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EPOS NEMO LATROCINIUM: Unsettling Experimental Ensemble To Release Iter Itineris III Via Scry Recordings; New Track Streaming
March 9, 2018 by Joy Von Spain
recordings

Iter Itineris III is the third in the series of albums by experimental ensemble EPOS NEMO LATROCINIUM. Slated for release April 1st via Scry Recordings, the latest work features guest master percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani with veteran Seattle electronic and experimental artist Noisepoetnobody (Casey Chittenden Jones), and pianist and vocalist Joy Von Spain (Eye Of Nix). Iter Itineris III was recorded by Doug Haire at the Jack Straw Cultural Center in Seattle, Washington.

EPOS NEMO LATROCINIUM’s two previous full-lengths in the series were both captured at Khaos Studios in Seattle. After each recording, the group performed a live improvisation as part of the Wayward Music Series with percussion, voice, electronics, stringboard, violin, and prepared piano. The group has in the past included violinist Tom Swafford and percussionist Dean Moore.

Read More Here.

Eye of Nix confirms Thirst For Light V appearance
February 15, 2018 by Joy Von Spain
shows

Red Hawk Avalon is proud to host Thirst for Light V, June 21st-25th, MMXVIII. Join us for 5 days of music, performance, camping, swimming, plant-walks, archery, feasting, fire, and honoring our ancestors under the same rising sun they once looked upon before us. Performers include:

Abronia, Aerial Ruin, Alda, Eye of Nix, Faun Fables, Felled, Geist and the Sacred Ensemble, Hail, Horse Cult, Isenordal , L’Acephale
Madison Mandrake , Medicine Moon, OKA Amnesia, Ritual Veil, Sangre de Muerdago , Serpentent, Wēoh , Witch Bottle , Worm Ouroboros, among many others.

Eye of Nix will play Northwest Terror Fest 2018 in Seattle
February 15, 2018 by Joy Von Spain
shows

Avant doom collective EYE OF NIX will play this year’s edition of Northwest Terror Fest alongside Witch Mountain, Woman Is The Earth, Falls Of Rauros, and Ragana. The band will be performing tunes from their Black Somnia full-length, issued late last year via newly-launched Scry Recordings.

Captured by renowned producer Billy Anderson (Neurosis, Om, Pallbearer) at The Hallowed Halls in Portland, Oregon and mastered by Brad Boatwright (Gatecreeper, Necrot), Black Somnia centers itself on themes of fear, control, and anxiety while shape-shifting through a lens of blackened psychedelia and doom. Commented vocalist Joy Von Spain, “For me, the album is an exploration of the forces of fear and control, responses to these insidious, unseen powers, the specter that remains when we awaken from mysterious and frightening dreams. Billy Anderson worked with us on ideas to preserve the noisier elements of our sound and create layers of atmosphere surrounding the voice.”

Black Somnia is available digitally and in a full color gatefold LP presentation with 180-gram black vinyl, limited to 250 copies at the EYE OF NIX Bandcamp page at THIS LOCATION where the record can also be streamed in full.

Noisey reviews the new Eye of Nix LP with full album stream (BLACK SOMNIA)
December 16, 2017 by Joy Von Spain
merch news, recordings, Reviews

Noisey premiered the new Eye of Nix LP, BLACK SOMNIA in its entirety on 12/12/17 with a glowing review and full album stream HERE.

“I have been looking forward to this album for years—since 2015, to be exact, the year that this Seattle outfit dropped their incredible debut album, Moros. The last time we featured them, the band told us that their major influences skip from psychedelic Finnish black metal, Wovenhand, and Chelsea Wolfe to Swans, Neurosis, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and The Cure. As a listener will quickly discover once they dive into the band’s new sophomore release, Black Somnia, not much has changed on that front, but I daresay that the band has gained a more profound understanding of how to translate that inspiration into their own truly iconoclastic sound.”

Eye of Nix 12-3-17 Seer Productions b&w-square

The Stranger recently interviewed Eye of Nix’s vocalist Joy Von Spain about BLACK SOMNIA
December 16, 2017 by Joy Von Spain
Interviews, recordings

The Stranger recently asked Eye of Nix vocalist Joy Von Spain some questions about the new album, BLACK SOMNIA.

