Dying Victims Productions is proud to announce the following new Pre-orders:
DVP 158 HEXECUTOR – Beyond Any Human Conception of Knowledge… LP/CD/MC
DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present HEXECUTOR’s highly anticipated second album, Beyond Any Human Conception of Knowledge, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
It’s been four long years since HEXECUTOR released their shockingly masterful debut album, Poison, Lust and Damnation. The “shock” wasn’t so much that the French quartet came out of nowhere – indeed, they’d made waves in the underground with their debut demo in 2012 and especially the Hangmen of Roazhon EP two years later (which DYING VICTIMS reissued on 12” vinyl in 2018, to meet demand) – but rather that there existed a band putting an undeniably authentic yet also unique twist on classic mid-‘80s speed metal and thrash. HEXECUTOR weren’t trying to reinvent language; they were simply trying to expand the lexicon a bit, and they did so with astonishing aplomb on Poison, Lust and Damnation.
But, now rested (and wild!), HEXECUTOR return with an even bolder record in their long-awaited second album, Beyond Any Human Conception of Knowledge. If its no-less-considerable predecessor pushed traditional tropes, Beyond Any Human Conception of Knowledge topples them altogether! It’s all recognizably HEXECUTOR – and immediately, charismatically so – but swirling in their cantankerous cauldron of old Slayer, Razor, Destruction, Sepultura, and Merciless is a passion for classic hard rock and heavy metal and coated in the feeling of Bathory’s Blood Fire Death and Manowar’s Into Glory Ride. Thus, this second strike is a much more EPIC one, all without striving to be “epic” in the pejorative sense. It’s all twisted with grace and gnarliness, in equal measure, as one will find filtered traces of Thin Lizzy, Uriah Heep, Blue Öyster Cult, UFO, and even the Eagles as prominently as those of Deströyer 666, Absu, Gospel of the Horns, and Vomitor. HEXECUTOR even touch upon just-as-classic black metal and death metal mainstays as Morbid Angel, Sweden’s Dawn, and early Necrophobic, Darkthrone, Gorgoroth, and Satyricon…but again, simply hearing Beyond Any Human Conception of Knowledge is witnessing the band’s widescreen yet still-wild ways. Slowing down doesn’t mean wimping out, and diversity can be a wondrous thing when handled with care and class. In a word, magickal!
Then again, a recording as momentous Beyond Any Human Conception of Knowledge is underpinned by a deep and thoughtful thematic, relating directly to HEXECUTOR’s homeland. As heavy metal is a great medium to relate legends and epic stories, HEXECUTOR chose to glorify the beauty of their folklore with a concept album based exclusively on myths, factual history, and fantastic tales kept alive by the oral tradition and collected by authors, folklorists, and poets such as Anatole Le Braz, Paul Sébillot, or François Cadic.
It bears repeating that Beyond Any Human Conception of Knowledge is a momentous event, and it’s suitably graced with amazing artwork courtesy of Skelethal’s Jon Whiplash. HEXECUTOR here have delivered a modern classic!
– Regular gatefold edition on black vinyl, with poster, sticker, post card, woven patch and download link.
– Special gatefold edition on oxblood colored vinyl, with poster, sticker, post card, woven patch and download link.
– Special gatefold edition on golden colored vinyl, with poster, sticker, post card, woven patch and download link.
– CD edition with sticker
– MC edition with sticker, button and download code.
Release date: 25th September
DVP 161 BLACKEVIL – Forever Baptised in Eternal Fire LP/CD
DYING VICTIMS is proud to present BLACKEVIL’s highly anticipated second album, Forever Baptised in Eternal Fire, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Hailing from Bavaria, BLACKEVIL have been forging fire since 2013. Their first demo, appropriately titled Hail the Cult, emerged from the darkness in 2015, auspiciously revealing a razor-sharp and endlessly salacious style of blackthrash. Come BLACKEVIL’s debut album, 2017’s The Ceremonial Fire, the power-trio up-ratcheted everything: more speed, more hooks, more black, more evil, more of MORE! Diehards took notice, thankfully, and the band furthered the momentum the next year with a split LP with Italy’s esteemed Witchunter. Still, the best was yet to come…
At last, BLACKEVIL’s breakout moment arrives with their long-awaited second album, Forever Baptised in Eternal Fire. Of course, ones for astute titles, BLACKEVIL nevertheless lay it all on the line with Forever Baptised in Eternal Fire, bringing together their not-inconsiderable past with an envious present and doubtlessly damned future! Naturally, they’d never betray their roots – whether it’s the German thrash Big Three of Sodom, Kreator, and Destruction or evil speed metal legends like Razor, Evil Angel, OZ, and Exciter, and plenty of other classic points in between – but the way the trio assimilate them into something that’s so uniquely their own and yet so uniquely and purely HEAVY METAL, we can only guess there’s some black magick at play. Put another way, Forever Baptised in Eternal Fire is fucking EPIC from beginning to end, but it never sounds like it’s straining to sound “epic.” Likewise, one could charitably qualify BLACKEVIL here as transcending blackthrash altogether, so creative is this idiosyncratic iteration of the idiom…but even then, that’s selling both band and record short.
All we can say is simply step into this eternal fire, feel the witching-metal leads course through your veins, the throttling yet tastefully nuanced drums guide your quest, and allow bassist Abyss’ commanding and increasingly charismatic vocals to lead the charge; try to resist ALL THAT, and try remaining metal to the bone. Won’t work! Suitably for such a classic-in-the-making, Forever Baptised in Eternal Fire is baptized with (un)godly cover art by the masterful Paolo Girardi. Make no mistake: BLACKEVIL have ARRIVED!
– Regular edition on black vinyl, with insert, poster, sticker, post card and download link.
– Special edition on colored vinyl, with insert, poster, sticker, post card, woven patch and download link.
– CD edition with sticker
Release date: 25th September
DVP 162 EARLY MOODS – Spellbound MLP/MCD
DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present EARLY MOODS’ striking debut mini-album, Spellbound, on CD and 12” vinyl formats.
Hailing from Los Angeles, EARLY MOODS formed in 2015 as an amalgamation of various experienced acts such as Rude, (ex-)Skeletal Remains, Fortress (California) and Nightmare (USA). From the beginning, the goal was simple yet sturdy: to pay homage to such classic bands as Candlemass, Witchfinder General, Pentagram, Trouble, and the almighty Black Sabbath. However, it wasn’t until 2020 when the band’s first recording appeared, originally self-released digitally on April 20th.
Bearing the evocative title Spellbound, form surely meets content here, as EARLY MOODS entrance the listener with molten grooves and bewitching atmosphere; this is tried-and-true HEAVY DOOM that doesn’t step past 1980! Naturally, traces of the aforementioned influences are tastefully spread across the 27-minute record, but each of its five component songs convey an alluring, addicting identity that’s entirely their own. Not for nothing are EARLY MOODS monikered as such, for their aeons-old aura and doomed-out swagger bespeaks an impossibly eldritch aspect – precisely, the kind’s perfect for proto-doom and its eventual genesis into traditional doom.
Darkly colored with sulfurous leads that’ll ruin your day, EARLY MOODS dare you to gaze into their crystal ball and become Spellbound!
– Regular edition on black vinyl, with insert, poster, sticker, post card and download link.
– Special edition on colored vinyl, with insert, poster, sticker, post card, woven patch and download link.
– MCD edition with sticker
Release date: 25th September