Shagor emerged from the shadows in 2018, their bleak and mesmerizing artistry carving a niche within the underground black metal sphere. Their debut album, Sotteklugt, released in 2020 under the esteemed Babylon Doom Cult Records, was a revelation. The album's haunting atmosphere and unrelenting intensity captivated listeners, earning widespread acclaim and selling out its vinyl editions in a mere two months. By 2023, Shagor had taken their sound to the stage, delivering evocative live performances at heralded festivals like Roadburn and Samhain.
Now, Shagor stands poised to unveil their next chapter, Lyksalver, set for release on February 8th, 2025. This opus is a lament, a cry from the abyss for those who tread the path of despair—the hollowed, the broken, and the lost. It is an album steeped in the sorrow of what once was, a sonic eulogy for a world consumed by decay:
In de nacht, in het donker
in gedachten verzonken
verdrongen de woorden
de klank van het lied
Krampachtig vastklampend
aan de waan onveranderd
verdronken zij wrokkend
in eigen verdriet
Lyksalver was conceived between January and June 2023, with recording sessions spanning September to November at Iguana Studios and Swarte Yssel Home Studios. The album's rich, immersive textures were refined through meticulous mixing and mastering by Christoph Brandes at Iguana Studios from January to April 2024. The visual accompaniment is equally evocative, with Jesse Bollen crafting the cover artwork and the booklet and layout handled by P. and Jesse.
The album will be released in CD and vinyl formats via Vendetta Records, with the tape edition entrusted to Swarte Yssel.
Tracklist:
1. Afschynsel 9:52
2. Per Nefer 7:48
3. Foltertogt 8:22
4. Hersielingh 10:20
5. Sluymerval 9:18