SUPERNAL MUSIC NEWSLETTER - 01/11/05

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In this issue:

* Welcome
* News
* Our latest releases
* Our next releases
* Our earlier releases
* Distribution
* Requests for promotional material
* Requests for advertising
* Contact details


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Welcome
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Through this newsletter we intend to bring you news and information about what plots and operations are brewing within Supernal Music's trenches. This newsletter is sent to magazines, fanzines, webzines, and distributors, as well as to our mail order customers.

If you have never heard from us before (where have you been?), we are a small, underground record label based in England. Our current roster includes bands like CAPRICORNUS, HATE FOREST, DRUDKH, SUNWHEEL, KATAXU, and THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL. We also have an excellent mail order service and online store, with thousands of products at cheap prices, available worldwide.

If you find these electronic newsletters an invasion of your privacy and an insult to your mailbox, unsubscribe instructions appear at the end. However, if you unsubscribe we will refer you to our disco mass-mailer.

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News
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ASHES
The debut album 'Hymn to a Grey Sky' was released in September. Raw but atmospheric Black Metal from Devon, with Pagan / sylvian sensibilities and ranging from necrotic distortion inferno to almost ambient-like tranquillity. ASHES is to appear in the forthcoming anti-Geldof compilation with a 10-minute track.

***

ASTROFAES
The band has been more or less on hold for a while.

***

BENIGHTED LEAMS
BENIGHTED LEAMS will be contributing to the forthcoming anti-Geldof compilation with a track full of necrotic dissonance.

 

***

BEWITCHED
After the release of their fifth studio album back in August, BEWITCHED is to appear in the forthcoming anti-Geldof compilation.

***

CAPRICORNUS
’At Any Cost’ remains uncompleted. The new material will continue with the fusion of neo-Romanic orchestration and Black Metal, but will be more symphonic and cosmological, with very unusual influences.

 

***

 

CONTRA IGNEM FATUUM (ex-CIRCUMSCRIBER)

'Detritus', a monumental MCD with Nietzschean Black Metal full of cold cynicism was released on 15 October. The band will appear next in the forthcoming anti-Geldof compilation with another of their magisterial, epic tracks.

 

***

 

DARK AGES

A track has been submitted for the forthcoming anti-Geldof compilation. It is called '1349'.

 

***

 

DRUDKH
The master for the fourth album has been delivered. Amazing technical brilliance and blazing guitar leads appear in combination with their folkish / BURZUMic sound.

 

***

 

ETHEREAL WOODS
'In the Forest of Arden' has been completed and should become available within the next three weeks. The new album has a heavier, meatier sound, but retains the dreamy synths and the sylvian inspiration of the predecessor.


***

 

FLEURETY
The second edition of 2000's "Department of Apocalyptic Affairs", which will have completely new artwork, will be released later.

***

HATE FOREST
HATE FOREST is now dead, but that does not mean there isn’t a musical canon to preserve. 'Nietzscheism', a collection of all of the band's rare and extremly limited EPs, was released on 15 October. Next year we will re-issue 'To Twilight Thickets'.

***

KATAXU
Following the amazing success of their debut album. A new album will be recorded next year. We expect it to bring us another cosmological symphony of truly evil Black Metal.

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SUNWHEEL
Their debut full-album is currently being recorded.

 

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THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL

Their third album, 'Damascus Steel', is now available. This will be the final MEADS album we release.

 

***

 

THOR’S  HAMMER

The re-issue of their classic debut, ‘Fidelity Shall Triumph’, was hit by production problems. We will provide an update when able.


***

 

Anti-Geldof Compilation

Our anti-Geldof compilation is set for release on Winter Solstice. This is our's revenge for the pathetic spectacle of fashionable compassion hysteria put up this last Summer by that repellent gang of balding, middle-aged, fake, perverted, self-righteous, self-indulgent, drug-crazed, artificial, surgically-enhanced, washed-up, ignorant, wholly superfluous and always infuriating has-beens, freaks, twits, and hypocrites that pullulate the mainstream and celebrity ecosystem. Contributing artists are as follows: ASHES, ASTROFAES, BENIGHTED LEAMS, BEWITCHED, CAPRICORNUS, CONTRA IGNEM FATUUM, DARK AGES, DARKTHULE, DEFIANCE, (HAKENKREUZZUG side project), DER STURMER, FOREFATHER, HAMMER, KANAZ, :STALAGGH:, TANNGRISNIR, THE WIZZARD, THESYRE, THOR’S HAMMER, ULFHETHNAR, WHITE HUNTER, and WOODS OF INFINITY.


