Trevor Proctor's Top 25 Singles, EPs, Splits and Demos of 2019.

 

Thankfully the underground continues to thrive and in 2019 we have yet again been treated to some lethal singles, EPs, splits and demos. 

As with 2018 we've been spoilt for choice with some fantastic underground releases from new and established bands alike bringing us a never ending torrent of first class music. 

Whilst it may have become a bit of tradition for me to tie the top spot on my year end album lists, for the first time ever I've also tied the number one spot on this listing. The reason behind tying the top two releases is that I just can't separate either in terms of simply how good they are - Temple Nightside is one of the best underground bands to ever exist and Death Worship is easily one of the best from recent years. Placing all of these releases in some sort of order has been an absolute nightmare as every title below is exemplary, as are many others which unfortunately had to be excluded.

As with all Lair of Filth articles the text in red is a live link to bring you straight to the artist or label and if something spikes your interest clicking on the title of the release will bring you straight to where you can purchase it - hopefully you'll find something you may have missed during the year. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank every band, label and promoter who has supported my work at The Lair of Filth in any way during the past year.

I hope you enjoy this list and please like the Lair of Filth Facebook page to keep up to date with future articles, including my album listing for 2019 which will be posted in the coming weeks. 

In addition to my album listing for 2019 please also watch out for guest year-end album listings, scheduled to feature PK from Iron Bonehead Productions, Sandesh from Cyclopean Eye Productions and Alan Ripley, one of the underground's most ardent supporters.   

As always the biggest thanks belong to you, the reader, as without your support there wouldn't be a Lair of Filth - every read, like and share means everything to me so thanks again, Trevor.

Possession, Spite & Venefixion - Passio Christi Part I + Part II - Press Release.

Possession / Spite - Passio Christi Part I - Invictus Productions.

Possession / Venefixion - Passio Christi Part II - Iron Bonehead Productions.

Press Release by Nathan T Birk.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

On November 29th internationally, comrades Invictus Productions and Iron Bonehead Productions will simultaneously release split EPs from Belgian black/death masters Possession, both on CD and 12" vinyl formats.

Trajeto De Cabra - Supreme Command of Satanic Will - Press Release + Track Stream.

Trajeto De Cabra - Supreme Command of Satanic Will LP/CD - Iron Bonehead Productions.

Press Release by Nathan T Birk.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Iron Bonehead Productions is proud to present Trajeto De Cabra's striking debut album, Supreme Command of Satanic Will, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Hailing from the Canadian province of British Columbia, with psychic connections to the legendary Ross Bay Cult and featuring members of labelmates Necroholocaust, Trajeto De Cabra are verily a vortex of warring black/death energies, disgusting blackgrind given violently hypnotic flight through sheer Satanic will. Indeed, not for nothing is their long-brewing debut album titled as such: Supreme Command of Satanic Will says everything it needs to, no more but certainly no less.

Bölzer - Lese Majesty MLP - Press Release + First Track Reveal.

Press Release by Dewar PR.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Bölzer - Lese Majesty MLP - 'Lightning + Sons.'

On November 29th Bölzer will release their highly anticipated new mini album "Lese Majesty".

Bölzer is an intuitive art project born from raw passion; musical ecstasy fueled by impulsive composition and enactment. Whilst wielding a lyrical and musical medium largely inspired by - and seeking to channel - the primeval essence of the human experience, flashes of illumination will descend the sky from which there shall be no shelter.

Byyrth - Cold Autumn Shadows MLP - Press Release + Track Stream.

Press Release by Nathan T Birk.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Iron Bonehead Productions is proud to present a special new mini-album from Byyrth, Cold Autumn Shadows, on CD and 12" vinyl format. The release will coincide with this year's edition of the Iron Bonehead / Nuclear War Now! - curated Never Surrender Fest, set to take place on October 19-20 in Oakland, California.

Never Surrender Fest Vol. II - Full line-up details + Triple track stream.

Never Surrender Fest Vol. II.

Press Release by Nathan T Birk.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

In 2009, Iron Bonehead  and Nuclear War Now! worked together to present the first NWN! Fest.
The collaboration proved fruitful and the event was a success, so we continued the partnership, presenting four additional installments over the years.

Abhor (Italy) / Abysmal Grief - Legione Occulta / Ministerium Diaboli split 12" MLP - Press Release + MLP Stream.

