CVLT Nation’s
Top Six Tape Releases Of 2012

6.Mortuous Demo

Mortuous, one of the best Death Metal bands in California, just finished recording their newest demo and it sounds great. While the first demo released in 2010 was solely Colin Tarvin, now, two years later, this demo contains the solidified line-up that is currently crushing every show they play in the Bay Area. Mortuous spent a great deal of time perfecting this recording and it definitely shows. Clear and concise Death Metal all the way through. Mortuous’, “Demo 2012”, was recorded by Greg Wilkinson at Earhammer Studios in Oakland, California and mastered by Matt Widener (Liberteer, Cretin, The County Medical Examiners). Mortuous uploaded their recordings to their Bandcamp just recently, where you can stream and download the entire demo. A cassette will soon be released by Transylvanian Tapes so stay tuned for a release date in the near future.

5.NOOSE Woe Unto You, Oh Earth And Sea

Die haters die…you can hang yourself on the new NOOSE tape Woe Unto You, Oh Earth And Sea. This Providence, RI band has fucking done it again – crafted a fucking classic. It’s 28 minutes of maniacal mayhem that will give you the power to stab the eyes out of those that speak against you. Is there one weak link on this tape? Hell no, because all five songs have the death factor. NOOSE know how to write songs that speak anger on many different levels, plus something about their sonic chaos is almost mediative. The weeping willow riffage on “Of Loss and Ruin” has coffins full of blackened empathy that will have you transfixed in a state of charred bliss. The vocals on this song and others sound like the singer is vomiting up bones into to mic, creating an audio catacombs effect. NOOSE plays the kind of fuck the system black metal punk that I could listen to 24/7. When you hear the songs on Woe Unto You, Oh Earth And Sea, you get a sense that the band is telling a story about all of the fucked shit that so-called humanity has done in the name of power. What strikes me about this release is how the band’s music is so melodic; in a psychotic sort of way, each instrument is screaming out in torment in it’s own tongue. Unholy demon teeth, the song “Beastial Warlvst” is a perfect blend of disgusting d-beat cooked over the sizzling flame of some diseased black metal, and the warrior charge in this composition is insane. NOOSE killed shit with their first tape, Death and Hatred to All, but with Woe Unto You, Oh Earth And Sea they brought their filth to even lower depths! This band inspires us to do what we do, that is why we are so stoked that CVLT Nation is streaming Woe Unto You, Oh Earth And Sea in full below. Their new tape will be on sale HERE on the 17th, plus you can pick it up on their east coast tour this week. Check out the dates for the NOOSE onslaught after the jump…they will be sharing the stage with some sick bands!!!
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/01-Sick-of-Living.mp3|titles=NOOSE Sick of Living]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/02-Beastial-Warlvst.mp3|titles=NOOSE Beastial Warlvst]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/03-Of-Loss-and-Ruin.mp3|titles=NOOSE Of Loss and Ruin]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/04-Conjuration-of-Etheral-Malevolenc.mp3|titles=NOOSE Conjuration of Etheral Malevolenc]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/05-Unwilling-to-Die.mp3|titles=NOOSE Unwilling to Die]

4.Sempiternal Dusk Demo

The Sempiternal Dusk demo, out now on Parasitic Records, is an all-out Ritualistic Death Metal storm that will blow you the fuck away! Consisting of two tracks and clocking in at 24 minutes, you will get your unhealthy dose of decaying riffs. On a personal level, I believe the Sempiternal Dusk tape should end up on many end of the year lists! CVLT Nation is super stoked that we are streaming this kick ass demo in full below…Sempiternal Dusk demo is being stocked in CVLT Records.
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/audio/01 Inverse Exorcism.mp3|titles=Inverse Exorcism]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/audio/02 Moon Behind Hook Cross.mp3|titles=Moon Behind Hook Cross]

3.MonomakhMMXII

Die die die a grand death at the hands of off-the-chain ritualistic death metal. This is what occurs overtime – I blast Monomakh from Australia. This horde of metal maniacs have 3 songs out entitled MMXII that fucking kill everything within ear shot. This band’s sound is thick with old world dirge that keeps the black candles burning. Then there are the monolithic riffs that shower the demons in black sunlight. Monomakh’s songs are alive with some of the sickest changes in death metal today. I can’t speak for the world, but I know for a fact that this how I want my death metal to sound. I can’t forget about the melody of death that strangles me with each listen, to the point that all I’m breathing in is their rotting stench-filled baselines. Monomakh can fucking play their instruments, and are on a mission to create really interesting death metal that will keep you pressing replay. I want this bands music to infest the world, because Monomakh is that fucking killer. Hold on, it’s gets better – you can download all 3 tunes for free at their bandcamp page. I don’t know what’s in the water down under, but those humans know how to manifest the kind of sonic brutality that gets me HIGH!

