Today, Helter Skelter Productions (distributed & marketed by Regain Records) announces May 12th as the international release date for Warcoe‘s striking debut album, The Giant’s Dream, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Warcoe are a power-trio hailing from Italy, that land rich in doomed materials. Naturally, Warcoe honor their national identity with a ’70s-entrenched vision of pure DOOM METAL as first laid out by Ozzy-era Black Sabbath. In fact, in vocalist/guitarist Stefano Fiorelli, you will not find a more uncanny Ozzy doppelganger.
Warcoe began their journey in 2021, first with a couple digital singles and then an EP, all of which coalesced into their debut album, The Giant’s Dream. Likewise released digitally, The Giant’s Dream was also self-released on CDR and tape in true DIY fashion. So smitten with these authentically vintage vibes, Helter Skelter is now releasing The Giant’s Dream on CD and vinyl with hopes of spreading the Warcoe name far and wide.
Indeed, that should be simple enough given the strength of The Giant’s Dream‘s songwriting and charisma. No more but definitely no less, Warcoe here brew up a thick ‘n’ heady potion of hard-rocking proto-metal, warm in tone but definitely supernatural in aura. True, that spectre of classic Sabbath looms large across The Giant’s Dream, but the trio manage to massage new sensations from that eternal archetype whilst staying reverent. Thus, it’s not inaccurate to liken Warcoe to immediate Sabbathian progeny like Witchfinder General and Trouble – very esteemed company, to be sure. Your “new” old-doom trip begins here!
In the meantime, stream the album in its entirety here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Warcoe’s The Giant’s Dream 1. Giant’s Dream 2. Cats Will Follow 3. Omega Sunrise 4. Fire and Snow 5. Winternaut 6. Thieves, Heretics and Whores 7. Scars Will Remain 8. Church of Void
Today, Helter Skelter Productions (distributed & marketed by Regain Records) announces a partnership with cult kings Beastmaker for an extensive reissue campaign of the band’s many (and crucial) EP releases. In lieu of this announcement, Beastmaker also confirm that they have returned from their self-imposed hiatus and will be recording new music and playing shows again – as always, on their own terms.
Formed in 2014, Beastmaker began with a flurry of activity and only intensified that activity over the next five years. Following two demos and an EP, the power-trio then released two albums – Lusus Naturae (2016) and Inside the Skull (2017) – through Lee Dorrian’s esteemed Rise Above Records. Naturally, that pairing proved fruitful, for Beastmaker were indeed cut from a doomed cloth, but Beastmaker founder Trevor Church (who’d soon form the equally prolific Haunt) showed he had so much more to his vision than sticking within scene boundaries. Thereafter, between 2017 and 2019, the band released a staggering 11 EPs before breaking up, with another EP – Body and Soul – released posthumously in 2020.
Now, longtime fans Helter Skelter Productions step forward to reissue this goldmine of Beastmaker godliness on all formats. The reissue campaign will include Body and Soul joined with the bonus material on the Who Is This? compilation, thereby making it a full-length, and which will be released on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats. Then, EP. 1 and EP. 2 will be joined together on CD and tape formats, followed by the pairings of EP. 3 and EP. 4, EP. 5 and EP. 6, EP. 7 and EP. 8, and finally EP. 9 and EP. 10: thus, full-length releases for all, and each on vinyl and tape formats. All ten of these EPs will also be available on a special 5CD boxset. This reissue campaign is tentatively slated to start in April and then conclude by November; release dates and preorder info to be revealed in time.
A statement from Church reads as follows: “I’m very excited to announce that the EP collection from Beastmaker will see a new pressing from Helter Skelter / Regain Records. This collection of work shows the artistic vision of horror I had writing in my home studio during 2015-2018. I was watching so many old horror movies during these times to inspire the song craftsmanship. Mario Bava always a huge inspiration in my music. The imagery of poster lobby cards also played a part of the writing process during these times. I’ve booked a festival for 2024, and Beastmaker will rise from the coffin once again. Thanks to all the fans that have supported us during our hiatus. We are not gone! Rather, we have descended further underground waiting for the right time.”
