Opeth photo by Terhi Ylimäinen
Raise your hand if you’re surprised that I’m starting this Saturday’s roundup with Opeth‘s new song.
Okay, I see no hands. Well, almost none; I see my own because I’m a self-taught typist and therefore hunt and peck.
But I’ll try to be more surprising after we talk about Opeth.
OPETH (Sweden)
Based on the small dose of social media I’ve seen, Opeth‘s first single from their next album is proving to be divisive. (I can only stomach social media in small doses, like beets or eggplant). In one camp are people who are unhappy with the dominating return of Mikael Åkerfeldt‘s death growls for the first time since Watershed. In the other camp are those who’ve welcomed the return with open arms and gleeful grins. Can you guess which camp I’m in?
I’m also grinning over Travis Smith‘s cover art for Opeth‘s new album and its call-back to the closing photo in Kubrick‘s The Shining. Apart from that gratifying cultural reference, the artwork connects to the concept behind the album, described this way by Reigning Phoenix Music:
The Last Will & Testament is a concept album set in the post-World War I era, unfolding the story of a wealthy, conservative patriarch whose last will and testament reveals shocking family secrets. The narrative weaves through the patriarch’s confessions, the reactions of his twin children, and the mysterious presence of a polio-ridden girl who the family have taken care of.
The album begins with the reading of the father’s will in his mansion. Among those in attendance is a young girl, who, despite being an orphan and polio-ridden, has been raised by the family. Her presence at the will reading raises suspicions and questions among the twins.
The reading of the will would seem to explain the new album’s song titles, all of which (save for the closing song) are merely section numbers. The first single is the album’s opener, and thus is denominated “§1“.
In this first section of the Will the band combine a funky bass line, acrobatic drum-bursts, and a woozily meandering and enticingly sparkling melody, interspersed with hard-slugging riffage and percussive battering.
There is in fact high-flown singing in the song before the growling ensues, but the music also grows more sinister even apart from the growls.
When all the head-hooking elements of the song fall silent, we hear the tinkling of a child’s piano and perhaps a clock ticking. And then the expected prog elements become more manifest and head-swirling, capped by a freaked-out guitar solo and quick trade-offs between the vocal elements.
It’s an intricate and hallucinatory excursion to be sure, but it’s also loaded with hooks, most of them lodged in our gills by the rhythm section’s vibrant grooves. Every bit of it left me grinning.
The narrator who appears in this song, by the way, is none other than Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull. He provides narration in three other songs and performs his signature flute lines in two of those as well, and I’m especially excited to hear those. I should add that the disembodied voice in “§1” is Åkerfeldt‘s youngest daughter, Mirjam Åkerfeldt. Also, Europe‘s Joey Tempest lends a backing vocal hand on “§2”.
Reigning Phoenix Music will release The Last Will & Testament on October 11th. As previously announced, Opeth will headline a North American tour this coming October, and they’ve just announced an extensive European tour for February 2025.
https://opeth.rpm.link/lastwill
https://opeth.rpm.link/paragraph1PR
https://www.facebook.com/Opeth/
OMINATION (Tunisia)
We haven’t heard anything from the Tunisian “(Post) Apocalyptic Doom Metal” band Omination since the 2021 release of their phenomenal album New Golgotha Repvbliq in 2021 (reviewed here by our own Andy Synn), but at last the band’s mastermind Fyodor Kovalevsky has turned his hand to Omination works again.
What the last week brought us is a new Omination single, which Kovalevsky described this way:
“Initiation” is an 8-minute demo recorded at home for Paragon of Doom, the upcoming studio album set to be released when possible.
We all have a “paragon of doom” in our lives. After decades of existence, I’ve come to realize that mine is the country I was born and raised in.
In this new song the lyrics poetically speak about the perniciousness of “The Children of the Cathedral” and the games they play in virtue’s name (FYI, Kovalevsky was raised in (and then renounced) Catholicism in his predominantly Muslim country).
The song itself presents an ever-changing amalgam of sensations and moods. Soft and mournful in its opening moments, it then crashes down like a slow-moving avalanche, though the melody ethereally wails in misery. Stately organ chords evoke a reverent cathedral atmosphere, but the wrenching, gravel-choked growls and burning howls sound like an intersection of torment and white-hot rage.
The drums methodically detonate like bombs, and deep, chant-like vocals maintain the ecclesiastical connection. But the music also begins to vigorously throb, and the throbs come faster and with more jolting effect. The music briefly segues into more jazzy and proggy motifs, but then the guitars begin to sizzle and seethe, to exotically swirl and dismally groan, as the tempos and rhythmic patterns remain in flux.
