Two titans of the extreme metal scene—Iggor Cavalera (Cavalera, Petbrick, ex-Sepultura) and Shane Embury (Napalm Death, Dark Sky Burial)— have joined forces for a split album through long-running U.K.-based Cold Spring Records. Brooding dark ambient, industrial strength noise and heavy synth-laden electronics create what feels like the lost soundtrack to some dystopian fever dream on “Neon Gods/Own Your Darkness.”
Setting the tone for this double-headed behemoth with creeping, cinematic dark ambience, Cavalera’s side-long “Neon Gods” unfolds into a brutal sonic nightmare. Equal measures of dread and anguish come together with the occasional reprieve of slow, pulsating drones and almost meditative waves of static. The crescendo of harsh industrial noise with heavy death industrial vocalization is nothing short of pummeling.
“‘Neon Gods’ is a bit of a sonic trip, with different layers of atmospheric vibrations, from darkness to light,” Cavalera said. “It’s an absolute pleasure to do this split release with Shane; I believe we share a lot of similar ideas when it comes to opening our mind to different styles of sounds.”
The other half of the record, Embury’s “Own Your Darkness” merges menacing, pitch-black dark ambient and hypnotic bass swells with celestial synth lines that lurk around the peripheries. Rising and falling, ebbing and flowing, until finally the all-encompassing apocalyptic bleakness, the enveloping darkness, closes in around you.
“Iggor and I have been good friends for decades, and this is a record very different for us both but amazing!” Embury said. “A very interesting track to make, it was my first experiment with the Solar 42—an excellent synth for those eternal drones of despair—and I was assisted by my longtime colleague, Russ Russell. As I journey ever onward in through my individuation it’s imperative that I own my own darkness … hence the title. We all need to strive for balance and to kindle a light in the darkness of being.”
Stream “Neon Gods/Own Your Darkness” here. The album is available digitally, on CD and on 180-gram vinyl—the latter with both black and limited white variants—at the Cold Spring Records webshop and Bandcamp.