Press Release by Nathan T Birk.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Iron Bonehead Productions is proud to present a special split mini-album between Italy's Abhor and Abysmal Grief, respectively titled Legione Occulta / Ministerium Diaboli, on 12" vinyl format.

Serpents Athirst / Genocide Shrines / Trepanation / Heresiarch - Scorn Coalescence - Press Release + Double Track Stream.

Cover Art: Roger Moore.

Press release by Qabar - Extreme Music PR.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Ever since storming into the underworld of extreme music with Genocide Shrines' debut EP in 2012, Cyclopean Eye Productions has kept pushing the envelope from the fathoms of the underground to discharge some of the finest and fiercest sonic gems. The Indian label, once again, is setting the bar high with a special cross-continental split CD, featuring Sri Lankan warmongers Genocide Shrines and Serpents Athirst and New Zealand’s malignant entities Heresiarch and Trepanation.

Unaussprechlichen Kulten - Teufelsbücher - Press Release + First Track Reveal.

Press Release by Nathan T Birk.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Today, Iron Bonehead Productions sets October 18th as the international release date for Unaussprechlichen Kulten's highly anticipated fifth album, Teufelsbücher, on CD and vinyl LP formats. Also on the day of release shall Iron Bonehead reissue the band's cult second album, 2008's People of the Monolith, on vinyl LP format as well as a special compilation of their 7" EPs and their live performance at last year's inaugural Never Surrender Fest, curated by Iron Bonehead and Nuclear War Now!

Abyssal Interview with The Lair of Filth + Full album stream.

Since reviewing the vinyl edition of the unbeatable 'Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius' by Abyssal in January 2014 I have published many features on one the best Death Metal entities in existence - all previous Abyssal articles are accessible here. 

Formed in the UK in 2011, Abyssal plays an extremely suffocating and oppressive style of Death Metal with a unique sound that is, in my opinion, unmatched in today's prolific underground. The follow up album to 'Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius' was the excellent 'Antikatastaseis' which landed the joint number 1 placing on my Top 25 Album listing for 2015. With Abyssal's fourth album, 'A Beacon in the Husk' recently released by Profound Lore Records I was fortunate to interview G.D.C. for a third time, so read on for the interview which also features the full album stream 'A Beacon in the Husk.' 

Black Cilice - Transfixion of Spirits - Press Release + Track Stream.

Black Cilice - Transfixion of Spirits LP/CD/TAPE.

Press Release by Nathan T Birk.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Iron Bonehead Productions is proud to present Black Cilice's highly anticipated fifth album, Transfixion of Spirits, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats. (To be released on the 6th of September)

By now, Black Cilice should need no introduction. For at least a decade (or perhaps longer), this ever-shadowy Portuguese enigma has built a monolithic body of work that has come to define and also defy the modern raw black metal idiom.

Holocausto - Diário de Guerra - Press Release + Track Stream.

Press Release by Nathan T Birk.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Nuclear War Now! Productions sets July 31st as the international release date for the highly anticipated sixth album of Brazil's Holocausto, Diário de Guerra, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Nocturnus AD - Paradox - Press Release + Full Album Stream.

Press Release by Earsplit PR.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Nocturnus AD has just released their long-anticipated debut full-length 'Paradox' via Profound Lore Records. Resurrected from the ashes of one of the most influential death metal bands of all time, Nocturnus, Nocturnus AD was initiated by founding mastermind/death metal legend Mike Browning (also co-founder of Morbid Angel). His intention? To continue the path laid down twenty-eight years earlier, by the legendary Florida death metal band’s seminal 1990 full-length The Key,  an album recognized as one of the most important death metal albums of all time.

Heresiarch - Incursions - Press Release + FULL Stream.

Heresiarch - Incursions - Krucyator Productions.

Press Release by Qabar Extreme Music PR.

Article by Trevor Proctor.

New Zealand's contribution to underground music is second to none with bands such as Vesicant, Sinistrous Diabolus and Witchrist being just a few of the many this country has brought us. Another New Zealand band, Heresiarch, has also featured a number of times here at The Lair of Filth. 

Vomit Angel - Imprint of Extinction - Debut LP Press Release + Track Stream

Press Release by Nathan T Birk.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Iron Bonehead Productions sets July 19th as the international release date for Vomit Angel's highly anticipated debut album, Imprint of Extinction, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

Abyssal - A Beacon In The Husk - Release Information + First Track Reveal.

Abyssal - A Beacon In The Husk - Release Information + Track Stream - 'Dialogue.'

