SEEN AND HEARD: 40 WATT SUN, DYSRYTHMIA, ALCEST, INQUISITION, ASPHYX

 

Yesterday I loaded up a Seen and Heard round-up with music from 9 bands I had discovered in a single morning, most of them of the more obscure variety. Today I’ve again decided to focus exclusively on things I discovered through a whirlwind tour of our in-box and Facebook this morning, but this time the bands have a higher profile than yesterday’s group. Of course, these things are relative; the odds are that none of the people you encounter today who aren’t already your friends will have heard of any of these bands. And of course that is their loss.

40 WATT SUN

This first item him me like a bolt from the blue. Although I haven’t been regularly searching for news about 40 Watt Sun, I think in the recesses of my mind I just assumed we would never have another album by this particular project of Patrick Walker (ex-Warning) — but indeed we will, in less than three months’ time.

 

 

This morning I saw the announcement that on October 14 40 Watt Sun will self-release a new album named Wider than the Sky. I’m going to paste the announcement below and then include an excerpt of one of the new songs:

Wider than the Sky has been an album fraught with delays and difficulties. In a move intended to regain autonomy over their own recordings and future plans as a band, 40 Watt Sun have elected to self-release the album via their own label, Radiance Records.

Scheduled for release on October 14th 2016, and once again self-produced by the band, Wider than the Sky features six new songs and, in the spirit of the band’s previous music, is imbued with soaring melodies yet sparse, minimalist arrangements.

Available on CD, gatefold double vinyl and digital download, pre-orders of Wider than the Sky are available now at https://shop.40wattsun.com/product/wider-than-the-sky/ ahead of the scheduled release date.

Wider than the Sky:

1. Stages (16:20)
2. Beyond You (09:42)
3. Another Room (11:56)
4. Pictures (09:50)
5. Craven Road (10:31)
6. Marazion (03:56)

The vinyl LP will be released through Svart Records in Europe and available via both Svart and the 40 Watt Sun website.

For vinyl and CD pre-orders, band merchandise and information, please visit: http://40wattsun.com/

When I first discovered the band’s last album The Inside Room in 2011, I had listened to very little doom in my metal explorations, and we almost never featured any music with clean singing at this site. Nevertheless, I was completely swept away by that album, as I explained in this review — and even included a song from the album (“Restless”) on our list of 2011’s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. And based on the album trailer released during the last 24 hours, I’m guessing I’ll be swept away by Wider than the Sky too. Listen below.

https://www.facebook.com/40wattsun/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DYSRYTHMIA

This morning Stereogum premiered a new song from the next album by Dysrhythmia, which is called The Veil of Control. Almost as much time has passed since the release of Dysrhythmia’s last album (2012’s Test of Submission) as we’ve been waiting for another 40 Watt Sun release. On the other hand, Kevin Hufnagel and Colin Marston have been plenty busy creating new music through a multitude of other projects, perhaps most notably their joint participation in Gorguts. Still, the thought of what this duo and drummer Jeff Eber might concoct under the Dysrhythmia name after four more years of honing their already stellar craftsmanship has been an exciting thing to contemplate.

The new song is named “”Internal/Eternal”. I encourage you to go over to Stereogum (via this link) and listen to it, where you can also read Doug Moore’s take on the song, an excerpt of which follows:

“Driven by a relentlessly looping bass motif that Philip Glass might’ve written after misreading the label on a bottle of iced coffee concentrate, the song offers all of the fiddly technical delights you’d expect from this group of musicians. But the ‘music’ bit comes way before ‘technical’ or even ‘metal’ in terms of relevance here. Hufnagel’s most identifiable trait as a player isn’t chops or intensity, but a uniquely wistful harmonic sensibility that endures no matter how dense the shred gets. That lovely feature of his playing is on full display here, even when his rhythm section drives the pulse up a froth at the tune’s conclusion.”

The Veil of Control will be released by Profound Lore on September 23.

https://www.facebook.com/Dysrhythmia/
https://www.profoundlorerecords.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALCEST

This morning further brought the news that on September 30 Prophecy Productions will release a new album by Alcest. Its title is Kodama, which we are told is the Japanese word for both “tree spirit” and “echo”. The artwork that you see above was created by the talented French duo Førtifem. The track list is as follows:

– Kodama
– Eclosion
– Je suis d’ailleurs
– Untouched
– Oiseaux de proie
– Onyx

I’m not sure what to expect from the album. I’m more interested than I usually would have been because of rumors I’ve seen that Neige may include more black metal in this new release. I would enjoy that. I’m sure I’ll want to hear the album anyway. For those ready to take the plunge without hearing a note, the album can be pre-ordered here:

World: http://en.prophecy.de/artists/alcest/
US: http://us.prophecy.de/artists/alcest/

https://www.facebook.com/alcest.official/

 

 

 

 

 

 

INQUISITION

Within the last hour Inquisition premiered at various sites around the world a third song from their new album Bloodshed Across The Empyrean Altar Beyond The Celestial Zenith, which will be released by Season of Mist on August 26 (and can still be pre-ordered here). The new song is called “Vortex From The Celestial Flying Throne Of Storms“, which is a damned fine name for a song. Here’s what Inquisition’s Dagon is quoted as saying about the song:

“In the universe, where order within disorder mirrors the struggle of two astral gods, serpent versus eagle as they battle upon their thrones for the supremacy of quantum mechanic laws, a vortex left behind their war-thrones sets motion to death portals within our stellar black ocean generating a cosmic whirlpool of infinite movement and renewal at every level, consuming all matter and light.”

Now that is a damned epic and vivid metal conception, but one that is just as vividly realized in the song, which simulates the electrifying intensity and otherworldly bombast of combat by vast, arcane forces among the stars. This is probably my favorite of the three advance tracks that have surfaced so far.

https://www.facebook.com/inquisition.official/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ASPHYX

We’ve already reported that on September 30 Century Media will release a new album by Asphyx named Incoming Death. I still don’t have any music to share with you, only the cover art and the track list, both of which were revealed yesterday. But I’m so goddamned excited about this album that I’m including that stuff in this post anyway. Here’s a comment on the cover art by Axel Hermann, who created it, followed by the track list:

“Incoming Death is my tenth collaboration with ASPHYX. Instead of visualizing the obvious, which would have been a reaper just collecting the soul of a dying man on his deathbed, I tried a maybe more sinister approach, simply by giving the concept a slightly different twist. A demon-infested living cemetery filled with decaying souls, forever being tortured with their own consciousness…or worse!”

1. Candiru
2. Division Brandenburg
3. Wardroid
4. The Feeder
5. It Came From The Skies
6. The Grand Denial
7. Incoming Death
8. Forerunners Of The Apocalypse
9. Subterra Incognita
10. Wildland Fire
11. Death: The Only Immortal

https://www.facebook.com/officialasphyx
http://www.asphyx.nl