Ten days ahead of its official release, PESTILENT HEX join forces with Black Metal Promotion YouTube channel to unveil a full stream of their magnificent second opus. “Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow” builds upon the mystical narrative of their debut and takes the Finnish symphonic Black Metal duo into uncharted sonic realms.

Immerse yourself in the seven epic tracks below:

Band-members L. Oathe and M. Malignant provide a glimpse into the creation of “Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow“:

L. Oathe: ““The Ashen Abhorrence” was something we worked on for a long, long time to get it right. This new album, however, started to build up very fast and we got to a point where we had way more material than would fit properly on the new album. So, writing music itself was effortless but the last part – figuring out what kind of album we really wanted to do using these building blocks was way harder. Cutting many very good songs is always painful, but what will make us be at peace with this though is that those songs will be included on the next, third album anyway. It’s just a matter of finding the right combination of things and I never think of having better or worse songs – just different from each other.“

M. Malignant: “The uniting line in the lyrics is summarized in the album title – “Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow“. The first album was purely a concept album with a storyline through every song lyric, whereas the second album is not that strict and here the themes are more prevalent and underlying. I have a tendency of explaining my lyrics too much, but I don’t think this does me any favors. So, let’s leave it for each listener to do the work and draw their own interpretations. A strong recommendation is to get the physical album, as the booklet has frames drawn for each song that extend the visual imagery the lyrics convey.“

Find all album details here!

“Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow” will be released on CD, vinyl – including an exclusive DMP vinyl edition and specially designed merch – and digital on November 29th. Pre-orders are available via the label’s EU, US, and Bandcamp shops, with bundle options available.

PESTILENT HEX – a curse that claimed our souls and plagued our dreams; a sound that still haunts and possesses us…

PESTILENT HEX is a new band hailing from Finland that drinks deep from the well of the second wave Black Metal tradition – balancing a fine line of symphonic elements but still being firmly rooted in Metal, nevertheless retaining high integrity and artistry.

The band consists of two people, perhaps more well-known from the Death and Doom Metal circles, yet Black Metal is something that has flowed in their veins since the mid-nineties and it constitutes a praxis they grew up with.

The idea of this band was born out of the necessity to pay dues to the genre that formed the musicians and their musical sensibilities. But more importantly, from the ambition to craft a vision of their own what this Art should sound like.

“The Ashen Abhorrence” is the band’s first release. It took them five years of arduous labor and maddening inspiration to complete it. It is a concept album musically and lyrically, that dwells into Faustian aspirations, witchcraft, possession, and the realm beyond – ending in harrowing results.

Building upon the symphonic Black Metal stylings of their masterful 2022 debut “The Ashen Abhorrence“, enigmatic Finnish duo PESTILENT HEX return with second opus, “Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow“, to herald a new era of malevolent grandeur and melodic aggression, in 2024.

Building upon the symphonic Black Metal stylings of their masterful 2022 debut “The Ashen Abhorrence“, enigmatic Finnish duo PESTILENT HEX return with second opus, “Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow“, to herald a new era of malevolent grandeur and melodic aggression.

The work of multi-instrumentalist L. Oathe (DESOLATE SHRINE, CONVOCATION, ORDINANCE) and vocalist/lyricist M. Malignant (CORPSESSED, TYRANNY, PROFETUS), “Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow” is still primarily inspired by legendary ’90s second wave Black Metal but diverges from the neoclassical and baroque undertones of the debut into more contemporary, complex and exquisitely labyrinthine realms.

Tracklist:

01. Nocturne
02. Sciomancy and Sortilege
03. Through Mirrors Beyond
04. Of Hexcraft and Laws Three-fold
05. A Spectral Voyage
06. Threnody of the Moon Ascendant
07. Sanguine Gnosis

All music for “Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow” was composed by L. Oathe and M. Malignant between 2022 and 2024. All instruments were recorded and mixed by L. Oathe at The Desolate Dungeon, while all vocals were recorded by M. Malignant at Furnace 504. The album was mastered by Dave Otero (AKHLYS, CATTLE DECAPITATION) at Flatline Audio.

L. Oathe created the cover artwork, with layout design by Maciej Kamuda (BLUT AUS NORD). Logos and frames were crafted by M. Malignant.

PESTILENT HEX offer insight into their upcoming record:

“Where the first album “The Ashen Abhorrence” had more a tightly-knit concept telling one single story, our sophomore album takes a disparate approach having different topics with each song. We are still tying them under a bigger theme, namely: descending into the nightside of being, witchcraft, myths and necromancy. We use varying mediums of blood, shadows, herbal Alchemy and dreams to catch glimpses of the other side. This is the surface level.

The deeper level is reflecting yourself through the metaphors, and studying your own shadow, the subconscious and what goes into creativity and Art. The intention of the moniker “Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow” is to tie all of these stories and themes together under one title!“

Listen to ‘Sciomancy and Sortilege‘, the first track from the forthcoming album, on DMP‘s YouTube channel or via Bandcamp:

“Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow” will be released on CD, vinyl – including an exclusive DMP vinyl edition and specially designed merch – and digital on November 29th. Pre-orders are available via the label’s EU, US, and Bandcamp shops, with bundle options available.

PESTILENT HEX – a curse that claimed our souls and plagued our dreams; a sound that still haunts and possesses us…

PESTILENT HEX is a new band hailing from Finland that drinks deep from the well of the second wave Black Metal tradition – balancing a fine line of symphonic elements but still being firmly rooted in Metal, nevertheless retaining high integrity and artistry.

The band consists of two people, perhaps more well-known from the Death and Doom Metal circles, yet Black Metal is something that has flowed in their veins since the mid-nineties and it constitutes a praxis they grew up with.

The idea of this band was born out of the necessity to pay dues to the genre that formed the musicians and their musical sensibilities. But more importantly, from the ambition to craft a vision of their own what this Art should sound like.

“The Ashen Abhorrence” is the band’s first release. It took them five years of arduous labor and maddening inspiration to complete it. It is a concept album musically and lyrically, that dwells into Faustian aspirations, witchcraft, possession, and the realm beyond – ending in harrowing results.

Building upon the symphonic Black Metal stylings of their masterful 2022 debut “The Ashen Abhorrence“, enigmatic Finnish duo PESTILENT HEX return with second opus, “Sorceries of Sanguine & Shadow“, to herald a new era of malevolent grandeur and melodic aggression, in 2024.