Premiere: Nephren-Ka – “L’Agonie de L’épice”
What’s the best day of the week to enjoy some technical death metal? Thursday, of course! Today, we’re premiering an extremely technical, extremely death metal, and extremely FAST song from French madmen Nephren-Ka!
Now I will openly admit that prior to receiving the promotional materials from Dolorem Records I had no experience with Nephren-Ka, so we will be embarking on this journey together. Their brand of music is self-described as “brutal death metal with lyrics based on Frank Herbert’s Dune” which piqued my curiosity because when brutal death metal is done right, it’s stellar; and everyone knows that Dune was the best album of 2015. Initially I was a little hesitant to investigate further due to the “brutal” label attached, but sometimes stepping outside of our comfort zones makes for the most rewarding experiences! And now we get completely obliterated by their new single “L’Agonie de L’épice”:
When I first heard this band’s music I was hooked. Since then I’ve jammed this premiere and their previously released single “L’Abomination” tens of times and love them both. Nephren-Ka are master craftsmen at composing memorable tunes while simultaneously shredding faces off. There aren’t a ton of bands who can compose interesting songs without ever easing off the gas pedal, so to speak. What you’re hearing now will easily appeal to fans of Hour of Penance, Hideous Divinity, and Storm Upon the Masses. (Hell, let’s throw in Origin—but only when they’re writing actual songs.) The band describes themselves as “brutal”, and yes there are some of the infamous “pig squeal vocals” but it’s never overpowering. The riffing can be overpowering, but isn’t that what we crave from bands like this? Fast riffs followed by faster riffs over unstoppable blast beats; and yes we actually get to hear the bass! (I’ll let you in on a little secret: there are some killer guitar solos to sweeten the deal.) How is it possible that I’m just now discovering Nephren-Ka?!?!
The upcoming record From Agony to Transcendence will be their third LP, to be released on June 25th, 2021 on Dolorem Records. Nephren-Ka has been around since 2006 so there’s plenty of older material to check out. There are digital albums, digipak CDs, and… wait for it… even some vinyls to pre-order! Count me in 100% for one of them beautiful rekkids.
(Jimmy note: the full digital album comes with a Pantera cover as a bonus track. Hell yeah, brother!)
