SEEN AND HEARD: ATTAN, CHRONOLYTH, DEUS OTIOSUS, GRIFT, HOAXBANE, LOST SOUL, PANOPTICON, POWER FROM HELL

 

I’ve accumulated quite a large number of interesting news items and new songs from my excursions through the interhole and the NCS in-box this weekend. In order to present more of them than I’m usually able to do, I’m going to do something that causes me great personal pain and undoubtedly will bring tears to the eyes of our faithful readers: I’m going to hold my own beautiful prose to a minimum and allow the music to speak for itself, largely without benefit of me as its interpretive intermediary.

Presented in alphabetical order:

ATTAN

Attan are a Norwegian band whose debut EP From Nothing will be released through Shelsmusic in limited-edition vinyl and digitally on November 30. The opening track, “Nocebo (I Shall Harm)” is now available for streaming on Soundcloud.

An avalanche of unhinged destructiveness; skull-fracturing drumbeats; spleen-rupturing riffs; aorta-rupturing vocals. Discordant and demented.

https://www.facebook.com/Attanband
http://www.shelsmusic.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHRONOLYTH

Chronolyth are from Brisbane, Australia. In recent days they released a free single on Bandcamp named “Revenant”, which will appear on the band’s forthcoming second album. They also released a music video for the song. Both are below.

Howling, turbocharged, riff-tastic, melodic death metal; I got flashes of Darkest Hour….

https://chronolyth.bandcamp.com/track/revenants
https://www.facebook.com/chronolythband

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DEUS OTIOSUS

In May we premiered this Danish band’s new EP Sis Mortuus Mondo (here), and now the band have released a music video for one of those songs, “Greater Horror” (which will be re-recorded for the band’s forthcoming fourth album). It was made in cooperation with the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society and features clips from their movie Call of Cthulhu.

Evil, ass-kicking death/thrash that will get your blood pumping. Cool video, too.

https://deusotiosus.bandcamp.com/album/sis-mortuus-mondo
http://www.deus-otiosus.com
https://www.facebook.com/deusotiosus.dk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GRIFT

In August I wrote about a song called “Svältorna”, which was the first advance track from Syner, the debut album by Sweden’s Grift. Syner will be released by Nordvis on September 18 and is available for order now, via the links below. Over the weekend, Nordvis began streaming a dynamic new track from the album named “Aftonlandet”.

Gray, wintry, rain-swept music; beautiful but depressive at the beginning and near the end; storming and stricken elsewhere; thoroughly engrossing and impassioned throughout.

https://griftofficial.bandcamp.com/track/aftonlandet
http://www.nordvis.com/store/compact-disc-c-22/grift-syner-digicd-p-330
https://www.facebook.com/Griftofficial

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOAXBANE

Hoaxbane is the name taken by an extreme metal duo from Berlin. Their debut album Messengers of Change will be released by Mighty Music on November 27. Today the label debuted a new Hoaxbane video for a song called “Asylum of Faith”, and I really liked it.

Bleak, blasted, and desolate — but with powerhouse riffs, flesh-scarring vocals, seductive melody, and interludes of pounding groove strong enough to split concrete.

http://mightymusic.dk
https://www.facebook.com/Hoaxbane

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOST SOUL

Poland’s long-running Lost Soul will be released their fifth album, and their first one in six years, via Apostasy Records on October 30 (pre-order here). The title is Atlantis: The New Beginning. Apostasy has now put one of the new songs up on YouTube — “Aqueous Ammonia”.

Explosive, technically flashy death metal warfare, with hyper-blasting percussion, decimating riff swarms, and tyrannical vox (and a searing, eye-popping guitar solo).

https://www.facebook.com/lost.soul.poland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PANOPTICON

Panopticon decided to limit the distribution of the new album Autumn Eternal for review purposes. I was lucky enough to be included, and my review is here.

When I wrote my review, only a teaser reel of music was available. Over the weekend, pre-orders for the album began (on CD) via the two cooperating labels who will be releasing it (Bindrune in the U.S., Nordvis in Europe), and Nordvis started streaming the title track in full. It’s wonderful, as is the whole album.

http://bindrunerecordings.com/
https://nordvis.bandcamp.com/album/autumn-eternal
https://www.facebook.com/TheTruePanopticon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POWER FROM HELL

Hells Headbangers have announced that they will release the fifth album by Brazil’s Power From Hell later this year. Entitled, Devil’s Whorehouse, the album is praised by the label with references to the likes of Bathory, Hellhammer, Japan’s Sabbat, early Slayer, and other bands such as Countess, Gravewurm, and Megiddo.

Two songs from the album are up on YouTube (maybe more, but I’ve found these two) — one named “Old Metal” that appeared recently along with a new music video, and an older one named “Black Forest”. The first is pure first-wave black metal gold — it rocks, it rips, it scowls, it snarls. The second is eerie, atmospheric, and menacing. Both awesome.

https://www.facebook.com/POWER-FROM-HELL-118053128270317
https://powerfromhell.bandcamp.com
http://www.hellsheadbangers.com