Encircling Sea - demo

Artist: Encircling Sea
Album: demo
Genre: Sludge/Doom Metal
Year: 2009
Origin: Australia

This demo album consists of a single 48 minute track. It's a good 12 minutes into the song before the heaviness hits, which makes it rush through one's headphones all the more furiously. The song includes long ambient passages, and finishes up with a descent into black metal riffing. I haven't been able to listen to the whole thing in one sitting yet (maybe it should've been 2 tracks?), but it's great atmospheric, cerebral music.

Thanks to Encircling Sea for sending me this album! I like to promote underground artists on this blog, particularly those that want to be part of the music-sharing community. Of course I still only post music that I really like!

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Umbra Nihil - The Borderland Rituals

Artist: Umbra Nihil
Album: The Borderland Rituals
Genre: Funeral Doom Metal
Year: 2008
Origin: Finland

Umbra Nihil did an awesome split way back with Aarni, one of the most interesting bands in metal, and I believe Master Warjomaa is also a member of Umbra Nihil. This is more doom-centric than I've come to expect from his influence, but still very much on the experimental end of metal. This is an album that would've made my top twenty of last year, except I didn't hear it until a few months ago.

In other similar sounding news, I had the chance to play Borderlands recently, and it's a fun multiplayer game! You should play it when it comes out. If you're into that kind of thing.

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Fall of Efrafa - Owsla

Artist: Fall of Efrafa
Album: Owsla
Genre: Neocrust
Year: 2006
Origin: UK

Fall of Efrafa are a sludge/crust/post-metal band from Brighton. Apparently they are a concept-band about the mythology in the novel “Watership Down” By Richard Adams (which I haven't read). Anyway, the songs on this, their debut album, are epic and crushing in all the right ways, starting out with a simple and dark cello intro and building their marching army of sound as they head to the crash against rocks that is the self-titled final track. I also have the second album, and I guess the third is out now so I would love to hear it; I wonder, will they disband after the trilogy, or just let the 'concept-band' idea fade away.

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