Release Information by Profound Lore Records + Abyssal.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Abyssal - "This album is the culmination of the most arduous and painstaking creation thus far in the Abyssal discography, simultaneously combining the most eclectic composition with the most conceptually complete lyrical content.

We are proud to have collaborated closely on the art direction with Ikonostasis: Artwork of Elijah Tamu, who managed to capture the essence of the ideas behind this release to an incredible degree."

Vitriol (Germany) - Chrysalis - Press Release + Full MLP Stream.

Press Release by Nathan T Birk.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Iron Bonehead Productions is proud to present Chrysalis, a striking new mini-album from Germany's Vitriol, on CD and 12" vinyl formats. 

(Due for release on the 19th of April)

Imprecation - Damnatio Ad Bestias - Press Release + Full Album Stream.

Press Release by Clawhammer PR.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Imprecation rises again from the blasted lands of Texas with their darkest spell ever, Damnatio Ad Bestias. This album expands upon the themes of their 2013 debut Satanae Tenebris Infinita with deadly results.

Deiphago - I, The Devil - Press Release + Track Stream.

Press Release by Nathan T Birk.

Article posted by Trevor Proctor.

Hells Headbangers is proud to present Deiphago's highly anticipated fifth album, I, The Devil, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats. The album shall be released on the symbolic date of April 30th: Walpurgisnacht.

Sacrilegia - The Triclavian Advent - Press Release + Track Stream.

Artwork by Misanthropic Art.

Press Release by Nathan T Birk.

Article by Trevor Proctor.

Sacrilegia - The Triclavian Advent - Invictus Productions.

Invictus Productions is proud to present Sacrilegia's striking debut album, The Triclavian Advent - due for release on the 12th of April.

Weregoat - Unholy Exaltation of Fullmoon Perversity + Slave Bitch of the Black Ram Master - Re-press Details.

Weregoat - Unholy Exaltation of Fullmoon Perversity + Slave Bitch of the Black Ram Master. 

Re-issued by Iron Bonehead Productions in cooperation with Parasitic Records.

By Trevor Proctor.

Weregoat formed during 2009 in Portland, Oregon and since then the band has steadily grown their underground following with their finest hour to date being the lethal debut album 'Pestilential Rites of Infernal Fornication' which they released in 2017.

Doombringer (Poland) - Walpurgis Fires Press Release + Track Stream.

Press Release text by J. Campbell - sent via Nathan T Birk.

Article by Trevor Proctor.

For over a decade, Poland’s Doombringer has consistently produced a hybrid strain of extreme sound: the stalwart machinery of death metal adorned in the opaque cloth of black metal. With only two demos and a few EP tracks foreshadowing its debut album, the band’s sparse discography is a testament to the meticulous curation of its body of work. 

Death Worship - End Times MLP - Press Release + Track Stream.

Press Release text by C. Conrad - sent via Nathan T Birk.

Article by Trevor Proctor.

With its highly anticipated debut recording, 'Extermination Mass,' Death Worship emerged in 2016 to write the next chapter in the storied legacy of the Ross Bay Cult. Whereas many bands over the years have striven to claim a position atop the mantle of bestial black metal, the incomparable lineage of Death Worship’s members and the pitiless assault on the feebleness of human existence as evidenced in this first recording confirmed it as one truly worthy of such a distinction.  

Popiel - Undying Insurmountable Chaos - Full Demo Stream + Release Information.

Popiel - Undying Insurmountable Chaos - Iron Bonehead Productions.

Article by Trevor Proctor and Popiel in agreement with Iron Bonehead Productions.

Iron Bonehead Productions is unbeaten when it comes to signing and releasing new underground music from all parts of the globe, deservedly bringing it to a much wider audience worldwide. Their release roster regularly features new underground talent and, yet again, they have just released pure underground genius in the form of 'Undying Insurmountable Chaos,' the debut demo from Popiel.

Read on for further details from the band along with a full stream of their demo and details of how to purchase what will be one of 2019's most destructive releases.

Blue Hummingbird On The Left - Atl Tlachinolli - Press Release + Track Stream.

Press release by Nathan T Birk.

Article by Trevor Proctor.

Iron Bonehead Productions, in conspiracy with Nuclear War Now! Productions and Crepúsculo Negro, is proud to present Blue Hummingbird On The Left's long-awaited debut album, Atl Tlachinolli, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.