(In this post, NCS writer TheMadIsraeli has compiled short introductions to four bands: Uneven Structures, Deus Invictus, Azrath-11, and By Night.)
It’s random music time again. Hope you all have been well. I got reviews coming down the pipe of some nice, rather unknown, shit. I’ll even be giving you a taste of some of it in this post.
Uneven Structure is an ambidjent band hailing from both France and Sweden, including ex-Vildjharta vocalist Matthieu Romarin (if you’ve heard the song “Shiver”, you know who this is). They’ve been working on their very ambitious debut Februus for some time now. It’s a two-disc long concept album with three 20-minute epics to close it out. I’ve been excited just from the snippets, but now they’ve finally unleashed the first taste of their debut.
The album’s opener “Awaken” employs massive revolving-door grooves, dreamy clean, almost-oriental-tinged ambient textures, and an epic outro that builds up to an explosion, only to be cut off before the explosion happens. It’s a nice, and fucking unfair, way to tease you for the album. Hopefully you’ll dig this like I do. The last two minutes or so of this song are simply awe-inducing to me. Februus will be released on October 31 by Basick Records. Expect to see a review of this album in a couple of weeks once I get my promo around the 14th. (the song is right after the jump)
Metal Hammer – Uneven Structure – Awaken on MUZU.TV
Usually when you bring up Christian metal in metal circles, people will roll their eyes and just assume the worst altogether (including myself, and I’m a Christian). But Atlanta’s Deus Invictus will prove the eye-rollers wrong. They play a dedicated and firm style of progressive death metal, very much paying tribute to Death, Pestilence and Cynic. They only have one album out right now, a 2010 debut called Staged In Awaiting. The band is currently recording new material. Hope you like the songs below (and another song from Staged called “Harps of Reclamation” is available for free download on the Deus Invictus Bandpage at Facebook).
Azrath-11 is a blackened death metal outfit from Italy, sporting a ghetto old-school production ethic and top notch musicianship. The music calls forth something that reminds me of a Behemoth and Fleshgod Apocalypse lovechild, but more old school in its plan of attack. Their ReverbNation page is here.
These songs are from their Spring 2011 debut The Shrine Ov All Hallucination. It’s an excellent offering of Azrath-11’s approach to death metal. Let me know what you think of this, I have a feeling it might draw mixed opinions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE-eNa4GX2A
By Night from Sweden only have two albums out so far, but they’re an underrated, unfairly unknown band who deserve more recognition. They play a style of machine-gun, industrialized metal that is very old-school Fear Factory with a touch of Meshuggah. By Night have been pretty much dead-silent for the last 6 years, but I decided it was worth including them in this post as they recently announced that they finished a new album last week and sent it off to Fascination Street Studios (Opeth, Soilwork, Bloodbath, Amon Amarth, Katatonia etc.) for mastering. Nice way to surprise the fans with the first word of any activity in ages, right?
I do have more reviews coming, I promise. I’m backlogged like fuck currently, mostly due to this pointless and utterly stupid thing called school. MY PLANS, as they currently stand, are in this order…
An interview with the almighty Textures
A review of Cipher System’s new album to be released Oct. 9, Communicate The Storms
Two new “Revisiting The Classics” pieces: Winter’s Into Darkness and Devastation’s Idolatry.
A review of the Azarath-11 and Deus Invictus albums discussed in this post.
A new “guilty pleasures” piece.
Stay true, stay metal, guys. TheMadIsraeli out.