Cold Spring Records has announced a vinyl repress of Trepaneringsritualen’s “Perfection & Permanence” death industrial LP, due June 12, 2026. The edition is pressed on moss green vinyl, limited to 500 copies. The original LP was released in 2014 and has been out of print for nearly a decade.

The repress replicates the original 2014 LP programme in full across two sides.

• Side A: “Venerated & Despised” (2:34), “A Black Egg” (3:54), “Castrate Christ” (4:37), “Liken Ingen Jord Vill Svälja” (2:34), “Alone/A/Cross/Abyss” (3:48).
• Side B: “Thirty-Nine Lashes” (2:37), “The Seventh Man” (3:24), “Konung Krönt I Blod” (3:30), “A Ceaseless Howling” (3:29), “He Who Is My Mirror” (5:17).

About Trepaneringsritualen

Trepaneringsritualen is a death industrial and ritual ambient project founded by Swedish artist Thomas Martin Ekelund in 2008, initially based in Göteborg, Sweden, and later relocating to Berlin, Germany.

The project released its first full-length, “Deathward, to the Womb”, in 2012 on Cold Spring Records. Side-Line reviewed the album at the time of release. “Perfection & Permanence” followed in 2014 on the same label, issued simultaneously on CD and LP; the white vinyl LP edition was limited to 500 copies.

In 2017, Trepaneringsritualen released the full-length “Kainskult” on Tesco Organisation, and the project also collaborated with MZ.412 on the live document “Post Industriale / Rituals” 2LP. The same year, the project compiled two earlier split LPs on the CD “Yours Is a Kingdom of Death”.

In 2018, Trepaneringsritualen and Nordvargr released “Alpha Ænigma”, a collaborative album. The project subsequently appeared on Cold Spring’s compilation “Arise – A Cold Spring Sampler” in 2023. In 2021, Thomas Martin Ekelund partnered with Henrik Nordvargr Björkk on “Lidaverken Del I: Att i Vådeld Förgås”. The project has released further albums including “ᛉᛦ – Algir; eller Algir i Merkstave” (2019) and “The Totality of Death (A)” and “The Totality of Death (Ω)” (both 2024).

The repress of Trepaneringsritualen “Perfection & Permanence” is available via Cold Spring Records.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Since 2008, Swedish artist Thomas Martin Ekelund has released numerous works under the moniker Trepaneringsritualen. Over the years, he has collaborated with a wide range of labels and now returns to Ant-Zen with this new release.

The project embodies a powerful Ritual aesthetic that resurfaces here with renewed intensity, while continuously absorbing diverse influences — from Industrial rhythms to deeply disturbing and obscure Ambient soundscapes. Voices drift through the compositions like disembodied ghosts, heightening the sense of dread and psychological torment. Despite these shifting elements, the core remains firmly rooted in Ritual music, supported by an impressive and meticulously layered sound design.

Trepaneringsritualen stands as a guarantee of unique and extreme sonic experiences for devotees of Industrial and Ritual music, and this latest work is yet another compelling testament to that legacy. (Rating:8½).

Listen to “Tainted Totem Nothing”:

About Trepaneringsritualen

Trepaneringsritualen is the ritual and death-industrial project of Swedish artist Thomas Martin Ekelund, formed in 2008 and based in Gothenburg, where Ekelund also works as a graphic designer. The name refers to trepanation, the practice of drilling into the skull, and the project’s themes circle religion, magick, and altered states of consciousness.

Before Trepaneringsritualen, Ekelund recorded for years as Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words, a project he ended in 2011. His output has appeared on labels including Cold Spring, Malignant Records, iDEAL, and Ant-Zen, and he has collaborated with Nordvargr. “Diadem Of Fire”, released as a digital and vinyl EP on Ant-Zen in 2025, is his latest return to the label.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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Out on September 8th is a brand new label sampler from the fine Cold Spring label. “Arise – A Cold Spring Sampler” is being released as a 2CD in gatefold ecopak and holds 33 tracks.

