EYE-CATCHERS: WATAIN, FATHER BEFOULED, NOTHNEGAL, AND I KILLED EVERYONE

I came across some news today involving three bands I like.  Unfortunately, the news involves releases that we can’t yet hear, but at least the news brings album art that’s pleasing to mine eyes. And then I came across one other piece of eye-catching new artwork that introduced me to a new band and a new song that I’m pretty sure fractured my skull . . . as if I needed any more skull fractures. Here’s what I found:

WATAIN

As we previously reported, this Swedish black metal band have a new album named The Wild Hunt coming on August 19 in Europe and August 20 in the US via Century Media Records. Today I learned that they will first be releasing a two-song single, both digitally and in a variety of physical formats, in late June. One song will be an original album track named “All That May Bleed”, and the B-side will be a cover of “Play With the Devil”, originally recorded by the Swedish black/heavy metal band Taiwaz in 1988; Gottfrid Åhman from In Solitude has contributed a guitar solo to that cover track.

Above, you can see the just-disclosed artwork for the single, which is quite cool and was created by the amazing Zbigniew Bielak II, whose work for Ghost we featured at length here. As for the original song, here’s what Watain had to say about “All That May Bleed”:

“‘All that May Bleed’ shows but one facet of a quite diverse album, but we chose this song as a first glimpse into ‘The Wild Hunt’ because of its bombastic lunacy and white-eyed malevolence which could be said to constitute a main foundation for the album. The lyric is an invitation to sacrificial blood letting, ecstatic zealotry and human sacrifice. The salt of Satan in the wounds of Christ!”

Well then, if this is an invitation to sacrificial blood letting, ecstatic zealotry, and human sacrifice, I accept!

Details about release dates and formats for the single can be found here.

 

FATHER BEFOULED

I also spied the artwork you see above, and it halted me in my tracks. The artist is NCS fav Mark Riddick, and the work is the cover for a forthcoming 7″ split release by Father Befouled and Macabra. The release will be handled by Chalice of Blood Angel and Morbid Visions. I’m unsure of the release date, but I’m expecting ancient, evil, horrifying death metal.

The only other thing I know is that Father Befouled’s track for this split is a song called “Profane Grace of the Trinity,” the first song they ever recorded with their late drummer, Antichristus. It was originally recorded in 2008 for a different 7″ that was never released. I’m unfamiliar with Macabra, but looking forward to learning more.

 

NOTHNEGAL

I’ve been a fan of this band from The Republic of the Maldives for quite a while. For more info about them, this link will take you to our previous posts about the band.

Today’s news is that Nothnegal will be releasing a self-titled, four-song, digital-only EP on July 19 via Season of Mist. I like the EP’s artwork, though I don’t know who did it. And, apart from the fact that I’m interested in what this band get up to, I’m also intrigued by this press statement about the EP:

The EP’s sound is described by NOTHNEGAL as “very raw and organic with minimal electronic effects.” Elements such as the “boduberu” (log drums used in the Maldives) and other ambient sounds from the Maldivian environment were gathered for the new album. . . . The EP shines a light on the folklore, beliefs and legends of the Maldivian islands and begs the listener to question their own spiritual state and vulnerability. The themes of the EP also include current social issues such as child abuse, corruption and family related problems.

 

I KILLED EVERYONE

The last piece of new cover art that caught my eye today is by yet another of our favorite metal artists, Mark Cooper (Mindrape Art). Wicked, eh?

It was created for a forthcoming album entitled Necrospire by an Illinois band named I Killed Everyone (not just the prom queen). It appears the album will be released by Pavement Records on July 9 and can be pre-ordered here.

Knowing nothing about this band, I searched around for something to here and found an official lyric video for one of the songs on the new album — “The Devourer Beyond”. In the interest of full disclosure for those of you who have no interest in deathcore, this is deathcore. However, because I still have some interest in deathcore I am forging ahead with some comments about the song.

The breakdowns (and there are many of them) are like bridges collapsing. The vocalist is pleasingly guttural (but doesn’t stay down in that range incessantly). The riffs are like industrial-strength concrete-cutting machines. The song includes some grisly, groaning guitar leads . . . and a nice, swarming solo. I’m digging this.