Sometimes, it’s brilliant to be blindsided. Few outfits get to step out into the world with a fully-formed vision, but with their staggering debut album Order Of The Mind, not only have Atlanta’s Irist done exactly that, but they’re already drawing comparisons to the deep darkness of metal heavyweights such as Gojira, Mastodon and Meshuggah. The time to take notice is now.
Fittingly, according to vocalist Rodrigo Carvalho, for his band, intensity is everything. “The rhythms are intense,” he grins. “The melodies are intense. The lyrics are incredibly intense. Our choice of words, our symbology, our imagery; it’s very deep, very heavy. I’m not sure we could write something chilled, even if we wanted to.”