Neurosis Live at Portland, OR's Hawthorne Theater
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Over Thanksgiving weekend the Hawthorne Theater in Portland, Oregon played host to two sold out evenings of Neurosis, with support by Yob and Kowloon Walled City–cause for celebration, given the infrequency with which Neurosis make their presence known in the pacific northwest. The distinguished billing of Neurot label mates without the distraction of any filler bands is about as much as any soggy metal loving Portlander could ask for.
The evening commenced at 8:00pm when Kowloon Walled City took the stage and Scott Evans said “Let’s get this over with.” They initially offered two cuts from their 2012 release, Container Ships, and one cut from 2009’s Gambling on the Richter Scale, before launching into tracks from their most recent effort, Grievances. The recipe didn’t change dramatically on any of these cuts: slow, heavy chords and Evans’ perpetually horse drill sergeant’s shout. The Grievances tracks are slightly less sludgy, with more dramatic pauses to up the tension level before releasing into huge dissonant explosions
Neurosis knew what they were doing when they added local favorite Yob to the bill. The press of bodies reached the back wall and gave full voice to their admiration as Yob eased into a bowel churning and bass heavy assault. The highlight of any Yob set, aside from the thundering sludge doom that is their stock and trade, is the vocal stylings and joyful exuberance of lead singer Mike Scheidt. He moved from high shrill wailing to guttural growl with the occasional cavernous and unearthly roar. His range along with the overall power and heavy ferocity of their set was an excellent foil for what was to come.
If Neurosis followed typical tour protocol, they would have served up a heavy dose of their most recent release, Fires Within Fires. Neurosis aren’t typical. Instead they opted to celebrate their entire catalog, diving back to the early 90’s to start, with “Lost”, off of Enemy of the Sun, and then pulled from their entire discography. Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till passed vocal duties back and forth, trading verse for verse with the occasional screaming line from Dave Edwardson. They kept the stage typically dark between songs, letting the tension build with each new offering. Finally, they went deep again to finish off the evening with the title track from Through Silver in Blood. It would be hard to pinpoint a highlight of the evening as there were many and of course everyone will have their own. In two or three years, perhaps they’ll come back and give another opportunity to make that choice.
–Josh Nichols
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Screaming Bloody Oranges, Episode #13: L-G Petrov, RIP (1972-2021)
On March 7th, 2021, Lars Göran Petrov (known as L-G for short), most renowned as the long time vocalist of Swedish death metal originators Entombed, passed away from bile duct cancer. Petrov's diagnosis was revealed last August, setting up a Gofundme campaign to help pay his medical bills in dealing with what he described was an incurable disease. In this sense, it can’t be claimed to be a surprise, but the inevitable (as he himself had described it) coming true still sent shockwaves through the metal community. Fans from across the world shared their sorrow online while fellow contemporary musicians and his own former bandmates honored his history and impact.
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https://youtu.be/oX4KTg3W3Bc...
Petrov’s career extends from some of the earliest beginnings of the Swedish extreme metal scene to participating with some of the metal world’s more recent stars. He actually got his start as the drummer for proto-black metal legends Morbid, playing alongside "Dead" Per Yngve Ohlin before he subsequently left to join Mayhem, leaving to then become a founding member of the prototypical demo-days death metal band Nihilist. After a line-up shuffle Nihilist would become Entombed and their debut album Left Hand Path became the breakout release for the entire Swedish death metal scene, breaking ground that not only every other contemporary band would follow but future generations of Swedish metalheads would tread upon to reach global shores....
https://youtu.be/uNi0tsCU-6g...
Besides a singular absence on Entombed’s second release, Petrov remained Entombed’s vocalist through seven more albums (including the death n’ roll genre defining Wolverine Blues) until fissures split the group in 2014 and legal proceedings prompted him to continue separated from all his original bandmates with Entombed A.D.. Even while playing in one of death metal’s most legendary bands, Petrov found time to roar in other acts like Comecon and Firespawn. He was also able to lend his ferocious pipes as a guest on recordings for numerous acts including Amon Amarth, Rotten Sound, and Volbeat. In the spirit of wanting to show respect and admiration to a fallen hero of the metal community, Invisible Oranges has gathered a number of our writers/staff to pay tribute on the Screaming Bloody Oranges podcast. Join us as we give a final guttural scream out to the void for one of our own who left far too soon.—Joe Aprill
What man has created, Man can destroy, Bring to light, That day of joy
—Entombed, "Left Hand Path"
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https://youtu.be/yuZ1UKKsMCs...
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Listen and subscribe to Screaming Bloody Oranges: The Invisible Oranges Podcast on the following platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | PodbeanEnforced’s High-Powered Crossover Thrash Overloads The “Kill Grid” (Review)
Crossover/thrash metal has never exactly been the genre most known for its media exposure, especially on major metal labels. However, with the political nature of the United States in 2021 being the way that it is—especially suited for the anger and vitriol of thrash and crossover—this might be the perfect storm for Enforced to bring more fans under their banner. Enforced themselves are a dual threat, with a sound much like Power Trip and High Command of recent, but also reminiscent of early Corrosion Of Conformity and Cryptic Slaughter to boot. It's a vile mixture that couples well with their Richmond, Virginia roots and their obvious neighbors like Municipal Waste, Lamb of God, and GWAR. Needless to say, the stakes are high for Kill Grid, the band’s second proper album and their debut on Century Media Records. Only two years after their debut, At The Walls, Enforced seem ready to be a part of the collective metal consciousness. "The Doctrine" gets things started right with swirling riffs courtesy of Will Wagstaff and Zach Monahan and barked vocals from Knox Colby, while bassist Ethan Gensurowsky's bass lines are fat and Alex Bishop's drums are fast and furious. Taking their formula a step further early on in the album, "UXO" features the band getting heavily melodic on their solos; it feels like the band wants to pay homage to more of the neoclassical guitar sounds of the Andy LaRocques of the world.
