That's right folks, we are kicking off 2023 with a premiere from one of our favorite progressive death metal bands currently in operation! While we haven't even posted our 2022 review yet (it's coming, it's coming, we're working on it!), I simply couldn't pass up an opportunity to get to highlight Contrarian's music once again.
In case you missed the previous installments of praise for the band (we've been premiering their music since 2015), Contrarian play a kind of ultra-technical death metal in the more complex style of the genre's originators, Death, but updated to incorporate many flairs, tropes, and sounds from what the genre has been doing best over the last decade or two. "In Gehenna", which comes to us off of their upcoming, March 17th release Sage of Shekhinah, is no different, serving up all of the sweeps, solos, blast-beats, and gutturals your heart might desire. Scroll on down below to check it out!
God, I love this band! I love how, on one hand, by the time this track is over you feel as if hours have gone by beacuse of the sheer amount of instrumentation, ideas, and sounds you just heard. But, on the other, Contrarian seem to have dug even deeper into their compositonal quiver, coming up with a tight, well written, and dynamic arrow that pierces you right through the heart. Unlike many of their lessers in the genre, Contrarian have always been able to balance feel and technicality and this track is no different, possessed with a great sense of storytelling alongside its (many, many, many) intricate notes.
To top it all off, this beast is seeing release on the band's longtime label, the mighty Willowtip Records. What's not to like? You can head on over to the band's Bandcamp page to pre-order this beast and you'd be foolish not to do so; it's high on the list of 2023's anticipated albums over here at the blog. Happy new death metal year!