AN NCS PREMIERE: BEASTWARS — “DEVILS OF LAST NIGHT”

 

NCS Introduction: We have a two-fold treat for you in this post. First, we have the privilege of premiering for you a song from the new album by New Zealand’s amazing Beastwars. And second, we have an introduction to the song by New Zealand metal writer and broadcaster Craig Hayes — and I want to take this opportunity to mention that Craig is in the final days of a crowdfunding campaign to turn his Six Noises blog into a first-stop (and first-class) portal for anyone investigating “radical sonic arts” from New Zealand, and thus a more visible and successful platform for supporting and promoting New Zealand underground music. This is a very worthy cause, and one to which I hope you will contribute (I did — twice). HERE is where you do that. Now, onward to Craig’s introduction and the new music of Beastwars….

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The devilish goat Black Philip asks the ultimate question near the climax of the recent horror film The Witch: “Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?”

Really, there’s only one answer to that: of course you would. One brief life is all we get, and the sweet Dark Lord knows it often feels like our lives are jam-packed with enough misery to last three lifetimes.

So why not indulge our senses?

Why not purge all that pain?

 

Beastwars – photo by Damian McDonnell

You’d be a fool not to sell your soul in a heartbeat to revel in sinister sonic sorcery that eases your anguish. And all the better if those wicked sounds arise from the abyss due south of Heaven.

There’s very good news on that front, my black-hearted friends. Because New Zealand’s titanic-toned rock ’n’ rollers Beastwars are primed to return from the depths of the Southern Hemisphere on 22 April with their brand new album, The Death of All Things.

The Death of All Things is guaranteed to cleanse your wounds and sate your desire for hulking psychedelic metal. Beastwars’ new album was born from a cauldron of intense personal chaos, and The Death of All Things represents the third and final release in the time-travelling apocalyptic trilogy Beastwars began with their self-titled debut in 2011.

The warlocks of Antipodean sludge ’n’ doom produced The Death of All Things with James Goldsmith in Beastwars’ hometown of Wellington. Andrew Schneider (Unsane) mixed the release, and famed audio wizard Brad Boatright mastered it, so it’s no surprise to find the album is a heavyweight conceptual, sonic, and emotional experience.

Beastwars are renowned for delivering music that features as much monolithic sludge as rumbling noise-rock and pummeling doom. And rest assured, The Death of All Things brings all of that. However, this time round, Beastwars also bring a far darker and more tense ambience to the proceedings. One that reflects the mayhem and self-destruction fueling the album. One that piles on the psychological pressure throughout.

No Clean Singing is honored to premiere the ten-tonne, slow-burning track “Devils of Last Night” from The Death of All Things. The song is a perfect example of Beastwars’ ability to ratchet up the lysergic unease before letting loose with a wall of bass-heavy abrasive noise. “Devils of Last Night” crawls forth with vocalist/shaman Matt Hyde’s cathartic howls cutting through its grim atmosphere. Before everything is scoured and soured by filthy yet exorcising riffs and percussion.

“Devils of Last Night” is a great example of Beastwars holding firm and fast to their mantra: Obey the Riff. Let the working of deliciously dirty rock ’n’ roll spells begin.

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The Death of All Things features striking cover art by the band’s usual graphics collaborator Nick Keller and it will be released on April 22 by Destroy Records. Limited-edition vinyl and CDs are available for order here, and you can pre-order a digital version via the Bandcamp link below. And finally, we’re also including streams of two more previously debuted tracks from the album after our premiere — “Call To the Mountain” and “Black Days”.

https://beastwars.bandcamp.com/album/the-death-of-all-things

https://www.facebook.com/beastwars666