#Code666 Records

[stylized-corpse]

I was obsessed with this whole album when it first came out and it still rules today. I really wish Amesoeurs had come out with something else but damn is this one LP extremely good.

Amesoeurs - "Amesoeurs" Amesoeurs March 10th, 2009 Post Black Metal / Post Punk Code666 Records Avignon, France

[triste-guillotine]

NEGURĂ BUNGET - 'N crugu bradului ('Through the Deepness of the Fir Tree Heights') CD 2002

1. I - Poartă-a vîntului... (Wind's Gate) 2. II - Cătră șipotu dă piatră... (Towards the Well of Stone) 3. III - Colo-n jos către apus (Down There to the Twilight) 4. IV - În pădure urlă lupii (Wolves are Calling in the Forest)

'N Crugu Bradului | Negura Bunget (bandcamp.com)

'N crugu bradului opens and closes a complete and expressive cycle, a unitary vision melting mythological ambient, psychedelic and Transilvanian feeling into a complex layered musical and ideological structure. Focused on the complete local solidarity between man and his surrounding natural and spiritual landscape, Negura Bunget’s music filters everything through the ideological censure of the Black Metal.

[human-antithesis]

Incendiaire

Culmination With fire in my feet I dance for you Succumb to the heat Tiptoe on dying embers Onto the rhythm of our tragedy A round of applause As they witness our screams vaporize Watch my last breath dissolve In the night Take a bow for the lost Darling, our sun is burning out This is the last time

[themetalwanderlust]

The Metal Wanderlust 2022 Favorites: J. Wukotich

The Metal Wanderlust 2022 Favorites: J.��Wukotich

What follows is a list of 50 albums that helped get me through 2022. I will turn 50 in 2023, so sharing that many albums made sense. I always have such a difficult time narrowing things down, putting everything in some sort of order wasn’t a task I felt up to, not to mention after five or six choices “order” starts meaning less, if anything at all. Aside from my AOTY pick, I didn’t bother much…

[drondskaath]

In Crucem Agere | Calling the Void | 2021

Austrian Black Metal

Artwork by Rebecca Andel

https://incrucemagere.bandcamp.com/album/calling-the-void

[blackmetalstellar]

NEGURA BUNGET

[Om, Black Metal, Romania, Code666 Records, 2006]

- https://negurabunget.bandcamp.com/album/om

[doomedandstoned]

Ember Sun Takes Us on a Journey Through Pain & Self-Discovery in New Record

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Meet EMBER SUN the new project from Lorthar, one of the original members of the Athens occultic black metal band Order Of The Ebon Hand. Later this month, he's dropping the full-length solo effort, 'Of Earth And Heaven' (2021) via Aural Music/Code666.

Harmonic rumbling surrounds our senses as the album opens, giving way to a slow rhythm that somehow reminds me of the slave galley powering some ancient sea-faring vessel into the chaotic waves of war, steadily slogging along in rowing movement to the task-master's slavish beat. There's not a spike of adrenaline in sight, for this is a reluctant battle we face -- not of swords against shields or javelins tearing through flesh, but the struggle with sorrow. And we are spent.

"Swallowed Back Into My Sorrow" implies by title alone that we've faced this enemy before, won some battles, lost too many to remember. Now we can feel the dread of those gray, low-hanging clouds gathering oppressively around us. The mood the song strikes is not one of abject despair, however, but stoic contemplation. We've learned to grow comfortable in the fog of uncertainty and confusion these last two years. Perhaps it's impossible to envision better days from this vantage point. Maybe the point is to endure until the fog lifts. But will it ever?

"Respawn" is up next, striking a slightly more upbeat stride than its predecessor. In fact, it's almost hypnotic. The atmosphere is charged with an uneasiness as we wander deeper into the mist looking for signs that mark some discernible path -- closer to this Ember Sun.

