Due to popular demand, Bethlehem's self-titled 2016 album will see its initial release on vinyl in June 2018. The highly-praised record will be released as a gatefold LP on heavy 180g vinyl in two different editions: black and strictly limited red (200 copies). "Bethlehem" is a welcome rejuvenation in every respect. When the line-up that recorded their 2014 release, "Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia", fell apart, founding member/mastermind Jürgen Bartsch took the bull by its proverbial horns and matters into his own deviceful hands. After long-standing drummer Wolz returned to the fold, Bartsch recruited Russian guitarist Karzov (who took on a major role in Bethlehem's songwriting) and a new singer: none other than Onielar from German black metal stalwarts Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult! Onielar’s deranged vocals add to the psychotic morbidity of "Bethlehem", an album that conjures a fresh take on Bethlehem's mid-to-late-90s sound that, says Bartsch, is "anarchic as always”. Ultimately, "Bethlehem" encompasses everything the progenitors of Dark Metal are about, combining the group’s early harshness with an outrageous catchiness and the experimentalism Bethlehem has always boasted, all crowned with a production that perfectly balances both rawness and power. Bethlehem's ninth LP is a symphony of sickness in the truest sense of the word!
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