The music shifts again near the end, soaring in grandeur, with those towering sensations providing the backdrop to a fascinating guitar solo and the final organ-like pealing tones.
The experience is gripping, distressing, and head-spinning, and a sure sign that Omination‘s unusual ambitions have not given way to the mundane.
https://omination.bandcamp.com/track/paragon-of-doom-initiation
https://www.facebook.com/omination.doom
https://www.instagram.com/omination.doom/
ORANSSI PAZUZU (Finland)
There’s certainly nothing mundane about the sounds or the sights in Oranssi Pazuzu’s new song and video “Valotus” either.
In describing the new album that’s the song’s home, the band have claimed influence from eclectic sources ranging from Death Grips to Portishead, Nine Inch Nails (Downward Spiral era), Beherit, and My Bloody Valentine. Guitarist Ikon has said:
“Our experimentation with samplers and electronics made us step towards the weird concept of making nightmarish Rave music. We tried to find common ground between danceable rhythms and oppressive waves of noise and distortion.”
So maybe now you’re somewhat prepared for the experience of “Valotus” (but probably not).
When I witnessed the performance of Oranssi Pazuzu at Iceland’s Ascension Festival last month, I made this note in an effort to capture what I was feeling:
Do you remember your dreams? Maybe just the final events of your mind’s fiction (the author you thought you knew but really don’t) just as you open your eyes and the air hasn’t evaporated the glaze yet? Maybe it’s frightful or erotic or perplexing or something with red eyes and teeth gnawing on your sanity, or the peripheral flash of some tremendous insight… if only you could remember the rest of it.
That’s how I’m thinking about the tremendous performance by Oranssi Pazuzu tonight. All of that and other experiences I haven’t found words for. I thought I was awake but the dreaming mind awakened, hungry for this kindred thing.
They might have played this new song there, because it invokes similar addled reflections. The galloping drums and throbbing bass-lines will get your muscles pulsating. The song will also apply a blowtorch to your mind, a torch fueled by nightmares. The Alien-influenced video is nightmarish too (the actor Joss Carter certainly gives his all in a portrayal of horror and agony).
Eventually the music drifts into less mind-broiling terrain, wherein tinkling keys ring and moaning undulations muse, but suck in some wind while you can, because an even more abrasive assault of sonic cataclysm is still to come.
“Valotus” is taken from the bands’ upcoming album, fittingly named Muuntautuja (“Shapeshifter” in English). It’s set for release on October 11.
P.S. YouTube has age-restricted the video, so you’ll have to click on it below and be taken to YouTube for viewing.
https://oranssipazuzu.bfan.link/muuntautuja-album
https://oranssipazuzu.bfan.link/valotus
https://www.facebook.com/oranssipazuzu
https://www.instagram.com/oranssipazuzuband
THE FLIGHT OF SLEIPNIR (U.S.)
After that last mind-mauling bombardment I thought I ought to provide you some kind of salve, and the next song — “Wanderer” — is the balm I found.
Oh don’t worry, it’s not too gentle, despite the way the song begins, with something like subdued accordion tones, strummed acoustics, and a ringing dual-guitar melody that would have fit well in an Ennio Morricone western soundtrack.
Things do get heavier, with grim and abrading riffage and scarring screams darkening the mood above rambunctious drums. That opening melody is still there, though now it sounds more menacing, and the song as a whole grows still more threatening, like wolves crowding your campfire.
The guitar solo’s variation on the central melody is gripping, and makes it sound yearning and distressing. That’s the song’s first crescendo, though after a reprise of acoustic strumming, a second one arrives, propelled by a soaring yet sorrowful singing voice and the riveting wail of another solo.
Methinks this song will quickly get stuck in your head. I’ll also share this from Eisenwald‘s PR materials for The Flight of Sleipnir’s new album:
Nature’s Cadence marks the powerful return of The Flight of Sleipnir. While not strictly a concept album, it weaves themes of resilience against the elements and reverence for nature’s beauty. It masterfully intertwines ethereal tones, avant-garde flair, and thunderous riffs, showcasing The Flight of Sleipnir‘s evolution and dedication – Mastered on vintage analog equipment, imparting a nostalgic haze that envelops the music, serving as the final spark to unleash the magic.
Eisenwald will release Nature’s Cadence on September 27th.
https://theflightofsleipnir.bandcamp.com/album/natures-cadence
https://www.facebook.com/THEFLIGHTOFSLEIPNIR/
AGRYPNIE (Germany)
My next selection is a video for the second song revealed from Agrypnie‘s new album Erg. The name of this one is “Blut.”
