Castevet LIVE and ON BLACK FIRE tonight, on My Castle of Quiet

Once one has grown accustomed to fielding as much underground metal as I have, it becomes a process akin to panning for gold (or silver?)—eyes and ears become acutely tuned to the good stuff, what bears the true stamp of originality and innovation, which artists lead rather than "follow" or "carry on" sonic traditions established by others. NY's own Castevet are one such powerful frontrunner.

Tonight, My Castle of Quiet radio is proud to welcome Castevet to WFMU's airwaves. The band creates introspective, complex black metal, with gutsiness intact—that is to say, they're neither as oppressively brainy as Deathspell Omega, nor as lunkheaded as Carpathian Forest, with force aplenty. Their debut full length on Profound Lore, Mounds of Ash, is a loaded document, with one great song after another, songs that take you through the band's considerable chops, with that extra touch that comes only when the musicians can really manage their instruments with expertise. Death/grind heads often make the blanket statement that all black metal is overtly simplistic, but you'd be hard-pressed to make that accusation with Castevet. Without question, the songs on Mounds of Ash are grimy, riff-laden and monstrous—making Castevet somehow "pro" and "dirty" at the same time. What more could one ask of their black metal?

As with the overwhelming percentage of My Castle of Quiet guests, Castevet have also opted to play absolutely live and in the moment, no pre-recording, do-overs or alt-takes. Don't miss a night of groundbreaking, modern black metal, as MCoQ continues its trend of bringing great local underground metal to the airwaves.

Thanks to Diane Kamikaze Farris, who'll be lending her considerable expertise to engineer the session, and to Johanna Lenski, for putting me in touch with the band, arranging their appearance tonight, and baking a damn-fine peanut-butter cookie.

Tear gas canisters rain from the heavens at midnight tonight.
Castevet @ 12:30 a.m. approx.
WFMU 91.1 FM (NY/NJ)
WMFU 90.1 FM (Hudson Valley)
wfmu.org live on the Web