SEEN AND HEARD: ARKHĒ, MITOCHONDRION, AUROCH, VANHELGD, ABNORMALITY

 

It has been a crazy week for new metal. Even if I had posted round-ups every day, I still would have fallen behind — or to be more accurate, more behind. Yet for various reasons, I couldn’t do that. So here I am, sitting on an enormous number of new songs and announcements that I want to throw out there. What I’ve decided to do is collect just four of the most recent ones in this post, and then tomorrow I’m going to surrender and do a link dump for a lot of the rest.

ARKHĒ

When KevinP linked me to this next video, he described the song as “Spacey prog Rock/metal from the bassist/vocalist of Sear Bliss“. The mention of Hungary’s Sear Bliss was more than enough inducement, and now that I’ve heard the song I’d probably add “goth”, “doom”, and “electronica” to Kevin‘s string of adjectives. And lest some of you think the song is too close to pop at the beginning, András Nagy does break out the growls and snarls before the song ends, in addition to his vaulting clean vocal melodies.

 

 

The name of the song is “Fergeteg Hava” and it appears on the debut album Λ by Arkhē, which is indeed the near-solo project of András Nagy of Sear Bliss. I found a lot to like about this moody, hooky tune, including the rumble of the fretless bass (also performed by Nagy on the recording, though Milán Scheer is the bassist in the video) accompanying the clanging chords. The video is also a pleasure to watch — directed and edited by Gábor Fábián and filmed by Fábián and Iván Szöllősi.

The new album consists of nine songs, including a cover of Napalm Death’s “Scum” — and Nagy has explained that each song represents a different style of music. It will be released on March 24 —  in Hungary by Nail Records, with worldwide distribution by Plastic Head.

https://www.facebook.com/arkhehungary/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MITOCHONDRION AND AUROCH

Late this week the excellent Vancouver bands Mitochondrion and Auroch (who share Shawn Hache and Sebastian Montesi as members) revealed details about their forthcoming split: Its name is In Cronian Hour, it features cover art by Cold Poison, and it will be released on 7″ vinyl by Dark Descent and Hellthraser Productions.

Each band contributed one song — Auroch‘s is “Leaden Words Sown” and Mitochondrion‘s is “Gilded Words Reaped”. I’m guessing that “Gilded Words Reaped” was the new song that Mitochondrion used to finish their set at Portland’s Famine Fest 2016 not long ago (reviewed here), and I’m also guessing that if I’d gotten my shit together well enough to catch Auroch at that fest, I might have heard their new track as well. Very excited to get this split ASAP.

https://www.facebook.com/mitochondrion137/
https://www.facebook.com/Aurochmetal/

 

 

 

VANHELGD

Yesterday brought details about the new album, Temple of Phobos, by the Swedish death metal band Vanhelgd. It includes seven tracks and will be released on CD and vinyl by Dark Descent in North America and by Pulverised Records in Europe. The cover art was also revealed, and a song named “Rebellion Of The Iniquitous” was made available for streaming.

In describing the direction of the new album, Vanhelgd stated that they have ventured beyond the traditional confines of death metal and into the realms of “blackened Doom Metal”, and the signposts of that journey are indeed evident in this new song. The vibrating riffs and rippling melodies in the song are morbid and disease-ridden, and the vocals sound like the cloaked specter of death has arisen to proclaim his supremacy.

https://www.facebook.com/vanhelgd/

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABNORMALITY

DGR reviewed Abnormality‘s last album Contaminating the Hive Mind all the way back in 2012 — and it has been that long since the band released any music. Not surprisingly, he seemed pretty excited when he passed along news and music from the band’s new album yesterday.

The new full-length from these Boston-area barbarians is named Mechanisms of Omniscience, and it will be released by the band’s new label Metal Blade on April 29. The song that premiered yesterday is the title track.

In DGR‘s words: “Song is delicious. Absolutely worth a listen. New song sounds like ‘Zealotry’ from The Collective Calm EP going head-on with the song ‘Hatred Relentless’ from Contaminating The Hive Mind. Just slightly better produced with a sharper snare. Has a real grinder of an opening groove as well.” Can’t argue with any of that. The song is hell on wheels.

The new album is available for pre-order on Bandcamp. I’ve included the new song below in two different players. And in other Abnormality news, the band will soon be embarking on a U.S. tour with Soulfly, Suffocation, Battlecross, and Lody Kong. You can see the dates below, following the song streams.

https://abnormality.bandcamp.com/album/mechanisms-of-omniscience
https://www.facebook.com/AbnormalityOfficial/

 

 

ABNORMALITY TOUR WITH SOULFLY, SUFFOCATION, BATTLECROSS, and LODY KONG

Apr. 22 – San Antonio, TX – Korova
Apr. 23 – McAllen, TX Cine – El Rey
Apr. 24 – Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey*
Apr. 25 – New Orleans, LA – Southport Hall
Apr. 26 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
Apr. 27 – Fayetteville, NC – Rock Shop
Apr. 28 – Baltimore, MD – Soundstage
Apr. 29 – Long Island, NY – Revolution
Apr. 30 – Providence, RI – Fete Ballroom
May 1 – Lowell, MA – Mill City Ballroom
May 3 – Rochester, NY – Water Street Music Hall
May 4 – Joliet, IL – Bada Brew
May 5 – Valparaiso, IN – Big Shots
May 6 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Ballroom
May 7 – Dayton, OH – Oddbody’s
May 8 – Indianapolis, IN – 5th Quarter
May 10 – Kansas City, MO – Riot Room
May 11 – Colorado Springs, CO – Black Sheep
May 12 – Denver, CO – Marquis Theater
May 14 – Walla Walla, WA – Main Street Studios
May 15 – Seattle, WA – Studio Seven
May 17 – Portland, OR – Dantes
May 18 – Orangevale, CA – Boardwalk
May 19 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Metro
May 20 – Los Angeles, CA – Whisky A Go Go
*=no Suffocation