Terminus Episode 65 - Rübezahl, Elcrost, Vixenta, Serpent Column, Nunslaughter

After a late upload last week we're back on track with an episode of bands both big and small, death and black, raw and polished, and all four records are excellent. This is a broad-spectrum episode with just about every type of release you can imagine, from small, independent black metal split to one of the biggest death metal records of the year- you're undoubtedly going to enjoy this one.

Rübezahl starts things off after TBMG's long running appreciation of the band, approximately 30 people recommending it to us, and TDMG randomly stumbling across it in the wild. Playing a rough-hewn, mountainous variety of pagan black metal, Rübezahl manages to bridge the gap between the classic, stadium-size bands of yesteryear with the detailed and evocative sounds of the black metal underground, making for a wonderfully well-rounded and powerful debut record. Fans of all things pagan and frostbitten, rejoice.

Following this is the return of Vietnamese melodic black/death band Elcrost, this time on a split with Australian post-black act Vixenta. Elcrost, who we featured last year, have been hard at work refining their sound, resulting in a wonderfully gothic slab of melodic black/death with elegant riffing and the oneiric atmosphere that has become a trademark. Vixenta doesn't disappoint either, with an unusual style of wistful post-black metal that draws more heavily from 90s alt rock than it does the conventional wells most others claim as influence. Then we play some Pumpkins just to prove ourselves.

After the break we return with the newest EP by Serpent Column. Powerfully rhythmic and nakedly melodic in equal parts, your hosts reflect on the lessons learned from last year's interview with the project and apply it to the new record. Drawing more heavily than ever before from technical and abstract hardcore, the project finds itself at a crossroads as a cycle of records closes. What's next? If this record is any indication, further greatness.

Wrapping up the evening is Nunslaughter's newest full-length, which sees the band making a definitive statement of presence and power in the wake of the passage of Jim Sadist into Valhalla. More savage, cruel, and resolute than ever before, Nunslaughter refines their sound in subtle but powerful ways, trading in some of their raucous garage punk stylings for the weight of midwestern hardcore, while paradoxically being more purely death metal than ever before. It's an excellent and gripping record, in every way a definitive tribute to the passing of one of Cleveland's greats. Rest in power, Jim- we'll all be dead in ten.

 

0:07:44 - Rübezahl - Remnants of Grief and Glory (Independent)

0:53:45 - Elcrost/Vixenta - Split (House of Ygra)

1:34:09 - Interlude - Smashing Pumpkins - “Mayonaise” fr. Siamese Dream (Virgin Records, 1993) (Buy it literally anywhere albums are sold)

1:39:55 - Serpent Column - Katartisis (Mystikaos)

2:10:26 - Nunslaughter - Red is the Color of Ripping Death (Hells Headbangers)

2:51:46 - Outro - Atomizer - “When I Die, I Wanna Die Violently” fr. The Only Weapon of Choice - 13 Odes to Power, Decimation, and Conquest (The Ajna Offensive, 2003) Long out of print physically, but strangely enough, available on Spotify.

 

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