This leads into "On Earth And Heaven," which surrounds us in a comforting blanket of grief. In last year's excellent miniseries The Third Day, a confused Jude Law is consoled by Emily Watson. "Pain doesn't know time," see says, adding: "Most people are scared of pain. They don't know how warm it can be." As a long time depressive, I can vouch for that fact. It's not a place I want to be in, but when I am sad it feels familiar to me. Maybe that strange solace comes through radical acceptance of the situation (as opposed to wishful thinking that it will somehow change on its own) and this has a way of dampening the "fight or flight" alarm so it isn't constantly blaring at me and I can think rationally about where we stand. Then, seeing the situation for what it really is, I can quietly plot the next best step forward. As the song comes to a close, the drums pound out those steps so clearly. It's an all-uphill climb, but that's precisely the hill we have to scale to see what's on the other side, where maybe, just maybe, there is hope.

"Ember Heart Of Me" is significantly sadder, a funeral march with Gothic and esoteric touches. It also boasts one of the album's grandest choruses, perhaps our first sun-break of the journey so far. Anger sometimes has a way of clearing the fog and here Lorthar vows, "I'll haunt you in your dreams." The synth fingers out a familiar arpeggiated pattern, followed by an outpouring of singing guitar expression and an aggressive battering of the percussion. The sun is rising, the mist dissipating, the path becoming more discernible.

"The Chapel" is the penultimate track and, like the opening salvo, the hum of reverberating sound seems all-encompassing. The thud of the drums marks out this place as significant. Have we been here before? It feels so familiar. A place of absolute transcendency, where one can experience the death of ego, followed by a certain clarity of vision we didn't have previously. This isn't a place of feeble worship and quiet solitude, but a space that invades our senses. And the raven's caw beckons...

The ten-minute-plus album closer feels positively sanguine by the time we reach it, with melodic highs and lows acting like a series of heavy sighs. Nothing is scarier than thinking about one's death, until you come to peaceful acceptance of your own transient mortality. Who knows what, if any, existence we will have beyond this one (consciously or not), however your philosophy rationalizes it. Painting in lush, deeply affective tones, the singer embraces the mystery of life, sure of one thing: "My Essense Fades In Time."

Today, Doomed & Stoned gives you a first listen to the album single, "Ember Heart of Me." A song which Lorthar depicts as "our inner consciousness that never fades, never goes away" -- adding that "even if the fire can't be seen, it still burns." The composer continues:

This track was challenging to record with 3 different types of vocals to mix and layer one over the other.

The 1st voice represents our living body.

The 2nd voice represents our fear.

The 3rd voice represents our subconsciousness.

Together, these 3 voices embody our selves. These 3 voices exist within you, within me, within everyone.

On Earth And Heaven by Ember Sun releases October 22nd via Code666/Aural Music in digital, compact disc, and vinyl formats (pre-order here).

on Earth and Heaven by Ember Sun

Some Buzz

Ember Sun is releasing their new album, titled On Earth and Heaven, on October 22 via code666, the cult sublabel of Aural Music.

The band commented about the signing:

"When code666 contacted me and proposed to release my debut album, it was like I was dreaming that such a label wanted to join their roster. It’s a blessing to us that this respected label believed in us. Now Ember Sun are ready to uncover the deep, primordial feelings of sorrow, sinisterness, and solitude under the banner of Code666"

Ember Sun is the new solo project born in 2021 of Lorthar (founder/ex-member of black metal band Order Of The Ebon Hand) from Greece, playing atmospheric funeral doom death with influences of gothic scene. Lorthar has been and still is a member of several bands in the metal music scene and also on ambient style bands. Ember Sun is a mix of all the music styles haunting Lorthar's temperament.

'On Earth And Heaven' is a hymn of solitude and sorrow. It expresses the fear of reaching our end; the despair of not seeing again all those we loved or hated; the incomprehensibility of being devoid consciousness; the sorrow of never seeing the dawn again.

