The Norwegian thrashers were formed circa 1995 and didn't waste time talking to colleagues at Hot Records about releasing an EP called Dreams Like Deserts. 2001's Increased Damnation on Hammerheart Records is a mix of live, demo and tracks from an unfulfilled 1997 EP with the latter's tracks recorded with Fenriz of Darkthrone on vocals.

Apollyon and Aggressor toured North America with Cadaver Inc. in 2002.

Nocturno Culto and Fenriz of Darkthrone founded Tyrant Syndicate Records in collaboration with Peaceville Productions in 2004. The label's first release was Aura Noir's The Merciless. Live Nightmare On Elm Street was recorded live in 1996. The band released a new album, called Hades Rise, on August 25th of 2008.

AURA NOIR - THE MERCILESS - TYRANT SYNDICATE
After a long absence Aura Noir are back for their third full-length with a line-up that again includes Mayhem's Blasphemer. The Merciless is the first release on Fenriz's new label and probably an obvious choice considering Fenriz had Aura Noir featured on his recent The Best Of Old-School Black Metal compilation. Unfortunately Blood Unity featured on the aforementioned Best Of sounded superior to anything found here. The songs on The Merciless are more basic and have less of the thrash metal influence than one might hope and expect. The opener Upon The Dark Throne reminds one of the earliest days of black metal, so do Condor, Black Metal Law, and Hell's Fire all the way to the penultimate song Sordid. Every song takes the listener back to the old days of Venom, Bathory and earliest works of Sodom. The only exception is the final and title track, Merciless which borrows and has more of the thrash metal sound and manages to raise the overall quality and speed of the album thus providing a highlight to end the CD. - Anna Tergel