Today, Chilean black/death cult Invocation stream the entirety of their highly anticipated debut album, The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures). Set for international release on September 20th via Iron Bonehead Productions, hear Invocation‘s The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures) in its entirety here:
It was but the early autumn of 2018 when Invocation released The Mastery of the Unseen EP through Iron Bonehead. Although only two songs, The Mastery of the Unseen was presciently titled, for the Chilean power-trio made masterful strides since their debut CDR in 2016 and the extremely promising Seance Part. I demo released later that year. Exhibiting the same sulfurous energy as the first works but now displaying a uniquely feral poise, that two-song salvo set the stage for yet another presciently titled work in early 2020: Attunement to Death, again released by Iron Bonehead. Indeed with this mini-album did Invocation reach a hellish harmony with their classic South American diabolism, but on Attunement to Death did they imbue it with an ever-deeper – and ever-more-unique – aspect that bountifully displayed their authentic grounding in the occult.
At long last, nearly a decade after their formation, Invocation unleash their full-length debut: The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures). Upon first blush, thankfully, very little has changed in the Chileans’ sound; restless, roiling, and most definitely RIPPING, their teeth-gnashing gnarliness is squarely situated between black metal and death metal, with no compromise nor fence-sitting to be found. But, where the mini-length predecessor saw the trio exhibiting confidence to spare, The Archaic Sanctuary utterly EXPLODES with it. Tight yet loose, wild yet locked-in, primitive constructions played with flowing finesse – Invocation‘s songwriting and execution have mostly stayed the same but somehow grown to enviable proportions, punishing mind and body with oft-overwhelming and yet always-mesmerizing METAL brewed in the cauldrons of the ancient and occult. No more but definitely no less, this is exactly the sort of debut album Invocation needed to deliver: canvassing past, present, and future and fittingly framing it with another gritty analog recording rich with sulfurous fire and sepulchral echoes.
It was only a matter of time before Chile’s Invocation delivered a debut album to capitalize on the massive potential they displayed on their short-lengths. With The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures), they now can enter the hallowed ranks of fellow cult countrymen Unaussprechlichen Kulten, Force of Darkness, Slaughtbbath, and the sorely missed Hades Archer for standard-bearers of classic South American madness.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Invocation (Chile)’s The Archaic Sanctuary (Ritual Body Postures) 1. Ecstatic Trance 2. The Serpent of Faardal 3. Opium Thebiacum (Somniferum) 4. Metamorphosis 5. Horn of Colima 6. The Psicopompos 7. Venus of Laussel 8. Hypnosis
On November 1st internationally, Floga Records is proud to present Thyrathen‘s highly anticipated second album, Lakonic, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats. In lieu of this announcement, the first track “Η Πόλις (the Philosophical Poem)” is premiered here:
Formed in 2011 but not making their public debut until ten years later, Thyrathen nevertheless are a vanguard for ancient Hellenic black METAL. That debut, the full-length ThanatOpsis, featured a godly lineup – drummer Corax S. (ex-Nocternity and Jackal’s Truth), guitarist A.Z. (ex-Kawir and Obsecration), and vocalists Stefan Necroabyssious (Varathron, Funeral Storm, Katavasia) and Alexandros (Macabre Omen, The One) – and the results were, unsurprisingly, godly. Here was that classic Greek sound, given deeper and darker drama through a framework of both fantasy and philosophy, but looking within for inspiration rather than without. Put another way, Thyrathen slotted well into the lineage its principal members helped shape, but ThanatOpsis was entirely its own creation. A Mount Olympus to eclipse, as it were…
Somehow, Thyrathen have scaled that mount once again, and indeed have eclipsed the feat with their second album. Titled Lakonic, the band’s sophomore full-length stays true to their noble foundation, but goes bigger and bigger and BIGGER. Thyrathen here create a vast and epic landscape that’s poetic and philosophical in equal measure, illuminated by the torch of That Classic Greek Sound but skillfully maximizing the METAL aspect of black metal. Once again, neither keys nor synths have been used. Instead, as on the debut, ancient lyre and choirs & voices constitute the lyrical part of Thyrathen‘s music, giving an impossibly rich texture to their heavy metal hymns that’s solemn, ceremonial, and simply stunning. The lineup sees the return of Corax S., Stefan Necroabyssious, and Alexandros, and also the arrival of Noch from Greece’s Black Winter on guitar, bass, and choirs and Thanasis Kleopas on ancient lyre and voices. Together, these men weave a tapestry of sound that engages upon first listen and then works an ever-more-entrancing spell as successive spins seduce the listener.
