A few weeks ago, a digital flier popped up in my e-mail alerting me to the upcoming Negură Bunget North American tour, about as exciting a thing as I could imagine finding in my inbox. It made me come to two conclusions: First, it’s a miracle Pittsburgh is getting one of the tour dates because we almost always get passed by for tours such as these. Second, I need to do more stuff about Archaic North Entertainment, the label that’s sponsoring the tour and releases music by some pretty awesome artists.

The site got its start about a decade ago when Mark Howitt was playing in the band Fleshcraft (that eventually morphed into Wolven Ancestry) and decided he wanted to give other touring musicians a helping hand. That built into Archaic North booking regular shows in Northern Ontario, founding the Sudbury Metal Feast (2011 was the sixth anniversary of the event), and eventually setting up the record label end of the business in 2007. Wolven Ancestry gave Archaic North its official kickoff into the record business with their “The Wrath of Gaia,” and eventually the group Empyrean Plague joined the fold as their second official act. The floodgates opener from there, and they now have a whole slew of varied acts on their impressive roster. Archaic North also boasts services such as merch manufacturing, graphic design and artist management.

Today, we have two of Archaic North’s more recent releases from bands that really don’t sound a thing like each other despite both meeting in the black metal wilderness. That said, both bands and their records are ripe for crossover appeal as well, so maybe they can find some friends among listeners they ordinarily would not have attracted.