***


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Our latest releases:
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FERLY019CD                HATE FOREST (UKr): “Nietzcheism” cd

The collected eps: “Darkness”, “Blood & Fire”, Ritual”, and “Resistance”.

 

FERLY020CD                THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL (GBr): “Damascus Steel” cd

Third studio album. Apocalyptic, symphonic extreme Metal full of eclecticism and contining the anti-religious fundamentalist diatribe began in their mini-album 'Jihad'.

 

FERLY027CD                ASHES (GBr): “Hymns to a Gray Sky” cd

Raw but atmospheric Black Metal from Devon, with Pagan / sylvian sensibilities and ranging from necrotic distortion inferno to almost ambient-like tranquillity.

 

FERLY036MCD             CONTRA IGNEM FATUUM (GBr): "Detritus" mcd

A cold, monument of Nietzschean Black Metal, combining elitism with bitterness and cynicism.

 

CORTES005CD             BEWITCHED (Chl): "Unveiling Zion (The Mother's Return)" cd

Fifth album. Necro Black Metal with folky / fantasy / and ambient parts. In a similar vein to the amazing 'Selfconfidence'.

 

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Our next releases:
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We have a lot of projects in the works, but as a policy we only show what we can confirm. Dates subject to change, but in most cases, once the exact date is announced, we stick to it.

 

FERLY018SPD/

CRUOR001SPD            MAYHEM (Nor) "Out from the Dark" pd re-issue  (2004)

Version alpha and beta of this picture disc showed a band photograph with red and gold backgrounds respectively. Version delta, the third one, will be a shape picture disc (limited of course), with truly horrific artwork, designed to offend and fill you with revulsion.

 

FERLY025CD                SUNWHEEL (Pol): tba cd (2005)

Not yet recorded.

 

FERLY030CD                THOR’S HAMMER (Pol): “Fidelity Shall Triumph” cd (2005)

Re-worked and improved version of the debut album from 1998.

 

FERLY031CD                CAPRICORNUS (Pol): “At Any Cost” cd (2006)

Second album. Not yet recorded.

 

FERLY032CD                CIRCUMSCRIBER (GBr): “Halcyon Mockery” cd (2006)

Re-recorded and improved re-issue of their amazing third demo. Epic, monumental Black Metal with glacial keyboards and imperial splendour.

 

FERLY033CD                KATAXU (Pol): new cd (2006)

Second album. Not yet recorded.

 

FERLY034CD                ETHEREAL WOODS (GBr): "In the Forest of Arden" cd (2005)

Second album. Not yet recorded.


FERLY004CD-beta        FLEURETY (Nor) "Department of Apocalyptic Affairs" cd (second edition)  (2006)

Our second edition of this collaborative effort featuring the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Norwegian Black Metal elite will have new, improved artwork, quite unlike anything seen. We continue our tradition of doing things in a way no one has thought of before.

 

CORTES006CD             BEWITCHED (Chl): "Hibernum in Perpetuum" 2cd (re-issue)  (2006)

Their debut album, re-mastered and with a wealth of bonus material. Obscure and classicist, this album shows the wintry BEWITCHED at its rawest and coldest.


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Our earlier releases:
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In case you are not familiar with what we've done before, here is a re-run of our past crimes against humanity:

On Supernal Music (the main label)

AURA001CD                BENIGHTED LEAMS (GBr) "Caliginous Romantic Myth" cd, 1996 (sold out)
aw, cavernous Black Metal in the mid 90s vein with unusual riffing and unexpected twists and turns and an obscure, Doomy atmosphere. The lyrics are in an arcane hybrid of various forms of archaic English.

AURA002CD                BENIGHTED LEAMS (GBr) "Astral Tenebrion" cd, 1998 (sold out)
Second album, which abandons the Mediaeval themes of the predecessor in favour of a deep space concept. More orchestrated and with some ambient parts, but just as obscure. (Sold out)

AURA003CD                BENIGHTED LEAMS (GBr) "Ferly Centesms" cd, 2004
Third album. Totally raw, twisted, and depressive Black Metal obscurantism, with cavernous sound, hissing production, and the most impenetrable lyrics ever written.

 

FERLY001CD              DEINONYCHUS (Nld) "Ark of Thought" cd, 1997
The third album from the blackly depressive and constantly negative Marco Kehren. Guaranteed to wipe the smile off your face.

FERLY002CD              M87 (GBr) "Noctilucent Threnody" cd, 1999
Deep space music, combining cosmic noise pieces with eerie symphonic sounds of vast, mind-boggling proportions. Although it doesn't sound like it at all when you play it, the music was created entirely with 7- and 8- string guitars and 7-string bass. Cold and monumental - one of our most mysterious and least known releases.