Both counterpart to and continuation of ThanatOpsis, Lakonic goes one step further and consolidates the unique character & music style of Thyrathen as “diachronic, lyrical black metal,” in their own words. With seven songs in 47 minutes, this second album is a coherent, poetic-epic, and theatrical journey: it creates images, it flows joyfully in its entirety, and it adds further to the brilliant canon Thyrathen are building.
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Thyrathen’s Lakonic 1. The Throne of Micro-Cosmos (Foolishness) [5:45] 2. Religious Agonies [5:13] 3. Matter, Void, Sperm [6:29] 4. De Rerum Natura [5:51] 5. Η Πόλις (the Philosophical Poem) [7:49] 6. Void, Matter, Sperm [6:51] 7. Scales & Sword (the Fall of Justice) [7:16]
Today, legendary Finnish black metallers Barathrum reveal the new track “Dark Sorceress 3 (Spring Siege).” The track is the second to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated tenth album, Überkill, set for international release on October 11th via Hammer of Hate. Hear Barathrum‘s “Dark Sorceress 3 (Spring Siege)” in its entirety here:
Barathrum should need no introduction. Formed in 1991, the band remain one of Finland’s very first black metal bands – and, more importantly, one of the longest-running. While Finland’s history of black metal often revolves around Beherit, Impaled Nazarene, and Archgoat during the ’90s and then Horna, Satanic Warmaster, and Behexen at the dawn of the millennium, during all this have Barathrum remained steadfast in their vision of bulldozing, bass-heavy black metal that indeed features TWO bass guitars. The band’s first two albums – Hailstorm and Eerie, both released in 1995 – remain absolute classics of dark & unsettling art, but thereafter did the band take on a rowdier, more concertedly METAL aspect that’s made that vision all the more unique and their legacy all the more enduring. And while they more or less went on hiatus following 2005’s Anno Aspera, Barathrum returned rougher and rowdier than ever with 2017’s gutted ‘n’ glorious Fanatiko.
Alas, seven years pass, but the Barathrum sound & vision are eternal, and they return to prove it once again with Überkill. Here, previous-bassist / now-guitarist Ruttokieli (also mainman of Sielunvihollinen and White Rune) composed all but one of the songs on this, amazingly the band’s tenth album; drummer Vendetta makes his composition debut with the telltale, scene-setting opener “Death by Steel.” As always, founding frontman Demonos Sova wrote all the lyrics, and his signature full-throated rasp leads with devilish glee these alternately stomping / surging anthems, all with equally telltale titles like “Mountain of Bones,” “Dark Sorceress 3 (Spring Siege),” “Black Magick Rites,” and perhaps best of all, “Spark Plugs of Purgatory.” And yet, for as much as Barathrum are very much (still) a pure & proud black metal band, Überkill proves that the Finns are, above all, a very great heavy metal band – just one that’s jet-black, asskicking, and bass-driven as fuck. Simple-yet-sublime pleasures, now and forever: again, Barathrum are eternal!
Hear the previously revealed title track “Überkill” HERE, also at KVLT‘s official YouTube channel. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Barathrum’s Überkill 1. Death by Steel 2. Mountain of Bones 3. Spark Plugs of Purgatory 4. Black Magick Rites 5. Ritual Murder 6. White Red Black and Pale 7. Denial of God 8. Dark Sorceress 3 (Spring Siege) 9. Überkill
Today, French black metallers Hyver reveal the new track “Terroir Terreur.” The track is the first to be revealed from the band’s highly anticipated new EP, Fonds de Terroir, set for international release on September 17th via Antiq. Hear Hyver‘s “Terroir Terreur” in its entirety here:
Hyver comes back this autumn with a new EP called Fonds de Terroir. After Sorcier Hibou (dungeon synth – 2023) and Noirceur Mystique d’Autrefois (sympho / dungeoned black metal – early 2024), Fonds de Terroir brings us to the deep countryside of France. Melodious synth meets energic riffs, heavily supported by a creative bass-guitar played by KK (Passéisme) and groovy drums by Summun Algor (Agnus Dei). Hyver‘s rough voice is joined by strong choirs and two guests: Sans Visage (Prieuré) and M (Krasseville). With cover artwork by Joanna Maeyens (Paysage d’Hiver, Ruynn), Fond de Terroir tells us about journeys through France between muddy fields, old stone villages, ancient abbeys, and haunted swamps, in a musical spirit close to Horn, Satanic Warmaster, early Finntroll, and Hanternoz. The focus here is the link between black metal spirit and road-trip adventures – being “en route” to the unknown.
