(written by Islander)
In January of this year we had the pleasure of premiering a video for the first single off the debut EP from a two-piece raw black metal outfit named Zaraza. Those two, Azara and Mictlantecuhtli, introduced their music with these words:
“Rising from holler and rust, gnawing at the marrow of time, a blasphemy against life and cosmos, summoning shadows that devour memory and light….” More succinctly they described their conception as “Appalachian darkness, Rust Belt desecration”.
That EP, …And You Will Remember This Winter, was released on May 8th through So Below Productions, and to help call (deserved) attention to it, today we’re premiering a video for another of the EP’s eight songs.
The EP as a whole is an intense experience, both sonically and emotionally. It benefits from guest appearances by Mor Grish (Burial Oath, Ofstingan) and Nechocwhen members Nechocwhen and Pohonasin. It is rightly described as music that’s rooted in a particular time and place, as an exhumation of “hollers, battle runs, and dead towns where coal, iron, and blood were taken until nothing remained but ruin and memory”.
The video we present today (a visually very absorbing one) is for the song “Gnawing At The Marrow Of Time“. This track is a high-voltage surge from the very beginning. Everything beats like an over-driven heart, from the hammering drums to the heavily pulsating bass and the feverish squall and screaming of the guitars — and the vocals are absolutely scorching in their intensity.
After the song lights a raging bonfire in people’s heads with that opening charge, the thundering rhythm shifts to a punk cadence but the high-flown riffing still sears, and then frantically shivers and maniacally throbs above a hard-thrusting bass, furiously blasting percussion, and those raging, throat-lacerating screams.
Speaking of which, the closing strangled scream is truly frightening in its intensity, but also the perfect way to end a song that’s as unchained as this one is.
The soil remembers. The walls remember. History bleeds through stone.
The video was directed and produced by Heavy Eyes DIY, and filmed and edited by BxNoble in collaboration with Mourning Shroud.
The EP’s cover art is a painting by Rebecca Clegg. So Below Productions has released a limited run of 50 cassettes, and the EP is also available digitally — and we’ve included a full stream of it below.
ACQUIRE:
https://zarazausbm.bandcamp.com/album/and-you-will-remember-this-winter
FOLLOW:
https://www.instagram.com/ZarazaUSBM
https://www.instagram.com/HeavyEyesDIY
https://www.instagram.com/Mourning_Shroud_
https://www.instagram.com/SoBelowProductions