SEEN AND HEARD: ARSIS, AOSOTH, MECHINA, AGONIA RECORDS, AND FINNTROLL

I thought I’d let you know that despite my inability to contribute much to the site the last few days, I’m still alive. I’m beginning Day 18 away from Seattle, mired in a seemingly endless project for my fucking day job, and largely unable to listen to music, pay much attention to metal news, or write much. However, the end is in sight: it appears I’ll be able to go home next Tuesday or Wednesday.

While my blog life has been fucked up, other folks have been stepping up to fill the hole (if only they could fill the holes in my head), and one of them is DGR. In this post are some items he discovered recently, along with a few I came across this morning that we’d like to share with you — Islander

ARSIS (written by DGR)

The glorious Arsis info dump of 2013 happened yesterday, with the guys announcing pretty much everything you’ve ever wanted to know about their upcoming album Unwelcome, which will see release April 30th of this year.

Over at their facebook page the group revealed the artwork and track listing for the disc (the release date and title have been known for a little while now) as well as reminded folks that you can already hear a pretty good representation of what they are aiming for with the Scion AV release of the free EP Lepers Caress.

You can gaze longingly at the album art above, and here’s the list of tracks that will be featured on the disc. I’m excited about the potential of having a song called “Handbook For The Recently Deceased” hanging out in my music collection here real soon, and curious what that “Sunglasses at Night” song will be – because if it’s a cover we are in for some hilarity.

UNWELCOME Track Listing:
1. Unwelcome
2. Carve my Cross
3. Handbook for the Recently Deceased
4. Choking on Sand
5. Let me be the One
6. Sunglasses at Night
7. Martyred or Mourning
8. No One Lies to the Dead
9. I Share in Shame
10. Scornstar

AOSOTH (written by Islander)

Aosoth are a French band who combine elements of black metal and death metal, and I’m damned enthused over the prospect of hearing their new fourth full-length, IV:Arrow In Heart, which is due for worldwide release on April 16 via Agonia Records (pre-orders are being fielded here).

We previously featured an edited version of the album’s title track, and yesterday CVLT Nation exclusively premiered a second song, “Temple of Knowledge”. It’s a blazing black/death rampage right from the start, with a couple of grisly, doomy slowdowns interspersed in the roaring conflagration. I’m especially enjoying the tempo changes and the bass and drum work in the song. Definitely go here to listen to this beautiful beast.

(many thanks to Vonlughlio for the tip about this premiere)

MECHINA (written by DGR)

We’ve posted about Mechina a lot – I’ll admit it. Especially since their disc Empyrean released earlier this year (reviewed here), it seems like they’ve been especially capable in keeping their name relevant. In between doing a couple of cover songs and then going back to that disc to do a second mix of it, they’ve found time to work on and develop the concept for something that they revealed late last night, and it is something huge and ambitious.

Last night they posted up a one-minute trailer that revealed a couple of things – that they’re starting a second trilogy of music, and the release dates for those albums. I’m not one to try and predict the future, but I think that forecasting three albums out into the future and saying that they’ll be released one per year from 2014-2016 is kinda nuts.

All I can really do is salute them and hope for the best because it is going to take some serious work to get those out. If you can’t stand to watch the trailer for a minute, the albums as they are projected so far are Xenon in 2014, Sentient in 2015 (which they have posted something for before but the video has since been removed), and Anicetus rounding out this second trilogy in 2016.

AGONIA RECORDS ON BANDCAMP (written by Islander)

Agonia Records, which is releasing that new Aosoth album, is a Polish label and the latest metal-oriented label to set up shop on Bandcamp. So far, they’ve populated the page with recent releases from this year and last by Tombstone Highway, Kongh, Spektr, Acrimonious, Endezzma, Forgotten Tomb, Malediction, and Ephel Duath. This is really diverse music, and I’m very high on all of these bands except for Spektr, with whom I’m unfamiliar.

Since I haven’t heard this Spektr album before, I started listening, and man is it off the wall — but I’m finding it fascinating. So I’ll just stick the new Bandcamp player right here:

FINNTROLL (written by Islander)

As I’ve said before, I am so ready for Blodsvept, the upcoming sixth studio album from Finntroll (due for release by Century Media on April 2). We previously featured the album’s title track (here), and yesterday brought another teaser — a clip of excerpts from multiple songs.

It really gets me jumping and bobbing and ready to mosh with the furniture, and it includes some stylistic elements that are new and different compared to what I’ve heard from this band before. Wait for the banjo and bluegrass elements in one of these excerpts.

We have our promo of this album, and I’m frustrated as hell that I don’t have time to dive in right away. This teaser will have to tide me over. Check it out.

http://www.facebook.com/officialfinntroll