This Fall, Profound Lore Records will unveil the sophomore full-length from psychedelic thrash unit,VHÖL. Titled Deeper Than Sky, the record finds the band — vocalist Mike Scheidt (Yob), guitarist John Cobbett (Hammers Of Misfortune, ex-Ludicra), bassist Sigrid Sheie (Hammers Of Misfortune, ex-Amber Asylum) and drummer Aesop Dekker (Agalloch, Worm Ouroboros, ex-Ludicra) — at their most absorbing. The seven-track follow up to 2013’s self-titled debut was captured at Light Rail Studios and mastered at Trakworx Studio, both in San Francisco, and boasts the cosmic cover creation of Brandon Duncan which unites some of Cobbett’s sketches and concepts with Duncan’s original art, the results of which accurately encapsulate the mind-altering vibe of the music contained within.
“We recorded this album at Light Rail Studios, in a huge room on a beautiful 1970 Trident console onto Jerry Garcia’s 2″ tape deck. One cannot escape the Grateful Dead in San Francisco recording studios — their gear is all over town,” elaborates the band of the recording process. “The mixing was rather primitive with no plug-ins and all effects were done by old pedals, tape echo, and large reverb plates. Another thing that was large and huge during recording was our bass player who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant at the time.”
Deeper Than Sky Track Listing:
1. The Desolate Damned
2. 3AM
3. Deeper Than Sky
4. Paino
5. Red Chaos
6. Lightless Sun
7. The Tomb
VHÖL was forged from the ashes of Pentagram cover band, Parallelogram, which featured Mr. Hate of Noothgrush on vocals, Cobbett on guitar, Sheie on bass, and Dekker on drums. They disbanded when the real Pentagram arose from the grave. Finding themselves unable to keep the tempos under control anyway, they took to thrash and started penning originals. Eventually, Scheidt came on board to take over vocals. When their self-titled debut album was released in 2013, the effort was a surprise to many who didn’t expect what VHÖL would initially sound like from their pedigree alone. Crowned, “…a generative force with an unpredictable will of their own,” by Pitchfork and hailed for delivering, “seven neck-breaking slabs of crusty, swinging, dark heavy metal,” by Metal Assault, the offering bore the sounds of a true musical exploration where each of its members would experience something innovative during the composing process while simultaneously rediscovering their oldschool metal roots.
With Deeper Than Sky, VHÖL picks up from their debut crafting something totally next level, pushing their already-singular sound to the outer-realms of sonic exploration within the paradigm of old school speed metal. VHÖL‘s Deeper Than Sky will be released via Profound Lore on October 23rd, 2015 with preorders and teaser tracks to be revealed in the weeks to come.
