(written by Islander)
Sev Lezu is a relatively new bi-coastal U.S. black metal band whose three members are drummer, vocalist, lyricist, and producer Sasha Stroud (Belexum, Onw), guitarist Melissa Moore (Crossspitter, Sonja), and bassist FW (Manat). Their debut album Blood Conscript also includes a guitarist/songwriter guest appearance by Mia Priest (ex-Impiety) on the track “Corpse Step”.
Some or all of those names should grab the attention of listeners based on the music of their other bands. But if there’s any justice in the world (and of course that’s as rare as hen’s teeth), the “Grinding, Melodic Black Death” of Seb Lezu should grab just as much attention.
Here’s how the press materials describe the band’s musical intersections:
photo by Eva Tusquets (border by Elika Nakhaee)
Born in 2022, NYC/Philly/PNW black metal outfit SEV LEZU delivers sonic malignancy rooted in the sounds of old, with musicality drawing from the frigid majesty of the Swedish tradition (à la Dissection, Bathory) and Finnish institutions Sargeist, Horna, and Satanic Warmaster, all channeled through the grinding rhythmic violence of Terrorizer and Nasum, the warhorse charge of Iron Maiden, and the sharpness and percussive dynamism of Death’s final records.
Or, more succinctly, we can quote Melissa Moore: “Me and the dolls made real black metal. The rest can fuck off and burn in hellfire.”
You’ll get a sense from “Man’s Evil Gift“, the song we’re premiering today from the album, of how well Sev Lezu have interwoven some of those influences identified above. It’s a relentlessly dynamic and gripping song, one with a lot of hard-driving and head-moving energy and raging hostility, but with memorable riffs and melodies as well.
The song launches with a cantering drum rhythm backed by an enormous bass-throb, and Sev Lezu couple with that a swirling dual-guitar riff that’s viciously menacing but also magical. The vocals are an order of magnitude more vicious, expelling the words in furious screams that sound like acid spewed through an acetylene torch.
But thoughts of Viking-era Bathory come to mind as the guitars soar, carrying a trilling melody that sounds ancient and heroic (and warlike). The continually changing dynamism of the drumming is a signal feature of the music, and as it erupts in a blast-beat tempest (along with a burst of vulcanism from the bass) the guitars rapidly roil like a fast-moving wildfire, or like pitched warfare among barbarian hordes — still glorious but also violent.
The sound isn’t too polished (this is black metal, after all), yet all the song’s ingredients stand out, evenly mixed in a way that clearly defines all the performers’ contributions. Which is a very good thing, given how all the moving parts change so frequently, albeit without ever losing the thread.
One of those changes occurs near the end, when the riffing begins to rapidly skitter and dart, while continuing to blare blazing musical fanfares that carry forward one of the song’s melodic through-lines.
All in all, “Man’s Evil Gift” is a thoroughly exhilarating song, a heart-pounder and a head-spinner that’s mythic in the imagination it inspires.
Blood Conscript was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Sasha Stroud between 2023-2025 at Artifact Audio NYC and Portland, OR. It features wonderful cover art by Tara Atefi and a logo by Elika Nakhaee.
Ordovician Records will release the album on August 28th, on vinyl, cassette, and digital formats, and they recommend it for fans of Dissection, Terrorizer, Nasum, Iron Maiden, late-’90s/early-’00s Finnish black metal, and Death.
Find pre-orders via the links below, as well as a stream of the album’s previously released title song “Blood Conscript“. Here are the thoughts I shared after first hearing it:
At first, the band eject the riffing in feverish spider-fingered bursts; the enormous bass is heated to a high boil; the drumming is fast and furious; and the screamed vocals sound as if they’d like nothing better than to have your throat in their teeth.
The riffing intensifies, twitching even faster, and it swirls and squirms as well, while the rhythm section rumble like avalanches. The riffing continues to change, still coming in exhilarating dual-guitar bursts, but beginning to sound devilishly ecstatic. And one guitar also slithers and soars. And the drums kick into different patterns as well, doing their own part to get listeners’ hearts jumping.
A very cool song, and one that’s as catchy as it is… twitchy.
PRE-ORDER:
https://ampwall.com/a/sevlezu/album/blood-conscript
https://sevlezu.bandcamp.com/album/blood-conscript
SEV LEZU ONLINE:
https://www.instagram.com/sevlezu/