Candlelight Records has announced the worldwide signing of Italian extreme metal stalwarts Blasphemer. The group’s third album The Sixth Hour will be released worldwide on January 24.

The band commented: “The unholy crusaders have found their vexil: the phoenix. Blasphemer‘s third opus will see the light under the Candlelight Records banner.”

The Sixth Hour showcases twelve songs of pure blackened-death metal, mastered at the famous studio Hertz in Poland, known for their work with Behemoth, Decapitated and Vader. Fundamentally a concept album, The Sixth Hour’s main theme is the way of the cross, i.e. the last day of Jesus Christ, the path that led him from the Gethsemane to Golgotha. The aim of the album is to depict Jesus as merely human, trying to transpose into music the agony he felt in the last day.

The band have shared the first new track and video for “The Deposition”. Watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9HpKSSGs_o&feature=youtu.be

Tracklist: 1. Let Him Be Crucified 2. Hail King Of The Jews! 3. The Stumbling Block 4. Stabat Mater 5. Blessed Are The Wombs That Neve 6. Lord Of Lies 7. Via Dolorosa 8. The Robe Of Mockery 9. I.N.R.I. 10. The Sixth Hour 11. The Deposition 12. De Profundis

Blasphemer have been a long running act in the underground since 1998, when they were founded in Italy by Simone Brigo (also BEHEADED). They have since toured Europe and US countless times, playing many festivals and shows all over the world.

The band released the full-length album On the Inexistence of God in 2008 and the EP Devouring Deception in 2010, both through the renowned US-based label Comatose Music, being critically acclaimed in extreme music circuits.

In 2013 the band became quiescent, eventually coming back to the scene with the release of sophomore album Ritual Theophagy (Comatose Music, 2016), featuring Darren Cesca (Deeds of Flesh, Arsis, Goratory, etc.) on drums.

2017 was the year of rebirth for Blasphemer: a new line-up and a different sound, more oriented on pureblood death metal, both by darkness and intensity, and progressively incorporating black metal influences. In June a promo song was released, ‘Jesus Is Stripped Of His Garments’, eventually to be released in early 2019 on a split CD with Neocaesar (featuring early-Sinister former members).

The band will also be playing Incineration Fest on the 9th May in the UK with the likes of Bloodbath, Dark Funeral and MGLA, with more dates to be announced soon.