We just got our shipment of the CVLT Nation X The Secret tees, and they look fucking sick! Apache Knowledge really outdid himself on this esoteric piece of artwork, and Holy Mountain killed it with the print job! Thank you to everyone who pre-ordered it for your patience over the holidays, they all shipped out Tuesday and now we have a limited amount left in the CVLT Store. This tee is an official The Secret piece of merch, produced in the USA and only available in the CVLT Store. Check out some nice pics after the jump!

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Bloody black scum is invading my skull and the rancid toxic fumes of death are taking over my vision! What’s happening to me?? I’m watching the new video by Lighting Swords Of Death directed by Mortichrome Productions for their unholy unhinged title track “Baphometic Chaosium”! Also, today is the day that their new album, Baphometic Chaosium, is released by Metal Blade Records. This visual has the right amount of demented, filthy imagination that will make you want to shower after you watch it…Make sure to pick up the Lighting Swords Of Death album today, and watch this insane video after the jump!

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New DARKTHRONE song Leave No Cross Unturned streaming below…

Norwegian legends Darkthrone have completed work on their latest album ‘The Underground Resistance’, which is set for release on Peaceville Records on February 25th.

‘The Underground Resistance’ is Darkthrone’s latest venture through the metal cosmos, & first new album since the 2010 opus ‘Circle the Wagons’. A continuation of the free-spirited metallic lands the duo of Fenriz & Nocturno Culto have been roaming for a long time, ‘The Underground Resistance’ contains Darkthrone’s trademark masterful riffing in a broad range of styles, effortlessly bounding through the annals of classic metal, taking in thrash, speed & black metal, & not forgetting a dose of Punk. All in all a ferocious & dynamic set of tracks drenched in Fenriz’s & Nocturno’s rich & diverse tastes in all things metal, primarily those rooted firmly in the spirit of the 80’s. 6 tracks long, & every one an epic in itself, this is undoubtedly Darkthrone’s strongest outing of late.

Apart from their geographic location, we don’t know that much about Thaw from the mighty Poland.

Advance [MMXII] is Thaw‘s second demo and another right step in the right direction. Extreme as fuck, these guys play different extreme music genres (black metal, doom, sludge, etc) always trough their noisy – as fuck, of course – filter.

For those that have known this band since 2010, when they released their first demo Decay [MMX], it’s kind of easy to point out the differences between these two releases. If the first effort was full of black metal atmosphere, and it was an obvious influence in the way they created, here in Advance [MMXII] they use the sludgy atmosphere as a kind of base atmosphere to deliver the three compositions included in this piece.

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A jangled  and raw shattered glass intro reminiscent of that skylight scene from Suspiria starts off Sanctuary‘s third offering: III. With that brief intro aside, the presumably one man band rips right into a claustrophobic blast of under produced and purposefully cluttered black metal most akin to Emperor‘s earliest effort Wrath of the Tyrant (sans frog vocals and III‘s much louder). The vocals get the best of this compressed analog production and really carry songs when the riffs become indecipherable admist tape hiss and the drums.

The production, no doubt, is the line which will separate listeners who will enjoy or dislike this release. Black metal enthusiasts who seek LLN tapes, dig the whole Black Twilight scene and know their Rhinocervs tapes by heart will no doubt eat this up. For those unaccustomed to Sanctuary and their ilk of shittier recorded-than-thou, they might find some comfort in well placed riffs in opening track “IIX” or the mid-paced smash towards the middle of “IX” which relies heavily on the bass (surprisingly as in you can hear it here). Not to say this is everyone’s cup of tea, far from it, but as far as these anonymous  tape only demo black metal bands go Sanctuary’s quite good and probably wouldn’t want everyone (or maybe anyone) to like it.

“X,” the closer, is my favorite of the tape simply because of the abstract feedback torrents and clean guitar ending that foils the harsh lurch of stretched strings and sharp pinches that open it all up. Another factor to Sanctuary’s success are the nuances of noise and the droning nature which plays off of the poor production quite well.

Put out through Fallow Field, this tape’s probably lost to bizarre and barren distros or hip shops that think no details on what you’re about to listen to is cool. I might be wrong, but could be part of Mark McCoy’s world of nameless, noisy black metal and Fallow Field might be his doing.

Burning World Records did something very cool the other day. The decided to make all of their digital downloads name your price. So I wanted to share this with you: Wolves In The Throne Room live at Roadburn 2008 is up for download. Check out the stream below – this set is beyond awesome!

The Australian black metal group (Rohan and Jacob appear on this recording, but evidently have added a new member since – if their facebook page is anything to go by) Loss of Self self released a fine, fine demo during the summer of 2012, and this coming year will see them work with the mighty Flenser Records in order to release new music and reach ever further realms of this small Earth. Their three track demo is brutally raw, deviously cold and full of promise and with it, Loss of Self are poised to break. Traces of post-punk beauty (not too dissimilar to the tones of Bosse-de-Nage) fill the cracks the otherwise harsh landscape controls; the vocals beautifully frostbitten whilst the instrumentation beneath swells with a distinct and pure ugliness despite it’s want to cut with a more malign charm.

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This is simply unreal skating set to stellar tunes! CREATURE Skateboards‘ video “Black Metal” will satisfy your urge for bone-breaking viewing! Peep this 35 minutes of skate mayhem after the jump…Hails CREATURE!

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Inside the darkness looking out into the abyss is a great sonic guide, KOLP‘s new album The Outside, out now via Temple Of Torturous. This band proves that they are not willing to be put into a box, but at the same time they know how to bring the heavy. I really hope that more and more people check out KOLP, because this record will not fucking let you down! CVLT Nation is super stoked to be streaming The Outside in full below!

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Canada…

Honestly I haven’t been completely on top of the Canadian music scene as much as I should’ve been this year. I was far more busy by the tail end and just couldn’t catch up. Still I caught some very enjoyable releases swirling around our great white north throughout the year.

In general the black and death metal scene here (especially underground) is churning out some interesting releases on all areas of the spectrum, heavy hitters split between coasts with the interior even bringing a few offerings. Skagos whispered their progress and Revenge howled for the first time within their homeland. The second Messe des Morts took place and Thantifaxath alongside Sortilegia and Sylvus unleashed new material on the stage there. Cryptopsy gained some credibility with the return of Levasseur and a new record.

The hardcore and sludge scenes were alive as well, especially in Toronto where Mare was resurrected for several reunion shows; a dream come true. The Not Dead Yet festival tore downtown up for a few days with legends and rising Canadian locals (including Column of Heaven), Sound Asleep rose and demolished a select few venues, Titan and Vilipend unleashed their debut records (as did Burning Love) in the wake of some big tours. Godspeed You! Black Emperor surprised everyone with a new record — one that included some long-improvised-live material. At least this was a little of what I experienced this year. I’m sure I overlooked some important things.

I think overall last year was stronger. 2012 had some nice shit though especially in death metal (as usual), and the following six releases are at the top. Apologies for the lack of diversity.

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