Xasthur Reawakens "Defective Epitaph" For First-Ever Vinyl Release

Widely accepted as America's most influential black metal artist, Xasthur is set to revisit the most challenging and divisive work in his catalogue, "Defective Epitaph," by way of a first-ever 2LP vinyl pressing (limited to 600 copies) released last week on Enemies List - just in time for those particularly brutal fall days ahead.

With more or less a handshake sponsorship from the artist in question and the fine people at Hydra Head Records, Enemies List are pleased to present the hopelessly damaged 2007 full-length from black metal home recordist and sonic auteur Xasthur. The casual partnership between ELHR and this prolific entity could not be more appropriate, considering matters of both production method (highly private) and general aesthetic (highly alienated).

Today, underground observers may see a nearly narrative arc in the discography of Malefic (Scott Conner)'s now-defunct Xasthur project. "A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors" and "Nocturnal Poisoning" were visionary takes on the Burzum/Graveland model of black metal. The late Moribund Cult albums (and that Leviathan split) saw mastery of form in an almost artisanal sense. Conner's final (collaborative) statements became increasingly disinterested with metal tropes, closing out the 15+ year program with the melancholic ether rag wanderings of Portal Of Sorrow. Several more full-lengths and many more EPs and split releases help connect the dots across his body of work, throwing its evolution into sharper relief.

Audio: Xasthur - "Oration of Ruin"

Tracklisting for Xasthur's Defective Epitaph [September 30th, Enemies List]:

1. Soulless Elegy
2. Purgatory Spiral
3. Cemetery Of Shattered Masks
4. Malignant Prophecy
5. Oration Of Ruin
6. Legacy Of Human Irrelevance
7. Dehumanizing Procession
8. Funerals Drenched In Apathy
9. Warship (The War Against) Yourself
10. A Memorial To The Waste Of Life
11. The Only Blood That Pours Is Yours
12. Unblessed Be

Comments