April 2nd, 2011
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Region: USA
This has already been posted quite a few places, such as The Living Doorway (where I originally found it) and Forever Cursed who have done justice to this far better than I can, but it deserves a post here too.
The story behind the album cover (quite uncharacteristic of most atmospheric black metal acts I've run into) is bound to one incredibly unlucky cosmonaut, a haunting and ugly tale. It can be read on the blogs I mentioned above but if you want here's some regurgitation from one of the members of Leucosis as read on TLD:
"The Soviets basically sent this guy into space in a half-finished spacecraft, and he burned up on reentry. The radio noises on Track 2 are his screams as he came crashing down to earth. The crazy part about this guy's story is that pretty much everybody knew the spacecraft was gonna fail, but nobody wanted to take responsibility (they'd get killed, thrown in the gulags, etc). Basically a really fucked situation. The picture on the cover is of the superior officers gazing upon the horrors they were responsible for, perhaps seeing that black mess on the table as something within themselves."
That alone should spark some interest. Leucosis lay down some wicked atmospheric black metal on Pulling Down The Sky, spacey and alien-esque despite the cascadian influences. It's clear they come from that school of black metal but they manage to pull off something quite different. Containing a droney, buzzing intro (and outro) with some eerie chanting setting the mood well, an 8 minute track with howling wolves and an acoustic guitar, and as one tumbles further through the rest of the record the cold, raw, darkly hypnotic passages that build to a oppressive and desolate soundscapes — there is no question that Leucosis have invoked something special while writing this.
Pulling Down The Sky runs through some very depressing territory without becoming played-out and stale, cutting its own path through bleak and tragic sounds in a captivating way. The sounds of hopelessness and uncaring, the desperate moaning of someone who has been running in fear for days, struggling to survive in the isolated corners of a cold and unfamiliar land. A feeling of darkest despair as you gradually run out of oxygen in the freezing capsule of a space station, trapped in the unknown reaches of space as you realize your fate.
Highly recommended for fans of the genre. You can buy it directly from the band here or via email.
DOWNLOAD (Mediafire)
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Good stuff...
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