Today, Shadow Kingdom Records announces January 27th, 2023 as the international release date for Iron Void‘s highly anticipated fourth album, IV, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats. “Slow and steady wins the race,” and so it is the same in the doom scene. Iron Void was originally formed by Jonathan “Sealey” and Andy Whittaker (Solstice, The Lamp of Thoth) in 1998 in order to create an old-school doom metal band, worshiping at the altar of doom legends such as Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Pentagram, etc. The band re-formed in 2008, and proceeded to release a live album, an EP, and a digital single, each exactly two years apart, before delivering their self-titled debut album in 2014. The Doomsday follow-up came a year later, with 2018’s critically acclaimed Excalibur arriving via new label home Shadow Kingdom.
Consolidating Iron Void‘s position as proud ‘n’ pure purveyors of dependable doom metal is the aptly titled fourth album, IV. This new record sees the arrival of “new” drummer Scott Naylor, who’s actually been with the band since 2018, and who’s renown for his work in Reign of Erebus, Heathen Deity, and Atra Mors among others. Together, this new-look power-trio look back to the old, to Iron Void‘s roots, and create a stripped-down DOOM METAL album. Whereas Excalibur had a concept encompassing the historical past and legend, IV by contrast takes a long, hard look at everyday matters: real-world themes that are darker and more tangible, particularly in these days of Covid-19 and political unrest across all nations. Musically, Iron Void match form to content with direct, hard-hitting doom steeped in the old school, but they’re equally adept at varying their dynamics whilst retaining their core sound. Like many bands during these dark days, Iron Void had to write the whole album remotely during lockdown using file-sharing software, something Sealey says was admittedly “probably the hardest record to write” since they’d never previously done such before. However, the recorded results of IV burst with energy and personality, proving that these old dogs are anything but tired!
No other words needed: Iron Void are doom metal maniacs, for doom metal maniacs. IV is your unlucky number!
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Grave Dance”
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Iron Void’s IV 1. Call Of The Void 2. Grave Dance 3. Living On The Earth 4. Pandora’s Box 5. Blind Dead 6. She 7. Lords Of The Wasteland 8. Slave One 9. Last Rites
Blackened Death Doom outfit STRIGOI are now proudly releasing their brand new single ‘An Ocean of Blood’, which is taken from the band’s upcoming album “Viscera”. The track can now be listened to here:
The album is set for worldwide release on September 30, 2022 via Season of Mist and can already be pre-saved HERE. Pre-orders are still live HERE.
STRIGOI comment: “We chose this track as the third single taken from our new album VISCERA due to it’s almost cinematic take on the internal and external conflict of existence. A transformational journey into the bloodshed and horror of the human condition.”
The cover artwork for ‘Viscera’, which has been created by Brian Sheehan of Legerdemain Art, can be found below along with the track-list and further album details.
Track-list 1. United in Viscera (6:44) 2. King of All Terror (2:38) [LISTEN] 3. An Ocean of Blood (4:13) [WATCH] 4. Napalm Frost (2:26) 5. Hollow (6:20) [WATCH] 6. A Begotten Son (3:51) 7. Bathed in a Black Sun (4:19) 8. Byzantine Tragedy (5:28) 9. Redeemer (2:38) 10. Iron Lung (7:55) Total: 46:32
Unsettling: it’s a word which can be used to describe a good swathe of the music which has come from the mind of Greg Mackintosh over the years, but in the context of Strigoi, it feels particularly apt.
Formed immediately after previous side project Vallenfyre had run its course, Strigoi found Greg and Vallenfyre bassist Chris Casket reconfiguring the aesthetics of that band. Their 2019 debut, Abandon All Faith, was a notable transition, taking the crust punk, death metal and grind influences which had defined Vallenfyre and deriving from those an extreme music amalgam which was altogether more…well, unsettling.
But if Abandon All Faith was a record where the memory of Vallenfyre exerted an inevitable, but important, influence, then second album Viscera is where Strigoi define and express themselves on their own terms.
“It’s the second album and we’re pushing those limits,” says Chris Casket. “The longer songs are longer; the shorter songs are shorter. It’s fully realising the concept. When we did the first album, there were certain expectations as we were coming from Vallenfyre. I felt that it was a really good transition from one to the other. But I feel that with this record, it’s more of a fully fleshed out concept. It’s pushing the light and shade further out.”
