In conjunction with its official street date, today the Deciblog gatekeepers are streaming Akrasia, the debut EP from Chicago blackened death thrash conjurors, IMMORTAL BIRD, in its entirety!
Recorded at Lo-Tech Laboratories this past Summer by unsung Windy City soundsmith Jeff Ziolo, mixed by Kurt Ballou (Converge, Isis, High On Fire, Skeletonwitch) at Godcity Studio, and mastered by Brad Boatright (Sleep, From Ashes Rise, Nails, All Pigs Must Die) at Audiosiege, Akrasia flaunts four canticles of sophisticatedly devouring grimness and psychological suffering led by the violently tormented vocal vacillations of Rae Amitay (Thrawsunblat).
In an early review of the offering, Invisible Oranges commends the band’s “inward-looking cosmopolitan ugliness that sometimes evokes a less-patient version of early Castevet,” Metal Insider gushes, “Picture the earliest output of bands like Dissection and the more recent offerings of bands like Belphegor or Vreid and that at least puts you in the ballpark…IMMORTAL BIRD is more than just a female vocalist or a female drummer. It’s three people who’ve come together, clearly with a lot of piss and vinegar in their collective systems, now creating the perfect outlet for release,” while Destructive Music opines, “A superb debut from Chicago’s newest extreme metal trio, a band who takes the best elements of death/thrash, add more than just a hint of darkness and finish their sound off with a raw black metal streak through its core and harness the pure vitriolic energy to produce four tracks of superb brutality 9/10!” Elsewhere, the EP is garnering similar eye-raises. The Lair Of Filth proclaims, “Rae has bigger balls than many of her male counterparts. I’d be remiss though if I didn’t mention the dual guitar/bass assault from Evan Berry and John Picillo, as they cut a phenomenal sound that ranges from balls-out sonic riffage that bobs and weaves throughout the four tunes…,” adding that, “the majority of Akrasia is filled with spite, venom and a penchant for speed, but it is the mellower moments that help to add depth to an already impressive outing,” About.com notes, “Thrawsunblat drummer Rae Amitay is the backbone behind IMMORTAL BIRD‘s first EP Akrasia. She pummels the hell out of the drums, and her venom-laced, raspy screams are unnerving,” while The Chicago Reader champions IMMORTAL BIRD‘s “sick and greasy black metal that does an admirable job inventing the sound of a mind tearing itself apart.”
Bask in the profound audio misery of Akrasia, now playing at Decibel Magazine, HERE.
IMMORTAL BIRD took its perverted form when Amitay yearned to step out from behind the confines of her drum kit, write some riffs and scream. With those dreams in tow, she enlisted the help of longtime friend/guitarist Evan Berry (Wilderun, Replacire) and bassist John Picillo. With Amitay opting to handle the mic onstage (while tackling drums and vocals on their albums), Garry Naples (Novembers Doom, Kastasyde, Without Waves) was recruited to take on all live drumming duties.
Akrasia is out NOW via Closed Casket Recordings. Order your copy today for a cool $4.50 at THIS LOCATION. Live actions to be announced in coming days.
