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Abyss Records is pleased to announce the recent signing of Sweden’s Carnivore. Plans are in place for the label to re-release a limited edition version of the band’s EP Faces of Death in early 2012. Carnivore is set to enter the studio in December of this year to record their full-length debut, which will be out sometime next year. Faces of Death is currently streaming on the band’s SoundCloud page.

Carnivore Live Dates:

1/5 – Slaughterhouse – Växjö, Sweden
3/31 – Garf – Växjö, Sweden
TBA – Tilbakakaka Festival
TBA – Säljeryd Festival
5/19 – 5/20 Westbay Heaven n Hell Festival

Bio:

Carnivore was formed in 2010 when a former project of three of the members, called Beyond Hell, underwent major line-up changes and decided to make a new start. The band played several local shows during 2010 and in 2011 they recorded a three-song EP called Faces of Death. Faces of Death was released on June 1st, and sold out in 2 hours.
Carnivore‘s musical style is based on old school elements with a modern and progressive touch, as well as an philosophical and occult lyrical element.

Daniel Ocic Sundberg – Vocals
Tobias Pettersson – Guitar
Jonas Davidsson – Guitar
Cedrik Petersson – Bass
Marcus Nieminen – Drums

Where: Starlite Room, Edmonton, Alberta
When: October 7, 2011

Last night I was expecting only to see one band, Alcest, but as it turns out I got to see two.

Junius opened up the show with their brand of American post metal. Isis, Pelican, and Deftones all smashed up together into a gorgeous, heavy blend. These guys are phenomenal live, and even Mrs. Blaspheme is a certified fan now. I hope they feel their reception was good enough for them to come back to Edmonton soon, because I know I’ll be there, at the front. We definitely grabbed one of their CDs on out way out, The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist, as well as a pair of patches.

After Junius awed the crowd, Alcest took the stage with a very warm reception. There were quite of people there for Alcest, rather than the headliner. Neige and his full band (I wondered if he would have a band as the albums are pretty much just him and drummer Winterhalter) were quite the atypical stereotypes of Frenchmen: quiet and polite, rather than loud and polite. And not a cigarette was lit once the whole set! I wish I could have filmed Neige say “We are Alcest from France”, it was the perfect introduction to them.

This is another band that Mrs. Blaspheme has come to love, just as I told her she would. Shoegaze and black metal combine to create a mesmerizing effect on the listener, and the viewer too. I wondered how Alcest would translate live, and they translate just fine. Deep fog shrouded them most of the time, with blue backlighting outlining their obscured forms, but on occasions where the fog dissipated, the whole band was smiling, really feeling the music and the crowd. Along with the Junius CD we left with Le Secret on vinyl and Écailles De Lune Digipak CD.

After Alcest Enslaved were going to play, but we had to leave before then. Which, I must say, is not to slight Enslaved. Rather it’s because we work too much and had been up at four in the morning and had to get up again at five. So a late night was not going to be possible, as my eyes were heavy before Junius even. Also, to be honest, we’ve seen Enslaved before, opening for Dimmu Borgir on their last trip through town, and it was awesome. So hopefully they come back again soon because I would love to see them again. Sorry guys. Next time.

In all, it was a near perfect night. The only blemish on the proceedings was the “7 o’clock” doors (7:45ish) and the 9:15 start time. If only Starlite actually opened their doors when they said they would. Also, if only they weren’t still purporting that Ghost were to be playing the show. Junius were their replacements.

French vanguard Alcest, responsible for the influential Souvenirs d’un Autre Monde and its masterful follow-up Écailles De Lune, are set to tour North America once again beginning later this month. Opening as direct support for Enslaved, Alcest begin the 19-date trek on September 23rd in Springfield, Virginia and conclude it on October 14th in West Hollywood, California, extensively traveling through Canada in between. Ghost were originally slated to be among the tour package, but unfortunately had to drop off recently due to visa complications. Here are the confirmed dates/venues:

September 23 – Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
September 24 – Millvale, PA @ Mr. Small’s Theatre
September 25 – New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
September 26 – Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East
September 27 – Québec City, QC @ Impérial
September 29 – Montreal, QC @ Café Campus
September 30 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
October 1 – Columbus, OH @ Outland Live
October 2 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
October 3 – St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
October 5 – Winnipeg, MB @ WECC
October 6 – Regina, SK @ The Exchange
October 7 – Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room
October 8 – Calgary, AB @ Dickens
October 10 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
October 11 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
October 12 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
October 13 – San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
October 14 – West Hollywood, CA @ Troubadour

As announced earlier, Alcest have revealed the title to their third album as Les voyages de l’âme (English: “The journeys of the soul“). The record is tentatively scheduled for early 2012 release through Prophecy Productions, with further release news to announced shortly. Alcest are widely credited with bringing in a dreamier, more shoegazing element into extreme metal the past few years, influencing many others to follow in their wake. Surely, Les voyages de l’âme will be yet another monumental release for the band, cemeting their modern legendry that much more.

