ART ABSCONS - 'Der Verborgene Gott' CD (Hau Ruck!)
An inspiring and innovative melange of noir-cabaret, dark folk and classic industrial, catapulting the splendour of his poetry into realms unknown. "The world is my dream at daybreak. Guarded by angels, conceived by devils" is the magical formula opening the concept album "Der verborgene Gott" which celebrates the myth of Deus Absconditus, the Hidden God. The album leads us through delirious dreamscapes ranging from catchy pop tunes to ethereal soundscapes, from medieval ditties to industrial sound collages, from naive melodies to psychedelic walls of sound, always crowned by Abscon's haunting, poetic voice. The album is spiced up with vocal and instrumental contributions from members of Luftwaffe, Sinweldi and Gnomonclast. This CD album contains songs and song versions that are different from the tracks on the earlier vinyl release on Blind Prophet Records. Contains tracks that are not on the vinyl, while the vinyl contains tracks that are not on the CD. Digipak.
UK 12£
Europe 13£
World 14£
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BLOOD AXIS - 'Born Again' 2 x LP (Storm)
Over the course of the 12 tracks which comprise their 2nd album, "Born Again", Blood Axis explores an epic yet human universe in which gods are summoned, kingdoms rise, riddles are unlocked, love is lost, and worlds crumble. Whereas early Blood Axis music was marked by keyboards and samples, Blood Axis in 2010 is stripped down to an essential core of natural instrumentation - electric and acoustic strings, melodeon, piano, highland bagpipes and Galician gaita, marching percussion, the mysterious Annabel-a-tron, and Bobby BeauSoleil's growling, prison-vintage guitar eruptions circa 1976. Underpinning the album and propelling much of the music is the traditional Irish bodhrán, recorded here with unprecedented power. Moynihan's ominous voice is well matched by Annabel Lee's elfin intonations, just as her violin finds a perfect counterpoint in Robert Ferbrache's protean guitar parts. Shot through by myth and romance, the expressive lyrics on "Born Again" have their roots in ancient and modern poetry, archaic invocations and tragic laments. Both unclassifiable and unforgettable: neither folk nor rock, traditional nor avant-garde, modern nor archaic, it is simply Blood Axis. To everything there is season. For those who are cursed, a time to die and to be forgotten. And for the blessed, a time to be born again: to live on, beyond death, in the minds of men. Now is the time for Blood Axis to be Born Again. Ltd x 700 copies in a stunning 6-panel gatefold sleeve with 12-page full sized booklet.
ONE COPY PER CUSTOMER ONLY! If you attempt to purchase more than 1 copy, your order will be refunded.
UK 29£
Europe 34£
World 39£
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HERBST9 - 'The Gods Are Small Birds, But I Am The Falcon' CD (Loki Foundation)
The latest album of Herbst9 is a step further into the depths of the Assyrian and Asian mythologies, using authentic audio and visual fragments of sacrifices, lamentations, prayers and ancient rituals. The result is a deep labyrinth of sounds with meditative percussions, ghostly vocal fragments and singings which melts with detailed and multi-layered tones of various traditional instruments. All this is constructed around a core of dark and ongoing floating drones creating an atmosphere of true archaic music which has been developed by Herbst9 to perfection. This soundtrack is the secrecy from the deep and hidden places of the sacred earth transcending us beyond the real world to the inner realm of ourselves. The CD is presented in 6-panel digipak.
IRIJ is a one-woman-folk project brought to life by Eluveite violinist Meri Tadic in autumn 2006. Her compositions range from mere instrumentals all the way to a cappella songs. It's a journey through a Slavic soul devoted to tradition and sincerity. IRIJ is mentioned in Slavic mythology with almost oppositional meanings. Its the celestial residence of pagan gods as well as the here and now and the materialistic world. Her music sounds bewitching and bright, but dark and plain at the same time. It catches up with what is in between, a world between the worlds. 23 minutes of stunning Balkan Folk music. Digipak.
LIYR - 'Fragments Of Dust' CD (War Office Propaganda / Rage In Eden)
LIYR is a French martial act born in 2008. Heavily inspired by neoclassical, bombastic percussion and industrial martial sounds Liyr creates his own characteristic atmosphere. Behind the harshness of the percussion, there is an esoteric thought about Celtic tradition and legends - LIYR is the God of Sea in Celtic myths. But the main idea is that we all live in a changing world dominated by sort of feelings like hate and love, fear and pleasure - in his music and lyrics LIYR talks about all these feelings. Digipak.
"Songs of Remorse" is the debut album from Italy's Stroszek, who play dark melancholic doom / emotional acoustic music. Stroszek comes from the Werner Herzog film of the same name and is the perfect moniker for a band with such a gloomy atmosphere. While the band contains members of Black Metal act Frostmoon Eclipse, this should be looked upon as a separate entity and not just a 'side project'. Carefully strummed minor key acoustic guitar...deliberate yet restrained piano lines...bursts of heaviness added for texture...and deep, lush clean sung vocals that relay a sense of dread lurking beneath the surface. Digipak.
SVARROGH / DEFILE DES AMES / ARNICA - 'South European Folk Compendium' CD (Ahnstern)
This three-way CD is a unique compendium of South European folk music, inspired by Balkan, Catalan and Hellenic traditional culture. The sources and the stylistic devices of the three artists are quite different and descending from three different cultural regions, but there is just one intention and one deep mythological spirit, that unites the musicians to build up an axis through the Mediterranean sunlit landscapes. On this album you will drown in the ritual, Alpine-Folk shamanism of Árnica, using a wide range of traditional instruments and the spirit of Catalunya - Svarrogh drags you to the deep and dark forests of Bulgaria by slavic chants, where you will meet the god Veles in his wooden shrine – and you will waft through a droning and apocalyptic haze to the powerful and emotional hellenic spheres of Défilé des Âmes from Greece.
UK 11£
Europe 12£
World 13£
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WOLD - 'Badb' CD (Crucial Blast)
Originally released on cassette in 2004 in a limited edition of 100 copies, "Badb" is one of the earliest releases from the Saskatchewan-based black metal / noise duo Wold. The nine tracks featured here revolve around the mythology of the war goddess, the spectre of doom that lurks at the edge of the battlefield. It begins at the heart of a roiling black blizzard and proceeds through a charred nightmare soundscape of icy corroded black metal riffs, fractured blasting, melancholic melodies blurred and smeared into malevolent new shapes, and scathing distorted witch-screams ripping through the blackness, all doused and drowned in Merzbowian levels of feedback and distortion abuse. Now presented on CD for the first time, this early swarm of Wold's psychotropic black metal / noise terror comes with all-new artwork from Pippi Zornoza. A stunning blast of black noise metal, highly recommended to devotees of extreme distorted evil. Digipak.
UK 10.50£
Europe 11.50£
World 12.50£
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WOLFMANGLER - 'They Call Us Naughty Wolves' CD (God Is Myth)
D. Smolken (also of Dead Raven Choir) returns to the God is Myth stable in the form of his slow, grim and noisy chamber doom outfit Wolfmangler. With the spirit of past Wolfmangler releases where covers of folk songs, classical music pieces and jazz standards are the main lifeblood, this latest work entitled "They Call Us Naughty Wolves" is the band's unique take on pop music from yesteryear. The results are very much reminiscent of a blackened burlesque chamber ensemble funnelled through a broken radio in a post-apocalyptic wasteland picking up distorted pieces of hits from the 1930s.
