AN NCS PREMIERE: HEKATA — “PSALM”

 

We have a rare Saturday premiere for you, and we fervently hope that word of it will spread like wildfire despite the fact that people seem to spend less time browsing for new music on weekends than during weekdays. The name of the track is “Psalm” and it’s one of six songs on the debut album by a Russian death metal powerhouse called Hekata.

Following the release of a debut EP (Dirge) and some line-up changes, these three men and one woman are now based in Saint Petersburg, where they’ve crafted a staggeringly powerful album in which elements of black metal and crust have been woven into a titanic death metal framework. Entitled Ruin, it will be released on October 27th by a consortium of three labels: Satanath Records (Russia), More Hate Productions (Russia), and Hecatombe Records (Spain).

 

Photo by Maria Nemm

“Psalm” is the kind of song that sears itself into a listener’s brain, its bleak and glorious melodies lingering long after the track ends, just as the potent physical impact of the song might leave you feeling a bit broken and bruised.

There’s no warning given, no time to prepare — the song simply explodes immediately in an onslaught of howling vocals, battering drums, bludgeoning bass, and a blaze of whirring, incandescent guitars. The song alternates between that striking opening sequence and a slower, more dismal, movement driven by a spine-cracking drum rhythm and staggeringly heavy bass-led blows that features blasts of bleak melody.

A buzzing bridge ultimately leads to hornet-like guitar swarming and clobbering drum beats, and then to huge, head-moving, piston-like riffing and blaring melodic chords. Through it all, the vocalist’s raw, inflamed roars (mixed with some incinerating shrieks) helps keep the intensity of the music in the red zone.

 

Satanath Records recommends Ruin to fans of Asphyx and Hierophant. It was mixed and mastered by Serge Ivanov (Blazing Rust), and it will be released digitally and in a jewel-box CD format with a 4-page booklet.

Check out this new song below, along with the previously released title track (a free download at Bandcamp), which is a longer and more elaborate composition, but no less staggering in its power.

PRE-ORDER INFO:
https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat207-hekata-ruin-2018
http://www.morehate.com/
https://www.facebook.com/hecatombe-records-171144762973227/

HEKATA:
http://hekata.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/hekatacult

TRACK LIST:
01. Ruin
02. Psalm
03. Savant
04. Eternal
05. Skyforge
06. Liar
Length – 25:28