The heavy metal band known as Umbral
Presence has at last released their formative, most significant LP
release, titled, “Caelethi I.” The album contains 15 original
tracks and two covers, for a total of nearly 50 minutes worth of
music listening. It stands as the most striking example of Umbral
Presence's incomparable, avant-garde style of metal to date, and is
the best introduction to their music for listeners not yet
acquainted.
“Caelethi I” is an explosive,
challenging, and remarkably unique collection of extremely heavy
metal songs, surprisingly melodic at its core and very listenable for
traditional metal fans who find acts such as Napalm Death or
Sepultura too twitchy and chaotic for their liking. This is not to
say that Umbral Presence distributes no chaos – indeed, their very
soul (or the lack thereof) is in the spirit of true occultism, their
lyrics well-studied and dark-god evoking, their compositions
extremely evocative of the most primal emotions, such as fear, awe,
and the fatal curiosity that draws one closer to deeper mysteries
best left alone.
“Caelethi I”'s style combines
styles of music that should have been paired long ago by a far
greater number of artists. The most obvious among these being
industrial music, ambient music, and of course heavy metal. This mix
is so natural to the ear and produces such a strong, visceral effect
that it's amazing the music world is only getting it now.
At the creative heart of Umbral
Presence is Noctulius, the famed and insanely talented keyboardist
and vocalist of experimental metal band Rakoth (Noctulius' name
billed therein as Rustam). Also appearing as an instrumentalist on
the record is Lidagon, whose own presence is felt throughout in
playing that is excruciatingly expert and precise. Still, Lidagon's
stunning work notwithstanding, the keyboarding and composing of
Noctulius remains the most prominent feature of “Caelethi I.” For
a quick and easy sample of this, one has only to hear a sample from
Track 9, “Atazoth,” during which Noctulius outdoes his
songwriting by trickling his fingers up and down the keyboard like an
Amadeus of darkness, every note seeming perfectly placed, never
rushed, always natural and almost beautifully inevitable to hear,
“Caelethi I” will almost certainly
strike the metal fan as a shocking discovery, and it will perhaps
lurk in the shadows for some time to come, but what remains
inarguable is the absolute brilliance that runs in it like blood of
liquid onyx. The metal listener would be committing a grave error in
missing this seminal project.
-S. McCauley
Staff Press Release Writer
MondoTunes
The LP “Caelethi I” is
distributed globally by MondoTunes (www.MondoTunes.com)
and is available at iTunes for convenient purchase and download
MondoTunes
(www.mondotunes.com)
supplies the largest music distribution in the world and provides
upstream services for many major labels in search of breakout
artists. While most independent distributors reach only 45-50
retailers despite charging needless monthly and yearly fees,
MondoTunes reaches over 750 retailers and mobile partners in over 100
world regions without any monthly or yearly fees.
ARTIST
CONTACT INFO:
eMail
-
umbralpresence@gmail.com
umbralpresence@gmail.com
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