Cyttorak - Simultaneuous Invocation Of Apocalyptic Harbingers cassette

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"Formed in 2017, Rhode Island trio Cyttorak rip creatures and characters from their favorite comic books and video games to populate the ugly extremity of their soundscapes. With merch that boasts a tagline of “Gygaxian Slowerviolence,” the band offers hails and horns to Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax. Meanwhile, their music explores the murky depths of sludge, Bolt Thrower crust, hardcore and cosmic doom to procure the deadliest riff species. As an additional homage to Gygax, the cassette of their upcoming EP Simultaneous Invocation Of Apocalyptic Harbingers will also be accompanied by a d20 and D&D-styled creature power charts. But just like a game of D&D is often only as good as the Dungeon Master, a band’s brilliant merch designs rely on awesome music for meaning. Cyttorak’s new EP feels like a galactic battleground where titans leave each other’s hulking corpse to rot among dying stars. The only winner is the listener.

“Planets Between His Teeth” was released as the album’s first single, and the grimy grooves are a suitable introduction to Cyttorak’s mean streak. The main thrust of “Royal Shokan Dismemberment” might be cosmic sludge, but it’s anchored by death/doom gutturals. Cyttorak’s wealth of disparate influences morph song to song, but they still manage to retain the same DNA. While Cyttorak texture songs with bone-dry rasps and spacey guitar embellishments, the band’s ground ‘n’ pound attack never relents. Their song titles may not be into the whole brevity thing, but they’d sure as hell pass for the verbose names given to Blood Incantation’s guitar solos. Cyttorak’s music is dense without being oppressive; playful with its influences without feeling novel. The balance of nastiness and loud ‘n’ proud nerdery had me hooked until the final scream of feedback died." - Sean Frasier / Decibel Magazine