Asrar Derangement Syndrome

The purpose of this publication is to act as a centralized hub of information around the black metal label Asrar’s controversial activities, presenting it in a way that exposes it, exposes what exactly this label has created by disrupting the norms of black metal, critiques the disastrous response to it by people within the underground black metal community (myself included) and above all else separate me from this harmful negative energy. While I appreciate feedback and am thankful to everyone taking the time to read this, I have no desire to read any comments in response, debate these subjects any further or expend anymore energy on this topic. The response every time this label does something has gotten to a point where I will be simply unfollowing all the people who end up paying/running Matteo’s ads for him (despite hating him so much) and am humbly asking all my friends online to not drag me into the waters with this subject any further. Writing this is my final effort in a fight that has consumed six years of my time, my labels (Winter Solace Productions) reputation, customers, bands and more than anything else my mental insanity. I also feel given the response that should somebody else ever make an anti-Asrar website in some fit of rage that I will be framed for it, which is something that I think by the end of this, people will realize that I have no desire to do such a thing. Before we go any further, I would like to inform everyone that my writing career (which will be as legendary as my music career) is perpetually stalled until proper AI editing applications come into widespread usage, as while I’m an excellent verbal communicator (hence my podcast), written communication doesn’t come off so well unless one can objectively read something I write without some kind of animus for grammar.

To emphasize accuracy, it is worth stating that while evidence does exist to verify much of what I will be explaining in this publication, somebody else can research it. The overall goal of this is to just objectively examine what has been allowed to form and allow for underground black metal to simply adapt to this new reality. I am not attempting to slander or defame Asrar in anyway shape or form, I also do not believe that this article will impact their sales to any significant degree.

Seeing as many of these things just act as promotion for him, it’s worth explaining what Asrar (Persian language word for Mysteries) the label is. Asrar is a black metal production company that has released according to Discogs as of 11/30/2025, 432 records (spending a roughly estimated 1,296,000.00 USD in manufacturing expenses for all this) since it began in 2019. Releasing about 50-72 records a year adjusted for the pandemic’s impact on manufacturing that would amount to (roughly) 19,440 minutes of music, to simplify that is: 324 hours, 13.5 days or almost 2 weeks of time should somebody wish to play their entire catalog without interruption. The company started in Italy running off pre-orders and financial backing from a mysterious unknown French silent partner before relocating to Estonia to be closer to his manufacturing infrastructure. People have claimed to have been ripped off by their mail-order (especially if he determines that you made fun of him online), that the boxes arrive lined with trash (which is actually a common packaging method in that area of the world) or that custom made boxes with his logo on it are flagged/seized by FedEx in the UK, due to their oppressive totalitarian laws there in regards to censorship which will lead to the authorities coming to your door. Any attempt to sabotage this operation is likely futile as Asrar apparently is a brick/mortar business in Estonia with paid employees/warehousing now in comparison to somebody sitting behind a computer with nothing better to do. I also highly doubt anybody is going to go to Estonia to confront him, despite many people claiming online that they will do this.

My grievances with Asrar go back to when that label began in 2019, I first learned of the company’s existence when somebody whose music is signature to Winter Solace Productions asked me to send him artwork files from one of the releases we did on tape/CD for an LP release through Asrar. I refused as basic research into what was going on was enough for me to refuse to support this, block the release (which is now under a legal contract where I could bring this individual to court in the USA if I needed to) and sit on it’s release until it can be done correctly through my label. Many other companies we’re not so lucky and I did have another one of the kids I worked with take an album I told him to write (which likely is one of the greatest NSBM albums to released by an American musician) to Asrar after his Zoomer/Narcissistic personality/bad attitude made me tell him he basically had to sign a contract (imagine having an attitude that is so bad, somebody would feel the need to request this) or leave my label like I wanted him to do. Part of what led to this schism was some of Asrar’s American distributors getting close to him in a way that would mirror contract tampering with pro athletes, which is something nobody focused on prior to Asrar’s existence. For followers of Winter Solace, the only comfort I got out of that was watching this kid embrace Christianity (in addition to Christian “black” metal releases, Asrar also released the fake Islamic band Mulla (claiming to have destroyed some repress at a 1000 Euro loss because he found the band to be disingenuously Islamic) and the band Ebony Pendant (who would out himself as a leftist Jew after the Asrar association affected tour bookings) who claimed to know nothing about all the other activities of the label), to become a running joke. As these records sell enough copies to justify their existence, nobody cares, which people will realize is a theme of this publication.

