UPDATES: PESTILENCE, BEHEMOTH, OBLITERATION, AND LUMBAR

Collected in this post are a handful of news items I spied earlier today. Unlike most of these daily round-ups, no new music is included (other than a teaser for one band’s new album). But read it anyway, won’t you?

PESTILENCE

We’ve been keeping our eye out for new information about Obsideo, the next album by Pestilence, because for fuck’s sake, it’s Pestilence. Today we all get to see the album cover ,and now we also know the release date (by Candlelight Records in North America): November 11.

Although I’ve seen some expressions of anxiety and pessimism about this new album given the generally lukewarm reaction to the last one, I choose to have faith in Patrick Mameli and the 8-string guitar he used to record these new songs. Also, he says, “We have gone beyond our human limits to achieve the highest form of brutal music . . . it is really ten of the most demanding songs written in death metal.”

Bring it on.

 

BEHEMOTH

Is there anyone more metal than Behemoth’s Nergal, all things considered? As the latest piece of evidence in support of a “No, there probably isn’t” answer, we learned today that some of his own blood has been used by Russian artist Denis Forkas (whose work we’ve featured on this site previously — for example, yesterday) in painting the cover art for Behemoth’s next album, The Satanist. Nergal explained in an interview:

“I wanted to incorporate some of my DNA into the art. This album seems to be so defining of who we are now as people and as individuals, and considering all the instances in recent years, [we wanted] to make it more ‘ours’ than it is usually.

“[The cover is] very arty; it’s very artistic and it really has no heavy metal clichés in it. Expect something very special and spectacular, and deeper than all of the other products that are in the market.”

The whole interview is interesting and can be found here.

(via Blabbermouth)

OBLITERATION

Unlike the first two bands in this round-up, I’m pretty sure Norway’s Obliteration is a new name to me. Today we received a press release announcing that Relapse will be releasing their third album (and the first in four years), Black Death Horizon, on November 12 in North Amwerica. (It can be pre-ordered here).

Two things made me pay attention to this. First, the album art, which is quite cool. I haven’t yet identified the artist, but I’ll update this when I find out. Second, I saw this quote from Darkthrone’s Fenriz (and what he says about music usually carries weight with me): Black Death Horizon is “a brand new, old organic sounding death metal masterpiece.”

And with that wind-up, I listened to the following teaser of music, and oh yes, it sounds enticing.

https://www.facebook.com/obliterationofficial

 

 

LUMBAR

As a denizen of Seattle and a fan of the following PNW musicians’ other bands, I HAD to say something about their new joint project, which goes by the killer name of Lumbar:

Mike Scheidt (YOB, VHÖL)
Tad Doyle (TAD, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth)
Aaron Edge (Iamthethorn, They Shall Take Up Serpents, Rote Hexe, Himsa)

This trio have recorded a debut album by the name of The First & Last Days of Unwelcome, which will be released this November by Southern Lord Recordings. It was recorded and mixed in Seattle at Doyle’s Witch Ape Studio and mastered by Brad Boatright of Portland’s Audiosiege.

According to the band, Aaron Edge composed most of the material, “which meditates on his battle with multiple sclerosis”, and I suspect it’s going to be heavy. Check out the lyrics to one of the tracks below the link to Lumbar’s FB page, which I will be surveilling for more info about the album in the weeks ahead. And below that you can see some band pics I lifted from that page

https://www.facebook.com/thelumbarendeavor

Numb, dullness to follow
Pull towards a light
Strike, painful with sorrow
The past, still in my sight
Still in my sights
Sights
Send message of wallow
Mend, getting it right
Take, leaving me hallow
The past, still in my sight
Still in the sight
Rising of sun, thou will be done
Setting of sun, thou will be done
Ending of sun, thou will be done
It has begun, thou will be done
Now I am numb, numb…