“It took a whole lot of loss, pain and growth for local outfit Eye of Nix to make Black Somnia their second full-length record of avant-garde metal. In anticipation of the album’s release, The Stranger spoke with Lead singer Joy Von Spain, who said Eye of Nix faced “some sort of hurdle with each step towards finishing the record.” In the two years since the dropped their debut, Moros, the five-piece changed bassists and drummers. As if a 40 percent member turnover wasn’t challenging enough, one of Von Spain’s friends passed away while she was recording Black Somnia in Portland with renowned producer Billy Anderson (Swans, Melvins, Jawbreaker).

Clearing those hurdles resulted in a distinctive and rewarding record. Black Somnia, which came out today, delivers meditative and morose sludge in the vein of seminal “thinking man’s metal” pioneers Neurosis, but takes the style in new and unfamiliar directions. Interesting samples add atmosphere and an overall uneasy sonic mood commensurates with Von Spain’s lyrical meditations on fear and discomfort. Occasional harmonized vocals and synthesizer melodies slice through the record’s gloom. The result is a mature musical journey with a surprisingly varied emotional palate.”

Read the entire interview HERE

Eye of NIx: BLACK SOMNIA album cover

EYE OF NIX: Seattle-Based Avant-Doom Collective To Release Black Somnia Full-Length LP; Sample Tracks Posted
December 3, 2017 by Joy Von Spain
recordings
Anima Nocturna, Black Metal, Black Somnia, Carlos Melgoza, Doom Metal, Eye of Nix

Following up their critically lauded debut full-length Moros, Seattle-based avant doom bringers EYE OF NIX recently completed their sophomore opus, Black Somnia.

Captured by legendary sound sage Billy Anderson (Neurosis, Om, Pallbearer) at The Hallowed Halls in Portland, Oregon and mastered by Brad Boatwright (Gatecreeper, Necrot), Black Somnia will see release December 15th.

Black Somnia centers itself on themes of fear, control, and anxiety while shape-shifting through a lens of blackened psychedelia and doom. Vocalist Joy Von Spain comments, “Black Somnia includes five new pieces and a re-imagining of ‘A Curse.’ Our goal for the recording was to frame the songs’ turbulence and tension with layers of atmosphere. We also worked intensively with occult artist/photographer Anima Nocturna (Carlos Melgoza) and an international group of Butoh performers to create the album’s ritual-based visual element.”

Black Somnia will be available digitally and in a full color gatefold LP presentation with 180-gram black vinyl, limited to 250 copies. Excerpts of “A Curse” and “Fear’s Ascent” are available below. Preorder Black Somnia at THIS LOCATION.

Black Somnia Track Listing:

  1. Wound And Scar
  2. Fear’s Ascent
  3. A Curse
  4. Lull
  5. Toll On
  6. A Hideous Visage

 

Words from the already-converted about their debut LP, MOROS:

“With crust and sludge-influenced riffs meeting black metal’s tremolo picking at the noisiest crossroads, the band sets a tumultuous backdrop for vocalist Joy Von Spain’s otherworldly, operatic banshee wails. Her Siouxsie Sioux-gone-black metal vocals will give you chills, and add to the chaos instead of softening the band’s sound.” – Noisey

“Moros is all over the place sonically — not a moment is wasted and there’s no room for an iota of boredom… [Joy] Von Spain’s operatic vocal tendencies make it epic, the psychedelia embedded in it makes it hypnotic, and the blackness and sludge creates a harsh abrasiveness.” – Invisible Oranges

“If your tastes… touch on a wide expanse of sonic darkness, then this album dabbles in all of those with equal mastery – be it black metal, post-punk, sludge, slow-core or noise rock.” – Cvlt Nation

“EYE OF NIX are in a league all of their own and have crafted one of the most interesting releases of 2015. Moros is a strange, dark and destructive record that defies categorization. The maddening, churning, claustrophobic doom and gloom EYE OF NIX create on this record will satisfy those looking for a new sonic twist. The metal outsider will be so enthralled by these blackened compositions, he or she won’t even feel it when Moros drags them to Hades.” – American Aftermath

