From the inbox:

On December 6th, Portland, Oregon extreme metal trio CHASMA will release the vinyl version of their debut full-length album Declarations of the Grand Artificer on The Mylene Sheath (CD and digital available November 22nd on Moribund Records). With three songs clocking in at nearly 33 minutes, CHASMA’s debut is a bewildering, but above all transcendent record, an epic recasting of classic black metal into otherworldly shapes and a plausibly modern contour.

Formed in 2008 by members of Nanda Devi and Alter of Earth, CHASMA began as a side-project to experiment with yet another form of extreme metal. After writing and recording three songs, CHASMA released a demo tape with the French black metal label Aural Offerings and began performing live. After encouragement from Aural Offerings and the local Northwest metal scene, CHASMA made another recording that was released by Aural Offerings on cassette and CD. After performing two years of shows with the likes of Wolves in the Throne Room, Bloody Panda, Trees, Thou, Nux Vomica, and Fell Voices, CHASMA guitarist Tony Komforty departed the project and was replaced by Klaus Maza of the LA crust band Sheeeeeeeep.

“Musically, we are influenced by new millenium-era French black metal and DC screamo,” says the band, “and bands like Weakling, Joyless, Ameseours, and Majority Rule. We are influenced by the intensity and passion of our brotherhood as musicians and try to express that passion through dimension bending riffs. We don’t really fit the black metal label; we consider ourselves either noir nouveau ['new black'] or bright metal.”

- It was the MAJORITY RULE reference in the press release that stoked my interest. You can get a taste of the band’s ‘extended’ songwriting on their Facebook page.