“Arise” is the first sampler in this 20+ years old label sampler series since the “Earthen”, which was released in November 2018. Included is material from Cold Spring’s current and forthcoming releases covering industrial, esoteric, dark ambient, noise, ritual, drone, doom metal, experimental, electronica, or yet dark soundtracks.

Included is work from Kollaps, Llyn Y Cwn, Khost, Jagath, Trepaneringsritualen, Coil, Merzbow, She Spread Sorrow, Frank Hall, Dead Voices On Air feat. Cevin Key, Lull, Mz.412 , The Circular Ruins And Mystified, Common Eider, King Eider, Colossloth, We Be Echo, George Fenton, Kristian Eidnes Andersen / Lars Von Trier, , Himukalt, Sonologyst, Satøri , 400 Lonely Things, Tunnels Of Ah, Sleep Research Facility, Burial Hex, Tenhornedbeast, Fm Einheit / Lee Ranaldo, Spk, Oleg Karpachov, Drew Daniel / John Wiese, La Breiche,
Neil Chaney, Gp-Orridge & Dave Ball.

Check out the tracks below. Warmly recommended!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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“Until The Day I Die” is the third album from the Australian post-industrial outfit Kollaps to be released on June 24th via Cold Spring.

A wide variety of metals and raw materials were used in the creation of the album including metal grates, a rusted hoist, cement cylinders, field recordings, hammering of various decrepit objects, broken amplifiers, an exposed reverb tank, various synthesizers, and the ‘metal coil’ which is a crudely self-constructed artifice.

The material was entirely written, recorded, and mixed at the self-constructed ILoveHeroin Studios built above a sculpture museum in Lugano, Switzerland. All instrumentation was handled by Wade Black except for bass guitar by Andrea Collaro recorded at Hangar 121 in Lenate Pozzollo, Italy on all tracks except “D-IX” and “I Believe In The Closed Fist”, handled by Black, and additional sound design and percussion by Giorgio Salmoiraghi.

The album was mastered by James Plotkin and completed with cover artwork by Nullvoid (Thomas Ekelund | Trepaneringsritualen).

The 7-track release comes on CD in a 6-panel digipak and on vinyl with a full colour matt-laminate sleeve and printed inner lyric sleeve.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Here’s something you should check out asap. Two Swedish industrial artists have united as Det Kätterska Förbund (The Heretical Association) for the release of the album “Lidaverken Del I: Att i Vådeld Förgås”, namely Nordvargr and ᚦᛟᚦ ᚷᛁᚷ aka Thomas Ekelund (Trepaneringsritualen and Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words).

Ekelund, who also runs the label When Skies Are Grey besides, and Henrik Nordvargr Björkk (MZ.412, Pouppée Fabrikk, Folkstorm etc) have both been slowly and methodically working for almost 5 years to finish the first album of this project. The result, 7 strong industrial rhythm tracks, is rather excellent as you can hear below. Out via UK’s finest industrial label Cold Spring.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Genre/Influences: Dark-ambient & ritual.

Background/Info: Trepaneringsritualen is back on track, unleashing a new cryptic work ‘constructed from a series of rituals designated to guide the last ceasing of ᛏᛇᚱᚫ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ ∴ ᚾ — T × R × P is manifest in its most obscure form. Sonically minimal yet devastating in emotional impact, this working lets the listener grasp the last vestiges of Nifl and Múspell, and with them as weapon and beacon traverse the Night. ᛉᛦ reveals a barren landscape where crooked paths lead onward, through soot black veils to a point of radiant light where all that is is Union & Dissolution.’

Content: The album features 2 cuts; each track takes you in its grip for 19 minutes. The opening piece takes off a rather old-styled dark-ambient way and progressively injects ritual sound treatments and heavier noises. The next cut moves on a similar way and reveals a new obscure exploration in sound and mystery.

+ + + : Trepaneringsritualen remains a very unique experience in sound; at first sight it’s maybe not that strange, but the ritual elements emerging progressively lead the listener into a dense web of visual hallucinations. This is the kind of music to discover by using headphones and it will become nearly impossible to say what reality is and what is not. You get the impression less is happening and yet, the multiple little noises and obscure sound treatments progressively contaminate the human brain to transpose you into a world of fantasy and horror. 