Antiq is a label dedicated to the fully coherent concept of making music through sound, image, video, and attitude. They have been putting their entire existence into it since 2009. Over the years, Antiq have been identified as producers of not only perfectly coherent lyrics and themes through music, but also conceptual art and, of course, the manufacturing of beautiful objects. The label tries as much as it can to work with French creators, and if possible, with the smallest and most serious structures.
Aforementioned cover artwork and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Hyver’s Fonds de Terroir 1. Lanterne des Morts [4:11] 2. La Vieille près du Lavoir [6:39] 3. Frère Jean-Théophane [4:18] 4. Terroir Terreur [4:47]
On August 16th internationally, Stygian Black Hand in conspiracy with Invictus Productions are proud to present a brand-new mini-album from Horns & Hooves, Spectral Voyeurism. Stygian Black Hand will handle the 12″ vinyl and cassette tape releases while Invictus will handle the CD release.
The south Brooklyn skels Horns & Hooves return with a devious new mini-LP entitled Spectral Voyeurism. Chasing the high of their acclaimed debut album, I Am the Skel Messiah, miscreants Malebolge, Salpsan, and Orobas conjure the anguipedal demon Abraxas, as the trio presides over the unholy union between the Cockheaded demigod, the omnitumescent Satan, and the demicuck Christ. Perverse black metal ensues, taking unexpected thrusts into previously-untouched holes of sound and progressive segues, with both instrumentation and virility most uncommon to the genre but entirely sensible in the warped universe of Horns & Hooves. Highly recommended for fans of Absu, Nifelheim, Carnivore, Venom, and Sadistik Exekution.
In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Waiting for Creation”here:
Cover artwork, courtesy of Karmazid, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Horns & Hooves’ Spectral Voyeurism 1. Pleromic Birth (Intro) [1:23] 2. Spectral Voyeurism [5:22] 3. Shallow Blue (Hesitation) [2:44] 4. Waiting For Creation [7:38] 5. Dust [7:16]
Lead single “Hope Shatters” is an anthem for our dying era
Touring North America with Zeal & Ardor
“These shrouded and mysterious artists may hide their faces and their identities but their feelings and passion is out for all the world to see” – Metal Injection
“Terrifying at times, but beautiful, almost like life” – New Noise
GAEREA arrived shrouded in mystery. The masked sensations emerged from pandemic limbo with a vision for black metal that was guided not by myths or pagan beliefs but a purging of emotion. Existential dread still pulses through the Portuguese band’s blood, but their upcoming fourth album signals a shift in psychology.
With Coma, Gaerea are no longer strictly a black metal band. Instead, they’re breaking to the forefront of extreme metal. Though their new album was produced by trusted confidant Miguel Tereso, it broadens the band’s signature sound by taking it in two seemingly opposed directions. There are more moments of intense beauty, but they only heighten the ensuing blows.
The world may be as hopeless as the album’s lead single declares. But with Coma, Gaerea have returned to prove that they are only the band who can guide us into the darkness.
Coma comes out October 25, 2024 on Season of Mist.
When Gaerea secretly gave everyone a sneak peek at their new album back in April, they set the world ablaze. Now, with the first official single off Coma, they’re ushering in the immediate aftermath. Hope Shatters opens with a lone guitar that wails like a siren before a whirl of blast beats sucks the world back into the band’s vortex.
“Welcome to the urban abyss“, their unnamed vocalist pronounces. “Where dreams turn to rust”.
Gaerea aren’t afraid to embrace harsh realities. There’s clean singing on Coma, but the swarming darkness of “Hope Shatters” is only punctured by cries of agony. Even when the song collapses under its blistering heaviness, the melody hangs perilously in the air, like a swaying chandelier, before it’s smashed to pieces by hammering bass and concussive drum fills.
Still, perhaps Gaerea have uncovered a shred of hope from beneath the blackened wreckage. As “Hope Shatters” meets its end, the band push ahead through the ashes with a triumphant, headbanging riff. “Enter the maze through the never-ending haze”.
