Memento Mori

The jaw-dropping debut album by this French band. Hailing from Grenoble, Barús formed in 2015 and soon released their self-titled debut EP through Emanations (a division of Les Acteurs de l'Ombre Productions). Since mid-2016, work has been focused on their debut full-length album. Bearing the ominous title "Drowned", this is a bolt-from-the-blue work of unimaginable vision and towering might. Indeed, the term "βαρύς" evokes a weight, an overbearing burden. Through Barús, this takes musical form through a complex and utterly atmospheric -but, above all, completely and totally visceral- approach to Death Metal. Call it an alchemy of sorts, but "Drowned" presents a moltenly monolithic, ceaselessly churning sound merged with palpably progressive structures, frequently stretching into Black and Doom Metal territories -and effortlessly, at that- all compellingly completed by bowels-of-Hell deep vociferations and vocalizations spanning semi-clean moans, spoken word, chants and everything in between. Truly, it's a nightmare made flesh, its dissonance instilling an unshakable tension and terror, and yet Barús manage to make it sound so alluring, so tempting, to literally drown in the enormity they lay bare for the helpless listener. Drowned indeed! We don't usually dip our toes into "progressive" or "post" waters, favoring the musty odor of vintage Death Metal. However, when presented with Barús' "Drowned", we couldn't help but submit to their visionary onslaught on the senses. So, while we could describe them as "Autopsy reinterpreted by Meshuggah" or "Gojira and Gorguts jamming out to an old Demilich tune with Ulcerate's instruments," we're confident Barús should definitely appeal to fans of such daring bands as Gorguts, Triptykon, Ulcerate, Emptiness, Meshuggah, Portal, Diskord, Akercocke, Gojira, Sumac, Deathspell Omega, Altars and Chaos Echoes. Featuring 9 songs in a vast yet time-evaporating 56 minutes, the production on "Drowned" is absolutely stellar. It was recorded between 2016 and 2017 at Plastic Lobster Studios & Eptagon, with drum recording and additional reamping done at Octavox Studio, while mixing and mastering were done by James Leonard at Plastic Lobster Studios. Completed by cover art courtesy of the masterful Timo Ketola, with inner artwork by Stephen Wilson, Barús' "Drowned" is this year's dark-horse classic in the making!

In our endless quest to push and support current underground acts that perpetuate the odor of vintage Death Metal, Memento Mori summons yet another ponderous beast from the crypts and unleashes it upon mankind: the debut album of Poland's Martyrdoom, "Grievous Psychosis". Conceived in Warsaw back in 2010, the band went through some lineup changes until they established a solid formation in 2014, including Sociak (vocals), Marol (guitar), Młynar (guitar / vocals), Artz (bass) and Wasyl (drums). Blending complex, blast-beat driven, darkened Death Metal with slow Doom passages, the band draws its main influences from the likes of Obituary, Immolation, Rippikoulu, Autopsy, Demilich, Triptykon, Cannibal Corpse, Incantation, Hooded Menace, Grave, Disma and Dead Congregation, but they spew all those influences out with renewed vigor. As far as non-musical inspirations go, their lyrics mostly revolve about old school horror/gore movies, personal struggles and the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Bloodthirsty and dripping with menace, these Poles armed with a thorough knowledge of ancient Death Metal create something vile and unearthly. Eschewing all trends, Martyrdoom trudge defiantly, blasting their noxious blend of Death Metal and Doom Metal music, urging cohorts to surrender to them at once. Eight tracks of visceral mayhem are channelled through what sounds like cavernous labyrinths and are as unrelenting as they are haunting. "Grievous Psychosis" is the sound of demons in your head coming back to take control of what was always theirs. Cover art by Ryszard Wojtyński ("Hell", 1986).

The astonishing debut full-length from this U.S. band. Hailing from Portland, Petrification formed in 2014 out of their love of old school Swedish, British and particularly Finnish Death Metal, wanting to create music that while an homage to its roots, allowed its members to find their own unique voice in Extreme Metal. Drawn to the evil and doom-laden soundscapes of the Finnish masters, Petrification set out to meticulously craft their own vision in the writing of the early 2017 demo, "Summon Horrendous Destruction". And it's now, only a few months later, that Petrification set the bar even higher in terms of heaviness and somber ambience with the release of their debut album, "Hollow of the Void", a devastating opus that lyrically and sonically musters the band's morbid visions of horror, demise and mephitic decay through 11 tracks of utterly gut-churning Death Metal that traps the listener in a nightmare of festering pustules that nobody can't crawl out of. Fans of Convulse, Demigod, Grave, Dismember, Rippikoulu, Carcass, Bolt Thrower, Adramelech, Sorcery, Unleashed, Depravity, Entombed, Catacomb, God Macabre or even newer masters of the olden tradition, such as Disma and Funebrarum, will certainly find a new favorite in "Hollow of the Void". Featuring some deliciously macabre artwork and layout by Jason Barnett, the band's vocalist, and mastered by Dan Lowndes (of Cruciamentum fame) at his own Resonance Sound Studio in the U.K., "Hollow of the Void" marks the unstoppable ascent of a new force to be reckoned with in underground Death Metal.

Formed in 2013, Deprive is the brainchild of a hyperactive veteran of the Spanish scene that goes under the nickname of Erun Dagoth, current/past member of a large number of bands and projects such as Briargh, Hrizg, Stormstone, CrystalMoors, Eldereon and Omendark, just to name a few. Drawing his influences from the early offerings of bands such as Paradise Lost, Hypocrisy, Morbid Angel, Abhorrence/Amorphis, Incantation, My Dying Bride and Bolt Thrower, Erun Dagoth manages to display a vast array of resources that makes his music gloomy yet luminous, crushing yet emotional, capturing the very essence of the old-flavoured, early and mid 90's Death Metal that used to toy with slower, doom-ish tempos to enhance the atmosphere. Produced in its entirety (music, sound, artwork and layout) by Erun Dagoth himself, and featuring the terrific “De Vermis Mysteriis” demo (2013) as bonus tracks, “Into Oblivion” is not just a fantastic debut full-length album by a promising act, but the solid statement of a mature artist reaching his new peak of creativity. Tracks 11-14 taken from the “De Vermis Mysteriis” demo (2013).

A collection of all the songs (most of them available on CD format for the first time ever) included in their "...From Forgotten Tombs" (originally released on vinyl format in 2008) and "...From Forgotten Tombs II" (originally released on digital format in 2013) compilations on one disc, featuring the "Pleasures of War" EP (2004), a cover of Pentagram's "The Ghoul" and their side of the splits with Rue (2004), Sod Hauler (2005), Zoroaster (2009) and Unearthly Trance (2009). Adorned with an amazingly ominous artwork by Igor 'Abigor' Mugerza, "…From Forgotten Tombs I & II" display almost 70 minutes worth of gargantuan sheer heaviness and eerie aural landscapes from the undisputed U.S. masters of funeralized Doom/Sludge Metal with a Lovecraftian vibe. If the prospect of soul-crushing and utmost heavy Doom Metal suits your fancy, this anthology of Aldebaran's plodding opuses is an absolute necessity to drown in cosmic terror. Compilation of previous "...From Forgotten Tombs" compilations into a single CD format. Track 7 is a [a=Pentagram] cover.

Треклист: 1 Indianapolis / Ukiah 18:06 2 We Are A Righteous People / Guyana 21:51 3 Afterlife / Cities Of The Damned 16:47