AN NCS PREMIERE: ASTARIUM — “SNOW STORM”

 Premieres  No Responses »
Apr 012020
 

 

If you’re unfamiliar with Astarium’s creative impulses, the name of the song we’re premiering in this post may mislead you. Coming from a black metal band whose music is often characterized as “symphonic and ambient BM”, the name “Snow Storm” might make you expect one thing, and you might find something else instead — something much more intriguing and alluring than what you might expect. And we’ll say further that those characterizations of Astarium’s music as “symphonic black metal” (which you will see on Metal-Archives, among other places) may also prove to be a bit of a mis-direction, at least in the case of Astarium’s new album.

But before explaining what we mean, we should note that the name of the new album is Hyperborea, and it will be co-released on April 18th by GrimmDistribution (Ukraine) and Gravações Tunguska (Portugal). It is the eighth album since 2008 by this one-man project from Novosibirsk, Russia, and (we are informed) it was inspired by “the sagas of northern lands about honor and valor, about blood and revenge, about beauty and gloom, about glory and dishonor”. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: ASTARIUM — “HOSPITALITY OF DEMON”

 Premieres  No Responses »
May 272017
 

 

Prepare to enter a strange, mad world of creeping horror and demonic delirium as we premiere a track from the new album Drum-Ghoul by Astarium, a one-man symphonic black metal project from Novosibirsk, Russia. Before offering a few thoughts about this particular song — “Hospitality of Demon” –I’d like to share a few words by Astarium that shed light on the tale told through the album:

“Lightning lit up the sky, covered with low clouds, the rain did not cease for a minute. I drove the horses drowning in the mud to the hill that was visible in the distance. Suddenly, a new bright flash lit up the bulk, which grew right in front of me from the darkness. It was the castle ‘Drum-Ghoul‘! Continue reading »