Saturday, January 4, 2014

NIGHTMARE CASTLE "THE UNHOLY THREE: AN HNW TRIBUTE TO NORWEGIAN BLACK METAL" 3CDr BOX SET (AOW 139)

While there is certainly a path to HNW that bypasses black metal, I'm hard pressed to think of anyone I know working in the field that didn't grow up on the work of the Norwegian masters: Mayhem, Darkthrone, and Burzum.  Black metal and HNW seem aligned in many ways to me, most notably in their focus on Nietzschean individualism, a reverence for solitude and the aesthetics of transcendent sound, and a general attitude of violent rebellion against existing societal foundations.  Both forms gravitate towards obliteration and indifference, and both embrace the violent and the caustic in their quest for annihilation of the self.
Nightmare Castle reflects these overlaps in the project's massive new offering, "The Unholy Three."  Using an assemblage of riffs and sounds from each of the three Norwegian masters, NC weaves a bleak tapestry of destruction across almost 200 minutes, an epic construction of disgust and revulsion that approximates the wicked spirit of Norwegian BM's legendary wave.  It's not difficult to imagine yourself amidst the ruins of Norway's immolated churches, reduced to ash and memory, their tendrils of bitter smoke rising into the choking grey Norwegian sky.
Altar Of Waste is beyond pleased to finally unleash this one-it's been in the works for quite awhile and was simply a joy to design and layout.
Each band tribute is presented in its own DVD case with individual artwork based on their albums, and the whole set is packaged in a black box with paste on covers.  It's very DIY but retains a twinge of the elegance that AOW always tries to deliver.  This set is a limited, hand-numbered edition of 15.  $35 ppd. in the United States, $48 rest of world.

ORDER HERE: www.altarofwasterecords.storenvy.com

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