The Flenser

Bosse-de-Nage – iii – DLP

Finally shipping! Affter many problems with the pressing plant The Flenser is now shipping copies of Bosse-de-Nage iii. We would like to thank everyone who has pre-ordered the album and waited patiently.

Bosse-de-Nage’s third album and finest moment thus far. Minimalist black metal from the San Francisco Bay Area. The band’s strongest song writing and a notable drum performance.

DLP mastered at 45 rpm in a single sleeve jacket.

The artwork is an expanded version of the painting found on the CD version released by Profound Lore.

Pressed on both black and clear vinyl. Clear vinyl is limited to 125 pieces and only available from The Flenser. Additional copies of the clear vinyl version of the album have been added to the Flenser store.

Order!

California’s Wreck & Reference are back with a new two-song 7inch, Content (pronounced ‘No Content’), that is truly genre-defying in every way. Heavy and experimental with nods to post-metal, industrial, electronic, noise and doom, this duo’s latest work is a trainwreck of contradictions yet devastatingly somber and addictive. The first track on Content is “Absurdities and Echos”, more melodic and atmospheric than anything the band has done before, while the second song, “Abhorrence” is concise and raw, sharply contrasting with the first. Formed by drummer Ignat Frege and multi-instrumentalist Felix Skinner, Wreck and Reference play by their own rules and create a sound that is unorthodox and captivating – without the use of stringed instruments: using only drums, vocals, and a Korg sampler – on this new 7inch.

Wreck & Reference got started in 2011 in San Francisco, CA and released their demo, the highly-acclaimed Black Cassette, that same year. This demo was first self-released on tape, then later on vinyl through The Flenser. Black Cassette immediately turned heads and upon first listen of this EP, Lurker’s Path said Wreck and Reference were “…redefining heaviness within rock music”, likely due to their use of samples, live drums and vocals to craft a sound that is melancholic and fierce.

The following year, Wreck and Reference released their debut full-length Youth even more critical praise. Invisible Oranges said this two-piece band “…pushes the traditional metal template towards regions unexplored, expanding the sonic legacies of Swans’ filth and Big Black’s harshness.” Even more dark and mysterious than its predecessor, Youth catapulted Wreck and Reference to the forefront of unconventional and mysterious heavy music.

Content will be available on May 21st, 2013 on digital and vinyl formats from avant-garde metal label Flenser Records, and song and video premieres will be announced soon.

Sludge. Drone. Doom.

You can now pre-order the vinyl edition of Trees third album Sickness-In now from The Flenser. Sickness-In is Trees third album composed of two long songs; almost half an hour of hallucination inducing droning sludge. Orginally released on CD and digital formats by Crucial Blast.

Mastered for vinyl by James Plotkin and cut at 45rpm.
Low-end has not been compromised!

The pressing is limited to a total of 500 copies with a 100 copies on gold vinyl. The Flenser only has a handful of colored copies available for this release. Shipping starts in 3-4 weeks but delays are possible.

This is a split label release with our friends Vendetta Records in Germany. European customers should order from them to save on shipping costs.

Pre-order here

The Flenser is releasing Skagos “Anarchic” in its entirety on CD. The CD comes housed in a stoughton heavy tip-on gatefold lp style jacket with an 8 page booklet. Various versions of Skagos masterpiece album Anarchic have been floating around for a while now and now finally the entire album is complete and to presented in the package that it deserves.

A rough version of this album was released online last year via Skagos’ bandcamp page and has since been expanded upon with over 17 minutes of new music for this exclusive Flenser release. You can pre-order the CD version of Skagos “Anarchic” CD direct from The Flenser shipping in April.

Pre-order here

Skagos is an altar of life, crafted by living hands, guided by a living mind, in a world dead, but ever dreaming. The band formed in 2007 in the depths of the Cascadian black metal scene as a two-piece that released their first three albums initially on cassette only. Ást, their first full length, was released later on CD by NHR records (and more recently on vinyl) to great critical acclaim, with the Encyclopaedia Metallum calling it an “atmospheric masterpiece”.

Now, Skagos will release their second full-length album, the incredible Anarchic, via Flenser Records on April 23rd. This album is a three-year work in progress and features two tracks that contain sub-track like “movements”; “Anarchic I-IV” and “Anarchic V-VII” , at over 60 minutes in length.

Skagos’ sound has shifted a bit with Anarchic; a departure from Ást and an expansion of their work of the split with Panopticon (2010, The Flenser). Ethereal and atmospheric instrumentation – at times almost hypnotic – is prevalent on the record, and at times is met with visceral guitars and gutted growls. Singy folk elements can also be found on Anarchic, making this an incredibly engaging and dynamic listen. Still lyrically complex focusing on the death of the Earth and the renewal inherent in cyclical time, Anarchic showcases Skagos at their most fully-realized state as a band thus far with an almost symphonic feel to this new album.

Track 1:
The Darkling Plain: 0:00 – 6:07
Wetiko – Cannibalism: 6:08 – 16:50
Await; Dawnrise: 16:51 – 23:12
Spring Speaks Truth: 23:13 – end of Track 1

Track 2:
Corvidae: 0:00 – 7:52
Entropy: 7:53 – 17:04
Feral Dawn: 17:05 – end of Track 2

You can now stream and download Botanist: IV Mandragora from The Flenser bandcamp!

Stream/Download

Botanist: IV Mandragora CD’s have also started to ship.

