HeavyHardMetalmania: Shroud of Despondency Added To NYDM 5-State Spring Bash III

Wisconsin-based dynamic and expansive black metal outfit SHROUD OF DESPONDENCY has been added to the NYDM 5-State Spring Bash III, which is set to take place April 6th & 7th at On The Limiter in Cudahy, WI. SHROUD OF DESPONDENCY will join the likes of CIANIDE, CARDIAC ARREST, IMPALER, BLOOD FEAST, ABSCONDER, BURIAL RITUAL and many more. For more info, visit this location.

SHROUD OF DESPONDENCY is scheduled to perform on Saturday, April 7th at 10:05 PM. Erik Stenglein from Milwaukee's NORTHLESS will be filling in on drums for the band.

On March 1st, SHROUD OF DESPONDENCY released Pine, the follow up to 2011's critically lauded Dark Meditations of Monastic Seclusion. The album is available for purchase at shroudofdespondency.bandcamp.com/album/pine. Main man and composer Rory Heikkila has this to say about Pine. " Pine has one goal and that is to blot out any light that existed onDark Meditations... Here the lush acoustic pieces of previous albums have largely been replaced by ambient improv synth pieces and the awkwardness of the instrumentals is designed to reflect the alienation and despair in the lyrics. Every track further explores human suffering, discomfort, alienation, and the overcoming of the human condition. New singer Ron Blemberg adds the much needed harshness to the vocal department while the rest of the band, despite losing drummer Jeremiah shortly after the recording process was complete, is even tighter and more focused on creating original music than ever. This focus on despair creates the visceral assault that is Pine."

Recorded again at Folkpocalypse studios in Milwaukee and released with a special downloadable bonus disc called Cavalcade of Crows, available upon purchase of Pine, it could easily be considered business as usual. Only this time SHROUD OF DESPONDENCY is even more focused on the bleak and absurd. Taking influence from old school death metal (Morbid Angel, Immolation, Bolt Thrower), Black Metal (Inquisition, Root, Negura Bunget, Emperor, Burzum), and prog (King Crimson and Mike Oldfield). Shroud of Despondency truly does not care about labels, only expulsion of negativity through creation- this is Pine.