“The first album was us giving it its own identity separate from Vallenfyre, even though it’s kind of an obvious continuation, in a way,” adds Greg. “But with Viscera, it’s a combination of pushing the envelope a little bit, making it a bit less raw. Because, we had done that to the Nth degree with Vallenfyre. I’d also say there’s a bit of sound design in there, too, to make it very creepy and, yes, unsettling, sound wise.”
With Covid thwarting Strigoi’s plans to do shows to promote Abandon All Faith, Greg and Chris used the down-time to work on what would eventually become Viscera.
“We have a strange way of working,” says Chris. “I will send words, prose, whatever it may be to Greg. He likes that process, because he reads what I’ve written and it inspires the music he comes up with. I’ve never worked that way before. But that and the added time we had, the space away from things, is what I think has made Viscera what it is.”
Greg adds, “If it’s a song where Chris’ lyrics sound angry, I’ll do a song that’s more, I guess, grounded in the essence of early grindcore. Something that expresses that mood. But if it’s something more sombre or unnerving, then I’ll start with a bit of sound design and work towards riffs. I’ve always thought of music in terms of visuals, and that might come from the lyrics. The last song on the album, ‘Iron Lung’, for example: I actually said to Chris that I had an idea for a song where it feels that you can’t breathe, that it feels like you’ve got a weight on your chest. And the result is probably the toughest going song on the record to get through. But I think it does get that across.”
Viscera, then, clearly defines the Strigoi sound and vision – as Chris says, it’s a “mix tape of misery” and points at ways in which the band may develop in the years ahead.
“I get bored easily,” Greg laughs. “I’ve got a very short attention span. I love doom metal, I love funeral doom, crust punk, grindcore…all these things. But usually after two songs of each I’m thinking, ‘Right, what’s next?’ And that’s my problem, but it does determine what this band and this music is like.”
“There’s not much light on this record at all. If there’s any, it’s there just to emphasise how dark the shade is, really. And what I loved about early death metal, which is when I got into it, is that everything had its own feel back then. That was at the back of my mind the whole time when making Viscera – that I wanted to give it its own feel. But the listeners are going to have to decide whether that was successful or not.”
Today, Me Saco Un Ojo Records and Dark Descent Records announce September 15th as the international release date for Dead Void‘s highly anticipated debut album, Volatile Forms, on vinyl LP and CD formats, respectively.
After some silence since their magnificent demo, Dead Void return from the depths to bestow a crushing debut LP upon us. Drawing in on doomy yet certainly not-meek atmospherics, the sheer monstrous tone of which will pin you to the wall, it is clear this is something unwieldy. Murmuring bass seeps through buzzing guitars in a manner that sounds profoundly unwelcoming, while the daunting vocals and crashing drums give no alleviation from the bludgeoning force. While the hostile and claustrophobic sounds of the record cannot be ignored, equally impactful are the grooves which hit like a hammer of pure malice when carefully spliced with the caverns of eerily contorting death metal. When the pounding drums break through the guitars, they have a real hard tone, while the seeping filth of the strings is not overshadowed. Clearly, the three demos and spacing between have allowed the band to develop into the best version of themselves, as on this debut album, we hear a refined-but-unpolished and inhospitable cut of truly awesome music take form.
Moving forth, the hooks, the grooves, and the expanses of doom and desolation all conjure something inescapable and dread-tinged while the malignant hammering of pure old-school violence is not lost or forgotten, as warped riffs and blastbeats meet gutturally spewed vocals and occasional lead oddities. Contrasting often-nuanced moments with an assault of bestial ferocity, there is no predictability or obvious pattern – rather, a chaotic and honest approach to all of the songs. These tracks move in a lumbering fashion with organically composed structures while not feeling formulaic or running in circles with the same idea. Dead Void fantastically curate their most vile elements into a cohesive and ultimately expansive experience that takes the promise shown on the demos to unfathomable new heights. This is not simple or easily pigeonholed death metal to follow a tiny niche; this is barbarity, extremity, and atmospherics in death metal contorted to a whole new template of their own, which isn’t followed easily, but this defining debut album certainly makes the vision clear, for those who seek it in the murk.
