#BAZUndergroundUpdates LXXVIII

Look at us! We are back at it! Another Tuesday is at hand and our writers Julia Katrin and Tom Boatman rise from the ash…well, perhaps not ashes, but we do rise from our beds to bring you the latest installment of The Underground Updates!

So, let’s see what’s out there…

SLABDRAGGER It appears as if Slabdragger has been somewhat quiet for a while, but now that silence will be broken as three new tracks are about to see the light of day on a split along with Wallowing, Thin and Vixen Maw. This coming Thursday the 30^th of September the split will be released via Sludgelord Records and Black Voodoo but right now you can head right over here, to get a taste of one of the tracks Shrapnel City!

AVANTGARDE MUSIC Some labels realize that for us that buy records and merch over the internet it can sometimes be a bit expensive, and that’s not because merch is expensive but because the damn shipping cost is often twice the price of the merch! For those as well as other reasons, Avantgarde Music has thought of creating the Avantgarde Music Circle of Wax, which is sort of a subscription-like deal that will allow us to receive every Avantgarde Music release at a flat, discounted price with substantial savings on shipping. Read further about the deal over here, and head over here to check out the Avantgarde Music Circle of Wax September/October bundle #1. Finally head over here for the biannual and annual plans, and make sure to contact the helpdesk here if you can´t see your country listed and therefore cannot check out.

BLACK LION RECORDS Halloween is just around the corner and Black Lion Records is not wasting any time to shower us with some scary good offers! Currently they have a Name your Price on digital as well as 25% off physical with the code autumn25. Head over here to check it out!

CODE Having released a stellar album of operatic Extreme Metal cabaret earlier this year (Flyblown Prince), <code> have just put out a much more low key collection of acoustic interpretations of tracks spanning the band’s career to date. You can download a free copy here.

BLAMES GOD For something a little heavier (ok, quite a lot more), Iron, Blood and Death Corporation have released Alteration of the Hallow Remains, the second album by Chilean Death Metal unit Blames God. As the name might clue you in to expect some blaspheming themes. You can snap up a digital copy here

AORLHAC.Meanwhile there’s French Black Metal storming over the hills in the shape of Aorlhac and their latest album Pierres brûlées, out now on Les Acteurs de L’Ombre Productions. You can listen to the whole album here, while you can check out all the available versions of the album here, including a very limited wooden box edition incuding the album on double coloured vinyl and all sorts of treats thrown in.

ENGINE KID Notable in part for featuring future Sun O))) founder and Southern Lord label owner Greg Anderson, Seatle’s Post Hardcore group Engine Kid weren’t around too long, but they put out some great releases and now you can pre-order the whole catalogue (due for shipping in October) on a special limited box set of six coloured vinyl. Head over to the Southern Lord store to pre-order, here for America, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and here for the UK & EU.

Having to pay gigantic sums for international postage is a real gear grinder. While it’s our default setting to link bandcamp pages in the case of new and pre-releases, we thought it would be helpful to add some online stores that might provide a useful alternative. So if you see a release you fancy, but it’s being sold in a far off land and you don’t want to fork out on exorbitant shipping, see if any of the links below can remedy the situation.

Dark Essence (Norway) Dark Essence (US)

Deathwish (EU) Deathwish (US)

eOne Heavy (EU) eOne Heavy (UK) eOne Heavy (US)

Ipecac (EU) Ipecac (US)

Napalm Records (Germany)

Prophecy Productions (Germany) Prophecy Productions (US)

Rough Trade (UK) Rough Trade (US)

Season of Mist (EU) Season of Mist (US)

Southern Lord (EU) Southern Lord (US)

Throne Records (World)

Transcending Obscurity (EU) Transcending Obscurity (US)

As always there is something out there for everyone, so there really isn’t any reason to sit at home being bored with no merch, now is there?