BAL-SAGOTH · Battle Magic | BLACK TAPE

Black music cassette with 5-panel j-card. Limited to 200 copies.

Background information about 'Battle Magic'

Let's be real for a moment - there is no band quite like Bal-Sagoth. Hailing from the UK, these majestic purveyors of symphonic fantasy black metal crafted a trilogy of albums between 1994 and 1998 that would go on to define an entire subgenre. Battle Magic, the third and final chapter of what fans reverently call the "First Trilogy," finally gets the proper treatment it deserves with this remastered edition on Darkness Shall Rise Productions.

Originally unleashed in 1998 via Cacophonous Records, this album is pure, unadulterated bombast. Byron Roberts' unmistakable narration - part warlord, part eldritch scholar - weaves tales of ancient battles, lost civilizations, and cosmic horrors over a backdrop of ferocious black metal riffs and grandiose symphonic arrangements. Tracks like the title track Battle Magic and the ridiculously-titled-but-absolutely-epic The Dark Liege of Chaos Is Unleashed at the Ensorcelled Shrine of A'zura Kai (The Splendour of a Thousand Swords Gleaming Beneath the Blazon of the Hyperborean Empire: Part II) are peak Bal-Sagoth - over-the-top, theatrical, and utterly brilliant. The remastering by Patrick W. Engel at Temple of Disharmony breathes new life into these recordings, giving the orchestral elements more room to breathe while keeping the razor-sharp edge of the guitars intact. This is black metal as high fantasy, and it rules.

For fans of:
Emperor, Summoning, Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth

Track listing

A1. Battle Magic
A2. Naked Steel (The Warrior's Saga)
A3. A Tale from the Deep Woods
A4. Return to the Praesidium of Ys
A5. Crystal Shards
A6. The Dark Liege of Chaos Is Unleashed at the Ensorcelled Shrine of A'zura Kai (The Splendour of a Thousand Swords Gleaming Beneath the Blazon of the Hyperborean Empire: Part II)
B1. When Rides the Scion of the Storms
B2. Blood Slakes the Sand at the Circus Maximus
B3. Thwarted by the Dark (Blade of the Vampyre Hunter)
B4. And Atlantis Falls...

Manufacturer: Darkness Shall Rise Productions, Lengenfelder Straße 58, 08107 Kirchberg, Germany, Contact: darknessshallrise.de