Decibel Magazine is hosting an exclusive full-album stream of "Haze, Cacophony, And White Light", the third LP by Portland, Maine black/death metal trio SHABTI. The record arrives this Friday, August 21 via Contemn Light.
SHABTI draw their personnel from a deep bench of the American underground, with members also serving in OBSIDIAN TONGUE, FALLS OF RAUROS, FIRES IN THE DISTANCE and PANOPTICON. On the new album that pedigree translates into an incinerating salvo of black-edged, ripping death metal, layered with inflamed technical prowess and progressive flourishes — the most calculatingly lethal music the band have made.
The conceptual lyrics work as hazy reflections of past-lived experience, intersecting with a kaleidoscope of mythological and dream-like imagery. Grief, longing, religion and alienation run through them, culminating in a dire augury of a future in which the Shabti succeed their masters.
For vocalist and guitarist Rob Cook, finishing it was less a creative problem than a logistical one.
"We are thrilled to finally share our third full-length album," Cook writes. "This album is the culmination of ten years together with this lineup and persistence in the face of various setbacks and delays. The songs and music came easily but the logistics and life distractions did not. Fans of our last album, 'Trembling And Shorn', will find that we continue in a similar direction with more precision and ambition, but still retaining the raw, organic feel of SHABTI."
The writing also cut closer to home than usual. "Though most of the songs have more than one meaning, some of them are more directly drawn from my personal experience and personal experiences of the people around me than songs I have written in the past," Cook continues. "After toiling in the underground for years and years, it was very important to me to get this album right, and I am proud of what we have accomplished."
He is already looking past release day. "After our album release this August, I am eagerly looking forward to delving into writing the follow-up to this album. The music scene/industry is discouraging at times, but I always find that something pulls me back and that I still have more to say as a writer."
Decibel's verdict on the six tracks: "They evidently put in some serious time crafting the six black metal-influenced tracks on their latest, as each piece offers an abundance of sounds and textures woven into intense and complicated arrangements, all topped with Cook's growls and shrieks. Cacophony, indeed."
The album was tracked by the band, with additional vocals and guitars recorded at Acadia Recording Company in Portland. Aaron Charles of FALLS OF RAUROS mixed it at The Cathedral Of Psychic Death, Dan Lowndes mastered at Resonance Sound Studio, and Ibay Arifin supplied the cover art.
Stream and order:
- Full-album stream at Decibel Magazine
- Order on Bandcamp: shabti.bandcamp.com