That album cover up there (created by W. Smerdulak) is a hell of a thing — burning skies, lava flows, worlds cracked open like rotten eggs, a freshly unearthed corpse about to be reanimated by the sorcery of a clawed, disembodied hand… and wait ’til everything starts to move, brought to life in the video by Scott Hull that you’re about to see.

That artwork appears on the cover of Gravenous Hour, the second album by the Russian death machine Katalepsy, which will be released by Unique Leader Records on May 27. The animated lyric video we’re premiering today is for the album’s fourth track, “Critical Black Mass“, and it’s a monster.

I’m having fun imagining the mosh pits that are going to erupt when Katalepsy reach the 0:45 mark of this song at their live shows. I don’t expect the mayhem to stop until the song is over either (if then). Actually, it’s probably going to start from the first seconds of this militaristic assault.

The pile-driving riffs, seething guitar leads, and ravenous growls in “Critical Black Mass” are merciless manifestations of blood-lusting brutality, and the jet-fueled drum fusillades epitomize the sensation of high-caliber weapons on full auto. But in an age when blazing fast, technically impressive death metal is detonating just about everywhere you look, what really sets the song apart are the two guitar solos that erupt in the track’s back half. They’re not just blindingly fast and incinerating, they’re utterly deranged and alien. They take a song that’s already rocketing into orbit and propel it way beyond the gravity well.

Katalepsy’s first album, Autopsychosis (reviewed here), was a real eye-opener. Gravenous Hour is already sounding like a worthy successor. Here’s the track list:

1. In The Dark Of Stars

2. Blinded Sultan

3. To The Lords Of Nihil

4. Critical Black Mass

5. The Long Bright Darkness

6. Monastery Of Nothing

7. After Omega

8. Grave New World

9. Ghoul Inquisitor

10. Tephra

11. In The River Of Red

You can pre-order this monster and related merch here:

www.indiemerch.com/uniqueleader/band/katalepsy

http://www.facebook.com/Katalepsymoscow

http://www.katalepsy.ru

http://www.facebook.com/UniqueLeaderRecords