2020 Retro – PURE WRATH

Despite the pandemic and all its consequences on the metal scene, the year 2020 has been a busy and productive year for us. Apart from new albums and EPs, we were also happy to unleash the first ARCHGOAT live album onto the world as well as making sure that important re-releases were being done. The Order of Outer Sound was started as an experiment, and our new inhouse PR guy Jonathan – a long time follower and fan of our releases – came into the label in September. With all these events happening, we found it fitting to reflect publicly on the year 2020, and we do that by writing a little something each day about one of the releases that was unleashed this year. Additionally, we invited the artists to do the same, so that you get a deeper insight into the label’s world!

For the first release this year, Ryo, the mastermind of the Indonesian solo Black Metal project PURE WRATH, sent us the EP “The Forlorn Soldier” and we were thrilled to show it to the public in March 2020.

Our Jonathan comments on his listening experience of the three song EP:

“Without doubt, Ryo is an artist of high potency and intuitive understanding of how the ears of listeners work in the year 2020. Instead of starting into “The Forlorn Soldier” with a long-winded intro, PURE WRATH begin immediately with a catchy, yet forceful riff that stays in your ears. It’s the perfect start into the coming 27 minutes of Black Metal grandeur and ferocity, during which also melodies and symphonic aspects are constantly present, but never take over or become too cliché. Comparisons to Scottish musician Andy Marshall and especially his project SAOR are understandable, since both Ryo and Andy know that Black Metal focussing on an epic and often tragic atmosphere still need a strong guitar work to stay interesting. In combination with the historic narrative in the background of “The Forlorn Soldier”, this release is a vital sign that the European scene should keep its ears and eyes open of what to come next from Indonesia. Apparently, Ryo is not only working on new material for a third full-length album but is also rehearsing so that he can come on tour as soon as Covid-19 is finally a long forgotten ghost of the past!”

For mastermind Ryo the EP “The Forlorn Soldier” was also an important album, because with the help of these three compositions he is processing parts of the brutal history of his country

“This deal with Debemur Morti Productions is special to me because I arrived only with a mini album. They welcomed me very well and did a great job. After it was released, I received a lot of positive feedback from the wider parts of the world – new fans arrived, and they opened new worlds. There even exist wider tour opportunities. When I spin this release, it brings a special feeling to my heart. More than 50 years ago people had to live in misery, and they had faced utter loss. This dark story was forced to be buried deep by tyranny for many years. With this and future releases, I hope people nowadays will better understand the meaning of loss and sacrifice."

If you didn’t have a chance to give the EP a spin yet, you can do so on the Youtube channel of our partner Black Metal Promotion. Also, the EP is still available via our EU shop, Bandcamp and US shop. Finally, if you want to see how Ryo and his live musicians are preparing for shows, you can watch a live stream concert here: