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CD
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KTX 005CD
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The Boston-based ensemble Ehnahre has been pioneering an effort to rethink and redefine what metal and extreme music can be since their debut release in 2008, to a reception equal parts acclaim and condemnation for their sins against the tradition. Douve pushes things even further into the muddy perimeter, incorporating elements of contemporary classical music, serialism, free improvisation, aleatory, free meter, noise, and other experimental techniques. An 18-part cycle based on poet Yves Bonnefoy's "Theatre" from his 1953 book Du mouvement et de l'immobilité de Douve (On the Motion and Immobility of Douve), the album is a window into the distressed mind of a man as he observes the death and decay of his metaphorical beloved, the "watcher of the cold secret." Employing a dizzying variety of timbres, instruments, moods, and stylistic homages, Douve ranges from the delicate shimmer of piano overtones to full-bore metal howl, its emotional intensity only overcome by the density of its harmonies. Sometimes beautiful, frequently disgusting, Douve is not only an aural narrative, but also a display of the group's radical evolution. It is sure to shock the uninitiated, challenge the extreme music veteran, and cement Ehnahre's status as the most forward-thinking metal band on the planet. "Nothing remains except a fire in death's kingdom." On this album Ryan McGuire (bass, voice) and Ricardo Donoso (drums, percussion, electronics) return, along with with new members Richard Chowenhill (guitar) and Jared Redmond (piano), and are joined by vocalist Ken Ueno, who appears on several tracks. Artwork contributed by Matt Saunders.
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