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CAPE OF BATS  Transylvania  7" VINYL   (Holy Terror Records)   8.99


The debut Ep from these Philly vampyric punks came out on Dwid's label Holy Terror, and their tattered blackened punk fits right in with all of the other weird black metal influenced bands that the Integrity frontman has been working with. The songs on Transylvania are all centered around old Irish vampire folklore, and the sleeve even includes an essay about the ancient Irish vampire legends that inspired this 7"; musically, it's a ratty mixture of low-fi black metal and feral hardcore punk that's surrounded by a whiff of killer LLN-esque dementia.

Side Vermyn begins with the haunting piano music of "To Transylvania", a creepy classical intro that drifts through clouds of swirling dust motes and cobwebs. This only lasts for a minute or so before the band lurches into the discordant blackened hardcore punk of "Seas Of Screams", where they bring a rotten, basement black metal vibe to their ratty thrash, sickly raspy screams echoing over the blasting drums and ominous guitars. From there, Cape Of Bats head into "Night Of The Vampyre", which turns towards more of an old school (almost Christian Death-ish) death rock sound for a bit before exploding into thrashing speed, an eerie, rocking song that sort of feels like some cross between the dank midnight hallucinations of the Les Legions Noires and the savagery of old Cali hardcore.

The only song on the b-side is "Castle Afterdark" and its another blaster, a ferocious and wonderfully sloppy hardcore attack that also veers into some damaged black metallish territory, lurching into a noisy, wretched sounding dirge towards the end, finally closing in another gorgeously eerie, dust-coated piano piece.

One of my favorite Holy Terror 7"s, hopefully an album will be headed our way sometime soon. Looks great, too; the record jacket features more of Dwid's cool murky artwork, and is limited to five hundred copies.