Most of how Asrar subsisted itself early on was by releasing the same trendy paint by numbers raw black metal that everyone is/was obsessing over (spoiler alert, it’s worthless a few years after it’s released, but that is another Substack), dungeon synth and trending PE releases with occasional releases by NS acts such as Kristallnacht (which he has apparently either repressed without authorization or lied originally about how many copies were originally pressed), Flammentod, Via Dolorosa (the guy of band basically had his album ghost written, went to Asrar and now has likely retired from music ending his joke of a music career in a manner that is your typical Italian disaster), Waffen SS, Xenophobic (where he just paid some random guy that claimed to run the original RAC label of release for authorization), Aryan Kampf 88, Wehrhammer & several others. This process would continue (also as CDs through the label Aon Records which doesn’t press records) until around 2021, when things would get somewhat more interesting.

Around 2021, when people were wondering how many of these things that people thought would never get released, were getting released he started working with many of the Greeks whom he was paying royalties to. Many of these bands were not paid, nor were they paid a lot if they were paid, at this point time, so Asrar would come in and offer 500 to 1000 Euros (including smuggling bags of cash into Greece to avoid taxes) to these guys to get them to agree to work with them. Black metal has been a genre of music that is perpetually broke, as it has more mentally ill drama than common sense, so it should come as no surprise to anybody that it would take somebody almost 40 years to realize that if you press 500 copies of something, a 500-1000 Euro royalty payment is only an extra 1-2 Euro onto the per unit cost of the records. This was the first of several grey areas that would be exploited by Asrar that just about every other label wasn’t prepared for. Now it is much easier for any band to get paid and if you are in a band that wants a royalty payment for your music, I’d suggest you watch the YouTube video I made about the subject to explain how you just need to simply ask for it when having a product people would pay you for. If you’re a label worried about this, the only thing that you can do is either pay more money (if you want to) or just have a dialog with your bands as many people (including some whom are flat broke and/or strung out) who make this music aren’t motivated by money and would see a large payment as the spiritually bankrupt thing that it is. While on a lesser scale, Asrar would also provide many of these older guys with access to support (be it either line-up, new logos, gigs etc.) like a label is supposed to, many labels at the time weren’t.

In 2021-2024 he would also start paying the O.N.S.P from Mexico to allow for their catalog to finally be reissued (for people who don’t know, the Mexicans are extremely tribal and refuse to cooperate with anyone unless they are paid to do everything themselves (which is always of a lower quality standard) by people who primarily speak Spanish) whose extremely large back catalog would bring in vast sums of capital. This vinyl boom has resulted in a demand for people with large back-catalogs to reissue, in the vein hope of people buying it all and a label being able to say they pressed 20-30+ records for one guy or ideology. However, unless all these products are restored one by one with proper pre-production/graphics (which is expensive and takes years) the result is just a soulless reissue. Wolfswut (a raw BM band from some leftist controlled area in the USA who would completely quit music after real world pressure from his friends/employer, one of the many people who aren’t cut out to make this music that Asrar preys on), Stormjars, 侍 & Maȟpíya Lúta (a few of their few original signings, but are likely fake studio bands designed to capitalize on unique concepts that are trending at the time) plus several other paint by numbers random bands that will just disappear or not become relevant until they go to another label. During this period several other incidents would immerge that would lead to the destruction of his reputation in a form of scandals that would also bring about the massive outrage that would inspire the need for this rather lengthy paper.

Picking one to start is hard, so these are done in the order in which in would appear they were chronologically released according to Discogs. A version of the release with the catalog number ASR277 was a partially authorized repress of the DS/Galgenberg split from 2004. Now one must understand that this split contains the DS demo “Europa Erwache” (that in addition to holding a whopping 4% quality rating on metal-archives) was already previously pressed by itself on all three formats by other labels in the previous year and the self-titled release of Galgenberg that was previously released by the band. The Galgenberg portion was not authorized by the band in Poland (Asrar justifying the pressing by stretching common sense copyright laws applicable to compilations with multiple bands) as Asrar presumably paid JvH of DS (who is a drunk & a hothead) to authorize another pressing. Syrragh (who runs Dark Blaze Stronghold & was in Galgenberg) would film videos of him burning whatever copies he received after the fact from Matteo on Instagram and has mounted one of the many outrage driven PR campaigns against Asrar to this day. A settlement was supposedly reached where Asrar would scratch out of the Galgenberg sides, however nobody knows if that happened. The Galgenberg material would be pressed again by the band the following year. So, the result of all the fighting was multiple other versions made that will either never be consumed or just expensive fodder for collectors in 5 or 10 years when all this stuff is a distant memory.

