AN NCS PREMIERE: MAJESTIC DOWNFALL’S “WHITE DARK”

Jacobo Córdova may be best known in his guise as Mr. Jacko, the bassist/guitarist for Mexican death metal powerhouse Zombiefication. But he has another project, one in which he does everything, called Majestic Downfall. While Zombiefication has already produced one of 2013’s best death metal albums in At the Caves of Eternal, 2013 will also see the release of Majestic Downfall’s third album, fittingly entitled Three. It will come our way on July 15 via the completely dependable Chaos Records.  Today we have the privilege of bringing you a trio of Three premieres.

First, we’re unveiling the awesome cover art for the album (click the image above to see an even larger version). The artist is Norway’s Robert Høyem of At the Ends Design, who has created artwork for a long list of metal bands, including Shining, Iskald, Evoken, Kampfar, and Gravdal.

Second, near the end of this post we’ll show you Three’s track list.

And third, we’re giving you an exclusive listen to the first advance song from the new album — “White Dark”.

“White Dark” tips the scales at nearly 10 minutes in length, and it’s a multi-faceted wonder. At the outset its forlorn but beautiful guitar melody seeps slowly into the mind against a backdrop of gargantuan riffs and thundering percussion. The song eventually transitions into a striking melodic death metal assault before settling into a majestic march, and then it changes, and changes again, reprising the song’s main motifs. As in the case of his guitar work, Córdova’s harsh vocals are excellent and varied, ranging from deep, bestial roars to impassioned howls.

This is powerful, dark, moving music that’s fascinating to hear. Fans of bands such as Forgotten Tomb, In Mourning, Ahab, and early Katatonia need to check this out — and keep their eyes open for this album when its due date arrives (or just watch this space, because we’ll have more to say about Three in the weeks ahead).. Here’s “White Dark”:

THREE TRACK LISTING:

1. Nails
2.White Dark
3.Under Wings Of Shadow
4. Into Darkness I Come
5.Funeral Wings
6.Black Death Immaculate
7.Federica

Visit Majestic Downfall on Facebook via this link. and pre-order the new album here:

http://store.chaos-records.com/majestic-downfall-three-digipak-cd/

And while we’re on the subject of Majestic Downfall,  Chaos Records has also recently released the band’s last album, The Blood Dance, in the Americas for the first time. That Chaos Records release includes a limited edition jewel case with a 12-page booklet that includes artwork and lyrics for each song, and it’s also available for listening on Bandcamp. I whole-heartedly recommend you check out that album HERE while you wait for the new one.