The video we’re premiering today for a song by the Italian post-metal/doom band Postvorta has a hazy, dreamlike appearance. Glimpses of a gauzy youthful form appear in a dirty and degraded dwelling — along with ominous black-clad figures whose countenances are also masked in black. The effect is haunted and frightening, and the mounting tension is palpable… but the music has a lot to do with that as well.
Eventually, the music becomes orders of magnitude more crushing and harrowing — just as the child in the video leads his mother up the stairs, both of them dressed in black as well, perhaps in mourning, to the area where we know those threatening figures lurk in the corners and loom in narrow hallways. The music pounds and seethes, torquing the tension, and the scalding vocals enhance the feelings of fear and a mood of imminent violence.
The mother strokes the hair of her sleeping child, caresses her own face in a mirror — all under the watchful presence of those pitch-black figures whose presence seems to be undetected. Or are they? The music groans, thunders, and scalds, driven by an electrifying drum pulse. The child broods, lost in thought, and tosses and turns in a restless slumber. The riffing feverishly seethes while the bass gouges and the drums clobber.
The boy sees the looming presences, but the mother seems only to see the troubles in her child, feeling puzzlement and pain, trying to provide consolation and comfort. The music’s intensity softens briefly, and becomes beautiful, but then erupts in shocking fashion as those things put their hands on the child and wrestle him from his mother’s beseeching grasp. The child cries… they reach for each other in agony… but he is lost, and so is she… or are they?
At the end the ravaging assault of the music transforms into a gossamer sensation that only heightens the feeling of mystery and bewilderment that has shrouded the whole shattering affair.
The song here is “Decidua Trauma Catharsis“. What you’ve just read is only one listener’s interpretation of the sights and sounds. But now we’ll share the comments of Postvorta guitarist Andrea Fioravanti, who puts the music and the video in a different light:
“Decidua Trauma Catharsis. Grief is a process of expansion and contraction that takes place over and over again. The normal reaction to feelings of helplessness and vulnerability is often a need to regain control. This is part of the five phases of mourning. The third track of the album, it is characterized by a strong presence of synth and organs. It is one of my favorite songs from the band, as it’s probably the most haunting in our catalogue.
“The beginning is actually pretty serene, but soon the song switches to a syncopated section which is quite unusual for us. The central part is lead by Francesca Grol’s beautiful voice, which perfectly intertwines with Nicola’s growling vocals. In my opinion this is one of the most beautiful moments on the record. Another aspect of this song that I’m particularly fond of is that all of its sounds and arrangements can be reproduced by the band live. As a band we always try to create a wall of sound that could actually work in concert too.”
“Decidua Trauma Catharsis” will appear on Postvorta‘s powerful new album Porrima, which will be released on February 20th by Sludgelord Records and 22 Dicembre Records — on 2CD and MC formats (the latter strictly limited to 50 copies).
The album was produced by Riccardo Pasini (The Secret, Nero Di Marte, Ephel Duath), mastered by Magnus Lindberg (Cult Of Luna), and features artwork by Andrea Fioravanti and Nicola Donà. Porrima also features musical textures and contributions by Francesco Bucci on trombone (Ottone Pesante), vocalist Francesca Grol, and Alberto Casadei (Solaris) providing spoken words.
Last May Postvorta released the “Hollow” single (not included on the album), and not long ago Invisible Oranges premiered another track from the new record, “Vasa Praevia Dispassion“. You’ll find those below, along with the new song and video.
PRE-ORDER:
https://postvorta.org/album/porrima
https://thesludgelord.bandcamp.com/album/porrima
POSTVORTA:
https://www.facebook.com/POSTVORTA/
https://postvorta.org/