2022 would also see the re-issue of Eisenwinter demos (that would not be mastered with the band leaving the label in the wake of numerous allegations related to Asrar’s licensing of Blazebirth Hall reissues which will be discussed separately below), Blood Libel represses that would end in a similar fashion and a version of the Walknut album authorized by Gorruth of Stellar Winter (who now mounts a PR campaign against Asrar) when his involvement with the band is disputed as he only contributed lyrics to the recording. In 2023 Asrar would press the ASO/Eternal Strife/Todestraffe/Aryan Hammer “Artifacts of War” split with authorization from and payment to only one party (Todestraffe) in violation of the other bands wishes. In 2024 the pattern would be repeated again with an unauthorized repress of the Two Runes/Nokturne/Moharebeh/Aryanwülf/Order Of The Death’s Head “Ancient Order Eternal” split with authorization from one person with OOTDH, despite the split being owned under contract in the United States with another/better version the original labels were intending to re-release having to be cancelled. Following suit would be unauthorized/grey area represses of Abs Conditus “Noc Długich Noży” (where the copyright holder died leaving no instructions behind), Sad Legend (where no license was paid to Hammerheart), December Moon (assumed), Lord (assumed), Hecate Enthroned (however this may be a situation where the band was simply unaware with everything being worked out through the copyright holders) L.L.N Bootlegs & presumably others. The problem with many of these that nobody addresses is that there simply were not official versions made, as nobody saw the value in keeping the material in print or were unwilling to go pay the prices asked for by the copyright holders. Asrar’s recent releases include stuff released under contract with Cherry Red (a legitimate company who has departments for licensing and deals in purchasing the rights to music, a concept completely unknown to most underground black metal guys) and an upcoming repress of the Sigrblot album that has been kept out of print for over 20 years because nobody was willing to just go pay the amount that the copyright holder wanted for the work.

If the definition of a bootleg is basically pressing something without the direct involvement of the recording artist, there are 5 categories: 1. Stuff pressed by other parties that legally own the music (so for example Jazz represses where the musician has died) they pressing, 2. Forgeries (usually made for markets like Russia), 3. Stuff pressed that is stolen from the bands (so like unauthorized Phish live recordings) that will likely effect their revenue, 4. Stuff in disputed statues (Monstrosity “Imperial Doom”) that will likely never be resolved and 5. Stuff that for whatever reason simply can’t be pressed which usually overlaps with orphaned recordings (stuff where nobody can prove who made it), Recordings under the public domain, recordings where everyone involved died and recordings that can’t be copy protected due to their legal statues in the country they were either recorded in (Hate Speech) or where the musicians live. Asrar primarily has worked in the Grey Areas of 4 or 5 in addition to finding somebody who is loosely affiliated with band to authorize whatever it is he wants done for a payment. Which circles back to the main crux of my argument about this, if you keep your stuff in print or maintain it, it has no artificially inflated value or if you maintain some kind of official presence after your work is gone, you do not have this problem. A psych rock band from the Caribbean named Kaleidoscope is one of thousands of examples of this simple concept. They recorded one album in 1969 and will never make anything else, yet they keep a Bandcamp up with their music in print so nobody bootlegs it on a wide scale outside of a forgery pressing made in 2011. At some point if there is a value of some kind, with the artist being the one obstructing the music from being reissued, somebody is just going to go around the problem.