—Tom Campagna
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1loT9DadlI—Tom Campagna
Joe Petagno’s artwork is a wonderful addition to the fracas, seeing as he is a scene veteran himself; he was also responsible for the great artwork from Plague Years' own crossover release from 2020, Circle of Darkness. Both examples vividly encapsulate the overwhelming feelings that one may experience from listening to this all-encompassing thrashing madness. Enforced clearly enjoy the black and white aesthetic that their album artwork adheres to; like the music, it doesn't just keep it simple, it keeps it dismal. The album’s title track and centerpiece, "Kill Grid," is the longest track by nearly two minutes and allows itself to settle in slowly, like many similar title tracks from classic thrash albums like Ride The Lightning and Beneath the Remains, before launching headlong into more a more furious and frenetic pace. This track's overall atmosphere in particular feels much like Power Trip’s Nightmare Logic—it's worth noting that the great Arthur Rizk is also at the mixing board here, and he knows exactly what kind of sound crossover bands need to have. A sense of death emanates from everything: from the guitar tones to the drum beats. In a 'smoke-clearing-before-we find-the-bodies' kind of way, the song ends in what feels like a post-apocalyptic "Marche Funebre" before finally having the life choked out of it. "Curtain Fire" features more of that floor-punching feeling that the early Leeway and Cro-Mags albums did, with limbs and riffs meant to be flying around the room with no regard for your general vicinity. In fact, Kill Grid gives very few, if any, breaks to the listener within these seething 42 minutes and if it wasn’t very evident that this was their aim, then you clearly weren't paying attention. Enforced has coined the term "Pure Crossover Death" to describe their sound: they know that destruction is more than merely an expectation; it is a requirement. Knox Colby’s vocal approach feels like the likely successor to the late great Riley Gale of Power Trip in terms of a raw and venomous approach to the style. Alongside Kevin Fitzgerald (High Command) and Tim Englehardt (Plague Years) with Colby to round out this trio, crossover thrash is in great hands for the years to come, and expect Enforced to destroy stages with aplomb when our world eventually returns to a more recognizable form. With Kill Grid, Enforced has firmly planted themselves in the conversation of the modern metal elite; this is a suffocating sophomore release full of vitriol, desperation, death, and throttling tunes. An album that’s this angry feels like it solidly belongs to this global-scale dystopia which we now inhabit. We are living in the Kill Grid; they just gave us the soundtrack.—Tom Campagna
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Kill Grid released on March 12th, 2021 via Century Media. The black vinyl is available on the BrooklynVegan webshop.Entry Level: Matt Bacon Meets SubRosa
Entry Level is a new series where musicians re-examine the records that piqued their interests in heavy and loud music as children and young adults.
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The year is 2013. I’m 17 years old listening to all the albums on the year end lists on this very website [Editor's Note: awww]. I had been into underground metal for a few years at this point and had discovered some of my favorite bands already. But Subrosa just hit different. From the acapella intro of More Constant Than The Gods I knew I was onto something new. What I did not realize was that this was the band who would change my life. Six months later I’m at Hellfest and I meet the band. I immediately told them I was obsessed with their music. Even then we could all tell… we got along really well. I proceeded to see them live three more times that year. I began to build deep friendships with the band members. In the hardest time of my life, their music, and they as people were there for me, a weird, underweight teenager....
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I proceeded to see them some 20-odd times over the next five years in seven(?) states and three countries. The highlight was being invited to perform with the band as part of their choir at Roadburn. Some of my favorite memories of life in the underground metal scene come from this band. They may not have been my introduction to the world of doom, but they were the band who brought me into the community. The ones who gave me a place, even if that place was "Subrosa’s Number One Fan." Their drummer, Andy Patterson -- a veteran of bands like Shelter, Inside Out and State of the Nation -- has become my personal scene elder. Insect Ark drafting him on my personal recommendation is one of the great honors of my life. Frontwoman and guitarist Rebecca Vernon remains a close confidante and beloved friend who I am still in a book club with to this day. Before the band broke up in 2019, Rebecca actually called me to let me know about the breakup in advance. I was pretty heartbroken. However, I know I will always have these five amazing records to guide me through the dark. Anthemic, powerful, tear jerking, Subrosa will always be my favorite doom metal band for both the amazing music, and the world they introduced me to. Subrosa are one of a kind, and I will be forever grateful for what they did for me.-Matt Bacon
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Matt Bacon is a metal social media marketing advice guru. You've probably seen videos of him smoking a cigar in front of a blue door....
Crypts’ Murderous Rites Summon The “Coven of the Dead” (Full Album Stream)
Despite the name, Crypts doesn't have that much in common with resting places for the dead. The dead are motionless—or at best, shambling—and the warmongering death metal that Crypts practices is an unceasing march towards front line annihilation. Melody, subtlety, rest—topics for another day. Without pause and without hesitation, the German death metallers' new album Coven of the Dead hurls listeners into bloody, unending chaos. This is the death metal of the soon-to-be-dead. Listen to Coven of the Dead below in full with our exclusive premiere.
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I do want to point out a particularly satisfying connection between the band and their name, though: the drums on this album feels they've been walled off in a tomb of their own, each snare hit thudding into existence like a skeletal hand on a coffin lid. It gives the fast-paced death metal a sepulchral quality that drapes the otherwise completely relentless proceedings in an appropriately dour shroud. If the first few tracks seem intense, "Nuclear Vengeance" takes the threat level up another notch, cranking up the speed and aggression for the shortest track on the record. For the most part, Coven of the Dead operates in that medium-fast sweet spot where each note in a chugging death metal riff gets just enough time to hammer away, but there's shifts in pace to keep it from getting predictable. On the penultimate title track, things get appropriately spooky: ghostly synthesizers float into the album for the first time (and that element sticks around for the closing track "Paura"), offering more dynamic pacing that provides some relief from the pitched battles conducted up to that point. Fittingly, "Paura" concludes with a reflective choral progression that plays over fading guitar feedback and whispered vocals: deathly quiet wins out at last....
Coven of the Dead releases March 19th, 2021 via This Charming Man Records.…
Neurosis
The Noctambulant Wields A “Hellrazor” of Wicked Black Steel (Early EP Stream + Track-by-Track)
The night holds many terrors, and the black-clad Floridian quartet The Noctambulant are chief among them. Returning to the realms of original material after knocking out a few covers during quarantine, their new Hellrazor EP shows a take on melodic black metal that wades into swampy, darkened black-n'-roll as well. They've tightened the screws, turned off all the lights, and sharpened their bladed assault into a gloomy, death-dealing affair. We're streaming the EP in full now, plus a track-by-track rundown of it from the band.
