Here is a statement from the band : "CD/TAPE/LP/MERCH pre-orders are live. Here's a second teaser from the album that showcases the utterly cold and desperate third track off "Stygian".
Bandcamp pre-orders: https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/stygian
Label site : https://www.20buckspin.com/
Designs by Chimère Noire
Statement from Toiletovhell.com : "Synthwave? In my metal? It’s more natural than you might think. It’s strange to me that we don’t hear more crossover between metal and synthwave; the two styles feel tailor-made for each other, and yet there’s not a whole lot of genre intermingling. Both tend to be dark and a little abrasive, and acts like Carpenter Brut really lean into the hokey 80’s slasher movie aesthetic (perhaps a little too much if you ask some people). But aside from acts like Gost experimenting with screams, Dance With The Dead’s metal-influenced synths, and the occasional shreddy video game soundtrack (F-Zero and Mega Man X in particular love this), the offerings are fairly sparse, especially when it comes to synthwave-influenced metal. You’ve got a lot of power metal acts adopting a retrowave veneer lately, but that rarely plays into the music itself. Enter Hexencraft, a true fusion of metal and synthwave. Their music is equal parts pulsing synths and chunky heavy metal, chock full of leads of both flavors, and catchy as all hell. Our premiere for you today, “Nightflame Eternal,” cuts a little closer to the metal side of the project’s sound, which makes sense given its influence. Per the artist:
“NIGHTFLAME ETERNAL” IS MY PERSONAL LOVE-LETTER TO HIGH ENERGY SHREDWAVE, TAKING INFLUENCE FROM CLASSIC GAME SOUNDTRACKS LIKE F-ZERO AND ALSO EPIC POWER METAL SUCH AS LOST HORIZON OR EVEN JAG PANZER IN THE CASE OF PHIL [TOUGAS] (HE IS HUGELY INFLUENCED BY THE GUITARIST JOEY TAFOLLA). THE GREATER CONTEXT OF THIS TRACK WITHIN THE ALBUM IS THAT IT SERVES AS AN EMOTIONAL CONTRAST OF TRIUMPH AND POWER THAT IS EMBEDDED WITHIN A LARGER MONUMENT TO PAIN AND SUFFERING THAT IS THE ENTIRETY OF PERMADEATH."
Note : Phil's solos are at 1:33, 4:16 & 5:02
That contrast of triumph and power is perfectly expressed through exultant leads and that climbing chorus riff, emphasized by big 80’s-ass tom fills (you know the kind). Each individual element works great in concert: the synth drums feel right at home along the distorted riffs, and the lead guitar tone is a natural fit for its digital counterparts. It’s some fun stuff, and I definitely want to hear the rest of the album’s dark fiction influenced stuff- think Doom, Berserk, and the like."
Originally written by Spear for Toiletovhell.com
Via ThoseOnceLoyal : "In case you hadn’t guessed by that gloriously bleak artwork, Canada’s Atramentus are massive funeral doom and their debut record ‘Stygian’ is due out in August through 20 Buck Spin, a label known for their high quality releases. Three tracks, forty five minutes and the story of an immortal knight left to witness the death of the sun and the endless frozen purgatory of a dead earth. Cheery stuff.
The first thing you noticed about ‘Stygian I: From Tumultuous Heavens… (Descended Forth the Ceaseless Darkness)’ is the overwhelming sense of dread permeating through each sobbing riff, each tortured growl. Each riff, crashing down like a collapsing ice wall, is earth shaking, while an organ strikes with extra poignancy in the background. This doesn’t feel like a song, it feels like the pure emotion of pain encapsulated by instruments. As funeral doom as this may be, the deep influence of black metal cannot be missed, from the dark ambience and cold whispering to the savage bleakness.’Stygian II: In Ageless Slumber (As I Dream in the Doleful Embrace of the Howling Black Winds)’ is the ghostly centrepiece, a deeply menacing ambient piece that is wreathed in the miasmic smoke of black metal atmospherics.
It bleeds into the last track, ‘Stygian III: Perennial Voyage (Across the Perpetual Planes of Crying Frost & Steel-Eroding Blizzards)’, which feels like the greatest of atmospheric black metal bands slowed down to a painful crawl. The sound is vast, a whole world of misery under a pale grey sky, battered with howling guitar and vocals that sound like the voice of utter hopeless death. Six minutes in, a clean vocal like the voice of God looms into position accompanied by sorrowful piano, as if there is indeed a shard of light at the end of this journey. Slowly snuffed out by guttural roars and a howling solo, like drowning in air, this mighty track is one of the most harrowing pieces of music I’ve been gifted this year. There’s everything here; slow tortured clean guitar, guttural roars, regal orchestration, grandiose moments of sheer beauty and doses of utter despair.
Shudder-inducingly cold, imbued with emotional heft and a sense of loneliness and loss that I honestly felt it was difficult to capture this well, ‘Stygian’ makes you feel like this lost and immortal knight, bound to a dead planet forever. ‘Stygian’ is deeply affecting, and an album that I will never be able to forget. Do I have a new album of the year? Maybe, and the race is now closer than I ever thought possible. This is magnificent. "
Originally written by Sandre The Giant for https://thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/
