Provenance Of Cruelty

by Mactätus

supported by

sachavonkarl74 Accused by (way) too many to be synth-galore Dimmu Borgir wannabes, Mactätus released this BM album in 1998 and is actually a great listen as far as I am concerned. It has 3 strengths. It is good melodic BM from Norway; Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone) wrote some lyrics for this and lastly, Samoth (Emperor) helped out with the production, what more do you need? I have lost many CDs and DVDs in over 13 relocations, this one belongs back in my BC collection!

Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Comes as Collector's Edition in 8-panel digipack, with original artwork and lyrics + photos from the original first edition. Limited to 500 copies.

Includes unlimited streaming of Provenance Of Cruelty via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 4 days

edition of 500 45 remaining

Purchasable with gift card

€15 EUR or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Comes with printed innersleeve, limited to 333 copies on amber/black galaxy vinyl.
Image is a digital mockup. The actual LPs can look slightly different.

Includes unlimited streaming of Provenance Of Cruelty via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 4 days

edition of 333 45 remaining

Purchasable with gift card

€25 EUR or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Comes with printed innersleeve, limited to 222 copies on bone/black swirl vinyl.
Image is a digital mockup. The actual LPs can look slightly different.

Includes unlimited streaming of Provenance Of Cruelty via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 4 days

edition of 222 27 remaining

Purchasable with gift card

€28 EUR or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Comes with printed innersleeve, limited to 111 copies on amber/bone swirl vinyl. NSP exclusive, one copy per customer while stock lasts! Orders for multiple copies will be cancelled!
Image is a digital mockup. The actual LPs can look slightly different.

Includes unlimited streaming of Provenance Of Cruelty via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 4 days

edition of 111 8 remaining

Purchasable with gift card

€30 EUR or more
Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

€999 EUR or more

	1.	Draped In Shadows Of Satan's Pride 04:58
	2.	King Of The Dark Side 05:10
	3.	Sleepless Souls 05:02
	4.	The Emperor's Trail 05:13
	5.	En Trone Vevd Av Tid 06:19
	6.	Sønn Av Torden 06:13
	7.	Dark Journey 06:47
	8.	Provenance Of Cruelty 05:43

about

"Provenance of Cruelty" is the second album of Mactätus, originally released by Napalm Records in late 1998.

At the time of its release the hype for Scandinavian Black Metal in general and Symphonic and Melodic Black Metal in particular was already declining, following milestones such as Emperor's "In the Nightside Eclipse", Dimmu Borgir's "Stormblåst", Mörk Gryning's "Tusen år har gått", Gehenna's "Second Spell" or Limbonic Art's "Moon in the Scorpio".

The result was that at the time of their release in late 1998 equally brilliant Symphonic Black Metal albums such as Odium's "The Sad Realm of the Stars" or Mactätus' "Provenance of Cruelty" were not as appreciated by a majority of fans as the earlier classics before them and remained a bit obscure and underrated for quite some time.

While that changed later for Odium's debut album when it gained the underground cult status it deserves, "Provenance of Cruelty" somewhat suffered from the added drawback of being released by a label that at the time was already more focused on Gothic Metal, and also not necessarily one of the "cult" labels of the time. This, however, is definitely an album that belongs in every Symphonic or Melodic Black Metal collection and fans of the aforementioned albums should definitely check it out if they don't know it yet!

Around the year 2000 only few of the bigger labels released vinyl of most of their releases, and neither did Napalm Records. So this album has only been available on CD format until now. As it is one of the all-time favourite albums of the Northern Silence founder it is an honour to finally give this masterpiece proper vinyl treatment besides releasing a strictly limited CD edition in digipack.

The layout was adjusted slightly to the different formats but other than that the album remains in its original form and sound, so old and new fans can appreciate it in its full nostalgic magnificence.

Unfortunately we were only able to license the album from Napalm Records for these physical releases, so we are not permitted to sell downloads or stream it here on Bandcamp. If you want to check it out in its entirety please use the following Youtube link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=noDC3jG4b4A

credits

released May 5, 2023

Re-released in 2023 on CD & LP by Northern Silence Productions under license from Napalm Records.

Provenance of Cruelty was recorded at Akkerhaugen Lydstudio, Norway, the month of August and September 1998.
Mixed and engineered by Torbjørn Akkerhaugen.
Produced by Torbjørn Akkerhaugen, MACTÄTUS and Samoth.
Mastered by Tom Kvålsvoll at Strype Audio.
Cover by Petagno and logo by the Riddick Brothers.
Original layout by MACTÄTUS and NAPALM RECORDS.
Layout of the CD reissue and LP by Olaf Martin for NORTHERN SILENCE.
Photos by L. Christiansen, T. Christiansen & Fredrik Pedersen.
All music and lyrics by MACTÄTUS, except
lyrics in "Draped in Shadows of Satan's Pride" by Nocturno Culto and
lyrics in "Sleepless Souls" by Tony Abrahamsen.
Female vocals by Kathrine Abrahamsen.
Clean male vocals in "Sleepless Souls" by Tony Abrahamsen.

MACTÄTUS was:

FORN - synth
ISTAR - bass
GAUT - guitar
TY - guitar
HATE RODVITNESSON - vocals
MJOLNE - drums

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about

Mactätus Norway

Mactätus was one of the oldest Norwegian Black Metal bands, formed by Gaut and Hate Rodvitnesson in 1989. After two demos, released in 1993 and 1996, the band released four albums between 1997 and 2002, of which the first two - "Blot" & "Provenance of Cruelty" - should be considered essential for fans of Symphonic or Melodic Black Metal. ... more

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