have some of the stupidest "rules" governing what is legit and what is considered poser trash of any musical genre out there. From what I can understand the only way to be a "truly" credible black metal band is to stay broke and obscure so that you can stay true to your blackend  roots. You must remain an underground band FOREVER and if anyone actually ends up liking (or buying) your music you have officially sold the fuck out and now everyone will hate you. Personally I think this is fucking retarded ass bullshit and I'm going to explain why. While I'm at it there are a few other sacred cows we love to jerk each other off about in the black metal community that I'm gonna burn down like a fucking church in Norway. So hold on to your collective weenies because it's time to get over the fuckery and just enjoy the music for a change.  First things first... after 30+...

So I haven't posted much of anything in a long while. Not going to bore anyone with lame ass excuses I've just been busy with real life shit and haven't had much time to dedicate to the blog. I still keep tabs on the underground black/death metal scene when I can but for the most part I have been slacking off like a motherfucker because my work and home life have been pretty crazy for the last year or so. But enough about all that. Over the last few months I've been digging into old school black and death metal that is available on vinyl or cassette tape. Why you might ask? Well, mostly because I like to own the physical copy of music and also because I'm still convinced that analog sounds better than digital... I'm not going to go into the long boring bullshit arguments about how digital is just as good or how some clown with a billion dollars worth of audio equipment has tested and retested it and it's all the same. I like analog sound and fuck what scie...

Snooping around over on Soundcloud today and discovered Decoherence. Not a lot of info on them at the moment but they have several songs posted and they are all heavy as hell with a great wall of sound depth and complexity that I fucking love. Hope to hear more from this band/artist. 

New metal from Germany. Head over to SoundCloud and check it out. Be sure to Follow and Share!

Welcome to the very first Epitaph on Cemetery Lament . For the most part Epitaphs are just going to be bullshit articles I write when I'm bored so that I can pump worthless crap into your pathetic human skulls. News, updates, opinions or whatever the hell I might come up with that I feel like sharing. For my first Epitaph I thought I would kick things off with a few things that I have going on with the blog and hope to have off the ground over the next few months. As of now I don't have a set timetable for any of this but I plan on rolling them out in the next three or four months if possible.  Before I dig deeper into this I just want to thank everyone who has followed the blog and especially all the incredible bands and artists who contact me on a daily basis and show support for what I'm trying to do here. When I started this stupid blog over a year ago I never imagined that it would take off in the underground community like as it has. At the time of this writ...

Another superb offering from  Ankou featuring Skyggefigurrer . Prepare for a voyage aboard the HMS Terror and feel the freezing Arctic air cut you to the bone with this brutal track. Be sure to check out Ankou and Skyggefigurrer on SoundCloud for more bone chilling underground metal.

Words like mood and atmosphere get thrown around a lot these days especially when you are talking about black metal albums. In the early years of the genre it was pretty easy... evil and Satan ... But eventually, (unless you happen to be Dark Funeral) that subject is going to run it's course. Obviously over time bands have tried to explore other subjects, sometimes they succeed and sometimes they fail miserably. Creating an atmosphere or having a theme for an album means more than just writing different lyrics set to the same old black metal tropes that have been done a billion times before. Just because you are screaming about 16th century baked goods doesn't mean you have successfully conveyed the "mood" or "atmosphere" of your concept album about medieval pastry. Fortunately for all of us Geisterfels clearly understands that it takes more than just lyrics about medieval castles and ancient forests to convey a message... especially, (if you are...

A lot of people like to throw around words like " raw"  in the black metal community but very few actually deliver on the "raw" brutality of old school black metal from the early 90's. Aske however delivers raw black metal in all it's brutal glory. Check out the track below and be sure to head over to SoundCloud and give him a follow. 

Conjuring the sinister spirits of yesteryear, Moenen of Xezbeth rises to deliver its first full incantation of mid-paced black metal, Ancient Spells of Darkness…, with its seven arcane invocations primed to unleash their plague on all who bear witness. Captured with the same approach and under the same austere conditions as its preceding demo and EP, Ancient Spells of Darkness… thus realizes the same unearthly effect, yet it is even more sinister and oppressive. These foreboding hymns serve as a conduit for the return of the original black flame, which was first sparked by Moenen of Xezbeth’s revered forbearers, has since nurtured itself in the underworld, and is now emboldened to return in its dark glory. Ancient Spells of Darkness... by Moenen of Xezbeth

Hailing from Gjøvik, Djevelkult is a Norwegian black metal cult brought out of void in 2009 by Dødsherre Xarim, with a vision of darkness and chaos, and to spread a message of blasphemy against man and God. Xarim first started with a different set of members than the current lineup, but due to differences, imprisonments, and other situations, the lineup for the first year went into oblivion. Xarim then got together with the drummer Ond of Liktjern in 2010, and thus work of the evil chants started. With Xarim and Ond as the primary lineup, Djevelkult recorded and released the demo Skapt av Helvetesild in the summer of 2011. At the same time, Beleth joined in band, and shortly after, Skabb did, as well. With the lineup now a four-piece, Djevelkult then wrote and recorded their debut album, I Djevelens Tegn, which was subsequently released by Morbid Shrine Productions in September 2014. Ond left the cult in the summer 2014 due personal reasons and T.K. joined in as a live s...