– – – : There’s not a lot of diversity between both cut, and the climax is found right at the end of the opening piece.

Conclusion: Trepaneringsritualen holds on to its mysterious and ritual approach, which is once again accentuated by this new production.

Best songs: “ᛉ”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: https://www.de–za–kh–a–da–sh–ba–a–ha–v.se /

www.facebook.com/Trepaneringsritualen

Label: www.coldspring.co.uk / www.facebook.com/coldspringhq

About Trepaneringsritualen

Trepaneringsritualen is a death industrial and ritual ambient project founded by Swedish artist Thomas Martin Ekelund in 2008, initially based in Göteborg and later relocated to Berlin. The project’s debut full-length, “Deathward, to the Womb”, followed in 2012 on Cold Spring, with “Perfection & Permanence” arriving on the same label in 2014. Trepaneringsritualen released “Kainskult” on Tesco Organisation in 2017 and collaborated with MZ.412 on the live album “Post Industriale / Rituals”. Ekelund also paired with Henrik Nordvargr Björkk on the collaborative album “Lidaverken Del I: Att i Vådeld Förgås” (2021). Cold Spring repressed “Perfection & Permanence” on limited vinyl in 2026.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-ambient, industrial, ritual. 

Background/Info: Entartete Musikk is the music label set up by Deutsch Nepal’s Lina Baby Doll. He mainly releases his own work, but gives also attention to other formations. This compilation featuring eight projects seems to be the first sampler ever released by the label. It has been introduced as ‘the result of a thematic raw material forwarded by Lina Baby Doll to the musicians – given free hands for their personal aesthetic decisions in the process of their creativity’. 

Artists: Horse Give Birth To Fly, Brighter Death Now, Trepaneringsritualen, Raison D’Être, Reutoff, Deutsch Nepal, Morthound, Kollaps. 

Content: It all sounds like the artists have been selected with care while most of them are also related with Deutsch Nepal. There’s a perfect twist between dark-ambient and industrial music styles. Horse Give Birth To Fly is not the most common name from the list and yet an interesting opener mixing the main influences running through this work. There also is a surprising cut from Brighter Death Now –which has less in common with the familiar death-industrial style. Trepaneringsritualen injects the ritual touch to the album. Deutsch Nepal moves on in the industrial approach featured at the last album. There also is a great cut by Morthound, which is a project I haven’t heard since several years. And there’s of course one of the absolute masters of dark-ambient music: Raison D’Être! 

+ + + : The tracklist doesn’t only reveal great names, but there’s an interesting cohesion between the bands and their tracks. This compilation has something original and it’s fascinating to discover the tracks by Brighter Death Now and Morthound. There is also a certain industrial ‘intelligence’ featured by artists such as Deutsch Nepal and also Reutoff (it’s not a coincidence they both worked together at the album “Eating The Dust” released in 2018). 

– – – : There’s no real cut to throw away although I expected a bit more from Raison D’Être and that’s probably because I’ve always considered this artist as the absolute reference when it comes to dark-ambient music. 

Conclusion: Compilations are no longer successful, but there’re always a few a year bringing something extra for their originality. “Homo Strepitus” is one of them!

Best bands: Horse Give Birth To The Fly, Deutsch Nepal, Morthound, Trepaneringsritualen. 

Rate: (8).

Label: www.facebook.com/entartete.musikk 

About Entartete Musikk

Entartete Musikk is the label run by Deutsch Nepal’s Peter Andersson, who also records as “Lina Baby Doll”. Besides his own albums, among them “Alcohology” (2016) and “Dystopian Partycollection II” (2016), “Homo Strepitus” is the label’s first various-artists sampler, built from raw material Andersson distributed to each contributor to interpret freely.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Death-industrial, dark-ambient, doom.

Background/Info: The idea of this single is pretty simple; you take two Swedish ‘giants’ dealing with obscure dark-ambient/industrial music and you ask each of them to rework/remix a song from the other.

