FAUSTIAN DREAM - ten years in the making

Ever heard an album that took ten years to make? Well, get your copy of Faustian Dream and start listening. Black Crucifixion started the recordings of their full-length album in 1996 and now it is finally coming out. Free of timely limitations and commercial demands, the band has been able to create something that is a breath of fresh but freezing air in these times of lame metal music. In the far north, everything grows slowly, but all the more strongly.

What has been said about Faustian Dream:

blabbermouth.net:
8/10 points
“The band has evolved into a dark, depressive outfit with very impressive results. It drips with a rainy, sorrowful pathos, with guitar lines that positively ache (just listen to the lead break in the masterful "Bible Black Tyrant"). The result is a very timeless, classic-sounding album, echoing its atmospheric vibe from the early-to-mid 1990s, spiritual kin to TIAMAT's "The Astral Sleep" and a dozen pretentious French avant-garde black metal bands.

Organic melding of classic doom, black metal aura, and depressive goth-rock is quite a feat — anyone into the glumness of KATATONIA, the lush sorrow of MY DYING BRIDE or the martial melancholy of "Hammerheart"-era BATHORY will find "Faustian Dream" immensely satisfying." - Keith Bergman

www.vampire-magazine.com:
“In their older work, which was Black Metal, you could already here a somewhat deviating atmosphere, compared to other bands. A dark and mystical atmosphere, strongly reminding to ‘the occult’ in general...Strong riffs, a dark atmosphere and lots of rhythm-differences…This album is spectacular in more than one way.

By still keeping and even developing the feeling of the previous work, yet completely changing the overall structure of the music itself – this deserves the rating ‘brilliant’. Faustian Dream rises to the top of 2006.”

www.imhotep.no:
5/6 points – very good
“While “Bible Black Tyrant” holds the Tom G. Warrior spirit, the following “Wrath Without Hate” contains a fine dose of early Katatonia. And no, this is not a drawback. Because Black Crucifixion do not copy, they only borrow and use it for their own means. And each creation is different from the next. While “Winterkill” holds a surprisingly positive melody, the former “Where Will You Hide” has one of the most insane refrains I’ve heard. And then, just out of nothing, comes the utter piece of sadness: “Scandinavian Melancholy” is the saddest song I’ve heard since Steve von Till did “As The Crow Flies”. “Faustian Dream” is probably your melancholic dream of an album.” - Roy Kristensen

smohert.net:
"Their songs are rich in atmospheric ambience that is both gripping and stirring, reaching deep into your inner vortex to give your organs a good scare. Tiamat and Celtic Frost fans will rejoice in this liver punch of a dark metal album."

metal-observer.com:
8,5/10 points.
"BLACK CRUCIFIXION sounds like TIAMAT, SAMAEL and PARADISE LOST just formed some sort of super-group. The massive production makes everything just sound right and in place. The lyrics range from amazing to just awesome, Forn’s voice is just so suiting for this style of music, he sounds in pain, he sounds like the agony on this album comes directly from him.

So here you have it, a bizarrely named but utterly phenomenal Dark Metal band. Crafting beautiful songs and enrapturing melodies, BLACK CRUCIFIXION has made one hell of an album for sure. Pick this one up or be sorry you missed it. Great stuff!"

fishcomcollective.net:
"Black Crucifixion isn't the screeching black metal I'd anticipated. No, while "Faustian Dreams" inhabits the same sort of darkness, its musical approach is a little different. Lush guitar work, gothic melodies and deep, delicious male vox combine for music that is truly moody and dark and utterly listenable thanks to the beauty of the songwriting. Besides the songwriting, the production is also sweet. Intelligence and gorgeous aural manifestations make this one of the year's watchworthy metal albums."

SUE magazine:
9/10 points
“This is not an easy album, but with listening it reveals itself to be absolute meisterklass. The genuine despair of tracks like “Wrath without Hate” and “Winterkill” display totalitarian sense of style. It is a miracle if this band doesn’t go far.” -Oskari Lehtinen

NEWS:

The good news is that the Faustian Dream album is now available.

The bad news is that it is not black metal. Or death metal. Or doom metal. But metal it is - that's for sure.

SoulSeller Records (World excl. Americas) and Paragon Records (Americas):
Promethean Gift full lenght re-issue: 8 tracks on 12" vinyl and CD.

DOWNLOAD



promotional pictures


high med lohigh med lo

Download the full promo pack

Download promo pack for Promethean Gift (8.6 Mt)

SOME BIOGRAPHICAL TRIVIA...

...and other ancient gibberish that won't help you get laid. (And if it does, then run for your life!)

BLACK CRUCIFIXION was conceived in Lapland, the northernmost part of Scandinavia, where the winter sun doesn’t rise for half a year. And in the summer the sun turns night into day for several months. The temperature easily varies 80 degrees Celsius during the year. Imagine that.

ROVANIEMI is a city in the midst of extreme conditions. It was also the place where black metal was pioneered, before the Norwegians had a clue.

All the editions of BLACK CRUCIFIXION releases are different: in sound, artwork and format. They believe in limited editions, not music for the masses.

