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𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖙𝖎𝖈 𝖘𝖈𝖗𝖎𝖕𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖊𝖘 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖊 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖓𝖊𝖝𝖙…
- ᴘʜʏꜱɪᴄᴀʟ ᴘʀɪɴᴛ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ᴍᴇᴛᴀʟ ‘ᴢɪɴᴇ
- ɪꜱꜱᴜᴇ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ ɴᴏᴡ @ www.AAZINE.com

27/03/2026

Hello,
This is Shiiver from Arcane Archivist ‘Zine. Today I have an announcement that has been in the works for over a year. I am currently in the process of writing a biographical book on the Canadian black/doom band Woods of Ypres and its progenitor, David Gold. This undertaking has be huge, but already incredibly fruitful and rewarding. If you have any interest in Woods of Ypres, 2000s black metal, depressive doom or even just my writing, I ask you to please follow the Instagram page. I will be posting updates on the writing process as well as tons of historical / archival pictures related to Wood of Ypres. Thank you all. - Shiiver
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18/03/2026

Here is a collection of photos featuring Duke Satanaël from the Monegasque black metal band Godkiller, circa 1995. The photos come from an interview in Putrefaction ‘zine issue 8, which was a Swedish fanzine written in part by Tomas Nyqvist, who operated No Fashion Records. For being a somewhat obscure band, I see Godkiller get a good amount of attention online these days, which is great as their early material is totally killer. Their first EP “The Rebirth of the Middle Ages” (1996) was released on Wounded Love Records from Italy, one of the best metal labels of the 90s, so it should be no surprise that it’s a fantastic recording. The two full length albums that followed are not for me, but seem to have strong fanbases of their own.
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16/03/2026

Here is an assortment of video footage featuring the Swiss black / death metal and Amon, circa 1996. These guys were truly a band that could have only spawned in the 90s, too obtuse and obscure to be remembered alongside bands like Samael or Alastis, but perfectly cheesy enough to be remembered alongside bands like Eminenz (spot the shirt on slide 1). Amon formed in ‘91 and put out two CDs: an EP titled “The Shining Trapezohedron” (1993) and a full length album titled “Shemhamforash” (1995). Neither are necessarily “hidden gems” of the era, but worth a listen if you like chunky old black / death metal from the Samael family tree. The footage in this post comes from a 1996 TV special, a live performance at Folter Recods Festival in 1996 and the video for their song “Eternal Darkness and Winter Storms”. If you’re gunna check out one release from the band, I’d recommend the ‘93 EP, as the death metal aspects actually help their sound in my opinion.
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13/03/2026

Here is an interesting photo from an 80s newspaper article featuring Kristian Vikernes and his older brother Jørgen, seen in front of their comic book stand with Donald Duck comics. To make this photo even funnier, I remember a quite negative book review that “Kristian” wrote about some Norwegian black metal book on his website in 2010 which included the line “I strongly advice everyone to simply ignore this book. Read Donald Duck instead, if you need to read something. Read anything but this nonsense”. It’s interesting to think of how many times the young kid on the right in this photo would end up in the newspaper as the years went on.
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Here are some translations from the article:
“Brothers Jørgen and Kristian Vikernes outside the magazine stand. They have brought in a whole bunch of old and new Donald Duck magazines, so if there are any issues you have missed, just stop by the magazine stand.…The three people behind the magazine shop project have been skilled carpenters. No doubt about it. They have both sawed and nailed together all the materials. put in windows, provided a padlock for the door - yes, they haven’t even forgotten a floor mat outside the entrance. Nothing has been left to chance.
neither outsidenor inside the magazine shop.
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Thank you to the honorable for finding this and sending it over. Follow Brute Norse, if you don’t already.

12/03/2026

Here is a collection of photos and scans from the Swiss black/doom/death metal band Sadness, circa 1991 - 1994. Sadness is a band with a strange, yet surprising convenient, discography. They have a handful of serviceable demos, an incredible debut album titled “Ames de Marbre” and then 2 more CDs that I hope to never hear again. So, while I wish they had more good music, it’s convenient that I only have to own one of their albums. “Ames de marbre” was released on the Swiss label Witchunt Records in 1993 and sits in a very peculiar spot in the metal underground of the time, somewhere between Beyond Dawn’s “Pity Love” and Monumentum’s “In Absentia Christi”, though I do prefer both of those albums over the Sadness debut. The band was seemingly pulling from a lot of different influences, with some members looking like Samael worshippers, while others were in full on 80s goth attire. Definitely check out “Ames de Marbre” if you’re unfamiliar. I’ve left a snippet on slide 4, but the album is incredibly varied and dynamic, so it’s worth a full listen. Also, shout out to the Vigier bass on slide 1. The only other black metal band that I’ve seen play a Vigier was Enthroned from Belgium.
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09/03/2026

In memory of Shane Rout (1973 - 2026)
The first thing I saw this morning on socials was an outpour of appreciation for Shane and the music he made with Abyssic Hate. Shane played an instrumental role in the evolution of Australian black metal, especially on the DSBM side of things, even though I personally feel AH eclipsed that genre. Rest easy Shane. Thank you for all the music you gave us.

05/03/2026

Here is a collection of promo photos of a flyers from the Danish black metal band Mareridt, circa 1995 - 2000. Mareridt were, in all honestly, nothing out of the ordinary for the late 90s black metal scene, especially for a demo level band. That said, their songs were well written and they didn’t seem to embarrass themselves with superfluous aesthetic additives, even if that was a major trend of the era. They released a small handful of demos before finally putting out a 7” EP titled “Med vold skal verden bygges” on Apocalyptic Empire Records (the label of Kenneth Tiller from Celestial Bloodshed and many other bands). I have included a snippet from this 7” EP on slide 2. After that there was another demo, but the band would split shortly after. A few years later they reformed as Horned Almighty. If the snippets I’ve included sound good to you, definitely pick up their 7” or the self released compilation from 2000.
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02/03/2026

Here is a collection for scans featuring the Norwegian black metal band Svartahrid, circa 2000 - 2007. For the past few months I haven’t been able get away from early 2000s black metal, a rut I seem to often find myself in. Svartahrid is one of the quintessential 2000s Norse black metal bands in my opinion, releasing their debut album “Forthcoming Storm” in 1999 and subsequently releasing 4 more albums in the first decade of the 2000s. They never seemed to get their due, with bands like 1349 and Urgehal often overshadowing them. Svartahrid did get some press in 2003, when their bass player was arrested for co**se desecration, but it didn’t seem to translate to record sales or underground appreciation. One person who was a fan of their music was Darkthrone’s Nocturno Culto, who featured them in his 2007 film, “The Misanthrope” (a snippet from this is featured on the first slide). NC also performed vocals and wrote lyrics for their song “Intensjon: Krig” on the 2007 album “Sadness and Wrath”. If you’re unfamiliar with Svartahrid, here are two good starting points: go those of you into 90s black metal with prominent keyboards, try the debut album “Forthcoming Storm”. For those of you who are a bit repelled by that and prefer your black metal more melancholic and traditional, try “Sadness and Wrath”.
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26/02/2026

Today I want to talk about one of the most *truly* underrated black metal albums of the late 90s, the often forgotten “Celephias” (1998) by the German band Cryogenic. While the album can be easily brushed aside as “symphonic black metal”, the material on this album outshines almost any other band of the era, symphonic or not. I personally hold it in similar regard as albums like “Witchcraft” by Obtained Enslavement or “Beyond the Wandering Moon” by Aeternus. Near the absolute peak of late 90s black metal. There is, of course, some very late 90s aspects to the album that may not have aged well, such as keyboard orchestra hits, but if you take it for what it is, it’s an amazing listen. The photos above were sent to me by the bands record label, Solistitium Records, who originally pressed the CD and have recently returned to the underground and reissued “Celephais” on LP. Many thanks to them for these amazing photos in high quality. Cryogenic did release another album in 2001, but I’ve always found it to be subpar in comparison to the debut. I highly recommend searching out “Celephais” though, especially if you’re into over the top late 90s black metal.
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23/02/2026

Here is a collection of scans and artwork related to the 1995 pressing of Tormentor’s album “Anno Domini” by Nocturnal Art Productions (in collaboration with Head Not Found and The Ajna Offensive). The story of “Anno Domini” is quite long and convoluted, as it was recorded all the way back in 1988, with plans to be put on vinyl as their debut album. For whatever reason, this fell through and it was released on tape as a demo sometime in 1989. In the following years, both Deathlike Silence and Osmose productions planned to officially release the album, but again the plans fell through. It wouldn’t be until 1995, when Samoth of Emperor procured the rights originally granted to Euronymous and finally released “Anno Domini” on his label, Nocturnal Art Productions. NAP took care of the CD pressing, while Metallion’s Head Not Found released a limited vinyl LP and The Ajna Offensive released a picture disk LP. The artwork (front and back cover) for this pressing was done by Supernal Music owner, Alex Kurtagic, who also did cover art for bands like Ancient, Troll, Covenant and Dimmu Borgir. The new Tormentor logo was drawn by Frost of Satyricon / 1349. Below I Will credit some of the other artwork used in the layout.
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Slide 1: Original cover artwork by Alex Kurtagic
Slides 2 & 11: Front and back cover
Slides 3, 4, 9 & 10: Flyers for the release made by NAP & Ajna
Slide 5: CD Booklet scan
Slide 6: Portrait of Vlad III Dracula (The Ambras Portrait), circa the 16th century. Artist unknown.
Slide 7: The Ajna Offensive Pic LP
Slide 8: Painting featuring Elizabeth Bathory by Hungarian artist István Csók, circa 1893.
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20/02/2026

New review up on the Arcane Archivist ‘Zine website. This time its a review of the debut album from Oslo based band Fanatisme, titled “Tro, håp og kjærlighet”. The album was released in December of 2025 by and is available on CD and LP.
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Rating: 7 / 10
Go to AAZINE.com (link in bio) to read the full review

19/02/2026

In the mid ‘90s, as more and more black metal bands began to form around the globe, there was inevitable competition between bands. Classic quarrels such as: Who could play the fastest? Who’s the most evil? And of course, who’s the most Macedonian? Alright fine, maybe there was only one band fighting for that last crown, but let’s talk about them. Baltak was a black metal band from, no, not Macedonia, but Australia, formed originally under the name Gorgoroth in the late 80s. They only released one demo as Gorgoroth in ‘93, before changing the name to Baltak, which according to the band means axe in Macedonian. In 1995, Baltak released their debut album “Macedonian Darkness and Evil” on the band’s own imprint Battlegod Productions. The album is nothing short of furious from beginning to end, with long shrieking vocals throughout. The whole thing is overtly crude and ugly, but that’s also its charm. I’ve included a sample from the album on slide 2. They went on to make 4 albums in total, all sounding more or less the same, so if you like what you hear, there is a ton more. I am completely unqualified to speak on geopolitical topics or history, so leave all Macedonian-posting for another day.
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