Track Premiere: Orphalis – The Wolves Draw Near
With every breath drawn, colors fade.
Today in the Bowl we’re thrilled to bring you an exclusive track premiere from Orphalis‘ upcoming As the Ashes Settle, the band’s fourth LP and first with Toilet friends Transcending Obscurity. “The Wolves Draw Near,” the fifth single to be released from As the Ashes Settle, showcases the band’s undeniable range. Straight up brutal death metal a la Aborted? Sure thing. Scale-climbing technicality that’ll have Psycroptic nerds sweating? Grab a towel. A touch of later-era Benighted deathgrind to liquify your pathetic excuse for a brain? It’s getting dark in here. How about some flashes, nay some touches, nay some hints, nay some electrifying notes of crushing melody that call to mind Cattle Decapitation? All that and more, baby.
The middle of “The Wolves Draw Near” might be my favourite part of any song thus far released. The bridge that begins at 2:04, hammering along as a crushing reprieve, gives way to a Riff ov the Week winner at 2:18 that taps into what makes Orphalis’ particular blend of BDM and tech-death so effective. After that, things get very briefly Hath-y before we are off to that classic sort of Cattle Decapitation moment of climbing chug riffs with a big, melodic solo draping all over it. What a ride.
Orphalis themselves seem to understand precisely the monster they’ve created. To wit:
“As the Ashes Settle represents the next step in our evolution! Continuing creative choices made on “The Approaching Darkness” we blended our influences from a vast variety of extreme genres and infused it with a heavy focus on songwriting, at times bringing melodic parts into the mix, without compromising on brutality and a heavy dose of blast beats!”
And who are we to argue? Nobody, that’s who. So hit play on the video below. Go listen to the other tracks on bandcamp, and join the 200 other folks who have already pre-ordered this sucker. The album releases August 25th, so you’ve got 10 days to get your shit together.
God bless Orphalis. God bless Transcending Obscurity. God bless this Toilet. Order me a tank top and a coffee mug.
