The monochromatic, colonial stylings of the cover art of Cognoscenti, Fidei Defensor’s first full-length, hint at a hideous blackened musical offering. In actuality though, the Canadian act’s sound is somewhat far from traditional black metal, instead presenting a surprisingly beautiful and melodic set of songs that should take listeners by surprise. It’s always a bit disconcerting when an album’s sound doesn’t match up with your expectations, but in this case Fidei Defensor’s style is good enough to make up for it.

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I would hope that most of my US-based readers would have heard about this already, but I thought I’d call attention to it just in case. The lineup for year’s Rites Of Darkness festival in San Antonio, TX is so utterly ridiculous that I would probably chew off a limb to attend. This year’s bands include Urfaust, Strid, Evoken, Sargeist, Behexen, Funebrarum, Antaeus, Weapon, Mitochondrion, Impetuous Ritual, Mortuary Drape, Nunslaughter, Root, and tons more. The pre-fest lineup also boasts Ondskapt, Wodensthrone and Dispirit. The quality of bands the organizers have managed to pull together is incredible, especially considering that many of these bands will be gracing US soil for the very first time.

The festival organizers have been hyping their lineup for some time new via its Facebook page. Tickets will finally go on sale in a week or so on June 13th. Follow the festival on Facebook to keep up-to-date with the latest developments and ticket information.

Critical Info:
Rites of Darkness Festival
December 9th - 11th (Pre-fest December 8th)
White Rabbit
2410 N. St. Marys, San Antonio, TX 78212

» Rites of Darkness on Facebook
» Rites of Darkness Festival and Pre-Fest Pages on Last.fm

An increasing number of black metal bands seem to be moving away from the genre’s usual chaos and aggression in favor of a simpler, more primitive approach. The trend is especially evident in the recent group of bands cropping up in the Cascadian black metal scene, which aside from Wolves In The Throne Room also includes lesser-known artists like Skagos, Fauna, L’Acephale and Alda. Few bands exemplify this primitivism better than Fauna offshoot Echtra, whose new album Paragate is an expertly crafted canvas of sparse, dark and introspective music.

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Ukrainian pagan metal outfit Khors has always seemed like a bit of an enigma to me. Despite their heritage - founding members Khaoth and Khorus have played in Astrofaes, Nokturnal Mortum and Hate Forest, among others - these guys seem to be increasingly moving towards the softer side of the genre, especially on their latest release Return To Abandoned. The new album continues the style they displayed on 2008’s mysticism, featuring a keyboard-laden sound that’s heavy on the atmospherics. I felt like Mysticism’s primary appeal was its dichotomy of dark, guitar-driven riffing and the brighter impact of melodic soloing and acoustic passages. That contrast is still present on Return To Abandoned, but the softer elements have started to take on greater importance which seems to dilute the effectiveness of Khors’s sound a bit.

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Only days after releasing their amazing full-length Epoch, Fen have given us this split album with little-known De Arma. The pairing of the two bands couldn’t have been better, as De Arma’s sound is actually quite close to Fen’s and the transition between the two bands is almost seamless. As far as atmospheric black metal goes this split is definitely a pleasant surprise.

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Thanks to German black metal band Infestus’s latest album E x | I s t, I’ve discovered yet another dark and fucked up artist whose style suits my tastes perfectly. French artist Eric Lacombe’s specialty seems to be horribly disfigured portraits and distorted figures. Whether working with acryllic paint or simple ink and pencil, his figures often feature huge, cavernous holes where eyes and mouths should be, and his rough, fragmented strokes sometimes make his subjects’ faces look burnt beyond recognition, or worse.

The best place to check out Eric’s art is probably his blog Monstror, although he can also be found on DeviantArt and MySpace. He’s also got a smaller blog focused on his music-related art.

Pale Chalice comes from the San Francisco black metal scene, which lately has been producing some of the genre’s more forward-thinking acts like Necrite, Ludicra, Ophidian Forest (sort of), and Lurker Of Chalice among others. With a sound that vacillates between traditional black metal and other influences like sludge, punk and even death metal, these guys certainly fit in. Their debut EP Afflicting The Dichotomy Of Trepid Creation gives us four tracks which offer a glimpse into what looks to be another exciting and unique band from the metal birthing grounds of the SF bay area.

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With its release coming almost exactly a year after Belus came out, it’s impossible not to compare Burzum’s new album Fallen to its predecessor. Unfortunately, Fallen doesn’t quite measure up in most areas, although very little has changed in Burzum’s core sound since Belus was released. Despite some claims by Varg hinting at more experimentation and a more dynamic sound, Fallen mostly sounds like a rehashing of the songs on Belus. If you enjoyed the previous album it’s likely you’ll dig at least a few tracks on this one, but don’t expect to be blown away.