FERLY003MCD             FLEURETY (Nor) "Last-Minute Lies" mcd, 1999 (sold out)
Norway's enfants terribles ended a four-year hiatus with this sublime mini-album, which is Doomier and at the same time more dissonant than their 1995 debut on Misanthropy Records. Female vocals, saxophone, syncopated drums, and broken, unpredictable arrangements.

FERLY004CD-alpha      FLEURETY (Nor) "Department of Apocalyptic Affairs" cd, 2000 (temp. out of print)
This second full album from Norway's most awkward and unorthodox band hosts a wide variety of contributions from la crème de la crème of the Norwegian clique, including Garm, Maniac, Hellhammer, and others. This effort is crammed with electronics, effects, and eclectic song writing, which nevertheless retains a modicum of dissonant post-Black Metal guitars as a framework. Voted one of the top 40 albums of 2000 in that years Terrorizer's readers' poll, despite its thoroughly unconventional and uncommercial approach.

FERLY005CD              THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL (GBr) "The Excommunication of Christ" cd, 2001
Part of the new wave of British Black Metal, alongside with AKERCOCKE and ANAAL NATHRAKH, this is probably the weirdest one of the three, with their Mediaevalisms, Middle Eastern flavour, and unorthodox song writing. Symphonic, unpredictable, with rumbling guitars and catchy, unforgettable riffs. Even though we never placed any ads in any magazine and eschewed all forms of hype, the album received 8/10 in Metal Hammer, was proclaimed "album of the week" by Malcolm Dome in his radio show, and the band was featured in the December issue of Terrorizer.

FERLY006CD              HATE FOREST (Ukr): "The Most Ancient Ones" cd / mc, 2002
Darker than black, fast, unmelodic true Black Metal, inspired by Nietzschean philosophy, the ideology of elitism, and the nocturnal atmosphere of deep forests and swamps. This is a reworking of the material which originally appeared in the rare "The Curse" album, previously available on cassette only, now re-recorded at twice the speed.

FERLY007PD              MAYHEM (Nor)/THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL (GBr): "Freezing Moon, Carnage/Jihad" 10" pd, 2002 (Sold out)
Unusual split vinyl, limited to 666 copies and now sold out. The MAYHEM side contained two popular songs, in this version the only ones the band ever recorded in a proper studio with the classic line up (Dead, Euronymous, Necrobutcher, Hellhammer). THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL's side contains a four-track mini-album, inspired by the attack of 11 September 2001. 8/10 in Terrorizer and Single of the Week in Kerrang!

 

FERLY007CD              MAYHEM (Nor)/THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL (GBr): "Freezing Moon, Carnage/Jihad" cd, 2002
Compact disc version of the sold-out picture disc, with two bonus tracks from THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL. The MAYHEM side contained two popular songs, in this version the only ones the band ever recorded in a proper studio with the classic line up (Dead, Euronymous, Necrobutcher, Hellhammer). THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL's side contains a four-track mini-album, inspired by the attack of 11 September 2001.

 

FERLY008CD             HATE FOREST (Ukr): "Purity" cd, 2003
Third album from this most laconic and hostile Ukrainian horde. This album combines the deadly speed of "The Most Ancient Ones" with epos and a reflective character, rooted in a sense of ancient history and shamanic mysticism.

 

FERLY009CD                DRUDKH (Ukr) "Forgotten Legends" cd, 2003

This new outfit includes members from HATE FOREST, albeit musically it is comparable to the more epic side of BURZUM. DRUDKH, which means "wood" in sanskrit, focuses on the solitary contemplation of nature. Four lengthy tracks flowing like streams in the forest, yet raw like the dark, moist earth.

 

FERLY010CD                THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL (GBr): "Exhuming the Grave of Yeshua" cd, 2003

The extraordinary follow-up to "The Excommunication of Christ" (if we leave aside "Jihad" for a moment, the latter being a mini-album): retrogression on the guitars, now positively raw, combined with progression on the orchestral and arranged elements. An album without limits, yet true to its Black Metal roots. We doubt another English band will beat them with a better album this year. 9/10 in Terrorizer and position 8 out of the 40 best albums of 2003 in Terrorizer's Readers' Poll and 8/10 in Hard Rock (France) (more to follow).

