Limited repress of the legendary doom cult album that keeps on spreading Doom Over The World. Possibly the best traditional doom metal act to emerge since Black Sabbath, Finland’s the Reverend Bizarre dig deep into their well of sorrow to offer one mind-blowing, cemetery-haunting, witch finding hell of an album.

Maggot Heart whet primal appetites on new album HUNGER. Berlin’s Rapid Eye Records, together with Finland’s Svart Records, deliver Maggot Heart’s third knock-out blow of innovative Post-Punk.

Maggot Heart, crossover rock band based in Berlin, channels emotional alchemy through music. Consisting of guitarist and singer Linnéa Olsson, bassist Olivia Airey and drummer Uno Bruniusson, Maggot Heart refuse to be categorized. Originally from Sweden, Olsson formed Maggot Heart as a solo project in 2016, after carving a name for herself in bands like The Oath, Beastmilk/Grave Pleasures. From detonating their initial underground break-out City Girls EP, Maggot Heart had the underground by the throat, palpitating the grape-vine. With two critically acclaimed albums under their belt, the 2017 debut Dusk To Dusk to 2020’s Mercy Machine, Maggot Heart are not here to coast, they’re here to make waves. Musically compared to such diverse acts as Patti Smith, Sonic Youth, The Stooges, Killing Joke and Voivod, playing live with Earthless in the US, High on Fire and Amyl & The Sniffers in the EU along with several invitations to tread the hallowed stages of Roadburn Festival, Maggot Heart have been foaming-at-the-mouth road dogs. Now on their third album HUNGER, recorded in Berlin and mixed by the acclaimed American producer and engineer Ben Greenberg (Metz, Portrayal Of Guilt), Maggot Heart’s game is about to change.

If Dusk to Dusk was the mind, and Mercy Machine the body, then HUNGER is the spirit. Whip-tight choruses, guided by a grunge-aged sensibility, where Punk and Noise Rock grime are layered beneath Swedish 70’s proto-metallic ooze, lurch you back for more. HUNGER goes for the gut but with panache, boldly exploring the dichotomy of desire and desperation through powerful refrains and a brave sense of rhythm. Songs like “This Shadow” and “Archer” with abrasive pop hooks and Bowie-esque Jazz brass, showcase Maggot Heart‘s ability to blend simplicity with deft musical awareness. Bassist Olivia Airey and drummer Uno Bruniusson (whose former work includes the enigmatic In Solitude) are musicians at the very peak of their powers, and the backbone of Maggot Heart. As Olsson says it best when she states:

“A band is a family, a pact in blood, a strange and unique and incredible relationship. I think playing music together with someone is probably the most intimate you can get outside of romance. All that sweat, the trust you have to have in one another, the exchange of energy”.

HUNGER is the album where Maggot Heart’s finesse of their own fervor finds them standing on their own feral hind legs. Existing on a diet of her own determination, Olsson knows well what hunger means for the survivor. Olsson isn’t hungry, she embodies HUNGER. The album cover, a vulnerable portrait of strength.

No other band out there sounds like Maggot Heart. On HUNGER their bones are exposed, a hole where the rib used to be, the void staring back. Sink your teeth into HUNGER. Starvation has never sounded this vital.

ANNIVERSARY EDITION!

Limited Deep Purple Vinyl

Reverend Bizarre’s debut album In The Rectory Of The Bizarre Reverend was released on Sinister Figure on November 24th, 2002 and has since become an important cult favorite and one of the most legendary albums from the new generation of traditional Doom Metal.

Described by Decibel Magazine as sounding “like a black hole opening up and drawing everything into its bleak void”, the classic album now receives the 20th Anniversary treatment. The album comes on double vinyl, accompanied by an Albert Witchfinder -designed lyric and photo booklet plus a massive amount of bonus materials exclusive to this one-time pressing only:

– a repro of the super rare 8 page promo booklet spread with review copies of the album

– A2 poster of the iconic band portrait in the graveyard
– A3 poster of the original promo flyer design (Crowley)
– A3 poster of the Black Sabbath homage photo
– A3 repro of the early gig poster w/ MInotauri and Spiritus Mortis
– DVD documentary with the band listening to and giving commentary on the album 20 years later, subtitled in English

Messa’s rising trajectory hits the stratosphere on their immense new album “Close”. Soaring up out of the Italian Doom Rock underground in 2014, Messa have been rapidly garnering a frenzied throng of devotees, in thrall to their monumental and broad-ranging sound craft. Releasing two widely celebrated cult records, the latest of which “Feast For Water” in 2018 was a critical breakthrough success, with Rolling Stone calling the whole album “captivating, wringing maximum drama out of its savvy stylistic clash,” Messa have had everyone on tenterhooks, waiting for what was next.

New album “Close” draws us further into Messa’s spellbinding textures and immersive dynamics. Described as “Stevie Nicks fronting Black Sabbath,” singer Sara’s colossal voice omnipotently carries the listener on an emotional rollercoaster ride where the sonic cauldron of Iommi guitars gives way to Arabian oudh and progressive solos in a masterful style-clash that well befits Messa’s incendiary reputation.

The hushed Fender Rhodes piano intro on opener “Suspended,” picks up where Messa left off on their previous album “Feast For Water” but then collapses gloriously into Jazz guitar and widescreen impassioned crushing riffs, lighting our way for the odyssey ahead. The scene is set magnificently for the journey that “Close” expertly takes the listener on, with Messa’s obvious care and passion for the album as a pilgrimage of sonic experience. Heavyweight tracks like “If You Want Her To Be Taken” or “0=2” are modern Doom Rock classics that expertly upgrade and leave the genre reeling in their wake. “Pilgrim” and “Orphalese” are woven with tapestries of Mediterranean sounds where oudh and eastern chord phrasings expand Messa’s cinematic palette with a panache that is all their own. Atmospheric and grandiose belters like “Rubedo” and “Dark Horse” build into an almost limitless climax of discord and harmony where blast beats and saxophones descend into a thrilling cacophony that’s a masterclass in artful cutting edge Doom.

Referencing bands like Dead Can Dance, Swans and Om, Messa have created an album where song, experience and atmosphere are focused into a crystalline modus where high art flawlessly embraces good old fashioned riff-worship. Transcending the occult and noir-tinted atmospheres of their past works, “Close” confidently weaves Messa’s multifarious influences into a singular breath-taking sound that leaves the listener enthralled. Perfection or something extremely close, Messa’s “Close” is not just a Metal record, but it’s definitely one of the best things to break out of the confines of Metal in a long time.