(written by Islander)
Today we’re helping announce that the black/death metal band Mindvile (Spain/U.S.) have signed with Satanath Records (Georgia) and Paragon Records (U.S.) for the release of their debut album, Old Continent, scheduled for September 25th.
The album is described as “the first chapter of “Stories No Tongue Should Tell“, a planned five-album conceptual series exploring real cases of human cruelty and depravity from different regions of the world,” with each release focusing on a specific continent and presenting “stories inspired by real individuals whose actions have left a lasting mark on society.”
In other words, rather than root their narratives in fantasies, Mindvile’s depiction of horror focuses “on real people, real crimes, and the psychological corruption that transforms human beings into monsters.”
As for the music, we have a first taste today in our premiere of a song off the debut album called “Bite for Bite“. Here’s the band’s comment about this song:
“From the bowels of the earth emerges one of the most terrifying monsters ever to plague our world, locked inside a glass case beneath meters of concrete and consumed by a ravenous hunger. The first monster to emerge from the dark chrysalis of this new project called ‘Stories No Tongue Should Tell‘, as Mindvile presents its first single, ‘Bite by Bite‘, from the new album Old Continent.”
“Bite by Bite” is a fascinating song, one that seems to have one foot in the current day and one in a much older era of classical music more than 300 years ago. It’s not that Mindvile are actually using the instrumentation or compositional fundamentals of that old era, it’s because of how elaborate, diabolically elegant, and thoroughly exhilarating the guitar performances are.
Two guitars are layered throughout the song, and the interplay between them, which sometimes leads to harmonies, are the song’s greatest attraction. One of them is deeper and buzzier, and one is more shrill and piercing. The deeper one dismally whines while the higher one maniacally (or ecstatically) swirls and flickers.
As the riffing shifts, the music seems to drag and claw, even more dismal than before, but then the dual guitars frantically spin up again, and they continue creating adaptations on the opening motif. The guitars bray, pulsate, whirl, and spiral into spectacular convulsions. As they do, they generate moods of sinister menace, fiendish delirium, and abject agony.
It’s hard not to be transfixed by the guitar parts, but if you try to spread your attention you’ll notice that the drumming plays its own role in the song’s dynamics, repeatedly shifting between furious blast-beats and steadier cadences (though even then, the double-bass kicks continue firing away), and the bass-lines, though muted in comparison to the guitars, are still vivid.
As for the vocals, they may take some getting-used-to, even for ardent fans of black metal, because their screaming and screeching is pitched so high and their emotional quotient is so crazed — and yet it suits the narratives of human horror that are Mindvile’s stock in trade.
MINDVILE ALBUM LINE-UP:
Belzedrum – drums
Gralborj – bass
Vate – guitars and vocals
Old Continent was recorded at Moontower Studio. It contains eight tracks and is accompanied by a complete visual booklet. The cover artwork was created by Juanjo Castellano (The Black Dahlia Murder, Avulsed, many more), whose illustration depicts Lithuania’s Hill of Crosses, described as “one of the most haunting and unsettling places in Europe.”
The album will be released in digipak CD editions, and digitally. The labels recommend it for or fans of Emperor, Thy Primordial, and Belphegor.
PRE-ORDER:
https://mindvile.bandcamp.com/album/old-continent
https://www.paragonrecords.org/
MINDVILE:
https://www.instagram.com/mindvile_official/
https://www.facebook.com/mindvileofficial/