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

[reptileshrine]

Another Realm by Eoront

[m3t4ln3rd]

Ashenspire & Abest announce trio of German dates

Avant-garde black metallers Ashenspire have announced a three-date tour of Germany in support of their new full-length Hostile Architecture (Code666, Aural Music). Joining them on the run will be Abest, who themselves will be out in support of their new effort Molten Husk (Moment of Collapse Records). Ashenspire said of the upcoming run: “We’re overjoyed to announce that we’re making our way off…

[human-antithesis]

Sorrow's Shadow

I remember nights So pure so empty Unblemished by ashes Whirling from the sky The blissful silence Of the afterlife

The stillness of the now A tympanic torture As the remnants of these mortals Descend onto me softly The humming of a dying light Roaring in my ears While I brush their lives Of my shoulders And into oblivion

How I miss The absence of these Wailing souls To be in silence and alone No cry cuts deeper Than one screaming of home

[themetalwanderlust]

Now Playing: October 3-10, 2022

Now Playing: October 3-10, 2022

We get so many promos emailed to us, it’s impossible to keep up. Even if we had fifteen active writers (which we don’t, so… shoot us an email if you’re interested), it would be difficult to cover all of the excellent music we get to hear. So, we’re going to try something new. Each week, we’ll cover five or six albums that have been keeping our brains busy and our emotions evenly spread. For this…

[gbhbl]

Album Review: Maestus - Deliquesce (code666)

Album Review: Maestus – Deliquesce (code666)

code666 are pleased to announce that they will release Deliquesce by doom band Maestus on February 8th 2019. The recording is described as a 50-minute slab of charred and filigreed granite channeling frustration, anxiety, and estrangement into a blackdoom cauldron in the vein of Pallbearer, Ahab, Shape of Despair and Evoken.

  Four tracks, each over 10 minutes long and each taking the listener…

[blackmetalstellar]

FOLGE DEM WIND

[Inhale The Sacred Poison, Black Metal, France, Code666 Records, 2011]

- https://folgedemwind.bandcamp.com/album/inhale-the-sacred-poison

[rp-kat]

Eternal Deformity - The Beauty of Chaos

2012

[doomedandstoned]

Maestus Chisel Out New Blackdoom Masterpiece, Premiere Lyric Video

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

A few years back, I was introduced to a band in my own backyard, right here in Yob country, by the name of MAESTUS. Initially, I wasn't sure how to "think" about the band, my music critic mindset at the time felt a need to classify everything into genre specific categories. Were they doom metal? Black metal? How about blackened doom? At the time, they had just released their first album, 'Voir Dire' (2015), following the well-received EP, 'Scarlet Lakes' (2013). As the music poured into my ears, there was only one way to describe it: maestus. The band has chosen its name well, for the Latin word refers to sadness, melancholy, gloom, and sorrow.

When I heard Maestus were releasing a new album, described as "a 50 minute slab of charred and filigreed granite channeling frustration, anxiety, and estrangement into a Blackdoom Cauldron in the vein of Pallbearer, Ahab, Shape of Despair and Evoken," I was straightaway interested in helping with a premiere. Today, Doomed & Stoned is pleased to present you with the opening track to 'Deliquesce' (2019).

A sanguine haze greets us as "Deliquesce" begins, gradually unfolding the title track with synthesizer, met by the pleasant surprise tones of crisp piano, providing us with slightest comforts as we walk through a veiled path through the midnight woods. Two-minutes in, the guitars introduce the somber opening theme and are joined in short order by the gruff voice, followed by a harsher second, together welcoming us to the cold of this winter's night. The tempo flusters momentarily, but cools for the reflection or eerie feedback, instrumental chirps, and the quiet picking of an arpeggiated theme, making the piece all the more chilling, as we venture further into this soul's dark night. The drums welcome the next verse, which speaks of "embracing isolation," as the pace quickens once more. A furious development section follows, ultimately to return to the clavier's dulcet tones, concluding on an uncertain note. Clearly it is intended for a relationship with the three tracks that follow, which I can't wait for you to hear (especially my favorite, "Black Oake").

