Blackened death metal summoners ULTHAR today unleash “Saccades” for public consumption. The latest psalm comes by way of the band’s Anthronomicon full-length, one of TWO new albums to be released simultaneously on February 17th via 20 Buck Spin.
Anthronomicon embodies the continued progression of ULTHAR’s mastery over its art – always evolving, refining, and pushing forward. From the opening blasts and twisting mania of “Cephalophore,” ULTHAR baffles with angular warped riffage, dipping in and out of various dimensional spheres. Off-kilter, multi-directional turns veer swiftly and violently as though about to come apart at the seams only to reshape again and again into ever more monumental forms. Each of Anthronomicon’s eight tracks represent a fractious piece of a larger puzzle, each a maze unto itself that when taken together allows one to traverse this inverted surrealist conundrum.
Offers guitarist/vocalist Shelby Lermo of the track, “‘Saccades’ was the first song written for the Anthronomicon/Helionomicon project, shortly after the release of our last album, Providence. Musically, I feel it showcases the strongest aspects of ULTHAR’s sound, traversing the spectrum from grinding death to sweeping black metal. Lyrically, it explores the limits of human perception, and how things we think we see aren’t always there. It was largely inspired by the novel Blindsight by Peter Watts.”
Stream ULTHAR’s “Saccades” at THIS LOCATION.
Stream the band’s previously released single, “Astranumeral Octave Chants” – also off Anthronomicon – at THIS LOCATION.
Where its sister album Anthronomicon presents an eight-piece puzzle of labyrinthine tumult, Helionomicon takes those elements and creates two towering twenty-minute monoliths of radiant avant-garde immensity. Each track, appropriately titled “Helionomicon” and “Anthronomicon,” transports the listener on a vast journey of psycho-cerebral spectacle where hitherto unimagined landscapes take shape and strange intangible structures pierce the disintegrating firmament. Despite the substantial length of these two tracks, it’s never a tedious ride; each visits countless new vistas and perspectives across time. In essence, Helionomicon becomes a synthesis of all ULTHAR’s recorded output to this point across two climactic, ambitious epics.
Anthronomicon and Helionomicon were each recorded in April 2022 at Developing Nations in Baltimore, Maryland by Kevin Bernsten and mastered at Signaturetone in Minneapolis, Minnesota by Adam Tucker. Each album cover is half of a larger original piece created for ULTHAR by Ian Miller (Stormkeep, Bolt Thrower, Games Workshop). Additional artwork was created by Steve Peacock.
Anthronomicon and Helionomicon will be released on CD, LP, cassette, and digital formats. Find physical preorders at THIS LOCATION. Find digital preorders for Anthronomicon HERE and Helionomicon HERE.
Fans of Atrocity, Absu, Enslaved, Gorguts, Demilich, Krallice, Deathspell Omega, Voidceremony, Tomb Mold, Suffering Hour, and the like, pay heed.
ULTHAR:
Steve Peacock – bass, vocals
Shelby Lermo – guitars, vocals
Justin Ennis – drums
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