The Swedish band After Earth haven’t had the smoothest road forward. They released a favorably received EP named Before It Awakes during 2020 — in the midst of the pandemic — then suffered some lineup changes but managed to release the 2022 single “From Age to Aeon“. And then, in early 2023, just a few weeks before the recording of their debut album, two of the band’s guitarists departed.

Rather than abandon the enterprise, the remaining three members — Marcus Rydstedt, Anton Vehkaperä, and Olof Öman — forged ahead, picking up additional roles, and managed to get the album recorded (with some guitar solos outsourced to Christoffer Nilsson). And now that album, The Rarity of Reason, is set for release on August 18th, timed to coincide with After Earth‘s European tour supporting Swedish death metal band Mara.

To help spread the word about the album, today we’re premiering a lyric video for a song from it named “Legions“. As the band explain, this song “showcases a heavier side to us than our previous music”, showing “a bit more of our inspiration from purer “death metal”, while preserving the band’s emphasis on melody. Continue reading »