Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Xexyz - Primeval Mountain



Xexyz - Metroid









I really love it when bands push the limits of genres and genre-mixing. Take Xexyz, for example, whose name comes from that obscure, unpronounceable NES game. 8-bit black metal? Seriously? I mean, yeah, it sounds cool to me, and maybe a few others, but did they think they'd actually sell any records? Well, apparently, they have sold out of every pressing thus far. Congratulations Xexyz. You guys have wider appeal than I gave you credit for. Thankfully, Primeval Mountain is now available on Suffering Jesus Productions, to be enjoyed by many.

And it should be. Enjoyed, that is. I'm not so sure how many will do the enjoying, though, because this is some seriously weird shit. Take your good ol' low-fi black metal with chugging drums and shrieking demon vocals, then throw some 8-bit melodies in there and you get Xexyz.

I know what you're thinking. It's exactly what I was thinking the first time I read about these guys. Ok, it sounds like it would be funny for a couple of minutes and maybe you'd listen to the whole album just for kicks. But how could something so novel have any staying power? My answer is...I don't know. It just does.

This is easily the most listened to black metal record at home right now. Shit, probably the most listened to any kinda metal record right now. I love it. And with at least 3 songs and an album title referencing NES classic Rygar, you know these guys have serious dedication to the old school electronics.

One of the best songs on here has to be "Metroid," though, which is basically a black metal interpretation of the Metroid theme. If it weren't for the singing demon, it could definitely be mistaken for a straight up cover of the original. It's also probably the least metal song on the album. But I'm pretty nostalgic about Metroid, so it's easily going to be a favorite.

There's not much more to say. If you saw "8-bit black metal" and kept reading, then this is for you. And here's a video they made for "What Lies Atop Gran Mountain." It's certainly the most fitting video I've ever seen for a band. Because Xexyz sounds exactly like what would be playing in Satan's Hollow Arcade.





Update: Apparently there's a subgenre called NESBM (NES Black Metal). I guess that means there's more 8-bit black metal bands out there. Hooray!

2 comments:

Christine said...

And I watched this video because? Perhaps I should just stick to reading the blog :o)

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