AN NCS PREMIERE: VALLENFYRE — “ODIOUS BLISS”

We were early and avid supporters of A Fragile King, the 2011 debut album by the all-star UK group known as Vallenfyre. It was a very personal album for all involved but especially the band’s founder Greg Mackintosh (Paradise Lost), who started the band after the death of his father. It could have been a one-off kind of project, but the reception to A Fragile King was so positive and the experience was obviously pleasurable enough for the band members that they have come roaring back with a second album — Splinters (produced by Kurt Ballou of Converge). Here’s a hint: it’s even better than the debut.

We wrote about the first advance track from the new album (“Scabs”) last month, and today we’re happy as hell to premiere another new song — “Odious Bliss”. After a massively heavy doom-shrouded opening, it begins to rumble and rush like a demon freight train with the throttle wide open, driven by Adrian Erlandsson’s jolting drumwork and a load of skull-splitting riffage.

The ill melody has a way of insinuating itself into your head almost immediately, and Greg Mackintosh sounds gargantuan. Speaking of gargantuan, wait ’til you hear the guitar and bass tone — utterly pulverizing, and odiously blissful.

Greg Mackintosh had this to say about the song: “‘Odious Bliss’ is basically a song about self-medicating– whether it is morphine for the terminally ill, or pills and drink for mental and physical afflictions. How it makes everything feel better, but at what cost? Musically, it is steeped in ancient FROST, but with a good coating of VALLENFYRE filth.”

Splinters is now scheduled for release by Century Media on May 12 in Europe and May 13 in North America. It can be pre-ordered on vinyl or CD here.

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