Because every day another band records another song.  Because 83% of those songs are unlistenable and you can’t be bothered to sift through the dreck.  Because metal is about not giving a shit and waking your own personal storm.  Because music is universal, expression is boundless, and even indie labels (whatever that means these days) don’t know everything, Decibel brings you Throw Me a Frickin’ Label Hack.

War-painted four-piece Mortuorial Eclipse hail from Argentina and roll out a ferocious storm of blackened death metal enhanced by cavalry-ready symphonic flourishes.  That word again is enhanced.  Not drowned or muted or unmanned.  Like horned batwings on a ravening demon, the orchestral elements lift the music over the scrambling crowd of human meat and allow more havoc to be wreaked, more terror to be spread.  The extra instrumentation is so good, it could be Greek, or Roman-Canadian, or even South Carolinian-Egyptian!

Decibel caught up with guitarist/vocalist Nefass to talk about the bands origins and trajectory.  From his answers, it sounds like debut record The Aethyrs’ Call is just the beginning of what we can expect to hear from this monstrous band, and that can only be good.  Listen to “Brotherhood of the Serpent” right here, and check out the band’s ReverbNation page for more info/music.  Support Argentinian brutality!

Who are the musicians who make up Mortuorial Eclipse?  What do their musical backgrounds bring to the band?

Nowadays ME is composed by Baal Herith (orchestrations and keyboards), Nefass (vocals and guitar), Kobal (drums), Thav (live guitar).   Nefass has been part of Necropolis (death metal), Devius (progressive death) and Inferi (black/death). Baal Herith was part of many projects and has a long career as composer, especially scores and classical music. Kobal is founder member of Corporal Dissection (death) and Thav is leader of the well-known local black/death band Inferi and also is part of Blood Parade [for] some time.

What was the band doing in the years leading up to this first full-length record?

The recording of this album was a long progress and was cut by a small tour we did in Brazil. For this album we chose songs from the different stages of the band and this year was the right moment to close a cycle. From the genesis of Mortuorial Eclipse we have been searching for a musical identity and a sound that transmits what we want to. This is our first step towards that.

Do you feel that Mortuorial Eclipse has the support of a metal scene in Córdoba, or have you paved your own way?

Yes! Even though the extreme metal scene in our city is not too big, we had the support of the metalheads from the beginning; of course there [are] a few people that criticize everything new and different from the standards but we don’t care about them.

How did the band settle on its “symphonic blackened death” sound?  Specifically, what turns you on about the symphonic elements?  How are decisions made about when to push those elements forward and when to pull them back?

From our first composed song we knew that the symphonic element would be an important component for the band, but on 2010 when Baal Herith become part of the band ,we decided to give it even more leadership and a main role on our music. Since that moment we modified all songs and we started a different way of composing our material. Of course it was not easy and we are still searching the best way to combine the extreme metal with the symphonic orchestrations, keeping the essence of each style and breeding a chaotic harmony between them. During The Aethyrs’ Call recording we realized that it was the beginning of a long journey and that there is much more from where it comes.

How long was the writing/recording process for The Aethyrs´ Call?  What was the experience like?

This first album contains songs made in all the stages of the band.  It was a long period of selection and much material was discarded. The orchestration arrangements and recording were also a hard process but very productive.  Regarding guitars, bass and drums – everything was great but it took more time that we expected; it’s not strange considering this is our first professional work and we were very exigent with the performance of every detail.  With the vocals [things were] very strange, we had changed the vocalist shortly time before a tour, and after that we had to start recordings, thing that never happened with this singer and that was the reason whereby we decided that I should try to record vocals. Matias Takaya, from AV Studios , was The Man who led me through this hard process and [surprised us] with cool results.  The final touch, but one of the most difficult and important, was given by Arek (Malta) Malczewski (sound engineer of Behemoth, Decapitated).  He mixed and mastered the CD at Sound Division Studios in Poland.

How did you get with the label Ishtar Gate?

We created it. It’s a label we (members from others metal bands and me) created some years ago with the target of [organizing] gigs and releasing material in our city. If you want things to be done correctly, do it yourself…

What kinds of reactions to your sound are you getting from audiences?  From friends and family?

Friends and family are very proud of the final product because they know how hard it was for us to make it. We are having a great and unexpected [reception by] the local audience and a big reach to people from all parts of the world, [which] is very important for a first album even more considering it’s a self production of an underground metal band, from an underground country.

Where does Mortuorial Eclipse go from here?

Now we are searching for labels and distro for our album around the world, we are working hard on making it reach as far as we can. We will make a video the first trimester of 2013 and we are closing some gigs around our country to spread our material locally. After that we are starting to work on a tour through Europe for 2014. We are already composing new music for the successor of The Aethyrs’ Call.

