NECROPANTHER: Decibel Magazine Premieres Oblivion Jones: A Tale Of False Consciousness, Featuring Saxophonist Rico Jones; EP To Drop This Friday!

Decibel Magazine is currently streaming Oblivion Jones: A Tale Of False Consciousness, the latest EP from prolific Colorado metallers NECROPANTHER, featuring saxophonist Rico Jones. The premiere comes on the eve of the EP’s official unveiling, Friday, May 3rd.

The four-song Oblivion Jones: A Tale Of False Consciousness was written and produced by NECROPANTHER guitarist, Joe Johnson. The EP completes a cycle of “solo” EPs, written and produced by each band member that are released between full-length albums. The EP’s story follows the eponymous Oblivion Jones, a fictional mid-century painter and loose associate of the Beats. The artist is from Baltimore, working in Denver. After his death at the end of the second movement, he is astonished to find himself “resurrected” as a cybernetic replicant attending a retrospective exhibition of his work in a near-future dystopia.

Writes Decibel Magazine of the offering, “EP opener ‘The Denver School’ establishes the album’s concept, the life of fictional Oblivion Jones, a Baltimore painter who finds himself working in Denver when he dies and is resurrected as a replicant. The track also quickly establishes Jones’ presence on the release, which gives each song a jazzy feel at times. It’s immediately followed by the 11-minute ‘The Transported Man,’ which sees NECROPANTHER throw some doom into their cauldron. Third track, ‘First Friday,’ signals the part of the EP where Oblivion Jones is resurrected, starting with At the Gates-esque riffs and locking into a saxophone-assisted death metal groove. Oblivion Jones wraps up with the appropriately titled ‘Thrash Till Death,’ which lives up to its name… As always, NECROPANTHER’s musicianship is sharp and the band have a lot of energy for what they do, fully committing to Jones’ inclusion on the EP. ”

Stream Oblivion Jones: A Tale Of False Consciousness, now playing exclusively at Decibel Magazine, HERE.

Oblivion Jones: A Tale Of False Consciousness was recorded, mixed, and mastered by longtime collaborator, Felipe Patino of Denver’s Green Door Recordings, and completed with cover art by Max Sherman

NECROPANTHER will release Oblivion Jones: A Tale Of False Consciousness independently on CD, LP, and digital formats on May 1st. Preorders can be placed HERE.

NECROPANTHER hails from the metal music cauldron of Denver. Masters of genre manipulation, the band blends elements of death, thrash, black metal, and more to create riff-heavy albums for a dystopian future. All four band members are composers and collaboratively create their full-length albums. Since 2014 they have amassed a catalog of startling diversity and consistent quality.

Musically, the EP continues NECROPANTHER’s experimentation in their EPs, with a large-scale bass solo, spoken textures, mood shifts within songs, and influences from beyond metal, presented as a four-movement program reminiscent of a four-movement symphony but reimagined for an expansive vision of heavy metal, infusing thrash, doom, melodic death, and NWOBHM styles. Additionally, the EP sees the band joined by accomplished jazz musician/band leader Rico Jones performing tenor saxophone as a guest soloist across all four songs. Jones has performed as a leader with notable artists such as Dave Kikoski, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Matt Clohesy, Yasushi Nakimura, Ari Hoenig, Lage Lund, Kush Abaday, Joe Martin, Colin Stranahan, Rick Rosato, Rich Perry, Steven Feifke and many others. The release will include alternate versions of all four songs “sans sax” as bonus tracks.

Oblivion Jones: A Tale Of False Consciousness Track Listing:
1. The Denver School (Thrash-Allegro)
2. The Transported Man (Doom-Largo)
3. First Friday / Palest Piano (Melodeath-Scherzo Nowherzo)
4. Thrash Till Death (NWOBHM-Rondo)
[5-8. Alternate versions sans sax]

NECROPANTHER Live: 
5/05/2024 Ernie November – Cheyenne, CO w/ Ulthar
6/14/2024 HQ – Denver, CO w/ Artillery

NECROPANTHER are quickly becoming a gem of Denver for me. So much good heavy music has emerged in the last several years from here, so much of it different from their peers, and then there’s bands like this who can wear many hats and masks to great effect, not to act as a facsimile or banal imitation, but to pay homage and challenge themselves creatively.” — Everything Is Noise

NECROPANTHER:
Paul Anop – guitar, vocals
Marcus Corich – bass, vocals
Joe Johnson – guitars
Haakon Sjogren – drums

https://www.necropanther.com
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https://necropanther.bandcamp.com