AN NCS PREMIERE: RAPHEUMETS WELL — “RESURRECTING THE BLOOD GATE”

 

Based in Hickory, North Carolina, Rapheumets Well are a group of storytellers who are in the process of weaving a complex science fiction saga through their music. The story began in their 2014 debut album Dimensions, and on March 18 it will continue through the release of their second album, The Exile. As sci-fi fans ourselves, today we’re pleased to bring you the premiere of a lyric video for the new album’s opening track, a song named “Resurrecting the Blood Gate“.

The band’s name is itself drawn from this interdimensional, world-spanning tale of conflict and perseverance. Within the fictitious universe of Sovael, ancient architects known as the Atai have aided in the propagation of sentient life throughout the cosmos. As the band explain, Rapheumet is the name of a deity personified as a trickster, “a master of portals and interdimensional travel” who “often creates chaos for unsuspecting voyagers”, and in the band’s name “Well” refers to gravity wells, “which like black holes are catalysts of change and gateways between the cosmic plains.”

 

 

As was true of Dimensions, The Exile continues the narrative in chronological order through the sequence of songs on the album. In this part of the saga, an elder architect named Sotath Shal has come to the planet Vranath Su, “a desert world rich in minerals and rarities”, with the goal of enslaving it. The album’s protagonist, Darmak Ildna, is a military commander of the Sunak empire of Vranath Su who has a change of heart and, in an effort to be true to himself, rises up against the atrocities of the usurper, beginning a journey of exile and hardship.

Darmak’s change is triggered by the realization that he participated in the massacre of workers in a mine devoted to the extraction of minerals used in the creation of “blood gates” — conduits through space-time that feed on the organic compounds of mortal flesh for power. And that sets the stage for the song we’re about to premiere, which drummer Joshua Ward explains as follows:

“Our first single ‘Resurrecting the Blood Gate’ is one of our more aggressive songs which highlights the the central plot of the story on the upcoming album The Exile. Since our music is very story driven, we were excited to create this amalgamation of orchestral sounds and brutal metal to represent the emotions each of the characters are feeling. As such ‘Resurrecting the Blood Gate’ was our first choice to help sum up the experience to come from our album in its entirety.”

As you’re about to find out, this first song from the new album combines turbocharged death metal vehemence with sweeping orchestral melodies, interweaving blazing drumwork and rapid-fire riffing with cosmic synthesizer vistas and fluid soloing, vicious growls and hair-raising shrieks with a vaulting clean-sung passage that coincides with the protagonist’s decision to end his apathy.

The Exile will be released on March 18 by Test Your Metal Records and can be pre-ordered via the links below. The band are also at work on a video entitled “Crucible of Titans”, also coming in March. The full track list follows the links, and more details about the story line and the visual graphics accompanying it can be found here.

Album Pre-Order – CD | Digital

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Track Listing – The Exile
1. Resurrecting The Blood Gate (4:44)
2. The Blight of Sotath Shal (3:53)
3. The Epic of Darmak (4:59)
4. Crucible of Titans (4:14)
5. Resurgence (6:07)
6. Witch of Dark Spire (5:17)
7. The Exile (6:13)
8. Planetary Cenotaph (5:05)
Album Length: 40:37