Bastard Sapling “V: A Sepulcher to Swallow the Sea” 7”

Bastard Sapling—from right here in Richmond, VA—started out as a one-man band in 2007, and has now grown to include members of Inter Arma and Battlemaster in its five-piece lineup. "V: A Sepulcher to Swallow the Sea", is their latest output: A 10-minute, two song (technically one song divided into two parts, I guess) 7" released by Tension Head Records (a label so underground I still can't find so much as a MySpace page for 'em). This is actually my first exposure to the band, referred to on their MySpace page (probably jokingly) as "typical Richmond black metal". I didn't know there was such a thing, but that phrase absolutely sounds like something you might overhear someone from Richmond say about a local black metal band, ha. And that's especially amusing because, if this is "typical Richmond black metal", I'd love to hear the rest of the bands doing it, 'cause this is some fuckin' great material! They're not trying to reinvent the genre or push the boundaries per se, and that's absolutely fine. In fact, that's a good thing. This is generally what I want black metal to sound like: Blasting percussion, rugged tremolo picking and pounding midpaced rhythms with just the right amount of dissonance, audible bass, viciously snarled vocals with a hint of reverb creating depth in the mix, a recording that's neither overly raw nor remotely polished, and songwriting that creates a certain sense of feeling/atmosphere. Just solid, straightforward, true to form black metal. This is awesome. Apparently they're working on a full-length now, and I'm really looking forward to hearing it.

Bastard Sapling "V: A Sepulcher to Swallow the Sea (Part 1)" (excerpt)

7"s are $4 plus shipping, so send an email to Tension Head Records to get your hands on one. I'm assuming at least one or two distros will be selling copies online in the coming months, but who knows?