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Los Angeles based group HVILE I KAOS, longtime purveyors of what they call “Black Ritual Chamber Musick”, essentially cello-based black metal, joined forces with fellow LA based musician performing under the moniker EMERSON SINCLAIR, self-described as “Regressive Rock”, combining elements of extreme metal, rock and electronic music. The two collaborated on a split album, Never Without the Pentagram, featuring two Hvile I Kaos tracks to open and close the album, with five Emerson Sinclair tracks embedded within. The album was mastered by Ken Sorceron (Abigail Williams / Lord Mantis).
The sheer power and intensity of the music on offer here is something special, and is in perfect alignment with what Metal Assault Records is striving to promote and get behind. MAR released Never Without the Pentagram on July 10 2020, on CD (limited to 100 copies only).
Kakophonix of Hvile I Kaos has this to say about the split album: “Hvile I Kaos and Emerson Sinclair have been affiliated since I began the project in 2011, when we were both music composition students at Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory in Ohio. In that time, we’ve both developed our own respective forms of Left-Hand Path Theistic Devotion that we express through our musickal workings. As such, a joint ritual ceremony in recorded form eventually seemed both prudent and natural.”
Emerson Sinclair says about the project: “In 2018 my longtime friend and collaborator, Kakophonix, approached me to do a split with his pieces “Rise, Engulf, Envenom”, and “Cleanse, Dispel, Disperse”, which form the opening and closing of a magickal invocation. I knew right away it would only appropriate for me to write the part where the god speaks, and that god should be Set. Little did I know, receiving the word of a god was going to be the easy part. Writing this music expanded my limitations, not only magickally, but musically and personally, and for that I am grateful to both Kakophonix and Set.”
ABOUT HVILE I KAOS:
Hvile I Kaos was dedicated in 2011 as a mouthpiece for the unspeakable.
The backbone of the Hvile I Kaos sound has always been the cello, which provides a distinct medium for the project’s aesthetic and esoteric goals. Other instruments have often been utilized to enhance the ensemble, both live and in studio. But the foundation provided by the cello has remained intact.
Hvile I Kaos translates roughly as “to Rest in Chaos” in Norwegian.
The project has been based in both Ohio and California for varying time periods.
Affirmation. Devotion. Unbecoming.
ABOUT EMERSON SINCLAIR:
Emerson was born in Cleveland, and grew up with staunch classical musician parents in Northeast Ohio. She started playing violin when she was three years old, and eventually added clarinet, piano, and an amalgamation of strange synthesizers.
Over time she strayed further and further from her classical roots, but still managed to wind up in Los Angeles with a Bachelors in Music Composition from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, and a Masters in Music Composition with a specialization in Experimental Sound Practices from California Institute of the Arts.
Described as “quietly metal as fuck”, Emerson’s work is difficult to place in a style or genre, but features elements of classic rock, grunge, baroque, extreme metal, electronic, and traditional liturgical music. It seeks to probe beneath the surface of the subject matter using vivid imagery and anachronistic juxtapositions of style and instrumentation. Lyrical themes include psychoanalytic character studies, mental illness, dreams, occultism, the glory of the Old Gods, and the relationship between humans and the natural world.
credits
released July 10, 2020
Mastering: Ken Sorceron (Abigail Williams / Lord Mantis)
Cover Art: Jade Willow
CD Layout: Lone Wolf Productions
supported by 20 fans who also own “Never Without The Pentagram”
Thrash plus Mercyful Fate plus just a teensy little buzz buzz of death equals Beekeeper. It also equals an instabuy from yours truly. Let the blood honey fly! Kenstrosity
supported by 20 fans who also own “Never Without The Pentagram”
It's really hard to describe this complex and dark mixture of sounds. But I guess if Black Sabbath or Doom was one of Mike Patton's and Trent Reznor's major influences, their collaboration could sound like Circle of Sighs. This amazing band should definately be checked out by anyone who's interested in weird but good music! Andreas Muhr
North Carolina producer Lvers makes “occult beat music”—crackling noise with heavy industrial rhythms that's surprisingly alluring. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 24, 2020
An esoteric and eerie live performance from multi-instrumentalist J.P. Shilo conjures up haunting images with a multitude of dark tones. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 8, 2021
Riding the line between ambient & neoclassical, the piano-based songs on this LP open slowly, graceful melodies revealed one note at a time. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 8, 2019