OUR LIST OF 2014’S MOST INFECTIOUS EXTREME METAL SONGS: PART 21

We have arrived at Part 21 in the continuing rollout of our list of 2014′s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

The two songs I’m adding today aren’t as loud and extreme as the majority of what’s on the list. They’re also exceptions to the rule embodied in the site’s name. But they’re both very good, very infectious songs — and they have some other things in common, too. Prepare for some satanic rock.

THE HOUSE OF CAPRICORN

Morning Star Rise marked a conscious change in sound for New Zealand’s The House of Capricorn, a change exemplified by the song I’m adding to the list today. Relatively speaking “Ivory Crown” is one of the more subdued tracks on the album — if you’re looking for tracks that drive harder on the mayhem end of the spectrum, then I’d recommend “The Road To Hell Is Marked” or “Our Shrouded King”. But “Ivory Crown” is built around such killer melodic hooks that it’s powerfully addictive.

It’s shrouded in an atmosphere of gothic doom, with a steamroller bass tone and spine-jarring percussion that adds to its weight, but what really makes the song really shine are the ringing guitar chords, the massively infectious chorus, a fuzzed-out reverberating guitar solo that’s fantastic — and Marko Pavlovic’s voice. He adds to the occult atmosphere already created by the satanic lyricism, with a kind of dark charisma that reminds me of Peter Steele.

https://www.facebook.com/thehouseofcapricorn
http://thehouseofcapricorn.bandcamp.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

HAIL SPIRIT NOIR

This fascinating Greek band’s 2014 album Oi Magoi was one we failed to review, though we paid lots of other attention to it as advance tracks rolled out, and we did publish KevinP’s interview with the band’s vocalist/guitarist Theoharis.

I strongly recommend listening to this entire album — I loved it, and I had a hard time picking among its tracks for a song to add to this list. The one I ultimately chose is “Satan Is Time”. It pushes and recedes like the tide, an eerie psychedelic ambience trading places with a pulsing rock beat, distorted guitar chords moving with blood-pumping bass and drum rhythms, soaring clean vocals in partnership with ugly harsh ones. The melody will get stuck in your head — it sure as hell got stuck in mine — and you may feel like chanting the song’s title right along with Theoharis.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hail-Spirit-Noir/260062670728238
http://hsn666.bandcamp.com/album/oi-magoi