Athame has come slinking down from the hills of Appalachia to bestow an uncannily strong debut recording upon those who crave a Luciferian touch in their doom-influenced black metal. The trio is an unknown property outside their home base (where various members found local success in Fortress and Wolfnuke) but going on the strength of their new album, they won't remain overly obscure for much longer.Said debut, entitled With Cunning Fire and Adversarial Resolve, is apocalyptic in both intent and execution. Its take on black metal lifts a certain murky heaviness from doom (especially on the low end), and doses it with an eerie, chaotic vibe—not quite Deathspell Omega levels of suffocating weirdness, but sonically closer to their proclaimed influences in Craft and Aosoth (especially the latter).The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Noel Mueller, and is due out July 8 on CD and digital download via Grimoire Records with a cryptic cover Illustration by Slime (preorders are live here).Athame will also performing at this year’s edition of Shadow Woods Metal Fest in White Hall, Maryland (Sept 15-18). With Cunning Fire and Adversarial Resolve is streaming below in its entirety for your enjoyment—listen closely, and for Satan's sake, don't sleep on this one.