(written by Islander)

In our daily discharge of premieres we often find ourselves spreading the word about new music from bands who’ve already established some kind of track record through previous releases, or debuting a second or third single from a record after people already have an idea what’s in store for them. That makes today’s premiere something of a novelty, because it’s the first song publicly released by a brand new band.

The band is Celestial Death, a black metal quartet from Atlanta headed up by Jay Crash, who’s also the owner of Terminus Hate City Records. He’s joined by other experienced performers from the Atlanta scene — guitarist Ryan Buck (perhaps best known for his bass playing, as a member of Coletta, and having toured with Hail the Sun); drummer Matthew Carmichael (who has recently filled in on drums for Tómarúm, has toured with Cyborg Octopus and Archeologist, and is also a member of the Atlanta tech-death band, Nihilect); and bassist Hellstorm.

The song we’re premiering through a video, on the day of the song’s release across streaming platforms, functions as a mission statement, not only in the formulation of black metal that Celestial Death has concocted but also of their philosophy. Here’s their statement about “Anti-Preacher“: Continue reading »