With Hope Shatters, Gaerea deliver an anthem for our dying era.
The video for Hope Shatters was produced by Grupa 13 and directed by Dariusz Szermanowicz.
Tracklist 1. The Poet’s Ballet (7:39) 2. Hope Shatters (4:05) [WATCH] 3. Suspended (5:02) 4. World Ablaze (3:29) [WATCH] 5. Coma (5:19) 6. Wilted Flower (5:50) 7. Reborn (3:51) 8. Shapeshifter (6:24) 9. Unknown (4:24) 10. Kingdom of Thorns (4:45) Total runtime: 50:54
To usher in this new era, Gaerea are touring behind Coma later this year when they come to North America with Zeal & Ardor and ZETRA.
The band will also be performing “World Ablaze”, “Hope Shatters” and other songs from their new album at several European summer festivals, along with two special dates with Behemoth and Testament.
Gaerea North American Tour 2024 with Zeal & Ardorand ZETRA
Arist Presale: July 17 @ 10 am Local Time Local Presale: July 18 @ 10 am Local Time General Ticket Sale: July 19 @ 10 am Local Time
November 23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer [TICKETS] November 24 – New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge [TICKETS] November 25 – Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall [TICKETS] November 27 – Montreal, QC @ Le Studio TD [TICKETS] November 28 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House [TICKETS] November 29 – Detroit, MI @ The Majestic [TICKETS] November 30 – Milvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre [TICKETS] December 2 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue [TICKETS] December 3 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall [TICKETS] December 4 – Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theatre [TICKETS] December 6 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre [TICKETS] December 7 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge [TICKETS] December 9 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox [TICKETS] December 10 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre [TICKETS] December 11 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom [TICKETS] December 13 – Berkeley, CA @ US Theatre [TICKETS] December 14 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory [TICKETS] December 15 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom [TICKETS] December 17 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk [TICKETS] December 18 – Dallas, TX @ Studio at The Factory [TICKETS]
Gaerea with Behemoth & Testament July 21 – Warsaw, PL @ Progresja Summer Stage July 23 – Kosice, SK @ Kulturapark
Additional Gaerea European Summer Dates July 20 – Fridek – Mistek, CZ @ Dark Session Fest July 25 – Ljubljana, SI @ Tolminator August 1 – Rasnov, ROU @ Rockstadt Extreme Fest August 8 – Kotka, FI @ Dark River Festival August 30 – Volos, GR @ Golden R Festival
Behind black shrouds of obscurity and desolation, the performers of GAEREA deliver their odes in cascading maelstroms of aggression and beauty. Emerging from the age of pandemic to whatever awaits humanity next, the dark horde remains on the frontlines of the next generation of extreme metal. With an EP and three albums to their name, GAEREA has rapidly distinguished themselves from the thousands of bands toiling away in the underground. Brewing their cauldron of sound from a recipe of pounding black-metal blast mixed with a touch of harrowed, reflective longing, many devotees of the darkened arts have flocked to their banner. With the emergence of third full-length album Mirage, those numbers certainly grew.
GAEREA met a challenge when releasing their second album during the pandemic, the aptly titled Limbo, to excellent world reception. In the meantime, they found the total suspension of interactive life as it was previously known to be the perfect breeding ground for further creation and making.
Sizzling with ambition from day one, GAEREA may present one unique face to their audience, masked and enshrouded, but the truth is they have not remained changeless.
As their previous album name Mirage suggests, the inability to trust what our senses are telling us could be construed as one of the album’s central themes. Rather than constrict their art to mythological references or anti-religious tropes, GAEREA instead plumb the depths of the human experiences of isolation and suffering.
Just two years since Mirage was released, GAEREA is here, erupting with intensity, casting forth black ashes over the world yet again.
Their latest release, Coma, has finally surfaced, marking a pivotal shift. From this point forward, everything changes. It’s time for GAEREA to bridge the gap between underground metal and the elevated realm they’ve attained. With Coma, GAEREA emerges from the underground scene, ascending towards a permanently lasting position at the head of the table.
An emotional gateway to a dark black metal scene, a guide to salvation, pain, despair and letting go. Moving up, into the blackness that is above. GAEREA is the answer, the only answer.
Within ‘Coma’s’ ten tracks lies an individual narrative, each with its own tale to unveil. Collectively, they blend nuances of aggression, tranquility, solitude, and fervor.