With a name like that, it probably won’t come as a shock that the music is heavy and harrowing, and the unchained fury of the vocals seems capable of spilling blood all by itself. The enveloping whine and wail of the riffing, bolstered by clobbering drums, creates a mood of tension and foreboding, and of torment that joins forces with the vocals to boil over in sweeping pain.
The distressing sounds seem capable of swallowing the listener whole, writhing and swarming in increasing agony, backed by electrifying drumwork. Even when the song’s intensity subsides, and begins to sound like chimes, there’s no real reprieve, no signs of hope at all.
Credit for the wrenching video goes to Oliver König and Klara Bachmair (Mbience Visuals).
I translated the German lyrics. The video suits them. The narrator is engulfed in anguish amidst nameless graves on an icy day, recalling memories of childlike innocence but left bloodied and resigned as “the wind quietly howls a dirge”.
Erg is set for international release on September 13th via AOP Records. It features participation by PG of Agrypnie labelmates Groza. I’m also including a video for the first song released from the album, “Aus rauchlosem Feuer“, which features Phil Jonas of Secrets of the Moon (I discussed it in a previous roundup here).
https://save-it.cc/aop/erg
https://shop.aoprecords.de/gb/
https://artofpropaganda.bandcamp.com/album/erg
https://www.facebook.com/agrypnie.official
MAUL (U.S.)
Even if I didn’t know what to expect based on Maul‘s past music, the stunning cover art (by Wyrmwalk) for their new second album In the Jaws of Bereavement would have stopped me in my tracks and pulled me into the title song that surfaced this past week.
That song rings true to this Fargo-based band’s proven penchant for combining rotten death metal with hardcore punishment. It’s a heaving and stomping musical beast of earth-shaking proportions that, in the raw vocals, roars and shrieks like one too.
The punk beats come out, and the guitars also writhe and dart, yet the music also rises and becomes expansive in its glorious grimness. And yeah, there’s a bludgeoning and agony-steeped breakdown, sure to ignite a moshpit when Maul inflict the song upon a live audience, plus an even more dismal start-stop phase in which the bass gets to mutter.
The vocals on this one include not only the band’s Garrett Alvarado but also a guest showing by Vincent Bennett from The Acacia Strain. And “In the Jaws of Bereavement” is not only the title track for Maul‘s new album but also its opening song. The record will be released by 20 Buck Spin on October 4th.
https://www.20buckspin.com/maul
https://20buckspin.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-jaws-of-bereavement
https://www.facebook.com/MAULND/
TRIBULATION (Sweden)
My last pick might not as surprising as some of the preceding selections but maybe slightly more surprising than the lead-off choice of Opeth.
I wrote this in another one of these roundups after hearing “Saturn Coming Down“, the first single from Tribulation‘s new album Sub Rosa in Æternum:
My first impression, apart from the solid rocking grooves, is that the jittery and gleaming (but sinister) guitar lines introduce some post-punk and psychedelic stylings into the music, and while cutting growls and snarls come first, singing comes next (which in its style also spawns post-punk and gothic memories).
It’s a bouncy song, and a big ear-worm, and makes not much connection to metal apart from the uglier of the vocal styles and the music’s sinister and supernatural connotations. I can’t say I’m surprised by this further evolution in Tribulation‘s sound, which seems like a natural progression, and I can’t say I’m disappointed either.
I repeated those words because I have similar reactions to the new second single from the album, “Tainted Skies”. It also leans into post-punk and psychedelia, and also combines post-punk singing and nasty growls, and it definitely has sinister and supernatural connotations which become even more evident from the words, e.g.:
When the master shakes the heavens
When the luminaries hide
We call upon the absolute
Tainted skies
When the wind repeats the motion
And the raging sea abides
We gaze upon the shadows
In a tainted sky
Very cool guitar solo in this one too. And lastly, the song is a big ear-worm as well!
As you’ll see, the song arrived with an engrossing lyric video made by Costin Chioreanu at Twilight13media. Sub Rosa in Æternum will be released on November 1st by Century Media Records.
It’s not entirely by chance that I ended with Tribulation, because they will be supporting Opeth on the latter’s upcoming North America tour. Hence, bookends….
https://tribulation.lnk.to/TaintedSkies-Single
https://www.tribulation.se
https://www.facebook.com/tribulationsweden
https://www.instagram.com/tribulation_official