Who’s up for a little crushing sludge? Maybe some cavernous Portuguese vocals echoing out over a dirge nod shoved uphill by crash cymbal, deep-running low end and wide-berth guitar tones? Yeah, me too, which is why Basalt‘s “Aurora” hits so dead on. The São Paulo five-piece are set to release their debut album, O Coração Escuro da Terra, early this year through a swath of labels — Black Embers, Samsara Discos, Black Hole, Matéria Negra are the ones they list, and that seems like plenty. At 4:55, “Aurora” is the efficiently-working centerpiece of the record, broken essentially into two halves marked out by a change in central riff, but its ambient breadth departs the apparent superficial simplicity, taking in elements of the more extreme end of post-metal and basking in that churn to maximum effect.

As to what the hell all that means, it means Basalt sound ridiculously heavy, and that, though abrasive, there’s more going on beneath their approach than just sonic assault. I haven’t heard the full O Coração Escuro da Terra yet, but the band have “Aurora” and the shorter, faster and more deathly “Terra Morta” streaming on their Bandcamp page (linked below), so it would seem that they’re by no means tied exclusively to one operating modus. All the better, as Basalt are yet a relatively new band, coming together in 2015, and O Coração Escuro da Terra is their first offering. The video for “Aurora” itself is a relatively straightforward — though also atmospheric — performance clip, captured last month as an apparent means of introducing the band, and in so doing it makes me want to hear more. So call it a win.

More info follows the clip below. Thanks to Basalt for letting me host the premiere.

Please enjoy:

Basalt, “Aurora” official video

As they prepare to release their first full-length, O Coração Escuro da Terra, Basalt now debut a special video for the track Aurora, that will be on the record together with six more songs.

Recorded at Duna Studio, in Sao Paulo, and mastered by William Blackmon (Gadget), the album will be released (in CD) between March and April by four independent Brazilian labels: Black Embers Records, Black Hole, Matéria Negra and Samsara Discos.

The artwork, as well as the logo of the band, was designed by Brazilian visual artist Carolina Scagliusi, who already worked with names like Test and Infamous Glory. Through its seven tracks, the record shows a wide variety of influences and sounds. The band was formed in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2015, brings together members and ex-members of bands like Constrito, O Cúmplice, Surra, Meant to Suffer and Magzilla.

Basalt – O Coração Escuro da Terra
1-Párias
2-Terra Morta
3-Vanitas
4-Aurora
5-A Longa Noite (Eclipse Sem Fim)
6-Os Homens Ocos
7-Diante da Dor dos Outros

Basalt is:
Pedro Alves
Luiz Mazetto
Victor Miranda
Marcelo Fonseca
Flávio Scaglione

Basalt on Thee Facebooks

Basalt on Bandcamp

Black Embers Records on Bandcamp

Tags: Basalt, Basalt O Coração Escuro da Terra, Black Embers Records, Black Hole, Brazil, Matéria Negra, O Coração Escuro da Terra, Samsara Discos, São Paulo

This entry was posted on Monday, January 16th, 2017 at 10:29 am and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.