As far as I’m concerned, the bands on Profound Lore are some of the best. Krallice and YOB are just a few of the bigger names on their roster but by chance, if you let Ash Borer slip past your fingers while flipping through the stacks at your local shop, you better get back there and pick it up. Named after an invasive species of beetle, this USBM group resides in beautiful Arcata, California. Like their Cascadian brethren in Oregon, Wolves in the Throne Room, Ash Borer mixes a bleek and atmospheric sound that at times is closer to Sunn O))) than black metal pioneers, Mayhem or Gorgoroth. But don’t you dare think for a second their sound is the same! Their newest release, Cold of Ages was released in August of last year (bear with me here) and it’s quite the album. In fact, it should have been in my Top 10 of 2012 list.

Check out more Tuesday Teardown below!

“Descended Lamentations”

The album begins with “Descended Lamentations”, a synthetic intro that takes over three minutes to warm up into a brutal, blast beat ode to death, decay and decomposition. While their Cascadian brothers, WITTR often envelope their music with an underlying beauty, or homage to mother nature, Ash Borer looks to wither all life away. There are no female vocals to caress you into sleep. What you hear here is madness.

“Phantoms”

The next track continues with a commanding drum rhythm and more decrepit vocals. At this point, you’ve already witnessed a bizarre, morbid Grendel-esque metamorphosis of USBM and “Phantoms” is here to burrow deeper into the rings of time. Now is when Ash Borer builds monstrous constructs surrounding their sound. These walls tower overhead and eventually collapse as a cacophony of percussions and howls entombing you in an 11 minute barrage of blast beats. It’s intense.

Made it through so far? Like what you hear? Check out more at Ash Borer’s Blog, catch them live if you can and pick up a copy of “Cold of Ages” at your local shop!