released April 15, 2018
SHRINE OF THE SERPENT are:
Todd Janeczek - Guitars / Vocals
Adam De Prez - Guitars / Bass
Chuck Watkins - Drums
Contact:
ashenpath@gmail.com
More info:
www.facebook.com/ShrineoftheSerpent
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"On the other side of the country in Portland, Oregon, youβll find Shrine of the Serpent, whose line-up consists of current or former members of such bands as Aldebaran, Graves At Sea, Uzala, Lung Molde, and Triumvir Foul. Their previous release was a self-titled EP in 2015. As mentioned, their two songs are in the middle of this four-track split, and those songs finish the deliberate job of suffocating and crushing that Black Urn begin.
βDesicrated Tomb Masterβ wastes no time slowly stretching the listenerβs body on the rack, both pulling sinews apart and smashing bones to dust with a massive, trudging assault built from a titanic, vibrating riff and gut-slugging bass and drum punishment. The songβs melodic blood-flow is black and blasted, a congealing ooze of bitterness and abandonment. Stunningly heavy and hopeless for most of its length, the song ends in an effusion of frightening sounds that conjure the arrival of the horror that has been approaching since the outset.
The bleak, heaving melody of βCatacombs of Flesh Masterβ groans under the weight of cold stone and eons of death, with the lyrics exclaimed in raw, flesh-rending howls and heart-splitting cries. The glacial approach of catastrophe spills over into more frenzied bursts of guitar swarming, the music becoming more intense and spine-splintering, the atmosphere becoming as terrible as a mass grave. A flickering guitar surfaces in this obliteration to ratchet the tension even more, and that serves as as a prelude to an even more massive stomp and a final surge of violence.
Whatβs that phrase? βNot for the faint of heartβ β thatβs an apt warning here."
www.nocleansinging.com
BLACK URN are:
John Jones - Vocals
Ryan Manley - Guitars
Jordan Pierce - Guitars
Alex Onderdonk - Bass
Tim Lewis - Drums
Contact:
blackurn187@gmail.com
More info:
www.facebook.com/blackurn
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"Black Urn come from Philadelphia, and this is their fourth release overall, following a 2015 demo, a 2016 EP named The Pangs of Our Covenant, and a split released earlier this year with Moros (from which we premiered a Black Urn track here). Their two tracks open and close this tape, with the two Shrine of Serpent offerings located in between them.
The tape begins the process of dragging you beneath the surface with a long and lethal Black Urn piece named βMy Strength Is Within Heavenless Plainsβ, in which a forlorn bass-and-drum duet is joined by the desolate, haunting moan and wail of a guitar, eventually accompanied by the vocalistβs heartless roar. It slowly twines around the listenerβs neck like a serpent, as your eyes fix in a thousand-years stare.
And then, without warning, it accelerates, the guitar injecting a buzzing, needling intensity into the listenerβs brain pan, and the bass pulsing faster than a fearful heart. It slows again, the vocals manifesting a wrenching agony, and then mounts a final blood rush of intensity with a melody that seemsβ¦ almost heroic.
By the time you come to Black Urnβs second track, you will be in desperate condition, for reasons Iβll explain when I come to Shrine of the Serpent, and at that moment the bandβs cover of Alice In Chainsβ βJunkheadβ almost seems like a blessing. Donβt get me wrong β it staggers and rumbles like a ruthless juggernaut while the vocals are exclaimed in a cavalcade of boiling shrieks and ghastly howls. But itβs also a catchy, head-moving song, thanks to a sinuous head-trip of a guitar melody tinged with stoner stylings that surfaces like cobras swaying from the walls of your mind. It might even make you smile, something like the grin of a serial killer."
www.nocleansinging.com