Content: We first get the song “Konung Krönt I Blod” originally released on the Trepaneringsritualen album “Perfection & Permanence” (Cold Spring, 2014) and next “Salve Teragmon” originally released on “Metapsychosis’ (Cyclic Law, 2018). The remixes or reworked cuts are somewhere holding on the original spirit of each artist.It all remains ultra-dark and oppressive compositions.  

+ + + : I like the concept from this single, which will for sure catch the attention of both artists numerous fans. It also brings 2 great artists together who have been very inspired (re)working a song from the other. It’s hard to give you my favorite, but both artists clearly are experts in dark, tormented and oppressive music spheres.

– – – : I regret there are only 2 songs featured, but that’s the good-old single format.

Conclusion: This single is a kind of sonic intercourse between two major artists from the Swedish ambient/industrial scene.

Best songs: “Konung Krönt I Blod – Nordvargr Rework”, “Salve Teragmon – Trepaneringsritualen Rework”.

Rate: (7).

Artists: www.de–za–kh–a–da–sh–ba–a–ha–v.se /  www.facebook.com/Trepaneringsritualen /  www.facebook.com/hnordvargr

Label: www.cycliclaw.com / www.facebook.com/cycliclaw

About Trepaneringsritualen & Nordvargr

Trepaneringsritualen is an industrial ritual project founded in 2008 by Swedish artist Thomas Ekelund, based in Göteborg. Nordvargr is the recording name of Swedish musician Henrik Nordvargr Björkk, born in 1971, also known for his work as Mz.412. For this single, each artist reworked a song by the other: “Konung Krönt I Blod”, from Trepaneringsritualen’s album “Ritualer, Blot Och Botgöring”, and “Salve Teragmon”, from Nordvargr’s “Metempsychosis” (Cyclic Law, 2018).

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Metempsychosis’.

About Nordvargr

Henrik Nordvargr Björkk is a Swedish artist active across numerous projects, including the 1990s EBM act Pouppée Fabrikk, the ritual industrial project MZ.412, and Folkstorm, alongside his solo work as Nordvargr. “Metempsychosis”, reviewed here, appeared in 2018 on Cyclic Law across CD, vinyl and cassette formats. His later “Resignation” trilogy was reissued in a deluxe box set in 2022, also via Cyclic Law.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

“Alpha Ænigma” is a one-off session recorded nighttime during the winter of 2018 by Henrik Nordvargr Björkk (MZ.412 / Folkstorm…) and the Göteborg based artist Thomas Ekelund (Trepaneringsritualen).

Good to know, the project should not be confused with their other project “Det Kätterska Förbund”.

The album offers ritual sounds and is available on CD (you can place your orders here).

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Read the review of ‘Metempsychosis’.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Old Europa Cafe has announced a brand new vinyl by MZ.412 and Trepaneringsritualen. Out by early 2018 (you can order this very limited item right here) the release offers a live recording of the show the duo performed on October 31 2015 at Old Europa Cafe’s label festival “X Congresso Post Industriale” at the Club Kindergarten in Bologna, Italy.

The recordings are being released on solid and heavy vinyl in a gatefold-cover plus poster artwork packaging by Thomas Eklund / TxRxP. The mastering was executed by Henrik Nordvargr Björkk/ Nordvargr. Each vinyl side includes one long and exclusive “Akt” (Ritual) by the 2 projects.

Track list:

1. MZ.412 Side A
2. MZ.412 Side B
3. TxRxP Side C
4. TxRxP Side D

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Trepaneringsritualen (T x R x P), the industrial ritual project from Swedish artist Thomas Martin Ekelund (based in Göteborg and active since 2008), is re-releasing two sides from the split LPs he had recorded with Body Cargo and Deathstench respectively. The 2 parts have now been joined into the whole they were always meant to be and this under the title “Yours is a Kingdom of Death”.

You can order this limited CD release right here.

The track list:

1. Unclæna Ghast
2. Gravfärd
3. Death Worship
4. Åkallan: Mímirm

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, ritual.

