On July 29, the multi-national band Punished will release their debut EP, The Absent, and today we bring you the premiere of the EP’s title track.
Though the name Punished may be a new one to you, the band’s line-up includes former Ulcerate vocalist Ben Read as well as Serocs guitarist Antonio Freyre, plus guitarist/bassist Aldo Mora and drummer Ignacio Rizo. In addition, the EP includes guest vocals by Josh Smith (Serocs), Antti Boman (Demilich), Phil Tougas (Chthe’ilist/First Fragment), and our very own NCS comrade Austin Weber (whose vocal turn appears near the end of the song you’re about to hear).
L-R: Antonio Freyre, Ben Read, Ignacio Rizo, Aldo Antonino Mora
The title track is brutal, technical, inventive, and unpredictable — a bombastic and brain-twisting death metal thrill ride guaranteed to get your pulse pounding. The thundering drums provide the song’s turbocharged propulsion, accompanied by bounding bass notes, and against that spine-shaking rhythm section the guitarists maniacally dish out a kaleidoscopic panorama of dissonant, disorienting riffs and leads. The vocals are as inflamed and as dynamic as the instrumental acrobatics, ranging from deep bestial growls to ravenous howls and skin-splitting shrieks.
At one point, the song changes without warning into something gliding and almost dreamlike, but it’s a brief diversion, long enough to catch a breath before the band resume their head-spinning roller-coaster ride. “The Absent” is so full of crazed instrumental twists and turns that you may not realize until the song is over that it has infected you with strains of melody, which continue running through your head after the track ends.
The Absent was reamped and mixed by Ryan Harvey. It will be released by the band on July 29 through Bandcamp, and a full stream will be premiered next week. For more info, follow this page:
https://www.facebook.com/punishedmx/
6 Responses to “AN NCS PREMIERE: PUNISHED — “THE ABSENT””
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I feel Punished, alright, by grim thrust and harsh moods.
I think I just shit myself! Incredible
A monster track, I’m loving it 🙂
Some might find it interesting that the cover is a diagram of a Zoroastrian Tower of Silence, which is used in their death ritual. It’s a tower where the bodies of the dead are laid out exposed to the elements and scavenger birds. Here’s a little blurb from wiki.
“The modern-day towers, which are fairly uniform in their construction, have an almost flat roof, with the perimeter being slightly higher than the center. The roof is divided into three concentric rings: the bodies of men are arranged around the outer ring, women in the second circle, and children in the innermost ring. Once the bones have been bleached by the sun and wind, which can take as long as a year, they are collected in an ossuary pit at the center of the tower, where – assisted by lime – they gradually disintegrate, and the remaining material – with run-off rainwater – runs through multiple coal and sand filters before being eventually washed out to sea. “
A very cool fact, and indeed a lot of intriguing background stuff to these fascinating buildings of witch I (and probably many along with me) knew nil.
Nice! Glad I could add a little. I recommend a google image search for sky burials and tower of silence for anyone remotely curious. The history and practices of peripheral religions, like Zoroastrianism, in the middle east are fascinating. And the towers are damn cool, and very metal.