AN NCS PREMIERE: GENEVIEVE — “CHARNEL FLOW”

 

(Austin Weber introduces our premiere of a song from the new album by Maryland’s Genevieve, coming soon from Grimoire Records.)

Much like Dark Descent, Grimoire Records has really been on a fucking roll as of late. They’ve somehow managed to release several of my favorite records of the year. And it would seem from the press I’ve seen elsewhere for Dendritic Arbor, Bearstorm, and others that it’s not just our site that has been latching on to all the great things the label is doing. So with that being said, we are very proud to let you hear a song called “Charnel Flow”, the first song to drop from Grimoire’s next release, an album entitled Escapism by a Maryland group known as Genevieve.

Don’t let their innocent-sounding name fool you, because Genevieve’s music dwells in the very pits of despair and disgust. They traffic in a particularly dark blend of black and death metal that’s very noisey and stomach-churning. Listening to “Charnel Flow” brings to mind the warped riffing and unconventional nature of Portal in its death metal moments, which is intertwined with equally warped and odd black metal passages that remind me of the deliciously twisted black metal band Imperial Triumphant.

 

photo by Jesse Price (web site here)

As you listen, bear in mind that Genevieve constructed the music using a fretless guitar, a baritone guitar, and a five-string bass. It’s not easy listening music, and yet in spite of its cacophonous nature, it never veers off the rails into an unlistenable mess. There is clearly a dark yet purposeful method to the madness on “Charnel Flow”, and all signs point toward this being a monster of a release that will likely appear on many a year-end list. 2015 just got weirder, so get in here and give yourself over to misery by hitting play.

 

Genevieve is Eric Rhodes [baritone guitar, vocals], Ryan Neal [fretless guitar], Keith Mathias [bass], and Matt Powel [drums]. The album was recorded by Noel Mueller of Grimoire, with additional engineering and mixing by Eric Rhodes and Sarah Baugher. Escapism will be released on October 23rd, digitally and on CD and pro cassette. The album cover was created by Brandon Geurts (whose web site is here). The track list is as follows:

Side A – 19:36

1.) Parasite 1
2.) Charnel Flow
3.) Memory
4.) Escapism
5.) Ego

Side B – 19:35

6.) Bizzare
7.) Fell
8.) Parasite 2

https://grimoirerecords.bandcamp.com/album/escapism
https://www.facebook.com/GenevieveIsAvantGarde/