The above paragraph brings me to what, in my almost 20 years of being involved in underground black metal is likely it’s single biggest tragedy, the Blazebirth Hall repress campaign Asrar has engaged in from 2022 to present day working in conjunction with Ragnarock Records in Russia to repress the Blazebirth Hall back catalog of Forest, Branikald, Raven Dark, Nitberg, Rundagor, Vargleide & Wotan Solv, something where many of the musicians involved have either died or left music entirely. These represses are done in direct violation of Kaldrad (the main individual responsible for all these projects)’s estate and his last wishes. Ragnarock Records (ran by somebody who was at one point loosely affiliated with the bands) simply stole many of the files involved with this and presumably collects a payment from Asrar. They are able to get away with this because none of the music was originally copywritten correctly (other represses by ISO666 were later deemed unauthorized by the band) and that there is numerous disputes within Russia preventing what would be official versions (this is before one factors in delays caused by the pointless war with Ukraine) from being released. This goes back to the common problem I’ve outlined throughout this article. When I started Winter Solace in 2008 a contact of mine in the USA wrote to BBH at the time requesting to make a licensed cassette of one of the Branikald demos and was told by the Russians that only Russian labels would be releasing the band. By the lack of consistent availability of these recordings (which has led to a massive surge in demand) one should immediately realize that the Russian infrastructure is simply not up to the task of getting these things done and they have failed time after time to deliver. Currently the company in Russia tasked with official represses spends their time doing the following: legal claims against RR or any other international party (through things such as patent trolling) that attempts to repress these things, trying to have all the original artwork reproduced (as Kaldrad’s ex-wife refuses to authorize her paintings to be used again) when there is a lack of qualified talent, attempting to have the music remastered/remade with modern technology to a meticulous OCD standard (rumored to have things inserted into the songs that were not originally present) that is not going to matter and accepting submissions from other Russian Black Metal bands which just drain resources from what probably should be their main mission. By the time any of those issues are resolved, everyone will have already purchased the Ragnarok editions and have moved on with their lives other than a lone group of Russian holdouts who will obtain at best a pointless pyric victory.

At seven pages in Word, and over 2 hours of writing, I’m almost to my main point, however we must circle back one last time to Asrar himself or more specifically his Vothana inspired clone band Ātesh. While he has repeatedly denied his involvement with the band, it is widely known that it is him and likely numerous session/studio helpers or paid ghost writers. Asrar originally was some type of Persian studies student/academic (which would likely explain his conduct/immense wealth) who spent time in Iran that apparently can be collaborated by photographic evidence. When I originally became aware of Asrar and tried to alert other people to his activities, the only other person at the time raising any kind of outcry was LVTN behind the band Vothana, mostly due to Asrar’s obsessive high energy behavior. Asrar was writing to anybody who was related to black metal within the state of Minnesota to obtain either private presses or any information about the band and to my understanding was somehow involved with bootlegs or reselling (I’ve forgotten the exact act that was done to start this) Vothana material. A common among psychopaths is simply too much energy, it alienates people and then usually people learn the hard way that they need to tone it down somehow either through therapy or medication. Asrar commonly instigates fights via email or other messengers against people who criticize him online, criticize his licensing of releases and basically behaves like a child in a narcissistic meltdown (similar to many of the artists he works with, who if they read this will be only upset that they weren’t mentioned in this article somehow) with a giant checkbook. The purpose of this is (like Donald Trump) this larger-than-life character sucking all the oxygen out of the room and thus promoting himself every time he basically exists.

And now I can finally get to the entire main point of this article, which is that to get all the things done that Asrar has (almost 500 records), one must understand that the person they are fixated on is likely a clinical narcissist who revels in the attention. While this criticism is leveled against many people (me included) the same logic of dealing with a narcissist must be looked at when basically dealing with Asrar’s existence. Hence why you get Asrar Derangement Syndrome, where one becomes so sucked into this person’s vortex that they can’t escape without either drastic action (like writing this) or changes to their routine. This reality is further exaggerated by the same clinically diagnosed problems with social media, FOMO and the drastic differences in modern life between now and say 20 years ago. So, what are examples of Asrar Derangement Syndrome? A week ago I woke up on a Sunday, went to use the Toilet and turned my phone on, the first 20 minutes of my day was spent sitting in my Bathroom figuring out how to screen record my Facebook feed to showcase multiple people in a row as the first three posts whining (and also promoting) about the latest Asrar release that may or may not be a bootleg (likely it isn’t because there does exist a signed licensing contract) to basically pull everyone around them into this vortex. One of these people was also paying for Facebook ads to advertise this new product to which there is no alternative pressing available. Yes, somebody got so riled about this that they actually paid money for ads, to unintentionally promote something they hated so much and make way more drama that nobody wants to deal with. When confronted with this, I was the bad guy to people (some of whom knew who I was and the things I’ve experienced on this subject) and in the absence of Asrar to argue with, I was the target. This is a type of mob mentality common among people with low levels of brain function who likely do not possess the capacity to be unplugged from the matrix/Veil of Maya/Pseudo-reality.

