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Ylem

by Sunless

supported by
nthrainn
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nthrainn I saw you guys in Albuquerque a few weeks ago, and please take my word that the entire crowd was FLOORED by your extreme caliber of musicianship. Take heed, Bandcampers, this is a pedigree of ultra-cerebral metal on par with the greats--Ulcerate, Altars, etc.--but coming from the frigid, upper heartland of the US. Amazing maths going on here, friends! Favorite track: Atramentous.
Dmitry Nevozhay
Dmitry Nevozhay thumbnail
Dmitry Nevozhay More accessible take on Gorguts dissinant tech death style. Very strong album in AOTY lists of many Favorite track: Atramentous.
Ippocalyptica
Ippocalyptica thumbnail
Ippocalyptica As compared to Ad Nauseam, Ylem is relatively easy listening, and as compared to Archspire and First Fragment, this album is somewhat subtle, which is an admittedly odd description of technical death metal in the vein of Gorguts and Ulcerate, but is nonetheless a compliment. I love the 2021 releases from the the first three aforementioned bands, but sometimes you need to dial back the excess and tell a story with (relatively) more breathing room. Sunless is one of the big ones now! Favorite track: Forgotten (Remnants of Life).
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    All Willowtip merch available for the new Sunless album combined into one package saving you a few dollars and rewarding you for buying everything. In this package you get it all: the CD, the limited edition Splatter LP, and the Cassette, as well as the Ylem T-shirt, Longsleeve, and Hoodie.

    PLEASE NOTE - If you order a Superpack we will ship your LP separately when they arrive in Feb/March 2022. All of the other items will ship together. You will have two separate shipments and you'll receive tracking as they ship.

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1.
Untethered by notions of space and time Travelers find solace in new cosmic forces Enlightened by ideations of subsistence within this realm An innate sense of being Forged through discovery of unknown locales Carved from necessity Imposed by omnipotence Beyond this starlight Suspended in a subtle haze of azure Tiny ovular lanterns shine in clusters Flickering eyes amid the dismal landscape Through unintended observation Cryptographic patterns emerge
2.
Amassed beside forgotten chambers Peering into the cavernous void Of what was once occupied by spirits A remembrance of bygone generations Brought about by recent experience Ascended to fruition by esteemed magistrates Imparting phrenic transcendence
3.
Predated by millennia Of indeterminate conception Visceral reactions give light to moth-eaten traditions New encounters tell of stories hidden by time A greater understanding of this strange world arises Fabricated from incalculable origin Decaying visions of a once-thriving people Extinguished by unfavorable circumstances Mangled hearts on the hem of desolation Frozen in continuance An utter echo of existence Consigned to oblivion
4.
Atramentous 05:11
Nothingness Removal of all perceptible anything Luminosity vanished in millennia past Only in complete dissolution can true growth propagate From purity comes endless potential No longer hindered by universal constraints Proliferation awaits
5.
Thrust into unfamiliar dominion Broken bones A minuscule obstacle Overshadowed by current plight Sight taken Sonority resigned External stimuli abandoned Not given willingly But eliminated during displacement White knuckles ravaged by supersonic ideations Past exuberance consumed by a new reality
6.
Beneath the inner surface Of the outer terrestrial sphere Subterranean life forms flourish Both in stature and in mind Untouched by modern complications Inverted realities an equal but opposite pull Determined by immutable concepts etched in sediment Long buried by the sand and winds of time
7.
Elliptic curves, modulating against an ocean of black Lost amongst the giants, drifting aimlessly Gaseous forms pierced by speeding fragments of empyrean remnants Breaking ever further from experienced perception Physical laws fractured by gyrating vortices Dimensional abstractions exist in redundant layers Perpetual contortion
8.
Floating daggers and spinning cubic slabs rise above the body's surface Cuneiform manifests itself upon each of six sides A new timeline is written Radiation-soaked lacerations form characters in the forbidden stone Inscribed telepathically in serpentine patterns Spiraling endlessly away from their origin Previously unfathomable laws of nature materialize Universal governance upturned

about

Part two of a trilogy, Ylem builds upon the concept and lyrical theme of the band's independently released debut album, Urraca, by reinforcing the mysticism of the previous album while exploring new themes of displacement, fear, wonder, and transcendence. With the addition of a new drummer and an evolving approach to songwriting, SUNLESS further develops their signature sound with increasingly diverse, dense, and technical offerings.

Best consumed whole, the experience of Ylem is as harrowing as it is satisfying, one rife with dissonant melodies and complex rhythmic structures, certain to leave an indelible mark on the listener's psyche.

credits

released October 29, 2021

Mitch Schooler - Bass
Lucas Scott - Guitar and Vocals
Taylor Hamel - Drums

Engineered by Adam Tucker at Signaturetone Recording in Minneapolis, MN.

Mixed and mastered by Colin Marston at Menegroth, The Thousand Caves Studio in Queens, NY.

Album concept, lyrics, art, and design by Andrew Notsch (Hollowdusk) in New York, NY.

Recorded in the circumference of the Second Sixth Day MMXX.

