Just got a handful of copies of this otherwise out-of-print cassette release from avant death metallers Ehnahre back in stock...

Former members of Kayo Dot go ULTRA heavy with their new band Ehnare, a Boston death metal band (sorta) that combines abstract blackened doom, death metal and 20th century classical influences into something monstrous and alien sounding, and really quite unique, certainly unlike anything else that I can think of. Of course, you'd expect a death metal band with people that previously played in Kayo Dot to sound pretty far out, but this is some of the most avant-garde death metal I've discovered lately, monstrous blackened dissonant doomscapes and crazed atonal Schoenberg/Bartok-obsessed riffing that bends at angles that are nigh impossible to comprehend. Originally released in a criminally limited run of 50 copies specifically for a European/UK tour, Pipeline has since been re-pressed in a slightly larger run of 175 professionally manufactured copies, of which I've been able to snag a few for C-Blast. The music on the tape is taken from a live recording of three tracks from their album The Man Closing Up (which we just got in stock and will have reviewed/listed in next week's update) captured at a radio station in 2008. Ehnare normally incorporate horns (!) and electronics into their bestial blast-chaos, but for this set they stripped their sound down to just a skeletal lineup of guitar/drums/bass, and yet still manage to sound like their music has been beamed in from another, much more violent dimension. Imagine early Incantation, extreme free-jazz and the most atonal 20th century classical music mashed together into a murderous black blast, and you'll have a vague idea of what this sounds like. When I first listened to this cassette, I thought that most of this was improvised, it's that chaotic and dissonant; but closer listening reveals some pretty advanced (and totally batshit; seriously, there are parts of this where it sounds like the guitarists suddenly start to play their riffs backwards...) compositional techniques at work here. It's some of the most challenging modern death metal I've heard lately, and it fucking RULES. Gorguts/Negativa fans will probably have a seizure when they hear this band. Highest recommendation for fans of avant-garde death/doom.