VARATHRON His Majesty At The Swamp LP

VARATHRON His Majesty At The Swamp LP

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(Order Of The Blood Dog)
*** This is a new and unplayed item, direct from the CRUCIAL BLAST shop. ***


DESCRIPTION FROM CRUCIAL BLAST:
      A long-awaited definitive vinyl reissue of this classic slab of cult Greek black metal, released on the label owned by founding member Necroabyssious in gatefold packaging with original artwork and insert material, accompanied with a foldout poster. 1993's His Majesty At The Swamp was another entry in the adventurous realm of Mediterranean blackness, which by this point had established a distinctly delirious sound that was quite different from the sonic evil emerging in the colder regions to the north. Formed in 1988 alongside fellow Greek black metal legends Rotting Christ, Zemial and Necromantia, Varathron developed their morbid, doom-laden sound over the course of several demos, gradually evolving from their thrashing death-fueled origins into something wholly original with their first proper full-length.
      And His Majesty At The Swamp was pretty weird stuff, enshrouded with a strangely murky and muggy atmosphere that felt as if the album had been recorded at the edge of a bog, and which fit the lurching, magisterial sound and occulted aura of these songs perfectly. Opening with a brief intro of ghostly dungeon ambience that starts off the title track, the band soon sinks into the crawling, funereal feel that permeates the rest of the record. Moving into the blackened melodies and Sabbathian riffs of "Son Of The Moon (Act II)" that rattles with off-kilter drum machine programming (produced by a machine called "Wolfen") and seethes with the ghastly hiss of frontman Necroabyssious, Varathron demonstrate a solid grasp of classic metal song structures, but deform them with their deranged tendencies towards dour melody, moldering keyboards that are more subterranean than symphonic, and occasional eerie choral voices (like on closer "The Tressrising Of Nyarlathothep (Act I)") that sound like they drifted in from a Fabio Frizzi score. Most of Majesty is centered around this peculiar combination of lumbering doom and ritualistic murk, traced in haunting guitarwork that provides many of the songs with memorable melodic leads, and it moves at a deliberately mid-paced chug up until the fourth song "Lustful Father", where Varathron finally crank the tempo up to a blasting, ramshackle fury. The vaguely mechanical feel of the drum machine obviously adds to the album's odd feel, and while later recordings would benefit from the full-bodied sound of an actual human drummer, there's a cracked charm to that mechanized presence for me. A legendary album of oppressive, opulent rot-adorned power, all quite different from what their peers in Rotting Christ were doing around this time, and equally as recommended for fans of the Hellenic black metal approach.   © CRUCIAL BLAST
THIS IS A NEW, UNPLAYED ITEM. Please note that for LP vinyl orders, we usually remove the vinyl from the jacket prior to shipment in order to avoid seam splits or any other kind sleeve/jacket damage that might occur during transit. This may require that we open the shrinkwrap on the record in order to carefully remove the vinyl from the inside of the jacket (if the record was originally shrinkwrapped). Feel free to contact us with any questions regarding this policy.

Crucial Blast is an independant underground label, online shop and micro-press specializing in cutting edge, transgressive, experimental heavy music and related cultural artifacts, with a particular focus on avant-metal, black noise/industrial, dark ambience, infernal psychedelia, and hardcore improv/free-jazz. You'll find everything from art-damaged European metalcore to amplifier-exploding psychedelic drones to earth-shaking post-Ayler destructo-jazz in our listings, which we update roughly every two weeks with both brand new releases and rare finds from the vaults.

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Don't forget to check out all of our other CRUCIAL BLAST-approved avant-metal/black industrial/trasngressive art items and releases that are available in our Ebay store and on auction. We also have many out-of-print and rare items available in our catalog as well... CRUCIAL BLAST: An online shop specializing in experimental metal, black industrial, black psychedelia, noise rock, dark ambience, and other forms of cutting edge and left-field heaviness. We also carry a carefully curated selection of books and other printed materials from the realms of black surrealism and transgressive thought.


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