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PREMIERES

Invisible Oranges (US)
www.invisibleoranges.com/sunless-unraveling-arcane-past/

"This is fascinating music -- inventive, intricate, unpredictable, dissonant, dangerous, and delirious, and yet damned addictive." - No Clean Singing (US)
www.nocleansinging.com/2021/10/04/an-ncs-premiere-sunless-ascended-forms/

"Without a doubt, Sunless – Ylem will be ranked as one of the best technical death metal releases of the year." - Metal Injection (US)
metalinjection.net/av/tech-death-tuesday/sunless-welcome-you-into-the-nightmare-realm-of-ylem

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REVIEWS

"Perfect in everything, in skill, in duration, in brutality, it is an absolute ten." - Retumba (Mexico) 10/10
rtmbmusic.com/reviews/6435/sunless-ylem

"Urraca had Sunless establishing themselves as one of the most exciting new faces in the world of dissonant and experimental death metal, and Ylem further solidifies that claim." - Heavy Blog Is Heavy (US)
www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2021/10/05/sunless-ylem/

"Off the charts when it comes to technicality, each track explores the widening breadth of Sunless’ capabilities." - Metal-Rules (Canada) 4/5
www.metal-rules.com/2021/10/01/sunless-ylem/

"Ylem is very attractive, almost enchanting, and will certainly appeal to those for whom idiosyncratic death metal makes the adrenaline flow faster." - Zware Metalen (The Netherlands/Belgium) 82/100
zwaremetalen.com/albumrecensies/sunless-ylem

"Highly recommended and again expanding extreme music" - Dargedik (Peru) 9.6/10
www.dargedik.com/2021/10/sunless-ylem-2021-resena.html

"When you think of dissonant death metal acts, there are certain pillars of the genre that come to mind: Gorguts, Ulcerate, Portal, and the like. With Ylem, Sunless is firmly cementing themselves as an outfit that deserves to be mentioned with those giants." - Noob Heavy (Australia)
noobheavy.com/sunless-ylem/

"Ylem is a seething mass of complex rhythms, dissonant melody, twisted atmosphere, and warped song structure. It is as impressive as it is incomprehensible, and yet this is no barrier to enjoyment; Sunless craft music that you don’t need to understand in order to get swept away by; its dissonant tides are strong." - Wonderbox Metal (UK)
wonderboxmetal.com/2021/10/27/sunless-ylem-review/

"Ylem [is] a well curated and highly proficient listening experience from an above-average specimen." - Grizzly Butts (US) 90/100
grizzlybutts.com/2021/10/28/sunless-ylem-2021-review/

"Ylem marks another expertly constructed opus of techy, dissonant, and progressive death from an immensely talented trio that shoot high and deliver on their lofty ambitions." - Angry Metal Guy (US) 4/5
www.angrymetalguy.com/sunless-ylem-review/

"Focused songwriting drives the stark, unflinching atmosphere into your memory, and repeated listens reveal subtle harmonies and grooves you didn't catch the first time around." - MetalBite (US) 8.5/10
metalbite.com/news/12840/metalbites-top-10-albums-of-the-month-october-2021

"One of the most cleverly written death metal record of the year. "Ylem" is unwieldy and complex, but fascinating and compelling all along." - Everything Is Noise
www.facebook.com/EverythingIsNoise/posts/the-weekly-recs-october-29-2021-well-that-was-no-surprise-monitoring-release-sch/6614530735231435/

"In this genre of music, it is incredibly difficult to play with the type of conviction and maturity that Sunless do. [Ylem] really is one of the strongest releases of 2021." - Teeth of the Divine (US)
www.teethofthedivine.com/reviews/sunless-ylem/

"Ylem is a gobsmacking feat of progressive death metal songwriting... Their debut album Uracca was a thoroughly brilliant record, but Ylem ups the ante in every way... Sunless don’t get talked about often enough. As far as progressive and dissonant death metal goes there are few bands that are as capable, elastic, and captivating." - Heavy Blog Is Heavy, Death's Door (US)
www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2021/11/10/deaths-door-november-2021/

"Llenos de ritmos extraños, arreglos insanos y estructuras demenciales, son dirigidos por una voz rasgada chillona e histérica, con la que van desfilando uno a uno los diferentes cortes, con una intensidad asombrosa, sin par y además, sin un sólo segundo de descanso." - Necromance (Spain) 8/10
necromance.eu/sunless-usa-ylem/

"With Ylem, Sunless delivers a thorough lesson on how to make dissonant death metal as fascinating and enthralling as humanly possible... Sunless has produced one of the most fascinating efforts in their musical realm in recent memory, and it’s worth every single split second you put into listening to it... Ylem is simply put an astonishing album that shouldn’t fly under anyone’s radar." - Everything Is Noise
everythingisnoise.net/reviews/sunless-ylem/

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INTERVIEWS

Noob Heavy (Australia)
noobheavy.com/interview-sunless-from-the-united-states-progressive-death-metal/

LiveMusicToday (US)
livemusictoday.com/2021/11/interview-sunless/

Dreams of Consciousness (Malaysia)
www.dreamsofconsciousness.com/2021/11/203-sunless.html

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Sunless Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cosmic death metal from Minneapolis, MN on Willowtip Records.

Mitch Schooler
Lucas Scott
Taylor Hamel

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