Background/Info: Behind this obscure Swedish project is hiding Thomas Martin Ekelund (aka Th. Tot). Trepaneringsritualen became a renowned formation in the darkest corners of ritual- and death-industrial music. “Deathward To The Womb” was originally released in 2012; Release The Bats Records released the album as a 12” vinyl while Black Horizons and Merzbild released it as a cassette. Cold Spring now released the opus on CD format with an extra bonus cut. It is also available as a limited vinyl edition.

Content: If you don’t already know this masterpiece of Trepaneringsritualen you’ll discover these ghost-like voices lost in haunted, obscure atmospheres, accomplished with numerous noises and ritual passages. The concept is mystic and ritual-like, which has been perfectly adapted into sound. The heavy sonic sweeps are like the sound of an imaginary, monstrous whip opening the gate to an unknown world.

Dark electronic loops are often moving into pure ritual passages, sometimes joined by shouting vocals. Next to the 6 original tracks of the album we now get an extra track, which is an endless and varied piece featuring the unavoidable ritual parts next to vibrating throat chants and industrial drones.

+ + + : “Deathward To The Womb” remains one of the absolute masterpieces in the history of this band. It’s the perfect offspring between dark-ambient, ritual and death-industrial music. There’s a poignant progression in the songwriting, which reaches several climaxes like on the title-track and “She Is Flame Of Life”. The bonus cut “I Remember When I Was God” is also worthy of examination. This is one more deeply ritual cut that will hold you in its grip for more than 10 minutes.

– – – : Trepaneringsritualen is a band you’d better avoid if you’re not familiar with extreme sonic creation. You either going to like it or not, there’s no in between!

Conclusion: Trepaneringsritualen is a band that gained a serious recognition in a rather short lapse of time. No doubt about it, the very own sound approach and explicit ritual character of the work both remain the main characteristics of this enigmatic artist.

Best songs: “Deathward To The Womb”, “I Remember When I Was God”, “She Is Flame Of Life”.

Rate: (8).

Band: http://de–za–kh–a–da–sh–ba–a–ha–v.se /  www.facebook.com/Trepaneringsritualen

Label: www.coldspring.co.uk / www.facebook.com/coldspringhq

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-ambient, industrial, power-noise, experimental, noise, ritual, cinematographic.

Background/Info: A label sampler always offers an opportunity to familiarize with the different bands from the roster. I noticed that Cold Spring is celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year so you can imagine this British label and distributor has a great history. “Pyre” got released end 2016 and features a sonic spectrum from the latest- and forthcoming release on the label.

Bands: Troum, Khost, La Breiche, Skullflower, Penny Rimbaud’s L’Académie Des Vanités, Tunnels Of Ah, Sutcliffe Jugend, Tenhornedbeast, Sun Ra/Merzbow, She Spread Sorrow, Coil, Common Eader King Eider, Trepaneringsritualen, Henrik Nordvargr Björkk, Dave Ball + Jon Savage.

Content: This sampler featuring 15 bands confirms the fine nose of label owner Justin Mitchell to sign original- although often ‘extreme’ artists. Cold Spring is a label for experienced fans of experimental-, noise-, power-noise-, drone-, dark-ambient- and other related genres. This sampler is an exciting mix of different genres, but still a mix between long-time established and recognized artists on one side and a few new, upcoming talents on the other.

+ + + : It all depends of your personal taste and favorite music styles, but globally speaking I like the great diversity on “Pyre”. The tracklist has been progressively built up and finally moving into a brilliant final part with tracks from Troum, She Spread Sorrow, Common Eider King Eider, Henrik Nordvargr Björkk and Dave Ball + Jon Savage. It also remains a particular and I dare to say emotional experience to re-discover the genius of Coil.

– – – : There’s no real minus on “Pyre”, but it for sure remains the kind of music you can’t share with everybody.

Conclusion: Cold Spring is a label that has no longer real surprises for all music lovers familiarized with the label roster, but “Pyre” clearly proves 2016-2017 will be remembered as being a great vintage!

Best bands: Troum, She Spread Sorrow, Common Eider King Eider, Henrik Nordvargrg Björkk, Coil, Dave Ball + Jon Savage.

Rate: (8).

