SHADES OF BLACK: CULT OF ERINYES, LORN, AND NOSFERATU

When I staggered to bed last night I had a few ideas percolating about what I would post today. When I staggered out of bed this morning and started wandering through the interhole those ideas went out the window, and instead what you’re about to hear took their place. By chance I listened to three new songs in a row that really grabbed me. By chance, they’re all shades and phases of black metal, with interesting twists. I wasn’t familiar with any of the bands before listening to these new tracks, and with luck like this I should probably buy a lottery ticket today.

CULT OF ERINYES

This three-person Belgian band have recorded their second album, Blessed Extinction, which will be released in digipak format on October 21, 2013, by the Italian label Code666 Records. They’ve just begun streaming an advance track named “自爆 (Jibaku)”, which I discovered thanks to a Facebook post by Nico at Kaotoxin Records, who’s an acquaintance of mine and a friend of the band.

If the song consisted of nothing but the hurricane of cutting guitars, thundering percussion, and acid vocals with which it begins, I’d be happy enough, because that first phase of the song shoots a megawatt charge straight to the brainstem. But the song holds in store much more than that.

Beginning at the 3:40 mark it changes. A shroud of guitar distortion remains in the air like a pall of battle smoke, but through it comes a riveting instrumental performance (including one hell of a guitar solo) that grows in intensity until the whirlwind begins reaping souls again and the vocalist reaches new heights of passion. Fantastic song!

I’ve included the track in two different player formats below. Hope you like this as much as I do.

https://cultoferinyes.bandcamp.com/album/blessed-extinction
https://www.facebook.com/cult.erinyes

 

 

 

LORN

This Italian band’s debut album (Towards the Abyss of Disease) appeared in 2006 on the Eerie Art label. A couple of splits followed, and now they’ve joined the ranks of the I, Voidhanger label for release of their second album (Subconscious Metamorphosis) next month. This morning I, Voidhanger started streaming a long song from the album named “Definitive Conjunction”, and I paused to hear it in part because this label’s releases have proven to be very dependable and in part because I thought the cover art by Kati Astraeir was damned cool.

As in the case of the Cult of Erinyes track, “Definitive Conjunction” begins storming right out of the gate, with a thick, doomed wall of guitars and hurtling drumbeats and bestial vocals that roar and howl through the maelstrom. As the song progresses, it becomes even more eerily atmospheric as a harsh electronic wind blows and strange pulsating noises emanate from the underground. After that interlude, Lorn unleash a new radioactive rain of melodic guitar chords and compelling bass-and-drum rhythms before the music dissipates into nothingness.

Entwining the overpowering fire of a full-throttle assault and the icy cold menace of the cosmic void, “Definitive Conjunction” is as utterly transfixing as it is unsettling. Can’t wait to hear more of this album.

Check out the song below; I haven’t been able to find any social media pages for the band.

UPDATE: A few hours after I posted this, I, Voidhanger uploaded a second track from Lorn’s new album. The name is “”Aeons Fears, Pt. III (Cleaving the Diaphragm”, and as the name suggests, it’s the final part of a three-part song on the album. I’ve added the player for this track below. It’s a powerful piece of largely instrumental music, a melding of chiming guitars, pounding bass, increasingly acrobatic drumming, and the roaring sound of something monstrous rising from the depths of the void into a full howl. It will swallow you up. Amazing.

https://soundcloud.com/i-voidhanger-records/lorn-definitive-conjunction

 

 

 

NOSFERATU

Nosferatu are a three-piece group based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. They messaged me on Facebook this morning, providing a download of a new song they had recorded named “Unlight”. I’m not sure whether this means that the band have a new EP, split, or album coming (they released their debut album in 2008) or if this is just a single. Regardless, I sure enjoyed it.

The introduction intrigued me immediately, especially when the bass-player began soloing (!!). The dark, ominous melody introduced in the first part of the song becomes the foundation for a series of guitar variations on the theme, and we get a reprise of that delicious bass lead again, along with creative drumwork and a thoroughly skin-flaying vocal performance. The production on the track is excellent, creating a sound that’s both sharp-edged and very heavy.

“Unlight” is a different breed of black metal cat, a refreshing, surprising, and very catchy variation on the standard tropes of the genre. It’s streaming at the band’s ReverbNation page, so I’ve embedded the song-player from that page below.

https://www.facebook.com/Nosferatu.Indonesia.Official
http://www.nosferatu-online.webs.com/
http://www.reverbnation.com/nosferatuindonesia