Genre: Death Fuckin’ Metal

Label: Dark Descent Records

Beware, mortals.. for now we step back through time and darkness into the archaic age of old school swedish death metal, and into the grasp of the entity known as Entrails! Originally formed in 1991, Entrails disbanded without releasing anything, but was exhumed in 2008 by guitarist Jimmy Lundqvist. Two demos were released, and the debut album “Tales From The Morgue” finally took shape in 2010, nearly two decades after the inception of the band. Now, with the sophmore effort “The Tomb Awaits” pending release on Dark Descent Records, I had the opportunity to give it a listen in advance.

“The Tomb Awaits” opens with the title track, a soft, beautiful, reflective classical guitar instrumental. It reminds me of “Lamentation” off of God Macabre’s classic Swedeath monolith “The Winterlong”, and I very much appreciated it both as a standalone song and an atmospheric prelude.

But Being a Swedeath junkie, I was not at all surprised when after scarcely a minute of soft acoustic serenading, Entrails turned around and punched me in my goddamn face with about a ton of ripping HM-2 guitar tone. “Unleashed Wrath” is instantly remniscent of the mighty “Left Hand Path”, and segways into one of the stronger tracks on the album, “Crawling Death”, featuring an ominously simple piano intro and nefariously catchy chant of “CRAWLING DEATH!”. This 3 punch combo knocked me on my ass and left me waiting for a weaker track, but Entrails just never let up. It makes me wonder why they ever broke up in the first place.

The riffs! Man, these guys have cool riffs out the ass, all ripped from the amplifier with that absolutely timeless Swedish guitar sound! Every song on this disc has at least a couple riffs that you can’t help but bang your head to (Entrails and their label will be receiving a bill from my chiropractor along with my preorder for a hard copy of the album). From the epic intro of “Undead” to the diabolical tremolo picking of “Total Death”, I was never bored with the visceral Swedish filth assaulting my eardrums.

The leads too, are thoroughly badass, just as much so as the riffs that make up the meat of the songs. Never wanking or shredding overly much, Entrails instead opt for a more melodic, creative approach to guitar solos that contrasts with the surrounding ultraviolence in a way that is very pleasing to the ear, and conjures up the ghost of old school Dismember.

Though this stuff is obviously very traditional (you won’t hear any hyperblasts or extended sweep picking), it still sounds fresh and exciting to me, and it would be a grave mistake to disregard Entrails as a simple retro nostalgia band. If anyone has a right to be playing Left Hand Path death nowadays, it’s these guys, 20 year scene veterans who obviously hold a LOT of pent up creativity. Thoroughly Swedish and thoroughly Death metal, I think “The Tomb Awaits” could have been classic if it had been released in the early 90′s golden era of death metal. Buy this album if you like Entombed, Grave, Unleashed, Dismember, Carnage, and God Macabre. Fuck, just buy this album if you like death metal. A round of applause for Entrails. 8.5/10!

I’d like to introduce this edition of Conjuration of the Sepulchral by apologizing to the many avid readers who I’m sure have been left crushed and without direction by this column’s absence. Real life has been getting in the way of my illustrious career as a metal sage, but I’ve thought long and hard about my priorities and realized that shit’s overrated. Now back to the death metal.

This week we will be sampling a fine Swedish vintage with a very un-Swedish flavor. Gorement from Nyköping, Sweden. I have never seen them discussed in any magazine like Terrorizer, Zero Tolerance, or Metal Maniacs, or any larger metal site like blabbermouth or metal-rules.net, but they maintain a dedicated cult following among die-hard old school death metal fans. And for good reason; their only album, the magnum opus “The Ending Quest”, is a masterpiece of atypical melanchoic death metal.

Their style is hard to describe; Swedeath cliches are eschewed. No HM-2 pedal Left Hand Path Guitar tone, no d-beat drumming. A very strong sense of melody is present, but so are monolithic grooving death riffs. Hyperblasting madness flows seamlessly into gossamer melodies that evoke soltitude inspire contemplation. To me, the entire approach of Gorement conveys an ancient, inhuman sense of esoteric knowing and despair. It could perhaps be described as the reminiscing of an ancient entity that has seen the rise and fall of  countless gods and nations, and knows that all things good things come to an end. Check it out here, and buy Gorement’s “Darkness of the Dead” compilation or the vinyl re-issue of “The Ending Quest” from Necroharmonic Records.