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The title track highlights what caught my attention about this release: the driving black metal here isn't just theatrical and inventive, it's hook-laden and catchy as well. Unforgiving riffs, delivered with a well-calibrated mix of oppressive atmosphere and impactful punch, hit just right while the pitched growls of frontman E. Helvete make for scream-along-ready choruses. It's memorable (and a little bit nostalgic), and it shows off an unusual variant of melodic black metal that leans on the "rock" side of black-n'-roll a lot more other explorations generally do. Hellrazor even touches on death metal at times, dropping into guttural vocals and letting some festering rot drip into their lethal riffs on occasion. It feels like a counterbalance to the rock-tinged sides of their sound, shaping up into a multi-layered attack like poison on the band's blade. With rarely a wasted second in sight, this tightly-packed EP offers a snapshot of the band's mythology-laced black metal that's as shadow-clad as it is serrated. While you listen to the EP, read the band's comments on each track below—but check out this mood-setting promo pic first....
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Devils in the Dirt: I wanted the intro to evoke specific feelings and sensations of unease and dread. With Franko Carino, we were able to craft a track that conveys exactly that. It's creepy. It's ominous. And it leans into the occult folklore trope we are going for. The title is from 'Southern cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South' by Aaron Oberon. When I saw that phrase, it really stuck with me as something that's powerful and uniquely southern. Hellrazor: The inspiration for Hellrazor was twofold. Growing up in the almost puritanical section of the deep south, and within walking distance of a Strict Baptist church, I grew up with the daily hypocrisy of the community. But also, the almost contradictory folk beliefs of many in the family and surrounding areas. Stories of dark spirits in the swamps, and murder straight razor, or as my great grandfather would call it, the Hell Razor. Blackened Swords of Satan: This track is an homage to the things we loved growing up. Loud rock n roll, wizards, epic metal and clanging of steel. Featuring Mr. Damage of the incredible Chrome Division, let Blackened Swords of Satan take you to a time of knights and demons. G.H.B.M: This song is our take on the apocalyptic hellfire and brimstone sermons of the Strict Baptists I grew up with. Hopeless, impending doom that could only be staved off by one's constant effort at salvation. It reflects the harsh environment of the land. The Florida Swamps, the southern Appalachian mountains. Unforgiving, hopeless, and without remorse, just like their God. Troll Crusher: Another throwback song that is about one of my favorite pastimes, Dungeons and Dragons. I was running a classic and particularly grueling dungeon for my players called the Tomb of Horrors (Gary Gygax, 1978) And after talking to Darin (drums) about how famously difficult it is, he suggested I write a song about it, because what's more authentic then writing a metal song about the nerdiest thing imaginable?...
The Hellrazor EP will be self-released on March 19th. Preorders available via the band's Bandcamp page.Piercing the Veil #1: Froglord Saves the Frogs, Melts Our Faces With Roiling Fuzz
Piercing the Veil is a new column that aims to dive deep into themed bands, exploring what makes their concepts more than just a gimmick. For the entirety of our interview, Sage (the title he wished to be addressed by, drawn from his mythical order "Scholars of the College of the Swamp"), donned a rubber frog mask. It isn't just for anonymity—he's the sole member of Bristol, UK-based stoner metal project Froglord, fusing fuzzy feedback with an environmentalist edge to tell the story of the titular ancient frog deity. Sage recognizes the concept might be a deterrence, but beneath the rubbery amphibian eyes he's an artist fueled by good humor and humanitarianism. This dedication is what Piercing the Veil, my new column, focuses on—uncovering where the mask and music intersect. (A week after our conversation Sage mentions that he's acquired a new mask, "as a result of the discomfort of wearing that mask during the interview.") Sage recently dropped the Southern-rock tinged EP Save the Frogs, thematically in line with his three previous releases: the full-length Amphibian Ascending, the single Dungeon of the Froglord, and his debut The Froglord Cometh. Froglord blends stoner metal with a comical concept stemming from Sage's obsession with budget monster movies. Burbling riffs and growling vocals chronicle the tale of the Froglord, a cosmic amphibian god. Once a millenium, the Froglord rises from the swamp to restore balance to the Earth, and Sage deciphers and delivers messages he receives from the Froglord through the amphibian aether. "He's a manifestation of the earth and the natural balance of it," Sage says. Alongside the high concept is an anchor in environmentalism. Save the Frogs is also a collaboration with SAVE THE FROGS!, a charity dedicated to protecting amphibian populations and promoting an environmentally-conscious society.
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"During the first UK lockdown I had this phase of watching B-movie horror films from the 50s & 60s. They were natural horror films—films about giant frogs or mutant rabbits. The first EP was some hodgepodge I threw together in a week and a half because I had this concept of a Lovecraftian frog that rose from the swamp with X-ray vision." This lighthearted origin compounded with Sage's desire for a creative outlet other than his main project, a progressive black metal band attuned to spiritualism. "I wanted a break from that so I wrote about a big fucking frog. Now it's become my main music project." As Froglord's music evolves, so does the integration of Sage's environmentalist background. He boasts a bachelor's and a master's degree in environmental science, has maintained a vegetarian diet for nearly half his life, and clocked innumerous volunteering hours. One of those volunteering experiences introduced him to SAVE THE FROGS! "I came across the charity when I was 17 and decided to do an event with them that year," Sage says. "I've been drawn to SAVE THE FROGS! for a while but the connection between them and Froglord didn't occur to me. At the back end of last year it clicked. I contacted the guy who runs the charity. He's a musician too so we just went from there." The impending doom of Froglord reflects our own foreboding avenues given the severity of climate change. By some estimations, the planet has nine years remaining before we've damaged it beyond salvation. Frogs are not an arbitrary aquatic medium to convey this: they are fantastic bioindicators of their ecosystems because of their semi-permeable skin. When an amphibian population begins to decline in a specific system, it's a sign that the environment is unstable. Frogs are, in their own way, Scholars of the College of the Swamp. Froglord's output characterizes this urgency. Sage recognizes the planet's struggles with overpopulation and environmental destruction. He muses that "the pandemic could be nature's way of evening the playing field. In a certain sense, Froglord is representative of the forces of the natural world." However, Froglord could also personify Sage's conflicting emotions: he's radical in his vision but cautious regarding a correct course of action. Implementing solutions for issues this universal is thorny, and Sage grapples with navigating a path while justifying possible ramifications: "Froglord feels some guilt for wiping out the humans, but then he realizes the natural order of the world and deems it his prerogative to allow the world to fall back into a natural state of being. He strives for equilibrium." Sage admits "there's certain facets of my personal beliefs that have been adopted in the Froglord persona."...
