Description

2021 remastered reissue with new cover artwork. Limited to 500 copies

Striborg is a long running black metal/ambient project of Australian musician Russell Menzies. The project first began in 1994 under the name Kathaaria, where he released three albums before changing name to Striborg for his fourth album, Cold Winter Moon, in 1997. The Striborg sound solidified around a singular lo-fi black metal style combined with ambient pieces, with all instruments and vocals primarily recorded by Menzies at his home. Releases were prodigious – often two or more per year. The first releases were on small labels but ten years down the road he managed to move to bigger labels as his international recognition grew. In 2018 Striborg moved away from black metal with the release of Blackwave, that was pure dark ambient in a new synthesiser wave style. His music has its ups and downs but his 2009 album Southwest Passage could be a good starting point as its one of his better ones if you prefer the moments when he tries to captures the spirit of true black metal as a form of high art instead of dwelling in the buzzy and static ambient moods. This album has a cold and orthodox sound closer to later Darkthrone albums, like Ravishing Grimness and you probably havent heard such a cold sound since Gorgoroth’s Under The Sign Of Hell. So this time the album relies more on the riffs and keeps the ambients to the minimum and the vocals are more varied than before without losing any of his trademark coldness.

Track list:
1. Southwest Passage
2. All Contempt Reciprocated
3. Human Extinction
4. Dwelling In The Fullmoon Forests
5. Obscure And Darkened Contemplation
6. Requiem For A Lonely Ghost