Mark the day, for it shall be your last, when you hear Dead Void‘s definitively obliterating debut album. Additionally, catch their album launch show at Loppen in Copenhagen on August 26th. (text by Jørgen Sven Kirby, Nattskog webzine)
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Perpetually Circling the Void” here:
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Dead Void’s Volatile Forms 1. Atrophy [9:41] 2. The Entrails of Chaos [6:16] 3. Sadistic Mind [8:03] 4. The Reptilian Drive [9:00] 5. Perpetually Circling the Void [11:01]
Finnish funeral doom icons Shape of Despair are now premiering their entire new album ‘Return to the Void’. The record will be released tomorrow, February 25 via Season of Mist.
Listen to the new album here:
‘Return to the Void’ is available in the Season of Mist shop on CD and vinyl HERE. The album will be available on all digital streaming platforms tomorrow. Add the album to your library HERE
The cover artwork which was created by Mariusz Krystew. It can be found below together with the tracklist.
Tracklist: 1. Return To The Void (09:14) 2. Dissolution (08:59) 3. Solitary Downfall (11:06) 4. Reflection In Slow Time (08:08) 5. Forfeit (08:00) 6. The Inner Desolation (11:48) Total: 0:57:15
Finnish funeral doom icons SHAPE OF DESPAIR return from the wintry Nordic gloom on their new album, Return to the Void. Between the success of the majestically downtrodden Monotony Fields (2015) and today, the members of SHAPE OF DESPAIR have been composing (glacially) and otherwise ensconced writing/performing with their other projects like FINNTROLL, IMPALED NAZARENE, THROES OF DAWN, and COUNTING HOURS. The Finns have never been or found the need to be prolific, however. The race into the cold darkness is a contemplatively unhurried task. Return to the Void is musically and thematically that same journey, one of perpetual solitude and aching hopelessness, driven straight into the heart of frigid twilight. As ever, this is cheerless music for sunless days.
“Not long after Monotony Fields, I started composing for Return to the Void,” says guitarist/founding member Jarno Salomaa. “At first, the title song sounded too primitive. I thought I would make a solo album out of it, but after a while, the song reminded me of older RAVEN material. Naturally and eventually, it started to feel like a SHAPE OF DESPAIR song.”
SHAPE OF DESPAIR was formed out of the ashes of RAVEN in Helsinki in 1998. Actually, the transformation into the present-day moniker wasn’t as violent as it sounds. A simple name change—initiated by Salomaa—coincided with the Finns’ developing predilection for protracted if icy metal. SHAPE OF DESPAIR’s grand debut, Shades of… (2000), was proof that the fledgling sextet’s stately doom was already ascendant. From there, the Helsinkians morphed in membership but continued their funereal march into legend with Angels of Distress (2001) and Illusion’s Play (2004) before hibernating for almost a decade. While Return to the Void is the natural follow-up to Monotony Fields and represents over six years of songwriting development, the main narrative (and indeed the timely return of drummer Samu Ruotsalainen) is rooted in the past.
“Return to the Void isn’t the follow-up to Monotony Fields in the traditional sense,” Salomaa says. “As stated, the songwriting goes way back to the first music we put together for RAVEN. I will say my approach has changed after all these years of making music. I found new and different ways to shape the arrangements and my compositions. What matters most, I think, is that it still has the SHAPE OF DESPAIR atmosphere.”
Return to the Void is no doubt SHAPE OF DESPAIR. From the void-gaze of “Dissolution” and gelid beauty of “Reflection in Slow Time” to the collapsing cathedral in “Forfeit” and the void-fall that is the stunning title track, the Finns have outdone themselves, overcoming the heights of previous lighthouse tracks “Woundheir,” “Angels of Distress,” and “Sleep Mirrored” with surprising ease. Funeral doom is often narrow in scope, but Return to the Void defiantly opposes that with its massively scaled and forlornly inspired valleys and angelic (powered by Natalie Koskinen’s empyrean vocals) peaks. Coupled with Henri Koivula’s caliginous lyrics, SHAPE OF DESPAIR provides a masterclass display of a genre expansive and filmic.
“Return to the Void is a title we thought would best describe the album,” says Koivula. “It is a return for us in many ways. We were heading [musically] towards early SHAPE OF DESPAIR. Plus, Samu’s back in the band. Overall, my lyrics have a red line through them—a sense of solitude and depression. The state where you find that everything has lost its meaning. There is no past or future, only this one moment drifting near the firmament.”
