The tape label scene has been fundamental to my metal fandom, surfacing the weird and wonderful extreme music that would otherwise be limited to local scenes. One long-term favorite: Lifeless Chasm Records from Kansas City, KS. Founded in 2018, LC is home to some of the nastiest death metal, goregrind, and brutal death metal bubbling out of the underground today, including progressive goregrind duo Squelching Flesh, cybergrind/gorenoise project Webdriver Torso, and cosmic death metal dealers Aphelion Entity.
Formed by members of Needlepusher and Florid Ekstasis, Aphelion Entity delivers a technical strain of cosmic horror that bridges the gap between Putridity and Blood Incantation. Sci-fi inspired aggression takes center stage through razor-sharp guitars that twist their way across mind-warping compositions, strategically fading into cavernous atmospheres. Rather than lean into the spacious production that tends to dominate cosmic death metal, Aphelion Entity’s self-titled EP is a direct assault on the senses - the feeling is less like staring into the depths of horror and more like making direct eye contact with Cthulhu.
Order Aphelion Entity from Lifeless Chasm’s Bandcamp page and stream the entire EP below!