Track Premiere: Negative Vortex – “The Burning Orb”

There’s no faulting California-via-Brazil duo Negative Vortex for their ambition. The pair—M. Feschner (guitars/vocals), Libra (drums/bass/guitars/keyboards/sound design)—are making their recorded debut with a sprawling 54-minute double album that will surely cement their reputation for aiming high. We’re premiering the fifth cut, “The Burning Orb,” from the bold release, and even within this track, Feschner and Libra’s ample musical ambitions are evident. The seven-minute crusher opens with a black metal blast only to segue into a Celtic Frost- and Cathedral-inspired doom grind. It further alternates between the two before settling into a quiet ambient passage with some lines from Shakespeare’s Macbeth voiced over the soundscape. More Cathedral-esque grandiosity returns, and the “The Burning Orb” ultimately ends with an unadorned piano passage at its close.

“The Burning Orb” is one of nine tracks on Tomb Absolute, which was produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Libra at 13Eighteen Studios in Hollywood, California. In addition to the work of Feschner and Libra, the album features guest appearances Nick Holmes (Paradise Lost/Bloodbath), Kam Lee (Massacre), Moyses Koslene (Krisiun), Leon del Muerte (Impaled/Terrorizer L.A.), Vik (Whipstriker), and Caleb Bingham (Athanasia). Tomb Absolute is set for release on vinyl, CD, cassette and digitally on January 20 via Sentient Ruin. You can place your preorders here.

Here’s what the band had to say about the track:

“This song is a perfect example of the collaboration between M.Feschner and Libra, where they brought a wider scope of influences to the table. Libra chose to write some of the riffs based on his own interpretation of M. Feschner’s lyrics, in which he describes (in a metaphor about a dystopian end of the universe), someone’s breaking point. And that, sometimes, we need to hit “rock bottom” to be able to realize we have our own “light.” A lot of people out there suffer from depression and low self-esteem, so even when you feel like your universe is collapsing around you, always remember that your “burning orb” can still shine a light.”