Label: www.coldspring.co.uk / www.facebook.com/coldspringhq

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Dark-ambient, ritual.

Background/Info: Tvlpa consists of an anonymous group of ‘Draconian sorcerers’-musicians from Gothenburg (Sweden). They’ve already released a few productions on Belzebez. One of these albums “Mountain Of The Opposer” was released in 2015 as a digital release. The album has been now re-released by Tumor on CD format featuring the 9 original songs.

Tvlpa is an intriguing combo, which claims to be in search of ‘the exploration of the mystical properties of sound and time is the primary matrix across which we allow our art to unfold like a multidimensional, audial sigilisation.’

Content: This work is nothing less than a real spooky experience in sound, which takes off with a kind of pitched vocals creating a scary, ghost-like sensation. The work is carried by some slow percussion parts and dark, electronic treatments. It rapidly creates a tortured ambiance, which is reinforced by buzzing, low sounds and a few drones.

The low electronic sequences are pretty repetitive, this way creating a kind of ritual impression. A few cuts are still into some experimentation. I’m referring to a kind of rotor sound and different kind of noises, which are emerging from nowhere. I also noticed a few vibrating sound waves and a totally surprising EBM sequences right at the beginning of a song.

Notice by the way that the artwork has been done by T. Ekelund of Trepaneringsritualen.

+ + + : I like the anonymous aspect of the band, which is an intriguing element. Who’s really hiding behind Tvlpa? I like the spooky accomplishment of this work and the diversity of the sound sources. The few vocal treatments reinforce the obscure and ritual touch of this album.

– – – : The album is globally entertaining and fascinates from start till the end, but I didn’t hear a real apotheosis. The tracks are cool, but I’m missing a climax and the sensation of ‘cold sweat’.

Conclusion: “Mountain Of The Opposer” is an album, which clearly deserves this CD-format. It’s a frightening opus somewhere in between dark-ambient and ritual music. It has been touched by the hand of merciful evil force and could have been more disturbing.

Best songs: “Dragon Mound”, “Kh’k-Amdjar”.

Rate: (6½).

Band: www.facebook.com/TVLPA

Label: www.malingnantrecords.com / www.facebook.com/malignantrecords

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial, death-industrial, ritual-ambient.

Content: Thomas Martin Ekelund better known under the Trepaneringsritualen moniker always has been a unique experience in Industrial Music. This Swedish project explores the most tormenting and horror-like corners of industrial music while moving on the edge of ritual-ambient.

“Veil The World” was originally released in 2011 as a very limited cassette-format of 40 copies. So I can imagine even the biggest fans of the band didn’t find an original copy of this little treasure.

Enough reasons to re-release this somewhat forgotten release on CD format. It also is the 2nd release of this band by Cold Spring Records while other productions were released on different labels like Malignant Records, Aufnahme + Wiedergabe ao.

The album features 9 songs and directly inviting us to join a haunting sound universe animated by spooky, narrating vocals and industrial components like icy, metallic sounds and crashing passages. Some aspects of the work remind me to the early industrial pioneers, but there also is a more contemporary element revealing impressive noise manipulations. “Lightbringer” and “Drunk With Blood” both move into a heavy sonic storm of repetitive loops.

In my opinion, one of the absolute highlights is “Nekyia”, which shows the darkest and most obscure side of this band. I also was captivated by “Akeldama”, which features compressed, distorted screams, and reveals a somewhat trance-ritual industrial sound. The ritual element becomes more explicit on “Invocation” while “C’Est Un Reve” rather sounds as a nightmarish experience to bring this album to a real disturbing passage. This cut is carried by an aggressive electro-industrial sequence while Ekelund is once more screaming as if possessed.

Conclusion: I have had an endless fascination for the obscure sound realms of Trepaneringsritualen and the re-release of this earlier work appears to be a nice gift for all lovers of extreme sonic ambiances.

Best songs: “Nekyia”, “Invocation”, “C’est Un Reve”, “Cherem”.

Rate: (DP:8)DP.

Band: www.facebook.com/Trepaneringsritualen

Label: www.coldspring.co.uk / www.facebook.com/coldspringhq

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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