Hessian Firm

hessianfirm.com/interview-takafumi-matsubarabarren…

Written interview with legendary Grindcore guitarist Takafumi Matsubara

6 days ago | [YT] | 11

Hessian Firm

This Tuesday, 16th of September, the devastating news reached us of the passing of Tomas “Tompa” Lindberg, vocalist, lyricist, teacher, and founding member of At the Gates. At just 52 years old, his voice was silenced after a long and courageous struggle with illness.

The band announced his death with the following words:

“Today we lost not only our brother and bandmate, but one of the most passionate and uncompromising souls we’ve ever known. Tomas fought with strength and dignity until the very end. Our grief is immeasurable. On behalf of At the Gates.”

From their earliest work, the Gardens of Grief EP (1991), grandiose and raw in equal measure, through the monumental The Red in the Sky is Ours (1992), and the dense, otherworldly With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness (1993), Lindberg helped to craft a vision of extreme metal that stood apart. With these records, At the Gates did not merely take part in what would become the melodic death metal movement, but prefaced it with a body of work that remains among the greatest death metal ever committed to tape, marrying labyrinthine riffs, majestic harmonies, and unflinching intensity into something monumental.

Central to this vision was Tomas’s voice, a pained howl, at once expressive and deeply emotive, yet still retaining a raw grit that gave it the character of a mad prophet preaching terrible truths. His vocals were the final piece that completed the band’s complex and melodic style, fusing their turbulence and intricacy into something unmistakable and whole.

Beyond At the Gates, Tomas Lindberg’s restless creativity found expression in numerous other projects. With the fantastic Disfear, he carried the spirit of D-beat and crust punk into ferocious modernity. With Skitsystem, he embraced unflinching hardcore aggression. With Grotesque, he helped lay early foundations for what would become the Gothenburg sound. And with his brief but memorable involvement in Liers in Wait, he left his mark on one of the most haunting and intense cult projects of the Swedish scene. Each of these bands bore his unmistakable conviction and voice, further underlining the breadth of his artistic vision.

With his passing, a chapter closes in the story of extreme metal. Tomas Lindberg leaves behind a timeless legacy that pushed metal to its highest limits, and one that, even decades on, has yet to be surpassed.

hessianfirm.com/tomas-tompa-lindberg-1972-2025/

1 week ago | [YT] | 19

Hessian Firm

hessianfirm.com/shipping-update-for-our-u-s-suppor…

We want to give everyone an update on the current tariff situation for our supporters in the United States.

For small orders (5 CDs or fewer), nothing changes, we’ll continue sending them through the regular mailing service. These shipments are treated as gifts and should not be subject to tariffs, so you can order with peace of mind.

For distro orders and larger parcels, unfortunately most carriers are no longer offering affordable options. The only services available are premium couriers that charge four to five times the normal shipping rate, and even then, those parcels would still be subject to tariffs.

For medium orders (10–20 CDs), we’ll work around this by sending them as multiple envelopes instead of one big package. This way, we can still use the mailing system and avoid unnecessary costs or tariffs.

Unfortunately, this also means that we cannot ship vinyl to the United States at the moment, since records must go through the parcel system, which is both prohibitively expensive and subject to tariffs.

The important takeaway: if you’re in the U.S., you can still order any CD or shirt from us without worrying about unexpected tariffs or complications. We’ll continue making sure your orders get to you reliably and at a fair cost.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 9

Hessian Firm

This Wednesday, 27th of August, the sad news reached us of the passing of Jürgen Bartsch, bassist, chief songwriter, and founding member of the German band Bethlehem, whose pioneering vision gave shape to what would later be known as Depressive Suicidal Black Metal.

The announcement was made by the band through the following statement:

“After a serious illness, perseverance and great fighting spirit, our beloved friend and esteemed band founder Jürgen Bartsch passed away on 27 August 2025. In deep mourning and a broken heart. On behalf of Bethlehem.”

The news closes a chapter in the story of one of the most unique and uncompromising acts in extreme metal. From Dark Metal (1994) through Dictius te necare (1996) and far beyond, Bethlehem drew upon currents of black and doom metal to craft something entirely their own, music that channeled despair and madness with a clarity that transcended the notion of genre with its freeform combination of ambience, black, death and doom and thus creating the foundations for the DSBM and dark metal subgenres as well as expanding the limits of extreme metal.

Jürgen Bartsch’s vision was not only foundational but enduring, a reminder that extreme metal could stretch far beyond its supposed limits. With his passing, we lose one of the extreme metal’s most idiosyncratic architects and singular voices. One can only hope that, wherever he is now, Jürgen has found the peace that his music so relentlessly wrestled with in life.

hessianfirm.com/jurgen-bartsch-1976-2025/

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 14

Hessian Firm

R.I.P Nisse Karlen

His seminal work with Sacramentum will never be forgotten and will continue to inspire us eternally.
We thank him for the music as well as the incredible interview he gave us.

https://youtu.be/eiUqAaiol2w?si=FdjUj...

1 month ago | [YT] | 17

Hessian Firm

hessianfirm.com/gridlink-perfect-amber2025/

With Coronet Juniper, Gridlink appeared to close their career on an immaculate swansong, an album that functioned as both a farewell from the band and a definitive statement within grindcore itself. Against that sense of finality, the band’s return with Perfect Amber arrives as an unexpected but significant coda.

1 month ago | [YT] | 3

Hessian Firm

Endless Dismal Moan - Lord of Nightmare CDs are finally ready and will be sent out starting today. Please bear with us as we get your orders out as there are quite a few.

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1 month ago | [YT] | 1

Hessian Firm

Execrari - Desolation Manifest is out at the end of this month, grandiose and melodic black metal with beautiful melodies and narrative song structures.

Pre-order your copy here

execrari.bandcamp.com/album/desolation-manifest

1 month ago | [YT] | 3

Hessian Firm

hessianfirm.com/disgorge-and-the-silver-age-of-dea…

Guest Article by Fiello

Death metal guitarists enterprise to develop musical arrangements that occupy the fretboard in varied ways. For some guitar players, a compositionally restrained approach to shred guitar juxtaposed with downtuned guitars whose high strings might not ever see play throughout entire albums is becoming of a frenetic style that combines a sense of melody with the most primitive sounds.

1 month ago | [YT] | 4

Hessian Firm

hessianfirm.com/funeral-storm-celestial-rite-funer…

This lavishly designed split 12” EP represents both the promises and failings adherent to the contemporary resurrection of the so-called Hellenic Black Metal style. For the record, I have a long-standing passion for the Greek scene. What bands like Rotting Christ, Varathron and Necromantia summoned up in the 1990s was unique and every bit as classic as the Scandinavian output. However, despite the intrinsic powers granted in recreating the archetypical Hellenic BM sound (it all sounds great on a cursory listen), we need to dig beyond the external sonic markers to discover the true value (or lack thereof) of these later disciples. Pairing together Funeral Storm and Celestial Rite proves to be a good exercise in said endeavor.

1 month ago | [YT] | 1