On The Promise Of The Moon, the atmospheric second LP from agricultural death metal quintet REEKING AURA, is now streaming in its engulfing entirety on the eve of its release through Profound Lore Records.
While its members are all longtime veterans of the New York City/New Jersey underground, REEKING AURA’s encompassing sound is equal parts captivatingly immersive and utterly devastating, infusing technicality with infectious melodies and curious tones into their thundering foundation of East Coast brutal death metal. The band began in 2019 and promptly recorded their debut EP, Beneath The Canopy Of Compost, and debut album, Blood And Bonemeal, both with Colin Marston in Queens, NYC, followed by the succinctly savage Fires In Deep Frost EP in February of 2025. In addition to playing gigs supporting Malevolent Creation, Horrendous, Crypt Sermon, and Mortician, they have toured the Northeast and Southeast US with Replicant, Atoll, Pyrexia, Hath, Animals Killing People, False Gods, and Carrion Vael.
With their formidable presence now well-known far beyond their hometown region, REEKING AURA arrives with their monstrous second album On The Promise Of The Moon. Returning from the first album are guitarists Terrell Grannum (Thaetas), and Rick Habeeb (Grey Skies Fallen, Buckshot Facelift) as well as vocalist William Smith (Afterbirth, Buckshot Facelift, ex-Artificial Brain). Drummer Hudson Barth (Trog) and bassist TJ Coon (Trog, Sentient Horror) round-out the lineup, and bring fresh blood to the band, with all members having contributed to the writing process of the new record.
Tracked by Keith Moore at OK Recording Studios in Kinderhook, New York, mixed and mastered by the legendary Dan Swanö (Bloodbath, Edge Of Sanity, Grey Skies Fallen), and completed with cover art by premier Moldova painter Ion Carchelan, On The Promise Of The Moon builds on the REEKING AURA sound with an ominous, melodic atmosphere that does not compromise their brutal, guttural New York death metal roots. The album also features contributions from guest vocalists Eston Browne (Vulnificus) and Jon Berg (The Path), as well as string arrangements by Ben Karas (Slaughtersun).
Decimate everything in earshot with REEKING AURA’s On The Promise Of The Moon, now streaming on YouTube RIGHT HERE.
On The Promise Of The Moon will be released on LP, CD, and digital formats this Friday, April 17th via Profound Lore. Find preorders, presaves, and merch where the “What Only Worms Witness” visualizer and “Sifting For Fungal Inheritance (A Mildewey, Alcrid Mulch)” video are playing HERE.
REEKING AURA Live:
5/09/2026 Rage Of Metaljuana @ The Meadows – Brooklyn, NY w/ Sathanas, Sickbay
7/19/2026 TBA – Philadelphia, PA
“Brutality isn’t everything. Yes, even when it comes to death metal. Listen, we all love an album written to peel the scalp off your skull, but if that’s all a band’s offering nowadays, they’re probably gonna fall short. REEKING AURA get it, and On The Promise Of The Moon is the proof… And that is consistent throughout the album, with the band turning what could have been rote sections into hooks, layering melodies and adding clean passages that aren’t just volume breaks, but have their own dynamics and emotional builds.” – Decibel Magazine
“While Smith tried to stay within the agricultural death metal realm, he still references an astonishing amount of themes throughout the record… When it’s laid out end to end, the blistering career of REEKING AURA is a powerful achievement…” – New Noise Magazine
“From the moment the album begins, REEKING AURA wastes no time establishing a suffocating atmosphere, while the more in-your-face production makes the music feel like it’s trying to cave in your chest.” – Metal Epidemic
“Their melodic, doomy take on death metal is once again bursting with earworm riffs, but this time, it suggests a wider array of influences, including black metal (‘What Only Worms Witness’) and even some rollicking d-beat action (‘Sifting for Fungal Inheritance,’ ‘Forlorn and Frozen Vapor’). Plus, you’ve got the inimitable Big Will bringing the gurgles and growls, so you know you’re in for some primo nastiness.” – Invisible Oranges
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