Today we’re sharing the premiere of a lyric video for “Nothofagus“, a new song from the eagerly awaited third album by the Chilean atmospheric black metal band Sol Sistere. The album, which shares the band’s name, will be released on October 15th by the Cult of Parthenope label.
As you will discover, the music is stunning, though this should come as no surprise to those who have already experienced the band’s past works. It was inspired, the group tell us, by “the unique connection with nature that is generated in the ancestral forests of austral Patagonia”. The song describes, as they say, “the constant exploration of consciousness in the context of life among these primeval forests. It is also an ode to the millenary trees of the southernmost part of the planet that preceded us and will most likely outlive us”.
Sol Sistere introduce the song with rapidly trilling guitars, sweeping synths, undulating bass, and pummeling drums — and all of that seizes attention without delay. With a scream, the sweep of the music expands and becomes more splendid and vast, rolling in grand cascades of glorious sound whose wondrous tones contrast with the sheer torment and tumult that radiate from the vocals. But those waves of sound also become more downcast, despairing, and agonized, though no less brilliant in their shine or penetrating in their power.
This is the kind of song that merits the terms “immersive” and “enthralling”, and it’s easy to feel swept away as you listen. But that doesn’t mean this is “easy listening”. The song’s emotional intensity is searing. The vocals are shattering. The guitars boil and swirl as the drumming cracks the whip on the listener’s pulse. And the sunrise magnificence of sound that soars overhead paints a panorama of heartbreak and hopelessness as well as beauty.
The band have also shared these further thoughts about the new album as a whole:
“The new album Sol Sistere has evolved to a major level of aggression in sound and in terms of composition, although keeping the roots of its predecessors by including layers of atmospheric and post-rock-like passages. With these new tracks, the band aims to provide the listener with a one-hour contemplative journey under ethereal and cold passages as the music progresses.
“The lyrics in the new self-titled album reflect the ideas on how out material being and its energy interaction with every aspect of the universe in all forms. These ideas were conceived by personal experiences with an almost post-apocalyptic and desolate view of the future of humankind. Among all these visions, we could perfectly find topics such as self-destruction, hope and re-starting, so these concepts are always present in the definition of what SOL SISTERE is.”
The album was tracked, mixed, and mastered by Carlos Fuentes at Sonido Origen in Santiago, Chile. The cover art is attributable to the wonderful Misanthropic Art.
It will be released by Cult Of Parthenope on 2LP vinyl, digipack CD, and digital formats.
PRE-ORDER:
https://bit.ly/3rJ70nA
SOL SISTERE:
https://www.facebook.com/solsistereofficial
https://solsistere.bandcamp.com/