Boasting a superior production that threads the needle between caustic and clarity, GAEREA yet again admit their loyalty to producer Miguel Tereso of Demigod Recordings for the production of Coma. Together they created the birth of ‘Coma’, the new era for metal mankind. Distinguishing themselves ever more so, the Vortex handpicked their artist Nathan Lorenzana with a clear assignment to create their mesmerizing cover artwork. Months of hand drawing the image with a ballpen lead to this masterpiece which dipped his name into ‘Coma’.
The beauty of GAEREA lies in the directness and simplicity found within their florid tapestry of extremity and aggression. Whether it is in the less-polished aural dynamite of Mirage, or in the lustrous textures of Coma, GAEREA is building a mighty edifice of metal. With talons dipped in the inky blood of black metal and scraped across the flesh of human suffering, GAEREA is leading a charge into the future of darkness, and all those who find beauty and power in the dark side of existence would do well to take heed.
Recording Studio Demigod Studios at Redbox Studios
Production Credits Produced by GAEREA Recorded by Miguel Tereso at Redbox Studios Mixed and Mastered by Miguel Tereso at Demigod Studios
Today, Helter Skelter Productions (distributed & marketed by Regain Records) announces December 15th as the international release date for Warcoe’s highly anticipated second album, A Place for Demons, 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 released The Giant’s Dream on CD and vinyl right before the summer, with hopes of spreading the Warcoe name far and wide.
Wasting no time – and, indeed, sure to spread that name further and wider – Warcoe return with their second full-length, A Place for Demons. Aptly titled, A Place for Demons is prime olde-world DOOM, steeped in Sabbathian tones and proto-metal vibes. However, Warcoe possess an enviable amount of charisma, and their songwriting soon becomes a thick ‘n’ heady potion of hard-rocking heaviness, warm in tone but definitely supernatural in aura. Much like they did on its full-length predecessor, the power-trio manage to massage new sensations from that eternal archetype whilst staying reverent; if anything, there’s a pronounced swagger to A Place for Demons that suggests star-power in the making. But beware: the closing nine-minute epic “Buio” is one of the most stultifying boulders of sound you’ll hear this year, sealing your grave with cold, cruel certainty.
So, take Warcoe’s hand and enter A Place for Demons: your “new” old-doom trip continues here!
Start that trip with the brand-new tracks “Pyramid of Despair,” “Boys Become Kings,” and the title track “A Place for Demons” here:
Cover artwork, courtesy of Shane Horror, and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Warcoe’s A Place for Demons
1. A Place for Demons 2. Pyramid of Despair 3. Rune Dweller 4. Leaves 5. Ishkur 6. Boys Become Kings 7. Wounds Too Deep to Heal 8. Buio
Today, Italian death metallers Valgrind stream the entirety of their highly anticipated fifth album, Millennium of Night Bliss. Set for international release on April 24th via Memento Mori, hear Valgrind‘s Millennium of Night Bliss in its entirety here:
By now, those who follow the dark deeds of Memento Mori should be well familiar with Italy’s Valgrind. Despite forming all the way back in 1996 and releasing three demos and an EP before going on hiatus in 2002, it was the 2012 debut album Morning Will Come No More where Valgrind kicked off their activities – and there’s been no looking back. With steadfast dependability and ever-so-slight “progression” each time, these Italians have quietly become stalwarts of classics-minded death metal that isn’t completely blinkered by the past. Yes, their influences largely remain the same – foundational Morbid Angel, Pestilence, Death, Nocturnus, Possessed, Monstrosity, and Immolation – but Valgrind have increasingly sought their own muse, becoming more personal in lyrical approach whilst keeping their attack trend-free DEATH METAL.
But if 2020’s Memento Mori-released Condemnation signaled a sea-change for Valgrind – an undeniably “something,” a never-belabored uniqueness, despite mostly still sounding like the same band – then they certainly continue this sterling development with Millennium of Night Bliss. Indeed, there’s a creepiness of aura and a more supernatural lyrical bent that fuel Valgrind‘s fifth album, and the power-trio duly whip forth a vortex of dark ‘n’ dazzling technicality and jaw-dropping chops. Everywhere you turn across the nine-song/38-minute work, there’s some slipstreaming portal opening up into another into another ad infinitum; one could say Millennium of Night Bliss isn’t so much a “complex” record (although it is) as it’s one of rippling darkness and dementia. Truly, Valgrind sound mental here, as the blazing angularity and “tunefully atonal” intensity hearken to such once-slept-on classics as Immolation’s Here In After and Morbid Angel’s Formulas Fatal to the Flesh. However, the Italians still continue to exert their own identity, adding just the right amount of melody (don’t worry: it’s VERY slight!) and making the remarkably crisp ‘n’ clean production work entirely for them.
