SEEN AND HEARD (PART 1): ÆVANGELIST, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS, VHÖL, CRUCIAMENTUM, HORRENDOUS, NIGHTFELL

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Aug 262015
 

Aevangelist-Enthrall To The Void Of Bliss

 

I haven’t been able to pull together a round-up of news and new music in five days, and you know what that means: I’ve got a backlog that’s so big I’ll never catch up. But instead of just uttering a big sigh and looking ahead instead of behind, I decided I should at least pick some of what interested me out of the last five days’ discoveries (in the hope that they will interest you, too).

The entries in this first part of a two-part post are almost all news items — and they include a ton of great cover art — but since this feature is called Seen and HEARD, I’ve tacked on one new song at the end that you can stream right here. Part 2 will be all music.

ÆVANGELIST

This interests me greatly: Through 20 Buck Spin, Ævangelist will release their fourth album on October 9 in the U.S. and October 23 in Europe. A vinyl edition is projected for December. The name of the album is Enthrall To the Void of Bliss. I have to find out who created the cover art, because it’s very good. (UPDATE: I’ve learned that the wonderful art was created by Stephen Wilson [FB page here], and more of his work will appear in the digipak of this album.) Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ÆVANGELIST, AHAB, BLACKOSH

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Aug 142015
 

AEvangelist-Abstract Catharsis

 

I’m again backlogged with new music that I haven’t had a chance to send your way this week. I’m hoping I’ll have time this weekend to compile a few more collections, but to make a start here are three new songs that I hope you’ll make time to hear.

ÆVANGELIST

Yesterday the void-faring Ævangelist entity released a head-spinning 14-minute track on Bandcamp. Entitled “Abstract Catharsis”, it was originally recorded in 2013 for a four-way split that never came to fruition, and as far as I can tell, it hasn’t previously been made available for listening.

Those who are familiar with Ævangelist already know that no two of their releases (or, for that matter, individual songs) sound completely alike. “Abstract Catharsis” preserves the overarching otherworldly ambience and predatory ferocity of much of the band’s sound, but this one incorporates a lot of other different and very interesting elements. Continue reading »

MATRON THORN: “THE RITUAL NARCOTIC”

 Album Reviews  9 Responses »
Aug 112015
 

Matron Thorn-The Ritual Narcotic

 

Most albums, including many that each of us would count among our personal favorites, are simply collections of individual songs. Each song may be a blast to hear, and they may stay in your head for years, but hearing all of them together doesn’t amount to much more than multiplying the time spent enjoying something you like.

Other albums, however, are greater than the sum of their parts. The individual songs may stand up well in isolation; you may get something important out of listening to specific tracks even when you’ve just stuck them on a playlist. But when you listen to all of them together, from the beginning of the album to the end, they have an emotional impact that exceeds the effect of any of them standing alone, and the reasons go deeper than simply the extended amount of time you’ve spent listening to a band you enjoy. Matron Thorn’s The Ritual Narcotic is definitely one of those albums.

The Ritual Narcotic is the first album to appear under the name Matron Thorn, but it isn’t Thorn’s first solo (or near-solo) work. He has produced more than two dozen releases under a variety of other project names, including Benighted In Sodom, (and FYI, Thorn has just begun uploading all of the Benighted In Sodom releases to Bandcamp). But perhaps his best-known work has been as the composer and sole instrumentalist of the remarkable Ævangelist. Continue reading »

ÆVANGELIST: NEWS AND NEW MUSIC FROM THE VOID (“DREAM AN EVIL DREAM”)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Jul 282015
 

AEvangelist logo

 

Ten months have passed since the otherworldly entity known as Ævangelist released their third album, Writhes In the Murk, but they have not been resting quietly in the aftermath of that visionary emanation. Some of their activities since then have been made public, others have been the subject of hints and rumors, and still others we are pleased to announce today for the first time — including the release of a nightmarish new work entitled Dream An Evil Dream. Read on, as we collect what we have learned — and prepare yourselves for a stream of these new sounds from the Abysscape, following this news:

As for what has been made public, Ævangelist is preparing for live incursions at two eye-popping U.S. metal festivals later this year. We’ve mentioned these festivals before, and this gives us a reason to remind you about them. The first is Hells Headbash-Part 2, a festival organized by the Hells Headbangers label to celebrate their 15th anniversary. The event will take place in Cleveland on Labor Day weekend, September 4-6, 2015. For fans of extreme metal, the line-up is a stunner. Here’s the flyer: Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ÆVANGELIST — “PRÆTERNIGMA”

 Premieres  13 Responses »
Aug 292014
 

 

Horrific tearing noises accompanied the sundering of space-time, and through the rent in the dimensional membrane we received the latest transmission from the void-faring entity known as Ævangelist. Today we share with you this new hymn, as we deliver the premiere of “Præternigma”.