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Sage speaks optimistically when we return to his music. He's already plotting the philosophical questions he—or rather the Froglord—will be asking concerning humanity's role as products or producers of nature. In tandem with the existentialism, Sage aims to dive into the deep ponds of psychedelica as well as implement a broader palette of instruments. "On the last track of Save the Frogs I used some throat singing. I like the diversity of instruments," Sage notes. His chronicles are equally ambitious. "The Froglore encases extensive tomes of knowledge I've yet to dive into yet," he says. "I've got plans for three or four albums into the future. There's so many things, mostly utterly ridiculous things, this concept could go run with." What began with B-movie inspiration and lockdown-enforced tedium evolved into a humanitarian effort. Though Sage reflects there was some snickering concerning the charitable collaboration due to the band's nonsense, that goofiness soon turned into admiration as Save the Frogs raised over $1000 in under two weeks. It's contingent with Sage's personal beliefs of being conscientious of one's actions; and, of course, his role as the human vessel of the Froglord is to "receive messages through the amphibian ether and present them through music."...
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Sage routinely returns to the Froglord as a metaphor for natural balance. His thick, mid-tempo riffs trumpet the coming of an eon-old being as the planet's pendulum. Were Sage not as lighthearted in his approach nor as dedicated to his cause Froglord's gimmick could come off as preachy or flatly satirical. Thankfully, Sage focuses on sprouting legs through bubbling stoner sludgery: "I'm always thinking how I can infuse weird shit. I want to push some kind of boundaries. Froglord is not purely a vessel for music, it's the concept and everything else around it." Froglord's arc rests on its versatility, where the peculiarity of the concept is a buffer for its true intentions. Its campiness negates the potential haughtiness of Sage's environmentalism, which, despite its importance, is often a hurdle. The division of art and ecocentric soapbox is one Froglord navigates by reveling in its high concept and by maintaining a lighthearted schema. As Sage indulges more of his off-kilter influences, it's vital he remain masked—humanity may not be ready for its future as foretold by the amphibian ascension....
Save the Frogs released February 5th, 2021 via The Swamp Records. For more information about SAVE THE FROGS!, check out their website to learn more and donate.“The OD Sessions”: Warlung Far Exceeds Your Recommended Dosage of Riffs (Live Studio Session Premiere)
If there's one thing that Warlung's 2020 album Optical Delusions proved, it's that these dudes can write one hell of a riff. The album grooves and bounces like any high-tier stoner rock record you care to compare it to, but it does so with a sense of progressive nuance and intricate song constructions that are absurdly rare to find in conjunction with that punchiness. It really takes some peering into the inner workings to understand everything they're doing here: unlike so many bands that can be vaguely compared to Black Sabbath, Warlung's music gets more interesting the more you hear it. As it happens, it's also a lot of fun to watch. The band recently stepped into King Benny's House of Sound to knock out a live studio session, complete with high-quality video and audio recording to document it. It's time to step back into the illusory world of Warlung and get high on the band's rock-solid riff supply: here's "The OD Sessions" in its entirety for a half-hour break from reality.
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Simply put, you can't take it for granted that a band can write songs this killer and play them this tight, too. But here, Warlung's chops are frighteningly top-notch: there's apparently no studio magic behind their pitch-perfect vocals and flawless riff execution, and quarantine hasn't dulled their live cohesion one bit. Optical Delusions released in the throes of the pandemic back in October, which was well past the point of touring in support being an obvious no-go: sessions like this one are about the closest thing to playing out as possible. Here, the band knocks out a six-song set in half an hour, with big smiles all around as they slam through their material leaving barely any downtime between tracks. Realistically, it was already a given that I was going to see Warlung if they can swing a tour in the future, but watching this session should dial that up for all of us to a critical life priority. From the band:"Our friends over at King Benny’s House of Sound hit us up for a live studio session to help break in their freshly remodeled studio. We collaborated with our boys in Dang Media Group to film us playing tracks off our latest record Optical Delusions."
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Optical Delusions released October 9th, 2020 via Heavy Psych Sounds.“Gothic”: Paradise Lost and the Dawn of a Death/Doom Classic
Thirty years ago to this day, one of the ultimate landmarks of death/doom metal dropped. Coming only a scant year after Paradise Lost's debut album, Lost Paradise, Gothic represented a reverberating shift through the burgeoning genre and made waves that are still being felt today. It also stands unique within the band's discography as a transitional work between their early days playing death metal and their long mid period where they shied away from it (with repeated mentions in places like 1993's Chamber of Sorrow Zine #4 about all of the issues that they had with the record after the honeymoon period had worn off after its release). Gothic was their last death metal record for almost two decades until they more recently began slowly re-integrating that sound with In Requiem, and, though of course it's worth checking out all of their material, Gothic is the one that was the most influential and special of their early works. Before discussing Gothic, it's important to talk about who Paradise Lost was and their place in the scene at the time. Formed in England in 1988, Paradise Lost made significant waves even before Gothic with 1990's Lost Paradise, an album that combined rabid death metal and gloomy doom metal to shock the masses into realizing that there was an alternate path of exploring sonic extremity: one could play faster than everyone else, or one could play slow. Though Paradise Lost wasn't the first band to slow down death metal, and bands like Autopsy, Dream Death, Delirium, Sempiternal Deathreign, and a few others debuting either earlier or around the same time did the same, Paradise Lost's more melancholy approach towards the genre was groundbreaking and was immediately seized upon by bands around the world.
