EXCLUSIVE SONG PREMIERE: OAKHELM SHOWS THE WAY OF BLEEDING BARK

May 12th, 2011 at 1:00pm
MetalSucks

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The album that I’ve tried to jock your face off for two years now is finally coming out. Oakhelm’s second album, Echtra, will see a late summer release through Forest Moon Special Products… and MetalSucks is beyond stoked to have an exclusive track from the band in conjunction with Forest Moon’s pre-orders, which launched just the other day. Check out the exclusive stream of Oakhelm’s “The Way Of Bleeding Bark” after the jump, along with more info on what will surely land near the top of this guy’s year-end list.

Oakhelm – “The Way of Bleeding Bark”

Seasoned veterans with past experience in Assück, Wormwood, and Fall Of The Bastards makes Oakhelm one of the more exciting bands to come out of the gloomy Northwest in the past five or so years. Not only are they experienced, but Echtra is beyond amazing, the artwork is rad, and it’s available in both CD and vinyl editions. Not only will Echtra make this dude’s year-end list — in high regard — but 2007’s Betwixt And Between was, and still is, amazing. Like ridiculously good.

We shot the shit about Oakhelm when we spoke with Forest Moon owner / Funeral Pyre frontman John Strachan earlier this year and he’s informed Metalsucks that Oakhelm will, in fact, tour on this record again, most likely in late July or August in support of the long-delayed album. When that happens you best turn out in full numbers, because although the band is as tight live as they are on wax they just don’t get out on the road too much; they’ve only done a few local gigs and a quick West Coast jaunt in the nearly four years since Betwixt And Between‘s release.

Speaking of that, Kreation still has Oakhelm’s Betwixt And Between for order on vinyl and Forest Moon has its compact disc counterpart.

This is one band that I can’t jock enough, don’t want to jock too much, and just want to have like-minded metalheads see how sickly solid they are. Echtra will feature only five tracks but well over 40 minutes of epic, folk-induced black metal that showcases its members’ outstanding experience in crafting both meandering and meaningful songs of long lengths that never push on past their prime.