You can always download music from the web. But try holding it in your hand – BLACK CRUCIFIXION’s albums are actual objects released in limited editions. They are something that people want to collect, not just store in their hard drives. Digital music is mortal, even more mortal than the people who listen to it listeners – even if you don’t live a very healthy life you’ll probably outlive your MP3 collection.  

The 1993 album “Promethean Gift” was called “Promeathean Gift” due to a mistake by the label.

BEHERIT started their career in 1989 and released their cult tape “Seventh Blasphemy” in 1990.  BLACK CRUCIFIXION began in 1991, featuring FORN (vocals) and BLACKSOUL (guitar) with Beherit members SODOMATIC SLAUGHTER (drums) and WENNSTRÖM (bass) joining them.

The band debuted on August 23rd 1991 at the metal festival Day of Darkness in Oulu. SENTENCED, IMPALED NAZARENE, DEMIGOD, AMORPHIS, BELIAL and BEHERIT also performed. A heavy night, huh? 

SIR LUTTINEN from IMPALED NAZARENE was supposed to fill the drummer’s seat after SODOMATIC SLAUGHTER left the band.

Back when BLACK CRUCIFIXION, BEHERIT and others got started, nobody had heard of internet or email. Imagine that! Guess how many letters these bands received daily, since snail mail was practically the only means of communication. No, nobody had fax machines or mobile phones either. And no, MP3 was not even dreamt of by the engineers in their dark caves. You actually had to pay for your music – and then wait four weeks for it to arrive! Unless you were ripped off by some twat pretending to run a label or a distribution. And yet there was a huge underground scene. That took some effort to operate!

Black Crucifixion was never a project band of BEHERIT members, but BEHERIT main man HOLOCAUSTO VENGEANCE had input on the recording sessions for Black Crucifixion’s debut demo “The Fallen One of Flames” that was recorded in December 1991 as he worked as a co-producer in the sessions.

“The Fallen One of Flames” was released as a limited 250-copy limited edition tape by Fallen Pages Productions, which had also published three issues of the cult zine FALLEN PAGES.

Black metal died in 1993. Some even claim it was in 1992. Scientists all over the world still argue about the exact date.

After “The Fallen One of Flames”debut. BLACK CRUCIFIXION was through with black metal and started to call their music dark metal. What is that? Well, listen to “Promethean Gift” and find out. Pretty soon after that it became obvious that all music only needs two categories: bad music and good music.

Is the “Black Metal” album by Venom actually black metal? Or punk rock played by amphetamine crazed Motörhead fans scaring their pub mates with lyrics about Satan? And who gives a shit anyway? Well, “Buried Alive” and the title track are great tunes anyway –
and the cover illustration is a classic.

The original BLACK CRUCIFIXION logo was designed by TANELI JARVA. He is responsible for the classic logos of SENTENCED, IMPALED NAZARENE, BLACK LEAGUE and BEHERIT as well. He has also played in the first three of the bands.

For the first weeks the moniker of Black Crucifixion was HORNED LORD. The guys from IMPALED NAZARENE were relieved when they learned that the plan to name the band EMBALMED NAZARENE was just a joke.

The Finnish metal underground super-band was on stage for one song in July 1992 in a steamy club in Joensuu, as vocalists FORN from BLACK CRUCIFIXION and MIKA from IMPALED NAZARENE joined BEHERIT for a rendition of “Sathanas” by SARCOFAGO. SIR LUTTINEN was BEHERIT’s drummer at the time.   

The song “Goddess of Doom” was only featured on the first 50 copies of the 250 copy limited edition tape “The Fallen One of Flames”.

BLACK CRUCIFIXION believed in limited editions. Why? Well, it was never music for the masses.

The 250 copies of “The Fallen One of Flames” tape soon sold out and it was praised by the press and fellow bands. But black metal was already beginning to lose what made it different from all other styles of music: band after band started to paint their faces and compete in brutalities and morbid deeds. It became a trend. This is why bands like BLACK CRUCIFIXION and BEHERIT had to evolve. They chose very different paths as BEHERIT steered towards electro ambience and BLACK CRUCIFIXION felt more metal music inside them.  

After “The Fallen One of Flames”, BLACK CRUCIFIXION started to work on their debut album for Austrian Lethal Records. New member E.HENRIK (bass) took responsibility for some of the song writing and the band’s sound took a huge leap. No more the murky sound that had already become a convention inside the scene infested by bands jumping on the band wagon.

“Promethean Gift” came out in 1993, presenting metal that, like BATHORY, CELTIC FROST, SAMAEL, BEHERIT (Drawing Down the Moon), TIAMAT and NECROMANTIA, reached beyond the boring monotony of less talented bands.

BLACK CRUCIFIXION started to work on a full-length album entitled “Faustian Dream”, but it was not finalised as the band grew tired of the scene around them. The name BLACK CRUCIFIXION was buried in dust even though various labels tried to convince the band to return.

The cover illustration of the 1993 release “Promethean Gift” is a Finnish masterpiece painted by Hugo Simberg in 1903. No image could have worked better with the music. Check him out!

The mysterious “Faustian Dream” is the metal album that has been under construction for the longest time in the world.

Other bands that some BLACK CRUCIFIXION members have played in include: BEHERIT, PARADE OF SOULS, PROMETHEAN, GOAT VULVA.