A new album 'Aria Of Vernal Tombs' is something I did not expect to see from these guys, to be honest I thought they would dissappear into obscurity, but it is happening and due for release on the 20th of May through 20 Buck Spin. For those unfamilar with the band I recommend you take a listen to their debut, a unique brand and style of extreme medieval metal. The tracks capture the feel and atmopshere of medieval castles and the likes quite impressively in their own unique style. The debut at the time was well received and I hope this album continues where the predecessor left off.

http://www.20buckspinshop.com/blogs/new ... nnoucement

Debut -

https://bindrunerecordings.bandcamp.com ... ume-of-eos

This is exciting news, indeed! There's been nothing quite like their first album released since. Black metal bands with the medieval harp as a main and integral instrument are few and far between I suppose.

Woo hoo! That's great unexpected news.
I'm a huge fan of the debut, so hopefully they won't disappoint.
My favorite track is the instrumental Cabin Lights

Listening to the debut now. Good stuff!

Great news. I own the debut myself. Great seamless mix of black and......other genres of metal. There is some melodic death metal in there, some doom influences, some folk. Really if there is any band that deserves the tag "dark metal" it's this band. I'm looking forward to it.

I've had the good fortune of hearing this record (albeit in demo form). It completely expands and improves on Suspended..., which was already one of my favorite albums ever. The addition of the harp completely makes the album.

Their album was one of the best surprises of 2011. I always loved how much energy they could get into their riffs and songwriting with a really masterful and fresh take on the medieval style.
All of the acoustic songs feel right at home as well. Hope they pushed the sound of the Suspended into some new territory, can't wait!

Thanks for recommending this, STORMM. I'd forgotten to check back over this band after sort of skimming past the debut years ago. Sounds really good, and so wildly different from Celestiial. Must've taken the harp talents showcased on Desolate North and expanded upon them for the new Obsequiae album. Interesting, must investigate further.

One of my favorites from 2011. This band is too good!

Two new tracks from the upcoming album are streaming here:
http://www.nocleansinging.com/2015/03/1 ... mnal-pyre/

The first song is an instrumental intro (not unlike the instrumentals on 'Suspended..'). The second song sounds like a great return, this should be a fantastic album.

I'm checking out the debut now, and this is excellent stuff. Reminds me a bit of StarGazer, actually. I'll definitely be looking forward to the new release.

Neat. I'm currently listening to the debut at the moment and this rules. I'm getting Forefather vibes (minus the clean vocals) from them. I'll surely check out the new album too.

20 Buck Spin have released the album today. Listening to it at present and so far really digging it. The band certainly have not strayed to far from their roots over all these years. Production and sound wise is a notable improvment over the debut and now the inclusion of a harp only helps strengthen their medieval sound to the max. These guys conjour that medieval atmosphere like other, without the use of keyboards so to speak, all created with wonderful guitar melodies, quite an achievement in my opinion. If you enjoyed the debut this will most certainly be a release you want to purchase. I can see it making a few end of year lists....