Today, heavy metal outsiders Old Spirit stream the entirety of their highly anticipated second album, Burning in Heaven. Set for international release on February 24th via Bright as Night Records, hear Old Spirit’s Burning in Heaven in its entirety exclusively here:
Unveiled at the dawn of 2022 with a self-titled album, Old Spirit was a new creation of Jason Hartman, renown for Svart recording artists Vanishing Kids as well as being a frequent collaborator with Jex Thoth. By and large a solo effort, Old Spirit indeed lived up to its moniker with a wild ‘n’ weird amalgamation of elder heavy metal and hard rock tropes, all done with Hartman’s characteristically lysergic sensibilities.
Feverish in his creativity – and lest we forget the concurrently revealed Night Eyez, who made its recorded debut a month later with an also-self-titled debut for Bright as Night – Old Spirit returns with another new full-length, evocatively titled Burning in Heaven. With a title such as that, it’s no surprise that Hartman turns a darker page here – and then proceeds to singe the edges of that page with delirious, devilish delight. Immediately, the record sounds like Old Spirit – classic heavy metal torched with the fractal gaze of psychedelia, with RIFFS fully front and center – but dive deeper into Burning in Heaven and the landscape becomes weirder and heavier. Warped chunks of thrash and doom get thrown into Hartman’s cauldron, and then are stirred with electronic seasoning just as the edges of perception; early death metal even makes an appearance here, likewise warped to fuck. Lyrically, the concepts across the album range from pro-spirituality / anti-religion to climate issues and urgencies to take care of our planet as well as ourselves. Suitably, Hartman’s vocals take on a sometimes-sinister gravitas, while elsewhere, he’s his characteristically crooked self that somehow sounds like an ancient wizard and rock god simultaneously.
Slow burn or scorched earth? Burning in Heaven offers many questions, and the riddle continues with a musical amalgam that includes Celtic Frost, Mercyful Fate, and Arthur Brown – Obituary, Trouble, and Hawkwind. How will you answer the Old Spirit?
Preorder info can be found HERE at Old Spirit‘s Bandcamp. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:
Tracklisting for Old Spirit’s Burning in Heaven
1. Burning In Heaven
2. Dim Aura
3. Ash
4. Fallacy
5. When The Spirit Slips Away
6. Angel Blood
7. Bleak Chapel
8. In Dismay
MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/brightasnightrecords