Chances are you know about Scion’s involvement in the world of extreme music (as well as garage rock and electronic music scenes). Chances are some of you have even gone on online to whine about a huge corporation like Scion/Toyota digging their claws and worming their tentacles into our sacred little world… after picking up your free Wormrot and Revocation EPs and downloading those two new Witch Mountain tracks, no doubt. Chances are you’ve attended one of the many fests, showcases and shows Scion has organised; I know I have. Chances are you’re aware that Scion have a series of video mini-docs focusing on underground labels and have previously featured Moshpit Tragedy, Profound Lore, Prosthetic and Relapse. Chances are you’re aware of the heart-on we have for Dom Romeo’s A389 Records. Well, worlds are colliding my friends as the Deciblog presents Scion A/V’s feature on A389, including interviews with Romeo, live footage of Integrity, Seven Sisters of Sleep and the Love Below, as well as footage of Dom’s home set-up and his transgression of child labour laws in getting his daughter to help package pre-orders.

Music For The People:

One Man, 100 Releases:

Spreading The Word:

And if you can’t make it out to Philly for Decibel’s 100th Issue show, check out the annual A389 Bash in Baltimore that same weekend:

To celebrate the Mayan apocalypse, last week Ancestors shared the first half of its end of the world playlist. Doomsday or not, we automatically scheduled the second half of the Los Angeles quintet’s picks to run this morning to help satiate this guy‘s voracious appetite for the written word. But, in the off-chance we manage to survive, you can not only read about the band’s picks, but can also listen along here.

The Turtles’ “Eve Of Destruction” (from 1965′s It Ain’t Me Babe)
Flo and Eddie had a knack for taking serious subjects and making them fun and/or funny. Probably why they ended up collaborating with Frank Zappa later on. Although I don’t think they wrote this song, they picked a good one. This is a great and catchy song from a great band.—Justin Maranga

R.E.M.’s “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” (from 1987′s Document)
Obviously this song was going to be here. And you might be saying, “R.E.M. sucks.” Well keep it to yourself, because they’re one of my favorite bands of all time. They were incredibly influential and I can’t think of one band that was more adept at writing pop hooks while always managing to be artistic and creative. While this is far from my favorite R.E.M. song, it was the one that I obviously had to throw on here.—J.M.

Armageddon’s “Basking in the White of the Midnight Sun” (from 1975′s Armageddon)
Keith Relf was badass, and not just because he electrocuted himself on his guitar. This song has an end of days vibe to me. Also, the drummer from Captain Beyond (Bobby Caldwell) played on this record.—Nick Long

The Clash’s “London Calling” (from 1979′s London Calling)
Another obvious one, but it’s such a great song. And such a great album. This record has had enough said about it that I could never say anything new, so I’ll just shut up. The ice age is coming.—J.M.

U2′s “New Years Day” (from 1983′s War)
I only recently swallowed my hatred of Bono (and The Edge for that matter) in favor of ignoring their existence and listening to U2 anyway. And I’m glad I did, because their output up through The Joshua Tree is really incredible. This playlist was originally going to be a New Years playlist, but then we realized that clearly there won’t be a New Years this year. But this song still seemed to work.—J.M.

Neurosis’s “Through Silver In Blood” (from 1996′s Through Silver In Blood)
To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what this song is about. But I’ve always felt that Through Silver In Blood (the entire album) sounded like the perfect soundtrack to the apocalypse. So I’m throwing it on this playlist. I’m sure you already know how untouchable this band and record are.—J.M.

Blind Willie Johnson’s “Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground” (from 1993′s The Complete Blind Willy Johnson)
Not much to say here. It’s an instrumental. Incredibly contemplative and dark. I felt like it worked in this playlist.—J.M.

Charley Patton’s “You’re Gonna Need Somebody When You Die” (from 2007′s The Very Best Of Charley Patton)
Charley Patton was the father of the delta blues and I firmly believe that without him music today would be very different. That earns him a place in most playlists in my book.—J.M.

Andrew Bird’s “Yawny At The Apocalypse” (from 2007′s Armchair Apocrypha)
Another instrumental. Beautiful. Andrew Bird is one of the most talented musicians out there right now. The song title is obviously a play on Yanni at the Acropolis but whatever.—J.M.

Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem” (from 1992′s The Future)
Yes, another Leonard Cohen song. I wanted to end the playlist with something hopeful. This song has some of my favorite lyrics of all time. There’s a lesson to be learned here. “Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”—J.M.

*Order a copy of In Dreams And Time here.

**We update one Spotify playlist for each new Decibrity entry, so feel free to subscribe to that here. Past entries include:

Kowloon Walled City (Part 1) (Part 2)
Aaron Stainthorpe (My Dying Bride) (Part 1) (Part 2)
Early Graves
All That Remains
Bison B.C.
A Life Once Lost
Fight Amp
Witchcraft (Ola Henriksson) (Magnus Pelander)
Vision of Disorder
Grave
Anders Nyström (Katatonia) (Part 1) (Part 2)
“Best of” Rush (Part 1) (Part 2)
Dawnbringer
Ufomammut
Shadows Fall
Horseback
Greg Mackintosh (Paradise Lost) (Part 1) (Part 2)
Torche
“Best of” Meshuggah
Astra
Pallbearer
Barren Earth
Shane Embury (Napalm Death) (Part 1) (Part 2)