The example provided is one of many that just is a knee-jerk emotional response to the actual emotion you’re feeling, which is that you’re upset because you aren’t pressing that record yourself or don’t want anyone to know you want to own it because it wasn’t released by your label of choice. When one follows that thread it just illustrates how you’re probably broke and want to have more money. Then suddenly all this comes into focus, it’s just jealousy related to the inability to process what you have right in front of you. Whether or not you want to be Asrar is irrelevant (you probably don’t) but what is relevant is that your brain is behaving like it thinks it wants to be like him and is not getting what it wants. Who wouldn’t want to have a large amount of money, press all this stuff people want and have all that attention/admiration? Black Metal especially is full of a lot of people who live out these delusional lives that they are these rock stars when we barely can press/move 50-1000 copies of these records about subjects the public doesn’t want anything to do with. It’s a niche genre (especially in America) and most people don’t have the talent/drive to do anything else, it likely isn’t going to be the thing that gets you a super-hot trophy wife (something else will, not your musical talent) or get you the life that you dream of as there is always something bigger.

So (and this is why all the other 7 pages of data was needed) how does one address dealing with Asrar Derangement Syndrome? Well, the only thing that works is to just separate yourself from it and move on with your life, if other people wish to stay in this toxic ecosystem, as the best self-help expert alive today says, let them.

How to address Asrar Derangement Syndrome.

To fix the internal problems with your labels roster, it just takes better screening/conversations with the bands to figure out what everybody’s goals are so you know if you’re barking up the right tree. Getting any of these releases done that are worth doing is very hard, usually very slow or there is some other thing that isn’t the way it’s supposed to be (yes, Asrar can get it done in high quality but the problem is that everyone will be pissed because Asrar is releasing it) with many people not being up for the task. One of the main things that your job as a label owner is to do is to figure that out and if the issues can’t be worked on, then that band needs to be somebody else’s problem as you are not the correct vehicle to get it done. Basic common sense.

A vast majority of the bands who took money from Asrar took the money because nobody was paying that which is something that will partially be corrected by the free market adapting to this (as I outlined above, if you can press/move 500 LPS then a payment of 1000 is entirely possible) which will also lead to an emphasis on quality control. Asrar, however, made the mistake that many wealthy sport teams owners make, which is overpaying for talent so simply offering more money is difficult and takes a specific kind of appreciation for the recording one wants to pay money for, that most people don’t have. Black balling, canceling releases (which I have done, to my negative benefit), or refusing to do business with bands/labels (another mistake I made as many other bigger companies just hold their noses and stock Asrar’s products to fund themselves) entirely does not work and when one lays it out, obviously it is just walking into a wall repeatedly rather than solving the problem. Repressing something Asrar released, just so a different label’s logo is on the jacket doesn’t work unless the product is somehow different/better. While people tell me they will happily destroy any Ragnarok/Asrar BBH presses, should new ones ever materialize, I doubt this will take place. I’ve stocked represses of Asrar releases done on other labels and nobody buys them in large enough amounts to write home about. These are also obviously a complete waste of resources that could be simply directed towards a new project for a better outcome. Some of this may change should the economy improve, but the type of nerds in Black Metal who must own every version of every album are rare and usually have a mental drive where they wouldn’t care enough to not buy something because of who released it.

The various split releases where one party authorized a repress of the entire thing are resolved by people simply keeping the original releases in print and the companies producing the splits maintaining a presence of over the product/people involved to prevent this. Split releases themselves are gradually declining out of favor anyway in favor of more albums or joint projects together and I suspect that the concept of a split release in general will eventually die off or be reserved for situations where it is necessary to fill time. Originally split releases were designed for promotional purposes (7-inch singles) with the material eventually being re-recorded or reissued on stand alone releases. The notion of some well-known band helping some newer band to get promotion by doing a split release doesn’t work as most of the people will only be interested in the more well-known band anyway. It is also worth noting that unless the artists on the split see some genuine purpose to be on a record together, it won’t materialize at all or will be extremely difficult to get done. Should any artist that got their material re-printed without their consent feel the need to make a version they support, they obviously should be free to do so but ideally should find a way to make the new product consumable.

