DVP 261 Atonement – Sadistic Invaders LP/CD
DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present the highly anticipated debut album of Sweden’s ATONEMENT, Sadistic Invaders, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
One of the most literally explosive young bands in the nowadays metal underground, ATONEMENT are a trio of Swedes whose average age was 16 years old when they released their debut demo, Merciless Blasphemy, in 2021. Despite such youth, ATONEMENT proved that they are steeped in the ancient essence of thrashing death metal circa 1987. Bubbling forth from their cauldron of nastiness were the likes of early Destruction, Sepultura, Possessed, Death, Sweden’s Morbid, Germany’s Poison, and Chile’s Pentagram, and thus was Merciless Blasphemy aptly titled, for each of the demo’s five songs whipped forth a filth & fury quite unlike anything else around.
With expectations understandably high, ATONEMENT took their time crafting the penultimate debut album, and two years later it arrives in the form of Sadistic Invaders. Yet another aptly titled recording, Sadistic Invaders carries forward that filth & fury of its short-length predecessor and amazingly ups the nastiness to hellish levels. Again, even with the band not yet in their 20s, ATONEMENT are dead-ringers for juiced-up and jackhammering deathrash of a most mid-‘80s vintage, and the ten songs they devilishly dole out across the 37-minute album are somehow more crazed and compact than on said demo. And whereas that demo’s ultra-rawness emitted an air of the otherworldly, here on Sadistic Invaders do the trio impart a thicker and fuller-bodied aspect, retaining a respectable rawness but not at the expense of their superlative chops; while it’s always full speed ahead for ATONEMENT, they manage to twist the ceremonial knife in different and sometimes-impossible ways, elevating the album above the masses still searching for Endless Pain. Dizzying yet addicting, Sadistic Invaders hits with the power and precision of a nuclear strike.
And yet, it’s still early days for ATONEMENT, so who knows how far they’ll venture into the lungs of Hell? Sadistic Invaders provides the first full-length clues, and is highly recommended for maniacs of Deathhammer, Division Speed, and Norway’s late/great Condor.
– Regular edition on black vinyl, with insert, poster, sticker, post card and download code.
– Special edition on red vinyl, with insert, poster, sticker, post card, download code and patch.
– CD edition with sticker and obi.
Out 28th July.
DVP 262 Spectre – Lonesome Gambler MLP/CD/MC
DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present a brand-new EP from Australia’s SPECTRE, Lonesome Gambler, on CD, 12” vinyl, and cassette tape formats. The CD and tape versions will include five bonus tracks from the band’s preceding singles and splits.
SPECTRE is the sterling heavy metal vison of Will Spectre. Formed in 2017, the band made its recorded debut that summer with the two-song Silver Invaders / Stand Alone single on the cult Heavy Chains label, which DYING VICTIMS released on 7” vinyl later that year. SPECTRE’s primary influences are heavy metal and hard rock of the late ’70s and early ‘80s, and they continued that streak with the Hard Attacks digital single in 2018. Four years would pass before the next SPECTRE recording, the two-song Drifter. On that record, Will Spectre was joined by his heavy friends Jake Glas (Outcast/Teuton) on vocals and David Harrington-George (The Wizar’d/Tarot) on bass. Expanding their purist palette, here did SPECTRE sprinkle spices from Will Spectre’s other musical conjurings – namely, The Wizar’d, Tarot, Dracula, and Crypt Vapor.
Despite its brief length, Drifter was undoubtedly a pivotal recording for SPECTRE, and now the duo of Will Spectre and David Harrington-George return with arguably their best and bravest record yet, Lonesome Gambler. With the average length around five minutes per track, the four songs comprising Lonesome Gambler display an “epic compactness” which wholly suits the moodier material here. Taking the bathos and pathos of its predecessor further, SPECTRE conjure a mystical realm where private-press NWOBHM, dark AOR, and even early deathrock reside: the rocking is measured but not too hard, the melodies are melancholic but not totally depressing, and back on the mic, Spectre’s vocals are somehow anthemic and sagely simultaneously. The vintage synths color these road/life/space-weary ruminations with tastefully dramatic effect, putting SPECTRE squarely on that precipice between 1979 and 1980, equally excited about and fearful of the future. It’s a subtle refinement altogether, but one that proves there’s plenty of magick still to be mined.
Bringing the past into the present, the CD and tape versions of Lonesome Gambler will include five bonus tracks – all from the band’s aforementioned short-lengths, thereby making this a currently complete discography of SPECTRE. Roll the dice and turn the wheel!
– Regular edition on black vinyl, with insert, poster, sticker, post card and download code.
– Special edition on highlighter yellow vinyl, with insert, poster, sticker, post card, download code and patch.
– CD edition with sticker and obi.
– MC edition with sticker, button, download code.
Out 28th July.
DVP 263 Flight – Echoes of Journeys Past LP/CD/MC/Shirt
DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present the highly anticipated third album of Norway’s FLIGHT, Echoes of Journeys Past, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
To call Norway’s FLIGHT “retro” or “vintage” is to miss the point. Since their formation in 2012, the band have walked the fine line between effortless and studious – a throwback to ’70s proto-metal, sure, but done with such vigor and authenticity that even the most skeptical listener would be helpless to resist being whisked away some four decades into the past. Simply, their music exists in that same vacuum when ROCK conquered all. FLIGHT bring the past into the present and write understated-yet-invigorating rockers that draw from a very rich (and idiosyncratic) history. To date, the band’s two full-length records mark specific periods of their patient oeuvre: 2015’s rough ‘n’ ready self-titled debut and 2018’s sci-fi-themed A Leap Through Matter.
Now, FLIGHT continue that patient ascent with LP #3, Echoes of Journeys Past. Presciently titled, Echoes of Journeys Past indeed steps deeper into that mythical, muddied past where genre delineations had yet to be created – and, more so, when “rocking out” was fully based on feel. Retaining that tasteful kinda-clean guitar tone that paradoxically allows their intrinsic grit to hit that much harder, FLIGHT seek a moodier batch of songs that dart in dazzling directions. Each one’s based on a brisk, but-never-rushed pace, and each winds back and forth between hook and lead, rocking and reeling.
There’s an elusive X-factor that makes the album such an enchanting spin, a touch of melancholy, or more so mystery. But most of all, it’s FLIGHT’s synthesis of songwriting and performance that pushes Echoes of Journeys Past into the halls of greatness. Every hit of the drum or strum of the guitar evokes a sensation of warmth, and the vocals adds a layer of pathos to the soundscape. All of this works in service of telling the STORY of the song. Indeed, the album plays out like a story, recalling so much of the 1970s without singly settling on one specific era or sound, before reaching a climax with the ten-minute closer “Mystic Mountain,” which sounds exactly as it’s titled.
The retro-rock game is more crowded than ever, but with roots equally in proto-metal, FLIGHT continue to explore relatively rarefied ground with increasingly powerful results. Strange as it may seem that that power has exploded tenfold by scaling back, Echoes of a Journey Past could yet be the band’s breakthrough record. Those who cherish Gorham/Robertson-era Thin Lizzy, Rainbow’s Down to Earth into Difficult to Cure, or even Blue Öyster Cult at their late ’70s / early ’80s peak, you’ve found your new modern classic.“
– Regular edition on black vinyl, with insert, poster, sticker, post card and download code.
– Special edition on easter yellow vinyl, with insert, poster, sticker, post card, download code and patch.
– CD edition with sticker and obi.
– MC edition with sticker, button, download code.
– Shirt
Out 28th July.
