Exclusive Premiere – Swiss tech death metal unit VIRVUM

Switzerland isn’t particularly known for its death metal, let alone something that’s technical and forward-thinking. I must say that I’m pretty blown away by Virvum, the new sensation from that region. From what I’ve heard so far, the music is a refreshing mix of bands like Psycroptic, Spawn of Possession and Rings of Saturn, but I can’t wait to hear the whole album which is due for a release on September 16th. It’s surprising that they don’t have label backing for this release, but I suppose labels like Unique Leader or Willowtip Records could take serious interest in this band after this.

We’ve got the opportunity to do an exclusive song stream of the fifth track on the album titled Tentacles of the Sun. It begins with astonishing ferocity, which was unexpected (it’s almost brutal death metal-esque in its expression), but after around a minute, things settle down and make way for a beautiful bass solo by Arran Mcsporran, after which it just goes batshit insane. I just love music that’s challenging and constantly striving for musical extremity and innovation and over here Virvum happen to be that fix. From start to finish, the song keeps your rivetted and there are snippets of melodies ensconced in the mayhem. The texture of the music is wonderful and makes it all seem vibrant and intriguing. I’m reminded of Fallujah, and that can only mean a good thing. I can wholeheartedly recommend this to fans of technical and progressive metal – it’s refreshing, well concocted, and exquisitely executed.

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