TWO NEWS ITEMS ABOUT MESHUGGAH AND ENSLAVED, AND TWO SONGS TO HEAR WHILE YOU MOPE ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE DON’T HAVE ANY NEW MESHUGGAH OR ENSLAVED MUSIC TO ACCOMPANY THE NEWS ITEMS

I have this compulsion to deliver music in our posts. Possibly it derives from a subconscious insecurity about my writing, but at least I tell myself that it’s because this is a music blog, and so there should be music. All the fucking time. This is why we so rarely post about news items that we can’t accompany with the music that’s the subject of the news. But this time, I’m making an exception, because the bands are pretty damned special: Meshuggah and Enslaved.

On the other hand, I can’t get rid of that compulsion, so I’m throwing in some music, too. The songs aren’t from Meshuggah or Enslaved (sigh), but they’re new and they’re good, so there’s that. The first track is from the new album by Cipher System (Sweden), and you can download it for free if you like what you hear. The fetching album cover by Seth Siro Anton (Septic Flesh) is up above. The second song is from another Swedish band, Apostasy.

MESHUGGAH

Guitar World magazine recently conducted an interview with Meshuggah guitarist extraordinaire Fredrik Thordendal. When asked about whether Meshuggah has been working on new music and if he has any new gear he is using, he said, “Yes, we are working on a new album and have been for a long time. I’m so excited about this one. We’ve always tried to change how we write songs to keep it exciting, but on recent albums we’ve also been moving further away from working together as a band. On this album, though, everyone is working together. Every day that we’re in the studio, we’ll play whatever song we’re working on, record a demo version of it to analyze at home, and then come back the next day, talk about it and try to make it better. I think because of this, it’s going to be our best album yet.” (more after the jump . . .)

Thordendal continued: “We don’t have a title yet, but when it comes to new gear, this one is going to be special, to say the least. I’m working with DAR Amplification to make this ridiculously powerful guitar amp. It’s got 100 watts of true Class A power. The tubes are from Russian MiG 25 fighter planes; they’re designed to survive a nuclear blast and keep the plane flying. It will be the world’s most advanced modern tube amp. But most importantly, it’s designed from beginning to end for the ultimate metal tone, and it sounds awesome. Can’t wait for you to experience it!”

Well, what a coincidence, because I can’t wait to experience it either. Yes, I am ready to experience it, with the MiG 25 tubes, ideally during a nuclear explosion. Like right fucking now. But, sadly, I can’t. I must wait, indefinitely, because we have no album release date yet.  Instead, I will experience a song from . . .

CIPHER SYSTEM

Cipher System has been kicking around for 15 years, but until recently, they had only produced one album — 2004’s Central Tunnel 8. But on June 30, Nuclear Blast announced that they had signed Cipher System for the release of their second album, Communicate the Storm. To tempt the waiting masses, Nuclear Blast has released the album’s title track for free download. It will cost you an e-mail address — and it needs to be a real one, because you’ll need a code to get the song, which will be sent to the address you cough up. To start the download process, GO HERE.

Now, here’s the song. It kicketh ass, in the way that only galloping, keyboard-enhanced Scandinavian melodic death metal can kicketh the ass. You can lithen to it . . . uh, listen to it . . . while you dream about the new Meshuggah album. I liketh it despite a bit of clean singing. It maketh my head to bang.

[audio:https://www.nocleansinging.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/cipher_system_-_communicate_the_storms.mp3|titles=Cipher System – Communicate the Storm]

Cipher System’s Facebook page is at this location.

ENSLAVED

Enslaved are a busy group of Norwegians. Last year, they delivered the extraordinary Axioma Ethica Odini. Not so long ago this year, they delivered a quite varied collection of songs through a Scion A/V-released free EP called The Sleeping Gods. Now, we have news that a Dutch label called Soulseller Records is on the verge of releasing two new Enslaved songs on a 7″ vinyl EP entitled Thorn.

The songs on the EP are called “Disintegrator” and “Striker”, and the vinyl has been pressed in a strictly limited number of 1000 copies. It was produced by Enslaved’s own Ivar Bjørnson and by Iver Sandøy (who the band has worked with since Axioma Ethica Odini). There are two regrettable things about the timing of the press release announcing the EP: (1) The vinyl isn’t even available for pre-order yet; and (2) the songs aren’t yet available for streaming . . . anywhere. All we have is this description: “The songs are eerie and atmospheric, with nods both back towards Enslaved’s edgier-monotonous past and dark-psychedelic present.” This is not adequate.

Oh yeah, we also have the following album cover:

While you (and I) mope about the fact that we can’t hear these songs yet, I do have one more piece of music that we can hear.

APOSTASY

Apostasy is a Swedish melodic black metal band with two albums to their credit — Cell 666 (2004) and Devilution (2005). They suffered an interruption in their output (and made national headlines in Sweden) when the group’s guitarist, Henrik Johansson, was stabbed to death by his girlfriend in March 2006. Now, the band have added guitarist Peter Huss to the line-up. Huss also plays guitar for Shining (Sweden), whose 2011 album we raved about here not long ago.

Apostasy is now on the brink of releasing their third album, Nuclear Messiah, which will be disgorged on August 24 via Gothenburg, Sweden’s Rambo Music. Late last week, the band made a new song from the album, called “Horns”, available for streaming on their Facebook page, in exchange for “liking” them. They also announced that the song would only be available until yesterday. However, I snooped around and found it on Soundcloud.

I do like this song. It’s a symphonic style of intersecting black and death metal with some truly bestial vocals. The Soundcloud track may disappear, too, but as long as it lasts, here you go:

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/6591985″]

Apostasy’s Facebook page is at this location, and here’s the album cover:

(Credit to Blabbermouth for the news items about Meshuggah and Enslaved.)