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Together with labelmates and countrymen Anathema and My Dying Bride, the three groups were pioneering forces in what would become known as death/doom, and particularly in the strain of it that would be intertwined with goth rock to be called gothic metal. This trio is sometimes referred to as the Peaceville Three due to the bands' close geographic ties, stylistic similarities, pioneering status, and because they were labelmates on Peaceville Records. The term has been disputed before, including by Paradise Lost themselves. "It's an urban myth," guitarist and keyboardist Greg Mackintosh told Decibel Magazine, even going so far as to recollect a time when Anathema opened for Paradise Lost and covered "Gothic" to point out that the other two bands were latecomers rather than peers; similarly, Nick Holmes said outright in 1993's Exhume Zine #3 that he felt that My Dying Bride was trying to copy Paradise Lost. However, the three's influence on death/doom was indisputable. That context matters when looking back not just at the individual bands but at Gothic in particular, which was not Paradise Lost's debut but was the first and most influential of the early pioneering gothic metal albums. Above all else, the important thing to understand about Gothic is that the album's name is also a description of the music played on the record; in a 2013 vinyl reissue's liner notes, the band noted that they were at the time "very much into a mixture of old goth music and doom metal." The ambitious fusion of the two had at the time never been attempted as directly as it was in Gothic, and though they had contemporaries at the time working towards similar goals, it was really Gothic that opened the floodgates. From the opening riff onward, Gothic lets listeners know what to expect with a rhythm far more dismal and less "crushing" than most of what could be found on Lost Paradise, or any prior death metal. It is more bouncy than heavy, heralded by a catchy lead melody that would have been at home on any number of 1980s goth rock club bangers. As with much of the album, the progression continues with near-constant melodies either on guitar or synth, an approach that would heavily influence melodic death metal bands everywhere....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnqXkN1xpO8...
Much of the rhythm and lead guitars' overall attack can be traced back to influences from the 1980s goth rock bands that Paradise Lost idolized. To quote the 2013 vinyl repress' liner notes again, Greg said that "Nick and myself were very much into a mixture of old goth music and doom metal at the time which ultimately is the essence of the album." Those very un-death-metal progressions, played in a lower tuning and in heavier context, were coming from Dead Can Dance and Sisters of Mercy as much as from Black Sabbath (with Dead Can Dance coming up in an interview with Chamber of Sorrow #4 in 1993), and the melodies were largely coming from the same place. The touch of Greg's love for Sisters of Mercy is especially apparent in how the band constructed their lead melodies; he even listed First and Last and Always as his favorite goth rock album of all time in an interview with musicradar, and a few years later Paradise Lost would cover "Walk Away" for a single on Music For Nations. The approach of playing gorgeous lead melodies over simple, bludgeoning rhythms would prove to be a lasting trademark of a certain death metal sound, even outside of the obvious bands that took influence from Gothic. On the topic, in an interview with Teeth of the Divine, Gorement's Patrick Fernlund said that "I love the Paradise Lost album Gothic, and still do, and I wanted to capture that special epic feeling that album has." Similarly, God Macabre's Ola Sjöberg named them as a primary influence for The Winterlong… alongside Autopsy, Carnage, and Nihilist in interviews with Terrorizer Magazine and others. In Rotting Ways to Misery: The History of Finnish Death Metal, Amorphis called Gothic "a huge influence on how you could build melodies and harmonies" [Page 275]. Amorphis, Gorement and God Macabre weren't alone in taking that single aspect of the album out and reusing it in other contexts, to the point where slower bands in the 1990s would sometimes be asked point-blank if Paradise Lost was an influence if they had those epic lead melodies over their not-always-sombre rhythms. Although the album's focus is found in its lead melodies, a large portion of their success is through Gothic's dynamics, with the album not relying on those melodies to make a song work. The leads swell into outright orchestral works (performed by "The Raptured Symphony Orchestra") performed with or without the backing metal guitars, an approach that was as influential on death metal as anything else on the record. This combination of metal and orchestral music was not something that was taken lightly or just thrown together on a whim; in 1992's Pit Magazine #8, Mackintosh points out that "each keyboard and vocal section was carefully planned in advance with the emphasis on creating atmosphere," and the aforementioned liner notes mention months of constant songwriting going into the album despite how closely it followed Lost Paradise....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLxS-EFbFtY...
Though Paradise Lost's usage didn't take on the driving nature that orchestral elements do on some later records from other bands (obviously most notable in symphonic metal itself), they were one of the first bands in death metal to integrate that element, something that would be especially noticed with interest by the burgeoning Greek death metal scene. Antonis "Gore" Kotzias, vocalist of pioneering atmospheric death metal band Horrified, passionately described Gothic in interviews as the single greatest melodic death metal album of all time, and, alongside Lost Paradise and early Sentenced, aptly described the sound as being "heavy, epic, gives you a sense of space and dark landscapes, with brutal storms, volcanoes and earthquakes that sometimes steer the empty and melancholic scenery" in an interview with Krepuskulum Webzine. Similarly symphonic death metal legends Septic Flesh [Editor's Note: Septic Flesh > Septicflesh], who were perhaps the most important band in the Greek extreme metal scene aside from Rotting Christ, had various members individually cite Paradise Lost as an important influence, with Sotiris even at one point referring to them as his favorite band. Though many other influences went into the Greek sound, it's difficult to understate how much of a force Gothic was on it; fans of the record would do well to seek out Septic Flesh's Mystic Places of Dawn, Horrified's In the Garden of the Unearthly Delights, and delve deeper into that scene past those. The final major component to the album was the vocal variety between Nick Holmes' mean, empty bellows and the sung session vocals from Sarah Marrion, who provided the sung parts for Gothic, Shades of God, and One Second. "Old Nick"'s devastating growls over the album's heaviest sections kept it rooted firmly in death metal even as sections of it diverged into more calm territory. His ability to move from a shout to a roar to even sparse sections of nearly sung portions and spoken word helped keep songs distinct. In direct contrast, Sarah's gorgeous singing provided an extra melodic angle that was almost unheard of at the time. The alternating jumps between Nick and Sarah proved potent enough to inspire a wave of gothic death/doom metal that would later get stylized as "Beauty and the Beast" due to the way that those bands would shift easily from gutturals to very Classically-inspired passages of sung female vocals; that influence alongside the general approach of gothic death/doom was even something of a minor trend in from the mid-1990s through the early 2000s—as Holmes mentioned in an interview with Cryptic Rock, there's even something to be said for the idea that Paradise Lost themselves coined the idea of gothic metal. "Gothic"'s imparted sense of class through this specific combination of lead melodies, symphonic backing, and gorgeous sung passages ties together with the moody rhythm guitars to form the unmistakable Gothic sound. It's one that though influential has never been replicated, and whose songs continue to sing through the ages as death metal continues to mutate and lean on Paradise Lost for inspiration, sometimes as faithful devotees and sometimes as unconscious inheritors....
Gothic released on March 19th, 1991 via Peaceville Records.Screaming Bloody Oranges, Bonus Episode #1: Discussing the Independent Metal Scene With Estuarine
Allow me to calcify my departure from a decade of music journalism not with some savage diatribic pedantry but instead this, a guiding summation howled from deep, deep within the void: dig. One word, three letters, so get yer fuckin’ shovel. Find what you like, and dig for more of it, then share it with the world; unlike life, there’s no end to art, nor will there ever be, at least until there’s an end to us.
