Photo courtesy of Sea BastardSea Bastard hails from Brighton, an English seaside town known for its artsy vibe, thriving LBGT community, and preponderance of overflowing Victorian cemeteries. The presence of the latter helps to explain why so many desperately despondent metal bands spill forth from the area—when you grow up surrounded by death, you're probably going to internalize at least a bit of that morbidity. In Sea Bastard's case, they take that rotting, sepulchral ocean air and filter it down into a pool of swamp water and gravemold, bathing the whole wretched concoction in sludge and distortion.Their side of an upcoming split with 12" Californnia's excellently heavy Keeper features one tense, punishing track's worth of murderous sludge, centered around a central riff as deadly as a midnight riptide dragging innocents out to sea. The release itself is truly a community affair, seeing a co-release between Dry Cough Records, Black Reaper Records, Medusa Crush Recordings, and Tadpole Records on January 31st. Listen to "Astral Birth" below.Kim Kelly is swept away on Twitter.