INQUISITION, IHSAHN, AND MAN MUST DIE

I haven’t been keeping my eyes peeled for metal news since last week because I’ve been too busy hob-nobbing with my fellow NCS scribes in Seattle. I did take a few quick minutes this morning to glance around and found the following three items that I thought were interesting.

INQUISITION

At the end of July we reported the welcome news that black metal powerhouse Inquisition had revealed the name of their next album (Obscure Verses for the Multiverse) and announced its release dates via Season of Mist — October 29 in North America and October 25 elsewhere. Today brought more information about the album, beginning with the cover art above, which is quite fetching.

We have also been treated to a teaser of music from the album. The video clip that I’ve included beyond the jump includes short snippets from 9 tracks. Except for the snippet of the last track, which features a harsh roar, you’ll learn that Dagon has not changed his vocal style, which continues to sound like a bullfrog being strangled with barbed wire.

You’ll also be reminded that he writes some mean riffs.

The new album is now up for pre-order here.

 

IHSAHN

I have a feeling that anyone who cares about Ihsahn has already learned about yesterday’s report that Candlelight Records has set October 22 as the North American release date for his fifth solo album, Das Seelenbrechen, with pre-orders beginning on September 10. But just in case, I’m including it here.

At least as interesting as that news is the further report in Candlelight’s press release that Das Seelenbrechen will be a sharp departure from ihsahn’s last two albums: “The recording exists in an entirely unfamiliar sonic world as IHSAHN draws upon his most esoteric influences, fully embracing the spirit of the avant-garde.” According to the same release, the album will “range from bittersweet electronica to deranged and feral improvisation” and will be every bit as dark and destructive as the artist’s previous work” but “far more disorientating and disturbing than anything he has attempted in his past.”

Oh, but there’s more: “Recorded at his own studio in Norway in collaboration with drummer Tobias Ornes Anderson (Leprous), Das Seelenbrechen courageously eschews traditional metal instrumentation in favor of a limitless textural landscape that evokes the freewheeling spirit of artists like Diamanda Galas, Scott Walker, and John Zorn.” The album will include several purely improvisational songs, as well as improvisational parts of others.

I don’t know about you, but all of this makes me curious about the album — though more curious than hungry for it. We shall see.

 

MAN MUST DIE

Yesterday also brought cover art and the welcome news that Scotland’s Man Must Die will finally be releasing their new album under the name Peace Was Never An Option on October 28 in Europe and a date later in NorthAm via Lifeforce Records.

MMD have certainly had their ups and downs since parting ways with Relapse Records, and in fact succeeded with a crowd-funding campaign to help underwrite the costs of the new album before signing with Lifeforce in July. It will be good to hear what they have gotten up to musically since 2009’s No Tolerance For Imperfection. I’m expecting bone splinters.