The ideological decay within the culture of black metal itself will never be able to be resolved, this includes the bootlegs, inability to get products over with consumers and fretting about this stuff from a moral perspective does not work. As I said above the only way to avoid having your stuff bootlegged is to keep it in print to deflate any demand caused by a lack of supply. Originally around 2019/2020 or so a pressing plant was opened in Europe to allow for many of these records to be manufactured (as most pressing plants will not work on explicit black metal) and another one was opened in the USA this or last year. The European plant (which is located in Italy and follows the same poor business characteristics exuded by all Italians, including Asrar, where you are just expected to pay then put up with all their dysfunctional nonsense) is improperly managed by its owner (in part due to lack of adequate staffing) and is handicapped by where it is physically located. The American plant has proven to be disrespectful of copyrights and like all manufacturing here is extremely expensive, especially for runs under 500-1000 which means that it will not work out as advertised. Asrar was able to go around all these problems through having his own printing contacts, moving his base of operations to where this factory was located and while I have pressed at this factory (anyone can replicate any of Asrar’s “quality” (including the interior pantone flood) to their heart’s content, however usually people who consider “quality” as part of a products identity will considering anything to be lower quality unless it is the exact thing they do) it is expensive unless you are located near it. So, then the focus must be shifted towards products that can be made somewhere appropriate to the label releasing it and said product also needs to be something that can be promoted/sold (putting a swastika or other symbol on an album cover now is just a sign of poor musical quality) to a consumer base which is a detail most labels that are in the situation I’m describing do not focus on.

Asrar having more money than you, releasing stuff you want or wish you could have pressed is actually a very easy problem to solve, one just has to make two specific realizations about their situation and then address certain things internally if this a label setting. The first is that you do not want the thing as bad as you think that you do if you did you would simply go purchase it or do something to generate income to fund the manufacturing. The second relates to stuff that is already in existence, which is that one must accept the fact that they were late and it exists then find some other project to direct their efforts toward. Any label who gets their signature releases ripped off (which is a core reason of why so many people are upset with Asrar IMO) needs to just look internally to figure out why they aren’t doing whatever it is that they wish to do. This action will instantly illuminate many problems within your enterprise that likely need to be resolved, however fixing many of these things is difficult and there will be multiple situations that likely will have to be written off at a loss of some sort, which depending on one’s business structure or tax situation will come with its own specific challenges.

The answer to deal with Asrar directly is that there is not one beyond simply not responding until he either exhausts himself or you move onto to some other thing to direct your energy towards, so basically to just live your life. If he releases something you want to own, purchase it and move on about your day as you will not die by owning one of his products. Attempting physical violence or gruella warfare sabotage of his activities will not work, if his means of production stops, he presses enough volume where he would be able to locate or build another factory. While BBH has enough money involved with it due to their large catalog where a legal challenge could be mounted had the Russians had their act together, most black metal records do not yield a return at a dollar amount that a court would hear nor would any settlement be worth the legal expenses. It is worth also noting that should Asrar somehow be removed from the UGBM scene, some other morally flawed entity would rise to take his place. As I have stated multiple times, black metal arrived at this point through sheer mental incompetence and a lack of business ethics, this is the time to pay for the sins of the past.

So now, finally we come to the completely flawed and disastrous response to anything Asrar does by a certain noisy minority within the black metal scene who do not have the capacity to process his existence. The entire purpose of this publication was to throw all of you guys under the bus, not to slander or do anything to Asrar as there are many communities online whining about the big bad evil Persian bootlegger who would love the company of others rather than accept that this is karmic retribution. While that may not be what some people want to hear, it is what everyone needs to hear so that we can all become detached from this and move forward. People have become programmed to expound the same retarded stuff and recycled facts online to everyone regardless of everyone already knowing them, I’ve experienced this first hand as my Facebook profile does not have Vega360 or CosmicWeaponofThule on it so people just assume I’m either just some random guy clueless to everything, some paid spokesperson for Asrar (as there a people out there who just transmit back to him every piece of information about him online to gain more pointless scene points) or more likely don’t care because they have become programmed to just pontificate all this stuff, which only inadvertently promotes Asrar. Allow me to repeat myself, calling Asrar some insult online does either nothing because people already know this or makes people want to investigate his company further, even potentially (numerous marketing studies on the failure of slanderous ads) feeling sorry for him. The results of any such investigation would produce the following conclusions, that Asrar is a controversial mail order/label with products distributed worldwide and has a proven track record of manufacturing an extremely large volume of high-quality goods that may have some issues with their licensing, mooted by the lack of readily available alternatives. You in the end look also look like a drama queen, complaining online rather than doing something about the problem.

The only argument that can be made against Asrar’s activities by anybody outside of legal position (which as I’ve already explained, is unlikely to be covered under modern law or taken seriously) or potentially a tax authority (which again is not you and removing Asrar just makes a void for some other person to fill) is one on moral grounds. Any moral argument is immediately invalidated because black metal has simply regressed to a bleak materialistic point where the customers don’t care (the main mistake in all of this was underestimating how shallow the mindset of many of these modern black metal consumers is) or as stated for the umpteenth time, no alternatives exist. Let’s examine the moral argument, you have a claim on moral grounds to justify being upset under the following circumstances: 1. Bootlegs are inherently wrong. 2. You do not agree with Asrar on political grounds. 3. Asrar did something that basically ripped you off, someone you know off, did something you wanted to do or otherwise is just somebody you don’t like. If someone can come up with some other moral position I haven’t mentioned, that is fine please feel free to plead your case wherever you see fit.