Could Millennium of Night Bliss be Valgrind‘s best record yet? Put in the work and lose thyself in its labyrinths, and surely will you see the night-blissful truth!
Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Valgrind (Italy)’s Millennium of Night Bliss 1. Teshub 2. Banished by Celestial Harmonies 3. Millennium of Night Bliss 4. Tenebra Corona Mundi 5. Dark Winds of Avalon 6. Lament of the Black Penitents (Glory Is the Sun of the Dead) 7. Oracle of Death 8. Fear from Beyond 9. The Path to the Temple of Black Ash
Today, Osmose Productions announces March 10th as the international release date for Minenwerfer‘s highly anticipated fourth album, Feuerwalze, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
A campaign started on July 1st, 1916. A campaign of muddy, rat-infested trenches, endless artillery barrages, and cracks of rifles in the distance. A campaign of unsettling night raids, close-quarters combat, and suffocating fumes of chlorine gas.
The sound of the treads of the first tanks grinding the bones of those long dead on the battlefield to dust and of the screams from no man’s land of men bleeding out in the night from the previous day’s failed offensive.
This is the soundtrack for that campaign. Welcome to the Somme.
First track premiere to be revealed shortly. Preorder link can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Shortly before the release of the third part of the Melmoth trilogy, AARA unexpectedly unveil two unorthodox and extraordinaire tracks of melodic Black Metal. The post-Black Metal vibe as well as the calmer, almost Shoegazing moments and the distinct production grant the songs a melancholic and ethereal mood. “Phthonos“, thus, evokes a spectacular play between light and darkness. The digital 2-track-EP is officially released via Debemur Morti Productions and can be listened to in full here:
The Swiss band worked together with an external sound engineer for the first time, namely well-known German producer Markus Stock (EMPYRIUM, ALCEST). Accordingly, “Phthonos” represents a musical experiment and a new approach to AARA‘s Art. Composer and guitarist Berg narrates:
“It was an interesting experience to attempt at creating music outside of the Triade series. We were mainly interested in finding out how AARA‘s sound would work with a different production, and I think it would definitely be an option. If we will work further with that kind of sound remains to be seen. Compositionally, however, we are certainly going in a different direction than what you can hear on “Phthonos” after the completion of the Melmoth series. The whole next concept album is already written, and it is quite different to the Triade albums, the “Phthonos” EP as well as the two previous long players. But maybe we will stick to that ‘more organic’ sound. We will see!“
“Phthonos” is available digitally via the label’s Bandcamp shop.
Switzerland’s AARA was founded in 2018 by vocalist Fluss and multi-instrumentalist Berg to create art highly influenced by atmospheric Black Metal. Sporting an epic, classical feel, their sweeping compositions aim to take the listener through the darkest alleys of human existence.
Soon after releasing their debut record “So fallen alle Tempel” in early 2019, AARA joined forces with Debemur Morti Productions, releasing their mosaic EP “Anthropozän” that same year.
Barely a year after their debut, AARA unveiled a new full-length record in April of 2020. A conceptual look into Europe’s Age of Enlightenment, “En Ergô Einai” sees AARA take their accomplished sound to new heights of mature artistic expression. Opened with a haunting acoustic intro courtesy of Vindsval (BLUT AUS NORD), “En Ergô Einai” is a triumph of fluid melodic euphoria and classical elegance, setting an even higher watermark in a bright, young discography. The third album and beginning of a trilogy, namely “Triade I: Eos“, was released in March 2021. In this epic and dramatic new work of art, AARA are interpreting the Gothic novel “Melmoth The Wanderer” (1820) of Irish writer Charles Robert Maturin. Venturing forth into the next chapters of Maturin‘s work, AARA crafted the second part of their trilogy, “Triade II: Hemera“. The six tracks of brutally melodic, top-tier Black Metal will be released on May 13th, 2022. Recordings for the third and final album of the Melmoth trilogy have already begun.
