Panopticon is one of the few elite American black metal bands that makes sense to me. Some bands get so caught in the whole misanthropy-mid-tempo-repetitive thing that they just lose any sense of urgency or tension in their music. What we have here is a different story altogether. Hailing from Kentucky, this one-man project is set to release an album on Flenser, a new label out of San Francisco. The vinyl version is special in that it features a cover of the Amebix track “Beginning of the End,” with the band’s own vocalist Rob Miller making an appearance. If you can dig dark, melodic black metal with some unexpected twists and turns, this is your shit. Get on it.

On a side note, Flenser is an awesome label. Some releases are original, some are re-releases of hard-to-find albums or whatnot. At the moment, they have or are working on putting out music by Palace of Worms, Ghast, and Dead as Dreams.

Download a sample HERE.

Preorder the vinyl HERE.