SEEN AND HEARD: BINARY CREED, CRYPT SERMON, DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT, GOST, GRUESOME, HACAVITZ, HOLOTROPIC, INCULTER, LLOTH, LVXCAELIS

 

Greetings sistren and brethren. I have a bountiful collection of new songs and album streams to recommend. One of the reasons the collection is so bountiful is that I haven’t had time to pounce upon them with my usual catlike reflexes this week. I am instead moving at the speed of the loris horde in the NCS compound, which is to say, slower than the oozing of maple sap in a Vermont winter. In other words, there’s a backlog — and now the dam bursts.

Don’t be daunted by the volume of music in this collection. Just sip it slowly, a little bit at a time, as you would that jug of 100 proof rot-gut moonshine you keep under the sink next to the dry-aged head of the last person who pissed you off.

I’m presenting the music in alphabetical order by band name — and in this post I’ve only made it up to “L”. I actually have still more new music from bands whose names come later in the alphabet. I hope to package those up for tomorrow.

BINARY CREED

As you might infer from the name of this site, power metal is my least favorite genre of metal. But I enjoyed the new music video for “Dominion”, the first track off a 2014 debut album named Restitution by a Swedish band who call themselves Binary Creed.

https://www.facebook.com/binarycreed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CRYPT SERMON

Speaking of clean singing, the debut album by Philadelphia’s Crypt Sermon is one of my favorites of 2015, not despite the clean singing but because of it. It also has a plethora of killer riffs, memorable melodies, and potent atmosphere. I’ve written about individual songs, but now the whole album is streaming at Stereogum. Go here and doom on….

http://www.stereogum.com/1738887/stream-crypt-sermon-out-of-the-garden-stereogum-premiere/mp3s/album-stream/

 

 

 

 

DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT

Late last week the German band Der Weg einer Freiheit premiered a lyric video for a song named “Einkher” off their forthcoming third album, Stellar (out March 23 on Season of Mist). The video makes use of artwork by Max Löffler, who created separate pieces for each song on the album. Good stuff, both musically and visually.

https://www.facebook.com/derwegeinerfreiheit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GOST

Gost is a one-man band who makes music that seems to attract the label “dark synthwave”. I don’t know what this means, because I am almost completely ignorant when it comes to electronic music. But I know that Finland’s Blood Music will be released Gost’s debut album Behemoth in April, I know that the man behind Gost (Baalberith) is named for a prince of hell, I know that he performs in a skull mask, and I really like the album art (by FØRTIFEM). Also, KevinP recommended a song — and with all those plus signs, I decided to listen to it.

The song’s name is “Master”. It’s heavy and abrasive and damned catchy. So here it is:

http://gost1980s.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/gost1980s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GRUESOME

Thanks to a tip from our friend Vonlughlio, I learned that Gruesome has released some news as well as a trailer for their debut album Savage Land, which will be released in North America via Relapse Records on April 21st, 2015, April 17th in Germany, Benelux and Finland, and April 20th in the UK and the rest of the world. If you don’t know about Gruesome, it’s a project involving these talented people who collaborated to write metal in the vein of Death’s first two albums:

Daniel Gonzalez (Possessed) – Guitar
Matt Harvey (Exhumed) – Guitar, vocals
Robin Mazen (Derketa) – Bass
Gus Rios (Malevolent Creation) – Drums

Here’s the tasty trailer:

https://www.facebook.com/gruesomedeathmetal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HACAVITZ

I also owe Vonlughlio a thank-you for making me aware that Mexico’s Hacavitz — about whom I’ve written before — have begun streaming their new album Darkness Beyond. It’s very good black/death and you should give it a shot. This is the place:

http://www.decibelmagazine.com/featured/full-album-stream-hacavitz-darkness-beyond/

 

 

 

 

HOLOTROPIC

Holotropic are a Slovakian band recommended to me by my NCS comrade TheMadIsraeli. I believe he used the term “crazy shit”. Their concept album permeate was released last October and is available on Bandcamp. I’ve only listened to a few of the songs, and I would say that it’s a blend of technical death metal, progressive metal, jazz, Eastern melody, and crazy shit. Worth checking out, below.

http://holotropicband.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/holotropic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INCULTER

Inculter are a young Norwegian band who produced an EP and a split in 2013. They’ve now finished a debut album named Persisting Devolution, which will be released on CD and vinyl by Edged Circle Productions in March and April, respectively. There’s one song streaming on both Soundcloud and Bandcamp. The name is “Commander” and it’s a raw, ripping rampage of blackened thrash that put a charge in my brainstem. Maybe it will charge you up too.

Check out the links below, and then listen to “Commander”

http://edgedcircleproductions.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/Inculter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LLOTH

Lloth are a Greek black/death band founded by Tristessa of Astarte fame. They released a debut demo in 1997, and then went into hibernation after Tristessa moved on with Astarte. Lloth re-formed last summer, but Tristessa, of course, tragically lost her life before Lloth could begin recording. The re-formed Lloth, with a new line-up, has decided to move forward with making new songs, in part to honor Tristessa’s legacy.

A couple of days ago Lloth released a video clip for a promo single named “I (Dead Inside)”, and I’m digging it. (Thanks to Tomer for tipping me to this revival.)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/LLOTH/622671547784273

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LVXCAELIS

About nine months ago I wrote a feature about a Swedish label named Lamech Records that I had just then discovered, and it proved to be my introduction to many excellent bands. One of those was a Chilean group named LvxCaelis.

In March, Lamech Records plans to release a new album from the band named The Watchers, and yesterday the label posted two songs for streaming — the title track and “Burning Into the Light”. They are both worth hearing — a chilling and powerful offering of blackened death metal that makes me even more eager to hear this album.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/LvxCælis/234104389943005