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MARCH 2011

Now available for your listening pleasure a preview track off MIDNIGHT ODYSSEY's upcoming new double album, "Funerals From The Astral Sphere". The song is called "Tears Of Starfire". Enjoy!

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FEBRUARY 2011

2011 will mark the return of the Italian necro-doomsters MALASANGRE with their third full-length recording!

The band was formed in the year 2000 with the aim to play slow, filthy, psychedelic music. Just from the very beginning, it was clear that Malasangre had almost no metal or traditional doom metal influence, as they sounded more like a slowed down hc-punk band.
After a handful of shows and a few rehearsals, Malasangre managed to record a promo that turned into the full-length album "A Bad Trip To..." (Red Sun Records, 2001), whose raw and smoked sound stands between Electric Wizard and Nightstick.
Then their tunes had slowly got more primitive, darker and heavier. The result of such further barbarization was called "Inversus" (2003, released through NOTHingness Records two years later), a three-chapter album "drifting in and out of ambience and devastating, droning doom, wielding the strange but potent combination of funeral and sludge" (doom-metal.com).
After years of hard work and isolation, Malasangre peered at the European extreme doom scene. In 2004 they took part at the Ashes to Ashes and Doom to Dust festival, sharing the stage with bands like Moss, Bunkur, Forgotten Tomb, Wormphlegm, and Planet AIDS.
The 4-way split "Church of the Flagellation" with Bunkur, Stabat Mater and The Sad Sun (Catacomb Music, 2004) cemented the band's underground reputation thanks to "Revelation CCXXXIX", a 16-minute song that perfectly exemplified Malasangre's approach to psychedelic, primitive and dark black doom metal.
During a quite long break, the band put much of an effort in Caput LVIIIm, a cosmic doom project that contributed a 29-minute monumental track to the "Chaosmogonic Rituals Of Fear" album, first volume in the "Yogsothery" trilogy of metal tributes to the Lovecraftian spirit.

Now the times are mature for a new bite of Malasangre's necro-doom metal art in the form of a yet untitled concept album featuring 2 long suites for over 70 minutes of blackened and trance-inducing absolutistic DOOM!

Stay tuned.

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JANUARY 2011

WOEBEGONE OBSCURED's debut "Deathstination" is out now as a jewelcase CD with a luxurious 12-page full colour booklet and cardboard slipcase! Originally self-released in 2007, Deathstination is a nihilistic near-death experience, blackened funeral doom/death metal fueled by inner thoughts of black holes, dark nature, occultism, melancholy and suicide feelings.
A must for those into the dark heaviness and the crushing sounds of Evoken, Thergothon, diSEMBOWELMENT, and Esoteric.

"...A unique listening experience not easily rivaled by other funeral doom metal acts. Although the percentage of metalheads out there who will “get” this release is probably low, “Deathstination” should prove to be a highly rewarding listening experience for the few out there who listen to and enjoy funeral doom metal. Indeed, it is extremely difficult to think of a more solid all-around funeral doom release in recent memory, and perhaps one day it might even be seen for what it is: as a tragically obscure gem of an album."
THE METAL REGISTER

"...The record is full of great ideas (like the scarce use of clean vocals in the background, another nod to diSEMBOWELMENT), and the feeling of Death is omnipresent all along the 45 minutes Hell-trip that this gem is. (...) Get this album, it may be one of the best Funeral doom releases you'll ever hear."
DOOM-METAL.COM

"... Riffs move like mud in a swamp, with an occasional hook managing to escape to the surface, only to cosume itself. Leads are almost non-existent, with notes slamming into each other to evoke shadows of harmony. Melody is a key ingredient, as on the track "Maestitia", but always there is a buzz and the whirr, enveloping each track with obsidian darkness. (...) Deathstination is for the dreamers and those who claim outwardly that they are sane. If you are not haunted, you will be. The truly sane - and dull- should not bother."
SANTA FE METAL MUSIC EXAMINER

"...Discordant guitars howl over a thick sludge of bass and reverb, with the drums setting the speed of the funeral march. From the first track, the careful balance of these elements is very apparent, with each sitting comfortably on top of one another to create a rich, mournful atmosphere. (...) Deathstination is a solid funeral doom album, giving fans of the genre plenty to sink their teeth into. There is also enough innovation in the riffs and arrangement to attract newcomers, though it certainly is not easily listening. Woebegone Obscured are definitely a band to watch in the future, although the book of true doom firmly dictates that they will release one stellar album and then promptly disband. Here’s to hoping the axiom is not true in this case!"
ANGRY METAL GUY

You all will be glad to hear that Woebegone Oscured are currently working on their sophomore release, to be released once again on I, Voidhanger Records.

