It’s what you are not going to hear on the new SURACHAI album Embraced that makes it special. You will not hear formulaic black metal; instead you will hear music that incorporates many different genres in an organic way to create something original and engaging! Embraced comes out today and it can be bought here, plus we are streaming it below!

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Santa Cruz doesn’t seem to be a place to invoke the most grim and gloomy kind of black metal. But with Leucosis, the story is different. The band made its debut back in 2011 with the amazing “Pulling Down The Sky” that pulled off really impressive reviews along its way. The level of black metal presented then by the band, through the quality of the tracks and their sound, really caught up the attention of many out there, including myself, in such a way that i had to put “Pulling Down The Sky” in the altar of my favorite releases of that same year. This year they mark their return with another brilliant milestone into their young, yet prolific career. A self titled album made out of six amazing chapters which have a total of more than one hour of length. Although it’s a long release, I assure you that it’s one of the most well spent hours you will have. At this point, before i go further into the album i must warn the fans of “Pulling Down The Sky” that here they may be a little bit disappointed or even upset by Leucosis sound on this album. It all depends on how you like your black metal and how open-minded you are. I believe that this evolution in Leucosis sound is quite good as the songs themselves, united by different nodes that culminates into something quite interesting and innovative. It becomes a bit difficult to classify Leucosis sound with this new record. Atmospheric Black Metal Doom? Cascadian Blackened Doom? Whatever. It’s clearly black metal that drinks from cascadian and atmospheric fountains of inspiration and obviously some doom. Whatever the result, the way it’s made and how it sounds, it’s awesome.

The album begins with “Anaesthesia“, which is the perfect track to begin this album with. An epic track that contains 14 minutes of the most perfect doom infused black metal where the rhythm ranges from slower sludgier/doom rhythms to the most cascadian influenced black metal stretching even to some beautiful instrumental territories with melodic contours that all together, offer an excellent gateway to what is a brilliant album. If we dissect this track we will see that 80% is merely instrumental, the voice when marks its presence, it shouts from way beyond, in total despair all caught up in this whole mix. But what really amazes me is how Leucosis take all of these different influences and create this unique harmony. Immediately glued “Calcinate” whose initial tone reminds me a snippet of “Time as Automation” from Buried Inside. Sweet and melodic notes are gently released as they slowly build a scenario that aims to be, at least, epic. The tone that the band injects into their tracks really has that dramatic charisma and melancholy that is so simple yet so brilliant. The tone increases before a deluge of thick blackness drowns us all. The voice is quite creepy as it echoes through this impenetrable wall of sound.
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Today is a special day on CVLT Nation – we have been given the honor of streaming the new WOE album, Withdrawal, that is coming out via Candlelight Records on April 23rd. I know that this record will win this band even more fans worldwide. Stay tuned for a full review of Withdrawal in the very near future on CVLT Nation. For now, press play below and listen how WOE created a moving album that hits the mark!

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Roadburn 2013 has come to an end and it looks like Walter and crew have put on another perfect fest! CVLT Nation salutes all of the bands who performed this weekend and everyone who went to Roadburn! Today check out our first video essay featuring some of our favorite bands. Also, stay tuned for CVLT Nation exclusive photos of Roadburn 2013 by Luana Magalhaes in the very near future. In the meantime, peep radical footage of GODFLESH, LORD MANTIS and ELECTRIC WIZARD now!

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Fell Voices return with Regnum Saturni, three years after their previous full length (untitled). The ambient black metal band, once again, does what they know how to do best, bringing forth three long tracks (shortest one is about seventeen minutes long) filled with chaos and destruction. What is impressive here though is that Fell Voices do not rely on weird synth sounds (although they do have a few) and keyboards, or even many clean parts in order to sound atmospheric. Instead most of the album’s ambiance manages to come forth from the production, which achieves to retain a raw and aggressive sound but on the same time craft an atmosphere that can only be described as dystopian.

From the intro of “Flesh From Bone” with its distressing sonic qualities the band is fooling you into thinking that what will follow might not be as direct and harsh. So soon enough the black metal riffology kicks in obliterating everything in its path. In about six minutes into the song it seems like Fell Voices decide to give you a chance to breathe, slowing down to a more mid tempo moment with the wolf-howling-like black metal vocals still present, there is even a clean (well, a bit cleaner…) guitar part there before the relentless drumming resumes and you are once again lost in their horrific visions.

Of course synths are present here, acting also as intros and outros to the songs and they do help quite a bit. “Emergence” kicks in with a bass line that sounds absolutely unreal, making the listener feel always on edge, not knowing what to expect next. Tempos change through the twenty-one minutes of the second track but the bands twisted concepts retain the same energy throughout. The album finishes with the completely surreal “Dawn”, with its imposing four-minute intro that blends perfectly into the black metal basis of Fell Voices. Warped melodies and dissonance are entwined together to bring forth what is for me personally the peak of this album, an earsplitting ambient black metal opus that will satisfy any extreme music fan.

