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Xothist first reared its ugly head on IO back when we streamed the SVN OKKLT Compilation early last year. The song Xothist contributed to the comp, "A Binding," was a melodic black metal epic hiding behind a wall of white noise—it was also arguably the best song on a ridiculously stacked compilation. For those who knew about Xothist, that wasn't surprising—the one-man band is one of the best out there and has an incredible knack for producing murky, lo-fi black metal that's as rich in sweeping atmosphere as it is in punishing brutality. For a primer, download the band's self-titled 2012 2011 debut demo for free on SVN OKKLT.

"A Binding" off of the Svn Okklt comp will make an appearance on the b-side of Xothist's forthcoming album, Simulacrum, as will the five minutes of dense cacophonous glory streaming above. Titled "Blossom", it's a song you wade through, one that's thick with hopelessness and invigorating at the same time. The stomping insanity that begins only twenty seconds in makes for some of the heaviest music I've heard in some time, imperialistic in it's swaggering arrogance, and it only gets crazier from there. Look for Simulacrum to be one of the highlights in a year that's already looking to be the best black metal year in some time.

Simulacrum will be out on Fallen Empire Records in April.

— Wyatt Marshall

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