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And these years of ferocious, mouth-foaming digging have certainly uncovered some gems in my life, morsels of heavy music that satiate otherwise unreachable cores of thought and feeling inside me. It was only right and correct to bid farewell, even if one day proven only temporarily, headlighting with one of these discoveries. I went with my first inclination: an unsigned solo deathgrind project from Tampa called Estuarine whose avant-garde eccentricities and guts-exploding energy make it sure-fire in my book....
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He goes by Hydrus, his new EP is out today, and he joined me in audio format to discuss the life metallic, including positive feedback loops with other metalheads, establishing yourself as an artist in the scene, maintaining musical momentum despite all odds, and more. The idea was simple but abstract: we weave together our experiences vis-a-vis heavy metal -- an artist and a journalist -- forming a pithy but powerful narrative about the shared nature of the love of heavy music. I hope you enjoy this inaugural bonus episode in our new progression of deep-dig, outside-the-box podcast content. It should pair well with your morning coffee. Enjoy the tunes too, yeah?—Andrew Rothmund
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Estuarine's new EP, Nyarlathotep, releases today and is available via the band's Bandcamp page....
Listen and subscribe to Screaming Bloody Oranges: The Invisible Oranges Podcast on the following platforms: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | PodbeanRecords of the Week With Jon and Ted #4
Each Friday, Editors Ted Nubel and Jon Rosenthal will share their picks for Records of the Week — not necessarily what's out this week, just whatever's on our mind or on our record players.
Ted Nubel
Nile
Ithyphallic
A lot of my early music discovery was, weirdly, from Best Buy -- whatever looked cool at the store, I'd pick up. This led to some good stuff… and some bad stuff. Ithyphallic is definitely on the good side of things, though I know it's not everyone's favorite Nile record. Perhaps best known as having the ridiculously-long titled song "Papyrus Containing the Spell to Preserve its Possessor Against Attacks from He Who is in the Water," Ithyphallic is kind of a midpoint in the band's sound -- it's not quite as ridiculously aggressive as the earlier albums, but it's also not quite as 'modern' feeling, aesthetically and musically, as the stuff that came after. One thing I love about Nile's sound that gets a lot of playtime on this record is that, although there's a ton of flashy guitar work and intricate riffs, there's also some real knuckle-dragging dummy stuff at times too, almost hook-like in how catchy it is. The Track Whose Name is Too Long For Me to Type Again is a pretty good example of this, as is "Eat of the Dead." The subject material on this one also feels like some of the most varied in their discography: aside from crocodile protection, there's a diverse selection of Lovecraft and Egyptology fare, clearly bait for nerds like me into that stuff. And, of course, there's the not-so-karaoke-friendly title track—make sure nobody's home before you sing along to that one. https://youtu.be/lb5ZFMx1ERo...
Jon Rosenthal
Ikuinen Kaamos
The Forlorn
Ikuinen Kaamos takes me back to a simpler time when all I really cared about was finding new music. No pretense, no philosophies, just… simple, and they were probably one of my favorite discoveries of 2006, the year in which their long-awaited debut The Forlorn was released. Though initially a death/black metal band which leaned heavily on the black metal end of things, the very progressive The Forlorn shows the band venturing into what could be called "Opeth metal," sometimes even shamelessly, but what sets this album apart is the distinct black metal flair and attitude. Yes, there are blast beats, and yes, there are extended nylon-string guitar interludes, but there are also big, harmonically extended chords, chunky grooves, and atmospheric Mellotron which help break this from just being a black metal album, just like the other half breaks them from their primary influence. Listening to this 15 years later is honestly a treat, and Ikuinen Kaamos were definitely ahead of their time. If The Forlorn was released today, I'm certain it would achieve much more than the "cult" status it currently has....
Estuarine’s Metallic Madness Crystallizes on “Nyarlathotep” (Review)
Though you’d assume that Estuarine's self-description as "nomadic" would refer to their lifestyle, it's also a decidedly accurate encapsulation of the music contained within their new album Nyarlathotep. These eight tracks are fluid, unrestrained and impossible to pin down, burning through grind, black metal, techdeath, and mathcore, often within the space of a single sub-one minute long song. They move with an unpredictable urgency that goes beyond the "nomadic" metaphor and becomes more "on the run," bouncing between stops like there’s a dark past looming just behind.
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More literally, the "nomadic" tag refers to Hydrus, the anonymous musician and sole member of Estuarine project, originally from Tampa, Florida. Their previous release Sic Erat Scriptum was a much more expansive collection of progressive grindcore/technical black metal (it's probably best, from now on, to avoid tagging Estuarine with any specific genres) that, although more drawn-out and spacious, was no less compositionally frantic or provocative. On Nyarlathotep, Hydrus has distilled the essence of their previous albums' manic tendencies into ten minutes of idiosyncratic, technical insanity; an EP/album hybrid monstrosity that’s practically guaranteed to turn off all but the most committed of listeners. In terms of Nyarlathotep’s sound, Hydrus channels a highly technical, precise and sinewy form of manic intensity that, while urgent and seemingly chaotic, boasts a crazed internal logic that reveals itself when taken as a complete piece of music. These eight tracks operate almost as one symbiotic creature, not so much ‘flowing’ as stretching and morphing into one another. There’s a fleshy squelch to the way the bass and guitars interlock on tracks like “Prophecy Denial” that moves like tendrils assimilating an unfortunate host. Given Nyarlathotep’s Lovecraftian theme (the album is loosely based around Lovecraft’s tale of the titular demon) this sense of alien formality makes thematic sense, as if Estuarine’s music has itself become some unfathomable, otherworldly being. Nyarlathotep possesses a genuine sense of psychedelic strangeness. Nothing operates as it’s musically "supposed to." The tracks all flow into one another, rendering them practically inseparable, while the mix of the instruments is often pitched at unorthodox levels (check out the fluctuating levels that open the confounding “Hooves Of Oblivion”). Most bizarrely, a permanent fog of ambient sound behind the conventional instruments adds an additional layer of obfuscation to the music. This gives the songs a profound sense of unease, as if there’s something there inching closer just out of vision. Then, a track like “Broken Subordinates” will end and for a brief second or two it becomes visible; an eerie noise like a swirling wind through a cavernous tomb. A wild journey through an unknown universe, Nyarlathotep exists according to its own laws of musical spatiotemporality. However, despite its decidedly provocative nature, it makes for an oddly compelling ride, providing you have a strong head and a willingness to meet Hydrus halfway. Their "nomadic" musical style is head-spinningly bizarre, and, though it may ultimately be too bold and too alien to find itself a wide fanbase, Estuarine surely has no such concern for questions of acceptance or palatability. With Nyarlathotep they’ve executed something pretty special, according to their own strange, idiosyncratic vision.—Tom Morgan
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Nyarlathotep released March 19th independently through the band's Bandcamp page. Also, check out our special podcast interview with Hydrus.Upcoming Metal Releases: 3/21/2021 – 3/27/2021
Here are the new (and recent) metal releases for the week of March 21th, 2021 to March 27th, 2021. Releases reflect proposed North American scheduling, if available. Expect to see most of these albums on shelves or distros on Fridays. See something we missed or have any thoughts? Let us know in the comments. Plus, as always, feel free to post your own shopping lists. Happy digging. Send us your promos (streaming links preferred) to: [email protected]. Do not send us promo material via social media.
