Welcome to another great Wednesday of Extreme of the Extreme. This week, dissonant death metal band Sulphur Sun unleashes their new EP Placodermic Heraldry. Placodermic Heraldry is set to release this Friday, but as the stars would have it, you can listen to it front to back today.
Sulphur Sun launched out of Switzerland in 2013 with their first, and to this point, only release, Bioluminescence. Since then, the band have released a single, "Vitreous", in 2017, but for the most part stayed quiet. Now in 2020, it would appear the world is ready for more from Sulphur Sun.
Placodermic Heraldry spans 10 minutes across two songs, which may not feel like much until you start to realise how much is packed into each of these songs. It's a dark and noisy EP, with obscured and distant vocals from Marc Wachtfels Sulaiman. Backing him up are Gregor Philip Kovats on bass, as well as Stefan Ursenbacher on drums to fill out the official Sulphur Sun lineup. Joining the band for this release, recording what the band wrote and having his own say as well is Dallas-Toller Wade (Narcotic Wasteland, ex-Nile) to round out this insanity.
If you're looking for some super produced death metal, you've come to the wrong place. The dissonant and progressive death metal sound that Sulphur Sun go for is much more akin to that of Artificial Brain. Placodermic Heraldry is, for lack of a better phrase, a wall of noise. There is so much wrapped up into these ten minutes from the dark vocals to the guitar solo, it's hard to grasp it all on one listen. If you're used to something more shiny sounding, something with more production, this will be a challenge. It's a worthwhile challenge though, trust me. Sometimes the absolute best, comes from something so raw.
Sulphur Sun spoke a bit about the new release, saying: "Placodermic Heraldry heralds the return of Sulphur Sun and is the direct successor to 'Vitreous'. Two songs of bone-crushing progressive and weird death metal. 'The Temple of Dunkleosteus' provides a short and unrelenting onslaught of placodermic annihilation, while 'Trilobite Thief' meanders in chaotic and mesmerizing melodies towards utter oblivion. Thematically it provides escapism into a fairytale of armored fish and pelagic chaos."
The EP is available now below, whether you're new to more raw death metal, or you're a massive fan of dissonant death, there's something here for everyone. If you give it a chance and like what you hear, pick up the album on Bandcamp. The full thing releases on Friday and Sulphur Sun offer their entire discography for fairly cheap so it doesn't hurt to pick up a little more for even less!
