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The roots
of this unholy creation can be found way back in 1988. A
gathering of 5 blackened souls started by torturing musical
instruments and the product was an ultra noisy and
cacophonous pandemonium. A couple of years passed and the
gathering gradually shaped itself into a project that
adopted the name FLEGETHON, inspired by the legacy and myths
of ancient Greece. The first product was a low budget demo
that was recorded in just a matter of hours. The demo was
named “Repugnant Blasphemy” and was released in February
1990. The sound was quite coarse and unrefined, nevertheless
about 350 copies were circulated among the die-hard
underground Black/Death metal scene. Another couple of years
passed without anything else recorded. Then in early 1993,
FLEGETHON entered a proper studio and recorded material for
an EP. The “Doomed in Eternal Suffering” EP was released in
March 1993, on the Greek Molon Lave Records label. The first
pressing of 500 numbered copies sold out within a month.
Unfortunately, plans for repressings of the EP never became
reality since the label went bust shortly after the initial
release. The sound had progressed into something really
extreme, massive and tight, a cross between Black/Death and
Grind… Around this time, the project started falling apart
and plans for further recordings and releases stopped.
Marduk, the vocalist and one of the founders, didn’t want to
continue anymore and since he was the one responsible for
naming the project, it all came to an end.
But all was not over, not yet. Rotten Flesh, co-founder of
the project, and Pinhead, who had taken part in the later
stages of FLEGETHON and in the making of the EP, decided to
continue with some new ideas. Several new songs had begun to
materialise and the basis for a new creation was now formed.
In 1994, it all came together, and Rotten Flesh baptised the
new spawning with the name ERESHKIGAL. During the next
couple of years a good number of songs took their final form
and ERESHKIGAL felt ready for the recording of a full LP.
And so it was done. In August 1996, Rotten Flesh and Pinhead,
together with mastermind Foxxe (a legend in the Greek scene
– remember FLAMES?), entered the studio to record 10 songs.
And then a strike of unluck happened. The recording of all
instruments and most vocal parts were almost completed, and
at that point the studio was flooded and the master tapes
severely damaged. That disaster meant that the whole project
was frozen indefinitely. A long time passed since then, but
our thirst for a new release was always there and could not
be quenched. So, in 2002 we took the decision to try and
salvage what we could, and enter a new studio (Encore
Studios) and record all the parts we needed to complete the
LP. It was a slow and hard process, but finally in mid 2003
we were satisfied that we had reached almost completion. The
last touches, some additional intros and the final shaping
of the cover, together with a remix and mastering took place
during 2004-2005. All the recording and artwork expenses are
financed by ourselves, and this is going to be the case with
all Ereshkigal material so that we are sure it possesses the
exact feeling we want, without any kind of outside
interference. Our debut LP is now scheduled for release
through the new and brilliant independent label “Temple of
Darkness”. It is going to be on a beautiful gatefold format,
coloured vinyl, a high quality product to satisfy every die-hard
vinyl maniac! We are not going to comment ourselves on the
material this LP contains, we will only say that you are in
for a surprise and that it will bring back memories from the
very early steps of Black/Death/Thrash…
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