I’m not sure if this disclaimer is even necessary anymore, but just in case: NYN, an excellent death metal project all on its own, is also the brain child of Noyan Tokgözoğlu, one of our chief editors and a good friend of mine. Regardless, as with previous releases, I am recommending new music from NYN based on its merit; I truly believe that the project’s upcoming album, Entropy: Of Chaos and Salt, is a huge step up in the project’s history and is an amazing album of technical music. Don’t believe me? What if I told that you that it features none other than Tom Geldschläger (ex-Obscura, Fountainhead) not as an album contributor but as a full fledged member of the project? And what if I added Jimmy Pitts (Scholomance, Pitts Minnemann Project) on keyboards, lending the entire album a veneer of elegance and pomposity? I bet you’re interested now. Head on down below for even more details.
As NYN gets ready to launch their album (and I can use “their” now, as the project grows from a one man band to something grander), the track list and album art have been announced together with a link to pre-order the album and an album teaser which linked below. The release, which drops on August 11th via Vmbrella, is chock full of incredible riffs, the usually off-kilter vocals that Noyan is known for and amazing contributions to the writing, production and execution of the album by both Geldschläger and Pitts. I know this because I’ve heard it and let me tell you, it’s a huge new frontier for the band. Comments Noyan:
“With Equivalence, I had a vision of asking questions one’s position within society. With Entropy, my aim was to be challenging both musically and conceptually. We all pushed our creativity and technicality to the next level. Fundamentally, Entropy is about acceptance, of the chaos that surrounds us, of our futility to make sense of it and direct it. Through this acceptance can we push ourselves further. The music reflects this chaos, with every member firing on all cylinders, playing riffs that complement and clash with each other, and the harmony born through their interplay. Inspired by bands all over the spectrum, be it the theatrical tech death of Nile, the keyboard shredding of Dream Theater, the avant-garde vocal flourishes of Dodheimsgard. My background in middle-eastern music meshed perfectly with Tom’s soloing style that bears the same elements, and Jimmy’s frantic yet powerful work on the keys took the guitar shredding to a higher level. If you like blast beats, technical riffs, long solo sections with guitars and synths, Entropy will not disappoint.”
Just in case you’re still with me and not furiously mashing the pre-order button, Entropy also has C.J Jenkins and Brandon Morris from A Sense of Gravity on vocal and guitar guest spots, respectively, as well as a spot from Hayato Imanishi (Cyclamen) and a solo from Christian Munzner (Obscura). And that’s maybe my favorite thing about this upcoming release; it brings together so many great musicians from the scene and from such disparate parts of it as well, even including our very own Ahmed Hasan on the composition credits. Thus, the album merges as many parts of the community is it does genres and it’s great music to boot. Entropy is an exciting and communal release that I would be stoked for regardless of who made it; the fact that I get to call its creator my dear friend only makes it better.