Monarch, "Sortilege" CD EP

This EP, which consists of one 13-minute track of droning, crushing doom with the added element of industrial noise, was recorded during the Sabbat Noir sessions in December 2009 and is now being released by Heathen Skulls to coincide with Monarch's Japanese/Australian tour.  To get one, email Heathen Skulls. Limited to 500.

Hell, if you don't care for the music, get one just because Emilie is probably the sexiest, most beautiful woman in metal. One hell of a voice, too.

Ascension, "Consolamentum"

Little seems to be known about this black metal horde from Germany; I would argue that little needs to be known of them. What matters is the music, and the music made by this band is astonishing. Possessed by an almost psychedelic quality at time, the riffs wield an articulate dissonance as they wage war against the typical human psyche, exploring the idea of spiritual metamorphosis (thus the band's name). This is the absolute height of black metal, on par with the best of Deathspell Omega. That's not something I'd thought I'd say so easily, but in this case making that determination is elementary. One listen should reveal the genius at work here.

This debut full-length has been difficult to come by stateside; Phantom City Records had it and sold out, though they're expecting a restock in the coming weeks. If you're feeling adventurous, head to Germany's World Terror Committee, where you can get this LP, the Fire and Faith EP, and the With Burning Tongues demo on LP and/or cassette.

Velnias, Untitled CS from Land of Decay

I posted about this when Velnias put it out themselves and sold it on their tour with Altar of Plagues last summer, here. So if you missed out on that limited run, you have another chance to grab this on cassette from Land of Decay, on another very limited run. Terrence Hannum of Locrian provided the cover art, and it's amazing, as you can see above. From what I understand, this was made available to Land of Decay mailing list people first, but if you want one (and why shouldn't you? - the untitled 22 minute track on this cassette is absolutely transcendent) get in touch with Land of Decay via email and see if you made it in time. If you don't hustle, you'll be out of luck, because these will go very quickly.

Seidr, "Cosmic" Demo

Austin Lunn's (from Panopticon) ritual-doom band Seidr (which also features Jack Hannert, and Crow from Wheels Within Wheels) has made their newest demo, entitled Cosmic, available for free download.  Three (amazing) songs, nearly 30 minutes of bone-crushing but hauntingly beautiful doom. The first track, "The Silent Void" is particularly impressive, as it takes the listener in a spacey, drone-y direction. These songs are themed around the cosmos, and that definitely can be heard in a big way.  Hails to the band for making the demo a free download here. More info is coming soon on how you can get a physical copy of this.

New noise from Small Doses

Small Doses has updated their site with three new releases.

Harsh Fields is Wilt's collaboration with Goose and Marax. Dark/death ambient co-released by Small Doses and Phage Tapes on cassette, in an edition of 100 - 50 in black, and 50 in white. The colors will be randomly distributed.

Rabha is a duo consisting of A. Lippoldt (Persistence in Mourning, Gorgontongue, ZZ) and M. Chami (Koufar, Disgust, Winters in Osaka). The Defiant Demos combine elements of doom metal, powerviolence, power electronics and harsh noise. This demo is on CDr in an edition of 86 copies.

Anti's self-titled release is a 19-minute track that, as Joe from Small Doses put it, "starts with metal noise and builds to an intense and relentless harsh noise assault." Available on 3" CDr in an edition of 51.

Also, Joe has listed a few titles that are coming soon, including a CD from Formication, in a standard edition as well as limited edition set that includes a CDr with remixes by Locrian and Hoor-paar-Kraat, the long-awaited Eureka Tapes (The Complete Recordings) 2CD set from Hoor-paar-Kraat with an extremely limited artist edition box set version available, a CD from The Ritual Inclusion of Code, and cassettes from Trepaneringsritualen and Disgust/Joshua Norton Cabal.

To listen to samples and order these new releases, check out the Small Doses website.

Witchrist, Beheaded Ouroboros 180 gram LP

I was going to wait until I had pics of the LP and packaging, but screw it, I can post those later. This latest release from Parasitic Records demands your attention. Absolutely killer death metal from these New Zealand lads, 3 of which also play in Diocletian.  180 gram black vinyl in a heavyweight gatefold, with full-color outer and inner prints, a full-color 20 page booklet, and a 24" x 24" poster.  Doesn't get any better than this. Pre-order it now at the above link, there's no chance you'll regret it.

Pre-Orders from Gilead Media and Halo of Flies

 

Pre-orders go up sometime tonight for the latest wax treats from Gilead Media. As I've posted on before, you'll be able to pre-order the Northless Clandestine Abuse 2xLP as well as the new Fell Voices Untitled LP. What I didn't mention before is the fact that the Fell Voices/Ash Borer split LP will be available for pre-order as well.  You'll be sad not to have any of these, I promise.

The Northless double LP is also available for pre-order from Halo of Flies, as is the debut 2xLP from England's Light Bearer, which features Alex from the now-fallen Fall of Efrafa. The two tracks playing on the band's myspace page are excellent, and fellow metal-blog Lurker did a nice write up on this band just last week, so this record is highly recommended.