AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: SCUORN — “SEPEITHOS”

 

When I first began listening to the music of Parthenope, the debut album by the Neapolitan metal band Scuorn that was released earlier this year, I wrote “It’s a truly eye-opening offering of epic symphonic black metal — majestic, bombastic, ferocious, theatrical, panoramic, richly textured, richly rewarding. I felt like giving a standing ovation at the end.” And the same can be said of the specific album track “Sepeithos“, which is the subject of a music video that we’re helping to premiere today.

The video was directed by Portuguese artist Gullherme Henriques Silva (Belphegor, Noctem, Nargaroth) and filmed by Mirco Condello (Fastforward Filming) during Scuorn’s latest show of the “Parthenope Italian Tour 2017” at Alchemica Music Club in Bologna, Italy.

 

 

“Sepeithos” is a furious experience, which explains Scuorn‘s decision to use it as an illustration of the energy brought to their live performances. But it also generates an atmosphere of looming, ominous grandeur and volcanic ecstasy, with melodic themes that get stuck in the head.

Parthenope is a concept album that focuses on “the most ancient Greek-Roman origins of Naples”, each song related to a specific legend from those times, with lyrics in Scuorn‘s native language. As for the subject matter of “Sepeithos”, here is Scuorn‘s explanation:

“The song reveals the legend of gods Vesevo (the volcano Vesuvius) and Sebeto (Sepeithos in ancient greek, a river who used to divide the city of Neapolis from its older part Palepolis). The giants battled over the beautiful daughter of Neputune, Leucopetra, spreading destruction all around: Vesevo was spitting torrents of fire, while Sebeto smashed stones into a water causing it to splash and to put out the flames. Their presence and dominance were respected and honored by the first Neapolitan settlers, who handed down their lore through the centuries.”

 

Parthenope was recorded, mixed, and mastered at the 16th Cellar Studio in Rome by Stefano “Saul” Morabito (Fleshgod Apocalypse, Hour of Penance, etc.). It was released in February through the Dusktone label.

And if you’re unfamiliar with the album, it includes orchestral versions of each track as a bonus CD (those tracks are also available in the Bandcamp download), with the orchestration shaped by Riccardo Studer from the Italian extreme epic metal band Stormlord, working together with Scuorn‘s main man Giulian.

Parthenope is available here:

http://scuorn.bigcartel.com
https://dusktone.bandcamp.com/album/scuorn-parthenope

Follow the band and label here:

https://www.facebook.com/scuorn
https://www.facebook.com/dusktone