The Return to the Void project started in 2020 and continued through May 2021. Production duties were wrested from the previous producer Max Kostermaa and in-sourced to the band directly. Ruotsalainen, Salomaa, Koivula, and Miika Niemelä engineered, respectively, at Beat Domination Studios, D-Studios, and Doom Cave Studios. The group also looked inside their ranks for mixing, handing the job off to [drummer] Ruotsalainen (FINNTROLL, METSATÖLL). The mastering was given to award-winning ace Svante Forsbäck (VOLBEAT, RAMMSTEIN) at Chartmakers West in Espoo. If the previous SHAPE OF DESPAIR productions were huge, Return to the Void is unfathomably massive. One listen to “Solitary Downfall” and the album’s crushing egress “The Inner Desolation,” and it’s readily apparent that SHAPE OF DESPAIR have crafted a temple of sound to ruminate the cruelty of existence.
“We recorded the album on our own, which allowed us the freedom to record whenever and however long we wanted,” says Salomaa. ”Everything was done in late winter, with the mixing taking place between February and March of 2021. We had a couple of weekends to mix with Samu, but most of it was done without us. The mastering was then finalized in May 2021. [The sound is] mainly raw but still heavy. The main focus was to keep our sound world intact. I think this album sounds the most accurate we’ve ever wanted our albums to sound.”
SHAPE OF DESPAIR’s next steps are to release Return to the Void via Season of Mist. The striking cover art via long-time design partner and silent member Mariusz Krystew (David Galas, Thor’s Hammer) is yet again a reminder that the Finns are as visually engaging as they are compositionally and lyrically. That they mixed old and new for Return to the Void is proof that there’s purpose and meaning to Salomaa’s ill-lit aesthetic. Once the album is released and protocols pending, Shape of Despair hope to hit the road where they’ll pontificate their wintry despondency from the stage to audiences near and far.
Aural Music is proud to announce the signing of Gothic Funeral Doom project EMBER SUN from Greece.
The band is releasing their new album, titled On Earth and Heaven, on October 22 via code666, the cult sublabel of Aural Music.
The band commented about the signing: “When code666 contacted me and propose to release my debut album, it was like I was dreaming that such a label wanted to join their roster. It’s a blessing to us that this respected label believed in us. Now EMBER SUN are ready to uncover the deep, primordial feelings of sorrow, sinisterness, and solitude under the banner of Code666”
EMBER SUN is the new solo project born in 2021 of Lorthar (founder/ex-member of black metal band ORDER OF THE EBON HAND) from Greece, playing atmospheric funeral doom death with influences of gothic scene. Lorthar has been and still is a member of several bands in the metal music scene and also on ambient style bands. EMBER SUN is a mix of all the music styles haunting Lorthar’s temperament.
On Earth And Heaven is a hymn of solitude and sorrow. It expresses the fear of reaching our end; the despair of not seeing again all those we loved or hated; the incomprehensibility of being devoid consciousness; the sorrow of never seeing the dawn again.
Today, Blood Harvest Records announces December 17th as the international release date for Charnel Altar‘s highly anticipated debut album, Abatement of the Sun, on CD and cassette tape formats. The vinyl LP version will follow next year.
Hailing from Adelaide, Australia’s Charnel Altar formed in late 2018. Not long after, the band’s self-titled debut demo followed in January 2019. Originally self-released digitally, a cassette version was soon released by Desert Wastelands Productions and a 12″ vinyl version by Seed of Doom Records and Impure Sounds; a tape re-release then came in mid-2020 via Blood Moon Productions. With this underground momentum building, Charnel Altar released a split EP with fellow Aussies Carcinoid, which was released on tape by Headsplit Records and on 10″ vinyl once again by Seed of Doom.
During all this, Charnel Altar became a prolific force on the live front. Their first show was supporting Uada, and they went on to play with the likes of Incantation, Krisiun, Integrity, Primitive Man, Faceless Burial, Gutless, Ignivomous, and Vile Apparition. A tour with Carcinoid and others was planned for 2020, but was unfortunately cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Nevertheless, Charnel Altar make their full-length debut with the slimy ‘n’ stultifying Abatement of the Sun. Horrific and harrowing, churning and gestating with utter dread and doom, Charnel Altar‘s death metal is like a slo-mo melting of mind and matter. One could arguably qualify it as death-doom, but the band’s version of such evades easy categorization and aims more for hovering tension and paradoxically spacious density – indeed, like old(er)-school death metal dragged through tar but trudging forward like a tank. That all three members previously played together in the cult Tombsealer – who toured nationally in support of Mournful Congregation and played with such acts as Dead Congregation, Portal, Fetid, Windhand, Cough, Inverloch, and Nocturnal Graves to name a few – shows in their seemingly effortless execution, that these dreadful ‘n’ doomed-out ruminations have been simmering in their hearts for time eternal. Or, put another way, Abatement of the Sun is all-too-perfectly titled: the end is not just nigh; it’s NULL.
