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Hiding- 'Hiding' (Stream)

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The Oregon scene is particularly fertile right now, and although it has been for a while, it’s also not particularly visible to those that don’t live and go to shows there. Now, eyes and ears from other parts of the country are more are focused on bands from Salem, Eugene and Portland as countless metal bands of all stripes are starting to tour more and put out music that can’t be overlooked. In particular doom and black metal are getting attention. Two Eugene bands, Tormentium and Hiding, are poised to jump out of the local scene and into the larger spotlight.

Tormentium, a black metal band that has been playing for about 10 years, recently premiered two tracks from their new album, Bound to the Depths, on No Clean Singing. Hiding, a relatively new deathy black doom band which formed about a year and a half ago and which in fact shares a member with Tormentium, offers the two tracks from their new cassette here today.

The cassette, out on Belief Mower Records, was recorded with members JS (guitar and vocals), WB (drums) and AGH (guitar and vocals), but the band recently recruited ME as a bassist and vocalist who will travel with them as they embark upon their West Coast tour starting April 8. “The new member adds a whole other layer to bring in the low end for more resounding depth,” says AGH. “It creates a more whole painting of what we envision our sound as.”

That sound is decidedly raw, creepy and anguished. Compared to other bands that AGH has been in, such as Hallow and Rye Wolves, among several others, that sound is more refined and yet even more pessimistic. “People have said we sound like we’re in actual pain,” says AGH. “And I am in actual pain, I live with chronic pain, so that is conveyed in the music. The physical and mental anguish is all there.”

The two tracks, “Saudade” and “Ill Wind,” total just under 25 minutes. AGH says more material is written for a full-length featuring a triple vocal attack that will be coming in the not too distant future. For now, AGH provides most of the screams and wails, with JS ominously stepping up for a double vocal attack and WB propelling everything forward with his drumming. Hard to believe this deep, dark din is made with no bass.

“Saudade,” a Portuguese word that claims no direct translation in English, describes a longing to a time from the past. “What we long for calls to us and yet we know that we live in a world where a return to the thing we long for is impossible to achieve,” says AGH. “It’s a longing for the old ways. ‘IIl Wind’ is about nature but it’s also esoteric and misanthropic.”

“Saudade,” the longest track at 13 minutes, starts with slowly building crescendos of darkness. Make sure you listen past the 8-minute mark, when the anguish becomes a bloodletting. Listen for a further two minutes until it becomes a mid-tempo headbanger. “Ill Wind” presents a harsher and more pummeling dose of hatred throughout the course of its 10 minutes. Listen to the two tracks below. Each cassette comes with a download code. Hiding is on tour from April 1 to April 12.

Tour Dates:
April 1, Black Lodge, Seattle, Washington, with Caligula Cartel, Of Corpse, Samesex Dictator and Anteinforno
April 2, High Water Mark, Portland, Oregon, with Hell, Un and Hissing
April 3, Cryptatropa, Olympia, Washington, with Huldekrall and Cavernous Womb
April 4, Siren Song, Eureka, California, with Golden Raven
April 6, The Blue Lagoon, Santa Cruz, California, with Power From Hell, Gorphyryac and Dead War
April 7, Golden Bull, Oakland, California, with Ehecatl, Thaobath and Super Coffin
April 8, Star Bar, Los Angeles, California, with Ritual
April 9, Blacklight District Lounge, Long Beach, California, with Miscreancy, Wickeds End, Mutagen and others
April 12, Old Nick’s, Eugene, Oregon, with Uada