(written by Islander)
Those of us here like to think we’re good at getting in on the ground floor with promising new bands and then attentively following their progress forward. But we also readily admit when we’re very late in discovering impressive talents, and we are definitely very late in discovering the wiles of Shabti from Portland, Maine.
The lateness is even more inexcusable given the notable nature of Shabti’s lineup, which consists of drummer Ray Capizzo (Falls Of Rauros, Obsidian Tongue, Panopticon-live), vocalist/guitarist Rob Cook (Worm Altar), and bassist Brendan Hayter (Obsidian Tongue, Fires In The Distance). When a band features talents such as those, you’d think smart people would have explored what they’ve been doing long before now. But alas, we didn’t — until now.
Shabti now have their third album, Haze, Cacophony, And White Light, set for release on August 21st by the Contemn Light label. The album’s first single grabbed our attention like a big hand on the back of the neck, and we then grabbed back, seizing the opportunity to premiere a second single today.
photo by Frank Lincoln Sample
The press materials for this new album describe it as “calculatingly lethal, deploying an incinerating salvo of black-edged ripping death wrought in layers of inflamed technical prowess and progressive flourishes”. We also have this summary of the songs’ themes:
The album’s conceptual lyrics are hazy reflections of past-lived experiences intersecting with a kaleidoscope of mythological and dream-like imagery, exploring themes of grief, longing, religion, and alienation, which culminates in a dire augury of the future where The Shabti succeed their masters.
Curious about the meaning of the band’s name we did a bit of investigating, and learned (here) that shabti were ancient Egyptian funerary figurines, placed in tombs where they “were intended to act as servants or minions for the deceased, should they be called upon to do manual labor in the afterlife”. And thus, this facilitates an understanding of the above quotation.
The end of that quotation also explains why the album’s first single is called “Rise of the Shabti“, and why that song is the last one on the album. It is indeed a dire augury of the future, and a metaphor for what our own future may bring us. Vocalist/guitarist Rob Cook has explained:
The lyrics of the song follow the journey of the last remnants of humanity as they abandon Earth in search of new habitation, supported by and ultimately succeeded by physical artificial intelligence, which is all that is left to carry their legacy. The Shabti – funerary figures that perform manual labor for the pharaohs – represent these constructs, while also having inspired the name of the band back in 2008.
photo by Frank Lincoln Sample
The melodies of “Rise Of The Shabti” are exotic for Western ears. In line with the song’s lyrics and the ancient Egyptian origins of the shabti, they seem to draw upon Middle Eastern and North African traditions.
But as a modern metaphor the song is also a very heavy-hitter, armored with big slugging grooves, and it’s accented by electrifying drum progressions, dynamic changes in tempo and mood, and doses of both frenetic, fleet-fingered fretwork and engrossing prog-metal excursions. And the vocal department opens up abyssal domains with low-frequency grunts and malicious growls — as brutish as the rest of the music is elaborate and head-spinning.
The song creates lots of exciting twists and turns, but it holds together very well, and its infectiousness is undeniable.
And now we turn to the song we’re premiering today, which is the album’s penultimate track “Sojourner“. We again have a statement about it from Rob Cook:
“I always think of ‘Sojourner‘ as the most ‘black metal’ sounding track of our album, but listening back with fresh ears I think the listener can pick out several other prominent extreme metal genres that are enmeshed into the song. It is more austere and mournful than our last single. I don’t set out to write songs in any particular style for Shabti; I am influenced by many genres of music and we just play what comes naturally.
“The lyrics deal with aspects of loss, regret, and struggling and failing to reach a lofty goal. They develop into a play on the myth of Hades abducting Persephone where the protagonist descends into the underworld in an attempt to see the entity (or thing) that has been taken away from him. There is hope of reunion, or at least a return of the seasons.”
“Sojourner” is a head-spinner from its earliest moments, moments in which the tempo repeatedly (and dramatically) changes and the guitars alternately sound desolate and blaring, feverishly darting, and blisteringly delirious. Haughty roars and terrorizing screams vent the words in the midst of that tripartite riffing, which manages to catch the mind even as it’s rapidly morphing.
As in the first single, both the dynamism of the drumming and the nimble-fingered nuances of the bass are notable, and their rhythmic changes fit the guitar-changes like well-tailored gloves.
As the song progresses, the music becomes even more wild (though moments of clean singing create a solemn contrast). The pace dramatically accelerates; the drums blast in a fury; the guitars shimmer and sparkle, flare away in sharp angles, slash like knives, maniacally shiver, and heat to a boil.
With the rhythm section proving (again) their own impressive technical chops and adrenaline-fueled inventiveness, the song becomes a truly mind-bending spectacle — although in its final moments it slows, and the music creates an unsettling pall of pain.
The new album was tracked by the band with additional tracking of vocals and guitars at Acadia Recording Company in Portland. It was mixed at The Cathedral of Psychic Death by Aaron Charles (Falls Of Rauros); it was mastered by Dan Lowndes at Resonance Sound Studio; and it was completed with cover art by Ibay Arifin.
Haze, Cacophony, And White Light will be released digitally and on tape by Contemn Light. It can be pre-ordered and pre-saved via the links below. We’ll also note that Shabti have booked a hometown release show for the album at Genos on August 14th (find tickets here), with additional live excursions in the developing stages.
PRE-ORDER:
https://contemnlight.bandcamp.com/album/haze-cacophony-and-white-light
PRE-SAVE:
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/shabti/haze-cacophony-and-white-light
SHABTI:
https://www.facebook.com/metalshabti
https://www.instagram.com/shabti_official
CONTEMN LIGHT:
https://linktr.ee/contemnlight
https://contemnlight.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/contemnlight
https://www.facebook.com/contemnlight