Having taken their first steps with a four-song, 21-minute demo nearly three years ago, the part-Finnish, part-U.S. band Veriluola are taking a very big next step with the May release of their debut album Cascades Of Crimson Cruor via Nameless Grave Records.
This duo — guitarist/bassist Santeri and guitarist/vocalist Malus — obviously used the intervening time very productively. It was already evident from their debut demo that the band desired to root their creative expressions in a by-gone time when stout fences hadn’t yet been erected between now-well-defined extreme metal genres. But the new album makes this even more obvious.
The new Veriluola songs effortlessly intertwine strains of black metal, death metal, thrash, and what we now label “classic heavy metal” as if they were all born together as brood from the same monstrously regal mother and feel their kinship instead of warring against each other for attention.
In addition to the kind of songwriting that makes that possible, the album also shows significant attention to detail. None of the songs feel hastily thrown together, but instead sound carefully plotted and fully realized, even though at the time you hear them they’re reflexively captivating… and feral… and sometimes forlorn… and sometimes downright heroic. You’ll get a strong sense of what we’re trying to describe in the song we’re premiering today — the aptly named “Regal Barbarism“.
We’ll lead our preview of “Regal Barbarism” with words from Santeri:
“An eclectic mix of black, death, and traditional heavy metal. From reflective melancholic lows to triumphant aggressive highs, ‘Regal Barbarism’ is a song with a grand narrative about the vicious cycle of tyrants and the people they oppress.”
The barbarity of the music is immediate, thanks to maniacally hammering drums and riffing that both swarms and slithers. Even when the drumming converts to a metronome pop, the guitars still sound convulsive and crazed. Haughty growls and throbbing bass-lines give the song an aspect of predatory menace to go long with the dervish whirl of the guitars and the demented crack of throat-splitting screams.
But as forecast, the song is a dynamic and multi-faceted affair, and so the momentum slows and the riffing becomes woozy, weaving, and witchy — and it seethes as well, like a feeling of disgust and vindictiveness building toward retribution. The ensuing guitar solo also wails in soul-stricken agony, and there’s still a final outburst of ripping, head-hammering, rifftastic barbarity coming, interspersed with episodes of swaggering might.
Cascades Of Crimson Cruor was mixed by Andrew Lee (Ripped To Shreds), mastered by Alex Poole (Chaos Moon, Skáphe), and is completed with regally hellish artwork by Silvana Massa and layout by Obscure Visions.
Nameless Grave Records will release the album on Blood Red LP, CD, and digit formats on May 12th, and recommend it for fans of Varathron, Mortuary Drape, and labelmates Dungeon Serpent. Pre-orders are available now via the links below.
Also below, we’re sharing the new album’s first single, “The Blood Grotto“. It’s more than a minute and a half longer than the song we’ve just premiered, and Veriluola use the time to make it an even more extravagant display of their songwriting dynamism and stylistic hybridization. Santeri has explained:
“‘The Blood Grotto’ is a stylistic amalgamation, where both the twisted melody of black metal and the rhythmic pounding of death metal are combined into a singular piece. This track showcases our gradual shift into a more realized sound, which is still in its experimental stage of being molded.”
PRE-ORDER:
https://www.namelessgraverecords.com/
https://veriluola.bandcamp.com/album/cascades-of-crimson-cruor
VERILUOLA:
https://www.facebook.com/veriluola