(written by Islander)
In our previous writings about the first two recordings from British Columbia’s Crown of Madness (both of them EPs), we’ve highlighted the band’s talent for crafting death metal that’s both dissonant and melodic, both technically impressive and intriguing in its prog-minded permutations, both intensely harrowing and atmospherically chilling, yet cohesive despite how many different influences and inspirations they weave together.
In light of how eye-opening and often jaw-dropping those EPs were, it’s not a great surprise that this husband-and-wife duo of Sunshine Schneider (Guitar, Bass, Vocals) and Connor Gordon (drums) caught the attention of a label such as Transcending Obscurity Records, which will release their debut album Memories Fragmented on February 28th.
And it’s not a great surprise that in light of our previous enthusiastic experiences with the music of this band, we jumped at the chance to host the premiere of an emotionally mutilating song from the new album, and its name is “Ashes of Mine.”
The band set the stage with the slow and scarring reverberations of a riff that’s palpably dismal, backed by beats that at first sound ritualistic and then fire like an automatic weapon. The riffing, still dismal and dissonant, begins to writhe and worm, leading into a panoply of tormented roars and screams. As the bass slowly hums and heaves, the music miserably wails, contorted in its apparent agony.
After a brief pause in the percussion, when the guitar seems to reach even lower depths of morbid hopelessness, the music suddenly becomes feverishly fraught. While the drums stalk and pound, the high and low vocals join together in madness; the fretwork generates skittering franticness and discordant keening tones; the bass murmurs in mourning. The ending is no less disturbing and disorienting, dropping the curtain on a pageant of pain.
In this song, Crown of Madness lean hard into darkness and dissonance. Regarding the album as a whole, we’ll share these thoughts from Transcending Obscurity:
As accomplished as it is, it also happens to be unique in the style of dissonant death metal – in that, it’s deeply personal and palpably emotive, and that poignant, introspective mood pervades their entire album. The music almost has a melodic albeit melancholic quality to it that is refreshing for a style of music that usually sounds harsh and detached. At the same time the music is driven; the hypnotic riffs are invariably interspersed with bursts of blasts and there is good momentum generated in this calculated, undulating pattern which becomes addictive.
Transcending Obscurity will release Memories Fragmented in vinyl LP, CD, cassette tape, and digital editions, along with lots of apparel and other merch featuring the eye-catching cover art of Mark Erskine (Erskine Designs). T.O. recommends the album for fans of Ulcerate, Devenial Verdict, Dysgnostic, and Gorguts.
Below we’re also providing streams of two previously released songs from the album, “Dreamless Nights No Longer” and “When I Don’t Remember You“. They provide other dimensions of the band’s sound. Both are still dissonant and disconcerting, to be sure, and even hallucinatory (sometimes nightmarishly so), but they also bring in both demented progressive permutations and bursts of fleet-fingered and fleet-limbed technicality, while “When I Don’t Remember You” includes a surprising interlude in which the notes ring like tinkling chimes, as well as episodes of screaming vocal extremity that are scary as hell.
PRE-ORDER:
https://crownofmadnessdm.bandcamp.com/album/memories-fragmented
https://transcendingobscurity.aisamerch.com/
https://eu.tometal.com/
CROWN OF MADNESS:
http://facebook.com/crownofmadnessmetal