As far as I’m concerned, Ash Borer are maybe the most exciting act in American black metal today; their 2012 Profound Lore LP, Cold Of Ages, landed at No. 6 on our list of last year’s best metal albums, but I sincerely believe it was the sound of a band displaying their potential, not yet realizing it. As I wrote about the band prior to the release of Cold Of Ages: Because of their Cascadian roots and tendency toward songs that rarely clock in at less than double digits, Ash Borer are often compared to Olympia, WA’s Wolves In The Throne Room. But the Arcata, CA quartet remind me more of another NoCal band: USBM progenitors Weakling, from San Francisco (who are often noted as WITTR’s primary influence, too). Like Weakling, Ash Borer deal in expressive, dynamic guitars and haunted, harrowing screams, all layered beneath clouds of feedback squall and hiss. The band is releasing a new 12″ in April, to coincide with a European tour, and we’ve got one of the record’s tracks here now, “Oblivion’s Spring.” Check it out.

Ash Borer’s “Bloodlands” 12″ is out 4/15 via Gilead Media.