Front cover:

Gatefold spread:

Back cover:

Regular black vinyl:

Die hard gold vinyl with patch and sticker:

Patch and sticker:

In 2009 Ares Kingdom began working out a cover of “Die By Power” by Slaughter Lord. Showing his support for this endeavor, former Slaughter Lord drummer, Steve Hughes, sent Ares Kingdom the previously unpublished lyrics for the track. This process catalyzed a series of other cover tracks for what would later become “Veneration.” The tracks selected for inclusion on “Veneration” reveal the ancestral blood that led to the development of Ares Kingdom’s style. Like a genetic code passed down, but still recognizable through generations, the influence of bands such as R.U. Dead, Mefisto, Sacrilege, and especially Slaughter Lord is prominently reflected in the bloodline of Ares Kingdom. Thus, covering these bands amounts to a sort of praising of the elders that brought the band into being. Even more fascinating is the inclusion of tracks originally recorded by Vulpecula and Nepenthe – bands that were the direct antecedents of Ares Kingdom. Historically cover songs have often been throwaway tracks for comps or split releases. The common result is generally little more than a failed attempt at mimicry. In the hands of veterans like Ares Kingdom, however, performing a cover song is not hollow reverence. Instead, it is a salute by one group of masters to their peers. Unlike other “tribute” albums, this compilation is successful as a whole because the songs are suitably chosen, and while Ares Kingdom demonstrate their fidelity to the original versions of these songs the recordings on “Veneration” nonetheless bear the band’s unmistakable imprint. In addition to the aforementioned Slaughter Lord track, Ares Kingdom take on six others. Sacrilege’s “The Captive” from the band’s 1987 masterpiece, “Within the Prophecy,” is every bit as raging in Ares Kingdom’s hands as is the original. Sweden’s evil pioneers Mefisto (which Chuck Keller describes as “Sweden’s best metal export apart from Bathory”) also get a nod with a cover of “Act Dead” from the Mefisto’s 1986 “Megalomania” demo. Ares Kingdom even deliver a ferocious cover of “When Your Heart Turns Black” by Germany’s R.U. Dead?. Finally, Ares Kingdom show deference to their immediate predecessors through newly reworked versions of tracks by Alex Blume’s old band, Nepenthe, and a track by Chuck Keller’s previous interstellar Black Metal project Vulpecula. The Nepenthe song chosen for inclusion here, entitled “Oblivion,” was previously only released on a live tape from 1995 and features lyrics borrowed from Charles Baudelaire. Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima provided a keyboard intro to the Vulpecula track “Celestial.” Exercising total control over the presentation of the album, Ares Kingdom recorded, produced, mixed and mastered “Veneration” from its own Very Metal Sound studio, and the band worked closely with Manuel Tinnemanns (know for his artwork for Pentacle, Deathspell Omega, and Bunkur among others) to create the artwork. The cover features an interpretation of a Fritz Boehle illustration, originally used for a First World War propaganda poster, and sets the reverential tone of the entire release.

Listen to the entire album here.

Click here to order the regular version.
Click here to order the die hard version.
Click here for other Ares Kingdom releases in stock.

Front cover with die cut:

Innersleeve front:

Innersleeve back:

Front cover with innersleeve taken out:

Back cover:

A2 poster:

Regular version spread:

With the release of its 2010 MLP, “La Vierge Noire,” Canada’s Cauchemar immediately garnered the praise of the underground with its five tracks of fine traditional doom interspersed with passages of driving heavy metal. Guitarist François Patry’s riffs and songwriting anchored by Patrick Pageau’s fastidious percussion and Annick Giroux’s haunting vocals immediately stood out as being both authentic and unique amid the emerging and increasingly crowded sub-genre of female-fronted doom bands. Despite many fans’ desire for new material following the release of the MLP, Cauchemar members Patry and Giroux chose to explore and absorb rather than record and transmit. Their one-and-a-half-year peregrination carried them to South America, Asia, and Europe. As part of their travels, Patry and Giroux re-assembled Cauchemar and toured extensively in Europe and also played shows in Chile, Peru, Colombia, and India all while continuing to write new material for their debut LP inspired and informed by their sojourns. Upon returning to Canada, Cauchemar, now a four-piece featuring Andres Arango on bass, began recording its first full-length. Entitled “Tenebrario,” the album is steeped in mysterious atmosphere and finds the band delivering more of the solid songwriting featured on the MLP while also expanding in complexity and range. Striving for an aesthetically comprehensive presentation, Cauchemar enlisted Paolo Girardi to provide the cover art, which is among the best of his pieces to be featured on an album cover. The three-year silence preceding this release only enhanced the band’s approach and the resulting work speaks for itself.

Click here to order.

DIE HARD VERSION WTH PRINTED CLOTH SLEEVE WILL BE OUT NEXT WEEK.

