SELBST
TOM O’BOYLE
Relatos De Angustia
DEBEMUR MORTI PRODUCTIONS
Epic black metal introspection from the tortured heart of South America
Selbst access the hearts other black metal bands cannot reach
SOUTH AMERICA IS generally better known for its gleefully nasty take on blackened thrash than it is for highbrow black metal. One-man army (although a four-piece band for touring purposes) Selbst is about to readdress that balance with second full-length release, Relatos De Angustia (‘Stories Of Anguish’). After forming the band as a two-piece in 2010, multi-instrumentalist N chose to go solo, escaping the socio-economic turmoil in his native Venezuela and relocated to Santiago, Chile where he continues to operate alone - appropriate for a band whose moniker references philosopher Carl Jung’s individualist concept of the self. It ties in nicely to the mournful introspection that characterises much of Relatos De Angustia, from the consternated dissonance of opener Praeludium bleeding into Deafening Wailing Of The Desperate Ones’ staccato riffs and the keening, trebly leads of The Depths Of Selfishness.