Point one, bootlegs are inherently wrong. In my opinion the only time a bootleg is wrong is if it is a blatantly forgery or theft as anything bootlegged is something that usually has a reason behind it. People don’t normally mass produce stuff with a high risk for repercussions if that recording is widely available. This entire article has made the case that Asrar is simply filling these grey areas that were allowed to come into being so anyone still confused on the subject should simply re-read the previous eleven pages. If there is a demand, somebody will attempt to meet it, which are common principles of business. Other people may disagree with it, which is fine however as indicated by the free market, you are not in the majority on this issue.

Point two, you do not agree with Asrar on political grounds. While I don’t personally care what the political beliefs are of anybody who reads this as I’m secure enough in what I think is right to allow for other viewpoints to exist, somebody objecting to Asrar releasing NSBM is likely beyond the scope of this article. It is worth noting that greed is likely to be the political party followed by Asrar as he has openly released numerous things in ideological contradiction to one another and would likely release a radically Zionist recording to trigger everyone online if such things existed. Individual identity politics within music went out the door long before Asrar was probably even born.

Point three, basically Asrar did something you didn’t like. While if you or somebody you know had something stolen from them does give you a leg to stand on, you are basically pushing a boulder up a hill for a pyric victory. Many people will assume this position because they mistake that their actual motivation (which is jealously) belongs under this umbrella. This is what has led to Asrar Derangement Syndrome with people basically becoming zombies that do nothing long term beyond promoting Asrar’s newest drop or product. He knows this, everyone knows this and if it were all to stop tomorrow people would be bored with his profits, suffering modestly at best. Under the guise of this there have been three major attempts (one of which is still ongoing) to stop Asrar (mostly through Smear tactics) that have not worked, hopefully when there is a fourth, I will not know anything about it nor have anything to do with it. These will be discussed in and out of chronological order.

The first one of these was affiliated with Vothana that culminated in one of the Hot Shower concerts featuring the smashing of Atesh records onstage billed as a real-world repudiation of Asrar. While everyone had a good time, many of these broken records were simply taken off the ground after the festival to be resold online as collector’s items. Vothana was already linked as being anti-Asrar by having Asrar’s logo crossed out on some of the represses done by Darker than Black so the bands reputation has forever been intertwined with Asrar (so basically stained) with some mentally ill person becoming fixated on the drama so much that they felt the need to write gay themed fanfiction about the subject where Vothana & Asrar engage in some kind of romance. Countless unauthorized memes have been made with the likenesses of both Vothana & Asrar with people left waiting around for the next installment. Asrar is still in business and I highly doubt anybody learned anything from the ordeal that they didn’t already know. This campaign is the only one I don’t hold any negative opinions on and I wish for the tone of this to be undertaken as informative if anything.

The second one of these was an intimidation campaign mounted by the Ukrainian company MZ (of Russian origin) in response to all the Blazebirth Hall bootlegs released by Asrar & Ragnarok. This one of the three was the only one partially successful enough as much of the tide against Asrar turned with his concert that was dubbed Kebab-fest (the original title was some Persian name nobody remembers) almost being cancelled when many of the bands dropped (the ONSP also declined to attend fearing physical retaliation from the Italian RAC scene) from the bill. I remember experiencing this unfolding in real time feeling like I was a supporting character in a movie with own villain to fight (some British distro ran by another mentally unstable kid not cut out for BM) at the end. While this one had its successes, the overall logic was flawed. An example of this was that MZ doxed a bunch of Russian people involved with Ragnarok records, one of whom was the band Sternatis who was outed as being an actor of Jewish ancestry. Prior to all of this being made public, I purchased the licensing rights for a cassette version of the Sternatis album “Blazebirth Hall” from Drakkar. However, the logic of these people was that if you cooperate with Asrar, Ragnarok and anyone on that side of the drama (so thus Sternatis) you could potentially be disqualified from distribution of legitimate BBH represses done by MZ (two of which were scheduled to be released by them at a later date) or other entities. While this was never explicitly stated anywhere, the maturity level is Black Metal is low enough where people will withhold the distribution or retail sale of products over petty dramas (I’ve been requested multiple times to blacklist multiple different people from my mail-order over these things, which is a long term mistake no label owner should ever agree to) like this. When I wrote to MZ explaining to them my situation, I was simply told “oh well, we don’t think anyone will purchase this Sternatis release from you” with no positive assurances that I wouldn’t be retaliated against for releasing this. Roughly a year later I would release the Sternatis cassette, that to this day has not sold due to the list price with me still having a license for a second pressing at a later date. No BBH represses from MZ have been released (I am also likely not eligible to distribute them, nor would I even be interested given how poorly ran many of these mail-orders selling these must have items are) with the only excuse being the Ukrainian war, so thus everyone continues to deal in Asrar’s bootleg products. Asrar is still in business, however many supporters left and he would relocate to Estonia after this with his reputation in ruins. Very likely I will be purchasing copies of the various BBH bootleg editions when my personal finances allow for me to do so, if I still care about owning physical copies of these enough to buy them.

