Skagos has released the A-side (which the band describes as the first three movements) of their upcoming album "An-Archic." The side is one 23 minute song, which could easily be split up into three songs. They released it via Bandcamp where it is available free for streaming and $2.50 for download. One blogger said that it was a paying download in order for the band to raise funds to be able to release the album in physical format, which is scheduled to be released on the 21st of June.

I have to say that I really enjoy the song. I hear a strong post-rock influence, but thankfully its not the kind of generic post-rock that seems so common these days. The black metal doesn't seem as heavy as the first album, but it is still very enjoyable; the clean back up vocals make for an interesting contrast. Its unfortunate we have to wait so long for the rest of the album, but I suspect the wait will be well worth it. Apparently the guy from L'acephale is supposed to be an instrumental guess, which should be pretty good. Here's the link to the track: http://skagos.bandcamp.com/album/anarchic

Meh. I don't get the hype with this band. This song just meanders. More post rock than black metal, and lacks balls. Not bad at all, it just sounds boring to me.

Then again, I am little biased towards this type of stuff these days. All the post black metal bands sort of meld together in my mind. The riffs are so unmemorable and all very similar. I will say Skagos is one of the better bands in this overcrowded and fairly lackluster genre (in my view at least).

Best news I've heard all year! I wish I was still living in the Northwest so I could have a slightly better chance of seeing them live.

Not nearly as good as Ast or the Panopticon split I think, I agree that it seems to meander. The really long intro put me off too, it wasn't interesting as say, the intro to "Anamnesis" off the Panopticon split. I still may pick this up, definitely better than I was anticipating.

Checked this out a few days ago, very interesting; it seems almost like a 50/50 split between Black Metal and Post-Rock, with a bit less folk than most Skagos material. Don't like it as much as "Ast" or the split w/ Panopticon, but I've also only heard it a few times, and the releases I'm comparing it to are two of the very best things I've ever heard, and I still found that part of "An-Archic" to be pretty excellent (and it's certainly great that they aren't just rehashing older material).

I love Skagos. This didn't like it would change that.

Yeah, I do kind of agree that this isn't quite as good as the Ast and Panopticon split, but anyone who's read my reviews of those two albums know that I think both are absolutely incredible. I really love the post-rock. Its quite original compared to the 90% of post-rock that follows the same overdone formula. I do agree that the black metal lacks the bite of their previous material. Its still good, but for black metal its really not heavy at all. The thing I loved so much about their previous releases was the balance between the lighter non-metal stuff and aggressive heaviness. Hopefully the other side has some heavier material.

Still, I can't wait for this to come out, definitely going to buy it on vinyl. I'm also exited about the other stuff they are planing to release, which is a lot. Besides Anarchic, they plan to release a primitive sounding non-metal album a folk ep, an LP featuring their side of the split with Tomhet including a new song and possibly even a soundtrack to a film. I'm very interested in hearing this new material when it comes out.

Edit - Skagos has just announced they have finished recording a new song entitled "Bloodwords" for the 'Himmelszelt' LP (the one with all the tracks from the Tomhet split on it.)

Skagos just uploaded movements IV and V to their bandcamp, with movements VI and VII to be released upon the album's release.

http://skagos.bandcamp.com/

Sounds gorgeous! I love the mellower side of skagos. This is very far from their previous full length, but that is great that they aren't going to make the same albums twice, and it's great to hear their sound progressing and getting ever more interesting. It seems like kind of half black metal, half non-metal. I always wondered what they would sound without metal elements, I also wondered how they would sound in a new full length. In a sense this album is what all my anticipation is coming down too, and I think that's pretty cool.

Well I was going to go to bed, but I think I have to listen to this.

Edit - Alright the first ten minutes are fucking weird. That narrative was kind of strange, but nothing compared to the clean vocals. I don't even know how to describe them - kind of hoarse and nasally, even a bit witch-like. They are really bizarre and I don't know how I feel about them. The rest of the song is pretty cool, a great atmosphere, great production on the drums, which they never really had before. I'm surprised to see black metal completely omitted from this song.

Believe it or not the "weird" vocals during the monologue sound very similar to "Tallest Man on Earth" if anyone of you guys listen to some folk music. Both have the same kind of raspy voice. I found that very interesting.

I really like the vocals on movements IV and V, though they do seem to weaken a little bit as the song goes on. I'm really looking forward to the final release of the album.