Photo by Hannabal Rosabal
No Clean Singing is currently streaming “Senescent,” the latest single from progressive death metal trio, VILE RITES. The track comes off the band’s full-length debut, Senescence, set for release on August 16th via Carbonized Records.
VILE RITES uses a hypnotic amalgamation of aggressive riffing, swirling rhythms, wide dynamic range, and dark psychedelic ambience to take the listener on a cerebral journey into the esoteric. Drawing inspiration from events in nature, VILE RITES creates a visceral and kaleidoscopic experience that feels like wandering alone in the forest at night.
Senescence is a forty-minute journey of mind-bending psychedelic death metal that takes its listeners through everything from cavernous darkness to soaring ethereal ecstasy with surprises around every corner.
Writes No Clean Singing in part, “Justyna Koziczak created a truly stunning piece of artwork for the cover of the debut album by the California-based progressive death metal band VILE RITES. It also reveals the inspirational source of the album’s name — Senescence — and it creates a connection to the album track we’re premiering today — ‘Senescent.’ Immediately, the music eccentrically throbs and whirls, indeed like writhing tentacles, and quickly becomes more frantic in its swirling contortions. But you’ll soon be reminded that this is a death metal song, as the drums viciously chop and ruthlessly hammer, and as the words spill forth in monstrous growls.
“If you feel your head beginning to spin already, be ready for it to spin even more extravagantly. The music starts, stops, and changes its tempo with abandon. The guitars swivel as well, seeming to dismally moan and feverishly skitter, to convulse in seizures of circle-saw violence, to dart like menaced but very colorful fish, to blare like dissonant sirens, and to ring like mysterious and mesmerizing chimes — and the song’s exhilarating guitar solos might be the most head-spinning spectacles of them all…”
Adds guitarist/vocalist, Alex Miletich, “The inspiration for ‘Senescent,’ as well as the general theme of the album, came from the life cycle of the octopus. For those that might not know, octopuses are born with no parental guidance — that we understand at least — and are forced to wander the waters alone. Once they are mature and find a mate, the female will lay her eggs and stay with them protecting and caring for them until they hatch, starving herself and ultimately dying in the process of creating new life. Not only is this a profound symbol for the sacrifices that mothers make to create new life, but for the endless cycle of death and rebirth in general. We are born into the world with nothing but a vessel, and we only leave behind the legacy of what we’ve created.”
Read more and stream VILE RITES’ “Senescent,” now playing at No Clean Singing, HERE.
Senescence will be released on CD, LP, cassette, and digital formats. Find US preorders HERE, EU preorders HERE, and digital preorders HERE where first single, “Shiftless Wanderings,” can be streamed.
The VILE RITES name and idea was originally conceived in early 2017 in Portland, Oregon by vocalist/guitarist Alex Miletich. In this early stage of the band, the music had more of a thrash focus, harkening to the pioneers of tech thrash, such as Coroner and Annihilator and the only other member was Miletich’s longtime friend and bandmate, Tyler Becker (Toxic Holocaust).
After relocating to Santa Rosa, California in 2018, and parting ways with Becker, Miletich began searching for new members to complete the band. During this period of transition, Miletich also picked up a seven-string guitar and started taking the compositions in a heavier direction, discarding the material written in Portland. After writing some of the material that would end up on The Ageless EP, Miletich met drummer Aerin Johnson in mid-2019 and they began fleshing out the songs. The band’s lineup was finally completed with the addition of Stephen Coon on bass and synth in early 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down. The pandemic brought the band’s progress to a screeching halt, and everything was essentially put on pause until they were able to meet in person again later that year, finally able to hammer out the finishing touches on the EP.
In 2021, the band entered Earhammer Studio with Bay Area legend, Greg Wilkinson, to record their debut EP, The Ageless. After a well-received release through underground label, Desert Wastelands Productions, VILE RITES began making live appearances up and down the West Coast and immediately started working on their debut full length album, Senescence. After two years of grinding away, VILE RITES returned to the familiar Earhammer studio to work with Wilkinson again. By spending more time in the studio this time around, the band was able to actualize their true vision for VILE RITES.
Fans of Opeth, Gorguts, At The Gates, and ’70s prog, psych, and experimental music, pay heed.
Senescence Track Listing:
- Only Silence Follows
- Senescent
- Shiftless Wanderings
- Ephemeral Reverie Of Eroded Dreams
- Transcendent Putrefaction
- Banished To Solitude (Adrift On The Infinite Waves)
VILE RITES:
Alex Miletich – guitars, vocals
Stephen Coon – bass, synth, field recordings
Aerin Johnson – drums
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https://carbonizedrecords.com
https://carbonizedrecordseu.com
https://carbonizedrecords.bandcamp.com
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