Upcoming Releases
Genghis Tron -- Dream Weapon | Relapse Records | Progressive Metal + Experimental | United States Genghis Tron is back with their first new album in 13 years and they're all grown up! Seriously though, if you're expecting the band to return with their previous cyber-grind fury, then maybe go put on Board Up the House. If you're looking for an at-times psychedelic journey through keyboard-heavy passages, fantastic vocal deliveries from new singer Tony Wolski, and machine-like drums from the band's first-ever real drummer Nick Yacyshyn (of Baptists fame), then you're going to love Dream Weapon. And you should love Dream Weapon, because there's just so much to love about it.
--Greg Kennelty
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Yawning Sons -- Sky Island | Ripple Music | Stoner Rock + Psychedelic Rock | International Psychedelic luxury meets clever rock songwriting in this supergroup that features Yawning Man members collaborating with Sons of Alpha Centauri: both of them bring their own massive legacies to the table and fuse them into something new and engaging. This is the band's second album and the first in ten years; despite the vast quantities of desert rock that have come out in that time period, this one immediately stands out as a top contender. Check back tomorrow for our full premiere of this one!--Ted Nubel
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Sanguisugabogg -- Tortured Whole | Century Media | Death Metal | United States (Columbus, OH) Having gained an insane amount of hype based off of their 2019 demo, the 'Bogg is back with a full-length on Century Media Records, featuring their perplexing blend of grisly death metal and weirdly fucked-up song topics and imagery. Like, this is not a genre where "weird" and "fucked-up" are uncommon occurrences, but it's perhaps not always so wholeheartedly embraced and visualized... and merchandized. Does it live up to the hype? Hard to say—certainly a fun listen, and I can't unsee this music video, but the hype has grown into its own entity that thrives on something beyond the music. At the very least, I suppose we all have to (briefly) stop making the "more shirt designs than songs" jokes.--Ted Nubel
[Warning - rather NSFW] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Ao2XN_NuI...
1782 -- From the Graveyard | Heavy Psych Sounds | Doom Metal | Italy You're not going to find all that much doom that can do the EWiz-riff-worship thing like these guys, but I do feel like this release plays it safe. If you want to hear a lot of sweet doom riffs and buried vocals, this is a massive slab of that, but I have to admit I was hoping for a little more risk-taking given that their 2019 release was extremely well-received and there's no question they can pull this stuff off.--Ted Nubel
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Putrescine -- The Fading Flame | Tridroid Records | Death Metal | United States (San Diego) Putrescine describe themselves as "return to form death metal," but that label misses so much about what makes their debut full-length The Fading Flame so uniquely compelling. Over the course of several EPs and singles, the band have increasingly seeded their music with the sharp dissonance and general unpredictability of progressive esoterics Krallice, Imperial Triumphant, or Portal, but at no point do they lose track of what they're here to create. On The Fading Flame, Putrescine stitch these otherworldly explorations side-by-side with — and often directly over — plenty of brain-bashingly stupid yet techincally intricate riffs for a debut full-length that challenges while remaining approachable. The members of Putrescine understand the power of contrast in emphasizing the effect of everything they do, and it's this mastery of the back-and-forth between beefcake riffs and cosmic insanity that keeps The Fading Flame grounded also makes it so thrilling to revisit. This record is death metal through and through, enhanced by everything else the band are pouring into their cauldron.--Ivan Belcic
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Celestial Sanctuary -- Soul Diminished | Redefining Darkness Records | Death Metal | United Kingdom From Greg Kennelty's track premiere of "Rid the Gormless":"Rid The Gormless" feels like the bastard child of both Tomb Mold and Gatecreeper, and with grandparents Bolt Thrower out of the picture, it has developed a filthy personality all its own. Not quite reverbed-out "caveman death metal," but certainly not unsophisticated in its writing, "Rid The Gormless" is a beast unto itself who simply runs its victims down and bludgeons them until they resemble more of a paste. So, exactly what you’d want in your death metal.
