Title: Empyrean Atrophy
Catalog number: ARmlp028
Format: 12"LP (black)
Genre: Death Metal
Origin: U.S.A.
Release date: 2018
Availability: Order here
Regular black vinyl + digital download code.
CAST THE STONE is Mark Kloeppel (Misery Index, Scour with Phil Anselmo), Derek Engemann (ex-Cattle Decapitation, Scour), Jesse Schobel (Legend, ex-Scour) and vocalist Andrew Huskey. First formations of the band began in 2002, long before its protagonists departed for their better known metal-scene mainstays. While such ties leave a clear mark, CAST THE STONE emerge not as some metal supergroup, but as a project of the original and purest intent of its membership.
Each of CAST THE STONE members is involved in writing music, and each has varying tastes. But they all seem to have one acquired taste in common: an appetite for American and Swedish death metal. On "Empyrean Atrophy", one can distinctly hear sounds similar to Dismember, Grave, At The Gates, and other proponents of the genre. There are also artisan elements one could liken to more dark and progressive Swedish acts such as Opeth, Edge Of Sanity and Dissection. Perhaps this reason alone, Dan Swanö was a clear choice for production (having produced or had been a member of some of the aforementioned bands).
"Empyrean Atrophy" was produced by Dan Swanö (Katatonia, Merciless, Edge Of Sanity) and features cover artwork by Gary Ronaldson of Bite Radius Designs (Primordial, Kreator, Napalm Death). It includes five new, original compositions and a cover of Infestdead's "Jesusatan".
Tracklist:
1. As the Dead Lie
2. The Burning Horizon
3. Standing in the Shadows
4. A Plague of Light
5. Empyrean Atrophy
6. Jesusatan