Ysgaroth -- Canadian furious gremlin witch caveman melodic prog metal

The music is melodic extremity, with a certain black metal feel in places and with some prog tendencies, but still moshing and headbanging metal. The vocals are shrieked a lot, although there is some growling in there, too. While the vocals scream black metal, the music points to some surprising melodic places. Ysgaroth is brutal and melodic and they plan to have their cake and eat it, too. Is it possible?! Ysgaroth is going to find out! Would you like to come along? It will be a fun ride through the minds of these Canadian brutes. Just when you think you got them figured out, they will surprise you with 17 minutes of the song "Deluge." It's like they decided to let us see that they love Scandinavian extreme metal, but maybe when you're a Canadian prog band you can't really avoid having some Rush sneak into your subconscious. -Metal Bulletin Zine

Ysgaroth

Storm Over a Black Sea

13 November 2020

OFFICIAL INFORMATION FROM YSGAROTH: Ysgaroth is a progressive extreme metal band conjured in Vancouver, Canada that seamlessly blends elements of various metal subgenres into a vicious hybrid. Initially, Ysgaroth started as Kurt Steigler’s black metal studio project, a non-serious musical outlet, but over time he grew attached to the songs and wanted to take them live. With the desire to hit the stage, Steigler (guitar/vocals) was joined by Steve Cuddington (drums) and Shawn Hillman (bass) With these additions, the songs got more structurally ambitious, a sludge influence began to creep into the band. Cuddington brings an absolutely crushing, hardcore-influenced drumming style that gave the songs a new vitality, and Hillman’s exceptionally musical bass playing served as the perfect bridge between the crushing drums and razor-sharp guitars. Ultimately, the sound of the band became a mix of its black metal roots, classic 80’s death metal, 90’s thrash, and sludge with the long compositions of post-metal and the shifting, churning time signatures of progressive metal. Steigler is the main songwriter, but overall the process is hugely democratic.

Storm Over a Black Sea by Ysgaroth