(written by Islander)
Many of our visitors, probably most, are well aware of From the Vastland. Even just focusing solely on our site, we’ve been avidly following and writing about the band’s music for more than 11 years (witness all these reviews and interviews), beginning with a review of the band’s first live performance at Oslo’s Inferno Festival in 2013.
But for those who might be encountering From the Vastland for the first time, it’s the black metal brainchild (and heart-child) of Sina Winter, a project he began in his homeland of Iran in late 2010 and then carried forward to greater heights after moving to Norway, where he has been accompanied in live performances and recordings by an impressive collective of allies.
Since 2010 From the Vastland‘s discography has grown to seven albums, released by an array of respected labels, and an eighth one is now on the horizon. This new one, Tenebrous Shadow, is set for release on November 1st by the German label The Crawling Chaos, and today we’re hosting the premiere of a song from the new album called “99999“, accompanied by an official lyric video.
As for other releases, Sina has written music and words influenced by Persian history and mythology. On the new album he performs guitars and vocals, and he is again accompanied by impressive talents from Norway: On bass we have Tjalve (Horizon Ablaze, Svartelder, ex-1349, ex-Den Saakaldte), and on drums we have Spektre (Gaahlswyrd, Immortal, Svartelder, Horizon Ablaze).
Sina has introduced the new album in these words:
Vicious, dark and haunting! Very proud to announce the release of our 8th full length album, our new opus, Tenebrous Shadow. It’s the continuation of where we left off with Taurvi in 2022. However, it plunges deeper into the dark world of Persian demons & their bloody stories.
Musically, I assure you will hear everything you expect from us! blast-beating, old school Norwegian black metal with a slight touch of oriental melodies. From the most extreme, evil & intense riffs to a heavy, catchy & melodic atmosphere. It’s not just a collection of some songs but an album that takes the listeners on a journey through the depth of Persian mythology, combining musical craftsmanship with artistic finesse.
And now let’s turn to “99999“.
As you’ll see at the opening of the video, the song is about the rule over earth of an evil spirit from Persian mythology named Ahriman, and his creation of 99999 diseases, spread by six archdemons through such creatures as reptiles and insects. An evil tale to be sure, and the music is evil too.
As expected, Spektre and Tjalve perform their roles impressively, generating torrential percussive assaults and earthquake-level tumult, but also segueing into episodes of rocking swagger, simmering menace, neck-snapping gallops, and sinister stalking cadences.
The music dramatically changes as well. In the song’s opening phase, Sina launches sky-high salvos of lightning-flash riffing, deliriously wild in its impact, and cruel slashing chords, while screaming like a depraved demon himself.
The whirring guitar also generates writhing cascades of sound with whispers of Persian melody in the mix, channeling agony in sweeping terms, as if manifesting the bleakness of those whom Ahriman’s poisonous strategies have victimized. In that phase, Sina‘s voice descends into a cold and ugly growl.
But the most dramatic change occurs at the song’s mid-point, when the pacing slows and the layered guitars dismally wail, with a reverberating ring that sounds both supernatural and stricken with hopeless grief. As the song’s intensity builds again, with the vocals combined to create a demon chorus, the music channels terrible, heart-aching downfall.
And so once again From the Vastland has created a gripping musical experience, both devastating and dark, both exhilarating and soul-shaking, melodically memorable and atmospherically powerful but also capable of getting a listener’s blood rushing.
Sina recorded, mixed, and mastered the new album, which includes seven tracks and more than 43 minutes of music. He also made the artwork and illustrations for the album booklet.
We’ve provided links for the album and the band below, and also below we’ve included the previously released lyric video for “Fiend Mool Infant“, the song that opens the album.
PRE-ORDER:
https://thecrawlingchaosrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tenebrous-shadow
https://thecrawlingchaos-records.de/
FROM THE VASTLAND:
https://www.fromthevastland.no
https://www.youtube.com/fromthevastland
https://fromthevastland.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/fromthevastland.band