[photos by Paul Brousseau]

Oakland, California’s death metal quintet VASTUM is currently in the studio wrapping up their fourth LP for release in the months ahead.

VASTUM returned to their ally Greg Wilkinson and the cavernous abilities of his Earhammer Studios (Necrot, Nightfell, Ulthar) for the creation of their fourth LP, Orificial Purge. The band is putting the final touches on the record this week after which it will be finalized and set for release once again through their allies at 20 Buck Spin.

Offers VASTUM’s vocalist Daniel Butler, “A primitive combination of brutality, doominess, and sinister atmosphere found on Hole Below is developed further on Orificial Purge. The effect is more hypnotic than any of our other albums. The album doubles down on the mid-paced dirge of our other recordings, but it also revisits the speed of some earlier songs like ‘Devoid.’ Experiments with ambience and melody contrast with heady and knuckle-dragging riffs, and carefully crafted vocal dynamics round out the album’s ominous and punishing mood. Lyrically, the album is written associatively, with words forming as inchoate physical sensations that gradually take symbolic form. Some of the lyrics are allusive and elusive, not easily lending themselves to coherent meaning. Upon closer look, however, the lyrics are classic VASTUM-style meditations on abjection as life, life as tragedy, and tragedy as an eviscerating, eroticized rapture through which an evil and useless humanity comes into being.”

Watch for the full details on VASTUM’s impending Orificial Purge LP to be issued in the weeks ahead, as the record is slabbed and prepped for its public unveiling in the autumn months.

VASTUM returns to Killtown Death Fest 2019 in Copenhagen, Denmark September 5th through 8th performing alongside Grave, Coffins, Abhorrence, Tomb Mold, and many others. VASTUM has also been confirmed to play the inaugural Shadow Frost Music & Arts Festival taking over Frederick, Maryland February 21st and 22nd, 2020. The band joins The Chasm, Primitive Man, Thantifaxath, and labelmates Magic Circle as one of the event’s main headliners, and guitarist/vocalist Leila Abdul-Rauf will also perform a set from her solo/ambient project at the fest as well.

VASTUM Live:

9/05-08/2019 Killtown Death Fest – Copenhagen, DK [info]

2/21-22/2020 Shadow Frost Music & Arts Festival – Frederick, MD [info]

VASTUM:

Daniel Butler – vocals

Leila Abdul-Rauf – guitars, vocals

Shelby Lermo – guitars

Luca Indrio – bass

Chad Gailey – drums

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