MAGOA, SWALLOWED, AND HIDEOUS DIVINITY

In this post I’ve collected music from three bands I came across yesterday that I thought was worth sharing. I tried to think up some kind of Mother’s Day theme for this round-up. All I could come up with was the idea of calling all of you motherfuckers, but that doesn’t really work, does it? Anyway, for all of you whose moms didn’t kick you out of the house, don’t forget to wish them a Happy Mother’s Day. Even those of you who got kicked out might give it a try. They might let you back in.

MAGOA

This band is from France. These days, that means there’s about an 8 out of 10 chance they will be good. Magoa released a debut album last year called Swallow the Earth, which I haven’t heard. More recently, they’ve finished recording a 6-song EP that I presume will be released later this year. Last week, they released a single from the EP for free download, along with an accompanying video. The name of the song is “Animal”.

As their principal influences, Magoa cite Slipknot, Lamb of God, Pantera, and In Flames. Based on this song, I’d add Meshuggah to the list, which I suppose is a way of saying that it includes some djent stylings. I get the Slipknot reference, but based on this song I wouldn’t say the usual stylings of those other bands are much in the mix.

I do like the song — it’s groovy, it’s brash, it’s high-energy, it includes a catchy melody — but the main reason for posting about it is the video, which I couldn’t take my eyes off of. In the category of videos that exclusively depict the band performing the music, it’s one of the best I’ve seen this year.

It was directed by a Parisian filmmaker named Benjamin Cappelletti, who has created excellent vids for other bands (including one for Ireland’s Censura that we featured here). You can see more of his work at this location. He did a superb job creating visual imagery that matches the song’s music.

If the entire video had been filmed and edited in the way you’ll see during the song’s first minute, it would be very fine — but it gets even better. I won’t spoil it with a description. See for yourself.
 

 

To download the song for free, go to this location. More Magoa tunes can be heard here, and their FB page can be reached via this link.

SWALLOWED

Even though he calls me a pussy and a dumbass redneck and other loving appellations on almost a daily basis, NCS reader KevinP does come up with musical gems every now and then. This Finnish band is one I discovered through him yesterday. Because they are from Finland, there was a 9 out of 10 chance they would be good.

They’ve produced two demo’s and a self-titled EP in their career to date. The EP, which was originally released on vinyl in 2010, is now available as a digital download from Swallowed’s Bandcamp page, and two of the tracks are available for free.

I listened to those two songs — “Unsavorably” and “Black Phlegm”. In the main, this is suffocating death-doom. The music is low, slow, and weighted with the blackness of damned souls. Face-scraping shrieked vocals work in harness with crushing riffs and drum strikes that you feel down in your bowels. And every now and then, the band explode in a shrapnel-spewing whirlwind of fury.
 

It appears that Swallowed is now working on a full-length album. To keep track of their progress, you can find them on Facebook here and this is the link to their web site.

HIDEOUS DIVINITY

I heard about this Italian band from NCS reader skinbridge and then remembered I had received e-mails about them from Unique Leader Records. They were started by former members of Italy’s Hour of Penance, though the line-up has shifted since then. Unique Leader released their debut album, Obeisance Rising, in April of this year.

I’m hoping I have the time to listen to the whole album and write more about it, but for now I just want to give you a taste. Well, two tastes, to be precise. The first is a song from the album called “The Servant’s Speech”. It’s highly destructive death metal — high-speed, high-distortion, high-impact. Off-the-hook drumming, blistering riffs, head-spinning solo’s, leonine vocals — all the food groups are represented. There’s also an effective, off-pace instrumental break. Perhaps it’s the power of suggestion at work, but it reminded me of Hour of Penance (which is a band I adore). I really enjoyed this — listen up:

“The Servant’s Speech”

[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/03-The-Servants-Speech.mp3|titles=Hideous Divinity – The Servant’s Speech]

Now, for the second taste. I mentioned the drumming. It’s executed by Maurizio Montagna. It’s physically very impressive. skinbridge sent me a link to this video, which is a montage of Maurizio tracking the drums for various songs on Obeisance Rising. Jaw-dropping shit.
 

 

You can find Hideous Divinity on Facebook via this link. The album is available digitally on iTunes and Amazon mp3.
 

That’s all for now motherfuckers. Don’t forget to call mom.