2.Palace-of-Worms//Mastery

One man black metal is hardly the newest trend on the block yet it’s always been the remit of the more well known types on the scene – Burzum, Leviathan and by extension Lurker of Chalice, the now, sadly, defunct Xasthur, Arckanum….just a few of many projects that chose the path of solidarity and a subject that was recently looked at in a recent documentary series.

Palace of Worms and Mastery are two such ventures and here they release a split cassette via Flenser Records – available to order here – of clashing noise, beautiful intensity and icy stabs of hatred. Palace of Worms hails from San Francisco, and Balan can be occasionally be found playing with Larvae and Ordo Obsidium when he’s not writhing with agony and pure misanthropic resolve with his solo project.

The four new Palace of Worms tracks on this cassette are devastatingly involving – their hidden soul sits behind scything guitar work and harshly raged vocal lines. Stuttering bursts of true loveliness filter through the despair and flights of sorrow peak out from beneath veils of shadow to enclose you in a darkness wrought with misery. “Acheronian Pall” is cold and demanding, and Palace of Worms flitters between harshness and majesty with an oppositional and powerful force and more than a knowing nod the masters of the second wave. Balan’s vocal takes on an alien and clean sound for the closing steps of the song and Palace of Worms suddenly takes on a whole new dimension of inhumanity with a technique that was unexpected in its clarity.

“Alien Body, Alien Mind” swiftly rails into blasts of strength and curiously off-kilter tones of guitar. The landscape is one of utter destruction yet behind the maelstrom there is often a sweetly melodic guitar line that dares breath a melancholic atmosphere into the otherwise frozen tones of this side of the split.

Palace of Worms and Mastery. Don’t play with fire kids.

Mastery provides the wickedly titled “Egregorian Synapse” and it’s a track full of utter and total spite. The delightfully named Ephemeral Domignostika (Pale Chalice – who 100% need to be checked out immediately, and Pandiscordian Necrogenesis – goes without saying) is another Bay Area based musician who throws all the hate in the world into one rage-fueled, eight minute ode to woe. The trippy drum beat does much to give the song an aura of the early-90s school of black metal thinking and adds a distinctly punk vibe to proceedings (think latter day Darkthrone) whilst holding on to memories of snow-riven plains and the blackened heart of the motherland. Moments of sudden change puncture the pace of the song and Ephemeral Domignostika spills his unadulterated bile across permafrost-laden riffs and off-kilter time changes. Unfortunately, only one Mastery track is released on this split cassette and you’re left wanting, needing more. Let us pray to the dark Lord himself that it’s not another few years before we hear from this cult again.

The Palace of Worms track “Disconsolate Flight (Death Carries Me)” and the Mastery song “Egregorian Synapse” is streaming on CVLT Nation now.

1.AKSUMITE Prideless Lions

Colloquial Sound Recordings is one of CVLT Nation’s favorite labels, because we know that they release some of the most original music in the universe. That’s why we are super stoked to announce that this week is Colloquial Sound Recordings week on CVLT Nation starting today! So stay tuned for reviews, full streams and a special mixtape curated by CSR exclusively for our zine and you the readers. What sparked this is that the label has a batch of new tapes out, and every one of them is a classic that we feel the world should know about ASAP!
1st up we have the AKSUMITE tape entitled Prideless Lions, which is 12 songs of primitive, killer-fi black metal that is half punk and all amazing! Everything about this release is fucking on point from the way the songs are written, down to the subject matter. We are going to do things a little different today – instead of me talking about how extra off the hook AKSUMITE’s new tape is, CVLT Nation is streaming Prideless Lions in full below so you can be the fucking judge, and we are sure that when you are done you will head over to Colloquial Sound Recordings to pick up one of the limited edition tapes!

[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/01-Lioness-of-Gobedra.mp3|titles=AKSUMITE Lioness of Gobedra]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/02-Angel-Strike-Animal.mp3|titles=AKSUMITE Angel Strike Animal]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/03-Priory-of-Aksum.mp3|titles=AKSUMITE Priory of Aksum]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/04-Via-India.mp3|titles=AKSUMITE Via India]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/05-Invoke-the-Spirit-Jackal-Cloak.mp3|titles=AKSUMITE Invoke the Spirit Jackal Cloak]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/06-For-the-Glory-of-All-Afrika.mp3|titles=AKSUMITE For the Glory of All Afrika]

[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/07-Ezanas-Right-Hand.mp3|titles=AKSUMITE Ezana’s Right Hand]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/08-Ezanas-Right-Hand-Outro.mp3|titles=AKSUMITE Ezana’s Right Hand (Outro)]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/09-Brazen-Ape.mp3|titles=AKSUMITE Brazen Ape]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/10-Islamic-Marauders.mp3|titles=AKSUMITE Islamic Marauders]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/11-Come-Alive-By-Fire.mp3|titles=AKSUMITE Come Alive By Fire]
[audio:http://staging.cvltnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/12-The-Gilded-Goat.mp3|titles=AKSUMITE The Gilded Goat]