We can all safely assume by now that 夢遊病者 – AKA Sleepwalker – might just be one of the most bizarre, mind-bending, and visionary bands in modern extreme metal… Their absurd psychedelic black metal melts the senses and tangles the synapses, and its first encounter can be unsettling, eye-opening, and deeply moving for most. Their albums are such an impenetrable headfuck that it’s nearly impossible to even grasp the actual intents or meaning of what they do. After their insane debut album 5772 was released last year (read about it here), Sentient Ruin and Annapurna have teamed up again and prepared the release of their brand new album titled 一期一会 (“for this time only, never again”), set to be released on May 25. Once again fusing black metal, kraut, psych, weirdo hardcore punk, drone, noise rock and tribal ritualism to absolutely mind-altering effects, with 一期一会 , 夢遊病者 have once again proven that recklessness and imagination in extreme metal can be limitless and that black metal can be an incredibly versatile experiment lab; an authentic bottomless pit whose possibilities and manifestations can be endless…
一期一会 is indeed a rabbit hole, and once you descend into it all ties with the real world are severed instantly and you end up trapped in a realm of puzzling absurdity where things are upside down, inverted, and all scrambled, yet appear gloriously in focus. With warped and derailing black metal trapped in a psychedelic maze and channeling themes of superstition, eastern lore, weird oriental folklore, and other magical and esoteric elements, this is music that seethes with magic and occultism and glows of an arcane and ungraspable personality all of its own – pure genius rearing its head at every turn throughout. Influenced by the likes of King Crimson, Faust, Voivod, GISM, Today Is the Day, and Scandinavial Black Metal, 一期一会 is a work of brilliant and fascinating mysticism that sounds as if Lurker of Chalice, Ornassi Pazuzu, and Grey Daturas have all been constructed and melted down into an hallucinatory blur. 一期一会 is officially released on May 25 2018 on Sentient Ruin (US vinyl and tape – pre order here or here) and Annapurna (EU vinyl and CD – pre-order here).
