Rings of Saturn - Dingir (2013)

Finally, this sickening winter is gone and I can look forward to some warm, sunny days. I know it's not trve and br00tal to like sunny days, but I don't care. I fucking hate gloomy days, I hate rain and I hate cold winds. I for one welcome spring time. 

And what better way to celebrate the rebirth of nature than with some INSANE technical deathcore about hostile alien forces ripping humans apart with their devastating death rays? Californian aliencore pioneers Rings of Saturn are back with their second full-length album called Dingir, which was actually available for streaming since November of last year due to a regrettable leak of a pre-production version. So I've listened to this almost three months ago, but I thought I'd wait until the actual official release to post about it. 

Dingir is another display of dazzling axe mastery, as the guitarists once again take center stage and showcase their impeccable use of their tentacle fingers. There's fucktons of shredding, sweep-picking and crazy arpeggios flying off in every direction, so anyone who's not into nintendocore guitar noodling will probably hate this. There are some melodic parts sprinkled throughout, but the band focuses first and foremost on delivering the CRUSHING BRUTALITY deathcore kids enjoy. New vocalist Ian Bearer is rather spectacular, as his dual high/low growling vocals are extremely fitting with the alien genocide theme of the album. The rhythm section doesn't lag behind the guitars and manages to keep up with all the insanity that's going on. As awe-inspiring and jaw-dropping the technical prowess of these dudes is, the album does tend to become a bit stale after some listening. It is definitely more well fleshed out and structured than their previous effort, Embryonic Anomaly, but it requires the listener to be patient and to pay attention. And to hold on for dear life.

Rings of Saturn is certainly not everyone's cup of tea. In fact, I'm pretty sure all of my friends hate this band. :( Still, I think it's worth giving them a listen, if only to have your brain melted by all the horrifically-complex guitar parts. Listeners who take their time with Dingir will sometimes be rewarded with melodic bits, but 99% of this is screaming, blastbeats, heavy riffing and breakdowns. And I don't have a problem with it. 

Rings of Saturn - Embryonic Anomaly (2010)

This post is dedicated to fellow blogger Decapitated Saint. Know this: I refuse to be bullied by you any longer. For too long have you ignored by cries and pleas. In spite of all my protest, you keep writing about deathcore bands mere moments after I decide to, thus stealing my limelight and making me appear like a slowpoke. Well no longer! Consider this post a full-blown retaliation. I'm going all Jennifer Lopez in that movie where she gets revenge on her abusive ex-husband on your ass, boy!

Feel my wrath.

SO, Rings of Saturn is a band from California whose music is an insane, psychedelic blend of technical death metal and experimental deathcore. Embryonic Anomaly is their debut album and it was launched in 2010. As you may infer from their name, they mostly sing about FUCKING SPACE. Particularly, alien invasions. Have a peek at these lyrics from the song Corpses Thrown Across the Sky:

Slowly weakening the insides, paralysis leaves them on their knees, ontheir knees, begging for their lives, on their knees, begging fortheir fucking lives,Humans sliced apart, carnage fills the streets,dismantling what is left of humankind, beheaded, corpses thrownacross the sky, discarded, chaos and darkness engulfing earth, bodiesand loose limbs flowing through the blood red rivers  

Hmmm, all this senseless carnage of the human race reminds me of something: GIGANTIC BRAIN. Turns out, the similarities don't end with the subject matter. Like Gigantic Brain, Rings of Saturn also rely on an apocalyptic blizzard of insane drumming and hellish vocals to propel their music. The dual vocal attack (low growls and high-pitched shrieks) does a great job of conveying a sense of terror and despair, which is what you should be feeling when you're getting torn apart by alien death machines. The song structures are varied and interesting and - warning ahead - there are plenty of breakdowns to be had on Embryonic Anomaly, which I guess is where the deathcore tag comes from. Unlike Gigantic Brain, who used simplistic chugging guitar riffing in his genocidal hymns, the two guitarists in Rings of Saturn manage to successfully blend together crushing brutal death metal with nintendocore noodling, which can feel weird and out of place at the beginning, but it totally makes sense later on, after you've accustomed yourself to the feel of the music. 

All the cool kids have undoubtedly become intimately familiar with this promising band by now, though, so I guess I still am a slowpoke. Damn all! However, if you have not yet heard Embryonic Anomaly, I highly suggest you do so. These guys are gonna become huge and you don't want to be caught with your pants down when their new album Dingir comes out in late autumn. Peace out!