The third of which is currently an online smear campaign that is still ongoing. The main origin of this was a thread started by a Belgian individual on The Black Vault internet forum (a board I was the on paper owner of for it’s first five years under the user name CosmicWeaponofThule before I was ousted ((then subsequently voluntarily leaving/thus banned) due to a business dispute with another American company who chose to threaten blackmail to the administration of the forum because I posed the question of why he had time among all his DUI’s to make threads about Judas Iscariot while ghosting his customers, business contacts etc.) like the third world African dictator I choose as an avatar convey authority to over a bunch of internet mongoloids) in a their label mail-order sub-forum. Said thread would expound some 50+ pages of arguing before the administration would to my understanding (this happened after I left) permanently closed it. Was there any direct coordination for this campaign? No. There was no ringleader, it was just a loosely formed discussion by people online who were wound up over the problems. Prior to this article, this thread was the only real major online compendium about Asrar, however I should’ve realized then what I know that which is that all this drama is unhealthy, serving no major purpose other than being a giant advertisement for Asrar. Me along with another individual during this time would pay for 1000+ Anti-Asrar flyers (the guy we paid to print them was doing deals with Asrar as we were working him to print these flyers, which should underscore what his motivations were) that would be distributed in bulk with my mail-order packages or in trades to my contacts. While they are still probably in circulation today, I don’t think they were effective as Asrar is still in business. Other Winter Solace flyers had other details about Asrar in opiniated statements that wouldn’t do anything other than make people think I was a drama queen and one customer would take his band to Asrar for a cash payment (negatively affecting a friends business interests) after receiving one with his order. The climate that allowed me to mount such an online campaign is what led me to do other actions which would eventually be part of the reason my relationship with the TBV staff soured enough to the point where I had to leave. My business reputation was significantly impacted by this where it has affected both mail-order sales and business deals, so the end of this campaign I mounted was that Asrar is still in business with me being negatively impacted, not what I intended to have happen. This campaign manifests itself today on social media, other places (even though I don’t care enough to seek these out) and Reddit, with people being so brainwashed by everything that I’m assumed to be an Asrar supporter now by simply stating how stupid this entire thing is from a perspective of experience. I personally hope that these new campaigns are just done away with now so that somebody doesn’t end up like me with their reputation in ruins over something that is so stupid. I could’ve used all that time/energy to focus on Winter Solace stuff and probably been much better off in the end.

The only point left to make about this subject is that like any typical disruptor much of what has disrupted by the actions from Asrar has left enough positive stuff in it’s wake that people should take the time to notice: more bands are paid now, a bigger focus exists on trademark, a bunch of stuff that bands refused to release eventually was or is going to be released and an opportunity is to be had for personal growth. I personally hope that people learned something from the 15 pages of dialog and I humbly request that nobody tag me in anything related to Asrar drama. I will also be either unfollowing or just blocking people stupid enough to run his ads for him now. Requests to take down any information presented here will be either ignored or met with retaliation (don’t think Idi Amin is dead because he left TBV, he’s just retired) as while a reputation is something in black metal to be extremely protective of for success, anybody stupid enough to take the money deserves to have egg on their face over this. Also, should anyone attempt to claim defamation by anything printed here, they only person defamed by this in any way is likely the guy who wrote it so maybe I could sue myself to realize I have no money to press anything. As of 6:18 PM on Sunday, November 30^th I am officially done with any Asrar related drama and am finally free from Asrar Derangement Syndrome.

WS/CosmicWeaponofThule
www.wintersolaceproductions.com
contact@wintersolaceproductions.com
Wisconsin, USA, 11/30/2025.