Although the band’s album, Omen Ex Simulacra  emerged from the Abysscape only last fall, Debemur Morti Productions will soon be releasing a new full-length named Ævangelist III – Writhes in the Murk. It’s shrouded in striking cover art  created by Andrzej Masianis, who also painted the cover for the last Ævangelist album.

From its inception, the music of Ævangelist has been devoted to the creation of mental imagery, emotional response, and physical sensation. The dense atmospheric sounds resist classification, as if a cyclone had scoured the musical landscape and caught up within its chaotic spinning mass the broken shards of death metal, black metal, dark ambient, industrial metal, powerviolence, and black noise (and the new album also includes saxophones and cello). Though guided by the same philosophy, the third Ævangelist hymnal is their most varied and immersive work yet, as the band employ new techniques for exerting their grasp on the imaginations of listeners. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ÆVANGELIST, OAK PANTHEON, MIASMAL, WITHERED MOON, BULLDOZER

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Jul 172014
 

 

Here are a few noteworthy things I spotted and heard yesterday, with some help from my friends. If time permits, I’ll put up a second collection today, because yesterday really brought a cavalcade of things I want to spread around.

ÆVANGELIST

I know there are human beings in Ævangelist, but I still prefer to call them “the Ævangelist entity” because the music sounds like emanations from a dark dimension outside our own by an inhuman being whose shape can’t be mapped. This entity has been churning out music at a an increasingly furious rate. Although the last album, Omen Ex Simulacra emerged from the void only last fall, yesterday brought an announcement by Debemur Morti Productions that a new full-length named Ævangelist III – Writhes in the Murk will become available in September (on CD, vinyl, and digital).

That news would have been enough to stop me in my tracks all by itself, but the announcement was accompanied by the unveiling of the wonderful album cover you see above. It was created by Andrzej Masianis, who also created the painted cover for the last album, which is worth seeing in full rather than in the cropped version that was visible as the album’s front cover. The painting was originally entitled “Exterminating Angel”: Continue reading »

WE BRING YOU A MESSAGE FROM ÆVANGELIST

 Metal News  10 Responses »
Apr 062014
 

Mile markers along the pathway into the void:

In February we brought you video of a previously unreleased song by the mysterious entity known as Ævangelist, a video announced in a message that concluded as follows:  “For now, we will withdraw into the temple of our muse and begin the recording of Æ III.”

On April 2, we observed a further message: “Progression of the aeon-dead academia of transcendent evil; Soon we will reveal the name of the third Ævangelist album.”

Today, a video message appeared, emanating from the Abysscape wherein Ævangelist dwell.

We have obtained the text of what you will hear. It follows the video below. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: NEW ALBUM TEASERS, A NEW ÆVANGELIST SONG, A NEW DARKANE VIDEO

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Feb 012014
 

Here are some things I spied and heard over the last 24 hours, including a destructive new song and an invigorating new video. But I begin with some teasing photos that appeared in my Facebook news feed. The first one is above, accompanied by these words:

“Legendary Florida Death Metal pioneers Massacre will return with their first studio album effort in almost 20 years! Programmatically entitled Back From Beyond, the album will be released on March 24th in Europe and April 1st in North America.”

Here are some others, with the verbiage that accompanied them. If you don’t recognize the faces, hover your mouse over the images.

“New Album nearly complete! 1.31.14”

Continue reading »

ALIVE: AEVANGELIST, ARTIFICIAL BRAIN, AND OBITUARY (PLAYING THREE NEW SONGS)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
Jan 272014
 

I came across some new live videos last night that I’d like to share. The first two are performances by Ævangelist and Artificial Brain at Brooklyn’s St. Vitus bar on January 25, 2014. I’ve been following both bands for a long time, but this is the first time I’ve seen what they look like on stage.

The new album by Ævangelist, Omen Ex Simulacra, was released last November by Debemur Morti. For my money, the most compelling track on a very compelling album is the long closing song “Abysscape”. To quote what I’ve previously written, it’s “a dense, bottomless, indigo whirlpool of doom, made for immersion. Immense grinding guitars match up with immense, horrific vocals and stunning drumwork. Alien keyboard melodies call out like the cries of homeless souls. The ravaging music alternately storms and drifts. You look into the void, and ‘Abysscape’ is there, looking back at you.”

How nice that the Ævangelist video filmed at St. Vitus by Frank Huang was the performance of “Abysscape”. And how nice that the alien nature of the song was matched by an otherworldly performance, beginning with the band’s live bassist — ][ — shrieking his lungs out for minutes on end before the song kicks into gear and lead vocalist Ascaris starts discharging his horrific, abyssal roars. Performing against a red backdrop but nearly immersed in shadow, both ][ and the band’s musical mastermind Matron Thorn are covered in strange sigils, and the top of Ascaris’ face is concealed by a creepy mask. Visually, the band is as arresting and unsettling to watch as their music is to hear. Continue reading »

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