A little heavy metal now and then never killed anybody, unless we’re talking about a pipe falling on your head or something. Fortunately, we’re not, and instead we’re talking about thrash-inspired Connecticut four-piece Entierro, who will issue their self-titled debut full-length this coming September. They’ve given a first look and listen to the long-player’s wares in a new lyric video for “Cyclonic Winds,” and its darkened, thrashy gallop feels indicative of the band’s style overall. That’s not to say the album won’t have anything else going on, just that when it does, it’ll probably still bear the razor-sharp tones and tight delivery that “Cyclonic Winds” foretells. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing two other tracks from the record in the more straightforward rocker “Dybbuk” and the slower, forward-building momentum bringer “Turn out the Lights,” and while both of those have something distinct from “Cyclonic Winds” to offer, both also hold true to the metallic tonality and aggressive execution of this lead single.

As for “Cyclonic Winds,” it tells a tale of an apocalyptic weather event ravaging a shoreline, and somehow in my head I can’t seem to divorce that from the fact that the band hails mostly from New Haven, which sure enough is on the shoreline of Connecticut. Whether they were thinking specifically of the destruction of their hometown owing to climate change or not, they present the hook of “Cyclonic Winds” in more general terms, with clean and shouted vocals and a mounting sense of urgency that leads them into a slowdown in the song’s second half and a redux of the chorus to suit the new tempo. No less catchy, it bridges a gap between “Cyclonic Winds” and the earlier going of “Turn out the Lights,” and no doubt ties in with other material on Entierro‘s Entierro as well.

And by the way, if you’re saying to yourself, “but dude, didn’t you already review a self-titled Entierro tape in 2014?,” first of all, that’s eerily specific of you to remember, and second, yes, I did. It was an EP. This one is a full-length. Different beast. Also, in addition to being the band’s first album, it’s also the lineup debut with guitarist Victor Arduini (also of Arduini/Balich and Fates Warning) alongside Christopher Beaudette, Dave Parmelee and Christopher Begnal, whose progressive style fits well with the heads-down grooves proffered by the others.

A sampling is provided in “Cyclonic Winds,” which you can stream and view on the player below, with more info from the PR wire beneath that. Please enjoy:

Entierro, “Cyclonic Winds” lyric video

Entierro adds former Fates Warning guitarist to line-up

Releases lyric video for Cyclonic Winds.

New album to be released September 2018

Connecticut Heavy Metal titans Entierro are proud to finally announce the addition of Victor Arduini (Fates Warning, Arduini/Balich, Freedom’s Reign) to its ranks. Arduini will be joining Christopher Beaudette (Jasta, Kingdom of Sorrow, Nightbitch), Christopher Begnal and Dave Parmelee (One Master, Nightbitch) to round out the group. While the newly cemented unit has been performing sporadically around Connecticut, the quartet have spent most of their time over the last year together hard at work on their first full length record to be released in September of 2018. The release illustrates a new chapter in the evolution of the band who, while pushing further into new sonic territory, still maintain a sound steeped in traditional heavy metal.

When asked what led to his joining up with the band in early 2017 Arduini stated “They were the one band from my area I was really digging. Their sound was true old school metal that just had some really cool heavy riffs and songwriting. Chris is a great frontman and after going to see them play a few shows I learned one of their guitarists was leaving and I was asked if I’d be interested in joining them. The timing was perfect. After finishing the Arduini/Balich album I pretty much needed a break from all that writing/producing I did and this allows me to just be a part of a band again without it all falling on my shoulders. With the great writing skills of the others I can focus on putting my style over what they come up with and occasionally add a riff or two when needed. It helped keep me actively playing and I’ve just been having a blast playing these songs with such awesome musicians.

The band has been working steadily over the last year at Dexter’s Lab Studios in Milford, CT with Nick Bellmore once again at the helm. The first single, “Cyclonic Winds,” shows some of the many facets of Entierro from the pummeling opening riff to the slow and low groove that closes the number. The lyric video was created by video production company YOD Multimedia.

Their first single Cyclonic Winds and album pre-order is currently available at entierro.bandcamp.com.

Entierro on Thee Facebooks

Entierro on Bandcamp

A five-track release of pro-produced, deeply aggressive beer metal, Entierro‘s Entierro EP has been pressed to tape in a limited edition of 50 copies. The tape itself is white, the J-card professionally printed as a one-side foldout, and the five songs included repeat on both sides. Download included. Both the material and its presentation are straightforward — the Connecticut outfit would much rather steamroll than impress with nuance — and as their first release under the moniker after forming as Treebeard in 2010, I’d expect no less from the Waterbury/New Haven double-guitar four-piece. Bassist/vocalist Christopher Taylor Baudette doubles in Nightbitch, but Entierro are a far more down-to-earth project, proffering dudely, metallic chugging and beer-raising groove with more than an edge of East Coast intensity. Baudette, guitarist/vocalist Javier Canales, guitarist Christopher Begnal and drummer John Rowold all feed into a burl that stays consistent throughout and only gets more prevalent as they push toward the thrashy closer “Fire in the Sky.”

Opening with the longest inclusion in the 5:11 “Cross to Bear” (immediate points), Entierro‘s Entierro starts out slow with a rolling, crisply produced riff around which the vocals work in a clean, metallic melody, the pace quickening in the second half to a chugging shuffle. As it should, “Cross to Bear” sets the tone. Guitars trade and combine leads, the tempo builds from slow to raucously fast, and Entierro cap with a big round of riffing, drawing back to the chorus and reinforcing a structure that — while not in doubt — shows they’re coming out of the gate with a good handle on their songwriting. The subsequent “Time Rider” provides the most memorable hook of the tape, and centerpiece “The Mist” opens up the groove and stomps out its rhythm with a sense of foreboding befitting its lyric. Again, Canales and Begnal impress on guitar, as they did in the early going of “Time Rider” as well, and though it seems like “Entierro/More Dead than Alive” is going to be somewhat calmer — the eponymous part of the song seems to be a bass solo from Baudette — it winds up a rager to set up the further aggro-ism of “Fire in the Sky,” which rounds out as if to remind the listener Entierro were a metal band the whole time.

There was no doubt, whatever other heavy elements they worked in, but “Fire in the Sky” is sufficient payoff for the tension of the tracks preceding either way, its lyrics not bothering to look to tales of monsters or horror but focusing on the everyday terrors that exist on the current world stage. What they have to say about it is basically that the situation is grim and we’re all screwed, and it’s hard to fault them the perspective. Four years on from getting together, Entierro have a handle on their sound well enough, but I’d be interested to hear how it sounds live in comparison to the tape, since the clarity of production is such a big part of what makes it sound so particularly metal. I don’t take metal as a negative necessarily, I’m just curious if the band’s next outing will continue down that path or expand soundwise into more of a rock feel in kind with some of the earlier riffing on “Time Rider” or “The Mist.” I wouldn’t speculate, and more importantly for the time being, Entierro‘s Entierro intrigues enough that seems worth waiting to find out.

Entierro, Entierro (2014)

Entierro on Thee Facebooks

Entierro on Bandcamp