‘Maja Valles’ streaming now
London based melodeath band, Karybdis, have released an explosive music video for their brand new single ‘Maja Valles’, streaming now. The single is taken from their upcoming EP Order & Chaos due for release 3rd December.
Check out the video for ‘Maja Valles’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBHc9JDZAXs
On the new single, Karybdis state:
“‘Maja Valles’ is the first song we finished writing for Order & Chaos. Featuring machine gun rhythms, groovy riffs and soaring melodies, ‘Maja Valles’ encompasses these elements in a tight, high-velocity package. The song is named after the deep chasms on the surface of Mars and lyrically explores both the planet itself and it’s personification, the Roman god of war, drawing parallels between the desolate landscapes of the planet and the internal struggles of a tyrant doomed to self-destruct. ‘Maja Valles’ serves as a baseline for what we’re going for on Order & Chaos and aims to set great expectations for the deeper cuts on the EP.”
With 3 critically acclaimed albums and over a decade of activity, Karybdis are one of London’s most enduring underground acts. Supporting the likes of The Black Dahlia Murder, Jinjer, Evile and Monuments, as well as festival appearances at Bloodstock and UK Tech Fest, the quartet have consistently demonstrated a passion for melodic death metal, paired with an aggressive live show.
Following the departure of lead guitarist Matthew Lowry, Karybdis recruited long-time collaborator and Norfolk noise-terrorist Dave Klussmann (Deities, Nervewrecker) and set about work on an ambitious new project.
Conceived as a concept EP based around Gustav Holst’s The Planets suite, Order and Chaos explores classical themes and melodies reimagined through a modern lens. Drummer/composer Mitch McGugan explains:
“We have always been fascinated by learning more about the cosmos. After watching The Planets in Concert with Brian Cox, a program that interspersed the famous collection of pieces by Gustav Holst with Brian Cox explaining how our understanding of the planets has changed in the last 100 years, it made me want to experiment with some of the motifs and see if they would work in a completely different genre of music. Karybdis have always used strings as part of our sound, but we really wanted to push the boat out and utilise not only a multitude of strings, but a choir and a brass section as well.”
As guitar riffs began to blend with orchestral arrangements, it became clear that vocalist Rich O’Donnell would have to stretch himself to keep up:
“I’ve really tried to push myself on this EP and tried to explore some of the melodic undertones of my voice, while I’m still striving to be as heavy as possible there’s certain moments that required me to scale things back and think about how I can work with the choir and string parts to create something truly unique.”
As the EP began to take shape it became clear that the best choice to helm production was new guitarist Dave Klussmann, who has previously worked with the likes of Oceano, Enterprise Earth, Chiasmata and Fraktions.
Dave states: “When approached me to join the band, I was equally excited by the prospect of producing as I was by writing and performing. This was a somewhat daunting task, due to the lineage of excellent guitarists and producers who have worked with the band in the past, but I feel I have achieved my goal of crafting a sound that encompasses the established vibes of previous material while adding new twists and progressing the sound of the band to new heights.”
Karybdis are:
Rich O’Donnell | Vocals
Jay Gladwin | Bass
Mitch McGugan | Drums
Dave Klussmann | Guitars
For more information:
https://www.karybdis.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Karybdis.band
https://www.instagram.com/karybdis/
https://twitter.com/karybdisband
