SHADES OF BLACK: WELTSCHMERZ, DEWFALL, MAGOTH, PANDISCORDIAN NECROGENESIS

 

For this Sunday’s column I’ve picked music from four bands we’ve never previously written about at NCS. Three are advance tracks from forthcoming records, and one is a complete new album, released just yesterday.

WELTSCHMERZ

To begin, I’ve chosen a song from the second album by a band who, despite their German name (which seems to mean “world-pain” or “world-weariness”), are Dutch. We’re further informed that weltschmerz “is a term coined by the German author Jean Paul and denotes the kind of feeling experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind”.

 

 

The new album, Illustra Nos (“Sun of Justice”), is set for release by Redefining Darkness Records on October 26th. The first song presented for streaming late last week, “Until the Bitter End“, strikes with cyclonic intensity, and then follows that breathtaking opening assault with a changing array of heavy-hooked riffs, while never lifting its claws from your throat for long at a time. before beginning to rip like a maniac again. The music really is a whirlwind experience, accented by a jaw-dropper of a solo at the end — right before a startlingly abrupt stop.

I haven’t yet ventured further into the album, but I surely will, based not only on the strength of this track but also driven by curiosity — because Redefining Darkness says that the band also experiment with the use of strings and brass on this album.

P.S. The eye-catching cover art was painted by Cecily Brown.

Bandcamp:
https://redefiningdarknessrecords.bandcamp.com/album/weltschmerz-illustra-nos

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/weltschmerzmetal/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEWFALL

Dewfall‘s second album, but the first that I’ve heard, is a conceptually distinctive one, as described in the following words from Naturmacht Production‘s Bandcamp page for the record:

“Hermeticus is composed of a powerful and evoking sound coming from old-school european roots. The concept merges history, nature and literature in a symbolic portrait tributing the esoteric myth of the Emperor Frederick II, the medieval Suevian sovereign better known as “Stupor Mundi”, who ruled for a long time in Italy and mysteriously marked Apulian culture.

“The work is a personal metaphor bearing the ancient hermetic heritage of the band’s homeland, connected with traditional atavistic heathendom. The story is narrated through eight songs composing two main historical and spiritual chapters and is also performed with several Latin and medieval Italian Poetry inserts.”

The album, released on October 13th, also includes a guest vocal appearance by V’gandr (Taake, Helheim) on “Apud Portam Ferram” and by Davide Straccione (Shores of Null) on the opening track, ”The Abomination Throne”, as well as cover art by Khaos Diktator Design.

 

There’s a lot to take in over the course of these eight substantial tracks, which collectively weave a rich tapestry of invigorating sound. With a clear production and undergirded by potent low-end heaviness, the songs change pace and mood frequently, reaching heights of epic grandeur, plowing troughs of glowering moodiness, and throwing caution to the winds in assaults of rampant barbarism.

The songs include impressive proggy digressions as well as a cornucopia of razor-sharp melodic hooks and head-moving riffs, and such a richly layered pattern of beautifully integrated sounds and rhythms that your head might seem to spin like a top from beginning to end (mine sure as hell did). The near-baroque ornateness of the music sometimes extends to the vocals, which are mainly demonic in their viciousness but also range into clean song (most prominently in the opener, when Davide Straccione sends his voice theatrically soaring).

In reflecting on the album, I think of it as a panoramic heavy metal pageant that strives to bring to the stage all the foolishness, fearlessness, and ferocity of which human beings are capable, the depths of pain and heartbreak, the beauty of great achievements, and the terrible exultation of madness. It’s a lot to reach for, but Dewfall‘s grand ambitions don’t exceed their grasp.

Bandcamp:
https://naturmachtproductions.bandcamp.com/album/hermeticus

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/DewFallOfficial/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MAGOTH

On November 9th the German black metal band Magoth will release their second album, following Anti Terrestrial Black Metal from 2017. I haven’t heard that first record, nor have I found the name or cover art for the next one. But it’s now on my radar screen because of an advance track from it that I’ve chosen as the next item in this collection.

“Above The Sacred Lands“ channels high-energy, fast-paced savagery, but there’s a bouyancy of spirit in the music along with ample cruelty. The guitar melody soars and shines as well as hammers and harrows; the lead guitar, when it first surfaces, ripples with incandescent light, leading into a gloom-drenched segment that booms like thunder.

The band also pack the song with other dynamic variations. There’s a slow, moody, and mystical instrumental break after the half-way point (which is reprised again at the end), juxtaposed against a follow-on torrent of blasting and bleak ferocity accented by another riveting lead. Moreover, when the band are in racing gear, the song is very, very infectious.

(Thanks to Miloš for pointing me to this track.)

Bandcamp:
https://magoth.bandcamp.com/

Official Site:
http://www.magoth.de/

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/magothblackmetal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PANDISCORDIAN NECROGENESIS

Pandiscordian Necrogenesis is the creation of Ephemeral Domignostika, who is also the man behind Mastery and a member of Pale Chalice and Ulthar. Eight years after the first album by this project, and following hot on the heels of a second one released this past February, a third one (Outer Supernal) will be released on October 26th by Gilead Media.

Unfamiliar with P.N., I was induced to explore the two tracks that are now available for public consumption based on this description by Gilead Media:

“On OUTER SUPERNAL, the third Pandiscordian full-length, all music is performed live and improvised by Domignostika with the use of a bass drum, snare, and hi hat (all played by foot), guitar, and voice. The only exception being the use of synth for ambient tracks.

“The resulting music is a schizophrenic and diverse series of compositions that meld the raw minimalism of black metal, intensity of classic death metal, speed/thrash guitar meanderings, or plodding doom. All of these styles are common deviations within the performances while somehow allowing each song to maintain its own sense of narrative, and it’s all distilled through a distinct lo-fi black metal lens. There are no loop pedals, no backing tracks, and no samples used in any Pandiscordian recordings or performances. We think it’s safe to state that the concept of improvised black metal where all instruments are played simultaneously can be solely attributed to Domignostika“.

Go on, admit it: You’re curious now, too, aren’t you?

Of those two tracks I mentioned, the title song is on Bandcamp and “Hidden Supernal” is exclusively streaming at Metal Injection, along with an interview of Domignostika. “Outer Supernal” is absolutely wild, from the throat-splitting vocal hostility to the unchained exuberance of the riffing. Of course, don’t go into this expecting an acrobatic drum performance — but the mere fact that Domignostika is capable of providing even rudimentary rhythmic accompaniment with his feet while delivering such stunningly dynamic guitar performances and such blistering vocal intensity is remarkable.

“Hidden Supernal”, on the other hand, is simply nightmarish — slow, unnerving, oppressive, and otherworldly. Heavy, groaning tones transform into ear-wrecking shrieks of feedback while the methodical boom of the bass drum hammers with crushing heaviness. Perhaps because the vocals aren’t competing with guitar fireworks on this track, their impact is even more terrifying.

Pre-Order:
https://gileadmedia.bandcamp.com/album/outer-supernal
https://gileadmedia.net/products/pandiscordian-necrogenesis-outer-supernal-lp

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/PandiscordianNecrogenesis/