Mihi

Lake of Fire

Damn the Sky

Beastwars are the result of a barbaric and brutal world sliding into the abyss. When we see war and disaster surrounding us on all sides. When half-truths and hidden agendas lurk behind every act of the world’s eroding empires. And when all these things are channelled into righteous and commanding music.

 Music that embodies the apocalyptic feeling of these end times - primal, hypnotic, and just plain fucking heavy. The fire and the fury acknowledge gloomy futures while simultaneously offering a temporary escape from our grim present.

 On this, their first record, Beastwars distil all these things into a sequence of songs that unfolds like the most of hellish of headlines. Kill the volume on the stream of airstrikes, calamities and mankind’s meltdowns rolling across your television screen and you’ll discover the band’s heavy howls create an eerily apocalyptic soundtrack to the events of the day.

 There are familiar elements in what Beastwars do - this is the sound of four people with lungs, guitars and drums after all. You can throw names like The Jesus Lizard, Black Sabbath and Kyuss around, but that doesn’t entirely sum things up. This is metal of mettle born from the most bestial characteristics.

 The word’s been getting out about the potency of their live shows - something Beastwars have captured on record in heightened fidelity.

 This is the product of two very different environments. Recorded with Dale Cotton (HDU, Dimmer, Die! Die! Die!) in four and half of the greyest Dunedin winter days before being sent to sunny California to be mastered by John Golden (Melvins, Sonic Youth, Faith No More, High on Fire). This untitled debut displays an instinct for furious moods and doom-laden dynamics.

 The music is wrapped in the mind-melting artwork of Weta Workshop conceptual designer Nick Keller. Keller has lent his vision to Narnia, Avatar and The Hobbit and now, for Beastwars, has created imagery so otherworldly it perfectly reflects the music within. His two huge oil paintings presented on gatefold vinyl give the listener something tangible to clutch as the music inside threatens to take you to the world it depicts.

 Beastwars is released on LP, CD and Digitally Monday 9th May 2011 through Destroy Records. The band will be playing shows throughout New Zealand in May.

 

Beastwars

Popular tracks