 

FERLY011CD                CAPRICORNUS (Pol): "Alone Against All" cd, 2004

Full-length debut, similar to THOR'S HAMMER (not surprisingly, since this is the same Capricornus behind the band) but with different, more extreme vocals, catchier riffs, and cosmic atmospheres. A very strong combination of the Lightning and the Sun.

 

FERLY012CD                DRUDKH (Ukr): "Autumn Aurora" cd, 2004

Second album, this time incorporating keyboards and enhancing the dreamy, atmospheric element. 

 

FERLY013CD                HATE FOREST (Ukr): "Battlefields" cd, 2004

Funereal, ominous, epic. Alternating three monumental tracks with three traditional Ukrainian folk songs, and a funeral lamentation, recorded live on a bleak, remote Eastern village.

 

FERLY014CD                INFERNUM (Pol): "...Taur-Nu-Fuin..." cd, 2004

At last, after many years of it being out of print and unavailable anywhere, we will be re-issuing this Polish Black Metal classic (featuring Capricornus and Rob Darken in the line-up) with new, improved layout and a statement from Capricornus.

 

FERLY015CD                HATE FOREST (Ukr): "Scythia+1" cd, 2004

As the original Ukrainian version is sold out, and so is the American digipak version (limited to 1000 and 444 copies respectively), this re-issue will ensure that such a great album does not remain unavailable. Our version will come with improved layout and two bonus tracks, showing HATE FOREST at its finest.

 

FERLY016MCD                SUNWHEEL (Pol): "Monuments of the Elder Faith" mcd, 2004

Debut mini-album. Much more darkly majestic and oppressively monumental still than their “Prophecies...” demo. This is the totalitarian version of “Into the Nightside Eclipse”!

 

FERLY017CD                KATAXU (Pol): “Hunger of Elements” cd, 2005

If you enjoyed their split with THUNDERBOLT, you can expect this, their debut full-length, to intensify their monumental, symphonic sound with more layering and a storming production. So far we have heard only rough mixes without vocals, but the material is already stunning!

 

FERLY021CD                ASTROFAES (Ukr): “Those Whose Past is Immortal” cd, 2005

New album from this Ukrainian horde, and by far their best one. Faster and with addictive riffing.

 

FERLY022CD                DRUDKH (Ukr): “Lebedyna Doroga” cd, 2005

Their third album. We hear it will be superior even to the previous two.

 

FERLY023CD                HATE FOREST (Ukr): “Sorrow” cd, 2005

Seventh album: this one will be the opposite of “Battlefields”: totally fast and relentless. A real storm of hatred.

 

FERLY024CD                ETHEREAL WOODS (GBr): “Thickthorn” cd, (2004)

Dreamy, melancholic, mid-tempo, yet at the same time raw and primitive Black Metal. It has a nostalgic 1990s feel, although the guitar technique is different from the usual strumming, being a bit more rhythmical while still dissonant.

 

FERLY026CD                ASHES (GBr): “Funeral Forest” cd, 2004

Re-issue of the their amazing 2nd demo, with their first, “Blackened Wrath”, tagged on as a bonus. Raw, fast, and melodic Black Metal, drenched in reverb, with an almost ambient-like atmosphere in parts.

 

FERLY028CD                DARK AGES (Ukr): “Twilight of Europe” cd, 2005

Sinister and oppressive dark ambient project by HATE FOREST’s composer. Inspired by the Dark Ages, the plague, alchemy, ignorance, superstition, and the rise and fall of empires.


FERLY029CD                LUNAR AURORA (Deu): “Ars Moriendi” re-issue cd, 2005

Re-issue of the masterful 4th album, which has been unavailable and out of print for the past two years. With an added guitar track and new, improved layouts, this will be the definitive version.


***

On Conquistador Records (sub-division)

CORTES001CD             BEWITCHED (Chl) "Dragonflight" cd, 1999 (sold out)
After 1996's frozen Black/Doom opus, the hyperaustral demons returned with a work heavy with old MERCYFUL FATE overtones, combining 90s and 80s Black Metal with an epic feel and brilliant technical ability.

CORTES002CD             SATHANAS (USA) "Armies of Charon" cd, 1999 (sold out)
Dirty, raw, obscure Black/Death/Thrash in the archaic vein of the late 80s. First officially released album by this cult band (at the time "Black Earth", since released by blackmental.com, was yet to come out).

CORTES003CD             SARGATANAS (Mex) "The Enlightenment" cd, 1999 (sold out)
Coarse, raw, brutal Black/Death stripped down to the barest essentials and delivered with a rumbling, heavy sound and guttural vocals. Great, hellish disc filled with the darkness of the ancient underground.

