California's Black Twilight Circle are arguably the most important development in American black metal since the dawn of the new millennium. For the past decade-plus, this collective of bands has developed an extremely singular, idiosyncratic sound away from the prying eyes of metal's aboveground, creating its own veritable dialect that, crucially, burns with the ancient flame of black metal. The Black Twilight Circle's vision is an intensely personal and challenging one, and its myriad bands - Volahn, Arizmenda, Kallathon, Blue Hummingbird on the Left, Shataan, Kuxan Suum, Tukaaria, Dolorvotre, Muknal, and Axeman among many others - individually and collectively expand this vision whilst keeping it closely guarded, their incestuous nature a matter of aesthetics rather than necessity. Based around the Crepúsculo Negro label and strictly released on cassette and vinyl formats, the documents to date of the Black Twilight Circle have coursed through black metal's deepest underground, but they've nevertheless enthralled all who've gazed into their peerless wisdom. Still, the metal aboveground has largely ignored this development and perpetuates an outmoded and obsolete history of "USBM."
Alas, the time of reckoning is at hand: The Ajne Offensive unveils the definitive Black Twilight Circle statement, Tliltic Tlapoyauak, on 2CD and 3LP formats. Originally released last year in an extremely limited cassette version which quickly sold out, Tliltic Tlapoyauak is now let loose upon a perhaps-unprepared world in its most perfected state, with a 20-page booklet in five-color printing and remastered sound by Arthur Rizk at Solomon's Gate (Inquisition, Power Trip). Hypnotic and hysteric, swirling and cacophonous, stretching to infinity and beyond, Tliltic Tlapoyauak comprises two hours of Black Twilight Circle madness 'n' mania, each exclusive track a sonic spell that opens a new eye and even newer possibility. In addition to the aforementioned hordes, a whole host of new ones - Blood Play, Cempopoloah, In Lakech Ala Kin, and Acualli among others - are unveiled, once again proving that this collective's vision continues to be boundless and daring but ever obedient to black metal's eternal tenets. Taken together, Tliltic Tlapoyauak serves as the Year Zero foundation for the Black Twilight Circle to spread its influence beyond the underground. History begins here.
The release date for the 2CD version of Tliltic Tlapoyauak is set for September 2nd. The triple-vinyl version will be available directly from The Ajne Offensive at the end of the month. Cover and tracklisting for Tliltic Tlapoyauak is as follows:
Tracklisting for Tliltic Tlapoyauak
-Disc 1-
- Kuxan Suum - Tzolk'in [11:42]
- Cempopoloah - En el Obligo de la Luna... [9:30]
- Blue Hummingbird on the Left - Storm [3:13]
- The Haunting Presence - Dead Souls Scream [4:45]
- In Lakech Ala Kin - Ometeotl [6:22]
- Muknal - Bringers of Filth [8:26]
- Dolorvotre - Upward Spiraling [6:03]
- Tukaaria - Nekaroa [4:34]
-Disc 2-
- Kampilan - Battle of Mactan [13:08]
- Volahn - Yaxche [5:47]
- Kallathon - Universe of Constant Ages and in the Mist of Eternity [7:13]
- Shataan - Born to the Earth, Return Through the Body [6:30]
- Blood Play - Screams Transcends [6:59]
- Acualli - Rites of Mockery [2:39]
- Arizmenda - Rites of Deconsecration [9:03]
- Axeman - Ride into the Night [10:54]
Total playing time: 1:56:48
A statement from the Black Twilight Circle reads as thus: "The command of immense primordial gods immerses totality. As the sun’s rays of kosmic will staturates the being, they inherit the power. In the urgent flames of Anahuac Black Twilight glimmers the eyes of its people induced in spiritual ecstasy."