Austin (TX) – Otherworldly Black/Death Metal project SARPA, featuring David Baxter (drummer of Plutonian Shore, ex-Skrew, ex-Škan), have premiered forthcoming EP Mauta Tala, courtesy of No Clean Singing. Viist the link below to stream the EP and read the review!
nocleansinging.com/2023/02/15/an-ncs-ep-premiere-and-a-review-sarpa-mauta-tala/
SARPA will release Mauta Tala on February 17. Pre-orders are available via Bandcamp: sarpa6.bandcamp.com/album/mauta-tala
“Sarpa‘s new EP will leave most listeners bewildered and bedazzled, addled yet addicted. In the shell of an even smaller nut, these death rhythms are a hell of a lot of surprising fun.”
– No Clean Singing
“Blackened death metal of epic proportions.”
– World of Metal
“The blackened death metal Baxter puts forth here is out of this world compared to many others on the scene today. With three tracks clocking in around 26 minutes, you may tap the repeat button repeatedly.”
– Metal-Rules
“The album will challenge your conventions, and stimulate your mind and thought process.”
– Metal Temple
“A dazzling feat of stylistic engineering sits alongside an iron clad compositional discipline. One of the very few releases to come out in the last five years or so that demands of us a new vocabulary in order to even furnish it with curation.”
– Hate Meditations
“Aggressiveness, complexity and a soothing mystical calmness. With Mauta Tala, the band develops a surprising and soaring atmosphere.”
– Acta Infernalis
“Mauta Tala may only be three cuts but stretches out to twenty five minutes. By no means an afterthought or a stop gap of any kind, and is instead something that approaches the Avant-Garde without fear of violent retribution.”
– Metal Noise
Mauta Tala translates to “Death Rhythm” from the ancient Sanskrit language. Baxter wanted to write a completely chaotic song, followed by a more mellow, yet still dark sounding passage. Day and night. Sun and moon. The music was mostly influenced by the time he spent out in the American Southwest desert, which is why it includes the sandstorms and other related sounds. The EP starts with the storm, which blows in the chaos, then ends with the storm, after which the music gets swallowed back up into the void.
Track Listing:
- Arcane Rites – Tohu Wa Bohu
- Necropoleis of the Nebulous Deserts
- It Looms
Credits:
All instruments and voices by David Baxter
Mixed and mastered at Trepan Studios by Tony Petrocelly.
Engineered by Tony Petrocelly and David Baxter.
Drums recorded and engineered by Clifton Miles at Stone Creek Sound.
BIO:
While primarily embedded in the essence of black/death metal, Sarpa throws other ingredients, such as industrial, prog rock, thrash, and all around weirdness, into the pot. The debut album Solivagus (2020) was written and performed by David Baxter (drummer of Plutonian Shore, ex-Skrew, ex-Škan) on all instruments/voices in various studios in Central Texas in 2019. The album was mixed and mastered by Tony Petrocelly of Trepan Studios.
Based out of Central Texas, Sarpa was born in 2018, after Baxter decided to venture forth with a solo record, and began writing furiously. After performing many shows/festivals across North America and Europe with the previously mentioned bands over the years, the dawning of this new solo entity came forth. In early 2023 a new EP entitled Mauta Tala will be released independently to the masses. With new music on the horizon, Sarpa will continue to unchain the hearts of the fireborn.