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DECEMBER 2010

Australian one-man band MIDNIGHT ODYSSEY is putting the final touches on its next record, an ambitious double album called "Funerals From The Astral Sphere".
In 16 tracks and over 2 hours of music, Dis Pater has refined his notorious blend of nocturnal metal and cosmic ambient by adding acoustic neo-folk passages and beautfiul clean vocals, reaching new peaks of emotion and psychedelic bliss.
To be released next Spring, "Funerals From The Astral Sphere" is a majestic opus of kosmische black metal that will definitely impose Midnight Odyssey to a larger audience.
Below, the trackinglist:

CD - 1
1. Fallen From Firmament
2. A Death So Pure
3. Against The Moonlight
4. An Ode To Dying Spirits
5. When Death Comes Crawling
6. Silently In Shadow
7. Lost
8. Tears Of Starfire

CD - 2
1. Journey Across The Stars
2. Never to Return
3. A Midnight Odyssey
4. From A Celestial Throne
5. Secrets And Solitude
6. Shores Serene
7. Those Who Linger At Night
8. Funerals From The Astral Sphere

A release date will be announced soon here and on Midnight Odyssey's new homepage.

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NOVEMBER 2010

OUT 11/15/10: "Chaosmogonic Rituals Of Fear", the first volume in the YOGSOTHERY trilogy of metal tributes to the genius of H.P. Lovecraft, one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th century.
Secretly assembled during the years, the album features 4 exclusive tracks for over 77 minutes of obscure avant-garde prog metal, abysmal dark soundscapes and frightening blackened space-doom courtesy of the Finnish avant-masters AARNI and UMBRA NIHIL, the cosmic-ambient psychonauts JÄÄPORTIT (FIN), and the mysterious space-doom project CAPUT LVIIIm (ITA), a one-time-only monster featuring members of the necro-doomsters Malasangre and the black-ambient visionaries Tronus Abyss.

Track List:

I.   JÄÄPORTIT - Kuihtuman Henkivi       25:31
II.  UMBRA NIHIL - Suur-Nikkurin Virsi     10:46
III.  AARNI - Lovecraft Knew                    11:34
IV.  CAPUT LVIIIm - Resurgent Atavism   29:57

Jewelcase CD housed in a cardboard slipcase. Comes with 20-page full-colour booklet complete with liner notes and lyrics.

As you can read below, "Chaosmogonic Rituals Of Fear" is already getting enthusiastic feedback, and its release page will be constantly updated with new reviews.

"...As the first of the Yogsothery trilogy, Gate 1: Chaosmogonic Rituals of Fear is a monumental success. All four bands manage to tap into the weird worlds of Lovecraft, using music as a pallet with which to paint abstract visions of cosmic terror. Fans of drone, ambiance, funeral doom, and of course Lovecraft will relish every minute of this CD. In one word: Outstanding!"
SANTA FE METAL MUSIC EXAMINER

"Now this is a tremendous idea. Take the timeless works of H.P. Lovecraft in his 'Mythos' continuum, seek out four bands who might best be able to interpret the cosmic and obscure horrors within, have them each draft up an immersive, lengthy composition in tribute, and release as a single compilation. Rinse and repeat. Extreme metal is a genre loaded with split albums, EPs and demos, but I can't help but feel that Yogsothery is something more, something we've all been waiting for, and a truly positive use of the 'various artists' format, even if the overtures created by its dense lattice of horrific vibrations and haunted elsewheres could never be called 'positive' by any definition outside of great Chtulhu's swishy vocabulary..."
(8/10) - FROM THE DUST RETURNED

"...If you’re looking for the ultimate sci-fi psychedelic, prog, doom listening experience then you really can’t afford to pass up on this gem.
This is one of the coolest damn things that I’ve ever heard as it grooves, invokes doom and fear, spaces you out, and jams all in 77 minutes of purely avant-garde sounds."
HELLRIDE MUSIC

"...this is a trip to the outta limits. Except on this one, you may not return. I did wonder if some of the samples and 'noises' may have been occult chanting or goings on and truth be told, I flipped this sucka off lest something mean n nasty walk into my life. You have been warned."
BATTLEHELM

To celebrate the YOGSOTHERY series and to keep you informed of the next volumes, a dedicated MySpace page has been created and is accessible through the gate below.

YOGSOTHERY is a special project by Len Van Der Wolf for I, Voidhanger Records

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AUGUST 2010

As our perennial quest for obscure underground metal with a difference continues, we are very pleased to announce a new and exciting discovery: HAND OF THE HORSEWITCH.

Hailing from British Columbia, Canada, the band is a power trio that plays a suffocating and incredibly heavy black metal with a sludge-doom attitude and cold but thick sounds. The deranged and hypnotic slow riffing, the impressive low death-ish growls, and a masterful drumming dense of details earned them comparisons with Deathspell Omega, Ved Buens Ende and late Mayhem, among the others. But truth is that Hand Of The Horsewitch are on a path of their own, as their forthcoming 4-track debut EP will prove.

Out soon on I, Voidhanger Records, "Born In The Mouth Of A Beast" will contain over 20 minutes of uncompromising music that will reach new depths in the black metal genre, introducing its new young masters to an unsuspecting world.

Hand Of The Horsewitch is Gabriel (vocals & bass), David (guitars), and Jordan (drums).