Acolyte

Definitely not the typical spikes-and-corpsepaint black metal band, Acolyte prefer to shy away from that label as much as possible. Despite obvious influence from hyper-aggressive, violent blasting outfits like Deathspell Omega, guitarist and composer Malekh is eager to stress their wider scope.

“We’re possibly the least ‘black metal’ black metal band out there,” says the songwriter. “We take easily as much influence from classic rock, prog and even jazz as we do from, say, Enslaved. What we try to do is make the sort of music we ourselves would like to hear – maybe that’s a cliche, but it does mean we’re aiming higher than the rather niche black metal scene.”

‘Leng’ is a perfect example of Acolyte’s ambitions; a mainstay of their live set from day one, it features stabbing, off kilter washes of guitar, crushingly heavy rhythms and strident, aggressive vocals, telling the story of a lost soul searching desperately for meaning and redemption in a broken, Lovecraftian wasteland. Vast in scale, lurching from clean, shimmering jazz to huge, epic riffing, the song is a perfect introduction to Acolyte’s vision.