Face the end with the brand-new track “Vexation of Sorrow” here:
Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Charnel Altar’s Abatement of the Sun 1. Grave Totem [8:05] 2. Vexation Of Sorrow [6:44] 3. Slaughter [8:36] 4. Wormworld [7:52] 5. Malefic Blessings [7:04] 6. Metempsychosis [8:45]
Norwegian doom metal pioneers FUNERAL will be releasing their newest full-length, ‘Praesentialis in Aeternum,’ on December 10, 2021 via Season of Mist. The album artwork, tracklist, and details can be found below.
The band is now sharing the first single, “Ånd,” which features guest vocals from Lars Are Nedland (SOLEFALD/BORKNAGAR), along with an official music video that was created entirely by the band! The song and video can be found here:
Pre-orders for ‘Praesentialis in Aeternum’ are now live HERE
The cover art was created by Christopher Rådlund and can be found below, together with the track-list.
Tracklist: 1. Ånd (8.14) 2. Materie (6.21) 3. Erindring I – Hovmod (8.16) 4. Erindring II – Fall (10.52) 5. Oppvåkning (9.54) 6. Dvelen (11.35)
Bonus 7. Her Til Evig Tid (ånd: epilog) (7.21) 8. Vekst (erindring : prolog) (9.18) 9. Shades From These Wounds (6.09) 10. Samarithan (5.50)
Melancholy. Pain. Loss. Solitude. Those had been just some of doom metal main themes ever since bleak pouring rain and the sound of church bell in the distance gave birth to the genre on BLACK SABBATH self-eponymous debut over five decades ago. But how many musicians have actually been bearing in their very flesh those gut-wrenching feelings?
Anders Eek – FUNERAL’s founding member, drummer and undisputable leader since 1991 – doesn’t particularly see it as a badge of honour, but he’d be the first to admit that somehow, the “death and loss we had to go through over the years were extremely painful yet inspiring, as a musician and as a human being.” And indeed, ever since their very first rehearsal in a basement in their hometown of Drammen, just outside of Oslo, FUNERAL had been ridden with problems and tragedy. Originally inspired by CATHEDRAL and CANDLEMASS, they very quickly set out to create the most depressing and slowest form of doom/death possible at a time when their home country was being hailed as the birthplace of black metal. They went through several labels over the years, only to see them bust soon afterwards. Plagued by recurrent line-up problems, they even lost two of their key members Einar André Fredriksen (bass) and Christian Loos (guitar) in 2003 and 2006, respectively, to suicide and overdose.
But somehow, Eek never surrendered, but instead overcame all those obstacles by releasing over the years a slab of classics, each with its own, distinct personality, from the utter misery of the delicate yet none-so-extreme 1995 debut album ‘Tragedies’ to the more melodic and accessible 2001 gothic/doom masterpiece ‘In Fields Of Pestilent Grief’ or 2012 symphonic masterpiece ‘Oratorium’. Still, after the band most recent performance in Antwerpen on February 3, 2018, “life got in the way” as Anders puts it. “Some of us had kids, others moved out. Even I had quite a lot of things going on in my personal life and, at least for a while, maybe less drive to keep on carrying on the weight of the band on my shoulders. I never stopped writing music though because it’s something I’ve always done anyway. But there were less things happening you know. During that nine-year gap, I could have written ten albums but I only wrote two ah!”
The beast did sleep less than two years though as the following year singer Sindre Nedland, who had joined FUNERAL for ‘Oratorium’, “woke up from his slumber and told me he was ready to focus music again. I had the whole music demoed and ready, so it quickly snowballed from there.” For the first time ever, not only are the lyrics fully in Norwegian but they were also written by an outside collaborator, a “personal friend” of Anders who happens to be a psychologist. “He’s both a close friend and a fan of the band. So, he knows exactly how I roll and what the band is all about. I knew he was writing on the side so one day about five years ago, I asked him as a joke almost ‘hey, why don’t you write lyrics for my band instead?’ and within five months, he did! His lyrics are more or less his take on philosopher Emmanuel Kant’s work. Initially, I thought about maybe translating them to English, but it would have meant redoing them so in the end, we choose to keep them as they were. The booklet will include a little text explaining what they’re all about for those who don’t speak Norwegian.”