The grandiose nature of this tone-poem makes me think the near 16-minute work could well stand on its own and it was a smart choice for Maestus to debut it as the single, giving fans plenty to feast on as they await the album's release next month. The word "deliquesce," though it may look and sound "French," is in fact another Latin word -- a reference to something that melts. Over time, it gained some nuance in the field of biology, which uses it to describe the withering and decay that occurs over an organism’s life, i.e. through exposure to the elements. In chemistry, “deliquesce" describes the way in which moisture will build on an object as it absorbs the moisture of the air (something we see quite commonly in the damper seasons of Oregon). I'm not certain about which way the band intended us to understand the term or if they prefer to leave the interpretation to us.

The lyric video for "Deliquesce," in fact, reminds me of my first time camping in the forest hills of Southern Oregon. I was on a training exercise with the Oregon National Guard at the time and, being quite young and naive -- not to mention new to Oregon's deep terrain, was quite ill-prepared for the weekend. The first night, it began to snow and draped a poncho over me, tucked in at all corners, to stay warm. It was roughing it to the extreme -- no light, no fires, nothing. At the same time, there was something extraordinarily overbearing about the darkness. You feel entirely engulfed by it. Only the light snowfall provided a modicum of light. That night, my head rested on a decaying log, I shivered and dreamt of Frankenstein.

Performance-wise, Maestus as a band could not be better synced. Props to Stephen Parker, who pulls double duty on guitar and vocals (he also plays in the Portland black metal band Pillorian). Guitarist Nathanael Kelley is quite effect, especially when the music calls for harmonizing with a second guitarist. Cordell Cline's drumming is absolutely on point, just as he is live. Bassist Kenneth Parker (Stephen's brother and alumnus to a plethora of Eugene-area bands) completing the rhythm section admirably. As a classically trained pianist myself, I was especially impressed with Sarah Beaulieu's execution on synth and piano, which shows not the slightest bit of hesitation, nor an overly aggressive approach. I'm not sure if she recorded this on a grand piano or just a very good keyboard, but either way the song would not be the same without it.

Look for the release of Deliquesce on February 8th via the Aural Music label code666, which will issue the album on CD (pre-order here) and vinyl (pre-order here).

Give ear...

Some Buzz

Maestus emerged from the Pacific Northwest with its forlorn blackdoom in 2013 under the hand of Stephen Parker (Pillorian). With the help of a collective of Oregon collaborators, Kenneth Parker (Grst, Batrakos), Sarah Beaulieu (ex-Ninth Level), Cordell Cline (ex-Dimensionless), and Nathanael Kelley (Banewreaker, Grst), Maestus self-released its debut full-length, Voir Dire, two years later.

In the spring of 2018, the band got signed with code666/Aural Music and reconvened to record their sophomore album Deliquesce in Eugene, Oregon, and gave form to four crushing paeans to hopelessness. Mixed and mastered by Markus Stock (Empyrium, Sun of the Sleepless) at his Klangschmiede Studio E, with artwork by Matthias Roth and design by John Haughm.

In the original Latin, Maestus makes reference to a state of mourning, a theme that finds voice in lyrics which explore the threads between despondency and bitterness. Maestus reflects the principle of misery as it moves through the world in life, death, and memory, and of the ceaseless decay which both precedes and follows it.

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

[metalnationradio]

FEN: No Clean Singing Streams Winter Full-Length From Atmospheric Black Metallers In Its Entirety; Record To See Release Tomorrow Via Code666

FEN: No Clean Singing Streams Winter Full-Length From Atmospheric Black Metallers In Its Entirety; Record To See Release Tomorrow Via Code666

  Fen

“There is tension and collapse in the music, dread and delight, the coil of fear and the comfort of faith, if only perhaps the faith that the magic of the land will outlive us. Cold doom and old hauntings shroud segments of these songs; a deep chill seeps into the bones at times. At other times, the music catches fire, blazes like a bonfire, blinds like the glare of the sun parting the…