Eye of Nix 11-22-2017 - Briana Jones Photography

Decibel Magazine Premieres Eye of Nix’s “Wound And Scar” From Forthcoming LP, BLACK SOMNIA
December 3, 2017 by Joy Von Spain
recordings
Black Metal, Black Somnia, Doom Metal, Eye of Nix

Black Somnia is the impending new LP from Seattle-based avant doom conjurors EYE OF NIX. Slated to drop on December 15th via newly-launched Scry Recordings, the stunning new offering was captured by legendary producer Billy Anderson (Neurosis, Om, Pallbearer) at The Hallowed Halls in Portland, Oregon and mastered by Brad Boatwright (Gatecreeper, Necrot).

In advance of its release, Decibel Magazine offers up the punishing sounds of “Wound And Scar” for public consumption. Issues EYE OF NIX vocalist Joy Von Spain of the track, “In the song ‘Wound And Scar,’ we strove to evoke finality and resolution through repetitive bass-heavy rhythms accentuated with piano and distorted gong. The lyrics came from a dream about a woman brutally intent upon ending a cycle of fear imprinted on ancestors and passed down through DNA, halting a lineage of misery at any cost. I had been reading about an experiment in which two generations of mice were shown to react with anxiety when exposed to a new and innocuous scent (cherry blossoms), simply because their predecessors had been made to fear it.”

Hear “Wound And Scar,” courtesy of Decibel Magazine, at THIS LOCATION.

Epos Nemo Latrocinium Iter Itineris III cover / Peter Keller: Sartorical Question

Coming soon from Scry Recordings: EPOS NEMO LATROCINIUM: ITER ITINERIS III (ft. Tatsuya Nakatani, Casey Chittenden Jones, Joy Von Spain)
December 3, 2017 by Joy Von Spain
recordings
Avant-garde, Casey Chittenden Jones, Epos Nemo Latrocinium, Experimental, Improvisation, Iter Itineris III, Joy Von Spain, Noisepoetnobody, Tatsuya Nakatani

Coming Soon: EPOS NEMO LATROCINIUM: ITER ITINERIS III

The third in the series of albums by ensemble EPOS NEMO LATROCINIUM features guest master percussionist and composer TATSUYA NAKATANI. Brought together by veteran Seattle electronic and experimental artist Casey Chittenden Jones (noisepoetnobody), the ensemble has previously included violinist Tom Swafford, percussionist Dean Moore, and pianist & vocalist Joy Von Spain. This new work features Nakatani, Jones, and Von Spain in selections recorded by Doug Haire at the Jack Straw Cultural Center.

ENL previously released two full-length albums in the series, recorded at Khaos Studios in Seattle. After each recording, the group performed a live improvisation at the Good Shepherd Center Chapel as part of the Wayward Music Series with percussion, voice, electronics, stringboard, violin, and prepared piano.

More information about Nakatani’s work and upcoming tour dates may be found here: http://www.hhproduction.org

Artwork: “Satorical Question” by Peter Keller.

To End It All - live at the Highline Bar Seattle 2017 / photography by Wade Risteen

To End It All – live review by Andrew Buchanan-Carter
July 9, 2017 by Joy Von Spain
Uncategorized
Avant-garde, Death Industrial, Joy Von Spain, Masaaki Masao, Noise, To End It All

To End It All’s spirit tree: The Boswellia. Deep in the heart of a dry place exists a certain tree. Branches of odd beauty grow out from something ominous and overshadowing. At the base of this organic structure the ritualistic denouncing of vile forms can be heard, marking a descent into the scornful damning of plagued souls. These words loom heavy above the troubled rumble of claustrophobic power electronics dirges which are the blackened roots of this hardened mass. Recalls Plague Mass-era Diamanda Galas by way of industrial doom as if a conduit for agony and disgust. The wretched are cursed and spat upon. The end result is something assaulting and confrontational punctuated by moments of lulling sonic solitude. This is the music of troubled land; a desolate soundscape where damned souls are banished.

  • Andrew Buchanan-Carter (live review)
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