Blast Worship: Ixias

Where they from?
Washington, D.C. Did you know that Washington remained the capitol of the Union during the American Civil War only at the personal assistance of president Abraham Lincoln? After the shocking Union defeat at the battle of the First Bull Run, demoralized union troops were wandering the streets of D.C., which influenced Lincoln’s decision to shore up the city’s defenses and civic infrastructure, turning what was essentially a small colonial style city into a modern civic capitol, which it remains today.

What do they sound like?
D.C. fried Discordance Axis with mince-production quality.

Why the hype?
First of all, happy post-MDF weekend, everyone. Though I was a little disappointed in the lack of grind/pv present in the lineup this year, there still were some Blast Worship favorites (Ground, Endorphins Lost, Hummingbird of Death) to grace the hallowed beer-soaked stage enough to make it worth the trip.

And, yes, I am fully aware that I covered a band from D.C. last week, but honestly, this three minute demo definitely piqued my interest way more than any other album in my library of potential bands to spotlight. First of all, I love when harsh production is done well and the paper-thin reverb here is executed perfectly to exacerbate the overall severity of everything being done by the musicians here. That, and this band sounds like Discordance Axis at times but doesn’t venture into the territory of blatant worship, instead opting to use the influence selectively while keeping the overall focus on just killing you with intensity. Oh, and the vocals kinda remind me of spooky black metal.

Latest release?
Demo 2019. So what happened was a few months ago they released this four-song demo and I was like, “cool,” but then a a couple of weeks later, they released the finalized version of the demo, which was just the same exact recording but LOUDER and I was like “COOL.” Maybe all bands should try this?

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