CORTES004CD             BEWITCHED (Chl) "Somewhere Beyond the Mist" cd, 2001
Third album from the talented Chilean Black Metal veterans, this time casting away the obvious old MERCYFUL FATE influences of "Dragonflight" in favour of a more technical approach, combining 90s and 80s Black Metal, with brilliant leads and varied vocal work, and Satanic / Tolkienesque / Northern European mythological themes.

***

 

On Nazgul's Eyrie Productions (subdivision)

 

NEP017CD                    DAWNFALL (Deu) "Drei Räume" cd, 2002

Recorded many years ago, this is the long-vaulted successor to the infamous "Dominance of Darkness" debut. Weird, nightmarish, disfigured, you will most likely be repelled at first by what these Germans recorded, walking the thin dividing line between torture and demented genius. Yet this is a clever work, necro and avant garde at the same time, however tortuous.

 

***

 

On Cruentous Aadorns (ex-Black Metal Records) (subdivision)

 

CRUOR001PD-alpha        MAYHEM (Nor) "Out from the Dark" pd, 1996 (sold out)

7-track rehearsal from 1991, with the classic line-up (Dead, Euronymous, Necrobutcher, Hellhammer). Great sound. Band photo with red background. Only 1000 copies were made.

 

CRUOR001PD-beta         MAYHEM (Nor) "Out from the Dark" pd, 1997 (sold out)

Same as above, but with a gold background.

 

CRUOR002PD-alpha        MAYHEM (Nor) "Freezing Moon/Carnage" pd, 1997 (sold out)

The material we released as a 10" split and then as a split cd with THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL in 2002, originally came out on its own five years earlier, as a 12" picture disc ep. Only 1000 copies were made.

 


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Distribution
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If you wish to distribute our releases in your territory, and would like to find out about wholesale prices and terms and conditions, or about trades, please get in touch by sending us an email at <mailto:sales@supernalmusic.com>.

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Request for promotional material
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We don’t believe in equality and we don’t think mediocrity ought to be encouraged with charity and subsidisies. Therefore, to enter our mailing list, we will require professionalism and consistency. 


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Advertising
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Begging for advertisement is futile: we don't believe anything advertising executives tell us as a rule. If we decide to advertise, we will get in touch. Cold callers from ad sales personnel will have the receiver slammed down without a word. Emails will be ignored and deleted. Faxes will be shredded without a glance. If you want advertisement, go to church.


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Contact details
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Label:

Supernal Music
P. O. Box 171
Cranleigh
GU6 8WW
United Kingdom
Fax: +44 (0)1483 542928
Email: mail@supernalmusic.com <mailto:mail@supernalmusic.com>
Website: <http://www.supernalmusic.com/>

***

Bands:

ASHES

Email: info@ashes-online.com

Website: <http://www.ashes-online.com/>

 

ASTROFAES:

Email: no interview

Website: no website

 

BENIGHTED LEAMS:
Email: benightedleams@supernalmusic.com
Website: <http://www.supernalmusic.com/labels/supernal/benighted_leams.htm>

BEWITCHED:
Email: bewitchedcontact@hotmail.com
Website: http://bewitchedrealm.cjb.net

 

CAPRICORNUS:

Email:admin@capricornus.info <mailto:admin@capricornus.info>

Website: <http://www.capricornus.info>

 

CONTRA IGNEM FATUUM:

Email: No contact

Website: <http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=19172>

 

DARK AGES:
Email: no interview
Website: no website

 

DRUDKH:
Email: no interview
Website: no website

 

ETHEREAL WOODS:

Email: excarnator@hotmail.com <mailto:excarnator@hotmail.com>

Website: no website

 

FLEURETY
Email: <mailto:a_nordgaren@hotmail.com;> <mailto:sehatlevik@hotmail.com>
Website: <http://folk.uio.no/sveineh/fleurety/>

HATE FOREST:
Email: no interview
Website: <http://www.supernalmusic.com/labels/supernal/hate_forest.htm>

 

KATAXU

Email: kataxunsbm@go2.pl

Website: no website

 

LUNAR AURORA:

Email: whyrhd@lunaraurora.de <mailto:whyrhd@lunaraurora.de>

Website: <http://www.lunaraurora.de/>

 

SUNWHEEL

Email:  kataxunsbm@go2.pl

Website: no website


THE MEADS OF ASPHODEL:
Email: <mailto:themeadsofasphodel@ntlworld.com>
Website: <http://www.themeadsofasphodel.com/>

 

THOR’S HAMMER:

Email:admin@capricornus.info <mailto:admin@capricornus.info>

Website: <http://www.capricornus.info>