Unsigned and Unholy: Ophidian I, RISE, Dethlehem

For a country of only 320,000 people, Iceland sure is churning out more than its fair share of quality metal. The latest: Ophidian I, a technical death metal outfit that can lay it down with the best of ’em from any country the world over. “Whence They Came,” which you can stream below, is a pre-pro track from the band’s forthcoming sophomore album, and it sounds absolutely fantastic thanks to the mixing and mastering of Zack Ohren (Suffocation, All Shall Perish, Cattle Decapitation, Decrepit Birth), and of course the stellar execution of the band members themselves. True story: I shared a lamb leg dinner with Ophidian I’s singer Ingó when MetalGF and I visited Reykjavik roughly two years ago. Brutal!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnNAsGM_q90

RISE‘s 12,000+ frame animated video for “About Duality” is positively heart-wrenching, and the song provides the perfect backdrop (or frontdrop, depending on how you view it) for a story that describes one man’s struggle with mental illness. The track — produced by ex-Textures guitarist Jochem Jacobs — is a bit on the long side, but once you press play you’ll be sucked right into RISE’s animated world and it’ll be difficult to turn away. The song comes from the band’s upcoming debut album Resilience.

We first covered the self-proclaimed “RPG Metal” band Dethlehem a little over a year ago when they released their highly entertaining fake infomercial for the “Battle Sword 9000.” The “Ghorusalem” natives (aka Pittsburgh) will release new album Destroyers Of The Realm on January 6, and to date we’ve gotten to hear a new track from Revolver and the below video via Metal Injection. Bask in its RPG nerd gloriousness! Pretty solid melodic death metal, too.