The avalanche of new and noteworthy metallic items that’s been going on all week has continued today. I caught a few of today’s new items in an earlier post, but already there are more. So, another fully loaded round-up follows . . .
More details about the new EP (Morbid Ascent) from Sweden’s Grave surfaced today. First, the release date was announced: August 26. Second, we got the tasty cover art by Costin Chioreanu (above). Third, we learned that Autopsy’s Eric Cutler will be contributing guest vocals on one of the two new songs on the EP — “Venial Sin” (the other one being “Morbid Ascent”). The EP will also include a cover of Satyricon’s “Possessed” as well as a remixed version of “Epos” from Risen From the Tomb and a track from Grave’s 1989 Sexual Mutilation demo (“Reality of Life”). Sounds like a very cool collection.
The EP is going to be released as a 12″ vinyl (in multiple colors) as well as a digital download, and Century Media says both formats will be offered for “a fan-friendly price”.
Today also brought news of a new album by Chicago’s Pelican, as well as a new song. The album’s title is Forever Becoming, and you can see the cover art above (which I really like — but don’t know who the artist is). Southern Lord plans to release it on a date far, far away: October 15. However, despite how long we Pelican fans must wait for this, SL did provide a new song from the album for streaming today.
“Immutable Dusk” is its name and it has riffs galore. Fat riffs. Plus rumbling bass and floating guitars and a neck-snapping finish. Sweet.
Strength of will and perseverance against great odds are essential qualities for any metal band, and I suspect Wrust have those qualities in abundance. They’re from Gaborone, Botswana, and that has to be a tough launching pad for a metal band trying to reach the world with their music. But Wrust are nevertheless becoming increasingly visible (they just returned from a tour of Italy), and their music would turn heads regardless of where they’re from.
Today they debuted an official music video for a song called “Hate ’em All”, which appears on their 2013 album Intellectual Metamorphosis (available via Bandcamp here). The song is a badass mix of Pantera-style strut and stomp and death metal aggression, and sort of reminds me of Sepultura, too. The passion in the song is captured by the video. Check it out:
I discovered a UK band named Sheol today via a Facebook post by the German label Iron Bonehead, which will be releasing the band’s forthcoming EP on vinyl later this year. A couple of days ago the band uploaded a pre-mastered two-song release entitled Promo MMXIII, and I’m liking it intensely.
The music is a vile, bestial, corrosive death metal assault. It sounds like an infernal tank brigade rumbling across a no man’s land of skulls, belching oily smoke and flames, heartless and unstoppable. Gargantuan distorted riffs and horrific abyssal roars combine to create an aura of pure evil. Listen to the promo below. It appears a limited number of cassettes of the promo are available from the band for £1 plus postage at sheoldeath@hotmail.com
2 Responses to “SEEN AND HEARD: GRAVE, PELICAN, WRUST, AND SHEOL”
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i hadn’t heard about the Grave EP, that’s awesome!! Sheol sounds pretty badass
Sheol, one of the 325 bands Anil Carrier is in. LOL