Cryptic Shift - Visitations from Enceladus

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO3JYffxU6E

Just put in an order for this, via a recommendation from Snatch (I'm posting it here since christ knows when an opportunity to burn someone will next coax him out; it's a dog eat sleeping dog world).

Seriously though, get stuck in. In terms of the type of metal that's just perfectly delivered here, you'll hear bits of Gorguts, Artificial Brain, Vektor, Atheist, even just as far out as Tchornobog or Howls of Ebb in its weirder passages. But as truly impressive as all that is, what really sucked me in is the almost 80s cold war BBC vibe in the long intro and transition sections of the epic 20 minute opening track; a kind of Threads post-apocalyptic aesthetic mixed with some Tarkovsky mystique, the same vague idea zone Boards of Canada dip into at their most unnerving; alternating hard-panned passages and messed up sounds designed purely to mess with your head (probably what made me think of Howls of Ebb too), even Dr.Who style robotic voices here and there. Overall, the production is just sublime, a fifth instrument in the compositions themselves, proper old school prog style.

If there's to be a New Wave of British Dystopic Technical Death Metal, exploring those kind of sounds even more, sign me up now!

[Eoin McLove]

I listened to it the other night and I was impressed.  Not sure it's something I'd return to much as I'm on a bit of a different buzz to that lately,  but no denying they are onto something.  It's techy but still very listenable.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

I also like the idea of a "cryptic shift", like some kind of tongue-based semaphore: "Hey fella, will ya meet me mate? She's got a coded message for you."

[Eoin McLove]

More like getting off with a bouler and hoping your mates don't find out.  One eye open at all times.

[Mower Liberation Front]

These were the guys who supported Vektor a couple of years ago, weren't they?

[astfgyl]

Threw it on there after that description. Sounds very decent must give it another go later to see if it sticks

[Floss]

I hadn't heard of them til the other week but have given this a few listens by now - good stuff for sure, filling the Vektor gap nicely.

[open face surgery]

Checked them out after one of their guitarists covered an Artifical Brain tune in an AB instagram competition. They seem to take a lot from AB and Vektor. Only heard a tune and didn't make a huge impact but I'll check out the album. Good to have that sort of thing coming from the Brits.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Yeah, there's an argument to be made that three out of the four tracks can be summed up as just a mix of AB, Vektor and Atheist.  But that first track has something unique going on that I'd be well up for hearing more of.

[astfgyl]

Not a bad summation all the same! I bumped into a fella in the shop this evening and he asked me if I'd heard anything new and I was trying to tell him about this and all I could think of was "something to do with shifting".

I hope he goes on google to try and find out who I was on about

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Just over a month after ordering this, it finally arrived from Blood Harvest today! Great looking gatefold that fits in nicely with the quite particular 80s post-nuclear Britain vibe, the style reminding me of painted illustrations in kids encyclopedias and natural history books from that period.

Anyway, it was a real treat to get into today, having held off on listens for the last couple of weeks until it arrived.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Bumping this as it's what the Bok bot would have bumped had he known it existed. As he rightly says, the inlay is a beaut, and the shopping list of classic references in the thanks lists only adds to that. So, if you haven't checked it out yet, do so.

[ResidentOfBok]

Haha cheers, I would have done!

I'm only just getting into this now, but I think it'll get a lot of listens. Hopefully they can get active on the gigs and recording front pretty quickly once the pandemic winds down.

[Crow]

Got around to (some of) this during the week. Better late than never. Bit of a fuckin brain melt, quite honestly, cos I spun onto it from thrash and tech thrash. Remembered Era Vulgachris and Resident Bokvil being sweet on it.

Yeah. It didn't really hit me as strong as it could have. Kinda like when ya want to play a shooter and fire up a strategy game by mistake. That said, there's enough there to suggest I'll vibe with it more when I'm properly tuned in.

[open face surgery]

Better off sticking to the Chilean madness Crow.