Regnum Saturni is an excellent release that binds together ambience and aggression. I cannot really think of many records that can accomplish anything similar in the same twisted way that Fell Voices have managed to get it done in Regnum Saturni.

Long before the age of hyper-digital processing, bands submitted their works through raw, unrefined, and ugly portrayals that allowed fans to truly grasp the entirety of their sound without pretense or disillusion. New England black metallers Ungoliant bring back those aspects to permeate their crushing raw sound throughout an over-the-top display that sounds as if it were recorded in the basement studio of hell itself.

There is nothing melodic or drawn out about anything this band puts out, rather every composition therein hammers down around a clear and concise assault that punishes throughout every subsequent second of this nearly 20 minute offering. Littered with unruly down and dirty scathing blast beats, dread screeching, and added funeral ambience that encompasses an atmosphere of swirling dispair that is without limits or boundaries. From start to finish the album grabs you by the face, spits in it, and drags you down to the ground with an unrelentingly filth ridden blackened wave that crashes down at random leaving no room for reprieve. Reminiscent of early Dark Funeral, Hellhammer, or Blasphemy, Ungoliant revitalize the true ugly nature of black metal and unleash it upon the hapless ears of unsuspecting mankind.

In short, Ungoliant offer up an absolutely brilliant display of raw, unrefined filth that has to be heard to be believed. The band’s unrelenting attack encapsulates a sound made entirely whole by crashing waves of blackened filth that is incomparable to anything I’ve heard since the early 90s and is not one to be missed. The casette is out now via Unseen Force.

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Beginning life in Scotland in the latter half of 2012, Àrsaidh (which means “Ancient” and “Archaic” in Gàidhlig) is a one-man project dealing with themes of historical affection and deep love and pride in his home country. Àrsaidh’s debut is a fascinating look at the ways in which myth and honour and sacrifice have been long forgotten by many, and A. delves into traditional concepts such as pride and celebration for ones homeland via wonderfully rousing atmospheric tones. Roots is a grand and sweeping gesture and truly a declaration of A.’s strong connection to his own past and is full of wonder and veneration for days past.

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The great thing about extreme music is that, no matter where you look around the globe, you’ll be sure to come across an outstanding brand of metal, hardcore, crust punk, harsh noise, or experimental sounds. In the case of Dephosphorus, the geographical distance between them and Vuyvr proved less important than a relative isolation of the rising Greek scene, due to socio-economical factors – eventually overcome by internet communication. But keep in mind that this land is the birth place of democracy, and of key philosophical concepts that came long before christianity and still guide us to this day. Interestingly enough, even though their music is as brutal and impulsive as can be, these guys speak from a very deep place, with passion and wisdom. So why not look into the cosmogony and artistry according to Dephosphorus?

Intro and questions by Roderic Mounir.

Hi Dephosphorus! You explained the origin of your awesome name in a previous CVLT Nation interview, so let’s switch to the next question.

The only Greek bands we know are Rotting Christ, Septic Flesh and you guys. And Aphrodite’s Child, of course! Any strong, influential acts that mean a lot to you, that we should immediatly check? Also, tell us more about the current scene in the region.

Panos : The Greek underground scene is currently on the rise, reaching creativity heights unseen since the early/mid-90’s. Comrades currently on top of my list :

- Dead Congregation. IMO the best death metal band in the world right now.
- Antimob. Amazing hardcore punk with political lyrics in greek. If you want to get a glimpse of how it is to live in Greece right now, you will definitely feel the tension and frustration throughout their music.
- Ruined Families. Dark, chaotic hardcore with no-wave and post-punk hints. Crucial stuff !
- Omega Monolith. Instrumental, drone-y heavy rock of epic proportions.
- End. Fantastic black metal.
- Stereo Animal. Great 90’s-style metal and noise rock a la Killing Joke, Prong, Helmet, Godflesh, Ministry…
- … plus all the local bands featured in the Monomaniac comp. EP series that I’m putting together through my label, Blastbeat Mailmurder. Forthcoming Vol.2/3 will feature a ton of great bands.

Numerous local bands have raised the bar over the last 10 years, and started to do their own thing outside of the beaten path. More and more of them are touring abroad too, so watch out!

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The singular entity known as JBS, partially responsible for such sonic aberrations as Encoffination and Father Befouled, unleashed this romp into chasmic turmoil upon the world last year. Justin has been increasingly busy the last half of the previous decade building and implanting himself in series of pitch black projects which dabble in various doomy death metal flavors, and this most recent experiment appears as Redolent of Spheres as channeled through the form of Chasm of Nis.

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