SEEN AND HEARD (PART 2): AGURZIL, WYRDING, AMPLIFIER

 

This is Part 2 of a three-part series of round-ups I planned for today, collecting new and somewhat older music that I discovered in my musical ramblings last night and this morning. As in the case of Part 1 (here) and Part 3 (yet to come), I’ve consciously tried to include variety, and just as consciously tried to focus on lesser known names in the world of metal (and it’s not all metal either).

AGURZIL

The first offering in this collection is a debut single released in January by a band from Marakesh, Morocco, named Agurzil. The song is named “Denial of Allegiance“, and it made a direct connection to the more vicious and abominable parts of my pleasure centers.

The echoing vocals are truly vomit-spewing and demonic, just as they should be for this kind of blackened death worship. The song moves back and forth between a rocking storm of destructive distortion with punchy drum rhythms and a slashing, thrashing whirlwind of sandstorm riffs and blasting percussion, and it’s topped off by a nice, evil guitar solo. My only complaint is that the song is too short — I want more of this vile nastiness!

Buy it on Bandcamp for a buck. I did.

https://agurzil.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/agurzilmorocco

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WYRDING

Wisconsin’s Wyrding began as a duo, Bret Hartl and Troy Schafer, though its ranks have expanded. As a two-piece, the band recorded a two-song EP released last September named Agony In Being. I listened to it this morning and was blown away.

The music is oh so slow, and oh so transporting. As far as I can tell, it’s performed solely with acoustic guitar and synthesizer, though a wood flute makes a striking appearance in the second track. The ghostly, funereal music is paired with contrasting abyssal growls and soaring choral voices. It’s mystical and searing, hypnotic and harrowing, doom-drenched and entrancing.

The music is on Bandcamp, where I promptly bought it. I’m eager to hear what else comes our way from Wyrding.

http://wyrding.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/wyrding

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMPLIFIER

To close out this round-up I’ve got an Exception to the Rule around here, an official video released yesterday for a song named “Black Rainbow” by Amplifier from Manchester, England.

I wasn’t familiar with Amplifier before watching the video, despite the fact that they’ve released 9 albums, probably because they’re really not a metal band. But with a name like “Amplifier” and a song title like “Black Rainbow” I couldn’t resist checking this out. Glad I did.

The song is a dark, grungy, hard-driving piece of rock ‘n’ roll with lots of psychoactive guitar work. It’s earthy and spacey at the same time, and the video is fun to watch, too. I bet it would be a kick in the head to catch these dudes live.

“Black Rainbow” comes from Amplifier’s most recent album, Mystoria, which was released last September. It’s on Bandcamp.

http://amplifier.bandcamp.com/album/mystoria
https://www.facebook.com/amplifierband