Musically, Anders describes ‘Praesentialis in Aeternum’ (something along the line of “here eternally”) as a “natural progression. I know we have some fans who are only into the first albums and those who discovered us in the early 00’s but this new opus has a little bit of everything for everybody. The symphonic elements are far more bombastic yet much well more done, thanks to the evolution of technology since ‘Oratorium’. It’s in a way a mixture of our three last albums yet our most diverse work yet, with both quite concise and very epic pieces. As a matter of fact, we recorded something like ten songs but vowed to choose only the six best to get the best album possible.” Among them you’ll find one originally written during their third album |From These Sounds’ session, one co-written with former founding member Thomas Angell (who left in 2000) and, in the deluxe version, a CANDLEMASS (‘Samarithan’) cover version originally recorded back in 2005 with their then singer Frode Forsmo, thus linking ‘Praesentialis in Aeternum’ with the band’s past history. Also guesting on ‘Ånd,’ the first single off the record, is Lars Nedland, Sindre’s own brother of BORKNAGAR and SOLEFALD fame. It’s also the first album for their new partner, Season of Mist.
Since the album was completed, the now septet has welcomed for the first time ever a full-time violin player “to perform live most of the strings you can hear on our albums as soon as we’ll be able to go back on stage.” In the meantime, Anders confesses the next album is more or less “finished. ‘Praesentialis’ could have been released earlier if we hadn’t to face all those COVID-related problems. We couldn’t meet in person, let alone rehearse or even just take promo pictures… But now we have a new label, a new line-up and a totally renewed sense of energy so why stop there? FUNERAL started thirty years ago be truth be told, it’s never been stronger. So, doom on!”
Today, epic doom upstarts Flame, Dear Flame stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, Aegis. Set for North American release on August 6th via Eisenwald, hear Flame, Dear Flame‘s Aegis in its entirety here:
In the year 2017 in the north-central German city of Brunswick, the covenant of Flame, Dear Flame was invoked. Providing a staggering take on the most epic form of what can loosely be categorized as doom metal, Flame, Dear Flame manage to fuse a sonic palette that features delicate, melancholy sections of clean guitars and restrained percussion with monumental, crushing epic doom. On their debut album, Aegis, Flame, Dear Flame have erected a truly distinct sound, characterized by the stirring performance of vocalist Maren Lemke, whose simultaneously airy-yet-powerful voice fuses with the memorable riff-craft on display to create seven towering tracks that are sure to capture the ears of listeners eager to hear an innovative take on a genre that too often conforms to stereotypes.
Aegis is a work thematically divided into two parts. The first part, entitled “The Millennial Heartbeat,” details the genesis of the ocean and the thanatography of the land, a testimony of the forces of nature and its frailty alike, performed in three movements and featuring a classical epic doom approach, rife with gargantuan riffs and percussion as well as soaring clean vocals, yet interspersed with thoughtfully placed and paced clean sections. Serving as a contrasting and complementary second part of the album, “The Wolves and the Prioress” consists of four movements focusing more on acoustic folk elements, further enriching Flame, Dear Flame‘s engrossing sound, and details the story of a feral child that falls into the custody of a sage prioress.
All of these elements result in a unique combination of righteous doom and subtle-yet-noble acoustic folk. Each track is accompanied by a visual representation composed by Karmazid. The culmination of the album’s visuals is its stark cover artwork, laden with elegant symbolism in rich detail, created by Kodex Barbaricus. According to the band, Aegis will be presented in full at Storm Crusher Festival as soon as rescheduling due to the pandemic permits.
Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Flame, Dear Flame’s Aegis 1. The Millennial Heartbeat Part I 2. The Millennial Heartbeat Part II 3. The Millennial Heartbeat Part III 4. The Wolves and the Prioress Part I 5. The Wolves and the Prioress Part II 6. The Wolves and the Prioress Part III 7. The Wolves and the Prioress Part IV