Order here

Botanist – IV: Mandragora

Botanist, the unconventional one-man black metal band featuring vocals, drums, and hammered dulcimer instrumentation, is gearing up to release its fourth album, IV: Mandragora, on February 19th from experimental metal label The Flenser. Combining lyrical creativity and musical ingenuity, IV: Mandragora is a concept record on the alchemical creation of a mandrake, and how The Botanist is instructed on raising an army of mandrakes to wipe out humanity. The songs of Botanist are told from the perspective of The Botanist, a crazed man of science who lives in self-imposed exile, as far away from Humanity and its crimes against Nature as possible. In his sanctuary of fantasy and wonder, which he calls the Verdant Realm, he surrounds himself with plants and flowers, finding solace in the company of the Natural world, and envisioning the destruction of man. There, seated upon his throne of Veltheimia, The Botanist awaits the day when humans will either die or kill each other off, which will allow plants to make the Earth green once again.

Folks in Europe can now pre-order the black version of Bell Witch’s Longing from Burning World/Roadburn Records and save money over the new stupid USPS shipping rates. Pre-order here.

Everyone else can order both the black and limited red vinyl version of the Longing DLP from The Flenser here in the US here.

Grayceon’s new album has started to ship directly from the Flenser! You can order copies in The Flenser store now!

You can stream and download the entire album ont The Flenser bandcamp

Invisible Oranges/BV has posted the side-B track from Grayceon’s upcoming release Pearl and the End of Days.

Check it out here.

You can pre-order copies of Pearl and the End of Days in The Flenser store. Orders will begin to ship this week thank you for your support!

You can now pre-order Longing by Bell Witch on double vinyl.

Bell Witch is a minimalist doom duo from Seattle comprised of drummer Adrian Guerra and bassist Dylan Desmond (of Samothrace fame). Uniquely sorrowful, Bell Witch is as much akin to Skepticism as they are to Codeine. Longing is an hour and 10 minutes of doomed desolation, sadness, and sorrow. Originally released on CD and digital formats by Profound Lore Records, Longing was one of the most important doom albums of 2012 featured on numerous year end lists.

Longing will be released as a gatefold double album with thick, old-style case wrapped jackets and comes with a gatefold insert. Comes on both black vinyl and limited red vinyl. Red vinyl is limited to 300 copies. This should ship in March but delays are always possible.

Pre-Order

You can view new artwork created specifically for the vinyl version of this release by artist Bryan Proteau below.

eBay:

We have opened an eBay account to raise money for the horde of approaching releases. Deafheaven / Bosse-de-Nage, Lycus, Coffinworm test presss are up now as well as a few out of print items with more coming soon. Check it out here.

You can pre-order both the new Botanist CD – IV: Mandragora, and the new Grayceon – LP: Pearl and the End of Days from The Flenser store.

Botanist – IV: Mandragora

Botanist, the unconventional one-man black metal band featuring vocals, drums, and hammered dulcimer instrumentation, is gearing up to release its fourth album, IV: Mandragora, on February 19th from experimental metal label The Flenser. Combining lyrical creativity and musical ingenuity, IV: Mandragora is a concept record on the alchemical creation of a mandrake, and how The Botanist is instructed on raising an army of mandrakes to wipe out humanity. The songs of Botanist are told from the perspective of The Botanist, a crazed man of science who lives in self-imposed exile, as far away from Humanity and its crimes against Nature as possible. In his sanctuary of fantasy and wonder, which he calls the Verdant Realm, he surrounds himself with plants and flowers, finding solace in the company of the Natural world, and envisioning the destruction of man. There, seated upon his throne of Veltheimia, The Botanist awaits the day when humans will either die or kill each other off, which will allow plants to make the Earth green once again.

Check out the exclusive premiere of Botanist’s “Mandrake Legion (Mandagora V)” over at Pitchfork.

Listen here

CD can be pre-ordered now. Shipping mid-February. Vinyl will come later.

Pre-order CD

Grayceon – Pearl and the End of Days LP

Pearl and The End of Days is a 30-minute album composed of two sprawling epics that bend the concentration closer toward Grayceon’s rockier roots. Cellist Jackie Perez Gratz comments, “We wrote these songs over the course of the past two years, on the tails of the release of our third full-length, All We Destroy, and a time during which I was pregnant for nine months and my daughter was born. All three of us went into a collective hibernation where we weren’t playing out much and didn’t have any big album plans.” She continues, “Lack of specific goals and immediate expectations gave us the freedom to penetrate a newfound energy in our music. These two new songs, ‘Pearl’ and ‘The End of Days’, are the expression of that energy: more rock based, overall faster tempos, and a lighter heart lyrically. The EP embodies Grayceon’s musical style and challenges, but the songs, while taking on a different mood than previous material, still allow plenty of opportunity for head banging.”

You can hear a the first side of Pearl and the End of Days over at Alarm Magazine.

Listen here

Available in black vinyl and limited Lime Green vinyl. Shipping mid-February.

Pre-order vinyl

Upcoming release:

Bell Witch – Longing – DLP (at press)
Bosse-de-Nage – iii – DLP (FINALLY almost ready)
Trees – Sickness-In – LP
Vestiges/Panopticon – Split – Gatefold LP

Bosse-de-Nage – iii – DLP UPDATE

We have just gotten word from the press that they think they have fixed the pressing issue that has greatly delayed this release. We are hoping to ship this by late January to early February. Thank you for your wating. NO COMPROMISES!