Guitarist Toby Knapp recently revisited his ‘90s black metal roots. Knapp compiled and remastered all material recorded by his little known mid-nineties band Darken. A full-length CD to be released by his own label, Spectral Evidence Entertainment, in conjunction with Sumthinfierce Records will be available by February. Knapp commented on the significance and reasoning behind the forthcoming Darken compilation Black Metal Grimorium.

"Darken had a very successful demo in the mid-nineties called Reign From Funeral Thrones and this recording quickly started a series of events that still are in effect with me today." The guitarist continues "That demo landed us a recording contract with Defiled Records immediately and the continual unfolding of events from that point on led to the formation of Onward and a situation where Century Media contacted me, wanting my band, I was oblivious to the label and just went with the flow. It was all a shock to me. When Onward were finished I immediately wanted back on track with my Darken project, but things had changed and Darken could not exist, which led to the idea for my one man band Waxen." "Finally" Knapp concludes, "Waxen signed with Moribund Records and the work continues to this day. On this Darken compilation Onward fans will recognize lots of black metal riffing that was transformed into music used for albums like Reawaken. Darken was the big bang in my musical universe that continues to expand. Plus the material sounds great and needs to be heard properly.”

Tracklisting:

“Reign From Funeral Thrones”
“Eternal Winters”
“Autonomous Closing Of Time”
“Lurking Past The Stars”
“Shadows Dark Embrace”
“Enthroned By Night”
“Under The Blood Stained Moon”
“Sorrow’s Season”
“The Necromantic Bell”
“A Mournful Chorus”

In November, Knapp released the live Onward DVD Live Magick consisting of four shows filmed by fans during the band's heyday in the early 2000's. Access to the Darken CD and Onward DVD can be found via Knapp's website. Knapp has also been busy contributing to projects from bands such as Italy's Abhor, Fetid Zombie from the US in addition to wrapping up work on a third Waxen album slated for a 2016 release through Moribund Records.