Cape of Bats - Olcott Rites II Tape

Since their first 7" EP, Translyvania, Cape of Bats have been rather busy putting out new releases. They have released an awesome split 7" with AVM, appeared on the Classified Resistance compilation as well as releasing some solo tapes. Early in 2012 they released their own tape called Olcott Rites. Sadly I happened to miss out on this one, but right towards the end of last year they released the follow up, Olcott Rites II. I knew this would sell out pretty quick once again, but I did manage to secure myself a copy. And it sure doesn't disappoint.

The tape consists of four brand new COB tracks, totalling to just over 14 minutes. If you have heard anything from these guys before (and why wouldn't you have), then you should be familiar with their dirty style of punk infused black metal. What is actually a bloody treat though is the instrumental parts to the tracks Totenkrowpf // Ravyngrave and 122 Hours ov Fear (Screamers). These create an incredibly creepy atmosphere and just work perfectly with the other noisy tracks. The latter of these two is also my favourite on the release, as the instrumental blends into the rest of the track so very well.

Aside from the awesome tracks, the packaging is quite interesting with this release too. Usually tapes comes in a rather standard plastic case, but this came in a much bigger (almost like a scaled down DVD case) with the tape clipping in the bottom left. I really like this as it allows for bigger artwork and an overall more interesting package design. The tape itself is clear purple, which goes well with what lies behind it....

What is even better than the case though is the awesome poster that comes along with the tape. It is a screen printed extension of the tape artwork on purple card. The level of detail is immense, and it is almost a pity that more of these won't be printed. Only 31 copies of the release were produced, so this is really something quite special.

Unfortunately that does mean that most of you won't be able to get your hands on one of these. However the band is kind enough to put the whole tape up on their bandcamp page free of charge.