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Blindfolded and Led to the Woods -- Nightmare Withdrawal | Independent | Technical/Avant-Garde Death Metal | New Zealand Wild and senses-overloading technical death metal that weaves in some deathcore-feeling breakdown bits into the whirling madness. Not in a bad way, mind you, more in the "I don't understand what meter this is in, but I want to kick down a door" fashion.--Ted Nubel
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Johan G. Winther -- The Rupturing Sowle | Pelagic Records | Folk + Experimental | Sweden From our video premiere of "As Above, So Below":[The Rupturing Sowle] blends rich instrumental folk textures with ambient sounds, foggy synthesizers, and haunting melodies into a moody record well-suited for a spring evening's listening. Winther binds these forces together into an atmospheric storm that finds strength in variety: acoustic guitar and bare-bones drums form the core of much of the songs, but they never wear out their welcome, often being replaced by cello melodies or overshadowed with gusts of synthesizers. There's always a new, hard-to-pin-down sound surfacing as these tracks progress, reinforcing the core motifs through goosebump-raising subtlety.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNVN04ycHbE
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Pando -- Rites | Aesthetic Death | Noise + Black Metal + Experimental | United States If "normal" black/noise stuff is too accessible for you, try this: the black metal here is a vague presence that screams and seethes through the veil of discordant noise that Pando creates. From song to song the balance varies greatly, so this one single is only a piece of the incomprehensible puzzle... fortunately, we're premiering the full album later this week, so stay tuned for a deep dive into complete obliteration.--Ted Nubel
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Begotten -- EP | Independent | Doom Metal | United States (New York) Originally signed to Man's Ruin (RIP) around the turn of the century, Begotten has returned after an arduous fifteen years since their original demise. We did get a single or two in the last few years, but here's something bigger to sink into: a classic "two songs, twenty minutes" EP that clearly marks Begotten as a doom band not looking to venture into triple-digit tempos. And, yeah, it's heavy and slow as shit, in a way that feels authentic and vintage.--Ted Nubel
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Paladine -- Entering the Abyss | No Remorse Records | Power/Heavy Metal | Greece Dragonlance was my introduction to fantasy novels, along with stuff like Forgotten Realms and Redwall at about the same time period—many fond memories of scouring library shelves for books I hadn't read from those series, before my overwhelming need for continuity and reading order developed. So, the fact that this is a concept album based off the Dragonlance is a strong mark in its favor, but beyond that, it's also extremely inventive power metal (with a grounding in heavy metal, too). Having creative vocals and orchestral elements hasn't kept the band away from writing interesting riffs and leads to go along with them, resulting in a strong total package.--Ted Nubel
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Witchseeker -- Scene of the Wild | Dying Victims Productions | Heavy + Speed Metal | Singapore Hectic heavy/speed metal from Singapore: from blindingly fast d-beats to more ballad-oriented stuff, there's an interesting juxtaposition of dramatic heavy metal sensibilities with the filthy guitar tones and production. It feels like I should be listening to this in a dive bar, shoes stuck to the floor via days-old beer stains.--Ted Nubel
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Memoriam -- To the End | Reaper Entertainment | Death Metal | United Kingdom Featuring Karl Willetts of Bolt Thrower, Memoriam executes a fairly similar style of death metal as that band -- but, I mean, it's not Bolt Thrower, so set expectations accordingly.--Ted Nubel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goDKHYj-UFY...
Rotten Funeral -- Rotten Funeral | Transilvanian Tapes | Black Metal | United States Being able to hear bass in black metal this clearly is kind of unusual, especially when the main influences here are things like Carpathian Forest and there's not a hint of Hellenic black metal to be found, but that aspect plus the darkwave-inspired synth elements round out a deeply immersive demo tape dripping with evil atmosphere.--Ted Nubel
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Graveolence -- Anthropomancy | Transilvanian Tapes | Death Metal | Canada Lobotomizing death metal that combines the nasty, technical Carcass evisceration side of the genre with bludgeoning, Entombed-like chainsawery. I'm really enjoying the warm production on this that puts the riffs front-and-center.--Ted Nubel
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Aduanten’s Adventurous Death Metal Faces “The Drowning Tide” (Lyric Video Premiere)
The concept behind "The Drowning Tide" is fairly straightforward: the protagonist faces a difficult crossing to a new land and weighs the value of safety in despair versus potential prosperity. In other words, is the reward worth the risk? Aduanten, having been born from the ashes of Texas death metal act Vex, must have found themselves in a similar (if less life-and-death) situation when founding this new project, but clearly the reward here was worth the risk. Building on their past successes and leaning on a rich network of contributors, Aduanten provides an unusual take on melodic, experimental death metal, but it comes after an arduous year of isolation and the stress of rapid change. As a preview, watch the lyric video for "The Drowning Tide" off of the band's upcoming debut EP Sullen Cadence now, featuring Tanner Anderson (Obsequiae) on lead vocals with additional vocals from Damian Herring (Horrendous)—that's a hell of a double feature.
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https://youtu.be/Y3ggzRk8AiM...
The melodic aspect here is resolutely gloomy, but it doesn't fall back on tired melodic death metal tropes to get that across. "The Drowning Tide" emanates a forlorn, perhaps folk-influenced atmosphere, bringing in its own take on this well-traversed sound: tremolo riffs pluck out strange progressions during the verses, and the choruses and bridges integrate clean guitar to further deepen the textures. Intricate drumming toys with syncopation and subdivision to add another level of detail to the striking portraits painted here, sonically rendering crashing waves of grey despair in just as much detail as the accompanying video. Aduanten's core lineup is a tight functional unit of guitars and drums; the vocals, bass, and synth elements on Sullen Cadence are provided by guests instead. It's an unusual setup, but it primes Aduanten for further potent changes to their sound after this EP. The band has crossed over from their previous projects already, but there's still a journey to come—Sullen Cadence is a noteworthy milestone on this path. Drummer Eoghan McCloskey comments:The lyrics are written from the perspective of a migrant worker who is wrestling with the question of whether or not to cross a tumultuous river to reach a country that is safer and more economically prosperous than his own. Former Vex vocalist Joe Jackson, who co-wrote some of the lyrics on this EP, initially sketched out some lyrics based on the concept of the Call of the Void. So Ciaran expanded on that idea by creating the narrative centered on the migrant worker, a narrative that explores the intersection between this sort of death drive and the promise of a better life. We rehearsed these songs in person in January 2020 and we first started the principal tracking for the record in early February 2020. Obviously the world shut down a few weeks later and we had to completely rethink how to launch the band. Those rehearsals were the last time we all played together in person, and all the planning for the release has been remote since then. So, part of the reason it's exciting is that it's the culmination of a year and change of perfecting the EP and planning the rollout of the band. I think for the three of us it was also kind of a welcome distraction throughout all the god awful shit that happened in 2020 and 2021. All this planning gave us something creative to focus on throughout the pandemic which helped keep us relatively sane while the world burns. We are really proud of how it's all turned out, so it's very exciting to be able to finally share it with people. The three of us (Ciaran, Mike, and I) were all in Vex together for many years. But Aduanten is not a continuation of Vex but rather a new band. So one of the ways we wanted to differentiate Aduanten from Vex and create a bit of a different sound was by working with guest musicians who would bring a different vibe to the EP than we would have gotten if it was the next Vex album. Tanner and Damian were both our first choices so we were very honored that they both said yes.
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The Sullen Cadence EP will release on May 3rd, 2021 and is available for pre-order via the band's Bandcamp page. Additionally, cassettes will be released via Eihwaz Recordings.…