"Transylvania" is the debut 7" from Cape of Bats, limited to just 500 copies (200 on yellow vinyl from Holy Terror Records and 300 on black vinyl from Grim Winds). Described by the labels as "four tracks of vampyric punk black metal hailing from the forgotten glens of Ireland and the depraved outskirts of Philadelphia", I was unsure of what to expect here, as my only previous exposure to the band was a Danse Macabre cover on the "No Peace/War" compilation. That being said, the whole punk/black metal fusion description actually makes sense to me. The super raw production values and pounding midpaced rhythms with ringing, dissonant chord phrasings certainly say "black metal" to my ears (there are some of those nice, crawling discordant runs and a few dashes of raging speed in there, too); while the overall energy and the snarl of the vocals have a little more of a hardcore/punk type of feel (and there are a few explosive chord progressions throughout that lean more towards that whole angle as well). The packaging has a cool visual aesthetic and the inner sleeve contains an essay by Dr. Robert Curran about Abhartach, one of the earliest recorded vampire legends whose grave is believed to reside in northern Ireland, so... there's definitely a theme here. Good stuff. If the idea of rugged, (musically) traditional black metal infused with a little primal hardcore/punk seems like a good idea to you (And why wouldn't it?), definitely give this a shot. You can stream both sides of the 7" on Soundcloud and see what you think:
Get It
- Holy Terror Records (yellow vinyl)
- Grim Winds (black vinyl)
Comments
really good EP. highly recommended! i omsider myself a fan.
1.12.2012 | By Thomas
just ordered this, thanks for bringing it to my attention!
i don’t hear too much metal in it though. i’m getting more of an evil 80’s hardcore/almost post-punk kind of vibe. the performances are kind of sloppy like that which i love. nice!
1.13.2012 | By fredrik
Huh…weird stuff. I kinda like it. Not overtly black metally to my ears, though. Sounds like Siege a bit, and maybe Bauhaus mixed with something on Bone Awl’s label Klaxon Records. Vox are too snotty to be bm. Sounds like they’re playing through Crate practice amps!
1.16.2012 | By Anonymous