You Stream Now: Ephel Duath’s Hemmed By Light, Shaped By Darkness

Late pass: I know. NPR has been streaming Ephel Duath’s haunting, extravagant and powerful new album Hemmed By Light, Shaped by Darkness since Sunday night and I’m only now posting about it. Shame on me.

We’ve been raving about this album for weeks now, though — we even premiered a track called “When Mind Escapes Flesh” — so it oughtta be on your radar anyway. And if not, well, this one here is a doozy. It’s heavy without being oppressively so, and it’s as avant-garde and progressive as anything currently occupying the metal spectrum. As usual, Erik Rutan knocks the production out of the park; there is no specific “Erik Rutan sound,” he just records and mixes to the needs of each project. On Hemmed By Light, Shaped by Darkness that means plenty of space for all of the instruments to breathe and a pure, unfiltered clarity, especially in the bass and the vocals, the latter of which are way up front. Not just your typical metal vocals, either; Karyn Crisis sound incredible here, and she deserves to be highlighted.

So go and stream it here right now. Here’s to hoping this record appears on at least a few Best of 2013 lists. Pre-order it here before it comes out on November 26.