Runemagick playing first-ever US show at NYC mini-fest w/ Pungent Stench & more

The return of the darkest, heaviest evil. Eleven years after his last album, death/doom metal luminaries Runemagick unleash what could be their heaviest slab of rotting viscera yet. Simplicity is the name of the game here, each song only having a handful of riffs and uncomplicated structure, but therein lies chief songwriter Nicklas Rudolfsson’s secret talent. Without the glut of complex structure, progressive approaches, or other add-ons, Runemagick more effectively bludgeons with the power of ancient death. If this is your first Runemagick album, Evoked From Abysmal Sleep couldn’t be a better starting point… but also listen to Darkness Death Doom if you know what’s good for you.

Jon Rosenthal wrote the above on Invisible Oranges earlier this year when Swedish death/doom vets Runemagick returned after 11 years with their great new album Evoked From Abysmal Sleep. The band, who have been a going concern for frontman (and only constant member) Nicklas Rudolfsson since the early ’90s, have never played the U.S. during their 25+ year career but that will finally change this November. Nicklas, along with longtime rhythm section Emma Rudolfsson (bass) and Daniel Moilanen (drums) and new guitarist Jonas Blom, will make their North American debut with an exclusive NYC one-off at Brooklyn Bazaar on November 16. It’s an all-around cool bill of death/doom with NJ’s Evoken (whose new album Hypnagogia comes out on Profound Lore next week) and Atlanta/San Diego’s Encoffination. Tickets are on sale.

The show is part of a two-day, Signature Riff-presented takeover of Brooklyn Bazaar, and day two (November 17) is headlined by Martin Schirenc’s current version of Austrian death metal vets Pungent Stench (under the name Schirenc Plays Pungent Stench), and that’s also an exclusive North American show for them. Day two is rounded out by NYC death metal vets Morpheus Descends and NJ’s Siege Column. Tickets for day two are on sale, and you can also get two-day passes that get you into both shows.

For more on Pungent Stench, here’s an excerpt from a retrospective writeup on their 1991 sophomore album via Invisible Oranges:

I don’t see a lot of writing in print or on the web about this Austrian outfit, and it’s easy to see why. Stylistically, they were all over the place. Bands like Atheist and Pestilence dabbled in progressive influences earlier in the year (arguably Death would master it two weeks later), but Pungent Stench skipped the music theory and went straight for the curious affectations, such as the Primus-ish slapping on “Sick Bizarre Refaced Creation”, or the Sabbath-ish interlude two minutes into “Happy Re-Birthday”. One gets the impression that, much like the lyrics and cover art, these little touches exist more for shock value and humorous edification than anything else, but like everything else Pungent Stench did, they went on to be emulated in brutal death metal and its various grinding, slamming subgenres ad nauseum.

Stream Runemagick’s new album and music from other bands on the Signature Riff shows…