Artist: Nick Vasallo
Release title: Apophany
Label: Neuma Records
Release Date: 18-03-2022
Format: CD, Digital
Genre: Experimental Metal Classical
Country: United States
For fans of Mike Patton, Neurosis, Johnny Greenwood, Scelsi, Bach, Slayer
Bay
Area-based composer NICK VASALLO, widely known as the "father of
Deathcore" and from such notable technical death metal/deathcore outfits
as Antagony, Oblivion, and more, presents his second metal/classical
hybrid solo album, Apophany. Confirming the album for March release
through Neuma Records, the tracklisting, cover art, preorders, and a
video for the lead single “Inches Away From Freedom” have been issued.
If
you were to connect seemingly unrelated things – heavy metal and the
symphony orchestra, for example – you might be guilty of apophenia. That
friction between opposites has never been a problem for NICK VASALLO,
though – his music is equally at home in both worlds. Melding Xenakis,
Varese, extreme metal, and dark ambient with gothic
charm, VASALLO conjures up a muscular sonic battle that leads you on an
inexorable musical journey to a conclusion where surrender is your best
option.
Ten
years in the making, catharsis comes as a relief in his new album,
Apophany, the follow-up to his 2012-released Monuments Emerge. The new
album presents nearly eighty minutes of varied orchestral and chamber
works seared to the bone with a metal edge. It strikes with precision
(VASALLO is a certified martial artist, after all) and uses a refined
timbral palette with filmic orchestral mastery to powerful effect.
The
programmatic themes in VASALLO’s titles combine sources of ancient
wisdom with contemporary spiritualism. “The Eternal Return'' refers to
Nietzsche’s challenge to imagine that every action one makes will repeat
for all eternity. This track leads to “The Moment Before Death
Stretches On Forever, Like An Ocean Of Time” – a reference to the 1999
movie American Beauty; the monologue that closes with, “…and I can’t
feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little
life.”
With
epic performances from a variety of university orchestras and new music
ensembles, including Red Shift, Wild Rumpus, and The Living Earth Show,
Apophany is as gritty as it is satisfying. This is music for the
metaverse, bedroom headphones, and giant auditoriums, but maybe not the
parlor.
Composed
and produced by NICK VASALLO, Apophany was recorded, edited, mixed, and
mastered by VASALLO, Zack Miley, and Zack Ohren, except for the closing
track, “Black Swan Events,” which was mastered by Erdem Helvacıoğlu.
The album is completed with cover artwork by Claudatte Snyder,
photography by Denise Vasallo, and design by Philip Blackburn.
Neuma
Records will release Apophany on CD and through all digital providers
on March 18th. Find preorders at Bandcamp where the lead track “EinSof”
as well as “Inches From Freedom” are streaming HERE.
Bay
Area native NICK VASALLO picked up the electric guitar while in high
school and formed Antagony, later credited as birthing a popular
subgenre of metal music called “deathcore.” A graduate of California
State University, East Bay, VASALLO completed his doctorate at the
University of California at Santa Cruz. Honors include the American
Prize, International Music Prize for Excellence in Composition, and the
San Francisco Choral Artists New Voices award.
Composed and produced by Nick Vasallo.
Recorded, edited, mixed, and mastered by
Nick Vasallo, Zack Miley, and Zack Ohren.
Track 9 mastered by Erdem Helvacıoğlu.
Cover image by Claudatte Snyder ©2021
Photo by Denise Vasallo
All music published by Nick Vasallo Publishing (ASCAP) ©2022
Designed by Philip Blackburn
Tracklist:
1. Ein Sof
2. When the War Began
3. The Prophecy
4. ATUM
5. The Eternal Return
6. The Moment Before Death Stretches on Forever, Like an Ocean of Time…
7. Ozymandias
8. Inches Away from Freedom
9. Black Swan Events
Line-up:
University of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. Nicolas Waldvogel, conductor
Redshift Ensemble
Washington State University Concert Choir with soloist Rodrigo Cortes
Elevate Ensemble and ZOFO Duet, Chad Goodman, conductor
Drexel University Concert Band, Wesley Broadnax, conductor
Wild Rumpus
The Living Earth Show, Friction Quartet
The Living Earth Show, ORE, Gleb Kanesevich, John McCowen
California State University East Bay Orchestra, Victor Dods, soloist
Follow:
Website: http://nickvasallo.
Bandcamp: https://nickvasallo.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.
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