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So far in 2011 there seem to be an unusual number of interesting album reissues and re-recordings, including some old favorites of mine. Here’s a rundown of what’s been getting released lately:

French black metal entity Blut Aus Nord has been stirring back to life lately, gearing up to releasing their new full-length 777 - Sect(s) in a few weeks. They are also reissuing an augmented version of their second album, 2001’s Mystical Beast of Rebellion:

“French black metal label Debemur Morti Productions’ reissue of the BLUT AUS NORD classic The Mystical Beast of Rebellion is now available in North America. Debemur Morti is now taking orders for the 2xCD version of this black metal masterpiece, the second disc of which features brand new material, “The Fall (Chapters 7, 7 & 7).” A new T-shirt design is available as well.”

US metal heavyweights Neurosis are also re-releasing their second album Souls at Zero, their second recent reissue after last year’s updated version of Enemy Of The Sun. Souls at Zero showcases a rawer, somewhat less experimental version of the band, but the brutality of the riffing is no less oppressive.

“Neurot Recordings is proud to reissue this perpetual flame of a release while celebrating the band’s 25 years of brilliance. With demo version additions of ‘Zero’ and the title track along with a bonus live cut ‘Cleanse III’, this updated release is the perfect portal to witness the development of underground music’s titan force. Artwork by the revered Josh Graham completes an awesome package worthy of timeless worship, which Neurot will officially release on February 15th, 2011.”

The success of Lantlôs’s latest album should have new fans scrambling to get ahold of their self-titled first release, and fortunately Prophecy is putting together a new edition to make that task a lot easier. From Prophecy:

“The album will be released in a high-quality Super Jewelcase and is supplemented by a bonus CD with seven tracks, featuring the sought-after demo “Îsern Himel”, two previously unreleased demo recordings of “Kalte Tage” (instrumental) and “Þinaz Andawlitjam” as well as another unreleased track with “Farbensturm”. The enhanced booklet not only contains the lyrics, but also extensive liner notes by Herbst on the album’s creation as well as previously unreleased band photos. “

German black metal band Eïs (formerly Geïst) released updated versions of their first two albums earlier this year, and the reissues sound pretty sweet. Their debut Patina was mellower and more atmospheric, while follow-up Kainsmal is faster and more energetic and should sound familiar to fans of the band’s 2009 release Galeere. Some details from Prophecy:

The first two albums by Eïs (formerly known as Geïst), “Patina” (2005) and “Kainsmal” (2006), are now available again! These clearly improved re-releases are coming in Super Jewelcases, each containing an optimised version of the album (newly recorded guitar tracks, a new mix and new mastering) as well as the original version on a second CD. The new version of “Kainsmal” now also includes a cover version of Carpathian Forest’s self-titled song. In addition, both albums boast new artworks as well as extensive liner notes by band leader Alboin. Both re-releases will be available in North America on February 22nd.

Southern Lord is reissuing Winter’s often-overlooked 1990 full-length Into Darkness, one of the early classics of soul-crushing doom death metal. There’s no news about additional tracks or other extras, but Winter’s bleak sound should have no problems finding new fans in today’s modern audiences. The release will be in both CD and LP formats, and comes as the now-reunited group prepares for their first live show at this year’s Roadburn festival.

Katatonia is reissuing a couple of their albums, although their selections strike me as a bit odd. The band will release new versions of Last Fair Deal Gone Down, which is probably my least favorite out of all their albums, and their last album Night Is The New Day. I’m not sure why they felt the need to re-release an album that just came out two years ago, but at least both reissues will contain several songs from the band’s singles and EPs, so that’s a nice touch. Both releases will also feature updated cover art, and will come out April 25th to help celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary.

Perhaps my favorite album among all the ones in this list, obscure progressive death metal act Lykathea Aflame’s masterpiece Elvenefris is getting a much-needed re-release by Obscene Productions. The new version will be re-mixed and remastered, and will feature two bonus tracks: a 1999 version of ‘Shine Of Consolation’ and a 2002 version of ‘To Give.’

The Beast Of The Apocalypse was one of the highlights of 2009 for me, so I’ve been drooling over this release ever since I heard about it. The Dutch duo’s latest album Henosis is more layered and complex than their previous release, mixing in some different vocal styles and tempos and using synths a bit more heavily. I’m a bit torn between nostalgia for the more guttural, straightforward style the band displayed on the previous album and excitement at the possibilities afforded by this new sound. Not all of the songs clicked for me, but at the same time I think the increased songwriting variation helps make Henosis a more complete album than anything else the band has put out so far.

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