(written by Islander)
Time has flown, two years and almost five months since we last premiered music from the Portuguese death metal band Visceral. Back then the occasion was the impending release of Visceral‘s debut album The Tree of Venomous Fruit. Back then, the band’s veteran mastermind Bruno Joel Correia was accompanied by members of such bands as Enthroned, Lucifyre, Grog, Earth Electric, Gaerea, and Oak.
And now, at last, Visceral return with their second album, Eyes, Teeth and Bones, which has been set for release on April 4th by Raging Planet Records. The label accurately describes the music as a “blistering, high-speed death metal onslaught”, but it is also more than that, and we have an eye-opening, jaw-dropping example of how much more it brings through our premiere of a frightening lyric video for the song “Loathe“.
The new album is the work of a revamped lineup. Bruno is of course still the mastermind — the songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, and producer on the new record — but he’s now joined by bassist Ruben Sardinha and drummer Mauro Santos.
On the song you’re about to hear, they’re also joined by guest vocalist Célia Ramos, whose contribution is part of what makes this song so out of the ordinary (the chilling words have a lot to do with that too).
In “Loathe“, madness and mayhem reign from moment one. The drums and bass maniacally rumble and boom; the guitars viciously abrade the senses and whine like demented sirens, like a warning more crazed than any earthly siren might blare.
When the mayhem briefly abates, monstrous growls roar the equally monstrous (but mysterious) words, the music dismally clangs and brutishly stomps, and the lead guitar seems to squirm in misery. But the madness and the mayhem won’t be quelled for long. The drums hammer again. The guitars, in a disturbing collage of dissonant tones, roil, writhe, and moan, again segmented by cold-blooded clangs.
The sirens pulse and whine again (it may seem strange that a riff this disconcerting could be “catchy”, but it is), the music builds tension, and it breaks the tension in a startling display of eerie celestial sounds, shrill and shimmering way up in the outer reaches of the song’s range. And the ending is equally startling, yet it works — a mysterious union of ethereal notes and angelic voices, and the only time in the song when Visceral aren’t creating visceral discomfort and destruction.
And now we’ll share Bruno‘s introduction to the song:
Our new album Eyes, Teeth and Bones will be released on April 4th. While it’s mostly packed with furious, fast-paced death metal, we also made room for slower, heavier moments — like the new single “Loathe.” Featuring a special guest appearance by Célia Ramos of Mons Lvnae, the track adds a haunting, almost cinematic horror vibe that brings a new dimension to our sound.
Eyes, Teeth and Bones was produced and mixed by Bruno Joel Correia and mastered by the legendary Dave Otero (Cattle Decapitation, Vitriol, Aborted, Archspyre, etc.).
For more info about the release, check out the links below — and then also be sure to see and hear the lyric video for the first advance track from the album, “Where the Wretches Are“, which had its premiere at Decibel.
RAGING PLANET RECORDS:
https://www.facebook.com/ragingplanet
https://ragingplanet.bandcamp.com
VISCERAL:
https://www.linktr.ee/visceraldeathmetal
https://visceraldeathmetal.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/visceraldeathmetal
https://www.instagram.com/visceraldeathmetal