Ivan Tibos.

Drawn Into Descent are a new band from the city of Mechelen (Flemish part of Belgium), formed after the demise of Galgenveld.

I have to admit that I was not that eager to listen to this album, if only because of the band’s name, The Hell. I did actually expect some infantile would-be act with more ego than writing capabilities. Yet seen the label(s) involved, this could be something quite different as well. The choice of those labels releasing an album by a band called this way, would it prove me wrong?

Infra are a project from Portugal consisting of members involved with e.g. Corpus Christii, Alchemist or Göatfukk, and the trio released two pieces via mighty Californian label Nuclear War Now! Productions gathered as Initiations On The Ordeals Of Lower Vibrations.

Lago are a band from Phoenix, Arizona, formed in 2010 and, in their milieu, known for the rather ‘popular’ EP Marianas (released at the very end of 2010). After some line-up changes, the band started writing on new material, and step by step new stuff got into form. Eventually, the band released their first album, called Tyranny, yet in a limited and underestimated promotional edition (CD-format), and that’s when and where Blood Harvest shows up, giving this strong material a new chance, though this time being on vinyl.

When I got in touch with French top-label Les Acteurs De L’Ombre Productions in very early Summer 2014, I went to my (permanent?) record shop in Leuven to search for some of this label’s ‘older’ stuff. Amongst this material: the album Regarde Les Hommes Tomber by French act Regarde Les Hommes Tomber. In the vein of pretty much all stuff on Les Acteurs De L’Ombre Productions, I was truly impressed by that debut album.

The Haunting Presence are a new outfit by Ghastly Apparition, the guy behind the mighty project Nocturnal Blood (FYI: you can find a review undersigned wrote on Devastated Graves – The Morbid Celebration, released as well via Hells Headbangers, which was posted on November 26^th 2010; check the Archive-section).

In their five year of existence, German act Porta Nigra did release a couple of mini-releases, one full length, and they contributed on one of the Elemental Nightmares splits. Now the duo returns with the second full album, Kaiserschnitt, a Decadent Dark Metal album that lasts for more than three quarters of an hour.

Vacula Productions did surprise me a lot last year and this year with quite some hands full of fine releases, such as Grimwald, Aeons Ov Frost, Nyx, Northern Tod or (evidently) Emptiness Soul, amongst many others. Just click on the label’s name on top of this review to check out some other reviews undersigned did for this Ukrainian label.

Catalonian combo Cendra return with their second album, 666 Bastards, after 2013’s Sang, Suor I Alcohol (independently released). In mean time there was some other material, like a compilation, but I did really look forward to this new collection of lullabies.

This band from the South-West of the U.S. certainly does not need any introduction anymore, I guess. Let’s keep it with: more than two decades of activities, countless releases (amongst which several ‘cult’ recordings), numerous line-up changes (only founding member and vocalist Tomas Stench remains), and now we’ll welcome Tortura, the band’s latest effort, done on vinyl via Nuclear War Now! Productions (a cassette edition did see the unlight too in mean time).