Set Times for Friday June 28th are as follows:

1. (outside) PTAHIL 8-8:40
2. (inside) ATRUM INRITUS 8:20-9
3. (outside) THE FLIGHT OF SLEIPNIR 9-9:40
4. (inside) SET 9:20-10
5. (outside) STOIC DISSENTION 10-10:40
6. (inside) COUGH 10:20-11
7. (outside) HELLGOAT 11-11:40
8. (inside) KOMMANDANT 11:30-12:30
9. (outside) DECREPITAPH 12- 12:50
10. (inside) MORBOSIDAD 12:50-1:50

Set Times for Saturday June 29th are as follows:

1. (outside) DESOLATE 6:20-7
2. (inside) DEATHGOD MESSIAH 6:40-7:20
3. (outside) MARTYRVORE 7:20-8
4. (inside) FUNERAL PYRE 7:40-8:20
5. (outside) MORGENGRAU 8:20-9
6. (inside) WARDAEMONIC 8:40-9:20
7. (outside) CRUCIFIER 9:20-10
8. (inside) DEMONIC CHRIST 9:40-10:20
9. (outside) THANTIFAXATH 10:20-11
11.(inside) MORPHEUS DESCENDS 10:40-11:40
11. (outside) SHITFUCKER 11:20-12
12.(inside) BESTIAL MOCKERY 12-1:10
13. (outside) HOUR OF 13 12:30-1:30

***this is up to date as of 6/16 @ 6:30pm

Printed in sizes S to XXL.
Click here to order.

Distributed in Europe by Iron Bonehead and in Japan by Record Boy.

Between 1989 and 1993, Mystifier released a rapid succession of definitive recordings that established the band as one of the most important to emerge from the Brazilian underground Black and Death Metal scene. After the release of the band’s 1993 masterpiece “Goetia,” Mystifier disappeared for the next three years. The band resurfaced in 1996 with a thoroughly unpredictable album with the absurdly long title, “The World is So Good That Who Made It Doesn’t Live Here.” Mystifier’s third album represented a marked departure. Although the traditional Brazilian Black/Death sound was present, the album is far more theatrical and the production substantially cleaner than the band’s earlier work. With “The World is So Good…,” Mystifier embraced a technical approach that departed from the brutal primitivism for which early Brazilian metal is known. While Mystifier utilized keyboards on their previous albums, they are more pronounced on “The World is So Good…,” often directing the course of the music. The songwriting is complex with all of the songs taking on more of an epic dimension than on prior recordings. Multi-tracked instrumentation, atmospheric keyboards, melodic riffs, occasional acoustic guitar, and intricate leads and solos are featured prominently on the album. The most notably peculiar augmentation to Mystifier’s sound on “The World Is So Good…” is indisputably the inclusion of operatic vocals throughout the album. Mystifier’s decision to deviate so heavily from their prior sound and from the norm of underground metal was all the more admirable because it took place at a time when few bands felt comfortable exploring such uncharted territory within Black Metal. The inherent eccentricity of “The World Is So Good…” rivals that of former Osmose labelmates, Masters Hammer. This album reflects an era when the rules of Black Metal were not so rigid and many bands strove to find new territory to explore as opposed to rehashing old sounds. While Mystifier’s earlier material was undoubtedly genre defining, “The World Is So Good…” operates outside of any specific style and, as such, represents a monumental step in the Mystifier catalog. The idea to issue the first-ever vinyl release of this album arose during discussions in Berlin following Mystifier’s phenomenal performance at NWN! Fest II. NWN!, Iron Bonehead, and Ordo MCM are proud to present this LP reissue of Mystifier’s classic third album.

Listen to the entire album here.

Click here to order.

I will use use this tool to send real-time updates on releases and incoming distro items.

Click here to order.

Regular black vinyl:

Die Hard colored vinyl:

Art zine:


Die hard patch:

Where “Through the Cervix of Hawaah” gaped with a menstrual, tidal flow, revealing the disgusting interior of the orificial void, “LOGOS” is an oppositional counterpart both in musical form and ideological conception. Nine pummeling tracks focus on attack, pulsing with hammering fecundity. Antagonistic and aggressive, the album depicts the force of primal creation turning on itself in a meditation on destruction and total death. The inter-cosmic energy trapped in matter recalls the primordial abyss of pre-existence, and denounces the domineering voice of the demiurge captor. This is the moment of self-recognition in the mirror of the cosmos; it is the realization that matter is twisted together in a great abominable mass of reflected forms. Claustrophobic and demented, “LOGOS” is the most overbearing and penetrating Antediluvian release yet. Regular version in gatefold jacket with A2 poster and 12 page art zine. Die Hard edition features art zine, A2 size poster, patch, sticker, and comes enclosed in a silkscreened cloth bag.

Click here to order the Regular version.
Click here to order the Die Hard version.

Wholesale is available at 10 unit increments. Every 10 copies will include 5 colored vinyl limited to 100 copies, and 5 black vinyl regular LPs.

Click here to order Wholesale copies.

This zine, written by Jason Campbell and visually augmented by the art and layout of Tim Grieco, was originally intended for release in support of NWN! Fest III. Instead of limiting the subject matter and distribution to the fest, Haruspex evolved into something more expansive. This first installment focuses on bands related to NWN!; future issues will further expand the magazine’s parameters. Featured in this issue are interviews with the following bands:

Ares Kingdom
Sabbat
Conqueror
Martire
Rotting Christ (Interviews with Sakis Tolis, Jim Mutilator, and Magus Vampyr Daoloth)
Pseudogod
Anatomia
Bone Awl (Interview featuring HWCT and HWGT)
Bestial Raids
Faustcoven
And an artists’ discussion featuring Denis Forkas, Tim Grieco, Marko Marov, and Manuel Tinnemans

This first issue will also come with a new 7” by Antediluvian. Recorded at the same time as “LOGOS,” this EP features two new, unreleased tracks:

Antediluvian “Septentrional Theophany” 7″
1. Mount of the Congregation . . .
2. . . . In the Sides of the North

First 100 orders will receive the red vinyl 7″.

Click here to order.